After getting a bit sidetracked with Oscar predictions, let’s get back to the Best of 2017. You can see my 11-15 and 16-20 as well, but as we enter the coveted top 10, we find some truly remarkable films that resonated with me personally. I am proud of the diversity of films from drama to action to biopic. Let’s go!
10. Logan Lucky
Steven Soderbergh comes out of retirement to make his best since the original Ocean’s Eleven remake. He shows off his flair for visual storytelling and gives us a hillbilly fairy tale wrapped up in a heist movie. The cast of characters is outrageous, the premise is outlandish, and the film is outstanding.
The film centers around the Logan brothers played by Adam Driver and Channing Tatum and their plan to rob Charlotte Motor Speedway in efforts to break the 100 year old Logan family curse. Other cast members include Riley Keough, Daniel Craig, Seth MacFarlane, Sebastian Stan, Hillary Swank, Katie Holmes, Dwight Yoakam, and so many more deliciously funny characters.
I know many people who might not be as stereotypically country as these characters are but who suffer from a curse nonetheless. This curse of living paycheck to paycheck and being overlooked and derided is turned on its head as they mastermind a heist that would make Danny Ocean jealous. It is a hilariously wild ride, with a strong focus on family and a message about changing your station in life that might surprise you.
9. Phantom Thread
In opposition to the previous entry, Phantom Thread is set in the alluring world of 1950s British couture. Paul Thomas Anderson helms what is supposed to be Daniel Day-Lewis’ final performance. The previous collaboration of these two produced one of my favorite movies of all time, There Will Be Blood. I hope this isn’t the last we see from Daniel Day-Lewis because he is one of the greatest actors of our time and he has much more to give. However, if he did choose to make this film his last it would be a fitting close to an amazing career.
Hey plays Reynolds Woodcock who is a fictional mashup of several real designers from this time-frame. He is an exacting personality, he is brilliant but petulant and spoiled. The best thing about this film was the surprising humor. It arises from places you would not expect and the whole story goes in a direction that subverts the viewers expectations. It is a twisted picture of love, relationships, and power.
8. I, Tonya
Much like Phantom Thread, in I, Tonya we have a unique character study with dark humor that springs from odd places. People my age and older may think they know this story. We watched much of it play out on television. It happened right at the beginning of this new trend of 24/7 news coverage. So for weeks, you could not escape the saga of Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding.
The story is so strange because of the varied and conflicting versions of the story that come from all sides. Instead of trying to present the truth, it seemed to leave us in an ambiguous place where we are rooting for the good in Tonya while still seeing he faults and part to play in the whole fiasco. Violence was the language that these people spoke and while that does not excuse any actions, it does provide a picture of the twisted mindset that could commit this crime.
Part of me wonders how much coverage this story would have received without the media coverage that it received. Did our thirst of “news” as entertainment feed into this? Because just as soon as a bigger story came along we were off on our next witch hunt. Today, this thirst has grown exponentially to the point that this story would have been nothing more than a blip on our Twitter feeds that would disappear within a few moments as soon as the next viral video appeared.
Margot Robbie and Sebastian Stan were very good, and the visuals could almost fool me to think that Margot Robbie trained to actually complete a triple Axel just for this film. The way that they filmed the skating sequences was captivating as well with the camera moving fluidly around the skater as the perform on the ice. However, the real star and one of the best overall performances of the year was from Allison Janney who played the cartoonishly evil mother of Tonya. She was wickedly delightful.
7. Baby Driver
The more I think about this movie the higher I want to put it on my list. Looking back in a couple of years after I own this Blu-Ray and watch it 5-6 dozen times it will probably find its way well into the top five. I love that it came in with a modest budget and blew it out of the water showing that you can make original and artful cinema and still make loads of money.
When I mention Edgar Wright, you might recognize the name from Shaun of the Dead, or Hot Fuzz. Here Edgar wright uses more of his distinct visual style and uses it to craft a musically choreographed heist film. Do yourself a favor and watch the first 6 minutes of the film. If it strikes your fancy then you will love the whole film. If it doesn’t then you may be doing something wrong.
My one issue with the film is that the whole thing isn’t presented as a musical. There are certainly musical elements and complete scenes that are linked directly to the music we hear, but I would have loved to see a full blown action centered La La Land type film.
6. Lady Bird
I have to admit that I jumped pretty hard on the Lady Bird bandwagon, and it’s hard not to. It is delightful. Its simplicity is part of its charm. However, I think that the simplicity might keep it from taking home any of the 5 Oscars it is nominated for on Sunday. But that is okay. It doesn’t need to be controversial or flashy to draw attention.
I feel like Lady Bird was so well loved because the characters albeit quirky are so accessible. Have you ever wanted to spread your wings and escape from your town or your school or your family? Everyone has! So much of this comes from the performances of Soairse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf. Ronan manages to capture that odd teenage limbo between the confidence in their own abilities and the realization that they are clueless as they prepare to leave.
Did anyone else feel like Metcalf appeared out of nowhere like someone had her locked in a time capsule since Roseanne. She was so good. She was warm and motherly and cold and calculated all in the same scenes. I have to give a small shout out to Tracy Letts as well as the dad. With three teenagers or nearly teenagers of my own I always look out for great father figures and he is now up there with the likes of Stanley Tucci from Easy A.
Did you hate any of these movies? Am I out of touch because I chose an Oscar bait movie like Phantom Thread or do I need to give up my Movie cred because I liked a trailer trash movie like Logan Lucky? I want to see your top 10 lists, leave me a comment here or shoot me a message on social media!
Considering my current line of work, my mind immediately went to two films about security guards. Paul Blart Mall Cop and Observe and Report. In case you don’t know, I work security for UPS at their Worldport facility. But I don’t take my job as seriously as either of those characters. Then I thought of the numerous caricatures of ministers in popular culture and couldn’t in good faith (pardon the pun) align myself with the likes of the cross-dressing, peep-show visiting, homicidal Rev. Peter Shayne (played by Anthony Perkins) in Crimes of Passion, to the faith-challenged Father Karras in The Exorcist, and the fornicating Rev. Russell in Simon Birch. If I could choose a television character, I might pick Rev. Camden from 7th Heaven. I always liked him.
The best portrayal of a solid, faithful movie pastor that I have seen in recent years was Preacher from Because of Winn-Dixie. Played by Jeff Daniels, Preacher is a deep character with personal problems. He was abandoned by his wife because she no longer wanted to be married to a pastor, now he is lonely. He loves and wants to care for his little small-town flock. He has a sincere desire to find ways to make God’s Word meaningful to his congregation, and buries himself in his work. Because of this, he frequently lacks time for his daughter, but we can tell that he deeply loves her. He gets angry. He is unashamed to pray in public. In other words, he is human. He is flawed, but he is trying to do what is right. It is a shame that characters like Preacher, who accurately reflect many pastors, emerge so infrequently in film. But the fact is, most of the time, pastors simply don’t exist in the landscape of film. When these pastors do not appear where they should in the cultural landscape, it conveys the idea that they are irrelevant, inconsequential, or worse, completely absent from thought. The assumption is that pastors are unnecessary.
At this junction of my life I feel like an average Joe. I frequently give advice to a group of misfits. I’m a funny guy who tends to take a laid-back approach to life. With that being said, I can relate to Peter LaFleur from Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. Peter La Fleur, played by the excellent Vince Vaughn, operates a small gym called Average Joes. The opening scenes in Average Joes could have very well used the theme song from the television sitcom, Cheers, a place where everybody knows your name. Too bad Peter has been too busy developing genuine friendships to hone his business sense. Average Joes is in foreclosure unless they can come up with $50,000. To do this, these averages will have to become something extraordinary. And Peter La Fleur must step out in faith, and put everything of value to him on the line.