Monday, December 25, 2017

It Won't Turn Green, Damn You Seventeen

2015 kicked my ass. 2016 kicked everybody's ass. 2017 discovered our collective asses were numb from all the kicking, so a series of sucker punches, rope burns, paper cuts, and other attacks ensued. But still we stand, maybe more flecked with red than green today, with wobbly knees, but fully upright.

My experience has been that it's better not to write at length in the midst of an existential crisis - there's too many opportunities for narcissism, bathos, purple prose, and in general, putting something into print that I will regret later. As written, NOT by Abraham Lincoln or Mark Twain but by Maurice Switzer, it is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it.

So yeah, as has been the pattern over these years of attrition, I didn't see enough movies, especially the ones that would actually benefit from my elevation, thus this list carries an asterisk and a side-eye from the cineastes that matter. Nevertheless, The Top 13 of 2017* (your mileage may vary):

13. I, TONYA

12. SLEIGHT

11. DUNKIRK

10. BABY DRIVER

9. PROFESSOR MARSTON AND THE WONDER WOMEN

8. THE SHAPE OF WATER

7. mother!

6. LADY BIRD

5. THE FLORIDA PROJECT

4. GET OUT

3. NOCTURAMA

2. PHANTOM THREAD

1. DAWSON CITY: FROZEN TIME


"Life's a mess, dude, but we're all just doing the best we can, you know."




(graphic arrangement courtesy of Jeff Gargas)