Many of the best movies of the year are in theaters right now, and here are the very best:
Pixar’s Coco is a moving and authentic dive into Mexican culture, and it’s visually spectacular.
The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro’s imaginative, operatic inter-species romance may become the most-remembered film of 2017.
Lady Bird , an entirely fresh coming of age comedy that explores the mother-daughter relationship – an impressive debut for Greta Gerwig as a writer and director.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri a powerful combination of raw emotion and dark hilarity with an acting tour de force from Frances McDormand and a slew of great actors.
Darkest Hour, Gary Oldman brings alive Winston Churchill in an overlooked historical moment – when it looked like Hitler was going to win WW II.
Here’s the rest of my Best Movies of 2017 – So Far. Most of the ones from earlier this year are available on video.
Other current choices:
The Disaster Artist, James Franco’s hilarious docucomedy about the making of one of the most unintentionally funny movies of all time.
Turner Classic Movies is giving us a wonderful New Year’s Eve present – an all day Thin Man marathon. William Powell and Myrna Loy are cinema’s favorite movie couple for a reason – just settle in and watch Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man and its sequels do what they do best – banter, canoodle, solve crimes and, of course, tipple.
Many of the best movies of the year are in theaters right now, and here are the very best:
Pixar’s Coco is a moving and authentic dive into Mexican culture, and it’s visually spectacular.
The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro’s imaginative, operatic inter-species romance may become the most-remembered film of 2017.
Lady Bird , an entirely fresh coming of age comedy that explores the mother-daughter relationship – an impressive debut for Greta Gerwig as a writer and director.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri a powerful combination of raw emotion and dark hilarity with an acting tour de force from Frances McDormand and a slew of great actors.
Darkest Hour, Gary Oldman brings alive Winston Churchill in an overlooked historical moment – when it looked like Hitler was going to win WW II.
Here’s the rest of my Best Movies of 2017 – So Far. Most of the ones from earlier this year are available on video.
Other current choices:
The Disaster Artist, James Franco’s hilarious docucomedy about the making of one of the most unintentionally funny movies of all time.
Novitiate, the tediously grim story of a seeker looking for spiritual love and sacrifice, with a sadistic abbess delivering too much of the latter.
My Stream of the Week is your chance to see what may be the year’s best movie – and see it at home. It’s the deeply emotionally affecting and humane Spanish film Truman. which had a very brief US theatrical run early this year. Truman is now streaming on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
On December 27, Turner Classic Movies presents my choice for the funniest movie all time – Mel Brooks’ 1967 masterpiece The Producers. Zero Mostel plays a human tornado of a crooked Broadway producer, who drags along his bewildered and terrified accountant (Gene Wilder). The brilliant Wilder has never been funnier, and The Producers also features career-best performances by funnymen Dick Shawn and Kenneth Mars. And, of course, there’s the unforgettable musical show stopper Springtime for Hitler. (See this INSTEAD of the 2005 remake.)
We’ve had a surge of universally acclaimed movies open in Silicon Valley, and here are the very best (some of the links will go live later in the weekend):
Pixar’s Coco, a moving and authentic dive into Mexican culture. It’s visually spectacular, too.
Lady Bird , an entirely fresh coming of age comedy that explores the mother-daughter relationship – an impressive debut for Greta Gerwig as a writer and director.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri a powerful combination of raw emotion and dark hilarity with an acting tour de force from Frances McDormand and a slew of great actors.
Darkest Hour, Gary Oldman brings alive Winston Churchill in an overlooked historical moment – when it looked like Hitler was going to win WW II.
Here’s the rest of my Best Movies of 2017 – So Far. Several are in theaters right now, and most of the rest are available on video.
Other current choices:
The Disaster Artist, James Franco’s hilarious docucomedy about the making of one of the most unintentionally funny movies of all time.
Here’s my Best Movies of 2017 – So Far. Several are in theaters right now, and most of the rest are available on video.
My Stream of the Week is your chance to see what may be the year’s best movie – and see it at home. It’s the deeply emotionally affecting and humane Spanish film Truman. which had a very brief US theatrical run early this year. Truman is now streaming on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
The Movie Gourmet has no television recommendations this week. Go to a theater – this is the prime season for movie-going. The best movies of the year are in theaters right now.
We’ve had a surge of universally acclaimed movies open in Silicon Valley: Darkest Hour, Novitiate and The Shape of Water, along with The Disaster Artist (which looks like a hoot and a half). The Florida Project and Pixar’s Coco have already been playing. Of the current crop, I’ve already added two Must Sees to my Best Movies of 2017 – So Far:
Lady Bird , an entirely fresh coming of age comedy that explores the mother-daughter relationship – an impressive debut for Greta Gerwig as a writer and director.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri a powerful combination of raw emotion and dark hilarity with an acting tour de force from Frances McDormand and a slew of great actors.
Here’s the rest of my Best Movies of 2017 – So Far. Several are in theaters right now, and most of the rest are available on video.
My DVD/Stream of the Week is The Big Sick, the best American movie of the first half of 2017 and the best romantic comedy in years. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll fall in love. The Big Sick can be rented in DVD from Netflix and Redbox and can be streamed from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
The Movie Gourmet has no television recommendations this week. Go to a theater – this is prime time for movie going.
The prestige movies are rolling out in theaters and I’ve already added two Must Sees to my Best Movies of 2017 – So Far:
Lady Bird , an entirely fresh coming of age comedy that explores the mother-daughter relationship – an impressive debut for Greta Gerwig as a writer and director.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri a powerful combination of raw emotion and dark hilarity with an acting tour de force from Frances McDormand and a slew of great actors.
My Stream of the Week is Louder Than Bombs, the intricately constructed family drama from writer-director Joachim Trier (his new film Thelma is rolling out). Louder Than Bombs is now available to stream from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play.
On December 3, Turner Classic Movies presents Pushover, which is highly recommended on my list of Overlooked Noir. Tracking a notorious criminal, the cop (Fred MacMurray) follows – and then dates – the gangster’s girlfriend (“Introducing Kim Novak”) as part of the job, but then falls for her himself. He decides that, if he can double cross BOTH the cops and the criminal, he can wind up with the loot AND Kim Novak. (This is a film noir, so we know he’s not destined for a tropical beach with an umbrella drink.)
In Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, a powerful combination of raw emotions and dark hilarity, Frances McDormand plays Mildred, a small town woman consumed by the unsolved murder of her daughter. Mildred doesn’t have the power to solve the murder herself, but she has the power to make everyone else uncomfortable until she finds justice and closure. She buys billboards that personalize the stalled murder investigation, laying the blame on the popular town sheriff (Woody Harrelson). She intends to rile people up, and, boy, does she succeed.
There are consequences, both intended and unintended. In addition to the murder mystery, there are two new whodunits related to the billboards and some violent outbursts by two of the characters. There’s a heartbreaking letter, and two more utterly unexpected letters.
The murder of one’s child is shattering enough, but Mildred also piles guilt on herself. The murder has enraged the entire family, including Mildred’s son (Lucas Hedges of Manchester By the Sea) and her ex-husband (John Hawkes). All three express their rage in different ways. This is a showcase role for McDormand.
This might be Woody Harrelson’s best performance. His sheriff is an island of common sense, decency and levelheadedness in a turbulent sea of upset and idiocy. The character of the sheriff is a remarkably fine father and husband in ways that are fun and interesting to watch. The sheriff is facing his own mortality, and his feelings are hurt unjustly, but we only see glimpses of the pain in Harrelson’s eyes. This is a performance that would have been in the wheelhouse for Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda and Gregory Peck, and Harrelson nails it.
Sam Rockwell plays Dixon, one of the sheriff’s deputies. Dixon is an unfortunate muddle of bad instincts, no impulse control, stupidity, racism and rage. Then he gets an unexpected opportunity for redemption…
Sandy Martin also sparkles as Dixon’s Momma. It’s a very small part, but Martin practically steals the movie with her white trash Svengali. Martin’s 128 screen credits include roles in Transparent,Big Love and as Grandma in Napoleon Dynamite (she’s the one who says Knock it off, Napoleon! Just make yourself a dang quesa-dilluh).
Samara Weaving is really perfect as the inappropriately-young-girlfriend-on-the-rebound of Mildred’s ex. Weaving is drop dead beautiful with a remarkable sense of comic timing and a mastery of deadpan. Fully invested in her character’s goodhearteredness and airheadedness, she reminds me of Margot Robbie and Elizabeth Banks as a comic actor.
Peter Dinklage plays a character that provides comic relief and one important plot point, and he brings an unexpected and profound feeling to the part.
Here’s one thing that is uncommonly great about Three Billboards: the story would have worked with characters of far less dimension, but the roles written by Martin McDonagh and performed by the cast elevates Three Billboards. Mildred could have been only a shrew, the sheriff could have been only a cardboard foil and Dixon could have been only a buffoon. Instead McDormand, Rockwell and Rochwell add layers of complexity to their characters, and Hawkes, Martin, Weaver and Dinklage each contribute more to the mix.
Three Billboards is brilliantly written by director Martin McDonagh. McDonagh’s 2008 In Bruges was either the funniest hit man movie ever or the darkest and most violent buddy comedy ever. Three Billboards shares the same dark/funny flavor. Three Billboards also has a really fine soundtrack with a couple of spaghetti western-inspired cues.
The emotion in Three Billboards is genuine and deeply felt. There are some especially grim moments, peppered with lots of laughs. As I ponder this film, I keep coming back to the characters, the performances and the surprises in the story. Three Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri was an audience favorite on the festival circuit and is a Must See in theaters now.
For your Thanksgiving viewing pleasure, complete with four new movie recommendations, here are my picks for the long weekend. My top two recommendations are
Lady Bird , an entirely fresh coming of age comedy that explores the mother-daughter relationship – an impressive debut for Greta Gerwig as a writer and director.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri a powerful combination of raw emotion and dark hilarity with an acting tour de force from Frances McDormand and a slew of great actors.
My DVD/Stream of the Week is a different kind of Thanksgiving movie – a dysfunctional family thriller. Deadfall is available to rent on DVD from Netflix and Redbox and can be streamed from Netflix Instant, Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
On November 29, Turner Classic Movies presents The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. John Ford was the greatest director of Westerns and this is his masterpiece, showcasing both James Stewart and John Wayne. It took one kind of man to explore and tame the West and another kind of man to bring peace and prosperity. Ford uses the genre of the Western to deconstruct the mythology of the West. It’s also a mature Ford’s contemplation of all those shoot ’em ups from earlier in his career. Jimmy and the Duke are joined by Andy Devine, Woody Strode, Vera Mills, Edmond O’Brien and Lee Marvin. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is on my list of A Classic American Movie Primer – 5 to start with.