Movie Noise – Page 28 – Deliberate Noise Network

Aisle of the Damned: 04/06/18- Now You’re Playing with Power!

The Damned boys are back with some brand new film reviews! First, Kent has seen the comic adaptation I Kill Giants, which seemed to come out of nowhere. Then, he and Bryan discuss a couple of CGI spectacles, Pacific Rim: Uprising and Spielberg’s latest opus, Ready Player One.

We also discuss the icky feeling we get from the Roger Corman family suit and the usual trailers and recommendations! All this and less on Aisle of the Damned!

MUSIC:
The Aquabats- Stuck in a Movie
The Aquabats- Giant Robot-Birdhead

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Aisle of the Damend: 03/23/18- Kaiju Oprah

Tomb Raider is has been remade and it is neither a titillating Indiana Jones riff, nor a gritty survival horror with supernatural elements, but does that mean it’s bad? Plus, Kent has taken a look at Jennifer Lawrence’s turn as a ballerina-turned-Russian spy in Red Sparrow and Disney’s adaptation of the classic novel, A Wrinkle in Time.

Plus, we speculate about the news that came from Shout! Factory that they’d bought Roger Corman’s archives and what that could mean for future releases. We talk about a ton of trailers, too!

All this and less on Aisle of the Damned!

MUSIC:
The Aquabats- Stuck in a Movie
Vampire Beach Babes- Tomb Mau Mau

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Aisle of the Damned: Closed for a Snow Day

Schools are closed in Lowell, Westford and Tyngsborough, while Chelmsford, Billerica and Tewksbury will be running hard surface routes only.

Aisle of the Damned will be back next week with a brand new episode, provided Massachusetts can dig itself out in time.

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Aisle of the Damned: 03/02/18- Cronenberg Body Horror Shit

So much for the February dumping ground: Marvel’s Black Panther is out and it’s made with bits of real panther, so you know it’s good. So what do Bryan and Kent think of it? Is the critical response hyperbole run amok? Meanwhile, Annihilation is in theaters and it’s largely being ignored, but should it be?

But first, there’s some discussion of Tommy Wiseau’s new project! Kevin Smith’s health! Joss Whedon’s place at Warner Bros!

All this and less on Aisle of the Damned.

MUSIC:
The Aquabats- Stuck in a Movie
The Go! Team- Panther Strike

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Aisle of the Damned: 02/16/18- Jelly Lip

SURPRISE! Kent and Bryan take a look in J.J. Abrams’ Mystery Box and see the crumbs inside with the post-Super Bowl wrap-up, The Cloverfield Paradox on Netflix. But that’s not all! We skip the theaters and take in two incredibly different takes on the caped crusader: WB Animation’s Scooby Doo & Batman: The Brave and the Bold for Saturday morning escapades and Batman: Gotham by Gaslight for violent steampunk.

Meanwhile, we take a look at trailers that tried to grab your attention away from Netflix’s publicity stunt and some incredibly surprising movie news.

All this and less on Aisle of the Damned!

Music:
The Aquabats- Stuck in a Movie
Link Wray and his Ray-Men- Jack the Ripper

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Aisle of the Damned: 02/02/18- If You Don’t Listen to This Podcast, We’ll Kill This Cartoon Mascot

Greetings, Damned fans! Bryan and Kent are back with a look at a couple of askew bio-pics this week, with the Netflix original A Futile and Stupid Gesture, surrounding National Lampoon founder Doug Kenney, and the Oscar-nominated Tonya Harding film, I, Tonya.

If that wasn’t enough, they’ve got news on some potentially huge sequels, including one about a man who came to save us all: Black Dynamite. (And also something about Passion of the Christ.)

All this and less on Aisle of the Damned!

MUSIC:
The Aquabats- Stuck in a Movie
Lindsey Buckingham- Holiday Road

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Kent’s Best of the Rest

Oh, you’re still here? Then take a look at some of the other things that stood out to me over 2017. They may not have made my “best of” list, but they’re definitely noteworthy.

O’Shea Jackson Jr. in INGRID GOES WEST
Ice Cube’s son may have gotten his big break playing his old man in Straight Outta Compton, but Ingrid Goes West is where he really makes his mark. The whole of the film that I called “Cable Guy for the Instagram generation” is pretty funny and fascinating, with its damning view of both social media and the L.A. community in general. But it’s Jackson as a vaping, Batman-obsessed, screenwriting landlord to Aubrey Plaza’s Ingrid, who ends up being the film’s secret weapon. He spends a good chunk of the movie charming the audience even as he’s manipulated into doing questionable things for Ingrid due to their bizarre descent into coupledom. Almost more importantly, he and Plaza are responsible for the funniest sex scene of 2017, with some laugh-out-loud, awkward, superhero roleplay.

The Fiance in ROUGH NIGHT
Rough Night didn’t make my worst of list, mostly because it has a few moments of genuine pleasure here and there. A few revolve, unsurprisingly, around Kate McKinnon as an Australian exchange student who at times feels more like she’s from another planet, but most of them come from Paul W. Downs as he completely breaks open the film as a beta-male turned diapered, caffeinated mess trying to save his engagement to Scarlett Johansson. If only the film had been about him, instead.

The Opening of KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD
Truth be told, I still don’t think LotS is a BAD movie, per se. I still think it would have been much better received if it had been presented as an original property instead of a reimagining of Arthurian legend. But it wasn’t great. Except for that opening sequence straight out of a crazy Bollywood Lord of the Rings knock off where King Eric Bana faces off against a bunch of wizards on the back of elephants the size of Mr. Stay-Puft. It’s nutty, trippy, and the kind of high-fantasy fun the whole movie seemed to be aiming for, but just didn’t hit.

Liev Schriber, Sean William Scott and Wyatt Russell in GOON: LAST OF THE ENFORCERS
The second Good film makes the series bookend the beginning and end of good-natured tough guy Doug Glatt’s hockey career. While not as good as the first (it’s too messy and the humor is too broad), these three outstanding performances anchor the film and show that Jay Baruchel should probably be directing more movies. Russell, especially, makes quite an impression as an unhinged star living in his father’s shadow, who lashes out wildly against anyone: friend, foe, or teammate. (Also, a nod to Elisha Cuthbert who makes the most of her small role and who I still have a crush on, going back to The Girl Next Door.)

Rihanna’s burlesque in VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS
Valerian mostly feels like a missed opportunity to reach the same kind of giddy pop-sci fi heights that The Fifth Element wrangled onto movie screens. Dane Dehaan is largely responsible through his lack of charisma and flat performance, but the way the screenplay picks up and drops plot threads doesn’t help either. One of the worst offenders is a character played by singer Rihanna and a lot of CGI, who serves as a plot device and ultimately goes nowhere. However, her introduction is a reminder of how Luc Besson can seemingly do things American directors couldn’t/wouldn’t as she performs a surprisingly effective PG-rated burlesque dance that features about a dozen costume changes in the span of five minutes.

Superman in JUSTICE LEAGUE
It’s not really a surprise that Superman shows up in Justice League. He’s on the poster, after all. But what is surprising is that Joss Whedon doesn’t just fix what was done to him in Batman v Superman, but puts the best version of the character ever on the big screen. While the movie itself is simply okay, it’s worth seeing for this alone, if you’re a Superman fan. I still defend Man of Steel and Henry Cavill’s performances, but it goes without saying that the writing for him in BvS was disappointing, as is the waste of the impact that a Death of Superman storyline should have. The fact that this is put right in half a movie, even despite the weird CGI smear-lip, tells me that giving Whedon a Superman film after he’s done with Batgirl would be the best move Warner Bros could make for the character.

The Spider-Man Theme in SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING
Homecoming was a fun movie that made up for the awful “Amazing” films and Tom Holland does a great job as the web-slinger. There were so many moments when it was obvious that Marvel really cared about making this new series work, and wanted to let their fans know it in subtle ways. I’m hard pressed to think of a moment that put a bigger smile on my face than when an orchestral version of the theme from the ‘60s Ralph Bakshi Spider-Man cartoon series started playing over the Marvel logo. It was a small, perfect, low-key moment of fan service.

The gore effects in RAW
I described Raw as, essentially, a great werewolf movie without any werewolves. I stand by that. It wouldn’t work as well as it does though, if the handful of gore effects that mark the character’s descent into cannibalism weren’t as fantastically done as they are. They aren’t flashy, or over-the-top, but that’s what makes them work so well. The body parts and the bites look entirely realistic and matter of fact, and they’re pretty much perfect.

Armie Hammer in FREE FIRE
I was prepared for Sharlto Copley to give a crazy performance in Ben Wheatley’s one-building action experiment. What I was not expecting was for Armie Hammer to steal the whole movie for me as an independent agent who remains the epitome of cool in a crisis, even as tempers flare and bullets fly. I hate that he’s had so much bad luck with big budget films thanks to that Lone Ranger debacle of years ago, because he’s more talented than he’s often given credit for.

The apartment fight and ensuing car chase in ATOMIC BLONDE
Even with a strong sequel to John Wick, some great Marvel films and a new Kingsman movie, I’m hard-pressed to think of an action sequence that blew me away like the abject brutality of a scene in Atomic Blonde when Charlize Theron and a communist goon destroy each other in an abandoned apartment building. It is an all-timer in the middle of an already solid action flick. The choreography makes it look like one of the most painful altercations since The Raid 2. Then, they added a top-notch car chase on top of it.

Charlie Hunam in THE LOST CITY OF Z
I’m the first to call Charlie Hunam a block of wood. While that didn’t stop me from loving Pacific Rim, and it didn’t completely ruin Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur for me, he certainly doesn’t add much to most of the films he’s in. Imagine my surprise then when he gave a fantastic performance in the historical exploration drama, The Lost City of Z. A throwback to the kind of British pictures that actually celebrated brave men who would venture into the unknown for knowledge, he is able to be noble, obsessive and desperate in equal measure as he makes trek after trek to the jungles of South America to try to find a lost civilization that he believes may have rivaled the celebrated empires of antiquity. Let’s hope we see more of this from Charlie in the future.

Trey Parker in DESPICABLE ME 3
Animated sequels are often the victims of diminishing returns and Despicable Me 3, while still having plenty of gas in the tank, definitely finds itself succumbing to the usual clichés as an unknown twin brother for Gru is unearthed and trotted out like an Eastern European Cousin Oliver. However, the filmmakers did themselves a huge favor by casting South Park creator Trey Parker as an 80s obsessed villain, Balthazar Bratt, out for revenge over his cancelled TV show from 30 years ago. While Parker and Matt Stone certainly keep themselves busy with their South Park empire, occasional film projects and a hit Broadway musical, I can’t help but hope this will open doors for Parker to do more voicework outside his own projects, as he’s just plain great at it.

The No More Catholics Song in T2: TRAINSPOTTING
2017 was the year of the long awaited sequel, and many of them were much better than they had any right to be. But the one that decided to be as meta as possible, by simultaneously wallowing in nostalgia while pointing out how gross, false and irresponsible such an act can be, was the follow-up to Danny Boyle’s adaptation of Trainspotting. T2 catches us up on everyone’s favorite Scottish derelicts as they reach crossroads in their lives. The stand-out scene is when Renton and Sick Boy infiltrate the lair of an anti-Catholic group, still celebrating a military victory from hundreds of years prior, in order to steal their debit cards from the coat room. In a darker spin on the “sing the blues” bit from Adventures in Babysitting, they find themselves on stage and forced to perform. As they make up a tune on the spot in order to keep from being found out, and effectively whip the crowd into a frenzy, I was cackling like a maniac. (This despite being raised Catholic, myself.) It’s proof positive that Danny Boyle still has that magic touch to make something profane and crazy work like a charm.

The remote car chase in THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS
The eighth movie in the F&F cycle was the weakest one in quite some time. Who knew Paul Walker was so important to the films’ chemistry? However, it continued the series’ tradition of finding new, crazy stunts to pull. When dozens of unmanned cars begin chasing a security convoy while even more rain down from parking garages onto the street like a hailstorm, it’s hard not to admire their commitment to fresh automotive carnage.

Cake in JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
“I explode if I eat cake.”

That’s all, folks. Agree? Disagree? Think I missed something? Feel free to let us know on our Facebook Page!

Kent’s 25 Favorite Damned Movies of 2017 (#5-1)

5. STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI- I don’t care how loudly the geek chorus against this film howls; I loved it. While I am on record as being a fan of The Force Awakens, I definitely had some issues with it, finding it a bit of an exercise in gimcrack. Yes, it was well made, but any digging showed some big flaws in the plotting and there were forced edits to the story, existing only for the purpose of obscuring the last 30 years of the mythology, which were more than a little maddening. I was actually more of a fan of Rogue One’s more straightforward (and somehow more original) approach. For me, Disney’s time as caretaker for the Lucasfilm franchise has been a steady uptick as Last Jedi is my favorite of the three. While it doesn’t reveal enough that was set up based upon the previous film (though I’m ironically glad writer/director Rian Johnson wasn’t beholden to JJ Abrams’ stupid mystery box) there’s little chance to worry about it, as the story, despite admittedly being overlong, manages to book for most of its runtime. Can I understand and even appreciate the complaints? Yes. But I enjoyed myself immensely nonetheless and, in some cases, I even found the film’s flaws quaint. Luke’s arc feels like a natural extension of his warring nature we saw at the end of Return of the Jedi. Rey, Poe and Finn become much more fleshed out than the rough sketches they were in Episode VII. The humor worked for me. The way Johnson finds new angles to explore in the Star Wars universe leads me to be much more excited about his upcoming trilogy than I was when it was announced. In essence, it delivered almost everything I could have hoped for in a Star Wars movie, and does not leave JJ Abrams any impediments towards going back and answering his own questions in Episode XI. Like Empire Strikes Back, I’m hoping time will be kind to this one, allowing it to overcome some initial fan-backlash and become a classic.

4. KONG: SKULL ISLAND- Skull Island is pretty much everything I could hope for from the modern Hollywood blockbuster machine. It is pulp done right. Lean, and surprisingly mean (a Cannibal Holocaust reference?!), it gives the audience plenty of genuine thrills and a surprising amount of violence before its done. Let’s just say it’s edgy enough that kids will probably feel like they’ve gotten away with something after they’ve watched it. True, Brie Larson is completely extraneous, and Tom Hiddleston doesn’t have much to do either, but it’s the rare blockbuster that gives us a crazy exposition character who we really can enjoy (an incredible John C. Reilly) and a more complex than normal bad guy (Samuel L. Jackson). There’s great work from John Goodman and a bunch of other character actors to boot. A strange combination of giant monsters and Vietnam-war era tropes, it really makes every second count and puts every dollar of its budget on screen to its benefit, giving us everything many of us had hoped for in the pretty good, but sort-of disappointing, 2014 version of Godzilla that focused on humans who were largely uninteresting and didn’t give the Big-G a chance to be a real character. Jordan Vogt-Roberts, thankfully, gives Kong enough screentime and personality to shine, as a gruff ape that manages to beat the living tar out of some pretty crazy stuff. Even better, it gives us a more thorough look at Skull Island, the mythological locale that has fascinated movie goers since the 30s, with dinosaur skeletons, giant insects and most of the things we’ve come to expect thanks to the sequels and remakes over the years, but somehow feeling fresh thanks to the updated context. This is a world, and a film, I want to revisit again and again.

3. DUNKIRK- Dunkirk is where Christopher Nolan puts together most of his best attributes, while managing to drop many questionable habits, and because of that, it soars. In a lot of ways, it is almost the exact opposite of everything you’ve come to expect from both Nolan and war movies in general. Clocking in at under two hours long, it doesn’t overstay its welcome or lean on an inflated running time to seem epic. It has a mixed-up time structure, and it may be a bit extraneous, but it’s worth it, because it’s one of his rare recent films that manages to hold together in its final act. Its action is present in short, controlled bursts and it carries a PG-13 rating, but it doesn’t take away the trauma and the tension of the situation. Nor does the violence, which excites but is never glorified, even necessarily feel muted because of it. The sound design is also fantastic and feeds just as much into the effectiveness of the film as the visuals. The impressive sights on display are worth every extra cent you may have paid for the IMAX screenings which took advantage of the 70MM format it was filmed in. Is it stoic? Yes. Is it matter of fact? Yes. Is it even cold? Maybe some people feel that way. But to me, it feels like Nolan is capturing the feeling that pervades of how Britain, to steal from the ridiculously overused slogan that has permeated culture again 70 years later, faced forward with a stiff upper lip and carried on during a time when history could have easily gone another way.

2. WIND RIVER- In the middle of summer, I had chills going up my spine from Wind River. Dare I say that, between the plot and the way it is shot, Wind River may be the most effective film at making you wish you were wearing a coat since John Carpenter’s The Thing. However, it’s not just the landscape that’s cold. A tale of murder in the sparsely populated Wyoming Rockies, Jeremy Renner gives one of the best performances of his career as a Fish and Game officer teaming with a young FBI agent (Elizabeth Olsen) and a tribal police chief (Graham Greene) to bring a girl’s killer to justice. In a refreshing change of pace, there are no pissing matches over jurisdiction here; and while none of them are perfect, our principles don’t waste time trying to tear each other down. They are professionals doing a job and, as the land get colder, the tale grows darker. The story is almost secondary to the rich characters, but that doesn’t mean it’s given short shrift. It is masterfully plotted and the ending is so visceral that I felt like it grabbed me by the shirt and shook me in my seat. In some ways, this feels like the greatest episode of Longmire never made, weaving between the survivalist nature of living in the mountains, the pride and desperation of an Indian reservation, and the isolation that invades when someone is so far removed from “society” at large (while avoiding the pitfalls of getting overdramatic and silly.) I feel no hesitation in calling this a great rural neo-noir, a fantastic modern Western, and one of the best crime films in recent memory.

1. BABY DRIVER- I have enjoyed a lot of trips to the theater in the last 12 months, but few can compare with the experience I had while Edgar Wright’s latest wonder unspooled. Complaining about Baby Driver’s plot is almost antithetical to the concept of Baby Driver, itself. Slick, musical and soulful, Baby Driver is a masterpiece of moving pictures. And while I’ve heard people complain about the thin plot, you may as well complain about the story mechanics of Singin’ in the Rain or Drunken Master 2. It’s about the rhythms of the filmmaking coming together with music and physicality to create something new. If George Lucas made American Graffiti to be a “musical without singing,” then Baby Driver would have to be the next step in that evolution, and if nothing else, it moves me because when I close my eyes and listen to music, this is the kind of experience that goes through me. Back in the 80s and 90s, the old guard shook their fists at the new generation of directors that were emerging, shouting that some films were turning into “feature length music videos.” Perhaps they wouldn’t have complained so loudly if they knew the kind of care and artistry could be brought to them that exists in Baby Driver. While many of the auteurs I follow started out with “Jukebox Musical” soundtracks, many of them have stepped back from the practice. Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson, for example, may still season their films with a peppering of obscure oldies, but they’ve largely phased out of wallpapering their films with them. Wright has filled the void in their absence and charged full-bore in the other direction, almost throwing more deep cuts at the audience than they can handle, but always in service of the film at large. As important as they are, however, the film wouldn’t work if the rest of it wasn’t just as on board: the stunts, the cinematography, the actors… each of them firing on all cylinders. The only thing that doesn’t work here is the name. I recommend taking the Bard’s advice and remembering that it smells the same, regardless. Don’t let the “Baby” of the title fool you: Baby Driver is superlatively wonderful and my pick for film of the year.

Best of 2017 (#10-6) The Best of the Rest >

Kent’s 25 Favorite Damned Movies of 2017 (#10-6)

10. THE VOID- Homage is kind of a dirty word these days. Back in the old days, everyone stole from everyone and it often didn’t matter because film wasn’t really a readily available commodity. Even in the days of VHS, it was sometimes hard to find the “lineage” of a film and where it found its inspiration. That’s a thing of the past as Wikipedia and IMDB give you more movie information than you could possibly know what to do with. Amazon, streaming, and a growing number of specialty labels will help you find entire filmographies and almost any cult title you want, with more and more obscure releases finding an audience. As such, it’s easier than ever to find inspiration, but harder than ever to hide it well enough to pass muster with the gatekeepers of genre, who have become ever more dismissive of anything that resembles something they love. One of the most difficult groups to impress is the horror crowd and I’ve surprisingly seen this chilling little film dismissed and hated, in part because the filmmakers obviously watched John Carpenter films growing up. But that doesn’t make what they’ve done, producing an incredibly effective, very Lovecraftian horror film on a tiny budget, any less impressive. This was a movie I was very glad I saw on the big screen as, much like Shin Godzilla last year, I think it made a huge difference and it made me sad that so many people were stuck seeing it for the first time on their home theater, regardless of how impressive their set-up may be. The effects are almost all practical and the vast majority of them look positively haunting. There is a strong feeling of dread that permeates the whole of the proceedings and the imagination on display makes up for any budget shortcomings. In short, it does everything you should want from a horror film, and does it extremely well. Well enough that it stuck with me, crowding out other thoughts for days after seeing it.

9. BRIGSBY BEAR- Is Brigsby Bear a feature-length advertisement for art therapy? If so, it’s the best one I’ve ever seen. I know that there are certainly some people out there who will probably hate this movie because they’ll find it skirts that “art movie” line where everything is kind of twee and the main character is a misfit. I feel sorry for those people. To share the basics of the plot would largely do the audience a disservice, as it is built in such a way that they find out what’s going on as the main character does, but I absolutely fell for its potent DIY aesthetic. In practice, the featured “Brigsby Bear” show, itself, is right there in some magic sweet spot where old-school Doctor Who, Land of the Lost, and Square One Television meet; making me a mark by feeling like a love letter to the PBS of my pre-school days. And before things are done, the film manages to make a statement about the nature of fandom, the shepherding of intellectual properties to/by the next generation, the aforementioned art therapy and the state of modern psychology. Frankly, as the challenges mount and things seem to spiral out of control, this film feels like a fantastic counterpoint/partner for The Disaster Artist. Like Tommy Wiseau, our hero, James, desperately needs to say something so he can connect with the world. Unlike Tommy, he isn’t doing it for fame or fortune or any mysterious motives, but so he can simply move on with his life. No other movie this year left me more inspired to get out and create. Add in Mark Hammill’s best performance of the year (and that’s saying something) and you’ve got something pretty special.

8. LOGAN- When X-Men arguably kicked off the whole modern Superhero movie era, this was the best possible end-game scenario. The culmination of 17 years, Logan completes Hugh Jackman’s run as Wolverine and does it in the style of a post-modern Western, complete with many of the trappings, albeit changed to suit a not-so-distant-future sci-fi setting. (I wonder if some critics who complained about a particular plot point are familiar with the trope of the aging gunslinger facing a rival that amounts to a younger version of themselves.) This isn’t some post-apocalyptic world. It is a world in slow decay, much like the future Logan, himself. It is a bloody, unblinking look at a man who has trafficked in violence his whole, long life having to come to terms with the things he’s done and doing it with a scowl. A fantastic performance by Patrick Stewart as a dementia-riddled Professor X helps a lot with that. Even more important, X-23, aka “Laura”, is played by a child actor who can, you know, act. It’s no wonder 20 Century Fox had been circling a spin-off about her, which may turn into one of many promising ‘never-was’ films that will undoubtedly follow Disney’s purchase of the studio. Not only is it by far the best of the Wolverine movies, and the best film of James Mangold’s career, but it’s in the upper echelon of X-Men films and superhero films as a whole. And among the best films of 2017.

7. THE DISASTER ARTIST- It’s hard to discuss any retelling about making a “bad movie” without talking about the shadow of Tim Burton’s masterpiece, Ed Wood. Thankfully for James Franco, The Disaster Artist, a somewhat-fictional account of the making of the trash “classic,” The Room, is able to proudly stand (and show off its backside) as a wonderfully entertaining movie with more than enough differences to avoid feeling like some retread. Franco’s portrayal of infamous director/weirdo Tommy Wiseau miraculously skirts parody or imitation and manages to actually be a fully functional, idiosyncratic character. What he makes look relatively easy on screen is actually worthy of a Best Actor Oscar nomination. Beyond that though, the story itself is more thought-provoking, more “educational,” and more outright fun to watch than the story of making great art could probably ever be. While Dave Franco probably would never be able to channel the kind of bizarre outsider his brother can, he provides a great point of view as the original book’s author, Greg Sestero, and he is able to play on his strengths (probably giving his brother the same quizzical looks in the movie he’s given him in their private lives.) Tommy may still be a mystery when the credits role, but we do get a pretty accurate account of what it feels like to want to move someone with what amounts to a piece of your soul, and to fail spectacularly. Who among us, as an artist or simply as a human being, can’t sympathize with that?

6. THOR: RAGNAROK- 2017 was an embarrassment of riches when it comes to comic book-based films, as they proved once and for all that even the “superhero” films that are disparaged by some snobs can’t be so easy pigeonholed. For every disappointment there seemed to be three great examples of what can be done when talent and artistry is behind these adaptations, from period films to post-modern Westerns to teen comedy to space opera. But the craziest, most fun, and outright batshit film (in a year that included an animated Adam West Batman movie and another chapter of James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy series) was Thor: Ragnarok. Delivering on a blistering trailer that promised high adventure and comedy, Taika Waititi managed to completely blow away expectations, creating a film which is unlike anything he’s made before, but still a wonderful encapsulation of his unique voice. (And, in doing so, he makes my top 10 for the second year in a row.) It builds on the first two Thor films, while completely decimating them and commenting on the Asgardian’s mythology as a stand-in for post-Imperialism. (But never does it stop to wallow in these, letting the viewer pick them up on the fly.) As the film wrapped up, I leaned over to one of the friends I’d gone with and I said, “It’s like someone made a good version of Flash Gordon.” It’s a harsh thing to say, considering I enjoy that movie, but the thing Ragnarok does that so many pulpy space yarns do not, is not allow the zaniness and oddities (which are plentiful) to undercut the narrative. The story, while episodic and probably more flawed than it feels while swept up in its freight train of a good time, has so many welcome twists that it could have been birthed in a pretzel factory. When you attach splendid visuals, a marvelous Mark Mothersbaugh score (with an assist from Led Zepplin), and the strongest showing yet of the wonderful brotherly chemistry between Tom Hiddleston and Chris Hemsworth, Marvel has another winner. This is not the film that ends Thor’s story, but it certainly is the end of this chapter, and boy is it a good one.

Kent’s 25 Favorite Damned Movies of 2017 (#15-11)

15. I, TONYA- A movie that chronicles the first 25 years or so in the life of Tonya Harding could have really gone one of two ways: either the self-serious Lifetime Movie route, or embracing the story’s inherent ridiculousness. Having Margot Robbie, who is “Hollywood pretty” by any standard, portray Tonya Harding at age 15 by giving her a short haircut and some braces pretty much shows right off the bat that the film intends to go the second way. But in addition to the requisite goofiness one can expect for a figure skating film full of rednecks, assholes, half-wits, and dim-wits, the movie itself plays things pretty smart. It’s been simultaneously praised and derided for taking inspiration from the work of Martin Scorcese. Goodfellas in particular is name-dropped in the advertising. But in order to put together a tale in which not one, but multiple unreliable narrators regularly refute each other, sometimes even turning to the audience and breaking the fourth wall to dispute the action occurring onscreen, it likely couldn’t have worked as well any other way. Ultimately, the film’s view of Harding is a sympathetic one (her POV is understandably the most prevalent), but it never lets her off the hook, as she is represented as throwing regular tantrums, making constant excuses, and usually only taking minimal responsibility for her actions. The storytelling has pop sensibilities through and through; in fact, I would go so far as to say it’s technically brilliant. However, there’s always some sadness around the edges to remind you that, no matter how absurd the plot gets, these are real people. The end credits even show excerpts from archival footage to try to drill home how surprisingly unexaggerated this whole circus is.

14. COCO- It’s possible that Coco may seem better than it is by virtue of having a truly bad Frozen special programmed before it. However, even if we assume that’s the case, it still comes across as a total winner for Pixar. The story, which follows a music loving Mexican boy through the mythological underworld on Dia de los Muertos, may have some plot holes, but it’s hard to worry about them when it’s so much fun and has a lot of great touches that remind us how Pixar really cares about the details. So in a lot of ways it’s more or less par for the course for the Lamp, but even then, Coco manages to elbow its way into the higher tiers of their films thanks to the humor on display and the main character being pretty endearing. Beyond that though, there’s some really mystifying stuff for anyone who wants to really dig, like how it takes place in an afterlife where fame is an even more valuable commodity than in our own world. The music is catchy (and, since at least one tune is repeated ad naseum, that is very, very important. See also: That Thing You Do.) The visuals are full of a Halloween splendor, with a walking tour of the most unique setting they’ve put on the screen since Monstropolis. But even in a movie this visually striking, Mama Coco herself stands out, at once creepy, heartbreaking and… even almost cute on occasion; truly great character design. While I’m glad animation has slowly been evolving and there are seemingly more voices in the features game than ever before, there’s a reason Pixar continues to stand out in their field.

13. BLADE RUNNER 2049- It’s hard to believe that Denis Villenueve pulled off a sequel that not only managed to keep from sullying the lustre of its now-regarded-as-a-classic progenitor, but may even improve upon it, leaving its moral relativism and complex plotting while forgoing a lot of the overcooked dialogue and adding something that the original only flirted with: genuine pathos. Ryan Gosling makes a surprisingly good lead, channeling his leading man status to serve as part of his replicant nature. Harrison Ford keeps up his “greatest hits” tour, following up his fun turn as Han Solo with another return to form, this time as Rick Deckard, the runner that took off with Sean Young’s experimental Rachel model of the original. But the real MVP is Ana de Armas, who is heartbreakingly good as various forms of an artificial intelligence named, appropriately enough, Joi. The plot twists here are not small, and the risk they undertook is definitely rewarded. While the visuals overall may not be as idiosyncratic and downright awesome (in the truest sense of the word) as the original, there are some bits here and there that certainly come close, especially a visit to an abandoned city that looks like it was rezoned to Mars. Plus, I can’t think of a recent film with a scene which has sucker-punched me in the gut like this one has, outside of Pixar. As time goes by, I predict 2049 will find itself having a very long shelf-life, just as the first film did.

12. COLOSSAL- I’ve heard a lot about the controversy surrounding Colossal. Personally, I think it’s one of those movies where the biggest messages one interprets are ones you’re bringing into the screening with you. Which, if we’re being honest, is often a hallmark of interesting sci-fi and art in general. I didn’t see it as some huge statement of empowerment, or a screed for misandry, despite advertisers and critics telling me what to expect. I saw a movie about a terrible, manipulative person having to make better decisions, because she’s surrounded by other people who are also varying degrees of manipulative and/or terrible (or at the very least, allow that sort of behavior to continue.) So rather than focus on the controversy, or the politics, how about I point out that it’s an incredibly clever, and original movie. That it is genuinely funny and engaging. That Jason Sudeikis puts in the best performance of his career so far, at times seething under the surface with genuine menace that belies his usual charming demeanor. That Anne Hathaway continues to impress me and puts in a wonderful effort as the main character of this stealth genre film. (I’ll never understand the relatively small, but intense, cult of public disdain that follows her like a dark cloud.) That, even with a doofy explanation for why what’s happening is happening, I found it to be a wholly satisfying experience. Colossal is small, but mighty. It is thoughtful, provocative, and absolutely worthy of your time.

11. THE BIG SICK- Telling people something is “a _____ for people who don’t like _____” is not one of my preferred descriptors. It feels reductive in most respects, to both the film being recommended, and the genre which contains it. But I would definitely recommend The Big Sick to people, even if they typically don’t enjoy Hollywood romantic comedies, because it doesn’t feel like a typical, ridiculous romantic comedy. Not only that but, perhaps because it’s based on a true story, it avoids the common clichés of them while keeping the basic tenants. Yes, there’s a big secret that keeps them apart. No, that secret isn’t something ridiculous or something that makes the main character seem like a complete sociopath for piling lie upon lie. Star Kumail Nanjiani manages to come across as natural and charming, while Zoe Kazan manages to take what would usually be a thankless role, pumping the brakes when we’re rooting for them, and is actually allowed to be sympathetic. Most importantly, director (and The State alum) Michael Showalter make it feel like a character piece first, and it never loses sight of that second word in its descriptor. It’s a movie that is genuinely funny throughout, despite tackling some heavy topics. These heavy topics, like family friction created by breaking with tradition and a large dose of medical drama, even result in fully-formed character arcs. It never even feels exploitive the way a tear-jerker would, milking the hospital scenes for all their emotional worth, despite the title. See it with someone you care about (who doesn’t like to be bored.) You’ll be glad you did.