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2017 in Film: Critical Lists, Articles & Misc. Discussion


Disco Stu

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Every year, the film critic David Ehrlich makes a fantastic montage/video essay/whatever detailing his best films of the year.

 

These are an annual must-watch for me.  He always does a great job and I always come away with a bunch of movies I want to see.

 

If you don't watch this you're missing out!

 

THE 25 BEST FILMS OF 2017: A VIDEO COUNTDOWN from David Ehrlich on Vimeo.

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Jay, he's picking scenes across different movies that make sense to edit together.  It's about finding interesting visual connections across very different movies.  Jesus Christ.

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Why so angry Stu?  Wow.

 

Anyways, this guy's taste doesn't line up with mine.  No War for the Planet of the Apes at all (wtf?) and Dunkirk at #2, a film I didn't like at all

 

A good reminder that I still need to see Personal Shopper and Okja.

 

Thanks for posting!

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43 minutes ago, Jay said:

 

A good reminder that I still need to see Personal Shopper and Okja.

 

 

I had never heard of Personal Shopper!  I started Okja over the summer and lost interest partway through I think?  I only have a vague recollection.  I was probably half asleep, maybe I'd like it I tried again.

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Personal Shopper's been on my radar for a while.  Kristen Stewart seems to have a nack for picking good indy films to be in

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Wasn't Personal Shopper a 2016 film? I recall a couple of these being 2016 films.

 

There are some interesting choices here and some that I've been meaning to check out. Although putting a Nolan film, especially one like Dunkirk, so high above a PTA film makes me immediately suspicious...

 

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Just now, KK said:

Wasn't Personal Shopper a 2016 film? I recall a couple of these being 2016 films.

 

There are some interesting choices here and some that I've been meaning to check out. Although putting a Nolan film, especially one like Dunkirk, so high above a PTA film makes me immediately suspicious...

 

 

He's using US release dates.  It released in the US in March apparently.  And yeah, he really liked Dunkirk more than a lot of people I think.

 

I'm interested in that movie Columbus he has in the top 10.  Seems like it could be a good quiet drama.

 

And of course I was happy to see The Post at #9.  Here's hoping I like it that much too!

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1 minute ago, Disco Stu said:

I'm interested in that movie Columbus he has in the top 10.  Seems like it could be a good quiet drama.

 

I've never even heard of that one. But I'm curious about it.

 

Good Time and The Florida Project have been on my list for a while.

 

 

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Can't wait for Phantom Thread. I'm looking forward to seeing Dunkirk, too; the DVD's due out in a couple of weeks.

 

I watched A Bigger Splash yesterday and liked it a lot, so Call Me by Your Name (Ehrlich's #1) should be interesting.

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9 minutes ago, Glóin the Dark said:

A Bigger Splash

 

Still on my list!  I've heard great things about Fiennes' performance.

 

That Emily Dickinson movie is on my list too, A Quiet Passion.  Very much up my alley (well-done, vibrant, non-stodgy period dramas)

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Good video as usual. I approve at Dunkirk at being #2 too as well, since it's in my top five currently, lol. 

 

Now I think I need to check out All These Sleepless Nights, The Lure and Foxtrot, and hopefully Call Me By Your Name comes to my local theater. 

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Several of those films I haven't seen yet: ALL THESE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS, THE LURE, BABY DRIVER, LADY MACBETH, A FANTASTIC WOMAN, FOXTROT, THE BIG SICK, WONDERSTRUCK, A QUIET PASSION, THE POST, FACES PLACES, LADY BIRD, COLUMBUS, THE FLORIDA PROJECT, PHANTOM THREAD, GHOST STORY, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME. Some of them, I have little to no interest in seeing, others have been on my 'wish list' for a long time. CALL ME BE YOUR NAME, for example, which has a 2018 premiere in Norway. I also stood hours in line to see THE FLORIDA PROJECT in Cannes, but never got in. It was such a buzz film at the time.

 

One of the films I've seen, but didn't care for at all (MOTHER!), and some I've found only mediocre (THE BEGUILED, OKJA, GET OUT).

 

But for the remaining, I see eye to eye with David. THELMA, GOOD TIME, PERSONAL SHOPPER and DUNKIRK are all fine movies.

 

I'm waiting a couple more weeks before I launch my own list, but top 10 contenders so far beyond the ones mentioned above (with Norwegian 2017 premieres) include ELLE, NERUDA, THE LOST CITY OF Z, ALIEN: COVENANT, THE RED TURTLE, SPLIT, MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, VOYAGE OF TIME, VALLEY OF SHADOWS, SPIELBERG, NOCTURAMA, GHOST IN THE SHELL, JUPITER'S MOON, CHRISTINE, DAVID LYNCH: THE ART LIFE, CHILDHOOD, BEYOND DREAMS, THE HANDMAIDEN, MOANA, LOGAN, I DANIEL BLAKE, THE WAY WILL COME, WINTER BROTHERS, THE SQUARE, GRADUATION, LITTLE WING, 24 WEEKS, HOGGEREN, SEALERS: ONE LAST HUNT. Yes, I'm aware several of these are 2016 films in their original premiere/country of origin.

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I hope Willem Dafoe gets the supporting actor Oscar for it.  I haven't seen the movie yet, but he's one of those amazing character actors who should just have an Oscar already

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I changed the title of this thread to be more generally about discussing 2017 "Year in Film" articles/lists/miscellany.

 

I like this piece that Variety published where directors flatter other directors whose movies they loved this year:

 

http://variety.com/gallery/directors-on-directors-get-out-lady-bird

 

A few of my favorites:

 

Damien Chazelle (La La Land) on Christopher Nolan and Dunkirk

Quote

What Christopher Nolan achieves in “Dunkirk” feels like something he has been building toward his whole career. It’s cinema as music — a continuous, breathless flow of images and sound that feels elemental and primal. For such a giant motion picture, depicting such an epic event, it is simplicity itself. Faces, bodies, land and sea and sky. It reminded me of the lessons of silent cinema — when you strip away everything but the essentials, you can look at the real beating heart of a thing.

....

 

Rian Johnson (LooperThe Last Jedi) on PTA and Phantom Thread

Quote

I look forward to a new Paul Thomas Anderson movie the same way I look forward to a new album by a favorite band — I know its images and rhythms and moments are going to take up residence in my head, and long after I leave the theater it’ll be a living thing I converse with and filter the world through.

 

That’s a damn rare thing for any film, and “Phantom Thread” is among Paul’s damnedest and rarest. It has a lush and delicately engaged vigor that evokes David Lean’s romances, though it is always beguilingly idiosyncratic and entirely its own beast. The performances are densely layered wonders and the visual design is exquisite, but the real magic of it is how the thing as a whole transcends technique.

 

Edgar Wright (Baby DriverHot Fuzz) on Joe Wright and Darkest Hour

Quote

while we have made very different movies, I have long admired Joe’s remarkable rise and sense of narrative adventure. He tackles both classics and new screenplays with a vigor often missing in our industry. He’s always curious and always reaching, never resting on his laurels, nor licking his wounds over disappointments for very long.

 

In the last year we bonded over professional disappointments and rebounded with new movies. Joe’s rousing return to the big screen, “Darkest Hour” is about an icon most see as an indomitable bulldog who is really an underdog wracked with self-doubt. I hesitate to say that this comeback mirrors Churchill himself, as Joe has a full head of hair and a comparatively trim waist.

 

But what Joe does with “Darkest Hour” is make a big screen experience that could be a chamber piece in other hands. He creates room for great actors (and not just a formidable Gary Oldman) to do sterling work and gives this historical chapter a style and form that befits both the past and the present.

 

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It is kind of annoying and I don't think it's pedantic.  A leftover of snobbery about movies and TV.  "Oh, Lynch didn't make a TV show, he made an 18 hour film."  It's a TV show, and that's not downgrading it in anyway.

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Lynch and Showtime have consistently called it an 18 hour film since inception, and its pre-production/production/post-production were done like a film (i.e. not episodic, everything filmed in a block, and then going through the 18 hours in post from department to department - editing, picture, sound, etc) instead of episodic.  If an 8 hour multi-part doc about OJ Simpson was considered a documentary feature last year, there's an argument to be made here. (I know that the Academy has since altered their rules on that front).

 

As far as awards consideration goes, I'm 99% certain that they'll submit it to the Emmys and not the Oscars.  But since the director considers it a film, and it was designed and created in the same as a film, and not like a TV show - if a publication wants to consider it a film, it's justified IMO.

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The New York Times critics have put up their lists.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/movies/best-movies.html?action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

 

Do read the article, both are very good at writing succinct blurbs (an art in itself)

 

A.O. Scott

1. The Florida Project

2. Lady Bird

3. Get Out

4. I Am Not Your Negro

5. Faces Places

6. Phantom Thread

7. A Fantastic Woman

8. Graduation

9. A Quiet Passion

10. War for the Planet of the Apes

 

Manohla Dargis

1. Dunkirk

2. Ex Libris: The New York Public Library

3. Faces Places

4. The Florida Project

5. Get Out

6. Lady Bird

7. Okja

8. Phantom Thread

9. A Quiet Passion

10. Wonder Woman

 

I know Jason will be happy to see WFTPOTA in a major critic's list.  Interesting that both used the no. 10 slot for their tentpole blockbuster of choice.

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I saw 11 movies from 2017 (my 12th and last will be Star Wars), so here is my very exhaustive Best of 2017 list!

 

1. Get Out

2. The Big Sick

3. Wonder Woman

4. War for the Planet of the Apes

5. Thor: Ragnarok

6. It

7. Logan

8. Guardians of the Galaxy 2

9. Spider-man Homecoming

10. It Comes at Night

11. Flatliners

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Wonder Woman on a top ten list?  Ye gods!

 

EDIT: I was referring to the critic who put it there, not Troxy

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Wonder Woman was, in my opinion, a wonderful 100 minutes followed by mostly a loud 30 minute fart (although the resolution of the fight was nice).  But the highs of the beginning - everything on Themyscira, the London scenes, No Man's Land and its aftermath, and the spy plan at the castle - put it over some other maybe more consistent blockbusters on my list, despite the dumb villain reveal stuff and smash-em-up.  In my opinion, a really lovely ending would have had no Aries (Diana discovers that no god is responsible for the war, that man is capable of atrocities, and then she rallies, and she/the crew fight back and win the day).

 

I'm very surprised to see serious critics throwing it on their list.

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Just now, mstrox said:

Wonder Woman was, in my opinion, a wonderful 100 minutes followed by mostly a loud 30 minute fart (although the resolution of the fight was nice).  But the highs of the beginning - everything on Themyscira, the London scenes, No Man's Land and its aftermath, and the spy plan at the castle - put it over some other maybe more consistent blockbusters on my list, despite the dumb villain reveal stuff and smash-em-up.  In my opinion, a really lovely ending would have had no Aries (Diana discovers that no god is responsible for the war, that man is capable of atrocities, and then she rallies, and she/the crew fight back and win the day).

 

I'm very surprised to see serious critics throwing it on their list.

 

I agree with mstrox!

 

If you click the article and read the blurb, it's clear that Dargis has a long history with Wonder Woman going back to her childhood, so it's definitely a factor. 

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1 minute ago, mstrox said:

I'm very surprised to see serious critics throwing it on their list.

 

I think the film's reputation has blown up over the year due to reasons other than its quality (first decent DC superhero flick, first woman-centric superhero film, first major superhero film directed by a woman, etc). Superhero films better than this have rarely received that sort of attention during awards season.

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I catch most movies on Redbox, unless they're special effects deals, but maybe my biggest 2017 movie regret is that I didn't see Get Out in a crowded theater.  ESPECIALLY for the tension/release in the last two minutes.

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Peter Bradshaw, in The Guardian, has announced this year's "Braddies", his annual list of nominations for film of the year. They are:

  • The Florida Project
  • The Death of Stalin
  • Call Me by Your Name
  • Blade Runner 2049
  • The Handmaiden
  • Get Out
  • The Love Witch
  • La La Land
  • Moonlight
  • I Am Not a Witch

There are also nominations for several other categories (though none for music).

 

On 12/4/2017 at 4:55 PM, Disco Stu said:

I've heard great things about Fiennes' performance.

 

Indeed, it's great. I knew hardly anything about the film before watching it, so the whole thing was a very pleasant surprise.

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21 minutes ago, Glóin the Dark said:

Peter Bradshaw, in The Guardian, has announced this year's "Braddies", his annual list of nominations for film of the year. They are:

  • The Florida Project
  • The Death of Stalin
  • Call Me by Your Name
  • Blade Runner 2049
  • The Handmaiden
  • Get Out
  • The Love Witch
  • La La Land
  • Moonlight
  • I Am Not a Witch

There are also nominations for several other categories (though none for music).

 

 

Indeed, it's great. I knew hardly anything about the film before watching it, so the whole thing was a very pleasant surprise.

 

Nice to see Iannucci on there.  Not out in America until 2018 sadly so it won't feature on American lists.

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On 12/6/2017 at 3:59 PM, Disco Stu said:

Nice to see Iannucci on there.

 

Yet another film that I meant to go and see but didn't out of sheer laziness, just like Mother!Dunkirk and Blade Runner 2049. Hope I can get my act together for Phantom ThreadThree Billboards somewhere, and the watery thing.

 

Here's another top ten list, from Mark Kermode (films released in the UK this year).

  • Raw
  • Moonlight
  • The Levelling
  • The Red Turtle
  • The Florida Project
  • My Life as a Courgette
  • Toni Erdmann
  • Blade Runner 2049
  • Get Out
  • In Between
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21 minutes ago, Glóin the Dark said:

 

Yet another film that I meant to go and see but didn't out of sheer laziness, just like Mother!Dunkirk and Blade Runner 2049. Hope I can get my act together for Phantom ThreadThree Billboards somewhere, and the watery thing.

 

Here's another top ten list, from Mark Kermode (films released in the UK this year).

  • Raw
  • Moonlight
  • The Levelling
  • The Red Turtle
  • The Florida Project
  • My Life as a Courgette
  • Toni Erdmann
  • Blade Runner 2049
  • Get Out
  • In Between

 

Some great selections here. I love RAW, THE RED TURTLE and TONI ERDMANN. BLADE RUNNER 2049 was OK, as was GET OUT. No more, no less.

 

But I severaly disliked MOONLIGHT. I don't understand what people saw in that.

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Fantastic premise; one of the best father-daughter movies I've seen! Squirmish at times, yes. But that's part of the appeal. Ultimately, the heart of the movie outweights the awkward situations. Can't wait to see Jack Nicholson in the father role, even though I'm a bit skeptical to the remake in general.

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4 hours ago, Glóin the Dark said:

 

Yet another film that I meant to go and see but didn't out of sheer laziness, just like Mother!Dunkirk and Blade Runner 2049. Hope I can get my act together for Phantom ThreadThree Billboards somewhere, and the watery thing.

 

Here's another top ten list, from Mark Kermode (films released in the UK this year).

  • Raw
  • Moonlight
  • The Levelling
  • The Red Turtle
  • The Florida Project
  • My Life as a Courgette
  • Toni Erdmann
  • Blade Runner 2049
  • Get Out
  • In Between

Kermode is great! Love the BBC 5 show he does with Simon Mayo!

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Guardian has completed the list of its top fifty films of the year (relative to UK release dates). The top ten are:

  1. Call Me by Your Name
  2. Moonlight
  3. The Florida Project
  4. Elle
  5. Get Out
  6. The Handmaiden
  7. Toni Erdmann
  8. Blade Runner 2049
  9. A Ghost Story
  10. Manchester by the Sea

There's also a US version of the list which excludes five of the above (MoonlightElleThe HandmaidenToni Erdmann and Manchester by the Sea) and includes four newer releases, allowing Lady Macbeth to move up a spot into the top ten:

  1. Call Me by Your Name
  2. The Florida Project
  3. Get Out
  4. Phantom Thread
  5. Lady Bird
  6. The Post
  7. The Shape of Water
  8. Blade Runner 2049
  9. A Ghost Story
  10. Lady Macbeth
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