Black Ribbon's Best Films of 2017: Part Two

Best Films of 2017: 10-1

 

10. The Handmaiden

With stunning set locations and gorgeous costume design, Park Chan-wook's deliciously twisty and beautifully made romantic thriller is a real cinematic sight to behold. Based upon Sarah Waters' novel "Fingersmith", the Korean's latest is a multi-layered mystery with a wavering narrative which keeps you gripped and guessing right until the end. Featuring recognisable elements from his previous work on the excellent Vengeance trilogy, The Handmaiden may not be Chan-wook's boldest movie to date, but boy is it his most richest and bewilderingly erotic. 

9. Get Out

Jordan Peele's directorial debut in the form of Get Out is a crowd pleasing black comedy horror which dwells into social commentary regarding notions of racism within the heart of the white picket fenced home of the Armitage family. With a standout leading performance by Daniel Kaluuya, rib-tickling gags and an underlying narrative regarding a very particular medical operation, Peele's movie balances the mix between comedy and horror flawlessly, and with enough B-movie elements and exploitation gore to make the whole experience more than rewarding, Get Out solidifies Peele as yet another interesting young director to keep tabs on. 

8. mother!

Hated by most, loved by a minority, Darren Aronofsky's jaw-dropping psychological horror is part Funny Games, part Rosemary's Baby, and with a career best performance from leading star Jennifer Lawrence, mother! is a brutal and nihilistic allegorical work of excellence which is as tough to watch at times as it is completely and utterly bonkers in a fashion which makes the final act of Black Swan look like a Mike Leigh movie. For those who can stomach the movie's polarising subject matter and the evasive camera work of long term Aronofsky collaborator, Matthew Libatique, mother! is Aronofsky at his most creative best. 

7. Raw

Directed by big screen debutante Julia Ducournau, Raw is an intelligently written and brilliantly acted coming of age drama with a central narrative which focuses on leading star Garance Marillier's hereditary and new found lust for human flesh which materialises after a particularly strange university ritual. With a number of scenes which feature genuinely shocking ultra violent imagery and an underlying black comedic tone which gives the movie a somewhat kooky, subversive feel to it, Raw is yet another superb debut for a filmmaker with, excuse the pun, exquisite raw talent. 

6. It

Undoubtedly one of the greatest and most loyal Stephen King adaptations to hit the big screen, Andy Muschietti's live action take on the novelist's best story to date is an outstanding mix of spine-tingling horror, creature feature adventure and coming of age drama which matches the tone and feel of King's writing to an uncanny tee. With Bill Skarsgård giving the most iconic performance of his entire career as the malevolent and undeniably haunting image of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, It manages to not only measure its' horror elements to a genre pleasing effective degree but features too the greatest ensemble cast of young actors in years. With Muschietti on course to direct Chapter Two, the concluding half of King's tale is indeed in the safest of filmmaking hands. 

5. Manchester By The Sea

With a leading performance from Casey Affleck which can only be regarded as one of the most deserved Oscar winning roles in recent history as the grieving and emotionally unstable Lee Chandler, Kenneth Lonergan's low-key masterpiece is a character study of brilliant proportions. Charged by a narrative which is as gut-wrenchingly powerful as it is flawlessly written, Manchester By The Sea might not seem the flashiest film on the surface, but with each and every player at the top of their respective game, Lonergan's movie works on a level of relatability and subtlety which is rare to find in the current cinematic climate. 

4. Moonlight

Recipient of the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, Barry Jenkins' lucid and dreamlike tale of one man's journey from youth to manhood is a dramatic work of unprecedented proportions featuring superbly understated supporting performances from both Oscar winner Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris. With a jukebox soundtrack and stunning cinematography, Jenkin's independant delight is hard to shake off even after repeat viewings, and for a director so young in years and filmic back catalogue, Moonlight is an impressive work of cinematic art.

3. Dunkirk

After tackling space, spies and Batman, Christopher Nolan takes his enviable talents to Dunkirk, a spectacular, IMAX-fuelled masterpiece which favours the use of practical design over digital effects, sound and image over dialogue and an impressively handled three act structure reminiscent of the time-bending narrative of Nolan's previous work on Memento. With scenes which evoke a wide spectrum of emotions throughout its' note perfect runtime, Nolan's movie is a tense and taut war epic unlike anything seen before on the big screen and whilst it is indeed best course of action to devour the spectacle on the largest backdrop you can find thanks to Nolan's personal fondness of the mighty IMAX, Dunkirk is not the first masterpiece to come from Nolan and I'm sure it won't be his last. 

2. Blade Runner 2049

A sequel to the greatest science fiction movie of all time needed to be something special, and in the hands of Arrival director Denis Villeneuve there was little doubting it wouldn't be, but what we have with Blade Runner 2049 however is a movie which surpasses even the highest of anticipation, a beautifully bold and emotionally riveting masterpiece of sound, spectacle and art house wonder which rewrites the rule book for what it means to be a big budget production. With Villeneuve not only paying homage to Ridley Scott's original in a more than respectable fashion but adding his own distinguishable DNA to the mix, the flawless work of Roger Deakins, Hans Zimmer and leading stars Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford result in Blade Runner 2049 being a deserved science fiction masterpiece in its' own right and one which will stand the test of time in a fashion similar to its' equally masterful predecessor. 

1. La La Land

Following up on Black Ribbon's best movie of 2015 in the form of Whiplash, Damien Chazelle's beautifully romantic and stunningly swooning musical drama is a cinematic wonder of enigmatic proportions. With a cross of paths between the doe eyed dreamer figure of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling's eccentric and passionate jazz extraordinaire, the narrative moves from the charming first acquaintance to a sombre, heartbreaking concluding act which is just a masterclass in flawless and natural filmmaking ability. The songs are sumptuous, the editing silky smooth and the location design a dreamlike ode to the history of Hollywood, La La Land isn't just a masterpiece, it's Black Ribbon's film of the year and deservedly so. 

Film Review: Blade Runner 2049

"I Always Told You. You're Special. Your History Isn't Over Yet. There's Still A Page Left..."

Reissued to the big screen last year, Ridley Scott's 1982 cult, science fiction classic Blade Runner is one of the greatest films of all time, period. Directed by a Scott on form of which has never been topped and beautifully designed through soaring cinematography and a world class Vangelis soundtrack, the cinematic adaptation of Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is likely never to be topped within the genre of forward-thinking futuristic fiction. Treading with an air of trepidatious caution therefore, the release of Blade Runner 2049 is shackled with a the undeniable questioning of why a sequel was ever needed to a film laced with ambiguity and uncertainty twenty-five years ago, but with Scott being reduced to a production role only, a factor most fortunate considering the lack of mediocre releases from the American lately, and arguably the best filmmaker working at this moment in the form of Sicario and Arrival director Denis Villeneuve in charge, 2049 manages to create a heavy sense of confliction regarding its' existence inside my cinematic mind. With a returning Harrison Ford, a grit-infused Ryan Gosling and the who's who team of top class filmmakers, featuring the likes of Hans Zimmer and cinematographer Roger Deakins, 2049 holds the ace card for complete success, and what Villeneuve has managed to create is fundamentally a multi-million dollar art house inflicted masterpiece, one which expands the Blade Runner universe into expansive, lurid territory whilst simultaneously paying complete tribute to an original so beloved by many by coming oh so close to toppling the foundations of its' predecessors unwavered supremacy as the masterwork of nightmarish, dystopian science fiction. 

Whilst dissecting the details of the plot would be utter sacrilege, 2049 works as both a worthy continuation of the plot threads left over from the 1982 original and an organic beast in its' own right, using the underlying narrative regarding the existence of replicants to a more than effective degree in attempting to piece together a story which both points to the past and propels into the future, with Ryan Gosling's Agent K central to a narrative which combats its' high-profile cast by giving each star a sharply defined character of notable distinction and interest, with Jared Leto's Tyrell inflicted Wallace and Sylvia Hoeks' Luv the standout characters of the piece. Concluding with all the ambiguity and uncertainty of the original, opportunity ultimately remains open for yet another sequel in the Blade Runner canon, yet with the care and delicate approach clearly given to its' creation, 2049 seems more beneficial to remain solely as a chance to explore deeper the world originally created by Scott as a one-off, and whilst Villeneuve has the American to thank for handing him the chance to mould the Blade Runner world to his liking, the touch of a man who directed the woozy tranquility of Arrival is all over Blade Runner 2049, a film which revels in handing its' audience a sense of exploration in attempting to piece out the satirical, sociological and thematic notions which are laid out on the screen, a screen which attempts to hold together images which evoke a sense of jaw-dropping awe when attempting to conclude how any living human could create such art. With amber-infused radioactive plains of a destroyed Las Vegas, the surrealist, art deco interior of Wallace enterprises, and the polluted airs of downtown Los Angeles, cinematographer and long awaited Oscar recipient, Roger Deakins, is at the top of his game, creating eye-widening spectacle after spectacle in helping Villeneuve establish the world in which the darkness and despair of the plot ultimately relies on, and whilst beauty has never been absent from the work of such a talented DP (the descent into darkness from Sicario and the sniper scene in Skyfall to name a few memorable shots), 2049 is undoubtedly the picture which will make the world stand up and proclaim Deakins as the undeniable master of his respective art form.

With Gosling's Agent K on Drive territory, the brooding, bloodied body of his character is essential to the picture's overt sense of dread which is played straight from beginning to end, and whilst the deliciously packed two hours and forty five minutes may seem a tad of a stretch to some, the film's excesses never bothered me and even could have gone on further without a hint of objection or disdain. With a eye-watering budget at his disposal, it is quite remarkable how Villeneuve's approach to 2049 is to completely follow the essence of the original in terms of both tone and feel, using long, sometimes drawn out sequences to enforce the eerie sense of isolation felt by the film's leading characters, with the best moments sometimes utilising no dialogue or musical accompaniments at all, with the camera focused instead on how a particular character moves, feels or reacts to a particular scenario or plot development, with even Ford managing to be so much more than just a cast-off cameo in his return as Deckard, with a tense and almost Lynchian scene involving him and Leto's Wallace a breathtaking example of each of the respective actors at the top of their game. With Hans Zimmer supplying the honking, synthy, Vangelis inspired soundtrack to completely encompass the film's heart of darkness, the resulting chemical equation of putting together so many skilled filmmakers in the same room is rather quite staggering, with Villeneuve's film managing to not only topple the lofty expectations set upon it, but also managing to portray science fiction cinema at its' most beautiful and imaginative. Handed with the chance of the lifetime, Blade Runner 2049 is undoubtedly Villeneuve's film, and with the Avengers style team of movie makers around him all working in complete synchronisation, the world can now finally see what it truly means to be a true sequel to film that never thought needed to be continued in the first place. 

Overall Score: 10/10

Film Feature: Looking Forward to 2017 in Film

2017 in Film

With 2016 being such a superb year for cinema, one which once again proved that the golden age of film is most definitely still alive and kicking, the onus is most definitely on 2017 to make it even better. Of course, the cinematic schedule of the year is pretty darn obvious in terms of the big-hitters, the blockbusters and the rafter of franchise advancing sequels, but 2017 is arguably the biggest cinematic year in recent memory, with more superhero films than you can shake a stick at amongst those wild, hidden gems which only arise as the great works of art they are until they are sought out and polished by the critical masses. To start the year off with a bang therefore, it wouldn't be the same without a glance into the near future, admiring the masses of movies that are set to grace our screens over the course of the next twelve months whilst making a psychically-charged attempt to pick out the true highlights, the indie-sensations, the money-grabbing cash-ins and of course, the one we have all been waiting for; Power Rangers. Don't lie, you can't wait either. 

Straight off the bat on January the 1st we begin the year with the triple header of A Monster Calls, Justin Kurzel's cinematic adaptation of Assassin's Creed, and of course, the new Martin Scorsese flick Silence, a historical drama featuring the acting bravura of Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield and Kylo Ren himself, Adam Driver, and whilst Scorsese hasn't exactly really hit the lofty heights of movie classics such as Taxi Driver and Goodfellas in recent years, Silence is an interesting, long-awaited personal project for the directorial legend, one of which surely rivals Michael Fassbender's cape wearing assassin for best film to kick off the new year. Mouthwateringly, the entire month of January is destined to include some real winners, no more so than Whiplash director Damien Chazelle's latest Oscar-touted movie La La Land, a much-anticipated romantic drama starring the winning duo of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, whilst films such as Manchester By The Sea, Lion, Jackie and Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge all manage to fit in screen-time before the final preparations for the upcoming Academy Awards embrace our smaller sized screens at home. 

Heading into February and March, we witness the beginning of the numerous amount of sequels and franchise expanding releases such as Rings, Fifty Shades Darker, Logan and of course Kong: Skull Island which boasts a staggeringly impressive cast with the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson leading the line against the infamous giant ape. Arguably John Wick: Chapter 2 is the stand-out sequel amongst the many thrown at us this time of year, continuing the tale of the ridiculously entertaining first film starring Keanu Reeves as the titular suave-obsessed hit-man. Elsewhere, Disney gets ready for another hefty pay day with the release of the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast within a two-week period which includes releases of Power Rangers, Ghost In The Shell and an exciting new project from High-Rise director Ben Wheatley in the form of Free Fire which features Cillian Murphy and Brie Larson in leading roles. For Easter however, the respective marketing teams have really got their work cut out with back-to-back releases with Furious 8, yes, the eighth Fast and Furious movie, and of course, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, featuring more retro music and perhaps the coolest character of the year in the form of baby Groot. 

Heading into May and through to June, we continue the rafter of greatly anticipated sequels including the likes of Ridley Scott's Alien: Covenant, World War Z 2 as well as the latest in the line of two of the highest grossing franchises of all time in the form of Pirates of the Caribbean 5 and, get ready to feel morbidly ill at the thought of it, the latest Transformers movie from Michael Bay. Budding for the most attention within all of these releases however is the next DC Universe release, this time focusing on the origins of Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman who was used so poorly and sparingly within Batman Vs. Superman. Could this finally be the film which reinvigorates the DC canon? Well for starters Zak Snyder isn't involved in a directorial capacity, instead settling for both writer and producer, (Gulp!) with that honour instead going to Patty Jenkins, director of the Oscar winning Monster, and this alone could be the kick-start DC's respective cinematic universe sorely requires. Aside from flying superheroes, the real stand-out movies of the year both arrive in early summertime with Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk and the hotly anticipated release of The Dark Tower, based upon the annoyingly addictive anthology of novels by Stephen King, being two of the movies that I have my sights well and truly set on. 

Following in the footsteps of The Dark Tower, the latest adaptation of Stephen King's It will grace our screens heading into the latter months of the year featuring Bill Skarsgård as the venomous Pennywise the clown whilst the ultra-reliable Denis Villeneuve tackles the long-awaited sequel to Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, one of my all-time favourite films, featuring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford who reprises his role as the titular bounty hunter, Rick Deckard. With Villeneuve really hitting his stride in recent years with the likes of Sicario and Arrival, Blade Runner 2049 is in safe hands and something that could potentially become the real masterpiece of the year. The final eight weeks of the year feature two of the big blockbusters in the form of Justice League and of course, Star Wars: Episode VIII which will undoubtedly be a melancholic time for fans of the series after the loss of Princess Leia herself, Carrie Fisher. It will be interesting to see in the cinematic capacity how the film will deal with such a shocking loss, but it also will still be an undoubted success in the hands of Looper director Rian Johnson. 2017 is set to be another supermassive year in the land of cinema and whilst 2016 is a particularly hard act to follow, I look forward to the ambiguity which lies ahead.