Journal: 2017 in film

[StevePulaski]

Vince Vaughn in Brawl in Cell Block 99.

My Favorite Films of 2017:

1. A Ghost Story: If you're not careful, and you go into David Lowery's new film A Ghost Story with a patient, open mind, you might emerge more introspective and aware of your own feelings and place in the world. The film can be a meditation on almost anything you want it to be. Life, death, greed, ego, legacy, grief, and purpose are what I immediately extracted, and obviously some of that is drawn from personal experience and opinion. French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard once said that "art attracts us only by what it reveals of our most secret self," and A Ghost Story is one of the only American films of the decade - up there with Richard Linklater's Boyhood and Terrence Malick's Tree of Life, both of those films inspirations and influences for this particular picture - I've seen brave enough to illustrate that so poignantly.

My full review of A Ghost Story, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5687/ghost-story

2. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri deserves all the praise, hype, and smoke it's been getting and will continue to get as it presumably marches itself to some deserved Oscar nominations in the most-discussed categories. It's an effective flurry of emotions that once again, like Wind River this year, shows the impact one — just one — death can have on a plethora of people, and how the energy brought on by some of humanity's most powerful emotions can lead to something so audacious. It's a gut-punch of a film, but not without its own disarmingly funny sense of humor to it that'll make up for however Wind River or Hell or High Water managed to ruin your night without giving you just a little to laugh about.

My full review of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5862/billboards-outside-ebbing-missouri

3. Lucky: Lucky isn't thematically profound, but it's damn-well hilarious and nimble in its perspective on growing old and recognizing your days are indeed numbered. Most importantly, it's a beautiful legacy film for Harry Dean Stanton, who sadly died in September of this year. For an actor that always played the eccentric or weather-worn characters in so many films, the culmination of his presence and life lives up to the name of this feature, which so artfully compliments him as an actor.

My full review of Lucky, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5886/lucky-2017

4. Molly's Game: Molly's Game is the directorial debut of writer Aaron Sorkin, whose terrific screenplays have been the basis of films like David Fincher's The Social Network, Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs, and the acclaimed HBO drama The Newsroom. Sorkin's success as a screenwriter has been fascinating, not simply because of his praise or the fact that his writing consistently results in uniformly well-made projects, but because his works are the rare ones that are defined and distinctive due to his prowess with words and crafting individuals. I hesitate to call his writing "realistic" in the denotative sense, for I feel the characters he writes do not speak like living, breathing human-beings; their dialog is far too neat and on-point. It's the way he penetrates the psyche of those he writes and illustrates their motivations on-screen that crackles with intensity, and in many instances, makes us wish real-life unfolded in this compelling, three-act manner that would make for an engaging, if exhausting life.

My full review of Molly's Game, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5903/mollys-game

5. The Big Sick: The Big Sick does a terrific job at balancing its breezy but often uproariously funny comedy with moments of heartfelt drama. Both aspects of Kumail Nanjiani's incredible story of love and romance never get in the way of the functionality of one or the other. The comedy never undercuts the drama in the form of an ill-timed penis joke, and the film is not written in the way that needs to end every scene with a quip or a zinger. In fact, a handful of scenes in the film end on an awkward note, almost like we cut away too quickly or one of the actors forgot their lines. Moments aren't as climactic as we've grown accustomed to nor does a big saving grace in the form of a savior character or a miracle ever elbow their way on-screen. The Big Sick is bravely committed to showing the real, ugly side of things in a way that feels naturalistic and deeply humanist, as well.

My full review of The Big Sick, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5665/big-sick

6. Detroit: The saddest thing about Detroit is this should be a time capsule movie. The kind of film we look at like 12 Years a Slave or Lincoln and quietly whisper to ourselves, "that's crazy, how could they do that?" or even uttering the more debatable, "that doesn't happen today, thank God." But instead, Detroit is a movie about a problem that is still prominent today; still interwoven in the fabric of America bearing the same disgraceful, inconsequential outcome. After addressing a costly war's effect on soldiers in addition to the largest terrorist manhunt in the history of the United States, Bigelow turns her camera on a much more difficult domestic problem that has claimed many innocent lives. Although its name, "police brutality," is becoming a bigger buzzword in the zeitgeist, it's not meriting any easy fixes or any kind of fast-action in terms of legal repercussions to prevent such incidents from ever becoming incidents in the first place.

My full review of Detroit, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5697/detroit-2017

7. Patti Cake$: Geremy Jasper has an unabashed triumph in his debut feature Patti Cake$ as it proves more real than a broken leg, hotter than summertime, and sicker than an overcrowded hospital. Featuring a knockout performance from a character actress in the making and surrounded by a movie with equal amounts of brash attitude, the film comes from behind in a year filled with great female leads and gives us another one to root for in a less conventional but more realistic sense.

My full review of Patti Cake$, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5727/patti-cake

8. Brawl in Cell Block 99: The violence in Brawl in Cell Block 99 is ghastly and gruesome, comparable in some ways to this year's masterpiece The Belko Experiment, but not without merit for its frankness. It's not the hyper-stylized Tarantino bloodbath you might be expecting, where every kill or shot is accompanied with a maniacal laugh nor is it martial arts-infused repetition as seen in something like The Raid: Redemption. Noses are broken, knuckles are bloodied, faces are scraped off, jaws are snapped with the help of the floor, electric shocks are carried out, necks are snapped, and bullets fly for a good third of the film's 132 minute runtime (appropriately long, I might add). It's unnerving and regrettably satisfying, and thanks to Zahler artfully employing full-shots, we get to see all the combat unfold and never feel lost as a result. It's one of the unsung stylistic achievements of the year.

My full review of Brawl in Cell Block 99, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5884/brawl-cell-block-99

9. The Belko Experiment: The Belko Experiment is a taut, nihilistic horror-thriller and a truly gripping one at that. Its ugly fascination with the most deep-seated rage that bottles up inside a person during times of great distress and its depiction of the utter hopelessness of those who try to remain calm and collected in those same moments is as engrossing as it is spine-tingling. This is also the first film I've seen in recent memory that has no problem killing off one of its main characters in such a remorseless, unceremonious manner that it occurred to me the character might as well have been a totally new face. It's in these small ways that the film is bold.

My full review of The Belko Experiment, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5478/belko-experiment

10. Roman J. Israel, Esq.: Roman J. Israel, Esq. is one of the best character studies to emerge this year. Denzel Washington plays a fictional character that feels more-lifelike and realized than some real-life figures that have been to committed to film as of late. One thing that makes Washington's titular character so human is his personal politics surface over the course of the film, through symbolism that also shows a changing world that is quickly excluding him and people like him. A film this topical, densely crafted, and humanly chiseled is likely one that people will see years from now and kick themselves for not having seen it sooner.

My full review of Roman J. Israel, Esq.,http://stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5868/roman-israel-esq

Honorable Mentions: Get Out, Logan, and The Shape of Water.

[StevePulaski]

The cast of Baywatch.

My Least Favorite Films of 2017:

1. Slamma Jamma: I suppose it's not that surprising that a film by the name of Slamma Jamma is not a very good movie, but I would argue that it's surprising a film with that title is both grossly incompetent but privileged, having made it into over 500 theaters in the United States. Cheaply made, shockingly wooden, and not the least bit convincing in an acting or a writing sense, this is one of the first times I've exited a film with the feeling that it could pander to the midnight circuit of cinema cultists not for its propaganda message nor its corny and comical nature, but its sheer, embarrassing ineptitude that still somehow inspired director Tim Chey to leave his name on the project instead of Alan Smithee's.

My full review of Slamma Jamma, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5496/slamma-jamma

2. Let There Be Light: Let There Be Light is an awful motion-picture, an unmitigated disaster, put mildly. It's a sloppy production crossed with abysmal writing from Sorbo, who use his passion project to suggest that atheists are abusive, self-absorbed alcoholics with no sense of a moral compass or compassion. The film is all of this while catering to the public's fears of ISIS and a secular world in order to generate undeserved praise. I slammed Slamma Jamma for being a film that was so incompetent it couldn't even bring itself to use its faith as a plot-device in a way that was even remotely convincing. Let There Be Light knows how to use its faith to pander, and in doing so, it has made the most offensively bad movie I've seen all year.

My full review of Let There Be Light, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5832/light-2017

3. Fifty Shades Darker: I'm sure everyone who made and acted in Fifty Shades Darker are wonderful people, but they have teamed up to make a stomach-turning excuse, not only of a romance movie, but of the BDSM community as a whole. Even worse than its mediocre, directionless predecessor, Fifty Shades Darker is an offensive glorification of abusive relationships as it cheapens kinky sex with the same bland treatment as it did in the past. The incongruities of Anastasia and Christian's power dynamics come through in a more glaringly obvious way than they did before thanks to awful dialog and what appears to be a frustrating contempt for a community that already sees itself as ostracized from the mainstream.

My full review of Fifty Shades Darker, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5442/shades-darker

4. Boo 2! A Madea Halloween: Not only is it a classic case of a run-of-the-mill cash-grab sequel churned out at the speed of light, Boo 2! A Madea Halloween is an ensemble with a record-breaking number of awful performances and obnoxious characters. Released on the same weekend as its predecessor the year prior, this is a dire sequel with such a low-opinion of its performers, succumbing them to writing that suggests someone promptly extract the pen from his hand or unplug the computer the next time Tyler Perry makes a move to get another Madea project off the ground.

My full review of Boo 2! A Madea Halloween, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5808/boo-2-madea-halloween

5. Baywatch: Much like I'd assume indulging in a TV Land marathon of the 1990s show on which it is based, Seth Gordon's Baywatch is an ass-numbing slog, one minute shy of two hours but about 119 minutes shy of a good joke. Continuing in the long line of Hollywood movies made from second and third-rate television programs (The Dukes of Hazzard, Bewitched, and this year's CHiPS just to name a few), Baywatch adheres to the decidedly low quality standard of those films by exhausting its budget on its two leading men, a handful of action setpieces, and Photoshop skills in order to make the features of co-stars Alexandra Daddario, Ilfenesh Hadera, and Kelly Rohrbach pop as if they exist in some man cave of male masturbatory fantasy. To watch this film for 119 minutes was a grueling task, but could you imagine subjecting yourself to star in it?

My full review of Baywatch, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5586/baywatch

6. Lemon: Janicza Bravo's Lemon presents a cross between Adult Swim absurdity and Quentin Dupieux (Rubber, Wrong) weirdness that scarcely comes close to actual comedy. The ambition of Bravo and co-writer/lead actor Brett Gelman appears to be to make the audience as uneasy as possible, filling this unassuming work of anti-comedy to the brim with affectless performances, obtuse musical numbers, deadpan dialog, and tightly framed camera-shots. All of these forces culminate into one of the strangest and most insufferable films of the year.

My full review of Lemon, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5874/lemon-2017

7. Wakefield: I would rather subject myself to feeling the truly awful parts of all four seasons from my garage than sit through Robin Swicord's Wakefield. It tells the horribly problematic and terrible story of a selfish businessman with a mostly stable family and an upper middle-class house in the suburbs who gets to a certain point of being unable to face reality (in the form of his nagging wife), prompting him to decide to live in the attic of their detached garage. Because of the garage's location, he can stare out its window and watch day-to-day life unfold for his wife and two daughters, all while avoiding responsibility, and remarking about his wife's ineptitude as his face becomes devoured by a straggly beard.

My full review of Wakefield, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5712/wakefield

8. Bigger Fatter Liar: Big Fat Liar is one of the minor classics of my generation. It's not a Disney film, it's not an animated film, and it's not by any means a terrific film that should be regarded for its meaningful life lessons or morals. Starring Frankie Muniz and Amanda Bynes in their prime - both of whom mostly retired from acting - the film was an enjoyable "kids rules" tween film, largely succeeding off of the charisma of Muniz and Bynes together and the acting ability of Paul Giamatti, who has always been a master of not always taking performances too seriously. Now, fifteen years later, we have one of the most worthless followups I can think of to any film, especially one that was apparently so hard to conceive a sequel for, they had to resort to essentially remaking the film. Despite being billed as a sequel, stand-alone or within the Big Fat Liar Cinematic Universe I'm still trying to figure out, Bigger Fatter Liar is basically a remake of the 2002 comedy, featuring two young actors who would be so lucky to have a career half as noteworthy as Muniz or Bynes'. Barry Bostwick should also be wishing he went back to Transsexual, Transylvania rather than commit to such trite.

My full review of Bigger Fatter Liar, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5541/bigger-fatter-liar

9. Pitch Perfect 3: Pitch Perfect 3 is a crass embarrassment that cheapens the formula of its predecessors by turning the female ensemble into a plethora of shallow, catty stereotypes. With all the makings of a sellout sequel and a tired cast going through the motions of their characters, the film effectively discards the graces of its first two installments by emulating the brash exterior of "Fat Amy," Rebel Wilson's beloved character. It's adopted a premise with no limits, with no loyalty to the charm that made it such a joy to experience initially, and lacks dignity by selling itself short of its concept. It's one thing when you find a way to incorporate other a capella singing groups and key members of the Green Bay Packers into a film; it's entirely different when DJ Khaled pops up in one of the most useless supporting roles of the year and you trade lively musical numbers for ugly action sequences.

My full review of Pitch Perfect 3, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5899/pitch-perfect-3

10. The Shack: There are a few words I don't like to use as a film critic. They are words I find too often misused or inflammatory; they are used more for effect and due to emotional impulsiveness. However, every now and then, a film comes along and really tries my patience enough to make me pull out a word from my sacred bank and, today, that word is "propaganda," which accurately describes The Shack. This film is a thoroughly loathsome guilt-trip that condescendingly tells the audience that if they can put their worries aside and disregard totally rational, natural fears, that God will forgive them and the ones they love. Anyone can do it. In addition, it's a story of a father who justifiably harbors hate and contempt for a man that has abducted and killed his daughter and he's told by heaven-sent representations of God, Jesus, and the holy spirit that this makes him a flaming hypocrite on the same playing field as the murderer who took his daughter from him. Most illogical.

My full review of The Shack, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5468/shack-2017

Honorable Mentions: Fist Fight, Naked, and A Question of Faith.