At last we've arrived. After nearly two weeks of festivities, it's the...Final Countdown! (Cue the music!)
I won't bore you with yet another political spiel this time around- you get the idea. Movies reflect the times we're living in, sometimes even without them knowing or intending to.
That's the power of a good movie- it's open to a multitude of interpretations, even if they weren't initially intentional by the filmmakers at hand. That's also why, for better or worse, once a filmmaker puts a piece of art into the world, it's no longer really theirs' anymore.
Here's a quick recap of where we are, for those of you coming to this late- you can read more about each entry in my previous installments: here and here.
15. Split
14. Train to Busan
13. Molly's Game
12. The Big Sick
11. Logan
10. Lady Macbeth
9. The Post
8. Wonder Woman
7. Get Out
6. Lady Bird
And now, without further ado, I bring you my Top Five Movies of 2017!
5. I, Tonya
One of my favorite kinds of movies are the ones based on true events. Sure, they take some dramatic license here and there- more in some cases- but overall, it's cool watching something and knowing that THIS REALLY HAPPENED.
Such movies tend to come in two sort of packages for me these days: historical events and people I knew nothing whatsoever about, or events and people I only THOUGHT I knew about, as they happened within my lifetime.
The Post, an earlier entry on this list, falls distinctly into the former category- this one falls firmly in the latter. The Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan affair was the first scandal I was really aware of as a kid- it beat OJ to the punch, JonBenét Ramsey, and everything else that followed in our tabloid-driven culture. (Though, to be fair, the Menendez Brothers case technically kick-started it all- but I wasn't aware of that one until the recent Law & Order mini-series about it, being too young at the time.)
Before Tonya and Nancy, few of us really gave two shits about ice skating, Olympics or otherwise, save those involved in it or aspiring to be, or, at the very least, dreaming of being involved in it. That all changed with the Tonya/Nancy showdown, and the event has been pretty much consistently popular with a lot of people since, even though nothing remotely as dramatic has happened since. (Hell, I was watching it last night, no less.)
At the time, I was firmly Team Nancy- after all, she was the real victim in all of this. But time is a funny thing, and this time around, I must admit, I found myself liking and relating to Tonya more. After all, our backgrounds are pretty similar: both of us come from similar lower-middle-class backgrounds, raised (barely) in the suburbs by a single mother, and we both had to fight to earn what we have, such as it is.
Thankfully, my mother wasn't a crazy, chain-smoking, parrot-wielding borderline psychopath, so that's where most of the similarities end. But I undeniably found myself relating to Tonya, who had to sew her own costumes (I didn't sew, but my family couldn't afford a computer, so I had to hand-write all my stuff, then type it up at school, which is kind of similar, in a weird way- though I didn't have to get up at the butt-crack of dawn to practice it, thank God) and didn't have a lot of friends because she was a little on the weird side.
Looking at Margot Robbie, you certainly wouldn't think Tonya Harding, but, like Charlize Theron in Monster before her (albeit not as drastically- Tonya's not THAT scary), damned if Robbie didn't transform herself into the spitting image of Tonya, more than earning herself that Oscar nom.
Ditto Allison Janney, who almost becomes Tonya's mother- and honestly, that scene-stealing bird deserves a supporting Oscar nod as well.
Meanwhile, the normally handsome Sebastian Stan, aka "The Winter Soldier," adopts a 70's pornstache and loses himself in Jeff Gillooly-land, which is an interesting place to visit, but I sure wouldn't want to live there.
Indeed, almost everything in this worked for me- the performances, the great, near-non-stop era-appropriate soundtrack (arguably the best of its kind since Boogie Nights), the fourth-wall breaking comedic beats and the Lovelace-style "It happened like this- No, it happened like THIS" structure, the hindsight-is-20/20 type approach... director Craig Gillespie (who also did the underrated Fright Night remake and Lars and the Real Girl) and writer Steven Rogers (Love the Coopers) truly stuck the landing here.
Oddly the film's detractors seemed to focus in on precisely the things I just mentioned. One said they didn't like any of the characters- I liked Tonya just fine, much more so than I ever did before seeing this, that's for sure, and how often does a movie flat-out change your opinion of someone? Not to mention, who says you have to? I thought the characters/real people in The Social Network were horrible, too, but I acknowledge that it was a well-done, well-made movie, regardless.
As for the film's comedic touches and multiple needle-drops, I thought they added to the film's charms, not took away from them. to each their own, I guess. Let's face it, it's a tricky business, trying to make someone's story, particularly one as well-trod as this one, newly interesting, but as we saw with the OJ-centric American Crime Story- which completely changed the way people thought about Marcia Clark, for instance- so did this movie make me completely re-think things I never gave a second thought to before. That's the power of movies, and that's why this one ranks so high on my list.
4. Baby Driver
Okay, what can I say- this one's just, quite simply, a guilty pleasure. It's not trying to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, it just moves along, marching to the sound of its own funky drummer. If this had been Edgar Wright's debut feature, critics would have been falling all over themselves with praise. As it stands, it's John Waters' movie of the year, and you're not gonna hear me arguing with that.
Baby Driver is basically Wright's take on a Tarantino-style film, and like his stuff, music plays a decidedly important part of the proceedings. Wright reportedly was inspired to do this film by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's epic "Bell Bottoms," which, fittingly, opens the movie with an appropriate bang, as our hero, Baby (Ansel Elgort, The Fault in Our Stars) serves as a getaway driver- hence the title (well, that, and the classic Simon & Garfunkel tune that closes out the movie).
After that, we get a fab opening title sequence, in which Baby bops along to his music, as slivers of the lyrics are highlighted in the credits- it's genuinely one of my favorite opening title sequences ever. What really drove this home for me, in terms of the music, was how similar it was to the way I myself approach music- as the literal soundtrack to my life.
I can't tell you how many times I've timed stuff out to certain songs, and being OCD, you better believe that I had a pretty precise concept of how long a song is, and back in the day of mix-tapes, I used that accordingly to make sure no part of the animal was wasted, if you know what I mean.
For instance, did you know that the three opening tracks of The Cars' classic debut album are all 3:44 in length? And that three more songs on that album clock in at nearly 4:14 each? Needless to say, it's one of my fave albums, and not just because the music rocks- it's all so symmetrical! Like a finely-tuned engine, one might even say. (See what I did there?)
Baby Driver is also one fine-tuned machine, and it hums along to the beat of the music, as befits a movie that oft times-out set-pieces to the music. It's like a long-form music video from MTV's prime, complete with an elaborate plot, and I mean that as a compliment.
I love everything about this one, too, from the great cast (we'll forgive Wright for the unfortunate casting of Kevin Spacey, the only blemish on this otherwise fine vehicle, as he knew not what he was dealing with until it was too late- but at least Spacey plays an asshole, in what may well prove to be his final bow on the big screen), to the superlative soundtrack (which runs the gamut from T.Rex to Beck to Run The Jewels), to Wright's excellently-timed stunt-car driving set-pieces and directing prowess.
Reportedly, Wright is working on a sequel to what has proved to be his most critically-praised, commercially successful film ever. Where do I sign?
3. Wind River
Honestly, this could have easily been my favorite movie of the year- these lists are honestly pretty arbitrary, when you get down to it. Whatever the case, it's a damn shame this one didn't get more awards love- I can only attribute it to fall-out from the Weinstein scandal (this was one of the last movies he produced before his downfall) because it certainly couldn't be because of the level of quality across the board.
Jeremy Renner, in arguably his finest work to date, stars as Cory Lambert, a US Fish and Wildlife Service agent that comes across the dead body of an 18-year-old girl, who was clearly raped.
As the incident took place on an Indian Reservation- the titular Wind River- there's a lot of politics to deal with, even more so when a somewhat green FBI agent played by Elizabeth Olsen (also in fine form) comes to investigate, an outsider in a strange land that seems like a foreign country to her.
Things only get more complicated from there, culminating in an action sequence that is riveting in its realism and for what's at stake. Not since Heat has a film so realistically depicted what being in the middle of a mass shoot-out must actually feel like, and how each moment counts.
Writer Taylor Sheridan (Sicario, Hell or High Water), making his motion-picture directorial debut here, completely nails it, unpacking a very complicated scenario bit-by-bit, piece-by-piece, until there's nothing left to unpack, and what we're left with is the fact that nothing is going to change the fact that a life was unnecessarily taken, for no good reason.
As with many of the films on this list, this one deals with toxic masculinity, how women are forced to deal with it on a daily basis, and how it can often end in tragedy. But just as the perpetrators here are forced to pay the ultimate price for their trespasses, so are those IRL being called to task for their own, making this quite the cathartic experience, especially for those of us whose lives have been touched by such violence- which is proving to be a whole lot of us, as it turns out.
As you might have guessed, I love a movie that reflects current culture, even if it wasn't necessarily aiming to, and how ironic is it that a movie that seeks to expose such crimes was among the last of one who actually perpetrated such things? You can't make this stuff up, people.
Wind River sort of reminds me of a better version of the old Val Kilmer vehicle Thunderheart, with a healthy dose of something like The Accused, only with a more tragic ending. I can't recommend it enough, and if it makes you feel better, Weinstein's name has been completely scrubbed from the record on this one- it's nowhere to be found on the home video version. Thankfully, his victims have had their say, thus ensuring this perp's actions also won't go unpunished. Too bad we can't get a firing squad on THAT one.
2. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Another one with real-life repercussions, this one actually affected the real world, rather than reflecting actual events that had already happened. As we speak, some people are actually taking to billboards to make their voices heard, much as the character played by Frances McDormand here forces the issue by taking out advertising space on the titular billboards to make her own voice heard, after the local police fail in their duty to do anything about what happened to her daughter, who was raped and killed and left by the side of the road like trash. Who can blame her?
Much as we're seeing the frustration with gun violence come to a boil recently, with teenagers and their parents rallying to actually get something done about it, so does McDormand's character's actions spur the police to action, though not without some controversy on both their end and hers, as not everyone approves of her "guerilla tactics"- much as some aren't too happy about the ones happening IRL. Truly, life imitates art and art imitates life and back again in these confusing times we live in.
McDormand, as per usual, brings her "A"-game, but so does the excellent supporting cast, which includes a fine turn by Sam Rockwell ("rock"-solid as always) and Woody Harrelson, who's done some of his finest work this year, between this, War for the Planet of the Apes and The Glass Castle, to say nothing of the excellent work he did in years prior in Edge of Seventeen and True Detective. All three got much-deserved Oscar nods this year.
I love how the film smoothly avoids the pitfalls of a lot of movies like this, thus making it not quite like any movie in the process. Characters here aren't fully good OR bad- they make mistakes, and some of them even- gasp!- learn from them. In other words, they feel real. Granted, we're living in a time in which some people are all too inflexible in their belief system, but I sincerely believe that is slowly-but-surely changing, as people find themselves sick and tired of the way things are nowadays.
Once again, this one as with many of the films on my list, falls firmly within the Year of the Woman, but also within the Year of Protest, both of which continue to make ripples in 2018, and will hopefully continue to make actual change happen, instead of people just putting up with this shit like they have in the past for all too long. Hopefully, filmmakers will continue to make movies like this as well, which we could use more of.
1. The Shape of Water
To me, few films captured the beauty of life better than this one, and it's about a mute woman in love with a fish man! On paper, it certainly sounds ludicrous, and you can see where professional weirdo Guillermo Del Toro would have trouble getting it made, not in the least as it was originally his pitch for the proposed remake of The Creature of the Black Lagoon! (I can only imagine the looks on the suits' faces when Del Toro pitched said vision.)
But Del Toro was undeterred, and managed to scrape together a scant $19 million to realize his vision for a film that has astonishingly already grossed $92 million and counting, a number that will undoubtedly rise if the film wins some of the many awards its up for at the Oscars. Granted, that's chump change by Hollywood standards, but given the abject failure of Universal's planned Dark Universe films, I'll bet they wished they had been more willing to take some risks on Del Toro's unique vision.
Granted, even as a hardcore fan (note that one of my first posts was about him and he's the first one I've posted about twice- and this blog has only been up and running about a month), I'm willing to admit that he can be hit-or-miss at times. Pacific Rim wasn't my favorite and Crimson Peak could have been better, but overall, when I love his stuff I really love it, i.e. The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy movies.
With the possible exception of Labyrinth, this may be his finest work to date, combining everything he loves about movies into one irresistible package. I mean, when's the last time you saw a monster movie that featured old Hollywood musical homages, with a fairy tale romance between the monster and the female protagonist to boot. (Okay, there's Beauty and the Beast, but I'm not sure I'd call that a monster movie, really.)
Then there's that cast, with a stand-out turn from the always-likable Sally Hawkins, who gave the little girl in War for the Planet of the Apes a run for her money in the mute protagonist department, and garnered an Oscar nod for it. Between the scene in which she taunts the Michael Shannon (at his most intimidating, and that's saying something) character and the one where she confronts her neighbor and friend, played by the excellent Richard Jenkins, Hawkins might well have this one in the bag.
Factor in exquisite set design and cinematography and great sound design- I found myself thinking back to the superlative work by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (particularly Amelie and Delicatessen)- and Del Toro's boundless imagination, and you have a modern-day monster movie classic that holds its own with any other you can name, while managing the mean feat of reflecting our own troubled times in the process, like all the best films on my list.
It's all here: problematic politics, government meddling and cruelty, immigrant and gay shaming, women being seen as second-class citizens and harassed flagrantly, and all concerned standing up for what they believe in, no matter what the cost- even the villains of the piece.
As such, I couldn't help but pick it as my favorite movie of the year- no other movie quite captures the zeitgeist of the moment like this one, IMHO. And that it manages to do so under the guise of a monster movie, and with horror being my favorite genres- with Del Toro one of my fave proponents of it- I mean, what a perfect storm of film-making this is. I foresee myself watching this one MANY times in the future, and you should check it out, too ASAP, if only once.
Well, that about does it for my list. Thanks so much for reading, and for bearing with my politics, lol. Hope you enjoyed the journey, and with that, we can get back to the business of reviewing movies, both old and new! 😃👍
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