Doug's Favorite Movies of 2017

Get Out
The Shape of Water
Blade Runner: 2049
The Big Sick
Dunkirk

Honorable Mention:

John Wick Chapter 2
Thor: Ragnarok
Logan

The Disaster Artist

I think this was supposed to be funny, but I actually found it sad. Because it revels in a hacky filmmaker who believes in his dream, but never realizes how hacky he is. And I can’t help but worry that I, too, might be a filmmaker that’s THAT hacky. The acting and directing by James Franco is on-point, as is the delivery by brother Dave. I’ve seen The Room a few times, and it’s truly terrible. But not really funny/terrible, just terrible. Again, I think I dislike artistic train-wrecks because I’m always thinking: that could be ME! Be that as it may, this is a strong and passionate offering from the Freaks and Geeks kids. I think they’ve got a future in this business.

Obey Giant

Interesting and worthwhile doc on Hulu about Shepard Fairey – from the Andre the Giant “Obey” stickers to the Barack Obama “Hope” campaign. Lots of insight from Fairy himself about his art and purpose.

Downsizing

This is like 3 movies crammed into one. A sci-fi move, a upstairs-downstairs class satire, and a travelogue. I’m sorry, Alexander Payne and company, but there’s too much stuff in the pie. Swing and a miss. The silver lining here is a great, funny, human performance from Hong Chau, who might get some nominations.

Lady Bird

Greta Gerwig took a page out of the Noah Baumbach playbook for this; a episodic and uniquely female portrait about a senior in high school. It’s not super plot-heavy, but it’s clear what “Lady Bird” wants: to get into a college across the country and "get out of Dodge." It’s honest, awkward, and funny. Saoirse Ronan, who’s always been good, navigates friends, family, and Catholic school, but she never really resolves or copes with any of her unresolved issues. She just moves-on from them. Change occurs when she accepts who she is and what she wants. It’s an accomplished debut by Gerwig.

The Post

All of the necessary, newspapery tropes are here, and welcome. Reporters are sticking to their story, never revealing their sources, and putting their ass on the line. And it’s all about that very important democratic thing: holding the government accountable for their actions. If you were Vladamir Putin and you were trying to undermine a democracy, how would you do it? Make people distrust the news by contaminating the newsfeed with misinformation, right? Sounds like a plan. A vital and necessary movie, full of great acting, brains, and constitutional truths. So it will inevitably be accused of being liberal propaganda.

The Shape of Water

Lovingly derivative, Guillermo refers to  mythology, 1950’s cold-war, b-movies, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet in this very adept and sweet “beauty and the beast” love story. Some of Del Toro’s dark and twisted sensibilities find their way in, but it’s mostly a love letter. All of the performances are SUPERB (and nomination-worthy), including Doug Jones as the slimy creature with the heart of gold. There’s an acceptable level of schmaltz in this, too, which makes you feel all warm and squishy and goopy inside, a lot like that sensitive swamp creature, I suppose. A must-sea. (Ha!)

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

This is the “trials and tribulations” chapter of the saga, where nothing works out, nobody trusts anybody, and everybody generally gets their ass kicked. If you find yourself liking something a character is doing, it will eventually backfire. If you find yourself expecting a character will do something, brace yourself – they will do the opposite. The problem with the whole saga now (the brand) is that the movies will never end; they will always require sequels. That means that the dramatic effect is watered down. How do you author surprises in a movie that never ends?? With soap opera plotting, and shattering expectations.

It’s always a thrill to see a Star Wars movie in the theater. The effects are amazing and the music is beautiful. But if the corporation is going to be releasing chapters once a year, the chapters themselves need to have a little bit of resolution. Not “Death Star blowing up, applause in the theater” resolution, but something conclusive.

Phantom Thread

Let’s ruminate about dresses. For them to be exquisite, they must be built by an army of women and one obnoxious asshole. The Phantom Thread is about that asshole. There’s a subgenre of dramas about misunderstood geniuses and artists who get to be assholes to everybody because they’re so gifted and talented that they aren’t held accountable for their assholey behavior. They must be allowed to work in silence. (see also Mother!) Only an artist who feels misunderstood would make a movie about an artist who’s unappreciated or misunderstood. But it’s kind of hard to feel any sympathy for the asshole in this, which makes the experience kind of distant and unemotional. But the dresses are pretty and the teapots are grand.

As for the character we the audience are asked to feel something about, she gets swept up rather easily by the asshole from a life we know nothing about. She doesn’t really exist before he (the asshole) asks her to move in to his house. How can we know if she’s able to restore sanity or normalcy to her life if we never know who she was before she met the asshole? Be that as it may, the dresses are pretty and the teapots are grand. It finally gets a little bit Hitchcockian in the final third when filmmakers weave in some thrillerish threads. You might find yourself wishing that the opening minutes of this yarn would have started out as taut.

Justice League

I kind of didn’t hate this as much as I thought I would. It’s analogous to eating one (1) Cheeto™. It’s bad, it’s unfulfilling, but you want more. So it’s a calorically empty, but not terribly painful chapter of the DC universe. The villains are baffling. Zach Snyder is obsessed with fire, glowing, molten lava, flying demons, and all things gladiator. (Remember the weird flying creatures on Krypton in Man of Steel?) But you never really understand what these weird, flying aliens want from Earth, except: to conquer it. The WB Animation movies from the DC Universe have richer plots than this! But there are a few charming moments, too. And the cast, all 6 of the superfriends, are game and up to the challenge, even though they’re only given short vignettes throughout the story to reveal their character. The Danny Elfman music is noteworthy. Not only did he nail the original score, but he also functions as a kind of D.J., weaving-in nostalgic snippets from his own Batman score and John Williams’ score from Superman: The Movie. I would never advise anyone to eat just one Cheeto. It would be frustrating and unfulfilling. But it also wouldn’t kill you either -- you would want more. Welcome to the WB/DC universe.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

It’s like a twisted Lifetime movie with better cursing. Performances are really strong. Filmmakers walk a delicate high-wire of tone; combining heavy grief with deadpan wit and southern sarcasm. The stakes are high, and Martin McDonagh and company handle these sudden shifts in tone skillfully. As my lovely wife Kristen Haldeman Kauffman said, “It’s more Coen Brothers than a Coen Brothers movie.” The aforementioned tone shifts, are, in some moments, exhilarating; there are several instances when humor is mined from terminal cancer. So it’s well-done, but occasionally sad.   

Murder on the Orient Express

Past incarnations of Poirot have depicted him as a big, fat slob. Who knows? Maybe Christie imagined him that way, too. But Kenneth Branagh has done for Poirot what Guy Richie did for Sherlock Holmes -- made him lean, spry, and a black belt in karate. The structure of Christie’s murder mystery means that we never get to know very much about the man murdered, the backstory, or the suspects until the very end, which makes the proceedings feel impersonal and distant. Be that as it may, the acting by the ensemble is top-notch, the sets are as "Harry Potterish" as they could be, and the pace is peppy.

Thor: Ragnarok

This was closer to a Power Rangers movie than the actual Power Rangers movie that came out a few months ago. Neon colors blast from the screen, heroes and villains crack wise and never shut up, nobody ever seems to be in any real peril. I was impressed by the music score composed by Devo guy and new wave guru Mark Mothersbaugh. It’s a combination of typical, bombastic superhero music, a "Missing Persons" album, and a Bret Easton Ellis, new-wave coke party. Usually, people want their superhero movies to be heroic in some way. Do good, save the world, conquer the evildoers. Act as some kind of remedy or analogue for society’s ills. Maybe we could learn to be better humans. "Ragnarok" intends to be pure fantasy. Funnier and more colorful than it should be. Irreverent and barely human. It’s never boring, but it’s not really a sustainable tone, either. Brief moments, like when the Valkyrie recalls a bygone battle atop a flying Pegasus, stoke the potential for a serious opera; a myth; a true Norse saga. I’d see that movie, too.

Ghost in the Shell

I watched this on the plane which I regret because it was beautiful. I bet it looked good in theaters.

American Made

I didn’t hate watching this, but it didn’t really resonate either. It aspires to be like Blow, Goodfellas, or The Wolf of Wall Street. An ordinary family man (Tom "I can actually fly airplanes myself" Cruise) gets sucked into a life of crime based on a true story. The docudrama aspects of this story are fascinating, but as a character study it feels rushed and impersonal.

Blade Runner 2049

The central conflict -- the “inciting incident” -- of Blade Runner 2049 is frank and fascinating; a mind-blowing “what if” that delivers a truly essential sequel to Ridley Scott’s opus. The visuals are so beautiful you could break down into tears. The acting is always sublime. But this movie lingers a little too long. Emphasis on beauty presides over story, which ends up ultimately being confusing, and it requires a second viewing. You can walk away from this having “experienced” something, but it’s difficult to explain what, exactly. The director’s cut of Ridley Scott’s original is, in many ways, the masterpiece of sci-fi ambiguity. “2049” tries to emulate that, and it’s a noble effort. Unfortunately, a shitload of bad Blade Runner knock-offs (I'm looking at you, Hot Bot!)have been released in the last 35 years that have over-exposed and spoiled that special kind of Ridley Scott/Philip K. Dick flair for un-resolved questions about robots, making Denis Villeneuve and the crew’s job especially difficult. His beautiful but confusing attempt gets an “A” for effort.

Mother!

Perhaps the least realistic, least literal movie to be released in theaters since the last AFI genius had a movie. Malick, maybe? This is one of those movies that’s so obtuse and ambiguous that everyone will form their own theory of what it’s all about. My theory: The marriage in the story represents two sides of the same artist: the nurturing side and the ego side. The chaos in the story is what erupts in an artist’s psyche when fans get involved, when adulation and money start to drive the creative process, and when the artist is finally able to create, or give birth, to something truly unique and beautiful -- their “baby.” Kill your darlings, Faulkner said. Or maybe it was Stephen King. Performances here are great. They have to be, or else people would walk out in the middle screaming, “What the fuck?” Anyway, if you want to get beaten over the head and dragged behind a truck by a metaphor, this is your movie.

IT

Well-acted and beautifully filmed, but confusing. I need someone to explain the plot to me. The “evil” sometimes manifests itself as a scary clown, but also manifests as each individual kid’s greatest fear. The drama during these segments is strong and it’s provocative to see how much their parents play a role in their terror. We wonder, but also don’t wonder, what was happening to Beverly. King doesn’t pull punches in this regard, but director Andy Muschietti may need to -- to keep it an R rating. Despite the hodgepodge of themes and ideas feeling less grounded (and less scary) than they should be, the filmmakers made the shit out of this movie. Acting, music, cinematography, and designs are all top notch. I just wish it wasn’t a “kitchen sink” story. (Maybe this is just the inherent danger of filming a novel…)

War for the Planet of the Apes

Watching the opening third of this, I was thinking, “Holy crap! This could get a Best Picture nod!” But alas, the flame burns down in the long and contemplative second and third parts. The apes become the prisoners again, but this time there’s a crazed, right wing, Colonel Kurtz type, obsessed with destroying apes. The metaphor shifts a little here, and it’s less about a slave uprising and more about an eagerness to wage war. The filmmaking is beautiful; stunning really. But the whole story felt a little strained and obvious. It’s like they tried to introduce a little more "Serling" into something that already had plenty of "Serling." It’s impressively serious, but also not a whole lot of fun. Thank God, as always, for Steve Zahn.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Some of this looks SO dated. And I had a revelation while watching it: If you set a movie even slightly in the past, you have the ability to curate history a little. Weed out the ugly fashions and boring cars. But if you place it right smack in the present-tense, it almost always feels unstylish. Certain things about this, of course, are timeless: Dreyfuss, Williams, and the Devil’s Tower of mashed potatoes. (And nice seeing one of my gurus Seth Winston in the credits.)

Logan Lucky

…feels like an old Dukes of Hazard episode. The southern accents are pushed to the hilt, the smart guys are dumb and the dumb guys are even dumber, and there can’t be enough car chases. It’s comforting to have Steven Soderbergh back in the driver's seat, doing his funny/heist thing. It seems so effortless for him to wave a wand and make a popcorn movie. Will it resonate? Nope. But it’ll pass the time nicely.

Atomic Blonde

At some point in this movie, Charlize Theron, covered in bruises, soaks her body in a bathtub full of ice. And you can almost feel the bruises and feel the cold ice. This thing is brutal. And as much as I love John Wick, he’s never quite out of breath and a never quite totally injured -- you always assume he can spring back any minute. Charlize (as MI6 Agent Lorraine Broughton) brings an added level of emotional charge to the karate/assassin narrative. You can feel her pain. So, it’s good that she’s there, because otherwise the plot doesn’t make a lot of sense and we’re never quite sure what her goal is. In John Wick (same director, btw), we NEVER question his motive: revenge. Simple. So, this takes place in a greyer world of divided loyalties and evolving goals. Despite the story not being satisfying per se, it’s Charlize’s neck on the block, and she delivers.

Dunkirk

The reverence that Christopher Nolan has for movies and stories and photography and film stock is absolutely sterling. This is a love letter to exposure. Story-wise, this behaves a lot like those big, old war movies, when you jump back and fourth from one character’s story to another. Think The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Great Escape, or Midway. You never really get to know the characters, except for a recreational yacht owner played by Mark Rylance, sailing into a war zone, as the true story goes, to help evacuate British soldiers. It’s interesting too that this movie starts when most movies begin their final third: at the beginning of the climax. So it’s relatively short and always tense. It’s bold filmmaking. It embraces the tropes of the genre, but twists them slightly to the point where your expectations are unhinged. It’s both a quintessential example of a war movie and also a consummate one. And it’s full of laughs! (Not really. It’s a war movie.)

The Big Sick

This is about a Pakistani guy dating a white girl. But the conceit of it is: it’s not ALL ABOUT the guy being Pakistani. The guy’s culture definitely plays a part, but thankfully (and this is why the movie works) it becomes about things that are WAY BIGGER than our cultures and why dating is so hard. Because, for reasons that I can’t remember, the girl gets really sick and slips into a coma. And the girl’s parents rush into town, and suddenly it’s “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner in the Hospital Cafeteria While Your Daughter’s in a Coma.” The cast and the acting is top-notch and the script is really personal and funny. Apatow-ish story notes rear their sentimental heads occasionally, which is unfortunate. Small contrivances are too obvious here, in Kumail Nanjiani’s very personal and probable milieu. Also, it’s not always as light-hearted as you might expect. Hospitals and illnesses can be heavy and un-funny. But, again, it’s obviously SO personal. Nominations are likely.

Spiderman: Homecoming

** TONS OF SUPER-SPOILERS **

The new Spiderman is good only because it’s not horribly, painfully, catastrophically bad. It has NONE of the gravitas of the Raimi movies, but it’s also not as dull or forgettable as the Mark Webb movies. Sometimes, accidentally, filmmaking by committee can work. Six writers, one unknown director, and a studio so desperate to keep their franchise alive that they RENT some of the best characters from their competitors, and they all somehow managed to make a marginally entertaining movie. Who knew?

But now some questions and random thoughts:

Why does a crew that’s cleaning up volatile, radioactive material from another planet not wear hazmat suits?

Stark Industries decides, after the clean-up has started, that maybe they should clean up the powerful, highly radioactive alien power supply instead of the New York schmos from Waste Management??

Tony, Happy Hogan, and the off-screen Avengers seem pretty blasé about all of this alien tech falling into the hands of bitter New York garbage men.

If Tony Stark is so hung up on inhumans and mutants being dangerous in Civil War, why would he fund a superhuman kid that was bit by a radioactive spider?

In Iron Man 3, they make such a big deal of Tony breaking it off with Pepper, and in Civil War, they make it clear he’s got the hots for Aunt May. So why dust off Pepper??

Captain America is funnier than everybody else. 

Filmmaking by committee aside, the one who’s coming out of this smelling like gold is Spiderman’s sidekick “Ned,” played by Jacob Batalon. That kid’s going places.

Baby Driver

I kind of feel like I’ve seen this movie before. The getaway driver who agrees to do one last job. Count the tropes. Efforts to give this concept a “haircut” to make it look like something new only partially succeed. Would The Transporter be a vastly different movie if the “transporter” had a backstory? Or an old guy he’s trying to protect? Or a weird ear thing that makes him play music all the time? Otherwise, really, this feels like Edgar Wright pandering to the Fast and the Furious crowd. Moments of this are watchable and fun, but it’s really nothing new.

It Comes at Night

A lot of movie company bosses seem to forget the existence of John Carpenter’s The Thing. Because it seems like a lot of hot-shots rolling in off the street, who just happened to have caught Carpenter’s aforementioned paranoid opus on cable or something, pitch their remakes and rip-offs with aplomb. And the bosses and critics seem to be saying, “That’s so original! Let’s do it.” The main guy played by Joel Edgerton even LOOKS like MacReady. So those people who’ve never seen The Thing, or people with amnesia, might like this. Which is fine, but Mr. Carpenter deserves royalties.

Wonder Woman

Watching the perfectly cast Princess Diana of the Amazons leap out of the World War One trench and easily kill dozens of enemy soldiers is exhilarating. Much has been made about this hero being a woman and the movie being directed by a woman. And this is a lot like eating a gluten-free pizza crust. The conversation is always like: how does it compare to the real thing? Wait! This crust is gluten-free?? Really? It tastes like the real thing! And so: Wait? This movie was directed by a menstruating woman? With a vagina? You’re kidding?! It would be nice if, someday, this novelty wears off and we could just look at the story of Diana as a piece of popular entertainment. As it stands now, ignoring the forced novelty of it all, it’s overlong but pretty good. Origin stories tend to not be very suspenseful. I mean, you know they’re going to live at the end. And so the weird, overwrought, CG ending of this feels a little bit like comic book lip-service. Here’s a battle... because battles are required. But the casting here is precise and it does feel like there’s a different point of view of the proceedings, as trope-filled as they are. There’s a refreshing lack of Zack Snyder’s cuttiness and bombast that makes the popcorn taste a little bit better. So, kudos to Patty Jenkins and company for trying to salvage the DC universe…

Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

It’s difficult to say EXACTLY what Gore Verbinsky brings to the table, until he’s NOT at the table anymore. It’s only then that you realize: there’s a big piece that’s missing. All of the ingredients are there on the screen, but there’s something about the way the camera moves at the wrong time, the way the music crescendos a little too much, and the way that Johnny Depp’s combination of skill and drunken befuddlement feels out of synch that makes me miss Gore. Granted, I didn’t really the like the CURE FOR WELLNESS eel movie much, either, so maybe it’s just me? Is it terrible? Not really. It's just so... un-weird.

Alien: Covenant

You can almost feel Sir Ridley saying to the audience, “See! I can direct an action scene just a well as James Cameron! See?? And Prometheus did make sense! See! I told you!” Despite the slight smell of pandering in this, I’ll admit, I fully enjoyed it. It was icky and goopy and tense and creepy and cool. And it doesn't feel like a whole movie as much as it just feels like a chapter. A good chapter. So, there’s not a whole lot to take away from this, it won’t really resonate culturally, but it’s a fun night at the movies.

How to be a Latin Lover

Rarely is the commercial purpose of a movie so clearly cynical. The purpose of this movie is to introduce Eugenio Derbez to American audiences. Period. That being said, there are funny moments in this, especially from the top-notch supporting cast. The truly funny moments, spilling into the “off beat” and “weird” category, are directed with a light, silly touch by comedian Ken Marino. Unfortunately, the heavy-handed sentimental stuff, meant for kids and families, I suppose, bogs this down.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2

I don’t know how much plot and story I NEED in a movie like this, but the story goes down like a custard that’s been whipped way too much. It’s pleasant for a minute, but it doesn’t satisfy. All the visual showmanship, music, and smart-alecky camaraderie feels like it’s blasted out of a cannon, and the entire experience is a fun night at the movies. But on the drive home, after you’ve stepped back for a second, you might find yourself saying, “Wait… what??”

The Void

Would you rather be trapped inside a hospital with a bunch of zombies or try your luck outside against the freaky, KKK-hooded, cult-types who may or may not be from another planet? There’s clever, budget-saving devices here, goopy special effects, and a brisk pace, but there’s not a lot that’s very original. It feels like a résumé movie. “Look what we can do with NO money in Canada!” The filmmakers would claim. “Now give us more money.”

Boss Baby

The premise is so outlandish, even for an animation, story-tellers must rely on the “it-was-all-a-dream” style of ending. But the kids in the audience loved the fart jokes and the diaper jokes, so it’s got that going for it.

Power Rangers

I submit to you that, throughout the course of this saga, there is very little power and extremely short-range rangers.

Kong: Skull Island

Somebody saw Apocalypse Now and thought, “What if King Kong was Colonel Kurtz?” There are numerous shots and designs lifted from Coppola’s opus and other Vietnam war films. So if you haven’t seen those movies, Kong: Skull Island might seem pretty cool. But if you HAVE seen those old movies, this might leave a stale aftertaste.

Get Out

There are those that think that horror movies should just be catharsis; escapism. But the best horror movies are about something -- social, political, sexual, etc. Jordan Peel/Blumhouse et al confront a very specific and very racially charged subject in a funny, sarcastic, and highly entertaining way. Horror film fans may miss not seeing ALL of the tropes of the genre, but what they do get is a surprisingly insightful yarn about the co-opting or cultural appropriating of black lives and black culture for the benefit of the rich and primarily the white. Performances here are GREAT, including some sizzling supporting turns from body-snatched staff of the evil rich, white people in question. And just when you think you’ve got Peele’s script figured out, he twists it up in the most funny and unpredictable ways. Is it suspenseful? Not really. Is it perfect? Not even close. But the humor, satire, and insight about race makes this a modern classic. Kudos to all.

Logan

** SPOILERS UNITE!!**

What if Charles Xavier had dementia? What if there was a child like Wolverine with no moral compass? What if someone cloned Wolverine and made him a mindless super-soldier? There are several really gripping comic-book premises loaded up here, and the execution is robust. Filmed and paced like an old Western by James Mangold et al, there’s actually scenes of the movie Shane in this movie, which is a lot like Shane. But it’s not like it’s THAT innovative of an idea to change the tone. People are getting tired of superhero movies, but you have to keep the characters alive and in the zeitgeist. So what do you do? The last “Wolverine” movie by the same team was more of a samurai movie than a “superhero” movie, so it would make sense to veer into the Western genre mythos. What is always key in anything X-Man is that the kids who are different have a tribe; a place to not be ostracized or weaponized. Professor X always sees to it that they’re accepted somewhere, which makes him the real super-hero.

Hacksaw Ridge

Never has a movie been more appropriately named. Mel went out and made a pretty decent war movie, but then jammed in a bunch of Christianity and pontificating. The boot camp/training scenes are overflowing with clichés. One almost wonders if Mel was TRYING to make a throwback in tone; the bloody war version of a Todd Haynes movie. Nevertheless, Mel thrives when the bodies are being blown apart, but falls on his face when the hero and his best gal go on a date. It almost feels like this was directed by two people. One, a talented commander of epic battles, and two, a ham-handed hack. Moments of this are pretty good, and moments of this are embarrassingly bad. It’s a fascinating juxtaposition, probably a lot like the voices in Mel Gibson’s head.

A Cure for Wellness

Ultimately a downer. This icky, creepy shaggy-dog story had some great visuals -- beautiful compositions of old sanitarium hallways and steam rooms. Lots of eels. So, so, so many eels. Almost too many eels. Is there really such a thing as too many eels? I'm getting off track. Regardless, the plot makes NO sense. I think it’s supposed to be an allegory for something, but I’m not sure what. Fertility? The holocaust? I’ve always liked Gore Verbinsky, but this was overwrought and underwhelming.

Loving

Refreshingly, this is less about the famous court case of Richard and Mildred Loving (Loving v. Virginia) and more about their marriage while they’re coping with all of the civil right injustices. Performances are sensitive and the filmmakers use great care to never make this preachy or ham-fisted. One wishes this same delicacy could have been used in Selma, another civil rights account worthy of way more tenderness and subtlety than those filmmakers wrought. Good to know, too, that sometimes the SCOTUS can be on the right side of history.

John Wick Chapter 2

DO.
NOT.
FUCK.
WITH.
JOHN.
WICK.

Manchester by the Sea

Unpretentious drama about how tragedies shape who we are going forward in our lives. While we can often NOT forgive ourselves, it still helps to be forgiven by others. It’s very well-acted, and the deepest human emotions are explored skillfully. It’s notably less tear-jerky than Lion or Moonlight, which makes it worthwhile. Although the resolution feels a bit downcast at first, on the drive home, one realizes there is some hope for redemption.

Moonlight

Well acted and skillfully filmed, Moonlight reminded me of Precious and Beast of the Southern Wild. It’s a harrowing tale of a certain black experience, wherein there seems to be a frustrating lack of social workers. It’s difficult to know what the hero “Chiron” wants or needs out of life. How does a character express a need for self-discovery or acceptance? Nevertheless, he does what heroes do: he searches for answers. The revelations are more emotional than suspenseful, and at the end you wonder where the characters will go from there. But at the moment that the curtain finally falls, you feel that Chiron may have found temporary peace. A worthwhile goal in life, but is it too abstract for a movie? Will one artist’s vision of peace resonate with everyone who sees it? Maybe not, but it’s worth a shot.

Harry Benson: Shoot First

Worthwhile documentary about a Scottish photographer famous for covering the Beatles and numerous world events. His timing, being in the right place at the right time with a camera, was impeccable. Nice personal story, too, about the man and his family.

48 Hours to Live

Structured like a film noir, this low-budget dance/club movie won’t resonate. You can either dance or you can kill, but you can’t really do both.

Passengers

Sci-fi movies often ask you to suspend your disbelief a couple of times at the beginning. You have to believe in the future, in space travel, and in time travel. As long as they can set the story in motion, and as long as the story is still about humanity, this can work. But if you ask the audience to suspend their disbelief TOO MANY times, logic start to seep through the cracks, and the movie gets ruined. That’s Passengers, which crashes with a big, astronomical THUD at the end. At a certain point, you begin asking logic questions, and space is no place for logic...

Rogue One

Seeing this a second time is still thoroughly enjoyable. Watching the motley crew of the galaxy’s unshaven, swarthy outcasts kick imperial ass and sacrifice their lives makes for a thrilling night at the movies.