2017 EOTY Entertainment Lists • Page 4

my tv list:
1. mindhunter
2. the leftovers
3. the good place
4. legion
5. stranger things
6. marvelous mrs. maisel
7. big little lies
8. american vandal
9. riverdale
10. GLOW

 

2017 is the ten year anniversary of my taking film seriously. A bout of boredom led to seeing NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN on a matinee and it showed possibilities in the medium that were unclear after years of middling dramas and stale comedies. Back then, the biggest offenders in cinema consisted of Jason Reitman, Joe Wright, and Danny Boyle. They were wildly praised for such loathsome films as JUNO, ATONEMENT, and SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE and were rewarded with golden statues and enormous future budgets. Where are they now? While all three are still working, they have fallen far off of their ledges.

2017 has its fair share of false prophets, but what was sadder to see this year was the downfall of formerly great filmmakers. Yorgos Lanthimos just barely avoided making this list for the silly Michael Haneke-style THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER, and two of the directors that made this list suffered career lows. This is not a new phenomenon; Francis Ford Coppola has been a shell of himself for 35 years, and even some of the legends of the arthouse had their rough periods. However, having been a student of film for a decade, I have had to witness the rise and fall in real time, hoping against hope for a return to their former glory or for a third act miracle to bail out something that is dragging along.

However, before the top ten is revealed, a bottom five is in order. One cannot appreciate the highs without suffering through the lows; one cannot eat in a fancy restaurant every night or win in every contest. This list is incomplete for multiple reasons; firstly, there was no need to sit through SPIDER MAN 30 or STAR WARS 12 because there are things that are best moved on from at a certain point. If the list came out in a month, more likely there would be such films as ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD, JACKIE, and DARKEST HOUR. All these lists are incomplete by definition, so here are the five most painful experiences. It was a harder year than usual to find five; DUNKIRK and THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER had their problems but ultimately did not deserve to be on such a list.




5. THE BEGUILED
DIRECTED BY: SOFIA COPPOLA

Sofia Coppola was one of the very best filmmakers of the last decade, abandoning her acting career by starting off with the excellent THE VIRGIN SUICIDES and improving with the incredible LOST IN TRANSLATION and MARIE ANTOINETTE. However, over the last few years, she has seemed lost; THE BLING RING did not really have anything to say, and A VERY MURRAY CHRISTMAS was excellent but ultimately minor. None of Coppola's typical techniques can be seen here, instead shooting it as the most dour type of period film imaginable. It lacks the excellent musical cues Coppola is known for and the types of characters trapped in their own ennui that shehas examined so well, and she ends up playing it straight rather than going for something provocative.




4. ALIEN: COVENANT
DIRECTED BY: RIDLEY SCOTT

PROMETHEUS was a mess; it suggested all sorts of existential questions about the origin of life and creation but ended up answering nothing and becoming another horror ALIEN film. However, the ending, which had Shaw and David heading off to the Engineer planet, suggested a possible improvement in the franchise. Instead, Scott decides to make a film even more beholden to ALIEN and kills off the main character and the entire race of Engineers in a quick wrap-up prologue. It is every bit as insulting as the opening of ALIEN 3, which killed off all the characters people had come to relate to in the second film. It all ends in the weirdest "twist" ending, with David aboard the ship under another identity even though it was clearly telegraphed in the earlier fight scene. Luckily, the film did even worse financially than PROMETHEUS, so it can die peacefully, waiting to be resurrected in a few years like every other franchise.



3. OKJA
DIRECTED BY: BONG JOON-HO

A film that tries to criticize every part of the issue, it paints such a broad brush about environmentalism and animal welfare that it ends up saying absolutely nothing meaningful. Why does Bong Joon-ho think putting fake teeth and braces on his characters says something about their integrity or personality?




2. TOP OF THE LAKE: CHINA GIRL
DIRECTED BY: JANE CAMPION

The original miniseries was an effective, decidedly feminist crime thriller. What started as a simple investigation of a missing teenage girl ended up becoming an indictment on the patriarchy at large. Coming back years later, the series does some awkward cleanup of old characters, including a ludicrous fight between cop and prisoner. Campion tries to explore some of the same themes of feminine exploitation, but the whole thing is so unrelentingly silly that any intended message is lost.




1. MOTHER!
DIRECTED BY: DARREN ARONOFSKY

Aronofsky has been a terrible director for a long time; REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, BLACK SWAN, and THE FOUNTAIN are all grueling and unrelenting disasters. However, at least according to the credits, he somehow made THE WRESTLER, a deeply moving character study with a somewhat predictable but deeply tragic ending. It is enough to think he might become competent one day, but he is getting worse with age, making a passion project starring his child bride in the worst type of vanity project. It is just a bad Bible retelling for the first half or so, but Aronofsky is such a hack that he thinks having people kill and eat a baby is some sort of statement. It is a statement, but not the one he wanted; it is a statement of incompetence, and hopefully he never makes another film again

 

well hot diggity dog. this sounds like a better time then ever to write out my movie list for the year

1. Mother! (eat it tetra)
2. Get Out
3. Coco
4. Disaster Artist
5. Lady Bird
6. It!
7. Dunkirk
8. Three Bilboards
9. Baby Driver
10. Split
11. Shape of Water
12. Guardians of Galaxy 2
13. Wonder Woman
14. Battle of the Sexes
15. Star Wars 8

Bottom 5;
30. Life
29. Fist fight
28. Batman Lego
27. Resident Evil 8?
26. 47 Meters Down

overall a very strong year for movies in my opinion. I genuinely love or really like all the movies in my top 11 or so. And other than Life and Fist fight, i didnt despise any movie.

 

Way too early to start listing movies for me. Still a few that haven't even come out here yet, including one big one (Phantom Thread).

Stuff I'm considering for the top ten as of now though, in no particular order:

Logan Lucky
Blade Runner 2049
Brigsby Bear
The Shape of Water
Lady Bird
The Disaster Artist
Dunkirk
Get Out
Wind River
War for the Planet of the Apes
The Lost City of Z
The Big Sick

 

If I hadn't already seen Mother this would make me want to see it very badly

 

I really want to do a shows list but there's so much stuff I haven't watched yet. I'm currently trying to binge some of it while I'm on break so hopefully I can get through most of it.

 

Every year, there is a scramble to see everything before the end of the year. Unless you live in New York or Los Angeles, you simply are unable to see the independent and foreign films that are given limited releases. This year, PHANTOM THREAD, FACES PLACES, EX LIBRIS, and THE FLORIDA PROJECT highlight the biggest omissions. However, there is still plenty to celebrate this year.




10. A QUIET PASSION
DIRECTED BY: TERENCE DAVIES

Davies has spent years examining female desire in repressive environments, but here he may have found his best subject: Emily Dickinson, an artist who can express words and ideas that inspire so many while she suffers internally. She brings most of the tragedy upon herself, shutting people off with her own eccentricities and criticisms of others. However, she is a victim of her time; an Emily Dickinson in the 1800's finds few sympathetic options available with such Christian repressiveness and social mores. So many films set in this time are relentlessly stuffy, but Davies is able to express deeper feelings at a time where people were afraid to publicly express them.




9. GRADUATION
DIRECTED BY: CRISTIAN MUNGIU

The films of the Romanian New Wave are deeply critical of the post-Ceausescu Romanian capitalist experiment. While they never attempt to whitewash the horrors of the past, they are focused on how virtually everything in their society is for sale. What is the morality of that, especially if it is what everyone else in the country is doing? In the hyper-competitive collegiate entrance struggle, a father is willing to abandon all morality in order to help his daughter escape the dread of their country. In doing so, he brings about his own downfall, but it is not a moral tale; for every person caught, a hundred get away with it.




8. THE DEATH OF LOUIS XIV
DIRECTED BY: ALBERT SERRA

There is no nobility or beauty in death, especially when your doctors are injecting you with bull semen.




7. THE LOST CITY OF Z
DIRECTED BY: JAMES GRAY

In a post-scarcity society, our passions are what drive us. What starts as a routine assignment to settle a border dispute turns into a lifelong struggle to prove the existence of a lost city deep in the jungle. Percy Fawcett worries that he may have come too late to be glorious; the world is too modern and everything has been explored, but here he has a chance to prove himself and achieve the fame and glory that his shamed family would be proud of. It becomes a tale of obsession, and even though former colleagues and his family try to dissuade him, it becomes his white whale.




6. PERSONAL SHOPPER
DIRECTED BY: PERSONAL SHOPPER

People never really get over loss. They become hardened and full of emotional baggage, but they try their best to focus on the future and the present. In a more secular society, concepts of an afterlife are either mocked or ignored, but strangely a lot of these same people tend to believe in things like ghosts and spirits. "No", they say, "I saw one!", and you cannot convince them otherwise. She does not want to seem superstitious or irrational, but sometimes the things we face in life are beyond easy answers.




5. NOCTURAMA
DIRECTED BY: BERTRAND BONELLO

Most people do not want to confront any possibility of empathizing with or understanding terrorism. From the Bush Administration's story about Al-Qaeda hating America for its freedom to the almost immediate proclamation that the latest attacker had some sort of mental health issue, we refuse to deal with the fact that these people can be seemingly normal and walk among us without incident. While the attackers are young, like they so often are, they are multi-racial and seem to come from different economic ladders. Why they are doing what they did is never explained, and the way the government decides to deal with them eliminates the possibility that we will ever know. Thus the cycle will repeat itself, and we refuse to learn lessons every time.





4. THE ORNITHOLOGIST
DIRECTED BY: JOAO PEDRO RODRIGUES

"Werner Herzog: I believe the common denominator of the universe is not harmony, but chaos, hostility, and murder."



3. ON THE BEACH AT NIGHT ALONE
DIRECTED BY: HONG SANG-SOO

Heartbreak and loneliness absorb your time unlike few other emotions. You cannot really express it to anyone else; they will tell you that you will meet someone else or to move on. While we often do, sometimes you reach such a peak that it feels impossible to recover. You can try to live a normal life, having dinners with people and spending time talking about anything else, but it always stays there, lingering in your stomach, coming back when the alcohol or the jokes wear off.




2. SONG TO SONG
DIRECTED BY: TERRENCE MALICK

While Malick's newfound prolific nature has produced many exemplary works, they have all missed some of the emotional highs seen in THE TREE OF LIFE. Here we get a truly moving romance, one where we see the ambitions of people outweighing their dedication to each other. Jealousy muscles its way in, as the power and wealth of one lover far exceeds the man she is committed to. It takes an unexpected turn going forward, expanding to rebound relationships and the way we make the same mistakes over and over. It is still as purposely illusive and metaphorical as his last three films, but here are characters are more than just empty vessels for us to project onto.



1. TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN
DIRECTED BY: DAVID LYNCH

With over ten years since INLAND EMPIRE, it was easy to sit through episode after episode of seemingly unconnected links and Dougie Jones wandering around and think that Lynch had lost his unique perspective and skill. However, in one hour he takes the entire show, ignores the ongoing plot, and tells a tale of atomic bombs, skull crushing woodsmen, and a frog crawling into a girl's mouth. It was deliberately put in the middle of the series, meant to shock you and warn you where it was going. From there it was clear what Lynch was doing, and in an age of cynicism and reboots that fail to capture their old magic, the return of Agent Cooper and his declaration "I am the FBI" was one of the most moving moments in cinema.

Next year we have many interesting films to look forward to, such as:
ANOTHER TYLER PERRY MOVIE
GOD'S NOT DEAD 2
RAMPAGE: HOW DID THEY MAKE THIS A MOVIE?
AVENGERS 4
BARBERSHOP 4
STAR WARS 11
DEADPOOL 2: NOW WITH MORE CURSING!
SICARIO 2
JURASSIC PARK 5: JURASSIC WORLD 2: LOST KINGFOM
MAMMA MIA 2!
A BARBIE MOVIE
A SECOND NEW TYLER PERRY MOVIE
ROBIN HOOD AGAIN
HALLOWEEN 7
GOOSEBUMPS
ANOTHER HARRY POTTER SPINOFF
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 6
ANOTHER PURGE MOVIE
ANOTHER ANT-MAN MOVIE
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3
WRECK-IT RALPH 2

It will be as fun as usual.

 

Movies:

1) Bladerunner
2) Get Out
3) War for The Planet of the Apes
4) The Disaster Artist
5) Baby Driver
6) Raw
7) The Last Jedi
8) It
9) Split
10) Okja
11) Alien: Covenant (some of the most tense moments in film all year. Don’t @ me)
12) Warmachine

Tv:

1) Master Of None TIE 1) Better Call Saul
2) Mindhunter
3) Legion
4) Twin Peaks
5) BoJack Horseman
6) The Deuce
7) Fargo
8) Curb Your Enthusiasm
9) The Good Place
10) Stranger Things
11) Game of Thrones

 

Video games:

1) Horizon:Zero Dawn
2) Resident Evil 7
3) What Remains of Edith Finch
4) Persona 5
5) Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
6) Nioh
7) Destiny 2
8) Pyre
9) Prey

 

Don't know how you could dislike Life more than Fist Fight which doesn't mean I find Life to be great or anything but there is nothing worse than a comedy that isn't funny.

 

Of course I forgot IT, and Split. Two of my favorite horror of the year

 

Okja had a lot of problems, but the ending with the super pig farm, and slaughter house was pretty sad. Plus I love him as a filmmaker

 

This year has easily been one of my favourites post-2010 primarily down to the variety of films be they big budget superhero films to small budget horror it has been fantastic all the same. If next year can top this year I'd be surprised.

The lack of genuine disappointments was also great to see with several surprises mixed in there and quite frankly the only room for improvement would be in terms of animated films which haven't really gained any traction with me this time round.

 

my hatred for Life might be a bit extreme but i couldnt find one redeeming quality about life. Predictable, drivel, repetitive, bad characters, laughable ending, BORING etc etc. Fist Fight at least had a glimmer of promise with the premise and cast. With Life it's like, what the hell was the point of that.

 

I found it to be passable fluff and at least it managed to be that, a comedy that isn't funny is a total failure irrespective of casting and premise.

 

I have to wait for my movie list but here's my TV list

New shows
-Great News
-The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
-Handmaid's Tale
-Alias Grace
_Big Little Lies
-Legion


Newish
- Insecure
-The Good Place
-Riverdale
-Search party

Shows that are at least a few seasons in
-Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
-IZombie
-Bojack Horseman
-Brooklyn Nine-Nine


honorable mention- Maggie Gyllenhaal's performance on The Deuce was amazing even though the show never quiet clicked for me

 

'Wisdom of the Crowd' - Hollywood Reporter Critics Pick the Worst TV of 2017

jfc Twin Peaks and Curb are on there

 

What!?

 

Reverse Shot Top 10:

1. A Quiet Passion (Terence Davies)
2. The Human Surge (Eduardo Williams)
3. Personal Shopper (Olivier Assayas)
4. Ex-Libris: New York Public Library (Frederick Wiseman)
5. BPM (Beats Per Minute) [Robin Campillo]
6. Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson)
7. Nocturama (Bertrand Bonello)
8. Wonderstruck (Todd Haynes)
9. By The Time It Gets Dark (Anocha Suwichakornpong)
10. Faces Places (Agnes Varda and JR)

 

This has to be the first time a Malick hasn't made their list? (Not counting Voyage of Time)

 

I have only seen four of those, but they all made my list. I had never even heard of By the Time It Gets Dark.

 

That and Phantom Thread are the two I haven’t seen. It’s been on my radar for a while, but I haven’t kept up with new films that haven’t gotten a theatrical or festival screening here much this year.

The rest are all fantastic. I am very happy to see Wonderstruck on there. I’ve seen quite a bit of puzzling hatred towards it, but I adored the film.

 

Here's my lists of films now that no one cares anymore

Top 10:

1. Blade Runner 2049
2. Lady Bird
3. Get Out
4. Dunkirk
5. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
6. Logan
7. Wind River
8. Baby Driver
9. Atomic Blonde
10. The Shape of Water

Honorable Mentions (in no order):

Coco
Wonder Woman
War for the Planet of the Apes
Spider-Man: Homecoming
John Wick: Chapter Two
The Lost City of Z
Detroit
Logan Lucky
The Big Sick
Win It All

Worst Movies:

1. Fist Fight
2. Valerian
3. To The Bone
4. Pitch Perfect 3
5. The House
6. Free Fire
7. Ingrid Goes West
8. Beauty and the Beast
9. The Lego Ninjago Movie
10. Gifted

Most Disappointing Movies (in no order)

Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Ingrid Goes West
Landline

Biggest Pleasant Surprises:

Get Out
Power Rangers
Girls Trip

 

1. Blade Runner 2049
2. The Last Jedi
3. Dunkirk
4. Logan
5. Coco
6. GotG 2
7. Lady Bird
8. Brigsby Bear
9. mother!
10. War for the Planet of the Apes

HM: Kimi no na wa. (Your Name), John Wick 2, Baby Driver, Get Out, Wind River.

Worst movie I saw was We Are the Flesh (Tenemos la Carne).

I haven't seen Phantom Thread or The Shape of Water yet. This was the year of subversive blockbusters, it seems. Studios/directors taking existing IPs and creating something truly worthwhile out of them. As a fan of the genre, it felt like a weaker year for horror for me personally.

 

1. Dunkirk
2. Blade Runner 2049
3. The Last Jedi
4. Baby Driver
5. Get Out
6. John Wick 2
7. War for the Planet of the Apes
8. The Big Sick
9. The Shape of Water
10. Lady Bird

Honorable Mention: Wonder Woman, Three Billboards (this movie was great, but I think certain elements of it are problematic to the point where I can't put it in my top 10), Logan Lucky.

I've got a few sequels in my list, but I think overall this was a great year for original films. And the best sequels for me were the ones that really branched out and tried new things.

Brief thoughts on the top 5:
Dunkirk was one of the most tense viewing experiences I ever had. Literally don't think I've ever been gripped like that in a theater before. Similarly, Blade Runner was such an immersive experience. Incredible world building. Star Wars jumped from the 7th or 8th to 3rd after repeat viewings. No franchise sparks my imagination quite like Star Wars, which is probably the reason it is such a cultural phenomenon. Baby Driver is another that crept up the list with repeat viewings. Enjoyed it the first time, but I was a little underwhelmed. But, like all Edgar Wright movies, it really grows the more you watch it. I've only seen Get Out once, but I have not stopped thinking about it since then.

There's also a few movies I still want to see that were released from this year: Call Me By Your Name, Darkest Hour (if I can get past the Gary Oldman prosthetics), and Coco and I, Tonya. I suppose I want to see Jumanji too, but I'd be shocked if it was a top 10 contender.