Sunday, December 31, 2017

THE PRESENT TENS

Time once again for that grandly unimportant end of the year tradition: The Top Ten Movies List. Here are the ten movies that, at the moment, seem most deserving of recognition:


10. The Big Sick--Kumail Nanjiani plays a Pakistani-American stand-up comic and Uber driver in Chicago. His white grad student girlfriend Emily (Zoe Kazan) breaks up with him when she learns that he hasn't told his strictly traditional family about her (they want to arrange a Pakistani bride for him). Then when Emily becomes gravely ill, Kumail bonds with her parents (Holly Hunter and Ray Romano) while she's in a medically-induced coma. Directed with a light but warm touch by Michael Showalter from a script by Nanjiani and his real-life wife Emily Gordon, this gentle, low-key comedy-drama left me feeling much better. (I never got around to running a review of it on the blog, however; I promise I'll be more brief with the rest of my selections.)

9. The DisasterArtist--James Franco gives the performance of his career so far as Tommy Wiseau in this comedy about the making of The Room. This movie seems to work even for people who have never seen Wiseau's bad-movie classic.


8. Colossal--Anne Hathaway gives one of her best performances in Nacho Vigalondo's brilliant expansion of the possibilities of the giant-monster picture.

7. The Lego Batman Movie--It's more coherent than some of the superhero flicks it sends up, and it's certainly far funnier.

6. Loving Vincent--Supposedly the first fully painted animated movie, this exploration of Van Gogh's death is both visually ravishing and also a watchable and touching drama.

5. Trophy--Not everyone will be able to watch this graphic examination of big-game trophy hunting, but it isn't just sensationalism; there's a real effort to get at the psychology (and politics) underlying this horror.



4. Step--It's almost impossible to watch this documentary about the members of the step team at the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women and not feel invested in their futures. 

3. The Shape ofWater--Just your basic amphibious-man-meets-girl story from Guillermo del Toro. Get out your hankies.

2. Get Out--Jordan Peele's horror melodrama about race as a hijack-able commodity is dazzlingly imaginative yet traditional.



1. The Lovers--Hardly anyone seemed to pay attention to this ingenious comedy about infidelity folded back onto itself, so I think I'll let it top my list.

On the other hand, here are ten other movies that could have found a place on the list:

Downsizing
I, Tonya
Menashe
Kong: Skull Island
Wonder Woman
Happy Death Day
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women
Molly’s Game
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Lady Bird

Here are some more that didn't seem like complete wastes of time:

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Only the Brave, The Trip to Spain, The Post, Darkest HourChurchillThe Greatest ShowmanStar Wars: The Last JediMurder on the Orient Express, LoganThor: Ragnarok, DunkirkWar for the Planet of the ApesThe HeroThe ExceptionAll Eyez on Me, Stronger, It,  FerdinandJeremiah Tower: The Last MagnificentWilson.

And let's not forget the Phoenix Film Critics Society 2017 award winners, notably Best Picture winner The Shape of Water.

A Safe and Happy New Year to all from Less Hat, Moorhead!

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