Lost, indeed. I think a lot of us felt that way this past year. Every time we watched or read the news, outrageous and horrifying events were taking place, affecting so many in ways they never thought possible. And never wanted to. It's why I have the day job that I do...to use the privilege that I have, that so many others are denied, to help knock down these barriers that have been built between us. It's tough. I lose sleep over it, although I cannot imagine how it is affecting those marginalized by it. If there was ever a year that movies were a perfect escape, it was in 2017. The best movies of the year, I think, reflected our current anxiety...the desire to be loved, accepted, trusted, and to survive. Outside of that, the need to be remembered and that we mattered. There were some fantastic movies...so many, in fact, that for the second year in a row, I have made a Top 30. So, read on, agree, disagree, and let's discuss. I'll catch you on the flipside.
Lee
Notably Missed: BPM (Beats Per Minute), Nocturama, Princess Cyd, Thelma
Dishonorable Mention: Alien: Covenant, All Eyez on Me, The Circle, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Kong: Skull Island, Sleepless, Snatched, The Void
Wish I'd Loved: Baby Driver, Colossal, Dunkirk, Good Time, I, Tonya, Ingrid Goes West, It Comes at Night, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Okja, The Shape of Water
Honorable Mention: The Assignment, Beatriz at Dinner, The Big Sick, Brad's Status, The Disaster Artist, I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore., IT, Landline, Last Flag Flying, Logan Lucky, The Lure, Maudie, Most Beautiful Island, Song to Song, Split, Wonder Woman
30-21
30) Call Me by Your Name dir. Luca Guadagnino
29) The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) dir. Noah Baumbach
28) Marjorie Prime dir. Michael Almereyda
27) John Wick: Chapter 2 dir. Chad Stahelski
26) Personal Shopper dir. Olivier Assayas
25) Logan dir. James Mangold
24) Raw (Grave) dir. Julia Ducournau
23) The Beguiled dir. Sofia Coppola
22) First They Killed My Father dir. Angelina Jolie
21) Coco dir. Lee Unkrich
20-11
20) The Blackcoat's Daughter (February) dir. Osgood Perkins
19) The Lost City of Z dir. James Gray
18) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri dir. Martin McDonagh
17) A Quiet Passion dir. Terence Davies
16) Star Wars: The Last Jedi dir. Rian Johnson
15) Brawl in Cell Block 99 dir. S. Craig Zahler
14) Mudbound dir. Dee Rees
13) Rat Film dir. Theo Anthony
12) The Work dir. Jairus McLeary, Gethin Aldous
11) The Florida Project dir. Sean Baker
TOP TEN
10) Get Out dir. Jordan Peele
Film critic Walter Chaw accurately described it as a documentary. Smart, subversive, terrifying. With each viewing, the remarkable performances of Daniel Kaluuya and Betty Gabriel reveal even more layers.
9) A Cure for Wellness dir. Gore Verbinski
Gore Verbinski is our gutsiest genre filmmaker working right now, and his latest swings for the fences like no other movie this year. If its stunning visuals were not enough, the movie also manages to be a bracing commentary on wealth, power, and healthcare. Kudos to a major studio for backing this project. Hopefully its box office failure will not keep other movies this bold from being made.
8) Faces Places (Visages Villages) dir. Agnès Varda and JR
Two brilliant visual artists travel through France, sharing the importance of memories while creating new ones. Everyone deserves to be a piece of history.
7) Murder on the Orient Express dir. Kenneth Branagh
The happiest surprise of the year for me. Not just sweeping and epic in scope, the movie also compellingly explores guilt and redemption. That the next volume has been greenlit makes me absolutely giddy.
6) Lucky dir. John Carroll Lynch
Small town life perfectly realized while also being a sharply observed meditation on mortality. I am a bit saddened that more people aren't talking about how lovely and wonderful this movie is. Thanks to his incredible body of work, Harry Dean will always be with us.
5) Dawson City: Frozen Time dir. Bill Morrison
Film is a powerful tool, as it has the ability to preserve and understand our past, present, and future. An endlessly fascinating and eye opening documentary.
4) A Ghost Story dir. David Lowery
Does so much with so little, and profoundly so. Its only misstep is in a heavy dialogue scene, which speaks volumes to the potency of its images.
3) Columbus dir. Kogonada
Architecture provides comfort, sparks conversation, gives us common ground. A familiar setup is made strikingly new due to Kogonada's exquisite use of space. We get a real sense of how the atmosphere affects his characters as we see how they affect each other.
2) Phantom Thread dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Shades of Hitchcock and Cronenberg are woven into this tapestry of creation and obsession, the latter of which has become a PTA specialty. He's crafted an elegant work, full of surprises, rich performances, and unexpected laughs. Daniel Day-Lewis is fantastic, as expected, but the real MVP here is Lesley Manville. She says so much by saying very little.
1) mother! dir. Darren Aronofsky
This movie burrowed its way into my brain and refuses to leave. Its images haunt me, its layers astound me, its tenacity disturbs me, its very existence excites me. It is equal parts brilliant and pretentious, unapologetic and audacious. I have had longer conversations about it and spent more time unpacking it than any other movie I saw in 2017. There's not question about it...it encapsulates what I love about the movies. The fact that it explores artistic expression and creation and makes them living, breathing entities is just icing on the cake. And that doesn't even scratch the surface of what mother! is about. Love it or hate it, it will demand you discuss it and you will not soon forget it (I never will). Another masterwork from one of our bravest directors.
Thank you for visiting Hell and Beyond!
(c)Hell and Beyond, 2018
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