Hi! A quick glance at the state of this blog, such that it is, reveals that I haven't posted anything since July of 2017. I wish I had a good explanation as to why, but I really, truly, have nothing to blame but laziness. I'd be surprised if anyone reads this at all but if you are feeling so inclined, here's my plan for what's going to happen moving forward.
First, I'm going to use this post to write short reviews and recommendations for the 9 2017 Best Picture nominees. Next, I'm going to use a separate post to catch up on the rest of the 2017 films I saw and never reviewed. Then I'm going to review Black Panther with its own post and hopefully get current again in time for the remained of what's to come in 2018. I'm planning another 2018 movie preview as well, we'll see just how ambitious a course this may be.
In all, I think that this year's best picture nominees were stronger top to bottom than in years past, and absolutely more interesting. Hollywood as a whole remains in a strange state of blockbuster obsession, but there are plenty of filmmakers doing amazing work out there - even if you'll need to find an art theater to actually see their work. So without and further ado, here are quick reviews of the 2017 nominees for Best Picture.
Call Me By Your Name Adapted from the acclaimed novel by Andre Aciman and directed by Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, Call Me By Your Name focuses on a summer romance between teenager Elio and doctoral student Oliver in 1980's Italy. The performances, best actor nominee Timothee Chalamet, Arnie Hammer, and the always great Michael Stuhlbarg really make this one pop, and the bucolic, tranquil Italian summer allows the film to truly take its time. This is my favorite film of the year, with the setting, scenery, and languid events of a long summer framing a passionate and ill-advised romance. A powerful, beautiful film. 9.5/10
Phantom Thread Writer/Director Paul Thomas Anderson is, simply, one of the best and most interesting 2 or 3 filmmakers working today. I wouldn't go as far as to say that all of his films are masterpieces, but even his misses are interesting. There Will Be Blood and The Master are, plain and simply 2 of the finest films of the last several decades. It goes without saying that Daniel Day-Lewis is simply one of the finest actors of all time, so the reunion of the artists responsible for There Will Be Blood is not to be missed. Reynolds Woodcock is an enigmatic and mercurial fashion designer in 1950's London, and Phantom Thread focuses on his relationship with Alma, his latest muse. This film is simultaneously gorgeous, disturbing, and a portrait of an artist, artistry, and the relationship that turns his world upside down. If DDL (who has announced his retirement from acting) wins best actor he'll tie Katherine Hepburn for the most wins all time & the fact that Vicky Kriebs wasn't nominated is an absolute crime. 9/10
Lady Bird Writer/director Greta Gerwig, known primarily as an actress up to this point, although that's now surely to change - created this charming & autobiographical coming of age story that is perfectly brought to life by star Saoirse Ronan. Set in the early 2000's, this flick hit close to home and struck a lot of fun and sentimental notes. It falls short of true greatness mostly due to hitting a ton of familiar and cliche indie notes and settling for a lot of easy jokes, but it's a sweet & sentimental portrait of a time and place that feels very familiar. Laurie Metcalf deserves her best supporting actress nomination as Lady Bird's mom, as most of the film's most powerful material is mined from that relationship. 8.5/10
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri I'm an unabashed fan of writer/director Martin McDonagh, and In Bruges is one of my absolute favorite films. This flick was a lot of fun, in a similar if more serious vein to In Bruges and Seven Psychopath, with an absolutely stacked cast. Frances McDormand deserves her accolades, Sam Rockwell is one of the most fun actors working, and Woody Harrelson makes every single thing he's in that much better. If there's a knock on this one it's that it's being treated like an important commentary on Trump's America instead of what it is - another fun movie from a very fun filmmaker. It's not crucial social commentary, but it IS a well-made, brilliantly acted black comedy that's occasionally hard to watch. 8.5/10
Get Out From writer/director Jordan Peele this one was one of the absolute surprises of the last year and a monster hit. It's not your traditional Best Picture nominee but there's something to be said for including outstanding examples of genres that typically don't receive much attention from the Academy. Star Daniel Kaluuya deserves all of the accolades he's received and he's having himself a heck of a year. At times this film kind of feels like an episode of Black Mirror but that's not necessarily a bad thing. A whip-smart script and a frantic pace combine to make a biting commentary on race relations that doubles as a highly effective thriller. 8/10
Dunkirk I feel like I've been typing "writer/director" a lot on this list, but Christopher Nolan is one of my absolute favorite filmmakers, and is responsible for the Dark Knight films, Inception and Interstellar in the last 10 years alone. So needless to say that a Chris Nolan film can be expected to be two things: exciting and innovative. Pairing such a groundbreaking filmmaker with the seemingly straightforward war story of the miracle of Dunkirk was an intriguing choice, and Nolan certainly delivered, with gorgeous filmmaking combined with a non-traditional narrative to really lend the film a feeling of dread that plays like more of survival story than a historical war drama. The acting is an afterthought given the nature of the narrative, but Mark Rylance in particular was great. 8/10.
The Post In a year that seems to be full of new filmmakers and up and comers, it seems appropriate that Steven Spielberg would be the one representative of Hollywood's old guard. There's nothing spectacular about this film, but it's tremendously acted, well-made, and impeccably timely. Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep would be great in absolutely anything, but the story of the Washington Post and the Pentagon Papers is a worthwhile one. 7.5/10
The Shape of Water Guillermo del Toro has been one of my favorite filmmakers for a while now, and his films, if not always great, are certainly always different and interesting. Here he presents a modern fairy tale set against the backdrop of the Cold War with a great cast. The Beauty and the Beast tale is fun and charming... but there are issues. First, too many of the characters are painted with the absolute broadest of brushes - I'm tired of Michael Shannon playing creeps and Octavia Spencer playing secretary types. They both deserve more. I'm not going to even get into the fish sex, but you know it's there. Abe Sapien forever. 7.5/10
Darkest Hour The world is seemingly Winston Churchill mad at the moment and maybe there's something to be said for nostalgia for a strong, steadfast leader during a time of mediocrity and failure. With that being said, Churchill was gross, and between this, The Crown, Dunkirk, and the rest of the Churchill nostalgia, I am Churchill'd out for all of time. It doesn't help that I fully feel that John Lithgow in the Crown was a better Churchill than Gary Oldman was, with all due respect to the legendary Oldman and his body of work, I just don't think that the cartoonish figure of Churchill is ideally suited to his gifts. Once I found out that the subway scene was made up I was "meh" on this one. 6.5/10. Of all the Best Picture nominees, this was the one that I could've skipped, make of that what you will.
So honestly, kind of out of nowhere the modern Planet of the Apes prequel series has become one of my favorite movie series. Featuring strong characterization, an incredible CGI performance from Andy Serkis, great effects, and unexpectedly thoughtful plotting, War for the Planet of the Apes quietly became maybe my single most anticipated film of the year, even before the reviews started to come out and it wound up with the highest Rotten Tomatoes score of the series.
So if you're out there thinking that these movies look dumb, I encourage you to give them a chance. Rise of the Planet of the Apes follows an exceptional young chimp named Caesar who is raised in secret by a scientist following an incident at his lab. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes shows us a burgeoning ape society as it buts up against the remnants of humanity following the devastating plague set off by the events of Rise. Enter: War. After the events of Dawn, co-existence between human and ape became all but impossible, and the future fate of the planet hangs in the balance.
The Good: this film is the largest in scope of the series, and that's absolutely a good thing. The framing and themes of the entire series to now become crystal clear as Caesar's struggle and arc come to their fateful conclusion. I won't go into too many spoilers but the epic biblical elements of the series really frame the whole endeavor in a brighter light. It's incredibly bold to frame your ape protagonist in messianic/biblical imagery, but it works, and the end result is the single best example of Judeo-Christian allegory in modern film. This flick and this series feels more like the epic films of old than it does its modern sci-fi brethren. None of this would work without the remarkable performance of Andy Serkis (most famously known, of course, as Golem in the Lord of the Rings films). He imbues Caesar with a fundamental humanity and sadness that rises above your typical CGI characters and makes Caesar, for me, one of the most memorable movie characters in any film of the last decade. With a title like War for the Planet of the Apes you know this film will be going to some dark places but writer/director Matt Reeves (his next film is crossfit Batman you guys) really takes this one in some surprising and unexpected directions. I think this film would potentially have been boring if it were nothing but battles and action sequences but its surprisingly subdued and rests on its fundamental "humanity" (insofar as CGI apes have humanity), as all of the films thus far have. Maurice remains the best non-Caesar character going, and Woody Harrelson's villain brings a larger than life menace, an epic foil to the proceedings. Despite the long runtime, this film feels like a great ending to a great series, and a potential jumping-off point to the classic Planet of the Apes scenario of film fame.
The Bad: honestly, I don't have very much to complain about here as I honestly thought this film was front to back great and want Andy Serkis to be nominated for best actor, but the Steve Zahn comic relief character is just... too much. These are dark proceedings, to be sure, with the film not shying away from slavery, war, genocide, bondage, civil rights, and SOME comic relief was surely needed, but his character is preposterous. The long runtime (2 hrs 20 mins) drags in parts as well.
Ultimately, for fans of the series, this is surely the best one. Caesar is simply an incredibly memorable character done in a genre-defying way. The scope, ambition, and execution of this flick make it rise above your typical blockbuster fare in a way that will (hopefully) have you thinking about some big, epic questions. Personally, I loved the allusions, allegory and references to human history done in a clever, compelling way. I don't believe it's hyperbole to state that this modern Apes series takes its place among all-time great film trilogies.
