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| photo courtesy of collider.com |
SPOILER-FREE RANKING
Welcome to A Portable Keyhole’s second
annual year-in-review ranking. Take that, Oscars.
DISCLAIMER: Movies on this list are
(obviously) movies I’ve seen this year. Therefore, you’ll see some notable
omissions of movies I just didn’t get around to seeing for one reason or
another (Hidden Figures, Call Me By Your Name, All the Money in the World, Mudbound, Phantom Thread, etc). So if you don’t see something you’re
expecting to see on a best-of-the-best list, there are two possible
explanations: 1) I didn’t see it, or 2) I snubbed it, don’t hate me.
DISCLAIMER #2: The ranking system used
here attempts to combine my personal taste with what is ostensibly a more
objective appreciation of craftsmanship. So some things will be higher or lower
than they probably have any right to be. Fair warning.
19. DARKEST
HOUR
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| photo courtesy of independent.co.uk |
Darkest Hour is an interesting type of
historical film. It stays very close to Winston Churchill, examining the ways
in which his different relationships impacted the course of action he chose
during Britain’s greatest trial—an interesting way to approach a figure and an
era that have received so much attention through the years. On the whole, Darkest Hour makes for engrossing
entertainment, but it ends up becoming a little indulgent, with the lines
between historically accurate depictions and romantic insertions becoming
blurred here and there.
The movie’s greatest marvel is,
undoubtedly, Gary Oldman, who plays Churchill. In a movie that centers around
such an imposing personality, the actor’s performance will make or break the
entire experience, and Oldman appears to be up to the task. Transformed beyond
recognition with the help of impressive prosthetics, Oldman can do both the
lonesome, self-doubting scenes and the stirring, historic speech scenes that
are pivotal in telling this particular Churchill story.
18. STAR
WARS: THE LAST JEDI
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| photo courtesy of nerdist.com |
Star Wars: The Last Jedi benefits
from a bold stance toward the history of its own franchise. Yes, it includes
all the space-swash-buckling goodness and esoteric mysticism that fans expect
from a Star Wars film, but it also
pushes beyond, breaking free from tradition to challenge each of its characters
in surprising ways. There’s a surprising amount of attention paid to character
in The Last Jedi; they’re allowed to
interact with each other in ways that have real emotional relevance.
But The
Last Jedi seems determined to cut away the branch it’s sitting on,
undermining many of the franchise’s overarching storylines that shape and
inform its narrative. The end result is a movie that works much better as a science
fiction film in a vacuum (Get it? Space) than it does as a part of the larger Star Wars canon.
See how The Last Jedi stacks up against the other Star Wars films here.
17. THE
DISASTER ARTIST
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| photo courtesy of npr.com |
Poignant and insightful, The Disaster Artist is one of the year’s
biggest surprises. One could be forgiven for expecting something akin to an
inside joke, designed to poke fun at the worst movie ever made and its
eccentric creator, but in reality The
Disaster Artist comes much closer to love letter. The movie has nothing but
appreciation for the unsinkable vision of its subject, Tommy Wiseau… even if,
at the same time, it doesn’t shy away from the humor that results from his
failure. The result? A delightfully honest ode to the dreamers, successful or
otherwise, who give it everything they’ve got, and a tribute to the friends who
support them along the way.
16.
THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE
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| photo courtesy of slashfilm.com |
It’s sort of unfortunate, in a way,
that The Lego Batman Movie is the
best Batman movie produced since 2012, but that’s just the way it is. The Lego movie brand, while not quite as
fresh or energetic as it seemed a few years ago, showed that it still has
something up its sleeve with The Lego
Batman Movie. The movie is a convergence of a lot of good things: great
comedic voice talent (Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis), a lighthearted superhero
story, and a quick-witted, self-referential humor. There’s a certain disarming
quality about the Lego movies; they invite the audience—kids and adults
alike—to put everything else aside and enjoy the story on its own (silly)
terms.
15. LOGAN
LUCKY
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| photo courtesy of vox.com |
Logan Lucky puts a West Virginian spin on the
heist film formula. As it turns out, if you take Ocean’s 11, reduce the number
of characters by half, and make them unassuming (yet highly intelligent!)
oddballs instead of polished professionals, you’ve got the makings of a
compelling story. There’s a lot to enjoy about this film, but its success rides
on two main attributes: its country backwaters flavor and its quirky cast.
The country feeling, underscored by repeated
use of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver throughout the film,
permeates every aspect of the movie. It’s a refreshing change of pace from the
high-octane, no-rules, fast-car sort of action that heist films usually rely
on. As for the cast, what’s not to like? Channing Tatum and Adam Driver give
phenomenal performances in the lead roles, and Daniel Craig himself makes an
appearance as explosives expert Joe Bang. It’s an eclectic mix that yields
great results.
14. WONDER
WOMAN
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| photo courtesy of imdb.com |
2017 was the year of Wonder Woman, and it’s not hard to see
why. No movie has instilled quite the same sense of true, unadulterated wonder
this year—just take a look at that already-iconic “No Man’s Land” sequence, and
you’ll get a glimpse of what’s so special about this movie. Wonder Woman certainly has a lot to
offer, with a game-changing performance from Gal Gadot, a burst of Amazonian
imagination, and plenty of heart. But what recommends it most, I think, is the
unrelenting optimism that animates the story and its main character. Wonder Woman,
though she loses her naiveté over the course of the film, never loses the high-minded
hope and love that drive her, and that’s a story worth telling in 2017.
But Wonder Woman isn’t a perfect film,
not by a long shot. Much of its story and sense of humor come straight from
other sources (Captain America: The First
Avenger or Thor, generally). And
most unfortunately, it features a really, really disappointing final
confrontation, made all the worse by the movie’s flirtation with a much more
resonant, much more meaningful ending. It’s a dead weight on Wonder Woman’s otherwise-unqualified
triumph.
13. SPIDER-MAN:
HOMECOMING
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| photo courtesy of redcarpetrefs.com |
Most of the enjoyment in Spider-Man: Homecoming comes from
watching Peter Parker be a high-school student… who happens to also be
Spider-Man. Don’t get me wrong, the Spider-Man bits are as entertaining as
ever, thanks in part to an influx of new tech and new storylines from
Spider-Man’s new MCU social network. But the high-school dynamics in Homecoming make up the more satisfying
story beats, and they’re the main reason it feels like such a fresh take on the
Spider-Man mythos.
Homecoming also gets credit for telling a
fairly personal story, with the same emotional stakes we’re used to but without
the grandiose musings of previous Spider-Man
movies. Even the high-stakes action scenes affect Peter’s personal life and
relationships. It helps, of course, that the main two roles are played by
excellent actors: Tom Holland and Hollywood heavyweight Michael Keaton. Their
performances make it easy to invest in Peter’s story… and that’s not a small
feat, considering this is the 6th Spider-Man film in 15 years.
See how Homecoming stacks up against the rest of the MCU canon here.
12. THOR:
RAGNAROK
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| photo courtesy of digitalspy.com |
As much as it pains me to say goodbye
to the Thor franchise as we knew it,
I have to admit that Thor: Ragnarok
is still a rollicking good time. No sanctuary is too sacred to be mocked, no
vault is too secure to be cracked, no hero is too strong to be humbled in Waititi’s
take on the character’s third stand-alone film. It’s got all the shameless
action beats of Marvel’s best (I see you, Thor v Hulk gladiator battle) and all
the humor audiences expect (looking at you, Jeff Goldblum), but it also gives
us a story that dares to really challenge its characters.
That last point is key. In a year where
superhero movies come out at least once a month, it’s hard to really impress
upon an audience that the stakes still matter. Enter Cate Blanchett, whose turn
as Hela in Ragnarok establishes a
viable threat that shakes Asgard to its core. Her casual dominance over each of
the film’s heroes makes Ragnarok
exciting, gives weight to its storyline and fights, and gives Thor a chance to
develop as a character. She’s kind of a big deal.
See how Ragnarok stacks up against the rest of the MCU canon here.
11. GOOD
TIME
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| photo courtesy of rollingstone.com |
Robert Pattinson delivers a
career-changing performance in Good Time,
one of the year’s most thoughtful thrillers. The events in the movie fly by
almost too quick to process, but that’s kind of the point; we, like Connie, are
in desperate straits, and we, like Connie, are willing to pass through close
scrape after close scrape and from one sketchy situation to another. It’s a
visceral, haunting experience.
But beyond edge-of-your-seat thrills, Good Time offers profound (and somewhat
disquieting) revelations about poverty, addiction, and mental illness. As
Connie goes through each nightmarish trial—during which we want to root for
him!—he falls deeper into a destructive (and self-destructive) cycle. Each
victory comes with an accompanying defeat, each win is someone else’s loss,
each threatening encounter breeds more desperation and more willingness to
fight evil with evil, each tooth-and-nail struggle to survive makes it obvious
how far he is from really living. Good Time
is, on the surface, a journey to reunite with a loved one, but final picture is
a complex and tragic one.
10. BLADE
RUNNER 2049
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| photo courtesy of gq.com |
Blade Runner 2049 doesn’t
manage to be nearly as effortless in its philosophizing as the original Blade Runner, but that doesn’t mean it
doesn’t have anything to say. There’s a lot to like about 2049, brooding though it may be; like the original Blade Runner, its wonderfully imagined,
hellish vision of the future serves as the backdrop for a meaningful story. Also
like the original Blade Runner, it
delves into themes about humanity, love, sacrifice, and identity.
It’s not surprising that director Denis
Villeneuve makes his way into my top 10 for the second year in a row. Blade Runner 2049 bears a striking
resemblance to his science fiction film from last year, Arrival. Both are movies with stunning cinematography and enigmatic
musings on the nature of human relationships. Perhaps more interestingly, they
both rely on a twist concerning the nature of one specific human relationship
for much of their emotional impact.
9. LOGAN
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| photo courtesy of slashfilm.com |
With Logan, Fox has produced one of the best superhero movies in years. Logan consciously strips down all the
exteriors from the flashy X-Men
franchise, taking the scale, the stakes, and the story down to a much more
intimate level. It turns out that the R-rating does wonders for Wolverine,
enabling the character to have an unprecedented amount of freedom. Logan is an unfiltered, uncensored superhero
story, where life is hard, suffering is real, and wounds don’t heal quite so
easily as they used to.
There are plenty of smart narrative
decisions in Logan (outside of the
obvious “letting Logan be physically vulnerable,” or “setting the movie in a
post-X-Men world”). Most of them have to do with the movie’s choice of
secondary characters. The aging and ailing Professor X makes a strong
contribution, alternatively inspiring Logan and burdening him. Laura also makes
a splash, illuminating a whole new side of Wolverine’s character (particularly
impressive considering Wolverine has more and less been done to death over the
last 10 or so X-Men films). Together,
those two secondary characters contextualize Wolverine’s journey in Logan; Laura reminds Logan of where he’s
been, and Charles shows him where he’s going. Between those two poles, Logan
has to reckon with his long-deferred mortality—a struggle that sets Logan apart from the superhero crowd.
8. BABY
DRIVER
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| photo courtesy of thenationalstudent.com |
Edgar Wright’s latest film, Baby Driver, makes quite an impression. It’s
pure, effortless cinema from start to finish, a whirlwind of action and
excitement that packs a punch. In terms of inspiration, it evokes everything
from Guardians of the Galaxy (action
sequences set to groovy tunes) to classic Hollywood (the lone hero archetype,
the damsel in distress, car chases in general). It’s a movie that’s in love
with movies, and that passion comes through from the opening frame.
Complementing its stylized heist-film
flair, Baby Driver utilizes a colorful
roster of characters and a story that packs a punch. It’s easy to root for Baby
and Debora, easy to sympathize with Baby’s foster father, easy to fear the
film’s several unpredictable villains. More importantly, it’s easy to wonder
whether Baby, who follows an increasingly questionable path, will lose his soul
and become the thing he hates along the way.
7. IT
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| photo courtesy of io9.gizmodo.com |
Gruesome, chilling, and yet somehow
heartwarming at the same time, It
makes horror feel fresh. The story certainly isn’t new—based on a Stephen King
novel and a previous mini-series adaptation with Tim Curry—but It brings the story into the new
millennium with frightening energy. Put simply, It is one of the scariest movies in recent memory, combining
expertly crafted jump scares with an overarching, unnerving sense of dread.
Pennywise doesn’t just make startling entrances, he threatens to bring out the
evil in everyone, using fear to create new monsters in his own image.
Yet It
isn’t simply a scary movie; it’s a movie about a charismatic group of young
people (with fantastic chemistry) learning what it means to grow up, learning
what it means to stick together, learning what it means to stand up to fear. Plenty
of movies have compelling central characters, but there’s something really
special about the ensemble in It.
They’re hilarious, vulnerable, and likeable, connecting to the audience in a
way that feels far from commonplace. More than Pennywise’s creepy antics, it’s
the teenage coming of age story that makes It
a standout success.
6. DUNKIRK
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| photo courtesy of deadline.com |
No two ways about it: Dunkirk is a mesmerizing experience.
Christopher Nolan has made a name for himself with unconventional storytelling,
so it makes sense that his take on a World War II film would avoid the straightforward
approach. There are no grand, sweeping narratives, just a series of snapshots—moments
from a handful of characters over the course of a week, curated in intersecting
timelines of differing lengths. That Nolan has the talent to orchestrate those
timelines in a way that creates one cohesive, meaningful story is a testament
to his strength as a filmmaker.
Dunkirk has plenty of laudable features
(among other things, an incredible sustained tension, thematic reflections about
what it means and costs to survive, and a pleasantly optimistic conclusion),
but what really bears mentioning is the movie’s visual splendor. So many of the
movie’s images stay with you: flyers falling on the soldiers from the sky,
fighters engaged in a dogfight above the crystal blue English Channel,
oceanwater flooding a torpedoed destroyer, Farrier’s plane alight as the sun
sets on Dunkirk beach. They’re powerful images which, combined with Nolan’s
unique storytelling approach, make Dunkirk
an outstanding viewing experience.
5. THE
BIG SICK
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| photo courtesy of hollywoodreporter.com |
The Big Sick has a smaller scale than many
of the movies on this list, but that doesn’t stop it from being one of the most
insightful movies of the year. For one thing, it’s a romantic comedy, and even
on those terms it succeeds, using strong dialogue, memorable characters, and Nanjiani’s
charming brand of humor to distinguish itself from typical rom-com fare. But
far more important than any romantic scene are the scenes between Kumail and
his family or between Kumail and Emily’s family. Those scenes are so delicate, alternatively
hilarious, tense, or heartbreaking but always remarkably genuine. Those scenes
are the source of the movie’s greatest strength: a thoughtful (and, I think,
realistic) consideration of how different generations, different cultures, and
different personalities can put aside their differences and love one another.
4. GET
OUT
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| photo courtesy of npr.com |
Get Out triumphs on so many different
levels. As a horror film, it’s everything anyone could ask for. It grips the audience
in ways that few horror films can, with a group of soon-to-be iconic horror
villains (who can forget that tea cup?) and strong, likeable protagonists. It
subverts genre expectations. And it’s also incredibly smart—the kind of horror
story that demands repeat viewings to fully appreciate its disturbing extent. As
a social commentary, the movie packs a punch, speaking to the issue of modern
racism in the post-Obama society and calling out the ways in which good
intentions can be among the least helpful tools in combating racism. As a story
about one person’s experience, Get Out
tells a worthwhile narrative, rich with metaphor, smart call-backs, and substantive
character development. In other words, Get
Out is a masterstroke from Jordan Peele… and one of the main reasons why
horror films were king in 2017.
3. THE
SHAPE OF WATER
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| photo courtesy of theatlantic.com |
Guillermo del Toro returns to high
fantasy with The Shape of Water, a
twist on the monster-movie Hollywood classics. Visually, The Shape of Water is rapturously beautiful, with dark, oceanic
tones dominating the color palette and hearkening back to del Toro’s other
fantasy masterpiece, Pan’s Labyrinth.
Thematically, the movie provides a rich web of ideas about what it means to be
human, what it means to love, what we can accomplish out of solidarity with our
fellow man or woman. On the converse side of things, it demonstrates what it
looks to turn into a villain, what it would be to become unhuman and lose all
sense of companionship with people.
But I think what I appreciate most
about The Shape of Water boils down
to its unembarrassed love of make-believe. It’s a fantasy, and like any fantasy
should, it sweeps the viewer off his or her feet and takes them to another
world populated with imaginary beasts, heightened dangers, and romantic
conceptions of love and sacrifice. The central romance, though somewhat difficult
to entertain, does what any fantasy romance (or “beauty and the beast” story)
should do, using make-believe to coax out real-life lessons about love and
human compassion. With such a rich world in play, The Shape of Water ranks as one of the most memorable films in
recent memory.
2. COCO
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| photo courtesy of indiewire.com |
Coco’s greatness stems from three
sources: vibrant animation, an uplifting story, and an evident love of music.
In terms of animation, Coco continues
Pixar’s commitment to cutting-edge production; the worlds and characters of Coco are simply stunning to look at. The
Land of the Dead, animated in meticulous detail, makes every scene visually
interesting. In terms of story, Coco is
a refreshing departure from the norm, focusing on the value of family and
remembrance. It’s not just about a race against time, it’s about a race against
the tendency to forget, the tendency to prize ambition and self-aggrandizement
over loving and sacrificing for loved ones. And in terms of Coco’s music, the movie’s auditory world
is just as beautiful and well-crafted as the visual one; songs, singers, and
guitars combine to produce melodies and lyrics that feel at home in the magical,
wistful Land of the Dead.
1. LADY
BIRD
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| photo courtesy of indiewire.com |
There was no movie in 2017 quite as lovely
and devastating as Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird. The story is simple on paper; it’s a movie about a teenage girl’s
relationship with her parents (particularly her mother) and her frustration
with the limitations imposed on her by the world she lives in. But there’s so
much more to Lady Bird than “I fight
with my mom,” or “Sacramento sucks.” There’s an emotional depth in Lady Bird that comes from the
authenticity with which it presents its characters. Lady Bird, her mom, her
dad, her friends (both loyal and disloyal), her two boyfriends—all of them feel
like real people, speaking real
dialogue, leaping onto the screen from a real person’s experience. Then there’s
Lady Bird’s tendency to de-emphasize
plot. There are some landmarks, obviously, but for the most part the movie
unfolds much like real life, where events fold naturally and without ceremony. To
top it all off, the cast gives dynamic performances, led by Saoirse Ronan as
Lady Bird and Laurie Metcalf as her mother.
All of these features together combine
to make a movie with remarkable emotional resonance. Every high and low in the
relationship between Lady Bird and her mom (which sometimes come seconds apart!),
every shift in the way Lady Bird presents herself to outsiders, every time she
laughs or misbehaves with her best friend—each of these moments has something to
say about how people disappoint, hurt, heal, and cherish one another. No other
movie this year said so much with so little.
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