The Best of 2017 — The Personal Films

Originally published January 2018

Welcome to the post-Weinstein era Oscar season. This is the first year since 2007 that no Harvey Weinstein produced films have been nominated for an Oscar in any category. The only possible contender this year was Wind River, and even that excellent movie would have been shunned for white savior syndrome, showcasing Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen solving a murder on tribal lands.

If I added up the ticket revenue of all my favorite films from 2017, it might match the box office receipts of Star Wars: The Last Jedi for two weeks in Kansas City, Mo. I didn’t dislike big earners like Star Wars, or Thor: Ragnorak, but they left me thinking more about plot holes than feeling any emotional resonance. There were exceptions of course. But even relatively high earning films that I found moving, such as Spiderman: Homecoming, War for the Planet of the Apes or Get Out excelled because of their interpersonal content. There was only one film all year that expertly melded spectacle with thoughtful human insight, Blade Runner 2049, which may have been the biggest revenue bomb of the year.

Ridley Scott spent over $155 million to earn my praise, while Paul Thomas Anderson, Kogonada and Greta Gerwig (directors of the three films pictured above, respectively) enthralled me for a fraction of that. The Florida Project could have been financed 75 times over for that amount. Then there are literally dozens of small films that I saw this year, or intended to, which were delightful entertainment, but had little or no distribution or marketing, such as Band Aid, or Maudie, sometimes described as Sally Hawkins’ better role from 2017.

The Nominations Observations

There are actors nominated this year who clearly fall into the “I’m due” category, particularly Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson, both from Three Billboards yada yada. These two are accompanied by Richard Jenkins, who is also due, but in contrast, completely worthy because of his performance in The Shape of Water. This is not a prediction blog, but it seems likely that either he or Christopher Plummer will win Best Supporting Actor, because 1) they actually earned it, 2) Three Billboards really turned off some people because it’s a string of entertaining moments with no coherent message, and 3) voting for Christopher Plummer will be like sticking a middle finger in Kevin Spacey’s eye. I’d also be very happy for a Christopher Plummer win, because I loved him in The Man Who Invented Christmas.

I’ve been unclear about the Netflix issue since Beasts of No Nation failed to get a nomination in 2015. Which of their movies are eligible, if any, for Academy Awards? A movie has to run for 1 week in LA and NYC to be eligible, but in the past, there were issues with movies also being shown via different media as well, so some documentaries that appeared on PBS got hosed.

There were three critically acclaimed Netflix contenders this year — Okja, Mudbound, and the Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected, and unseen by me). I knew Okja got a simultaneous tiny release the same day it was available on Netflix, but Mudbound doesn’t appear on Boxofficemojo.com at all. A press release stated that it was opening in a handful of theatres in November, but I don’t know if that happened. Anyway, Mudbound cleared a huge hurtle this year with the first nomination of a female Director of Photography, Rachel Morrison, not to mention Mary J. Blige for supporting actress. Okja started me on my way to vegetarianism, so that’s worth a Cattleman’s razzie.

I occasionally get a newsletter from a brave soul who scours right-wing hate media, and writes a short summation, so the rest of us can be informed about what others are perpetually outraged about. There was a “hypocrisy” flare-up for Call Me By Your Name this year, since Timothée Chalamet portrayed a 17 year old involved with an older man. As unimpressed I was with this film, I will defend the romance angle as being non-threatening and tasteful. I simply felt no connection to any of the characters. This film would have sunk into obscurity quickly without a December release.

By having a different number of Best Picture nominations from Directing nominations, it would be logical that you can guess which of the films received the most votes. Lady Bird and Three Billboards are seemingly competing for the same votes, but Greta Gerwig got a nomination, while Martin McDonagh did not. But she’ll have to beat some very visually striking films. Sacramento is lovely of course, but Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, while confusing for some, was a stunning treat for the eyes.

Now on to my “Where’s the Beef?” section. Or to quote Robert Redford, “Bitch bitch bitch.”

• Movies Everyone Else Hated That I Could Talk You Into
  This is where I get to talk about mother!. I liked it much more than you did, I can almost guarantee. This film set a record for the differential between its reception by critics, and the reaction by audiences made up of actual human beings, as measured by “Cinema Score.” The difference lies in the critics’ awarding credit for creative intentions and vision, however flawed. Audiences have an irrational desire for mere entertainment. Once you caught on to what the eternally sunny Darren Aronofsky was trying to achieve (or read spoiler articles), it was kind of fun to watch for the Biblical metaphors. It also worked if you were completely baked.
  I also dug The Great Wall, that Chinese-made film with Matt Damon sporting an unfortunate haircut battling giant lizard bugs with massive deployments of swords, spears and arrows. If that doesn’t entice you, why do you pretend to be my friend?
• The Unloved (thank goodness!)
  Highly praised movies that I hated this year included A Ghost Story (did anyone get past that awful 5 minute breakfast scene?) and Good Time, for which I was half-dreading a Best Actor nomination for Robert Pattinson. Half only, because he expertly portrayed someone I couldn’t stand watching, so I guess that’s a triumph of sorts. Casey Affleck dislike and fatigue probably doomed A Ghost Story. Finally, no one took the Oscar bait from Murder on the Orient Express, which I’m happy about. Decent movie, but there’s no Best Moustache category.
• Meryl Streak
  Should I bother saying anything about Meryl this year, I wondered? I will simply say that of all the roles she’s been nominated for in the past few years, The Post had her best acting, and I don’t feel the need to complain.
• Five Worth Fighting Over?
  That’s a terrible header, but I’m pressed for time. Does the animated category need to have five nominations? Coco, The Breadwinner and Loving Vincent all had something novel to show us, and the other two I shan’t bother to mention. This category is becoming simply “the animated movies of the year that didn’t completely suck.” I was interested to learn that Coco’s marketing on the East Coast was very thin. In California of course, we were blanketed by ads.
• Done-kirk
  Why was 2017 the year of Dunkirk nostalgia? This isn’t really a complaint, since all three films I saw, including Their Finest and Darkest Hour were excellent. I’m just wondering what historic event will capture the imagination of screenwriters in 2018.
• Missing in Action
  My annual list of movies that got hosed includes, first and foremost, Columbus. It was a perfect pairing with Lady Bird, but was somehow ignored. It was an unpretentious version of Before Sunrise. Margot Robbie was fun but uneven in I, Tonya, asking us to pity her at the end. Too bad for Haley Lu Richardson, who could have had that nomination.
  The Lost City of Z was very impressive; replace Woody Harrelson with Robert Pattinson for Best Supporting Actor.
  Except for Columbus, all my five-star rated films got significant nominations, so this rant is shorter than usual.
• ‘S Wonder-ful, ‘S Marvel-ous…
  No love for Wonder Woman at all, huh? You couldn’t even dump Kong Island for Visual Effects? But I’m impressed at Logan’s nomination for adapted screenplay. That’s almost like a breakout moment for superhero movies. They’ve got a lot going for them. Again, replace Woody Harrelson with Michael Keaton from Spiderman. The villains should always be more fun, and he was.
• Speaking of Woody
  Swap Harrelson’s nomination for Three Billboards with his portrayal of a last-ditch savior for humanity in Planet of the Apes, and you’d have my vote. I don’t want you to think I hate the guy.

What kind of jokes can Jimmy Kimmel get away with during the telecast? How many winners will not say anything political in their speeches? Remember how verboten that once was? It’s almost in bad taste any more to eschew controversy. How quaint things seemed, way back 10 years ago.

Thank you again to my favorite resource for finding the great, good and forgotten films of the year, the Metacritic Top Ten List compilation. You are released now to read other, lesser film commentary.