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2010s, Action, Article, Best Movie Bracket, Biopic, Comedy, Drama, Heist, Lists, Musical, Prison, Reviews, Romance, Sports, True Story

Best of 2017: Insiders 6-10

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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!

2010s, Action, Book Adaptation, Superhero

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

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When Marvel Studios began ambitiously building towards the first Avengers movie, many openly wondered: “How can they even hope to do this?” Many times over the years, most notably in Sam Raimi’s bloated Spider-Man 3, too many characters clogged up the screen, diluting that film and others like it of any real focus. This was a legitimate concern for Marvel and for The Avengers, a movie that was going to star not one, but seven superheroes. Now we jump ahead to 2016 and seven superheroes suddenly doesn’t seem like such a big number. Now Marvel has arrived with Captain America: Civil War, the latest in their progressively expanding franchise, with a lineup that includes 12 superheroes and three villains. Have we reached maximum capacity superhero? Was this finally, once and for all, just too much?

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Judging from the $1.1 billion that this film has grossed worldwide, I would say that is a big NOPE. Captain America: Civil War doesn’t even feel like a crowded restaurant on a Friday night. Suddenly, I can imagine the whole mutant universe from the X-Men films joining with the Fantastic Four and the Guardians of the Galaxy. I’m getting excited just thinking about it. I will try not to spoil anything major however, if you haven’t seen this film stop reading and find a theater and go see it. It won’t be there much longer. Soon it will be moving to Blu-Ray and will hold a permanent spot on my shelf. Also, since this is a sequel to other Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films you should be familiar with them as well.

Civil War is loosely based on a 2006-2007 Marvel comics storyline, the film serves as a sequel to both Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron. The film opens with Captain America and a small group of Avengers — Falcon, Black Widow and Scarlet Witch — teaming to stop Crossbones from stealing a biological weapon. Crossbones is Frank Grillo who survived the ending of Winter Soldier, but now has a severely scarred face and jackhammer fists. Despite stopping Crossbones, the operation ends poorly, resulting in a number of civilian casualties.

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The Captain and team are called into the office of the Secretary of State, Gen. Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross. You’ll remember him from 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. Following the events of Age of Ultron, the United Nations drew up the Sokovia Accords, a treaty that would essentially put the governing nations in charge of The Avengers. Tony, after being confronted by a mother who blamed him for the death of her son in Sokovia, is feeling guilty and sides with Ross arguing that the Avengers need to be put into check.

Naturally in a movie subtitled Civil War, not everyone agrees. There are some polite arguments and disagreements until a terrorist attack at a United Nations conference is blamed on Winter Soldier. Polite arguments quickly heat up as Cap defends his BFF and is determined to keep him concealed as they attempt to prove his innocence. With the Sokovia Accords now signed, Ross wants Captain America and his team arrested. Tony Stark asks for 36 hours to bring them in without incident. Let the Civil War begin.

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In a movie that has an almost literal army of superheroes — Captain America, Iron Man, Winter Soldier, Falcon, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Black Panther, Spider-Man, War Machine, Ant-Man, it’s almost remarkable that a movie this big can still feel intimate. True to its name, Civil War remains a movie about Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, two friends from Brooklyn and their enduring relationship over 60 years. However, this movie is definitely not a bromantic comedy.

Captain America: Civil War includes some of the finest action in a Marvel movie, including a glorious showstopper extended battle sequence between Team Cap and Team Iron Man at a Berlin airport. It’s a magnificent and exhilarating scene that never once feels overstuffed or confused, despite the sheer enormity of the action. What could serve as the detriment to some hero-stuffed movies, actually works to the advantage of Civil War. Part of what is so delightful is how easily the characters, the majority of which we’ve come to know over the course of 13 Marvel Studios movies, interact and play off each other. Scarlet Witch using her powers to allow Captain America to super jump into a high-rise building. Hawkeye firing a miniaturized Ant-Man on an arrow inside Iron Man’s armor. Spider-Man using his webbing to wrap up…OK that one is too good to spoil here.

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After this sequence, which would be an extremely hard act to follow, directors Joe and Anthony Russo wisely dial back the scope of the film. Instead of trying to go even bigger and having our heroes fight against a giant, spiny, CGI glob, the focus shifts to our three main protagonists: Tony, Steve and Bucky. While more than one character manipulates the events of this film for their own nefarious purposes, it all comes down to these characters, ultimately Captain America vs. Iron Man, and their own beliefs, personalities, neuroses and paranoias coming out to play. Tony expresses resentment over how his father, Howard Stark, liked Steve Rogers more than he liked his own son. Steve repeats a line a pre-Super Serum Steve told a group of bullies who were beating him up in an alley (“I could do this all day”).

This is not some hastily assembled superhero brawl to sell more movie tickets; These two have been bickering and brawling over the course of two Avengers movies — one of their very first conversations includes Cap telling Stark, “Put on the suit, let’s go a few rounds.” — and that all comes to a head over the course of the film, whose finale feels earned rather than mandated by the mechanics of the plot. If the idea of watching even more superheroes punch each other after Batman vs. Superman feels like a chore, let me assure you this film could not be more dissimilar. While slightly overlong, this movie is bright, creative, insightful, affecting and, above all else, fun.

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Here’s how enjoyable Captain America: Civil War is: Much has been made about Spider-Man returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe after a few disastrous movies over at Sony Pictures. I was acutely aware and excited that Spider-Man would be making his debut in this movie alongside Captain America, Iron Man and the rest of the Avengers. Yet midway through the movie, I was so invested in the film, that when Spider-Man shows, it was a legitimate surprise. Civil War is so entertaining that I actually forgot Spider-Man was coming. It’s like enjoying a delicious meal and then the chef reminds you that was just the first course.

By the time Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1 charges into theaters in 2018, who knows how massive the film’s roster of superheroes and supervillains will have expanded to, and whether that will be too much. Just a few years ago I would have argued that this film would be “too much.” However, for now, it turns out that “too much” may be just enough.