Okay, I know - it's been a while; forgive me. I've had to balance a lot of things since I last posted on here - classes, a new job and all - and so my reviews and such have since had to take a backseat. That isn't to say I didn't have time to watch movies during my absence here. Instead it was more of a case of me, personally, not finding the motivation or energy to keep posting here for now. I'll do my best to have something on here for you guys every so often - and I know I've made that promise before - just so y'all know I'm still around.
That being said, 2017 is drawing to a close, and it has been a pretty good year for cinema. Sure, we got, The Emoji Movie, Fifty Shades Darker, and Extra Service this year, but there were more great films than terrible ones that came out over the previous 12 months. I, personally, got to see some really good movies in that time, and I got to live some incredible cinematic experiences, as well. So, without further adieu, I present to you my...
In my humble opinion.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of things, this is my personal, completely biased list of the seven movies I enjoyed the most. The (grade) I might've given a movie as I reviewed it (assuming I have) will not matter. This list is based on how much fun I, personally, had while watching these films. Your list, of course, will be completely different from mine, and you might not agree with anything I picked. So, enough chit-chat, let's get right into my...
HONORABLE MENTIONS
War for the Planet of the Apes was a great film. You've probably heard it a dozen times before, but it's true - this film is incredible. Everything from the world to the characters to the visual effects work to the story was top-notch and some of the best I've seen this year.
I will admit that, upon first viewing, I felt a bit underwhelmed because this wasn't exactly the movie I was expecting. After watching it and going over it again with those expectations out of the way, I realized I didn't really have much reason to be underwhelmed at all. This is a great character piece and, perhaps, the best movie in the Apes trilogy.
Despite its pretty weak ending and paper-thin villain, I had a blast watching Wonder Woman. I like the depth Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot brought to a character that, I thought, was set up pretty competently in BvS: Dawn of Justice, and I thought their work in this movie was fantastic.
This movie has a lot going for it, and has one of my favorite action sequences from this year in the No Man's Land scene. It breathed life and some much-needed energy into the DC Extended Universe, and it was such a joy to watch that I can forgive how it just kinda fizzles out towards the end. Definitely worth watching.
Okja was heavy. It had a lot of emotional heft to it and was an exhausting watch, but in the sense that it was consistently thrilling and intense throughout. It was also one of the best directed films I'd seen this year.
With an all-star cast and some truly stellar performances from Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, Seo-Hyeon Ahn, and the effortlessly entertaining Tilda Swinton, Okja excels at delivering a compelling and meaningful narrative without beating you over the head with what it had to say. The only reason it isn't in the Top 7 is that I couldn't really bring myself to watch it again with how heavy it was. I might see it again, we'll see.
The Painting
There aren't too many films that make me feel as if I'm partaking in something culturally significant, but Ang Larawan did just that. So much about this movie was great. The music was well-written and well-composed, the actors were all stellar, and the direction was beautiful and really did help elevate this beyond being just another good musical. The movie also has one of my favorite song numbers I'd seen in film this year in Robert Arevalo's Hindi Simple ang Buhay.
Joanna Ampil gives one of the best performances I've seen all year, and the film, as a whole, truly is a marvel. However it just slightly misses out on my Top 7 because of its (admittedly) weak ending. That doesn't make Ang Larawan any less remarkable.
Now that our honorable mentions have been, well, mentioned, let's get into my actual...
TOP 7
Jesus is Dead
There were many films I was excited for this year - some delivered, and some didn't - and Patay na si Hesus was one of those movies that delivered, and it delivered big time. This was one of the most hilarious films I'd seen all year, and no other film managed to make me laugh as much as this one did. I mean, it's a road-trip comedy set in the Philippines, and that premise alone should hold a lot of promise.
This movie also had the heart and the characters needed to pull this whole story together and to turn it into the most complete comedy package you could ask for. Another thing this movie did is that it showed me that Filipino comedy, when done right, can produce some truly great stories. Jacqueline Jose gives a performance that should be winning her awards if it hasn't already, and the film itself holds a special place in my heart as one of the funniest films I've ever seen.
It took us a while, but we finally have a Spider Man movie that is actually great. Homecoming could easily have sucked and felt like another consumable Marvel movie, but instead separates itself from the rest of the herd with some really sharp comedy that's different from what we're used to seeing from the MCU.
On top of that, Tom Holland knocked it out of the park once again as Spider Man (or Peter Parker; whatever floats your boat) and delivered a surprisingly heartfelt performance. Michael Keaton also delivered as Adrian Toomes and gave us an MCU villain who actually had more than one dimension to his character.
The action was exciting and well-paced, and also feels a lot closer to home because of how up-close-and-personal the movie gets with these characters. The stakes were scaled back a bit, but I thought they worked because they directly concerned the characters we've been bonding with. Homecoming had a lot of heart to it to balance out the comedy and that made it all the more awesome.
Most of all, the movie was fun, energetic, and entertaining, and had everything I could've wanted from a Spider Man movie. I loved Homecoming.
I'm always excited whenever I hear Edgar Wright has a new project in the works, so I was understandably quite hyped when the first previews for Baby Driver came out. Suffice to say, Baby Driver was insane.
One of the praises you'll hear about Baby Driver from everyone who's seen it is that the movie is cool. This movie isn't just cool; it's one of those movies that people will look back on and call an action classic. It was so ripe with personality and style and interesting characters and fantastic comedy that it was just so easy to fall in love with it, and fall in love with it I did. And, to add, it had one of the best car chase scenes I'd ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
I dunno about you guys, but I love movies that bathe themselves in style and coolness, and Baby Driver was one of them. It had everything I wanted it to have and was awesome until the end.
Apparently, this is considered a "controversial opinion" these days, but I thought The Last Jedi was f***ing awesome. I don't think there's ever been a Star Wars movie as polarizing as this one and, to be fair, there are some problems with The Last Jedi. However, there are a number of problems with the Star Wars movies in general. They can't please everyone and they probably never will.
Those problems aside, what I got out of The Last Jedi was a tremendous piece of science-fantasy filmmaking. I loved the look of the movie, I loved the sound, the music, the characters, and, most importantly, the surprises. This movie surprised me in so many ways and reminded me just how great and fun actually being surprised at the movies is. Just seeing all these characters I've come to love from The Force Awakens on screen again was great on its own, but I wasn't expecting for them to be taken in the directions the movie took them.
There was so much about this movie that I loved. I thought what they did with Luke was compelling (Mark Hamill, by the way, gives us the performance of a lifetime) and added a lot of depth to Luke's character. A lot of, if not all of the action sequences in this movie were incredibly well-executed, and I can think of two that I would put in a list of my favorite scenes from this year.
Despite its flaws - I'm looking at you, Canto Bight - I still loved this movie, and I'm more than pumped to see what the Star Wars universe has in store.
Dunkirk was an experience. I mean that in the truest sense of the word; Dunkirk isn't a movie that you watch, but it's one that you live. I can't praise Christopher Nolan and his crew enough for what they were able to do in this movie. I mean, come on - real warplanes, hundreds upon hundreds of extras, fully-realized locations? Like, you hardly ever see that kind of effort put into films anymore. It's a logistical nightmare when you think about it, but the fact that Nolan and his crew were able to make the whole shabang work is positively mind-blowing.
From a technical level, this film is a masterpiece. Everything that was presented on-screen was so real, so tangible, and so lived-in that the world I was watching was one of the most believable settings I've ever seen in a movie. The cinematography and production values were all fantastic, but it was the stellar sound design and engineering that truly elevates this movie into one that's almost terrifying on a human level. Watching this really did put me in the shoes of these soldiers, and it got me asking myself what I would do in that kind of situation.
All the acting in Dunkirk was fantastic, as well. I knew Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy, and Cillian Murphy were gonna be awesome in this one, but I didn't expect Harry Styles, of all people, to impress me as much as he did. I'm serious when I say that the dude has talent, and that I actually wouldn't mind seeing him in more movies. The movie made me respect the guy, and I'm happy to see him succeed. In fact, I'm happy to know that this movie did manage some considerable bank, especially with how avant-garde it was. It was great, and I loved it.
I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't like Logan. It's anecdotal evidence, yeah, but I want you to try and think of anyone who didn't like this movie. Go ahead.
That being said, Logan was a powerful piece of cinema. Not only did it perfectly send off a beloved character (or two), but it felt fresh and new in the face of the other very formula-heavy superhero flicks we got this year. It was beautifully-shot, expertly-directed, and so blunt and to the point with how it carried itself that it was such a joy to watch. In a very sadistic and gratuitously violent way, maybe, but it was still a joy. The action was intense, the gore was unrelenting, and, yet, it never got old over the course of the two-and-a-half-plus hours I spent watching it.
But what I loved most about Logan was its story. In a world where nearly every superhero flick's gotta have some city- or world-ending consequences, Logan was deeply personal story about love and acceptance, and about redemption and hope. It's about two guys, both of whom are at the figurative end of the rope, and a girl, who all learn to live together despite the difficult circumstances they've been forced to face. There's no apocalypse coming to get them, just a number of really shitty people who threaten only them.
It was everything I wanted it to be and more, and reminded me why I loved the X-Men movies. In this day and age, comic book movies are all the rage, but it's gems like Logan that truly shine above all else. This was an absolutely riveting experience.
Unfortunately, not enough people saw Blade Runner 2049, which is a shame because 2049 was a masterpiece. You've probably already heard that word float around when describing this film, but there really is no better word to use.
This is one of those movies that lets you take in and appreciate the sort of craft that goes into making these kinds of films. Denis Villeneuve, who's become one of my favorite directors working today, directed the hell out of this movie, and every frame of 2049 is overflowing with passion for the source material and for the project itself. The cinematography in this movie is immaculate, as well. It's a feast for the eyes and I can't praise Villeneuve and the legendary Roger Deakins for their marvellous and truly outstanding work for this film.
And besides being absolutely great to look at, there's actually a lot of depth in here, as well. The story has layers and deeper meanings to it, and explores some concepts that don't usually come up in conversations. It takes twists and turns and is something that's actually difficult to predict, and I loved it for doing that. The characters are also all so complex, layered, and well thought-out. It was and is difficult for me to tell you that any of the people involved in the story were weak.
Another one of this movie's best strengths is the performances that each actor brings to the screen. Ryan Gosling was fantastic, and Batista - or David Bautista, as he wants to be known on the big screen - killed it in the screentime he had. Ana de Armas, Robin Wright, and (bad-ass bad girl) were all so compelling in their roles, as well. But, for me, the best performance in this movie came from Harrison Ford. I could see how invested and committed he was to this project, and he delivered the performance of a lifetime (much like Mark Hamill did in The Last Jedi).
Blade Runner 2049 is a tour-de-force on so many levels, and it is the Galactic Deep-Fry's pick for Best of the Year.
So, that concludes my list. Which of my picks did you disagree with - I mean, besides The Last Jedi (that's a given) - and do any of my picks align with your own list? Let me know, leave a comment. And, as always, this has been Rafa. Stay classy.
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