LF Best Movies of 2017
2017 has already turned the corner to hide from sight forever. It's time to find out how cumulus the tag cloud it will leave behind for moviegoers is. Are there unconditional masterpieces in it with an unlimited shelf life, or will the wind of history, with the very first breath, ruthlessly scatter all these words and phrases enclosed in quotation marks? Some of the films have won the recognition of audiences and critics, along the way, grabbing prestigious awards and stuffing bags with a dollar sign for their creators. Others undeservedly remained on the sidelines of general attention. But each of them killed in us destructive indifference, forcing us to laugh, cry, be frightened, surprised and generally enjoy the feeling of belonging to the beautiful. So it's time to pay tribute to the best films of 2017 ...La La Land "( Damien Chazelle ) A vigorous start to our list is set by a 128-minute session of pure magic, which you want to put on repeat and not let go anywhere, hoping in vain that this time the heroes of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone will definitely have everything. But dream and love, alas, are not always destined to go hand in hand, and the choice at the fork is inevitably bitter. After making some noise four years ago with the electrifying and also jazz-infused drama "Obsession", Damien Chazelle knocked out permission to release such a rare beast as the original musical. As a result, he not only caught up with the examples of the genre, but himself became such. You will see that now not a single video cut of canonical on-screen love stories can do without Mia and Sebastian.  The main secret of the instant classic status stuck to La La Land was the ideal interpretation by Mr. Chazell of the well-known phrase “to taste” by the hostesses. In other words, it can be called a sense of proportion. Where a more straightforward cinematographer would have poured out a bucket of molasses, Damien seemed to place spikes, sourness and bitterness on the beacons, and the last, most noticeable note remained in store for the grand finale. Read more about the film in our review - "La La Land": Where Dreams May Come " Silence " ( Martin Scorsese ) Watching other films turns into hard work for the audience. Martin Scorsese's dream project "Silence", which stretched out over 30 years and killed a lot of his nerve cells, can certainly be attributed to such. Therefore, we recommend that you completely give your mind and feelings to the tape while watching, refraining from crispy snacks and chatty company. After the end credits, you will definitely want to save your words.  The time and place in which two young Jesuit priests (XVII century, Japan), performed by Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver, find themselves, are testing their faith with increasing cruelty. Each next test turns into a new crack in the stoicism of the missionaries, and at some point even a doubt arises - does someone above really hear their prayers? And if he hears, then why does he remain silent? A wise, important and timely statement, the army of admirers of which was led not by anyone, but by the Pope himself, who after viewing honored Martin Scorsese with an audience. Read more about the film in our review - To a strange monastery. Review of "Silence" " Voice of the Monster " ( Juan Antonio Bayona ) A lonely and sad boy named Connor finds himself on the verge of the biggest loss of his life and clings to false hopes with his last strength. A giant tree-like monster helps the hero to accept the difficult truth, including about himself, and open his eyes to many important things.  Juan Antonio Bayona's "Voice of the Monster" is an emotional concussion of a caliber other than Silence, but no less force. Through the prism of the transforming relationship between Connor and the reviving yew tree, we see page by page an intelligible and colorful manual on the rules for choosing between bitter truth and sweet lies - starting from nouns, not from adjectives. Read more about the film in our review - Monstrous psychotherapy. Review of "Voice of the Monster" " Paterson " ( Jim Jarmusch ) A guy named Paterson lives in the city of the same name with his fickle girlfriend in terms of hobbies, works as a bus driver, and in his free time fills notebooks with poetic constructions. That, in fact, is the whole plot of the most recent creation of one of the masters of American independent cinema, Jim Jarmusch.  No traditional dramatic composition, no pronounced conflict, no crazy plot twists, but at the same time, two hours look in the same breath. The appearance of such a beautiful poetic anthem of everyday life in the era of battles overpopulated with heroes and events of the cinematic universes is akin to a breath of fresh air. Moreover, "Paterson" is by no means a motivational film, of which there have always been an abundance of premieres, but rather a sobering one, since it teaches us to value and preserve what we already have. Read more about the film in our review - Man drives and smiles. Review of "Paterson" " Tony Erdmann " ( Maren Ade ) Like a hippogriff in a traditional zoo, grotesque dramedy Maren Ade about a retired inventor who decided to disguise himself as an eccentric businessman in order to improve relations with his daughter, cannot but attract special attention.  Wit, shocking and absolute atypicality, which put the picture at approximately equal distance from commercial genre cinema and radical art house, were so fond of critics that some of them were in a hurry to present the tape as proof of the viability of cinema as such. And the intricacies of the plot turned out to be so magnetic that they forced Jack Nicholson to postpone his announced retirement and grab the lead role in the American remake of Tony Erdmann. " Logan " ( James Mangold ) Being the main pillar of the superhero offshoot of the Fox studio, Wolverine, aka Logan, could not get a decent solo album, finding himself in a motley company of either half-deadpool with a sewn-up mouth, or the Viper performed by Svetlana Khodchenkova. However, when the time came to escort the clawed mutant to rest (at least in the guise of Hugh Jackman), it was done smartly. In the film by James Mangold, Logan appears not as fighting and fearless, as the audience is used to seeing him, but exhausted by life and pretty weak. In order to financially help the even more deplorable Professor X, Wolverine is forced to work as a taxi driver. But one day, 11-year-old mutant Laura interferes with his depressed and hopeless lifestyle.  Logan differs from all its predecessors both in its genre (let's call it neo-western) and in the seriousness of its presentation. It is not for nothing that Clint Eastwood's The Unforgiven was listed among the sources of inspiration for the painting. The supernatural component has gone far into the background, bringing simple feelings and emotions to the fore. Perhaps never before have colored pictures with clouds of text been embodied in such a sincere and lively cinema. The third act about Wolverine certainly deserves a thunderous ovation. " T2 Trainspotting " ( Danny Boyle ) Trainspotting sequel, which had been in preparation for a long time, was initially supposed to follow the letter of the literary novel Porn by Irwin Welch. But the closer things got to production, the more free-spirited the film adaptation took. This is understandable: imagine that you have a long-awaited meeting of classmates, and a certain topic has been determined for it. When you get together, at first you try to stick to it, but then you send everything to hell and just enjoy each other's company.  "T2 Trainspotting" looks exactly like a merry gathering of old friends who missed spending time together. And the spectator at this holiday of all kinds of excesses is by no means a stranger. For all those who many years ago were imbued with the story of Renton, Koceryzhka, Kayfolom and Begby, it will be a special pleasure to witness the fact that 20 years later they remained the same gouges, achieving success not thanks to, but in spite of. Although, it must be admitted, one component that was absent in the original film did appear in T2, and its name is hope. The finale of the sequel leaves much more room for optimism and, albeit a fragile, but still a sense of calm for these unlucky, but already such dear guys. Read more about the film in our review - A shot of youth. Review of T2 Trainspotting " Split " ( M. Night Shyamalan ) While Daniel Keyes's The Mysterious Story of Billy Milligan once again wanders on its way to film adaptation, its loose interpretations show a somewhat greater topographic literacy. So M. Night Shyamalan, who came out of a protracted creative peak with the year before last "Visit", turned to the commandant of a dormitory of individuals, which fits in the head of one person. Inside the cranium of the main character of "Split" 23 persons are huddled at once: from the unintelligent 9-year-old boy Hedwig to the sedate elderly woman Patricia. Soon, this company is to be joined by the 24th, the most powerful and destructive entity, codenamed Beast. Together with future neighbors in the consciousness of the Beast, three girls are waiting, invited to a banquet as a treat. The most daring of them, Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy), challenges the maniac,  When you have such a dashingly twisted plot and full of strength James McAvoy in your hands, then, consider, half the battle has already been done. It remains to properly place accents, and here Shyamalan also did not blunder, earning the definition of "good old" and an absentee pat on the shoulder. As in the times of "The Sixth Sense" and "Invincible", the filmmaker masterly doses the level of suspense, keeping the audience in suspense until the last second. Well, the final of "Split" with an unexpected exit from behind the stove of another character in the universe M. Night Shyamalan (and, in fact, the very fact of the existence of this universe), perhaps, set a 2017 record for the number of emotions in the "WTF?" Format. Read more about the film in our review - Nicknamed the Beast. Review of "Split" " Manchester by the Sea " ( Kenneth Lonergan ) Kenneth Lonergan's quiet, only occasionally screaming drama turned out to be one of the main magnets for awards in the 2016-2017 season. In this story of loss and its consistent overcoming against the backdrop of provincial, as if frozen in sepia, scenery there was a place for the skillful whipping up of drama, and profound messages, and unexpected flashes of humor and optimism.  Casey Affleck earned a separate stream of eulogies. He created a seemingly discreet, but focused, multi-layered image of a locksmith named Lee, forced to return to his hometown on the road from still tears to bury his brother and adapt to the role of guardian of a 16-year-old nephew. For a long time, Casey was unfairly perceived by Hollywood exclusively as “the second Affleck”, but thanks to his role in “Manchester by the Sea” and the Oscar that followed her, these days disappeared. Read more about the film in our review - Live. Review of "Manchester by the Sea" " King of the Belgians " ( Peter Brossens and Jessica Hope Woodworth ) An inconspicuous gem of European arthouse depths. The caustic political comedy of Peter Brossens and Jessica Hope Woodworth scoffs at the European trend towards independence, passing the idea of a micro-state through several filters of absurdity.  The protagonist of the picture, King Nicholas III of Belgium, travels to Turkey with a film crew to shoot a spiritually uplifting film about his own person. During the production process, news suddenly comes that the country is about to disintegrate into Flanders and Wallonia. His Majesty cannot allow this to happen and sets off incognito to Belgium by land through the Balkans. Catching on to the fertile theme of the monarch's person, surrounded by commoners and even in a foreign land, Brosens and Woodworth squeeze all the comic potential out of her to the fullest, while not slipping into flat gagging. Well, the demonstration of the Balkan flavor by the duet of Belgian directors turned out in the best traditions of Emir Kusturica. " Salyut-7 " ( Klim Shipenko ) This year, the domestic film industry has twice turned to our national pride - past space successes. "The time of the first" Dmitry Kiselev told about the flight of Pavel Belyaev and Alexei Leonov, which was marked by the first ever spacewalk. "Salyut-7" by Klim Shipenko told about the search and rescue expedition to the station of the same name that happened 17 years later. A reasonable question is brewing: why did we decide to mark the second tape?  First of all, "Salyut-7" bypasses "Time of the First" in terms of entertainment (a rare USA film that looks more expensive than it actually is) and fascinating plot. Another important advantage of Shipenko's creation is its ability to evoke sincere patriotic feelings. It is to call, not to squeeze. Finally, Salyut-7 is simply more dramatically brought down more tightly. Of course, there are historical inaccuracies in the picture, but a pleasant aftertaste and a noticeably upbeat mood during the credits easily cover this inaccuracy. " Dislike " ( Andrey Zvyagintsev ) “Too bad your parents aren't childfree. Burn in hell, burn in hell! ”- these lines from the hit Noize MC and Monetochka perfectly describe the situation in which 12-year-old Alyosha finds himself. His parents are in the process of divorcing and drinking the last milliliters of each other's blood. In this series of arguments and bickering, the joint child turns out to be less interesting to both sides of the conflict than the tea set. As a result, Alyosha, feeling absolutely useless, decides to run away from home.  Andrei Zvyagintsev again very accurately captured the spirit of the times, filming a difficult and impassable in terms of hopes for a better drama that life is a permanent search for a lesser evil. It turned out for him to be more hermetically sealed and chamber and less convex than in "Leviathan". The nationwide wormholes were reduced to nods in the background. The finale leaves us in a frightening confusion, offering a wide selection of shades of gray. In general, Zvyagintsev once again convincingly confirmed his right to be in the pantheon of great European masters. " Manifesto " ( Julian Rosefeldt ) If you have ever watched the game “What? Where? When? ”, You probably know about the“ Super blitz ”round: at the table there is only one expert, the strongest in the team, who answers several questions within a minute. Julian Rosefeldt's Manifesto is a kind of actor's "Super Blitz", where within 95 minutes it is necessary to embody 13 characters as different from each other as possible, for each of which the director has prepared a famous artistic manifesto. Therefore, it is not surprising that the incredible Cate Blanchett, whose filmography includes Queen Elizabeth I, Hollywood prima Katharine Hepburn, and even the singing rebel Bob Dylan, remained face to face with the camera.  The two-time Academy Award winner proves to be an exemplary guide on a journey through 20th century art history. She passes through and voices the ideas of Guy Debord, Wassily Kandinsky, Andre Breton, Kazimir Malevich, Jim Jarmusch and other experimenters and innovators. In addition to the obvious art value, "Manifesto" also has an important educational and educational function. Any major museum of contemporary art (for example, New York's MoMA) is simply obliged to fork out for the rights to show the Manifesto and broadcast it non-stop within its walls. Dunkirk "( Christopher Nolan ) For the last 10 years, Christopher Nolan's creative journey has been a wandering between Gotham and the research center of space and time. And finally, the first film in his career, based on real events, broke out - the amazing rescue of more than three hundred thousand British soldiers and allies during the Dunkirk operation at the beginning of World War II. Stepping into the territory of a war drama, Nolan did not play by the already existing rules and began to write his own.  In Dunkirk you will not find expressive heroes or individual feats. Everything is collective here: fear, confusion, courage and, as a result, triumph. The director does not bother himself with some historical references and preambles, immediately throwing the unheated audience into the mouth of events. As a result of giving the acting work an almost decorative character, regular cameraman Hoyte Van Hoytema and composer Hans Zimmer became the full-fledged creators of the success of Dunkirk along with Nolan. The first one draws cold landscapes of stunning beauty, and the second maintains the necessary frequency of the audience's heartbeat with its signature bass. Christopher Nolan himself is more than ever close to receiving the long-awaited directorial Oscar. Read more about the film in our review - New canons of war cinema. Dunkirk Review " It " ( Andres Muschetti ) Who would have thought that the result of the directorial replacement of Cary Fukunaga with Andres Muschetti, which caused more than one disappointed sigh of Internet users, would result in the best horror of the year and one of the best in the 21st century. In general, fixing what is not broken, that is, the adaptation of what has already been brilliantly filmed, is always a risky venture. But the creative team led by Muschetti managed to outperform the iconic 1990 TV adaptation, and Bill Skarsgard turned out to be a much more intimidating Pennywise than Tim Curry.  If the majority of modern fellows in the genre rely on the simplest and cheapest method of getting the necessary public reaction - jumpscair, then "It" acts more subtly and sophisticated. The tape plays on the nerves so masterfully that at some point you begin to feel the potential threat from every doorframe. In addition to inducing creepiness, "It" also succeeded in creating other emotions - laughter, surprise, or affection with nostalgic warmth and strong friendship between the members of the "Club of Losers". Read more about the film in our review - One, two, the clown will take you. Review of the film "It" " Your name " ( Makoto Shinkai ) The ability to find new facets and meanings in a set sore frame of mind betrays a great master. Makoto Shinkai, the future heir to the crown of Hayao Miyazaki, managed to pull off such a trick with the topic of body exchange between the main characters. In his animated film Your Name, a metamorphosis occurs with a Tokyo boy Taki and a girl from Mitsuha province, who dream each other's lives. One day, this ability suddenly disappears, and Taki decides to go in search of Mitsuha.  If you are an anime fan, then simply dissolve in the picture "Your Name". If you are not, then after viewing it is almost guaranteed to take a step towards this endemic multi-breed. The work of Sinkaya disarms and leaves no choice but to fall in love with him: with both eyes (thanks to the criminally beautiful animation) and heart (thanks to a sincere and touching story of first love). No wonder "Your Name" set a new record for domestic box office receipts in Japan - $ 355 million, overtaking Miyazaki's "Spirited Away". As they say, I passed the post - I accepted the post. " Square " ( Ruben Estlund ) Observing contemporary art, sometimes you realize that there is room in it for everything, anything, except art itself. Actually, for Ruben Estlund, in his “Kvadrata”, crowned with the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival, the art world is only a theater of action, a starting point for speaking on broader topics.  The director walks through freedom of speech, political correctness, the boundaries of what is permitted, a crisis of trust, selfishness and hypocrisy, stringing his views on a conventional plot core. The gallery curator's phone and wallet are stolen in broad daylight, he goes in search of offenders, and then such an inventive and dizzying whirlwind of performances begins that you are afraid to blink again so as not to miss another crushing punch from Estlund. Needless to say, cinematic vivisection was not a success. " Mom! " ( Darren Aronofsky ) After several obscure works, when the piano got stuck in the bushes, and God did not get out of the car, Darren Aronofsky finally managed to surprise. True, this surprise goes hand in hand not with an enthusiastic exclamation "Wow!", But with bewilderment that you experience a second before the pepper gas gets into your eyes.  “Mom!”, Which was presented at the stage of trailers as a story of the appearance of intruders in the house of a young couple, turned out to be an extremely bold and harsh statement that the path from creative genius to messiah is always irrevocable and leading to apocalypse. Biblical allegories are naturally attached. And very harshly prepared. This is the very case when you don't regret watching a movie, but you hardly want to re-live your viewing experience. Read more about the film in our review - Salinger's Nightmare. Review of the film "Mom!" " Blade Runner 2049 " ( Denis Villeneuve ) If you want to know what the ideal outcome of Operation Successor looks like, Blade Runner 2049 will show you that. Denis Villeneuve so cleverly picked up the banner from Ridley Scott, while maintaining his original style that there is no doubt that Warner Bros. made the best possible choice. The same can be said about the invitation to the role of the replicant hunter Ryan Gosling, convincing in action scenes, touching in romantic episodes and hypnotically beautiful even in moments of on-screen inactivity.  Technically, Blade Runner 2049, unlike the original film, doesn't look like an innovator. Simply due to the fact that now is a different time, and in order to make a revolution, you have to be at least an "Avatar". But in terms of storytelling, the sequel wins, especially succeeding in trampling false paths for the viewer. A separate pleasure is watching Harrison Ford in his odyssey on iconic roles: Han Solo, Rick Deckard, Indiana Jones next. Read more about the film in our review - Beauty among the runners " About body and soul " ( Ildiko Enedi ) Here is another delightful on-screen meeting of two loners. The eccentric protagonists of the drama "On Body and Soul" that conquered the Berlin Film Festival work in the slaughterhouse and keep away from each other until one day they find out that they have the same dreams every night.  This story of rapprochement and breaking through love cannot be called glossy and combed - by sincerity and sincerity, it will plug several dozen Hollywood melodramas into the belt. Each frame of Enedi's painting says that she loves her characters with all her heart, and therefore does not hide their oddities. The Hungarian director, who has not filmed a full film for 18 years before, mixes funny with sad, life-affirming with oppressive, and tender with tough. The result is a heterogeneous mosaic that stays in memory for a long time. " Goodbye Christopher Robin " ( Simon Curtis ) The children's book "Winnie the Pooh" will never again be perceived as before. Several generations of readers, enthusiastically absorbing the adventures of the teddy bear and his forest friends, could hardly imagine that behind the deafening worldwide success of this series of stories lies one twisted fate - the son of Alan Alexander Milne, who served as a prototype for Christopher Robin.  In the hands of Simon Curtis, the story of the monetization of father-son relationship takes on an unusually poignant and penetrating character, forcing any iceberg of indifference to melt. Although the injured side is obvious here, the director in no way demonizes the elder Milne and finds justifications for his actions, because the writer was driven by good intentions. He wanted to return hope and joy to the homes of the British, who had recently recovered from the First World War, but behind the radiance of other people's children's smiles, he missed the fading of the most important one. The rebellious character of Alan Milne is above all praise embodied by Donal Gleason, and for the role of young Christopher Robin, they managed to find, perhaps, the most charming guy in all of Great Britain (sorry, Prince George!) Named Will Tilston. " Coco's Secret " ( Lee Ankrich and Adrian Molina ) Talking to children about adult topics is not an easy test, in most cases doomed to failure. But not for Pixar. The legendary animation studio, without any break in the voice and drum roll sounding in the background, decided to tell its young audience what death is, and did it as delicately as possible and with the correct intonation.  The key message of "Coco's Mysteries" is that as long as you remember your dead relatives, they are alive in another world. No wonder the most memorable song in the soundtrack to the cartoon is called "Don't Forget". Meanwhile, "The Secret of Coco" is not only a triumph of humanism, but also an enchanting riot of colors, taking another exorbitant level in drawing and detailing, bright characters and appropriate corporate humor. In general, another feast for the eyes and mind from the flagship of animation products. Star Wars: The Last Jedi ( Ryan Johnson ) To paraphrase the famous quote from Oscar Wilde, we can say that there are only two real tragedies in the lives of Star Wars fans: one when a new part does not live up to expectations, and the other when it does. In the case of The Force Awakens, both dissatisfaction curves moved along the reaction graph with equal degree of activity. Fans on opposite sides of the barricades even agreed that JJ Abrams's tape was too nostalgic and obsessive indulgence of the desires of an old-school fanbase.  The "Last Jedi" cannot be reproached with such excessive zeal. Unlike Abrams, Ryan Johnson is not afraid to surprise and walk on untouched roads. As a result, his episode looks fresher, more cheerful and more driving than its predecessor. And, importantly, it is aimed not at strengthening ties with an already loyal audience, but at attracting a new one, even if that has not yet had a chance to visit a distant, distant galaxy. Considering that "The Last Jedi" are of a transitional nature, they could not do without a bitter farewell to some of their beloved heroes. And Carrie Fisher's last seconds onscreen will definitely not leave your eyes dry. Read more about the movie in our review - Losers of Jedi. Review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi Well, these are the outlines that 2017 left in the contour maps of moviegoers. Let's see what 2018 will bring us, and in a year we will gather here again and discuss its results. The Topic of Article: LF Best Movies of 2017. |
