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| One of my many adventures at the movies this year. (Kips Bay AMC) |
Hello again! Welcome to my annual top
But there will be a few surprises, I'm sure. There were definitely a lot of surprises for me. There are movies on this list I never thought would be there. Some of the honorable mentions below the main list could have easily made it depending on the day.
But here's how I see it now:
12. All the Money in the World
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| One of Williams' best performances to date |
One of the last movies I saw this year so it's fresh in my mind, All the Money is an amazing look at the mind of the wealthy and the lengths they'll go to keep that wealth. I'm sure Kevin Spacey in age make-up would have been great, but I'm glad they replaced him with Christopher Plummer. An impressive feat, to have filmed all his scenes in over a week, Plummer gets right into the role. According to director Ridley Scott, Spacey played the role completely cold. Plummer did too, but there are moments of warmth and humanity there underneath. It's a completely multi-layered performance that could earn him an Oscar nomination. But controversy aside, the real star of this film is Michelle Williams. Her performance as the momma bear who would not rest, not give up, not let the men in her world dictate her actions until her son was home safe was solid and powerful. She completely transforms herself into Gail Harris in both looks and voice. It's an amazing story - but powerful actors and good writing made it even more so.
11. The Square
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| The wackiness of The Square |
The Square is described as a satirical drama about the modern art world - but it doesn't feel like satire to me. It's more of a depiction of some extraordinary things that happen in the life of a modern art museum director in a few weeks of his life. What I loved most about this film was the realness of the people, despite having to deal with unreal situations. They don't just brush things aside. They act exactly as you are I would act if we saw some of things they see, experience the things they experience. Every action has its consequence, good or bad, and the film doesn't shy away from this. There are complete stories here and The Square leaves the audience satisfied, feeling good and possibly leaving the theater in a dream-like state remembering the images they just saw. (It's also just so....Swedish)
10. It
Unlike last year, this wasn't a great year for Horror movies. There are only two of these on my list this year. A lot of people had problems with It - mostly about the story not following the book enough, I guess. I love horror movies but I rarely find horror movies that scare me. It definitely did. It wasn't about jumping from a sudden loud noise either. Jump scares don't do it for me. It's about truly
scaring the audience with frightening imagery that fuel your irrational fears; mostly those that crop up in our childhood. What made us afraid of that weirdly humming radiator or that weird painting of a lady looking directly into our souls...or a two foot doll that walked and sang french songs. (sorry, that last one was mine. True story.) It's that irrationality that conflates with real life horrors - and that's what IT brilliantly takes advantage of. That, plus a great group of child actors to really sell it.
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| Clowns. Are. Scary. |
9. The Post
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| Watch these two. They're going places. |
The Post is about a government trying to stop the media from doing its job and informing the people what they need to know. It came out in the perfect year. It's fast-paced, well-written & brilliantly acted by two kids you may not have heard of: Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep. It's truly their year to shine; maybe Hollywood will finally take notice of these two. All kidding aside, Streep's "b-plot" was what truly endeared me to this film and probably what put it on this list. It's something another director or writer may have ignored or thought not relevant, but here - especially in this year, the subject of women in power was all too important to ignore. The film starts with Streep nailing questions thrown at her by her lawyer to get her ready for an all important board meeting where she is the only woman. She knows all the answers, but once she's in the boardroom, she feels too intimidated to say them aloud. She mutters one under her breath, and of course a male colleague says it louder and takes the credit. I loved her journey and growth in this film and I'm grateful it wasn't ignored.
8. The Shape of Water
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| How do you sign "fuck you" again? |
I was lucky to see this film where there was a talkback afterwards with Guillermo del Toro and some of the actors. He wrote every role with each actor in mind and you can instantly see why. Sure, on the surface, it's about a woman who falls in love with a fish(man). But there's so much more here. Firstly, the visuals are no less than spectacular, which you just expect from del Toro. There are brilliant performances from Sally Hawkins (who says so much without saying anything at all), Octavia Spencer, Richard Jenkins, Michael Stuhlgarg (an actor I've just come to discover this year because of two films on my list), and Doug Jones (an actor you may not know because you don't generally get to see what's underneath his masked performances) & of course Michael Shannon as a scary mofo. But again, like a few films on my list, it's what was underneath that I loved. Two of the characters in this film set in America's 1960s backdrop are a black woman & a gay man. This was no accident. They could have been used as a metaphor - and they were somewhat - but they were two well-rounded and fantastic characters with dimensions and purpose and stories of their own and played radiantly by Octavia Spencer and Richard Jenkins. They're both heroes in this film of friendship and love.
7. Colossal
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| That moment you wake up after a night of drinking and think... what did I do last night? |
This was a truly unexpected find. I knew I'd like it because - sci-fi, Anne Hathaway - how can you go wrong? The film can get frustrating because it pushes the characters and situations to the limit - where you think it's going one way and you think everything is going to go wrong and - well let's just say Colossal is always full of surprises. Just when you think it's going to be cliche, it veers off into a brand new direction. There's so much more I can write but I'm afraid I'd spoil things so...just go watch it. :)
6. I, Tonya
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| Margot Robbie looking her best. |
There's a moment in I, Tonya, where you think these performances are great - but they have to be totally over-the-top. They can't be real. And then you see interviews of the actual people and you think, "No....no that was actually pretty accurate." I think I was a little bit biased going in because this was the scandal of my childhood. But it turned out, I really didn't know as much as I thought I did. The movie was funny, sure, but it was also incredibly raw at times. It took genre-mixing to a new level - so much so that it sometimes made you feel guilty for even laughing. "The incident", as it's referred to in the film, is a very small part of the narrative. I, Tonya is mostly an understanding of who Tonya Harding is and what made her who she is. And Margot Robbie knocks it out of the park. The film works because she (and the filmmakers) make you feel for this person you once thought of as only a 1990s late night talk show punchline. And of course, Allison Janney almost steals the show as Tonya's awful stage-mom.
5. Lady Bird
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| Typical coming-of-age shenanigans, amirite? |
This one was a surprise for me because I'm not always fond of Greta Gerwig's.....schtick...for lack of a better word. But here, she's a first-rate director and writer in this coming-of age film. The film is so fast-paced; it makes its point and then moves on. It never drags or gets old and you feel like you're going on this journey with Lady Bird. Saoirse Ronan is so different here to her Brooklyn performance. Besides the accent, she appears to have de-aged into teenage-hood and completely sells it. Her co-stars Lucas Hedges and Timothée Chalamet also have their moments to shine, but the true supporting star here is Laurie Metcalf as Lady Bird's mom. Their relationship on the surface is a bit of train-wreck - but both Metcalf, Ronan & of course Gerwig work effortlessly to show how deeply multi-layered that relationship is, though flawed it may be.
4. Get Out
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| Daniel Kaluuya |
The Golden Globes classify this film as a "Musical or Comedy", Director & Writer Jordan Peele calls it a "Documentary." I'd say Peele is more accurate, but I can definitely see the humor. I'd still call it what it is: Horror. I've always thought the best Horror targets the fear of our times - and this film certainly fits the bill. Although it could be said that it targets the fear of the last few hundred years in America. It's not surprising that a film like Get Out wasn't made before today, but I'm sure the idea has been out there. People often say that racism has gotten better because we've gotten past slavery. But... Racism hasn't necessarily gotten better - it's just changed. We had a black president for 8 years. He had his flaws, like all presidents, but he did a lot of great things in his time in office. America's response to this? Elect a megalomaniac, racist, idiot to replace him. How did this happen? While not directly, Get Out addresses these things. The film translates the fear of black men and women of today into a horror setting because that's how a lot of people feel - like they're trapped in a horror movie. It's an insanely powerful narrative based on truth.
3. Call Me By Your Name
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| Elio & Oliver steal away to share a kiss |
I fell hard and fast for this film. I identified with it, but was also surprised by it. It's a film that made me cry from both sadness and happiness, and I was surprised that it was mostly with happiness. Gay films have evolved so much since I was a teenager or even a 20-something. Most gay-themed films were tragic- either one or both leads died, were insanely heart-broken, or chasing after the straight boy. This film - just made me happy, while still not going easy on its lead. First crushes are hard - insanely hard - and yes, it's worse when you're gay. Especially 30-40 years ago. You didn't have a lot of basis on what to do, romantically, sexually, anything. You didn't have heroes or idols to look up to. You had to figure out everything for yourself. I had a small problem with Armie Hammer being cast in this film. While he was way better than I've ever seen him, "Oliver" is supposed to be 24 years old. Armie Hammer does not look 24 years old. It wouldn't have been a problem if Timothée Chalamet didn't look the age "Elio" is supposed to be: 17. 17 & 24 isn't much of an age difference but 17 & 30-something, is. That said, this film still made me feel every emotion in the book and that was mostly due to Chalamet's performance. He let me go back in time and travel this journey with him. Every thought and idea and emotion Elio had could be seen on Chalamet's face. And I lived all of it before and now. Elio's father, played by Michael Stuhlbarg, also gives a stand-out performance as a liberal and understanding father. I'm surprised I've never heard of him but I'll definitely keep my eye out for him now. He had two stand-out performances in films this year (The Shape of Water mentioned above,) and he also had a great role in this season's Fargo.
2. Brigsy Bear
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| The titular character. |
This was another surprise. People ask me all the time what movies I've seen lately and what I think is the best of the year so far. Brigsy Bear came out very early in the year but has just stayed with me. And I'm surprised how often I tell people about it. And of course I get the "huh" face, because it seems no one's heard of it but me. Every year I have a movie on the list that's just so incredibly feel-good. This is that year's movie. It's hard to tell the plot of the film without giving away key moments, so I'll just say it's about a grown young man who is still obsessed with his favorite childhood show. That's really all I can say about the plot because I don't want to give anything away. But what I love about this movie is that it constantly surprises me - not necessarily with plot twists - but by human behavior; human behavior that you want to expect but you don't normally see. It's about how we treat people who are different than us. And it's about how we should treat people.
1. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Why doesn't Frances McDormand work more? She's an amazing actor - and this is her best performance and character since Fargo. And that was more than 20 years ago. This film elicits so many emotions. It's laugh out loud funny, it's tragic, it's thoughtful. It's so well written. The characters grow and change and feel. They're so multi-layered and wonderful to watch. But the film also plays with you, it gut punches you when you least expect it; it can turn on a dime and you're right there with it. That's the power of good cinema. Much credited to the writer and director Martin McDonagh - but also to the performances of Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson & Sam Rockwell.
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| Sam, Don't fuck with Frances McDormand |
Honorable Mentions - Dunkirk, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Battle of the Sexes, Mudbound, Coco, In God's Own Country, BPM, The Disaster Artist, The Greatest Showman, Baby Driver, Molly's Game & Phantom Thread
A few of the above honorable mentions would have made it on the main list on another day. Movies are all about how you're feeling at the moment - but all of these are here for a reason. Dunkirk is gorgeous, beautifully shot, emotional and probably the best edited movie of the year. Coco is one of the most beautiful Pixar films I've ever seen. The Disaster Artist is funny as hell, but moreso if you've seen The Room. Molly's Game, BPM, Phantom Thread, and Mudbound are all so wonderfully acted. Phantom Thread in particular has Daniel Day-Lewis, one of America's best actors & two actresses I'd not known before but will look for now. Vicky Krieps & Leslie Manville hold their own with Day-Lewis and the movie has some of the most complicated characterizations I've ever seen portrayed on film. In God's Own Country is another gay-themed movie that just made me feel good. The Killing of a Sacred Deer didn't have the same impact as The Lobster had on me, but it still packed quite a punch. Baby Driver & The Greatest Showman were just a lot of fun. Yes, I enjoyed the hell out of myself during The Greatest Showman, shut up.
Just another note. This was truly a year for female actors. There were so many more memorable performances by female actors than male actors this year. That's partly due to there being more believable and well-written parts for women. That said, we still need more female writers and directors out there.
1.
Split
2.
The Founder
3.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
4.
Rings
5.
John Wick II
6.
Lego Batman Movie
7. Get Out
8.
The Cure for Wellness
9.
Logan
10. Before
I Fall
11. Raw
12. Kong:
Skull Island
13. Beauty
& The Beast
14. Trainspotting
2
15. Their
Finest
16. Life
17. The
Belko Experiment
18. The
Boss Baby
19. Colossal
20. Lost
City of Z
21. A
Quiet Passion
22. How
to Be a Latin Lover
23. Guardians
of the Galaxy 2
24. Sleight
25. Snatched
26. Alien:
Covenant
27. The
Girl with all the Gifts
28. Captain
Underpants
29. It
Comes at Night
30. Megan
Leavey
31. The
Big Sick
32. Rough
Night
33. Baby Driver
34. Bad
Batch
35. Okja
36. The
Beguiled
37. Despicable
Me 3
38. Spider-man
39. A
Ghost Story
40. War
for the Planet of the Apes
41. Wish
Upon
42. Valerian
43. Dunkirk
44. Brigsby Bear
45. Atomic
Blonde
46. Wind
River
47. Detroit
48. Girls
Trip
49. Annabelle:
Creation
50. The
Lovers
51. Ingrid
Goes West
52. Good
Time
53. Logan
Lucky
54. Beach
Rats
55. The
Vault
56. Landline
57. Marjorie
Prime
58. IT
59. Mother!
60. Brad’s
Status
61. The
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
62. Friend
Request
63. Victoria
and Abdul
64. Stronger
65. Battle of the Sexes
66. Blade
Runner 2049
67. American
Made
68. The
Florida Project
69. Marshall
70. Cult
of Chucky
71. The
Babysitter
72. Happy
Death Day
73. Susanne
Bartsch: On Top
74. Wonderstruck
75. They
76. Geostorm
77. The Killing of a Sacred Deer
78. Lady Bird
79. In God’s Own Country
80. The Square
81. Thor:
Fraggle Rock
82. Three Billboards
83. Thelma
84. Murder
on the Orient Express
85. B.P.M.
86. The
Breadwinner
87. Wonder
88. The
Man Who Invented Christmas
89. Coco
90. Mudbound
91. The
Meyerowitz Stories
92. Naked
93. 1922
94. What
Happened to Monday
95. Call Me By Your Name
96. The
Darkest Hour
97. The Shape of Water
98. The Disaster Artist
99. Beatriz
at Dinner
100. The Hero
101. Roman J Israel, Esq.
102. Loveless
103. I, Tonya
104. Star Wars
105. Ferdinand
106. Beyond Skyline
107. The Greatest Showman
108. The Post
109. Downsizing
110. Happy End
111. Jumanji
112. Pitch Perfect 3
113. Molly’s Game
114. All the Money in the World
115. The Little Hours
116. Lego Ninjago
117. First They Killed My Father
118. Phantom Thread
