Best of 2017

[Dale Cooper Black 340]

Death of Stalin- A tense thriller about a successful coup that somehow manages to find the humour in fascism.

Teacher says, every time somebody misuses the word fascism, an angel gets his wings.

[Riot71 8]

With work, school, and kids it’s hard to get out and watch everything. But so far the top 3 on my best of 2017 is Coco, Get Out, and Dunkirk. Coco is genuinely heartwarming, funny, and really speaks to the importance of family, communication, and understanding. Get Out for its sharp, satirical edge, strong performances, and taking appropriation to a whole new level. Finally, Dunkirk for its edge of your seat suspense, visuals, and story structure. I’ll get back to this when I view more films.

[Threshold 93]

Teacher says, every time somebody misuses the word fascism, an angel gets his wings.

What would you call it?

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

Just saw The Shape of Water and will also nominate that.

[Film Explorer 9]

I know I’m late to the party, but here’s my top five.

1. The Shape of Water

2. Blade Runner 2049

3. mother!

4. Raw

5. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

[Dale Cooper Black 340]

What would you call it?

You're joking, right?

[rfmempin 11]

I was going to suggest Paul Verhoeven's stunning Elle, but that appears to have opened last year in the US.

 

I usually have a very low tolerance for Darren Aronofsky, but mother! really did a number on me. It's a film that people will be watching (and arguing furiously about) for decades to come. I'm not entirely sure how it ever got made, but I'm thankful.

 

 

While I haven't seen a fair amount of the top contenders for best movie of the year yet, right now Mother! tops my list and it'll be hard to beat.

 

Whether or not you like all of the pretentiousness surrounding it (I'm personally using that word to reference the biblical references, while I'm sure many others would use it to describe the surrealism -- this variety of opinions it opens itself to is another reason why I think it is worth discussion), I think it would lead to an interesting discussion on how audiences value different interpretations of a movie (i.e., the director/writer's interpretation vs. the popular critical interpretations vs. their own).

[LondonCallingRex 33]

Wanted to add Call Me By Your Name (just saw it and it's incredible), as well as the apparently largely forgotten The Beguiled and Lady Macbeth

[bleary 333]

I assume either Get Out or Lady Bird will get picked. Personally, I think Columbus is being criminally under-appreciated. The film's shot composition reminds me of the best parts of Wes Anderson and Sofia Coppola, and it uses this to contrast the static structure of architecture with the messy dynamism of human relationships. I especially love how John Cho's dad is never physically present, and yet he towers over the two main characters in every shot via his buildings. It's a wonderful, understated film that I wish were getting more awards buzz.

 

I'll throw in a second for Columbus, which unexpectedly blew me away.

[Threshold 93]

You're joking, right?

Not joking- genuinely confused if you think the Death of Stalin isn't portraying fascism.

I'm interested to hear what you think it's called.

 

Also I'm frankly horrified to see Mother! on a few people's lists. One of the worst films I've seen in a long time- and one of the few films I can legitimately call pretentious without feeling pretentious myself.

[GregPike712 6]

Florida Project, Lady Bird, and Get Out.

[ActualButt 4]

It's got to be Get Out. Finally something actually fresh added to the horror genre; the way it got people talking about movies again; so much layered in to it; so well made...

[Dale Cooper Black 340]

Not joking- genuinely confused if you think the Death of Stalin isn't portraying fascism.

I'm interested to hear what you think it's called.

Uh, it doesn't really matter what I "think" it's called. It's a historical fact that the Soviet Union was governed under a political idealogy which was in fact the POLAR FUCKING OPPOSITE of fascism.

 

It's pretty famous, I'm suprised you never heard of it.

 

https://www.diffen.c...nism_vs_Fascism

[Threshold 93]

Uh, it doesn't really matter what I "think" it's called. It's a historical fact that the Soviet Union was governed under a political idealogy which was in fact the POLAR FUCKING OPPOSITE of fascism.

 

It's pretty famous, I'm suprised you never heard of it.

 

https://www.diffen.c...nism_vs_Fascism

I'm still superficially going with Fascism- i.e. the deification of a single leader and all their pronouncements; sure, the actual policies of Stalin and Russia were communist, but I was distracted by the implementation of it.

I guess that's where horseshoe theory comes in, a far left and far right system being kind of identical.

 

So I don't really mind getting the definition wrong- is that terrible of me? Am I part of the problem, proclaiming governments as fascism when they're technically not?

 

I guess we'll find out with how I react to the US in the coming years.