Year End Round-Up for 2017!!
Dec. 31st, 2017 08:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glitter_n_goreWE MADE IT!!!
Like last year, I'm doing a capsule write-up of every single thing I saw at the theater. I'm also including movies that came out on NetFlix this year because not having a theatrical release doesn't mean you're removed from the buzz. Again, this is by no means all of the movies I watched last year. Some landmark ones like Get Out, The Girl With All the Gifts and mother!, I wasn't able to see until they hit DVD and streaming. Otherwise, this is pretty much the same wrap-up post I did last year.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
I came very close to starting and ending with Star Wars, just like I did last year. So far, I still like this trend. However, this one had a very specific difference in the rewatch. When I first saw Rogue One last December, Carrie Fisher was still with us. By the time I rewatched it in January, she and Debbie Reynolds had passed. The oddness of seeing a CGI version of Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin was unsettling, but nothing could have prepared me for the gut-punch of seeing a young, fresh-faced Carrie Fisher on that huge screen. The fact that this happened on the rewatch is significant too, as I assumed I already knew everything that was going to happen and didn't steel myself for unexpected feels. This is why I rewatch movies. You never know how something is going to affect you the next time around.
Hidden Figures
I hate going out to theaters by myself. It's not a "rule" just a very strong preference. I broke away from that exactly once this year, for Hidden Figures. Why did I go alone? Because I couldn't find anyone to go with me. Why did I go anyway? Because it was important to me to support this film. The brilliant black women who built the American space race on the ground level have been almost entirely uncredited by history, even to kids like me who grew up in the same town where this remarkable story takes place. If you read the book by Margot Lee Shetterly (which I did), you'll find out that "story" is actually a myriad of many stories surrounding many lives and many years. The movie streamlines a number of anecdotes to give it a more cohesive, narrative feel, but regardless--watch it. Read it. Learn about these amazing women.
A Dog's Purpose
Mom picked this one, and she read the book first too. A dog goes through multiple lives in multiple breeds with multiple families. It's exactly as tear-jerky and twee as you think it is. But there's a place for that, and watching cute animal stuff with Mom is pretty much that place. You can pass a decent couple of hours with it.
Beauty and the Beast
I've reviewed this in full already, so I won't go into detail, but the bottom line still holds: the music is great, the scenery is luscious, but Emma Watson is significantly outclassed by everyone around her. There's not enough different between this and the cartoon version to warrant discussion really. It's pretty, it's romantic, and I saw it theaters (again) for my Mom because it is her favorite Disney movie. I've listened to the soundtrack a bunch, but only watched the movie the once. I don't expect that to change.
Sleight
The other Blumhouse production centered on a black protagonist that came out early this year, only this time nobody saw it and nobody cared. It's . . . okay. A solid, if predictable, superhero origin story halfway between the first Iron Man and Chronicle. It’s a bit safe and samey in most of the plot beats. Also, don't watch the trailer if you're even a little bit interested, because it gives away everything. And I mean everything. I wish this movie got more attention, but in a year of other untested but fabulous underdog movies, I understand why it was overlooked.
Guardians of the Galaxy 2
I did not appreciate this movie until I saw Lindsay Ellis's video essay tying her ~Feels to her own family history. Families and relationships are complicated in the Guardians 'verse, and that makes it resonate even with the silly space movie tone. There's a lot more of Nebula and Gamora, which is what I'm here for in the Guardians corner of the MCU, so I can enjoy that part of it at least. Although I'm still partial to the first Guardians over this one, it's fun and engaging.
Wonder Woman
The smash that saved (kind of?) the DCEU (possibly?) from total oblivion (look I haven't seen Justice League yet) and embarrassment. It's also the breakthrough woman-centered superhero origin story we needed. I have read dozens of different reaction posts to this movie, mostly from other women, and they all report tearing up at the No Man's Land scene. I did too, and I was surprised at how much I cared. Hell, I get weepy just thinking about it. There was some controversy and ickiness in a couple categories, unfortunately, (read this, also this), but the glass ceiling shattered by the No Man's Land scene is excellent enough that I had to see it in theaters twice.
Beatriz At Dinner
Thought-provoking, slow-paced, depressing as hell. Mom picked this one too, and while I thought it was incredibly well done, I may not have chosen to see this in theaters. The premise is Beatriz (Salma Hayak), a homeopathic physical therapist, shows up for her usual appointment at a super-rich lady's house. Through a series of ill-timed coincidences, Beatriz's car breaks down, and she winds up staying through said rich lady's dinner party. The result is an exercise in politely restrained but skin-crawling awkwardness due to clashes of class, race, and circumstance. I do highly recommend this one, but prepare to be gutted and uncomfortable.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
So this is basically a solid teenage coming-of-age story wrapped in a superhero plot. The focus is Peter Parker's struggle to navigate high school, keep his grades up, participate in his favorite academic extra-curriculars, maintain his friendships, get the girl, AND save the world all at the same time. He's a nerd in his element portrayed the way I remember actual nerdom in high school. We had TONS of friends with the same geeky interests and relished the time we got to spend doing field trips and high-fiving each other for kicking ass in our chosen fields. Also, Zendaya is a rock star, and you need her in your life.
Death Note
Okay. I have a theory. I haven't done much to back this up yet, but I think this movie right here? And the perfect storm of fan rage and satisfied newcomers tearing each other to bits, not to mention dragging the actual filmmakers into their pissing contest? THAT nonsense? Is what killed Film Twitter. Oh, it's still going, but I can't venture there without a sense of dread these days because I don't know what the kids are going to be angry about that week. It's a mess, and it's not this movie's fault, but this is when it really got bad. I liked it okay, parts of it pissed me off, and I still think the best Death Note movie is the criminally underseen L: Change the World, but y'all. Find a better hill to die on. The fallout over this movie was unnecessary.
Little Evil
A surprisingly charming, comedic retelling of The Omen. I know, I know. I was prepared for the funny parts because I am here all day for comedy-horror, especially if it's satirizing a classic of the genre I wasn't terribly fond of in the first place. I was NOT prepared for this to worm its way into my heart the way it did, much the way Damian ultimately wins over his stepfather in the movie itself. This movie is adorable, and heartwarming in an unconventional way. It's feel-good fluff for horror fans.
IT
Because I am a terrible daughter, I made my mom take me to see this to celebrate a promotion at work. It is the most fun I've had at the movies in at least ten years. Here's why I love seeing horror movies, especially ones with a lot of well-executed jump scares, in theaters: everyone in that room is glued to the screen. No one's checking their phones, no one's shuffling in late, no one's eating their popcorn too loudly. They are all right there with you in the sewer, in the dark, in the muck, yelling at the screen and cheering the heroes on. That's the brief, communal experience I always crave at the movies, and this year, it happened with IT. May the next chapter be just as great.
Gerald's Game
Stephen King did okay this year, didn't he? For an author who's absurdly popular and successful, but whose movies have historically been hit and miss, it's remarkable that he had not one, but two smash hits within a few months of each other. It probably helps that they are very different stories. IT is about the monsters of society and how strength in numbers and trust in your best friends can defeat them. Gerald's Game is about inner demons, the monsters that grow from having your trust betrayed, and the traps we set to avoid them until they break free--and how to manage the fallout when they do. It also has one of my favorite lines: "You're not real. You're only made of moonlight." I love movies driven almost entirely by a single performance inside a confined space, and this is an excellent example of that exact thing.
Thor: Ragnarok
A BILLION STARS!!!! I cannot say enough good things about this movie. So I'll just echo was I already said elseweb: Ragnarok is a queer space opera pride fest made of rainbow fireworks and lightning and I need to see it ten more times. It's also a biting, but feverishly fun, deconstruction of colonialism and displacement. I'm not exactly qualified to speak about that, so I'll link you to this fantastic essay from someone who is. Plus, the soundtrack! And the color palate! And Taika Waititi's weird dry humor! This is my hands-down favorite movie of the year by a wide margin, and with a year that also includes The Last Jedi and The Shape of Water, that's saying something.
The Man Who Invented Christmas
It is very difficult to find a movie that my mother, stepfather, and myself can all unanimously enjoy. But we found one! Despite my complicated feelings about Christmas overall, I have always loved A Christmas Carol. It's one of the things from my childhood that never seems to get kitschy or otherwise ruined by time. This movie has a new perspective, that of the author struggling to come up with his next big hit. I relate to that struggle SO well, you guys. I am forever haunted by characters and plot details that show up to pick my brain at the least convenient moments, so this felt very real to me.
Star Wars, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
Everyone I know either loved or hated this movie. I loved it, as did most of my friends, but honestly? I understand why it's been so divisive. Here’s a Star Wars movie that is both fueled by love for the franchise that came before it, and harshly critical of many of its tropes and traditions. It’s a completely different experience from the previous episode, The Force Awakens, which was all about rekindling a sense of adventure and bringing a new cast of characters into the fold. The Last Jedi pulls the rug out from under them, and the audience. This takes everything you thought you knew about Star Wars and turns it inside out. No wonder people found it disorienting and uncomfortable. But that's just the point. The Last Jedi wants you to question everything in order to rebuild this world from scratch, and make it better. It took me halfway in to realize that's what was happening, but once I did? I couldn't get enough.
The Shape of Water
I just watched this yesterday, so I’m still not finished processing everything I’d like to say about it. This movie is beautiful, tragic, hopeful, heart-wrenching, romantic, violent, and uncanny. In short, it’s everything I’ve come to expect from director Guillermo Del Toro. He took one of his favorite classic monster movies, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and reimagined it as a Gothic romance. To be clear, it’s not Gothic in the same aesthetic sense that Crimson Peak was. The imagery, tone, and soundtrack are more evocative of a quaint French romance from the 1950s than a darkly erotic thriller set in a haunted castle. But that’s the thing about a Gothic sensibility: the setting and the plot trappings are not as important as the way it makes you feel. It’s strange and wondrous, a way to see magic and beauty in things others see as monstrous.
This has been a really interesting year. We always get inundated with sequels and remakes from one franchise or another, but this year in particular was heavily driven by nostalgia. Craving the neon videogame aesthetics of the 80s? Ragnarok has you covered. Want to revisit a holiday classic in a new light? Check out The Man Who Invented Christmas. Want to see your favorite Disney Princess played by Hermione Granger? Go for Beauty and the Beast. But you know what? That's not a bad message at the end of a particularly tumultuous year. Yes, remember all the good stuff we love from our childhoods. Yes, savor the nostalgia that comes with that. And yes, it's a mess right now, but it's a mess worth wading through to create something more complete and inclusive. That's what hope does. Art made with hope tells us a lot about where we are, what we're afraid of, and what kind of world we want to live in.
Good night, Happy New Year, and May the Force Be With You.
Like last year, I'm doing a capsule write-up of every single thing I saw at the theater. I'm also including movies that came out on NetFlix this year because not having a theatrical release doesn't mean you're removed from the buzz. Again, this is by no means all of the movies I watched last year. Some landmark ones like Get Out, The Girl With All the Gifts and mother!, I wasn't able to see until they hit DVD and streaming. Otherwise, this is pretty much the same wrap-up post I did last year.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
I came very close to starting and ending with Star Wars, just like I did last year. So far, I still like this trend. However, this one had a very specific difference in the rewatch. When I first saw Rogue One last December, Carrie Fisher was still with us. By the time I rewatched it in January, she and Debbie Reynolds had passed. The oddness of seeing a CGI version of Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin was unsettling, but nothing could have prepared me for the gut-punch of seeing a young, fresh-faced Carrie Fisher on that huge screen. The fact that this happened on the rewatch is significant too, as I assumed I already knew everything that was going to happen and didn't steel myself for unexpected feels. This is why I rewatch movies. You never know how something is going to affect you the next time around.
Hidden Figures
I hate going out to theaters by myself. It's not a "rule" just a very strong preference. I broke away from that exactly once this year, for Hidden Figures. Why did I go alone? Because I couldn't find anyone to go with me. Why did I go anyway? Because it was important to me to support this film. The brilliant black women who built the American space race on the ground level have been almost entirely uncredited by history, even to kids like me who grew up in the same town where this remarkable story takes place. If you read the book by Margot Lee Shetterly (which I did), you'll find out that "story" is actually a myriad of many stories surrounding many lives and many years. The movie streamlines a number of anecdotes to give it a more cohesive, narrative feel, but regardless--watch it. Read it. Learn about these amazing women.
A Dog's Purpose
Mom picked this one, and she read the book first too. A dog goes through multiple lives in multiple breeds with multiple families. It's exactly as tear-jerky and twee as you think it is. But there's a place for that, and watching cute animal stuff with Mom is pretty much that place. You can pass a decent couple of hours with it.
Beauty and the Beast
I've reviewed this in full already, so I won't go into detail, but the bottom line still holds: the music is great, the scenery is luscious, but Emma Watson is significantly outclassed by everyone around her. There's not enough different between this and the cartoon version to warrant discussion really. It's pretty, it's romantic, and I saw it theaters (again) for my Mom because it is her favorite Disney movie. I've listened to the soundtrack a bunch, but only watched the movie the once. I don't expect that to change.
Sleight
The other Blumhouse production centered on a black protagonist that came out early this year, only this time nobody saw it and nobody cared. It's . . . okay. A solid, if predictable, superhero origin story halfway between the first Iron Man and Chronicle. It’s a bit safe and samey in most of the plot beats. Also, don't watch the trailer if you're even a little bit interested, because it gives away everything. And I mean everything. I wish this movie got more attention, but in a year of other untested but fabulous underdog movies, I understand why it was overlooked.
Guardians of the Galaxy 2
I did not appreciate this movie until I saw Lindsay Ellis's video essay tying her ~Feels to her own family history. Families and relationships are complicated in the Guardians 'verse, and that makes it resonate even with the silly space movie tone. There's a lot more of Nebula and Gamora, which is what I'm here for in the Guardians corner of the MCU, so I can enjoy that part of it at least. Although I'm still partial to the first Guardians over this one, it's fun and engaging.
Wonder Woman
The smash that saved (kind of?) the DCEU (possibly?) from total oblivion (look I haven't seen Justice League yet) and embarrassment. It's also the breakthrough woman-centered superhero origin story we needed. I have read dozens of different reaction posts to this movie, mostly from other women, and they all report tearing up at the No Man's Land scene. I did too, and I was surprised at how much I cared. Hell, I get weepy just thinking about it. There was some controversy and ickiness in a couple categories, unfortunately, (read this, also this), but the glass ceiling shattered by the No Man's Land scene is excellent enough that I had to see it in theaters twice.
Beatriz At Dinner
Thought-provoking, slow-paced, depressing as hell. Mom picked this one too, and while I thought it was incredibly well done, I may not have chosen to see this in theaters. The premise is Beatriz (Salma Hayak), a homeopathic physical therapist, shows up for her usual appointment at a super-rich lady's house. Through a series of ill-timed coincidences, Beatriz's car breaks down, and she winds up staying through said rich lady's dinner party. The result is an exercise in politely restrained but skin-crawling awkwardness due to clashes of class, race, and circumstance. I do highly recommend this one, but prepare to be gutted and uncomfortable.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
So this is basically a solid teenage coming-of-age story wrapped in a superhero plot. The focus is Peter Parker's struggle to navigate high school, keep his grades up, participate in his favorite academic extra-curriculars, maintain his friendships, get the girl, AND save the world all at the same time. He's a nerd in his element portrayed the way I remember actual nerdom in high school. We had TONS of friends with the same geeky interests and relished the time we got to spend doing field trips and high-fiving each other for kicking ass in our chosen fields. Also, Zendaya is a rock star, and you need her in your life.
Death Note
Okay. I have a theory. I haven't done much to back this up yet, but I think this movie right here? And the perfect storm of fan rage and satisfied newcomers tearing each other to bits, not to mention dragging the actual filmmakers into their pissing contest? THAT nonsense? Is what killed Film Twitter. Oh, it's still going, but I can't venture there without a sense of dread these days because I don't know what the kids are going to be angry about that week. It's a mess, and it's not this movie's fault, but this is when it really got bad. I liked it okay, parts of it pissed me off, and I still think the best Death Note movie is the criminally underseen L: Change the World, but y'all. Find a better hill to die on. The fallout over this movie was unnecessary.
Little Evil
A surprisingly charming, comedic retelling of The Omen. I know, I know. I was prepared for the funny parts because I am here all day for comedy-horror, especially if it's satirizing a classic of the genre I wasn't terribly fond of in the first place. I was NOT prepared for this to worm its way into my heart the way it did, much the way Damian ultimately wins over his stepfather in the movie itself. This movie is adorable, and heartwarming in an unconventional way. It's feel-good fluff for horror fans.
IT
Because I am a terrible daughter, I made my mom take me to see this to celebrate a promotion at work. It is the most fun I've had at the movies in at least ten years. Here's why I love seeing horror movies, especially ones with a lot of well-executed jump scares, in theaters: everyone in that room is glued to the screen. No one's checking their phones, no one's shuffling in late, no one's eating their popcorn too loudly. They are all right there with you in the sewer, in the dark, in the muck, yelling at the screen and cheering the heroes on. That's the brief, communal experience I always crave at the movies, and this year, it happened with IT. May the next chapter be just as great.
Gerald's Game
Stephen King did okay this year, didn't he? For an author who's absurdly popular and successful, but whose movies have historically been hit and miss, it's remarkable that he had not one, but two smash hits within a few months of each other. It probably helps that they are very different stories. IT is about the monsters of society and how strength in numbers and trust in your best friends can defeat them. Gerald's Game is about inner demons, the monsters that grow from having your trust betrayed, and the traps we set to avoid them until they break free--and how to manage the fallout when they do. It also has one of my favorite lines: "You're not real. You're only made of moonlight." I love movies driven almost entirely by a single performance inside a confined space, and this is an excellent example of that exact thing.
Thor: Ragnarok
A BILLION STARS!!!! I cannot say enough good things about this movie. So I'll just echo was I already said elseweb: Ragnarok is a queer space opera pride fest made of rainbow fireworks and lightning and I need to see it ten more times. It's also a biting, but feverishly fun, deconstruction of colonialism and displacement. I'm not exactly qualified to speak about that, so I'll link you to this fantastic essay from someone who is. Plus, the soundtrack! And the color palate! And Taika Waititi's weird dry humor! This is my hands-down favorite movie of the year by a wide margin, and with a year that also includes The Last Jedi and The Shape of Water, that's saying something.
The Man Who Invented Christmas
It is very difficult to find a movie that my mother, stepfather, and myself can all unanimously enjoy. But we found one! Despite my complicated feelings about Christmas overall, I have always loved A Christmas Carol. It's one of the things from my childhood that never seems to get kitschy or otherwise ruined by time. This movie has a new perspective, that of the author struggling to come up with his next big hit. I relate to that struggle SO well, you guys. I am forever haunted by characters and plot details that show up to pick my brain at the least convenient moments, so this felt very real to me.
Star Wars, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
Everyone I know either loved or hated this movie. I loved it, as did most of my friends, but honestly? I understand why it's been so divisive. Here’s a Star Wars movie that is both fueled by love for the franchise that came before it, and harshly critical of many of its tropes and traditions. It’s a completely different experience from the previous episode, The Force Awakens, which was all about rekindling a sense of adventure and bringing a new cast of characters into the fold. The Last Jedi pulls the rug out from under them, and the audience. This takes everything you thought you knew about Star Wars and turns it inside out. No wonder people found it disorienting and uncomfortable. But that's just the point. The Last Jedi wants you to question everything in order to rebuild this world from scratch, and make it better. It took me halfway in to realize that's what was happening, but once I did? I couldn't get enough.
The Shape of Water
I just watched this yesterday, so I’m still not finished processing everything I’d like to say about it. This movie is beautiful, tragic, hopeful, heart-wrenching, romantic, violent, and uncanny. In short, it’s everything I’ve come to expect from director Guillermo Del Toro. He took one of his favorite classic monster movies, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and reimagined it as a Gothic romance. To be clear, it’s not Gothic in the same aesthetic sense that Crimson Peak was. The imagery, tone, and soundtrack are more evocative of a quaint French romance from the 1950s than a darkly erotic thriller set in a haunted castle. But that’s the thing about a Gothic sensibility: the setting and the plot trappings are not as important as the way it makes you feel. It’s strange and wondrous, a way to see magic and beauty in things others see as monstrous.
This has been a really interesting year. We always get inundated with sequels and remakes from one franchise or another, but this year in particular was heavily driven by nostalgia. Craving the neon videogame aesthetics of the 80s? Ragnarok has you covered. Want to revisit a holiday classic in a new light? Check out The Man Who Invented Christmas. Want to see your favorite Disney Princess played by Hermione Granger? Go for Beauty and the Beast. But you know what? That's not a bad message at the end of a particularly tumultuous year. Yes, remember all the good stuff we love from our childhoods. Yes, savor the nostalgia that comes with that. And yes, it's a mess right now, but it's a mess worth wading through to create something more complete and inclusive. That's what hope does. Art made with hope tells us a lot about where we are, what we're afraid of, and what kind of world we want to live in.
Good night, Happy New Year, and May the Force Be With You.