Saturday, January 27, 2018

TOP 12 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2017: TOP 3!

Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s annual end-of-the-year list in which I count down my picks for my Top 12 Favorite Films of 2017. And today, folks, we’ve come to the grand finale of this epic 4-part endeavor; today, I’m listing my Top 3 Favorite Films from this past year in film. If you missed the last three parts of this list, click the following links below to check out my last 9 picks and my 6 Honorable Mentions. With that said, let’s not waste any more time and close out this list…




For some people, my #3 pick is an obvious choice. For others, though, that’s not exactly the case. Yes, folks, I’m referring to the film that has surprisingly proven to be one of the most polarizing releases in recent memory. And the reason why I say ‘surprisingly’ is simple just because of what franchise it comes from.


Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, and Daisy Ridley in Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)

Who would’ve thought that a Star Wars film, of all things, would end up being one of the most divisive films of the past few years? And yet, that has been exactly the case with director Rian Johnson’s entry in the legendary franchise and the follow-up to 2015’s smash hit Star Wars: The Force Awakens. While critics have been almost universally positive about the film, audiences have been split down the middle by comparison. To put this all into perspective, while the film’s current score on Rotten Tomatoes is 90%, the site’s audience score is 49%, a rating that is lower than any of the audience scores for the infamous prequels… that is saying something. And if you were to ask me the main reason why this film has been so divisive amongst Star Wars fans, I honestly couldn’t narrow it down to just one thing because there have been several aspects of the film that have proven to be a source of contention amongst fans. This includes everything from certain characters’ roles in the plot to specific moments in the film itself. Ultimately, though, this just confirms the one thing that I’ve been saying for these past few years now; Star Wars fans are some of the hardest to please in the entire film fan community. It’s been quite a ride for the Star Wars fandom, which started out strong thanks to the universally revered original trilogy but then began to stumble once series creator George Lucas began to make a bunch of controversial changes to it. Of course, this was then followed by the near-universally maligned prequel trilogy which many fans are still getting worked up over even though it’s been more than a whole decade since its conclusion. And while the Disney-era Star Wars films have done quite well with critics and audiences, they’ve also had their fair share of dissenters for their own unique reasons.

As we all know, in the case of The Force Awakens, there’s been the nagging nitpick made by those who argue that the film was nothing more than a retread of Episode IV: A New Hope. And yet, ironically, one of the main complaints that several people have had with The Last Jedi… was that it was way too different. Depending on who you ask, though, the fact that the film was such a radically different take on Star Wars was why they felt that it was ultimately the best thing to happen to the franchise in a long time. And while I’ll admit that I initially didn’t quite get what everyone was talking about when they said that The Last Jedi was a ‘fresh, new’ take on Star Wars, in retrospect I do recognize the main thing that it does to be different from the franchise’s previous installments. The most notable thing about The Last Jedi is that it completely debunks the entire lore of the Star Wars franchise through its main theme of learning from one’s mistakes. As witnessed in the film’s first trailer, Luke Skywalker often talks about how he believes that the time has come for the Jedi Order to end. And as the film goes on, he continually points out some of the Order’s biggest downfalls, namely the fact that it placed its entire faith on Luke’s father Anakin to be their ‘chosen one’ and bring balance to the Force. Ultimately, though, both the Order and its faith were completely undone when Anakin was corrupted by the dark side and became Darth Vader as was witnessed in the prequels. In other words, the main theme of this film is best summed up by its biggest surprise cameo, Master Yoda (and yes, Yoda (voiced again by Frank Oz) was created via puppetry this time around; a very neat development following his CG design in the prequels). In his one scene with Luke, he explains to his former protégé that, at the end of the day, failure is often one’s greatest teacher.

And the cool thing about all this is that the idea of ‘learning from past mistakes’ ends up being an effective means of character development for each member of the new trilogy’s trio of leads. Right from the start, we see Poe Dameron having to understand that his reckless behavior (or, as Leia puts it, ‘getting into an X-Wing and blowing something up”) always runs the risk of getting him and his fellow pilots killed. This allows Poe to become a much stronger leader by the film’s end, something that will surely carry over into Episode IX. Meanwhile, Finn, after reawakening from the coma that he ended up in at the end of The Force Awakens, embarks on a secret mission with mechanic Rose Tico to try and stop the First Order from destroying the Resistance. Said plan involves the two of them traveling to the casino city of Canto Bight to find a codebreaker who can disable the First Order’s tracking devices. And while they do manage to find one in the enigmatic DJ (Benicio Del Toro), their new ally ends up betraying them to the First Order to save his own skin. In other words, their headstrong nature ultimately ended up getting the best of them. On a side note, Rose proves to be an endearing new addition to the franchise’s ever-growing cast of characters thanks in large part to Kelly Marie Tran’s terrific performance in the role. And no, Star Wars fans, she is not the franchise’s worst character since Jar Jar Binks and does not deserve all the racist attacks that she’s been getting recently. Finally, we have Rey, who finds herself becoming more connected to Ben Solo AKA Kylo Ren through the power of the Force. When Kylo tells her about the incident where he ended up turning against his uncle, in which Luke was this close to killing his own nephew when he realized that he had become corrupted by Supreme Leader Snoke, she embarks off on her own accord to try and help him find redemption. But even after Kylo ends up turning against Snoke and killing him, along with the two of them teaming up to take down Snoke’s guards, Rey discovers that Kylo is still unable to leave his new power-hungry mentalities behind as he assumes control of the First Order.

As for the rest of the film, it features everything that you’d expect out of a great Star Wars film. It boasts some of the franchise’s best visuals and cinematography which, as expected, results in some fantastic action sequences (e.g. the final battle on the planet Crait where the Resistance mounts one last defense against the First Order’s AT-AT battalion in outdated speeders). And while I’ve found that some were rather iffy on Johnson’s screenplay being a lot more comedic-based in terms of its dialogue, I personally didn’t mind the humor in this film. This includes everything from Luke casually tossing his old lightsaber away when Rey first gives it to him to the scene where Poe trolls General Hux via comms during the opening battle (“Hi, I’m holding for General Hugs…”). And, of course, the cast is phenomenal from top to bottom; this includes everyone from the lead trio of Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac to newcomers like Laura Dern as Vice Admiral Holdo, who becomes the Resistance’s new leader after Leia ends up incapacitated by a First Order attack. While the bulk of the film revolves around Holdo and Poe getting into a conflict based on their differing strategic methods, namely due to her passive strategy of a discreet evacuation, she ends up going out on an epic note when she rams the First Order’s fleet while at light-speed to allow the Resistance enough time to escape. And, of course, we cannot forget about the franchise’s original protagonist, Luke Skywalker. After only having a non-speaking cameo at the end of The Force Awakens, Luke (and therefore Mark Hamill) gets a far more substantial role in this film. And while it does end with the legendary Jedi being killed off, at the very least he goes out on the most badass of notes during the final battle on Crait where, after spending the entire film telling Rey that he isn’t going to come back to help the Resistance, he arrives on the battlefield to take on the First Order all by himself.

When Kylo orders his forces to fire upon Luke, we see that Luke somehow manages to survive this complete with the most badass moment in the film where he brushes dirt off his shoulder as if to say that the last attack on him was nothing. And after a lightsaber fight between Luke and Kylo, we learn that the former has been Force projecting himself from his current location on the planet of Ahch-To. This was hinted at before when it was apparent that Luke’s footprints weren’t appearing on the planet’s salt-based surface; that and there’s also the fact that Luke looks a lot younger compared to what we’ve seen from the rest of the film. Anyway, after telling Kylo that “he will not be the Last Jedi”, a moment that is intercut with Rey using the Force to rescue the Resistance, Luke’s projection disappears (“See you around, kid!”). Back on Ahch-To, Luke witnesses a double sunset (a perfect callback to the iconic scene in A New Hope where he witnessed a similar sunset on his home planet of Tatooine) before fading away a la Yoda in Return of the Jedi. And as for the backlash surrounding Luke being able to do all that… well, Rian Johnson recently proved these critics wrong by showcasing a Star Wars book from a few years back that proves that it’s possible so… yeah, no further comment. Speaking of final hurrahs, as we all know, this film served as the final appearance of Carrie Fisher as Leia following her death back in 2016. Suffice it to say, she also concludes her run on an excellent note. The scene where she finally reunites with her brother Luke is easily one of the best emotional moments in the entire film, and not just because of the real-world context surrounding it. And as for the scene where she manages to survive being blown out into space, another point of contention amongst fans… well, it has been established that even though she isn’t a Jedi like Luke, she is tied to the Force just as much as he is. So… yeah, no further comment.

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In conclusion, I want to make it clear that, at the very least, I do understand why some folks weren’t too big on The Last Jedi; film is a subjective medium, after all. However, I also encourage this film’s biggest critics to try and give it another chance so that they can hopefully appreciate all the interesting things that it does for the franchise. Specifically, Rian Johnson deserves a lot of credit for taking so many huge risks by deconstructing Star Wars’ expansive mythology and going against fans’ expectations. Regarding the latter, this includes everything from the unceremonious death of the trilogy’s supposed big bad Snoke to the scene where Kylo tells Rey that her parents were ‘nobodies’ who gave up their daughter for chump change. And as the film concludes with a young child labor worker back at Canto Bight being shown to be one with the Force, along with the reveal that Rey had taken the Jedi Order’s ancient texts onto the Millennium Falcon before Luke could destroy them, we’re left on an uplifting note for the franchise’s future. Of course, we’ll soon be seeing the conclusion of this current story when J.J. Abrams returns to ‘finish what he started’ with Episode IX in 2019. But one thing’s for certain, though… while The Force Awakens managed to avoid being undone by all the hype and expectations that surrounded it prior to its release, it’s clear that this turn of events was ultimately reserved for The Last Jedi as evident from all the various fan reactions to it. And to be perfectly frank, the Star Wars fan-base’s handling of this whole debacle hasn’t been very smooth… and that’s putting it lightly…

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Well, we have another arguably polarizing release at the #2 spot. In this instance, it’s because the film in question is a remake of one of the most famous animated films of all-time. But even with the hefty expectations that were put upon it for that very reason, I ultimately enjoyed this charming new rendition of everyone’s favorite ‘tale as old as time’.

Now I’ll admit that my highly positive feelings towards this film may have been somewhat influenced by the fact that I first saw it in one of those ‘perfect moments’. I first saw this film on my birthday while on vacation in Washington D.C. at its special Fan Event. Along with getting to see the film in IMAX, this event featured a few behind-the-scenes videos and the music video for John Legend and Ariana Grande’s rendition of Beauty and the Beast which, contrary to apparently popular opinion, I thought was a pretty good take on the classic song. With all this said, though, I do recognize why this was arguably the one entry in Disney’s continuing line of live-action remakes that attracted the most skepticism prior to its release. After all, we’re talking about Beauty and the Beast, one of the most beloved entries in Disney’s ever-expanding collection of animated classics. It is, after all, the first animated film that ever got nominated for Best Picture. And while the same outcome didn’t occur for this new take on it, I still felt that it was a pleasant new rendition of a classic story. Now, granted, unlike some other Disney remakes (e.g. The Jungle Book, which was a combination of Disney’s animated classic and Rudyard Kipling’s original novel), this new take on Beauty and the Beast follows the same general plot as its animated counterpart. Belle, a fair, young maiden from a quiet town in France, takes her father’s place as the prisoner of a ferocious beast who resides in a hidden castle. Belle soon learns that the Beast was once a prince who was cursed along with his subjects by an enchantress when he refused her request for shelter. Eventually, though, Belle and the Beast end up falling in love as she tries to help him and his servants break the curse before it becomes permanent, which all coincides with the villagers’ attempt to kill the Beast as led by the boorish hunter Gaston.

Still, I do think that the film does ‘just enough’ to be its own thing when compared to the original. This is thanks to various plot alterations and additions that never betray the heart of its classic story. Probably my favorite new addition comes in the form of backstory that explains why Belle and her father Maurice have remained in their ‘poor, provincial town’ indefinitely. When Belle gets the chance to return to ‘the Paris of her childhood’ thanks to a magical book that was given to the Beast by the Enchantress that allows them to travel wherever they want, she learns that her father had the two of them evacuated when the city began to be ravaged by the plague, with her mother being one of its unfortunate victims. This, along with Kevin Kline’s more subdued portrayal of ‘crazy, old Maurice’ compared to the original film (which I may, in fact, prefer…), gives the remake one of its best bits of emotional poignancy. I also appreciated the decision to have Belle be just as invention-savvy as her father. Early in the film, she comes up with a more efficient method of doing the laundry before it ends up getting dismantled by the townspeople. During her first night as the Beast’s captive, she uses the various bits of clothes that came from Madame de Garderobe the Wardrobe to try and escape out the window of her tower. And when Gaston has her and her father imprisoned before he and the townsfolk head out to storm the castle, she and Maurice manage to pick the lock and escape themselves. Changes like these are arguably quite simple, but in this instance, I’d say that they work because they don’t end up being so substantially different that they drastically alter this iconic plot.

As for Belle herself, I think it’s safe to say that when Emma Watson was first cast in the role, a lot of people were enthusiastic about this given her iconic turn as Hermione in the Harry Potter films. However, I noticed that this began to change drastically once the film came out, as Watson has gotten some flak for her singing performance. Ultimately, though, I felt that she was perfectly fine when it came to her singing, namely during the new songs that were created for the film (more on those in a bit…). And as far as the entire role is concerned, Watson does quite well with maintaining everything that fans of the original film loved about Belle as a character, including her independent spirit and her knack for being ahead of her time. She also has solid chemistry with Dan Stevens, who’s also quite excellent as the Beast and does a fine job of handling the character’s great redemption arc. The two of them are also backed by an equally terrific supporting cast. The Beast’s collection of servants boasts a stacked ensemble that features the likes of Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, and Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, just to name a few. As for the film’s main villains, both Luke Evans and Josh Gad are delightfully hammy as Gaston and LeFou, respectively. And yeah… the time has come to once again address that whole controversy surrounding the moment where the latter dances with a male villager who had been put into a dress during the attack on the castle. As I’ve said before, the backlash that this got from LGBT critics was completely ridiculous as this is literally a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ moment that arguably would’ve gone unnoticed had it not been reported by various news outlets beforehand. In fact, the moment where Madame de Garderobe puts the other guy into a dress, which he reacts to in a positive manner, was received with applause the first time I saw this in theaters… do with that as you will.

Visually speaking, the film looks amazing even when considering that a lot of it is CG-based (e.g. ‘Be Our Guest’, where behind-the-scenes videos show that everything that Emma Watson had to react to would be added in later). Speaking of music, this film’s renditions of the original film’s classic lineup of songs are quite excellent, though there are also some great new songs as well. There’s ‘Days in the Sun’, which is arguably the melancholic but ultimately hopeful counterpart to ‘Human Again’, a song from the animated film that ended up getting cut. There’s the heartfelt melody ‘How Does a Moment Last Forever’, which is sung twice in the film, once by Maurice and then later by Belle. It’s also sung by Celine Dion (who performed the pop version of the original film’s title song) during the end credits. But my personal favorite of the new songs is ‘Evermore’, which is the Beast’s big solo that he sings as Belle leaves to rescue her father. Stevens’ strong vocal performance, paired with the great imagery of seeing Belle’s bright yellow dress stand out in the darkness as she heads off into the night, combine to make this one of the standout sequences of the film. But if you ask me, there are plenty more great standout moments in this film that help to make it a worthwhile addition to Disney’s growing line of live-action remakes of their animated classics. I’ve gone over my thoughts on Disney’s current live-action film strategy several times in the past, specifically noting that I’m in no way bothered by all the remakes that have either been announced or are currently in development. Because regardless of how they end up faring with critics and audiences, the original animated films will still be there and will not be ruined by a ‘lousy’ re-imagining. And this mindset applies perfectly to the new Beauty and the Beast. Is it better than the original? No, but it doesn’t have to be.

Image result for beauty and the beast 2017

And finally, we’ve arrived at my #1 favorite film of 2017. Seeing how this list has been almost entirely dominated by blockbusters, I’d figured that it was time to highlight something from the independent market… nah, I’m just messing with you guys. Cue one of the most obvious #1 picks that I’ve ever made in 3, 2…

When I originally reviewed this film back in May, I decided to make a conscientious effort to avoid addressing the one argument that was being brought up by almost every major critic; that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was not as ‘fresh’ as its predecessor. I’m serious, look at ANY major review for this film, even the positive ones, and nine times out of ten you’ll find that argument in it. And to be perfectly frank, this whole ‘not as fresh as the original’ argument is a recent fad that I’m getting rather sick of, as it’s also been thrown around to the unwarranted detriment of films like Kingsman: The Golden Circle and X-Men: Apocalypse. Yeah, I know that the current film market is heavily dominated by remakes, reboots, sequels, etc., but whatever happened to the simple but more effective argument of a film just not being ‘as good as the original’? To me, this whole ‘not as ‘fresh’ as the original’ argument comes off as being a bigger detriment to a film than it really needs to be because it mainly stems from one’s demand for original content taking greater precedence over the matter of giving the film a fair chance to prove itself. Anyway, I’ll admit that upon first viewing, I was legitimately on the fence about which Guardians films was better. But this changed when I participated in a podcast with my friends Matthew Goudreau and Alex McDevitt in which we ranked all the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe prior to the release of Spider-Man: Homecoming. During this podcast, I realized one important thing; that this film had been getting the same treatment as films like Iron Man 3 and Avengers: Age of Ultron. And that is why I’ll be saying the following statement here and now… Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 IS a superior sequel to Marvel Studios’ equally fantastic 2014 outing, Guardians of the Galaxy.

Now, to be clear, I still very much adore the original Guardians of the Galaxy for its vibrant visuals, great humor, and an endearing cast of main protagonists tied to a plot that was steeped in emotional poignancy. But with Vol. 2, writer/director James Gunn manages to craft a plot that boasts an even stronger emotional core. This is thanks to the film’s main theme of fatherhood which primarily stems from the plotline of Peter Quill AKA Star-Lord finally meeting his long-lost father, the celestial being known as Ego. The film also does a great job when it comes to further developing the Guardians, which is namely due to the decision to have them be split off into teams of two. And while I know that some may view this as a bad thing because it keeps them all separated for most of the film, it ultimately works for two reasons. For one thing, it’s a crucial element of the plot as the Guardians find their familial bonds being put to the test. But the other key thing about all this is that each of these pairings ends up being quite well-balanced in terms of who spends time with who. It all starts, of course, with Peter spending a lot of time with Ego. While this does allow Peter the opportunity to finally connect with his real father (or, as Gamora puts it, his ‘Zardu Hasselfrau’, which is her mistaken name for Peter’s childhood icon David Hasselhoff (and yes, ‘the Hoff’ makes a cameo in this film when Ego briefly takes his form)), it also keeps him separated from the rest of his friends.

Another key pairing is the duo of sisters/rivals Gamora and Nebula. After being generally underused in the first film, Nebula is thankfully given a larger role in the sequel as it delves further into the complicated relationship between her and Gamora. As the adoptive daughters of the Mad Titan Thanos, both were pushed to their limits with Gamora often coming out on top over Nebula, who was forced to be subjected to torturous cybernetic enhancements by their father as punishment for her failures. This ultimately explains why they’ve been at odds with each other for such a long time. Because of Gamora’s concern for survival when it came to dealing with Thanos’ wrath, she never realized how this often ended up affecting Nebula, who always ended up being the primary victim of said wrath. This is also key to Nebula’s main drive in the film (which, obviously, had already been established in the first film when she stood by Ronan after he boldly defied Thanos) to kill their father. Because of all this, while the film is still mainly about fatherhood, it’s also firmly tied to the idea of sisterhood as well, all culminating in the scene where Nebula leaves to hunt Thanos but not before sharing a heartfelt goodbye with Gamora, who assures her that she will always be her sister. Next, there’s everyone’s favorite ‘walking thesaurus’, Drax, who mainly spends time with Mantis, Ego’s assistant (or, as Drax puts it, his ‘pet’). This pairing is perfect as it’s well-established that they’re both rather lacking in terms of social skills; Mantis herself openly admits this given how she’s spent almost her entire life with Ego on his planet. Despite this, however, the two of them end up becoming kindred spirits as Mantis’ ability to feel whatever another person is feeling by touching them allows her to experience the sorrow that Drax felt when his wife and daughter were killed by Ronan.

The final ‘major pairing’ of the film comes in the form of Rocket (and, therefore, Baby Groot) and Yondu, who end up involved in their own little subplot where they deal with a bunch of mutinous Ravagers. Much of Guardians 2’s plot stems from Rocket stealing a bunch of batteries from the alien race known as the Sovereign. Not only does this result in a fallout between them and the Guardians, but it also begins to cause significant tension within the Guardians’ group themselves, especially between Rocket and Quill. But this all leads to a crucial scene where Yondu confronts Rocket over his volatile attitude. It is here where Yondu remarks that the only reason why Rocket often pushes people away is that he’s unable to express how much he truly cares about them due to his overall insecurity. In short, Yondu points out that they are a lot more similar than they think, which serves as an excellent way of further developing them both as they work to overcome this shared weakness of theirs (I’ll get into how this affects Yondu later…). But what about Baby Groot? Well, you might be surprised to find that the younger self of Rocket’s best friend doesn’t really factor into the film as much as some may have expected. Still, he does manage to have quite a few of his own standout moments, including the opening credits sequence (done in the style of one long take) where we see him dance around while the Guardians deal with a giant alien monster. There’s also the scene where Yondu and Rocket try to get him to find a new prototype fin for Yondu (which is the technology that allows him to control his famous whistle-controlled arrow) only for him to keep bringing back the wrong items, including but not limited to Yondu’s underwear, “That Guy’s Eye!”, and even a severed toe.

MCU films have always been known for their excellent visual effects, and Guardians 2 is no exception to this. The first Guardians was already one of the franchise’s best-looking installments due in large part to its vibrant color palette that helped to bring the cosmic side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to life. And yet, this film somehow manages to top the beautiful visuals of its predecessor, effectively putting it on par with Doctor Strange as one of the most visually stunning MCU films to date. And, of course, like the first Guardians, this film also boasts another great soundtrack courtesy of ‘Awesome Mix Vol. 2’. In fact, just like how I’ve argued that this film was superior to its predecessor, I’d argue that the second ‘Awesome Mix’ is better than the first. Again, no disrespect to ‘Awesome Mix Vol. 1’, which featured the likes of ‘Hooked on a Feeling’, ‘O-o-h Child’, and ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’, all of which were tied perfectly to the film’s overall narrative. However, I do think that ‘Awesome Mix Vol. 2’, which features the likes of ‘Surrender’, ‘Mr. Blue Sky’, and ‘My Sweet Lord’, has a slight edge to it when it comes to the songs’ connection to the plot. One prime example of this is Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’, which is used twice in the film. It’s first used during the scene where Peter, Gamora, and Drax head off with Ego to his planet while leaving Rocket and Groot behind to fix their ship, a nod to the growing divide between the group. But then, as the Guardians reunite at the end and Peter remembers who his real family is in a beautiful, non-dialogue montage sequence in which he remembers a bunch of happy moments that he’s had with each of his friends, the song roars back with a vengeance. Then, of course, there are other song-to-scene highlights, like the hilariously dark juxtaposition of a light-hearted song like Jay and the Americans’ ‘Come a Little Bit Closer’ set to the scene where Yondu, Rocket, and Groot kill all the mutinous Ravagers.

On that note, let’s talk about this film’s villains, as there are three main groups that fall into this category. First, there’s the Sovereign, led by their ruler Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki). However, despite what the marketing campaign may have suggested, they ultimately aren’t the main antagonists of the film. Instead, they’re more of a constant thorn in the Guardians’ side after Rocket steals their batteries. Still, they do have their moments, namely via the scenes that show off their arcade-style facility where they remotely pilot their attack ships; it’s basically that one scene in the first Avengers where Tony Stark calls out a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent for playing Galaga while on the job fully realized. Plus, it also seems like the Sovereign are set to play a larger role in the next Guardians film as apparent from one of this film’s five (yes, five!) post-credits scenes in which Ayesha shows off her new creation, Adam Warlock. Next, there’s the mutinous group of Ravagers led by Taserface (Chris Sullivan)… and yes, that’s his name. Obviously, the film takes much pleasure in making fun of this character and his silly name; James Gunn did once refer to him as the ‘dumbest character of all-time’ back when he was first hired for Guardians of the Galaxy. And while the mutinous Ravagers ultimately play a minor role in the overall plot, just like the Sovereign, they also contribute to some of the film’s best moments. So, who is the main villain of the film, you ask? That would be Ego himself, as the group soon learns of his sinister plan to terraform other planets so that they can become further extensions of himself via a set of seedlings that he’s planted all over the universe. But what truly turns Peter against his father is the moment when he reveals that he was the one who caused his mother’s death as witnessed at the beginning of the first film. This big reveal, along with Kurt Russell’s charismatic performance in the role, ends up making Ego one of the MCU’s better villains. Like I said before, Marvel Studios has done a lot better with their villains since the start of Phase 3.   

And this brings us to the film’s emotional finale or, as I like to call it, the best thing that Marvel Studios has done to date. Throughout the film, Peter learns that because his father is a Celestial, he too possesses Celestial abilities, as evident from the fact that he was able to survive the might of the Power Stone in the first film. However, right before the Guardians destroy the core of Ego’s planet, Ego warns Peter that killing him would lead to him losing his Celestial powers and becoming just like everyone else, to which Peter responds by asking one simple question, “What’s so wrong with that?” Thus, the core is destroyed and Ego disintegrates right in front of his son. But as Ego’s planet collapses around him, Peter is then saved by Yondu, who puts the group’s last spacesuit on him as they fly off into space to avoid the planet’s destruction. Yondu tells Peter that ‘he may have your father, boy, but he wasn’t your daddy’ before his body freezes in space right in front of ‘his boy’. It is in this moment that Peter finally realizes who his real ‘father figure’ was… Yondu. Earlier in the film, it was revealed that Ego had Yondu bring all his other celestial children to him. However, once Yondu learned that Ego ended up killing the other children, he backs away from their agreement to protect Peter, resulting in the path that Peter’s been on in these films as an Earth kid who was kidnapped and later taken in by Yondu and his fellow Ravagers. Simply put, Yondu’s sacrifice is one of the best-handled moments in the entire film; both Michael Rooker and Chris Pratt are phenomenal in this scene, which is all backed by Tyler Bates’ equally excellent score (e.g. the track ‘Dad’).

But the film does not stop there. After Peter and the other Guardians give Yondu a proper funeral, they learn that Rocket had messaged Yondu’s fellow Ravagers and told them about his noble sacrifice. In response, the Ravagers arrive on the scene to give Yondu a true ‘Ravager funeral’. This serves as a fitting callback to Yondu’s first scene earlier in the film when he gets into an argument with his former associate, Ravager leader Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone). It is in this conversation where it’s revealed that since the events of the first film, Yondu has been exiled from the Ravager community for breaking the Ravager Code by doing the one thing that they forbid, child trafficking. Of course, as we already know, this was the whole situation that he was in with Ego where he was initially unaware of what Ego was doing to the kids that he was bringing him. Regardless, Ogord tells Yondu that he’ll never receive a proper Ravager funeral. But at the end of the day, Yondu’s sacrifice ultimately proves to his fellow Ravagers that he never truly abandoned their ways. Honestly, what more can be said about this amazing scene? It features some of the most beautiful visuals in the entire film thanks to the Ravagers’ lavish fireworks display. And then, to top it all off, this scene is backed by arguably the most perfect song to coincide with these events, Cat Stevens’ ‘Father and Son’. It’s also worth noting that the song is played on the Zune player that Peter receives from Yondu’s most loyal subordinate, Kraglin (played by James Gunn’s brother Sean, who also served as the visual stand-in for Rocket on both Guardians films), after Ego had destroyed his beloved Walkman.

Earlier I had noted that I felt that this film was being given the same general treatment of films like Iron Man 3 and Avengers: Age of Ultron. In that instance, I was referring to the fact that these two MCU films have been generally regarded as inferior sequels even though they are arguably better than any of their predecessors. But with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, I do fully stand by what I’ve said about how this film is better than the original Guardians. Now, for those who have been following this blog for a while, you’ll know that since it first came out, Guardians of the Galaxy has been my personal favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe film. In other words, that means that I now have a new personal favorite MCU film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Now sure, maybe the film didn’t exactly capture the same ‘lightning in a bottle’ that made the original Guardians of the Galaxy the critical/commercial hit that it was back in 2014. But even if that was the case, Vol. 2 more than makes up for this by having a stronger plot that yields greater character development and greater emotional poignancy. And again, that’s not to say that the first Guardians of the Galaxy didn’t have any of this; it’s just that the sequel managed to pull off the incredibly difficult feat of being a superior follow-up to what was an equally outstanding first film. Ultimately, though, the high quality of these two films is a testament to the brilliant writing and direction from James Gunn. And because of this, the Guardians of the Galaxy films have been some of the most enjoyable outings of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not only that, but they have also succeeded in once again asserting Marvel Studios’ dominance in this current age of the superhero genre.

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And that, folks, brings us to the end of my annual ‘Top 12 Favorite Films of the Year’ list. As always, I’d like to thank you all for following along with me on this look back upon some of the greatest cinematic adventures of the past year as you’ve done with every previous year that I’ve done this annual retrospective. With that in mind, I’d like to make one quick announcement about the future of this site. If you’ve been following me on social media, you probably know that I recently got accepted to the Disney College Program. For those who don’t know what this is, the Disney College Program is a paid internship that gives its participants the chance to work at Disney’s theme parks. Right now, I’m currently in Orlando, Florida working at the Happiest Place on Earth, Walt Disney World. With that said, though, what does this mean for the future of Rhode Island Movie Corner? Well, I want to assure you folks that my current work situation will not result in me stepping away from this site and the world of film criticism. I promise that I will still try to publish as many reviews, editorials, and Top 10 lists as I possibly can. Admittedly there may be a decrease in published posts due to my work schedule, but regardless, I will continue to do what I’ve been doing on this site since it first started back in May 2012. So, until then, to quote the legendary Roger Ebert, “I’ll see you at the movies…”

…also, no, I’m not changing the name of this site to Florida Movie Corner. Not as catchy of a title, if you ask me…

Friday, January 26, 2018

TOP 12 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2017: #6-4

Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s big end-of-the-year list in which I count down my picks for my Top 12 Favorite Films of 2017. This is Part 3 of 4 and today we’re kicking off the second half of this list by looking at films #6-4. If you missed the first half of this list, click the following links below to be directed over to the previous two parts. But for now, it’s time to get back to the list…



(Also, quick disclaimer, if you’re not a fan of the superhero genre, you might want to skip this one as today’s post will be entirely devoted to superhero films…)

When it came to November’s big superhero-oriented releases, most people were mainly looking forward to Justice League. At the end of the day, though, who would’ve thought that the equivalent of a sci-fi buddy road trip comedy would end up being vastly superior to it?


Chris Hemsworth in Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Thor: Ragnarok is hands down the best Thor film to date; obviously, though, many will argue that this isn’t saying much. While the first Thor did manage to keep its title character from becoming a total joke in the eyes of most audiences, it’s not really brought up much nowadays when people talk about the best MCU films. And as for Thor: The Dark World… well, most people consider it to be the weakest installment of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thankfully, Ragnarok manages to avoid going down that road again by fully embracing the sillier aspects of its premise and setting. By comparison, the first two Thor films worked to maintain a balance between having their plots be set on both Earth and Thor’s home-world of Asgard. And while I personally didn’t mind the parts of the films that were set on Earth, the same can’t be said for other folks. Ragnarok, on the other hand, is set almost entirely off-Earth, resulting in the best use yet of its cosmic setting while also having the most consistent humor of any film in the Thor franchise. Yes, Thor: Ragnarok is full to the brim with the MCU’s trademark humor; this, however, has proven to be a rather controversial development amongst some fans for one main reason. In the comics, the concept of ‘Ragnarok’, AKA the destruction of Asgard, was treated in a generally serious manner. In contrast, Thor: Ragnarok is a lot more comedic-based. However, that doesn’t mean that this is all that the film has going for it.

Oh sure, the film has plenty of great humorous moments, so much so that I can literally do an entire Spoiler Post based solely on them. There’s the extended version of the Doctor Strange mid-credits scene, complete with Strange submitting Loki to the torture of having to fall non-stop through an alternate dimension (“I have been falling… FOR THIRTY MINUTES!”). There’s the scene where Thor tries to calm Hulk down by using Black Widow’s ‘Sun’s Getting Real Low’ routine from Age of Ultron… only to get smashed around a la Loki in the first Avengers, complete with Loki himself excitedly reacting to the fact that he’s not on the receiving end of that beatdown this time ("Yeah!! That's how it feels!!"). And, of course, there’s everything that involves the always hilarious Jeff Goldblum as the Grandmaster, ruler of the planet of Sakaar, including the film’s post-credits scene (“It’s a tie!”). But that doesn’t mean that the film doesn’t have any effective emotional moments, like the scene where Thor and Loki share one last moment with their father Odin before his death. But when it comes to the best emotional moment in the film, I’d say that honor goes to the scene between Thor and Loki in an elevator as they head to the Grandmaster’s ship hangar. When Loki remarks that he’s planning on staying on Sakaar, Thor agrees with his plan as he notes that he once thought the world of Loki and figured that they would be fighting side-by-side until Loki’s treacherous nature was truly revealed, a comment that Loki responds to in a hesitant manner. And while the scene does culminate in a funny gag in which Thor and Loki fool some guards with their ‘Get Help’ routine, this doesn’t take away from the feels that were on display in that elevator scene. And, really, who doesn’t find their ‘Get Help’ routine funny?

In all seriousness, though, when the film does tackle the subject of Ragnarok and the takeover of Asgard by Hela the Goddess of Death (a solid member of the MCU’s rogues’ gallery thanks in large part to Cate Blanchett’s excellent performance in the role), it does treat these narrative developments in a serious nature. In fact, the film isn’t even afraid to pull a few shocking punches here and there. As soon as she gets to Asgard, Hela kills off the Warriors 3 (sans Lady Sif because Jaimie Alexander was unable to return due to scheduling conflicts). During the final battle, Thor ends up losing his right eye a la Odin. But perhaps most notably is the simple fact that Ragnarok does, indeed, occur. Yes, the film doesn’t end on a cliched note by having Thor save Asgard from destruction. Following a vision that he has of Odin, Thor realizes that the heart of Asgard lies within its people and that the kingdom’s destruction is the only way of stopping Hela. Thus, he and his allies unleash the demonic creature Surtur who then swiftly proceeds to destroy Asgard. And sure, like the elevator scene, this moment also features a humorous joke in which Thor’s Kronan ally Korg (played by the film’s director, Taika Waititi) remarks that Asgard can be rebuilt if the foundations are still there… only to retract his statement when the kingdom is truly destroyed. At the same time, though, Waititi does deserve a lot of credit for pulling off such a ballsy move in the MCU. Plus, it’s hard not to appreciate all the little details that he put into the film as well, including a scene that straight-up parodies the infamous tunnel scene from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. In short, yes, Thor: Ragnarok is undeniably one of the most comedic entries in the MCU. But I must ask… why is that such a bad thing when it is handled so well here? Because thanks to some excellent action sequences and some of the best performances that Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo have had in the roles of Thor and Hulk, respectively, Thor: Ragnarok is a total blast from beginning to end.

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At the #5 spot, we have a very special entry in the superhero genre, as it served as the last hurrah for one of the genre’s greatest leads. Thankfully, this film managed to give him the finale that he deserved after 17 years in the role.

5. LOGAN

Logan (2017)

Ever since he was first cast in the role of Wolverine in the original film adaptation of X-Men back in 2000, Hugh Jackman has undeniably been one of the biggest standouts of the entire X-Men film franchise. He was so popular, in fact, that he ended up getting his own line of Wolverine spin-off films. However, the overall critical response to these spin-off films has been mixed at best. Despite all the hype surrounding it, many were ultimately disappointed at 2009’s X-Men Origins Wolverine for its unfocused narrative, mediocre effects, and its infamous handling of the character of Deadpool. 2013’s The Wolverine, based on the comics storyline in which Wolverine travels to Japan, fared a lot better by comparison but still wasn’t that big of a critical success. But thanks to the success of Deadpool, Jackman and The Wolverine director James Mangold were given the opportunity to give the character of Wolverine a proper send-off with Logan, which was announced as being Jackman’s final outing in his iconic role. And if there was one crucial thing that helped Jackman and Mangold in making this the best Wolverine film yet, it was the fact that they were able to make it an R-rated superhero film. Yes, after years of seeing Wolverine partake in primarily bloodless action sequences, this film allowed him to utilize his famous claws to their full potential, resulting in a full array of unabashedly gory action sequences. But just like the previously mentioned War for the Planet of the Apes, this film also boasts a poignant story full of well-layered characters that very much matches the quality of its action sequences.

Set in a future where most of the mutant community has been wiped out, the film sees an aging Wolverine embarking on a journey with Professor Charles Xavier, whose mental state has degraded considerably, to protect a young mutant girl named Laura from an evil corporation that has been using mutant DNA to create a group of young mutants to be used as warriors. Logan also learns that Laura was created specifically from his DNA, effectively making him her ‘father’; in other words, she is Wolverine’s famous clone from the comics, X-23. What follows is a journey that quite frankly puts them all through the emotional wringer. To call Logan and Xavier’s road to ruin in this film tragic would be an understatement, especially for the latter. In contrast to his calm and hopeful attitude from previous films, the Xavier in this film is a broken man who speaks in a cruder manner than we’ve ever seen before. Simply put, Patrick Stewart is as great as he’s always been in the role but, suffice it to say, it’s not an easy performance to watch either, especially once it’s revealed that his mental seizures, which causes him to lose control of his telepathic powers, ended up killing multiple members of the X-Men years prior. And Xavier’s death in the film is just as tragic, as he is unceremoniously killed at the hands at X-24, the violent clone of Wolverine who closely resembles his younger self. On that note, Hugh Jackman is also just as phenomenal as he’s always been as Wolverine. And in this film, he’s arguably at the best that he’s ever been in the role thanks to the excellent arc that the character goes through in which he once again finds something that’s worth fighting for. That something is the matter of protecting Laura and her fellow young mutants from the sinister corporation known as Transigen. Laura herself is easily the film’s biggest standout thanks to a terrific performance from newcomer Dafne Keen, and I think many will agree with me in saying that she’s poised to have a future in both this franchise and the film industry in general.

My only real complaint with this film is that the villains are a little mediocre. Now, admittedly, I don’t necessarily think this about X-24 or Transigen’s cybernetic head of security Donald Pierce. Jackman handles the dual role of Logan’s clone quite well as X-24 proves to be quite the intimidating threat. And Boyd Holbrook is perfectly fine as the enjoyably despicable Pierce, who constantly proves to be a thorn in Logan’s side throughout the entire film. Ultimately, when I say that this film’s villains are mediocre, I’m mainly referring to the character of Zander Rice, the head scientist behind Transigen’s mutant experiments. There is some backstory established for the character in which it’s revealed that Logan had killed his father during his escape from the Weapon X facility at Alkali Lake (as previously seen in X-Men: Apocalypse). But in this film, he shows up briefly in the finale to talk to Logan… who promptly kills him not long after. I also think that this slow-moving, near two-and-a-half-hour film maybe loses a bit of steam near the end, but that doesn’t mean that I think that it drags at any point. Because at the end of it all, this film concludes on one of the genre’s greatest emotional moments. After Logan and Laura manage to defeat X-24, who ends up impaling Logan on a tree branch, Logan finally succumbs to his wounds right when Laura acknowledges him as ‘Daddy’. This is then followed by her and her fellow young mutants giving him a proper burial, which culminates in her moving the cross at his grave on its side so that it looks like an ‘X’. And thus, the most famous X-Man of all ends his run in the franchise in the best way possible. With that said, on behalf of my fellow superhero film fanatics, I’d like to thank Hugh Jackman for everything that he has done with this character.

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Now I realize that there have been quite a few instances in these past few posts where I’ve heavily bashed the weak link of the superhero genre’s 2017 film slate, Justice League. Fear not, though, DCEU fans, as your franchise’s other big 2017 release, which is hands down its greatest installment to date, ends up taking a prime spot on this list.

I cannot stress it enough how big of a success that Wonder Woman truly was for everyone who was involved with it. For starters, it was the DCEU’s most critically acclaimed outing to date and rightfully so. Even as someone who does like Man of Steel and both cuts of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (yes, even the theatrical cut…), it’s hard to deny that Wonder Woman manages to avoid quite a few of those films’ shortcomings to produce the franchise’s most high-spirited installment yet. Of course, this film serves as the long-awaited solo outing for DC’s iconic heroine following her cameo appearance in Batman v Superman while also being the first major female-led superhero film of the genre’s modern era (i.e. circa 2008). And thanks to the wonderful direction from Patty Jenkins, the film is an excellent representation of its title character. Unlike the dark and serious tone of previous DCEU films, Wonder Woman maintains a more light-hearted tone throughout with a lot more humorous dialogue, which mainly stems from the various ways in which Diana responds to things in the real world (e.g. a newborn baby and ice cream, just to name a few). The action sequences are excellent, highlighted by what is easily one of the best scenes in the entire film in which Diana traverses through ‘No Man’s Land’ to take on the German forces in a small village known as Veld. But at its core, the film also has a great heart to it all, and this is mainly thanks to Gal Gadot’s fantastic performance in the role of the titular Amazonian warrior princess from the hidden island of Themyscira.

Now, of course, as many of us know, when Gadot was first cast in the role of Wonder Woman for BvS, she was subjected to the typical backlash that any major superhero film casting gets from fans of the comics. In her case, it was mainly for two reasons. First, some felt that she wasn’t the best pick for the role performance-wise given that, at the time of her casting, she was mainly known for her supporting role as Gisele in the Fast and Furious franchise and not much else. The other reason was, unfortunately, a more sexist one as there were a few jerks out there who were critical of Gadot’s physical appearance in relation to how the character traditionally looks in the comments. Heck, some people even insulted Gadot’s brief tenure in her native country of Israel’s military. As for me, though, there was one moment where I became fully convinced that she was the perfect choice for the role, and it wasn’t even an onscreen moment. Instead, it was when I attended a panel that she appeared at during the 2016 Rhode Island Comic-Con. In the span of a half-hour, I could see that she perfectly conveyed the charisma and all-around warmth that have always been defining traits of the character in the comics. And while Gadot was already one of the biggest standouts of Batman v Superman, it was ultimately through her own solo film where she was truly given the chance to shine. This is mainly thanks to the terrific arc that Diana has in the film where, after initially being unaware of what life is like outside of Themyscira, she ends up bearing witness to the darker side of humanity when she is forced to deal with the pressing matter that is World War I.

She’s backed by an equally excellent supporting cast headlined by Chris Pine as Diana’s love interest, pilot Steve Trevor. Thankfully, the film manages to avoid having Steve overshadow Diana in her own film (something that was apparently the case with a prior Wonder Woman screenplay written by Joss Whedon, which is all that I’m going to say about that, for the record, as that one never got made) while still making him her equal in terms of his role in the plot. This remains consistent throughout the entire film all the way up to his heroic sacrifice during the final battle when he detonates a plane full of poison gas at a safe altitude. And despite Diana’s initial despair over these turn of events, it ultimately ends up being the nobility of Steve’s actions that manages to convince her that, contrary to what it may seem, there is still a sense of good left in humanity. The two of them are, in turn, joined by an equally memorable group of allies in their band of specialists consisting of Said Taghmaoui as the fast-talking spy Sameer, Ewen Bremmer as the shell-shocked sharpshooter Charlie, and Eugene Brave Rock as the stoic smuggler Chief. As for Diana’s allies from her home in Themyscira, Connie Nielsen is excellent as Diana’s mother, Queen Hippolyta. While her role in the film is arguably rather brief, as she doesn’t appear again after Diana and Steve leave for Europe, she does a great job as the noble ruler of Themyscira who desperately tries to keep her daughter from learning the truth about the outside world and her ultimate purpose in it. The same goes for Robin Wright as Diana’s aunt, General Antiope, who trains her to become an Amazonian warrior. Again, it’s a relatively small role in a larger film, but Wright leaves such a great impression in her brief amount of screen-time, so much so that the scene where she is killed by a German soldier to shield Diana from an oncoming bullet is genuinely one of the best emotional moments in the film.

Like Logan, though, this film’s weakest links are its villains; though, again, I wouldn’t go as far as to call them ‘terrible’. First off, there’s Danny Huston as the brutish German general Ludendorff who orchestrates a scheme to keep the war going at a time when it’s on the brink of conclusion. Huston’s fine in the role but said role is basically just a straight-forward bait-and-switch antagonist for Diana to take down. Elena Anaya gets a bit more interesting material to work with as Ludendorff’s enigmatic chemist, Dr. Isabel Maru AKA Doctor Poison, who develops a deadlier form of mustard gas capable of causing even more death and destruction in the war. Unfortunately, she’s somewhat waylaid by the character’s limited screen-time. Finally, there’s the main villain of the film, Ares the God of War. Initially assumed to be dead following an encounter with Zeus, as explained via backstory that Hippolyta tells Diana when she’s a child, he is later revealed to be alive having taken the identity of Sir Patrick Morgan (David Thewlis), one of Diana and Steve’s diplomatic allies in Europe. To the film’s credit, the big twist surrounding the reveal of Ares’ identity is handled decently, namely given the fact that Diana was initially led to believe that Ludendorff was Ares and that killing him would immediately end the war, only to discover that this wasn’t the case. Ultimately, though, the final fight between Diana and Ares boils down to a rather simplistic visual-heavy battle. Despite this, though, Wonder Woman was an undisputed delight that ended up giving the DCEU its best film to date. I’m serious, DCEU fans, you really should be grateful for everything that this film did right as it’s quite arguably the only genuinely successful film that the franchise has had at this point.

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And that’s the end of Part 3 of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s annual ‘Favorite Films of the Year’ list. Thanks for following along and be sure to check back tomorrow for this list’s big finale, where I’ll be listing my Top 3 Favorite Films from this past year. What film will end up taking the #1 spot? Stay tuned…

Thursday, January 25, 2018

TOP 12 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2017: #9-7

Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s big end-of-the-year list in which I count down my picks for my Top 12 Favorite Films of 2017. This is Part 2 of 4 and today we’ll be looking at films #9-7. If you missed Part 1 of this list, in which I listed my 6 Honorable Mentions and films #12-10, click the link below to check it out first. But for now, it’s time to get back to the list…
Last year, the charming original musical La La Land, which featured songs from the songwriting duo of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, landed at the #4 spot in my ‘Favorite Films of 2016’ list. And what do we have here at my #9 spot on this year’s list? Why we have a charming original musical that features songs from the songwriting duo of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Quite fitting, don’t you think?


The Greatest Showman (2017)

Now, like the quick review that I did for this film a few weeks back, I feel that I must start this section off by addressing the big elephant in the room that is the film’s portrayal of its main protagonist, P.T. Barnum. The Greatest Showman is inspired by the origin story of the iconic Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus, which ironically closed for good this past May. But while the film portrays Barnum as an affable family man who was just trying to make it in life, many have noted that he wasn’t exactly as endearing in real life as he is in the film. As many have pointed out, P.T. Barnum was an incredibly cut-throat businessman who exploited the people who performed in his circus for money. As such, it’s understandable if some may feel that the film’s messages of accepting one’s self and celebrating the best parts of humanity to be disingenuous given that Barnum wasn’t exactly one to follow these ideals in real life. However, I don’t think that this hurts the film as much as some may claim. After all, films that are ‘based on true stories’ usually aren’t 100% accurate about the real-life events that they’re focusing on. Just look at films like The Social Network, which delved into the origins of the popular social media network Facebook yet portrayed its creator Mark Zuckerberg as a socially awkward figure who was overly judgmental of others. Basically, what I’m trying to say here is that it’s rare to see a ‘true story’ film be an entirely accurate rendition of real events, which is why I’m genuinely puzzled as to why this film was put under so much scrutiny for the artistic licenses that it took.

When it comes to being exactly what it’s intended to be, a musical, The Greatest Showman fully succeeds at being one thanks to a strong visual style and excellently choreographed musical numbers. And it’s all bolstered by an excellent ensemble cast highlighted by Hugh Jackman in the role of P.T. Barnum. Despite what I said earlier about how the film portrays him in a radically different light, Jackman is charismatic as always as he perfectly conveys Barnum’s showman skills that were noted in an interview as being reminiscent of former Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ showmanship. Jackman also has excellent chemistry with Michelle Williams, who plays Barnum’s loving wife Charity, and while that basically sums up her role in the film in a nutshell, like all her other onscreen performances Williams handles it greatly for what is basically her first major role in an onscreen musical. Another big standout is Zac Efron, who plays a playwright named Phillip Carlyle who becomes Barnum’s main business partner (in other words, he’s meant to represent Barnum’s real-life business partner, James Anthony Bailey). He too is incredibly charismatic while also having solid chemistry with Zendaya, who plays a trapeze artist named Anne Wheeler who he falls in love with. And when it comes to the film’s biggest standout, look no further than Broadway veteran Keala Settle as ‘the Bearded Lady’, who headlines the film’s main song ‘This is Me’. On that note, this film’s biggest strength is its soundtrack. Alongside ‘This is Me’, whose sequence in the film is an undisputed highlight, other standout tunes include ‘The Other Side’, performed by Jackman and Efron during the scene where Barnum tries to convince Carlyle to join the circus, and the film’s show-stopping opening/closing number, ‘The Greatest Show’. Because of all this, The Greatest Showman is easily shaping up to be one of the most underrated films of this past year. Sure, it may not exactly be historically accurate, but if you’re just looking for an entertaining musical that both kids and adults can enjoy, then I’m sure that you’ll be more than satisfied with this film.

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To be perfectly blunt, 2017 was not that good of a year for the animation genre. While there were solid hits like Captain Underpants and Cars 3, there were also some major stinkers like The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature and, of course, The Emoji Movie. Thus, leave it to old reliable, Pixar, to give us what is easily the best animated film of the year.

8. COCO

Coco (2017)

Coco served as the latest directorial outing for longtime Pixar filmmaker Lee Unkrich. Having been involved with Pixar ever since they started making feature films, Unkrich first got his start as one of their primary editors before being promoted to the position of co-director on films like Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., and Finding Nemo. He was finally promoted to the role of the main director on Pixar’s big critical/commercial sensation Toy Story 3, one of only three animated films that got nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. And for his latest film, Coco, Unkrich takes us on a journey that is inspired by the most famous Mexican holiday of all-time, Día de Muertos AKA the Day of the Dead. However, there was some initial skepticism amongst those who were fearful about Pixar’s handling of such an important aspect of Mexican culture, especially after Pixar’s parent company Disney tried to acquire the trademark for the phrase ‘Día de Los Muertos’. Thankfully, these fears were ultimately proven unfounded, as Coco treats its subject matter with the respect that it deserves. Of course, like any great Pixar film, Coco boasts gorgeous animation that brings the world of the Land of the Dead to life in so many great ways. The film also features a great ensemble cast of characters headlined by the likable main protagonist Miguel and the charismatic Land of the Dead trickster Hector. Newcomer Anthony Gonzalez and Gael Garcia Bernal are both excellent in their respective roles while also being backed by a solid supporting cast that includes Benjamin Bratt as famous musician Ernesto de la Cruz and Alanna Ubach as Miguel’s stern but caring great-great grandmother Imelda.

But, of course, also like any great Pixar film, Coco is bolstered by an emotionally poignant story that is tied to the most important aspect of the Día de Muertos ceremonies, the importance of family. The bulk of the film’s plot revolves around Miguel trying to prove to his family that he’s meant to be a musician despite his family’s decades-long ban on music after his great-great-grandfather left to pursue a career in music. Miguel is then led to believe that his great-great-grandfather is none other than the legendary Ernesto de la Cruz, which eventually leads to him traveling to the Land of the Dead in the hopes of finding his idol to help prove his family wrong. However, Miguel soon learns that his idol is not who he’s cracked up to be (a plot twist that ironically ended up mirroring real life after Pixar CEO John Lasseter became tied to the ‘Weinstein effect’ epidemic) and that Hector is his real great-great-grandfather. And while Miguel has spent much of the film trying to distance himself from his music-hating family, they end up becoming vital to his efforts of exposing de la Cruz’s secrets, namely how he poisoned Hector, the real creative force behind his music, when the latter tried to return to his family. This, of course, then leads to the biggest emotional moment in the film in which Miguel saves Hector from being forgotten in the Land of the Living by singing ‘Remember Me’, a song that Hector had written for his daughter, to his great-grandmother Coco. Though I must add that Hector’s own performance of the song to the infant Coco in a flashback prior to the moment when he left to pursue his career in music is another great emotional moment as well. Bottom line, Coco is an effectively emotional film, making it one of the purest examples of why Pixar has continued to be one of the most dominant animation studios in the entire industry.

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Over the past few years, we’ve been treated to one of the most surprisingly effective franchise revivals thanks to the return of a long-running sci-fi franchise, which continued this year with another emotionally powerful blockbuster.


Andy Serkis and Amiah Miller in War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes was easily one of the most surprisingly good releases of that year. Featuring new advancements in the art of performance-capture visual effects and a terrific performance from mo-cap king Andy Serkis in the role of the intelligent ape Caesar, the film was a solid critical/commercial hit and was lauded for its emotional depth. This was then followed by a superior sequel in 2014’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, where director Matt Reeves managed to up the emotional depth of Rise to even greater levels, resulting in a film where the story and characters were just as well-handled as its amazing visual effects. Sure enough, this hot streak for the franchise managed to continue with the third entry in the reboot series, War for the Planet of the Apes. Reeves returns as director and once again does a phenomenal job of balancing the impressive visuals with an emotionally-charged plot and well-layered characters. For one thing, War is arguably the darkest entry in the series to date, as it involves Caesar embarking on a quest for revenge against a vicious colonel and his military faction Alpha-Omega after the former kills his wife Cornelia and his older son Blue Eyes. Along the way, Caesar is also haunted by the events of Dawn, namely the fact that he was forced to kill his traitorous former ally Koba who returns in this film via a series of hallucinations. But while the film certainly maintains a grim tone throughout, there are some elements in it that help to lighten the mood at the right times, namely Steve Zahn’s ‘Bad Ape’ who gets a lot of the best humorous moments in the film (e.g. when he’s looking through a pair of binoculars the wrong way (“Oh no! Why so Small?”))

One of the best aspects of Dawn was how there was a good balance in terms of character development for both the human and ape characters. This was best reflected in Gary Oldman’s character Dreyfus who, despite serving as an ‘enemy’ of the apes, wasn’t necessarily an antagonistic figure. And while Woody Harrelson’s Colonel is by no means a ‘sympathetic’ character, War does continue the franchise’s recent trend of making its main human characters just as well-layered as the apes. Harrelson does a phenomenal job as the film’s main antagonist, who is so relentless in his efforts to wipe out the apes that he even executes his own men when they became infected with a mutated strain of the Simian Flu that started this whole conflict in the first place. This brings us to the other big human character in the film, a mute young girl (Amiah Miller) who was affected by the Simian Flu. She ends up becoming a friend of the Apes and is later named ‘Nova’ by her new ‘guardian’, Caesar’s loyal adviser Maurice. And yes, fans of the franchise will no doubt recognize that name as she is the younger self of Linda Harrison’s character from the original Planet of the Apes. But, of course, at the end of the day, War for the Planet of the Apes’ main purpose is to serve as a perfect conclusion to the arc of Caesar. After managing to save his fellow Apes from Alpha-Omega, Caesar dies peacefully from the injuries that he sustained during the battle after Maurice assures him that his son Cornelius “will know who was father”. With that in mind, I’m curious as to how this series may potentially continue after this. Could we possibly end up getting a new take on the original Planet of the Apes story in which an astronaut returns to Earth unaware that it has been taken over by apes? This plot-thread was potentially established in Rise, after all, and despite Caesar’s death in this film, there’s a possibility for Serkis to return for this supposed fourth film albeit in a different role (e.g. a fully grown-up Cornelius). Ultimately, though, if this truly is the last installment of the reboot series, then at the very least it went out on the best note possible.

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And that’s the end of Part 2 of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s annual ‘Favorite Films of the Year’ list. Thanks for following along and be sure to check back in tomorrow for Part 3, in which I’ll be listing films #6-4.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

TOP 12 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2017: #12-10 + Honorable Mentions


Overall, I’d describe 2017 as a great year for film… and a terrible year for the film industry. And in terms of the latter, you all know exactly what I’m talking about. Early this past October, several sexual harassment and assault allegations were levied against longtime producer Harvey Weinstein. Like clockwork, this then led to other allegations against some of the biggest names in the industry, including Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K., and even Disney/Pixar mainstay John Lasseter just to name a few (emphasis on ‘just to name a few’). Now, as many of you know, I usually try to avoid delving into political discussions on this site… but, in this instance, the ‘Weinstein effect’ is such an unavoidable topic at this point that I feel that I at least have to say something about it. With that said, I’ll say this. At the very least, it’s clear that the film industry has begun to take major steps in fighting back against the sexual predators that have been a part of their community for years (e.g. when Ridley Scott removed Kevin Spacey from All the Money in the World, replacing him with Christopher Plummer). And while there are undeniably still a lot of ‘Harvey Weinstein’ types out there, there are also quite a lot of good people in the industry who are doing all that they can to get rid of the industry’s scum. In short, to quote a line from this year’s historical drama Detroit, ‘change is coming’; and to quote a widespread online hashtag, #TimesUp. With all that out of the way, it’s time to delve into my annual list in which I count down my picks for my Top 12 Favorite Films from this past year in film. For those who are new to this site, the main reason why I do a Top 12 instead of the more traditional Top 10 is so that I can honor even more of the many great films that I’ve seen over the last 12 months.

Before I begin, though, I must lay down my usual ground-rules for the following 4 posts. First off, I will warn you all ahead of time that these posts will be heavy on the spoilers. If you have not seen any of the films that will be appearing on this list, please refer to the non-spoiler reviews that I have made for them as I will be addressing some of their most critical moments in these posts. Said reviews will be provided via a series of web links that can be found at the start of each pick. The second thing to note about this list is that, like every year, I haven’t had the time to see every major film that had come out in 2017. Believe me, if I did have the time, then I would most surely try to see as many films as I possibly can before working on this list. However, that’s just not feasible at this point; thus, if you end up wondering why films like Get Out, Lady Bird, and The Big Sick aren’t on this list, this is the reason why. And this brings me to another point that I’ve unfortunately had to implement as one of my ground-rules in recent years. I want to make things perfectly clear; this list will be almost entirely dominated by films that fall into the category of big-budget, VFX-heavy blockbusters. I recognize that this will probably not sit very well with those who prefer films that come out of the independent market; however, that’s just how I roll right now. In fact, I’d argue that a lot of the films that will be appearing on this list (several of whom are remakes, sequels, reboots, etc.) are more than capable of standing toe to toe with whatever gets nominated for this year’s Best Picture category at the Oscars. And really, just because a film is ‘original’ or ‘independently made’ does not automatically make it ‘good’ (don’t make me have to bring up Mother again).

Finally, as always, there’s the most important ground-rule of all; please, please, PLEASE be respectful of other people’s opinions when it comes to discussing your favorite films of the year. I say this especially considering some of the unpleasant incidents that the film fan community has been involved in this past year (heck, I might even address some of them in this list). At the end of the day, we all need to remember that film is a subjective medium. In other words, not everyone is going to like the same thing; that’s why I don’t get too worked up about whatever film wins at all the big awards shows or the always controversial award season ‘snubs’. You can’t please everybody. With that in mind, I’m well-aware that not everyone reading these posts will be a fan of some of the films that will be appearing on this list. That is why I always refer to it as my ‘Favorite Films of the Year list’ instead of the more definitive-sounding ‘Best Films of the Year list’, so if there’s a film on this list that you weren’t a fan of, that’s totally fine. All the power to you, my friend. Just don’t be a jackass about it and harshly berate those who have a different opinion than yours. Trust me, I’ve been subjected to comments along the lines of ‘your opinion doesn’t matter’ quite a few times in the past and, simply put, it’s not fun. And now, with that long intro out of the way, I present you with my Top 12 Favorite Films of 2017. This is Part 1 of 4 and today we’ll be looking at picks #12-10.

But first, as always, let’s start with my Honorable Mentions. This year, I have 6 to name…

DUNKIRK

Fionn Whitehead in Dunkirk (2017)

Some of you may be surprised to find that Christopher Nolan’s latest directorial effort did not crack the Top 12. After all, I have gone on record stating that Nolan is one of my favorite directors working today; as such, his films usually end up ranking high on these end-of-the-year lists for me. Case in point, his last film Interstellar was originally one of the two films that were tied for my favorite film of 2014… before I accepted the fact that I had pulled a major cop-out that year and then proceeded to put it back to the #2 spot. But as for Dunkirk, while I did like it, I’ll admit that it just wasn’t one of my absolute favorites from this past year. Still, Nolan’s take on the real-life evacuations that had occurred from upon the beaches of the titular Dunkirk, France during World War II is a well-crafted wartime thriller. While there was some initial skepticism over the fact that Nolan decided to limit the war action to a non-graphic PG-13 rating, he more than makes up for this with some of the most tension-filled action sequences of the year. And like any Nolan film, these sequences were done with practical effects and shot on film instead of digital, resulting in some amazing cinematography that makes this film quintessential viewing on the big screen. After all, if there’s one thing that Nolan has very much become known for these past few years, it’s his concentrated efforts to keep the art of theater-going alive with films that are best seen on the biggest screens around. Sure enough, like Interstellar, Dunkirk was an undisputed must-see in IMAX screened on 70 mm film.

THE DISASTER ARTIST

James Franco, Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, and Dave Franco in The Disaster Artist (2017)

Many on the internet are familiar with the infamous 2003 flick The Room. Since its initial release, writer/director Tommy Wiseau’s bizarrely incoherent drama has gone on to become one of the most popular ‘so bad, it’s good’ films of all-time. And now, thanks to The Disaster Artist, based on the autobiography of the same name of Wiseau’s co-star Greg Sestero, we get to witness some of the madness that went into its production. James Franco not only directs the film but stars in it as well as the one and only Tommy Wiseau. And all in all, he does an excellent job in both roles, giving the film solid pacing and a consistent tone throughout while also perfectly capturing all aspects of Wiseau’s eccentric personality. This is paired nicely with Franco’s brother Dave and Seth Rogen’s equally excellent performances as Sestero and The Room’s script supervisor (and ‘alleged real director’) Sandy Schklair, respectively, both of whom serve as the straight men to Tommy’s antics. Ultimately, though, this film is a lot like Tim Burton’s 1994 biopic on another infamous filmmaker, Ed Wood. In other words, while the film fully acknowledges the fact that Tommy Wiseau is a bizarre individual who often acted in a tyrannical manner while directing The Room, it also sympathizes with him through his and Sestero’s journey of just trying to make it big in the film industry. Because of this, while The Room is still considered by many as one of the worst films of all-time (though in its case, that’s not entirely a bad thing), The Disaster Artist is a far different story.

BATTLE OF THE SEXES

Elisabeth Shue, Bill Pullman, Alan Cumming, Steve Carell, Sarah Silverman, Emma Stone, and Andrea Riseborough in Battle of the Sexes (2017)

This film’s title says it all as it focuses on the iconic exhibition tennis match that it’s named after between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. King’s victory in the 1973 match proved to be a landmark moment in the sport as it paved the way for female tennis players gaining greater respect in what was, at the time, a heavily male-dominated sport. Sure enough, co-directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’ film explores the build-up to the event and how King worked tirelessly to fight for equal pay amongst her and her fellow players. This includes everything from the women-only tennis tournament established by her and reporter Gladys Heldman to the moment where she eventually has to accept Riggs’ offer to play him when one of her big rivals loses to him in an embarrassing blowout. Through it all, King proves to be an endearing protagonist who goes through quite a lot on an emotional level, namely when she begins to have an affair with her hairdresser Marilyn that ends up affecting her marriage to Larry King (For the record, not ‘that’ Larry King). Because of all of this, you find yourself fully rooting for her when she finally ends up competing against Riggs in the big ‘Battle of the Sexes’ exhibition match. And, of course, a lot of this is thanks to Emma Stone’s phenomenal performance as Billie Jean, though she’s also backed by an excellent supporting cast that includes Steve Carell as Riggs, Andrea Riseborough as Marilyn, and Alan Cumming as King’s fashion designer/friend Ted Tinling just to name a few. In short, Battle of the Sexes is quite a unique entry in the sports film genre as the main sport that it focuses on, tennis, is ultimately not its biggest focus; instead, it’s more about Billie Jean King and the impact that she left on the sport. And what an impact it was.

CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS: THE FIRST EPIC MOVIE

Ed Helms in Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017)

To answer your first question, yes, a film titled Captain Underpants is one of my favorite films of 2017. Like many others of my generation, I grew up reading author Dav Pilkey’s popular series of books about an elementary school principal who’s hypnotized into thinking that he is an underwear-themed superhero. Despite their admittedly juvenile sense of humor, the books featured fun characters mixed with clever writing that almost always broke the fourth wall. And even though the book series technically ended back in 2015, you may be surprised to find that its first film adaptation, courtesy of DreamWorks, is one of the most faithful film adaptations of any source material in recent years. While technically a combination of the plots of books 1 and 4 with the origin stories of the former and the main antagonist of the latter, writer Nicholas Stoller perfectly captures the spirit of the books right down to the implementation of the series’ most popular running gags. This includes everything from the read-throughs of main protagonists George Beard and Harold Hutchins’ homemade comics to, of course, Flip-O-Rama, the moments from the books where readers were encouraged to flip a pair of pages back and forth to simulate ‘extremely violent’ action sequences. Don’t even get me started on how excited I was when that scene popped up. But amidst all the toilet humor (figuratively and literally seeing how there are sentient toilets in this), the film also manages to capture the charm and heart of the books through the perfect representation of one of the franchise’s key elements, the friendship of George and Harold. Both Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch are fantastic in their respective roles as are Ed Helms in the dual role of Mr. Krupp/Captain Underpants and Nick Kroll as the film’s main antagonist Professor Poopypants (and yes, that’s his name…). Thus, to make a long story short (yes, that’s a reference to the books…), watching Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie truly made me feel like a kid again. TRA LA LAAAAAA!!!

P.S. I was also glad to hear that there’ll be a Netflix series coming out sometime later this year that will continue the wacky adventures of our lovable main protagonists.

BABY DRIVER

Ansel Elgort in Baby Driver (2017)

After enduring the whole debacle that arose from his involvement and ultimate departure from Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man, Edgar Wright was finally able to return to doing what he does best this year with his latest big-screen masterpiece, Baby Driver. Partially inspired by a music video that he directed for the band Mint Royale in 2003, the film is a high-octane crime thriller that boasts some fantastic car chases. Said car chases and all other subsequent action sequences are set perfectly to an equally outstanding soundtrack that rivals the Awesome Mixes from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise as one of the best film soundtracks in recent years. Now, admittedly, the film’s plot, in which a good-natured young man who’s forced into being a getaway driver for a crime boss tries to get out of ‘the business’, is arguably one of the more straight-forward plots to come out of one of Wright’s films. Despite this, however, it all works out in the end thanks to Wright’s excellent direction, as he manages to craft some effectively suspenseful moments in the film’s second half despite what I just said about the plot being a tad bit predictable. Plus, the film boasts an excellent ensemble cast highlighted by Ansel Elgort as the charismatic protagonist Baby, Jon Hamm and newcomer Eiza Gonzalez as the wild couple of Buddy and Darling, and Jamie Foxx as the volatile Bats. All in all, Baby Driver was another welcome addition to Edgar Wright’s prestigious filmography and it ended up becoming his most commercially successful directorial outing to date, which I’d argue is a nice reward for him after everything that happened with Ant-Man.

KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE

Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Mark Strong, Channing Tatum, and Taron Egerton in Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

This film serves as a prime example of why I don’t take Rotten Tomatoes’ ratings that seriously. I mean, really, this film opens with an epic car chase set to Prince’s ‘Let’s Go Crazy’, concludes with an epic final shootout set to Elton John’s ‘Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting’, and features the Rocket Man himself in an admittedly absurd but still all-around awesome cameo… and yet it only maintains a 51% rating on RT whereas something like Mother has a 69% rating? In all seriousness, I will admit that this year’s follow-up to director Matthew Vaughn’s 2015 outing Kingsman: The Secret Service is far from perfect. Sure, maybe the film is a bit overlong with a near two-and-a-half-hour runtime. And sure, maybe some of the new characters that are introduced in this film don’t get as much material to work with as they should (e.g. despite his prominent appearance in the marketing, Channing Tatum’s Agent Tequila is basically just a ‘cameo appearance’). Still, this film proves to be just as entertaining as its predecessor thanks to A.) its awesomely over-the-top action sequences and B.) the franchise’s phenomenal lead trio of Taron Egerton as Eggsy, Colin Firth as Harry Hart, and Mark Strong as Merlin. After his breakout turn in the previous film, Egerton has transitioned perfectly to the role of ‘leading man’ while Firth gets some excellent material to work with thanks to Harry’s ‘resurrection’ arc. And finally, Mark Strong is still just as big of a standout as always as Kingsman tech guru Merlin, who goes out on the most epic of notes with an emotionally stirring sacrifice set to John Denver’s ‘Country Roads, Take Me Home’. In conclusion, I’ll admit that my high praise for this film may have been partially influenced by the fact that it was the first new film that I saw after the torturous experience that I had while watching Mother; still, as a fan of the first Kingsman, I was more than satisfied with its equally entertaining follow-up despite its shortcomings.

And now we move onto this year’s Top 12, which starts off with a first for this annual list of mine… a horror film. As I’ve made it clear in the past, I’m not that big a fan of the horror genre. This explains why a lot of recent horror films usually end up on my ‘Worst of the Year’ lists (e.g. my #3 worst from this past year, Rings), which also means that it would take quite a lot for a film like this to crack my Top 12. And with this next film, that is exactly what happened…

12. IT

Bill Skarsgård and Jackson Robert Scott in It (2017)

This year’s big film adaptation of Stephen King’s 1986 novel It was the second major adaptation of its source material following a two-part miniseries that aired on ABC in 1990. In preparation for the new film, I watched and reviewed the miniseries for this site. In that review, I noted that while I didn’t think that the miniseries was ‘terrible’, it also hasn’t aged that well. Really, the only notable thing about it nowadays is Tim Curry’s standout performance as the main antagonist, Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Suffice it to say, the film version of It is a far superior take on its source material. Because it only focuses on the first half of the story, it’s allowed to take its time when it comes to properly developing its main characters. And whereas the miniseries had to tone down some of the darkest elements of the novel to be suitable to air on national television, the film fully embraces its R rating to showcase some of the most disturbing moments from King’s novel. Granted, not every major sequence from the novel occurs in the film, most notably the infamous scene in which the seven kids partake in a massive orgy (and no, I’m not kidding about that one; quite frankly, I think many of us can agree that it was a good thing that this part was taken out), but the dark and foreboding atmosphere is still strong throughout. This, of course, is thanks in large part to Bill Skarsgard’s excellent turn in the role of Pennywise. Now, to be fair, I understand why some may still find Tim Curry’s take on Pennywise to be better given how Skarsgard isn’t given a lot of opportunities for comedy, which some feel is a vital part of being a clown. Still, in the context of this film, the darker take on the character works quite well as Skarsgard very much succeeds in giving off an unsettling vibe whenever he’s on-screen. In a lot of ways, it’s very similar to Heath Ledger’s iconic take on the Joker from The Dark Knight, which focused more on the character’s psychotic personality than his affinity for dark humor.

The real highlight of the film, however, is its group of main leads AKA the seven kids from the town of Derry, Maine who band together to form ‘the Losers’ Club’. For a cast that was made up of mostly newcomers, these seven young leads are all fantastic in their respective roles. Sure, the film does tend to focus on some of them more than others, namely Bill given what happens to his brother Georgie and Beverly, the lone girl of the group who deals with A.) being deemed a ‘slut’ at school and B.) her abusive father. Still, each of the kids does get their moment to shine in the film; more importantly, though, is the fact that you become fully endeared to them as the film goes on. Without this, you wouldn’t go ‘aww…’ at the moment when Ben saves Beverly by kissing her and she reveals to him that she knows that he was the one who wrote her a romantic poem. And you wouldn’t tear up at the part where, after the gang defeats Pennywise, Bill finds Georgie’s yellow raincoat, resulting in him finally coming to terms with his brother’s death at the hands of the demonic clown. And this, to me, is why this film works so well in contrast to other recent horror films. Oh sure, it does have some great horror moments, like the scene where Pennywise emerges from a projector to attack the kids (I won’t lie, I audibly yelled ‘Holy S***!’ in the theater when that happened; it’s THAT effective of a scene). But when it comes to some of the biggest flaws of a lot of modern horror films, easily one of the biggest comes in the form of stock, cliched characters who are just there to be killed by the bad guy. That’s not the case here, though, as you do care about these kids and root for them to succeed against Pennywise. Because of this, It is much more than just a ‘horror’ film; it’s a tale of friendship, young love, and overcoming one’s fears…that just so happens to involve a kid-eating clown. Thus, you don’t have to be a fan of the horror genre to appreciate how truly well-made of a film that this is.

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One of the most famous films of all-time ended up getting a sequel this year. And despite having to follow in the footsteps of a landmark entry in the science-fiction genre, this next film more than managed to live up to the hefty expectations that were laid upon it.


Harrison Ford, Jared Leto, Ryan Gosling, and Ana de Armas in Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

I’ll openly admit that this past year was the first time that I watched Ridley Scott’s seminal 1982 classic, Blade Runner. Obviously, I made sure to check it out first before seeing its long-awaited sequel, Blade Runner 2049. And after watching the ‘Final Cut’ of the film, mainly because this was the one cut out of all of Blade Runner’s infamous various edits that Scott himself was the most involved in developing, I must say that I do agree with the consensus that it’s one of the best sci-fi films of all-time. This, of course, means that there was quite a lot of pressure put on the sequel to be just as successful, especially considering that it had been in the works for years. Thankfully, Arrival director Denis Villeneuve manages to live up to these lofty expectations, for the most part, with a highly engaging follow-up that respects its predecessor while also doing its own thing at the same time. In terms of the former, that primarily comes via the efforts to replicate the original’s classic visual style. While there have been quite a lot of advancements in the art of visual effects since the original Blade Runner came out, Villeneuve very much succeeds in recapturing the mesmerizing aura of the franchise’s iconic dystopian future setting. Because of this, Blade Runner 2049 is easily one of the best-looking films of the year thanks in large part to the amazing cinematography from the legendary Roger Deakins. From the impressive wide shots to the film’s rich and vibrant color palette, 2049 boasts plenty of great frame-worthy imagery. And it’s all backed, in turn, by a terrific score from the equally legendary Hans Zimmer and Zimmer protégé Benjamin Wallfisch (who also did the music for It).

As for the plot, it’s an effectively natural follow-up to the original as it sees new main protagonist K (Ryan Gosling) investigating a seemingly impossible development; a female Replicant who gave birth. This then leads to him crossing paths with the child’s father, who is none other than the original film’s main protagonist, ex-Blade Runner Rick Deckard, meaning that the pregnant Replicant was Deckard’s love interest from the first film, Rachael, who is revealed to have died in childbirth. Now, on that note, it should be noted that while Harrison Ford does return to reprise his role as Deckard, he ultimately doesn’t show up in the film until after the halfway point. Also, for those who were wondering, the film doesn’t really address the long-standing debate of whether Deckard is a Replicant himself, which was initially brought upon by the various interpretations of the first film’s ending depending on the cut of it that was viewed. Still, despite his limited screen-time, Harrison Ford is once again excellent in the role and is given a lot of great emotional material to work with. One of his best scenes comes when he finds himself taken captive by Replicant manufacturer Niander Wallace, who offers him a reward in exchange for information about his child. Said reward comes in the form of a clone of Rachael, which Deckard ultimately rejects when he points out that ‘her eyes were green’… which then leads to Wallace’s assistant Luv executing the clone point-blank. All in all, it’s an excellent sequence thanks to Ford’s excellent performance and the impressive visual effects work that was done to recreate Sean Young’s Rachael as she had looked in the first film. And for the record, yes, that wasn’t Sean Young reprising her role; it was just a digital double.

Gosling also gets some great material to work with as well, namely when K (who is immediately established as being a Replicant) starts to wonder if he’s the child of Deckard and Rachael because of one of his earliest memories involving a toy horse. This is ultimately proven false, though, as we learn that the child is Replicant memory scientist Dr. Ana Stelline (“All the best memories are hers…”). But when it comes to the film’s biggest standout, that honor goes to Ana de Armas as Joi, one of many from a line of holographic A.I. programs that has been retrofitted into being K’s girlfriend. Like the arc that Rachael went through in the first film when she began to realize that she’s a Replicant, Joi is easily one of the most complex characters in the entire film because of her desire to be ‘real’, to the point where she even hires a prostitute to project her form onto so that she can experience sex with K. Armas also has excellent chemistry with Gosling, so much so that the scene where her mobile unit (and, subsequently, her entire system) is destroyed by Luv is hands down one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the entire film. Speaking of Luv, Sylvia Hoeks is also a major standout as Wallace’s ruthless assistant who effectively blurs the line between loyal servant and a stone-cold killer. But as for Wallace, he’s ultimately the film’s weakest link. For the record, I don’t attribute this to Jared Leto’s performance in the role, which is something that I only bring up following all the backlash towards his controversial turn as the Joker in Suicide Squad. Really, the problem with this character is that he is vastly underdeveloped to the point where there is no resolution to his role in the plot, as he is never seen again after the ‘Rachael clone’ scene. Ironically, this is a lot like his turn in Suicide Squad… mainly because he only appears briefly in either film. Despite this, however, Blade Runner 2049 is an excellent film in every sense of the word. And while it sadly shared the same fate as its predecessor at the box-office, there’s a good chance that it’ll end up being regarded just as much as the original Blade Runner in the years to come. 

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Aside from the colossal disappointment that was Justice League, 2017 was one of the greatest years yet for the superhero genre; sure enough, all 5 of the other major superhero films from this past year will be appearing on this list. And to start things off at #10, we have the highly satisfying return to form of everyone’s favorite web-slinger.


Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Spider-Man: Homecoming served as the second major reboot of the Spider-Man film franchise in half a decade… understandably, for some that’d be a cause for concern given how quickly this occurred following the previous franchise reboot back in 2012. However, if there’s one reason why I stayed optimistic about this new film in the months leading up to its release, it was all because of two words… Marvel Studios. Yes, thanks to a deal between Sony and Marvel, while Homecoming was released under the former’s banner, it also counts as a Marvel Cinematic Universe film. Ergo, it has all the great things that we’ve come to expect from the MCU; excellent characters, awesome action sequences, and solid humor. But this film also gives us something else, and that is one of the best character arcs of the entire franchise thanks to the terrific development of the MCU’s rendition of Peter Parker AKA Spider-Man. Of course, we were first introduced to Tom Holland’s take on Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War, and it was clear right out of the gate that Marvel Studios was intent on keeping Peter in high school, something that was only briefly done in previous Spider-Man films. In the Raimi trilogy, Peter was only in high-school for the first half hour or so of the first film. And while the first Amazing Spider-Man film had Peter in high school throughout, he and Gwen Stacy then proceeded to graduate at the start of Amazing Spider-Man 2. In contrast, the MCU Peter is immediately established as still being a high school student when he ends up getting ‘recruited’ by Tony Stark AKA Iron Man to assist him in dealing with his conflict with Captain America.

This then paves the way for Peter’s main arc in Homecoming. After getting to fight alongside the Avengers, Peter immediately thinks that this means that he’s been brought in to join the team. Ultimately, though, he finds himself having to return to the role of being a ‘friendly neighborhood’ Spider-Man in his hometown of Queens under the ‘guidance’ of Tony and his bodyguard Happy Hogan. And thus, the bulk of the film revolves around Peter trying to prove himself while also coming to terms with the fact that, despite his enthusiasm for being a crime-fighting superhero, he is still just a kid in the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. When he tries to stop some bad guys on the Staten Island Ferry, he nearly gets everyone on it killed before being saved by Tony, who quickly reprimands him for his reckless behavior and demands that he give back the suit that had been made for him for the airport battle in Civil War. And when Peter desperately pleads with him to let him keep the suit, stating that ‘he’s nothing without it’, Tony then sternly notes the following; “If you’re nothing without this suit, then you shouldn’t have it”. This whole bit serves as an excellent callback to Tony’s arc in Iron Man 3 in which he came to realize that his suit wasn’t the one thing that defined him; not to mention the fact that it also ties in nicely to the part where Peter remarks that he just wanted to be like Tony, who replies by stating that he wanted him ‘to be better’, clearly recognizing all his mistakes from past films. Later in the film, when Peter finds himself trapped under rubble in the lair of the film’s main antagonist Vulture, how does he react to it? By screaming out for help, fearful for his life. It isn’t until he sees his reflection in a pool of water intermixed with his homemade Spider-Man mask, along with remembering Tony’s stern words from earlier questioning his ‘need’ for the suit, that he’s able to regain his confidence and get himself out of this perilous situation. Simply put, this is hands down one of the best moments in the entire film (“Come on Peter! Come on Spider-Man! COME ON SPIDER-MAN!”)

While I’m still a fan of Andrew Garfield’s take on the character in the Amazing Spider-Man films, I cannot deny how fantastic of a job that Tom Holland has done as the MCU’s Spidey, as he perfectly nails the character’s charisma and comedic timing. As for Tony, some were concerned that Robert Downey Jr.’s presence in the film would end up placing a huge burden on Holland. Ultimately, though, this is not the case, as Tony does not have that big a role in the film and is utilized perfectly as Peter’s stern but sympathetic mentor figure. The same also applies to Jon Favreau in his first appearance in an MCU film since Iron Man 3 as Happy, who begrudgingly serves as the intermediary between the two. Another controversial casting choice occurred with Marisa Tomei as Aunt May, namely because she is the youngest actress who’s taken on the role in the live-action films. Ultimately, though, Tomei does a fine job in the role thanks in large part to her strong camaraderie with Holland. Plus, she also gets one of the best lines in the film at the very end when she finally learns that Peter is Spider-Man (“What the F…?! (*immediately cut to credits*)”). Holland is also backed by a solid supporting cast in the form of Peter’s high-school classmates. This includes Zendaya as the sarcastic Michelle, who’s ‘not obsessed with him… just very observant’, and Tony Revolori as Peter’s classic rival/bully Flash Thompson. It’s a shame, though, that he was subjected to a lot of hate from fans for being an ethnically different rendition of the character. Heck, even Zendaya got some of that backlash when it was reported that she may potentially be the MCU’s version of Mary Jane Watson, which was later proven false despite one line in the film where Michelle remarks that some people call her ‘MJ.’. And, of course, we can’t forget about Jacob Batalon as Peter’s best friend Ned, who is easily one of the MCU’s best ‘sidekick’ characters (“Guy in the Chair!!”) 

But what about the main villain, Adrian Toomes AKA the Vulture, played by former Batman star Michael Keaton. Well, I’d say that Marvel Studios has done a far better job with their villains, who have often been the most maligned parts of any MCU film, since the start of Phase 3, and this was very much the case with Vulture. This is mainly thanks to the big twist near the tail-end of the film when Peter learns that Toomes is the father of his classmate/love interest Liz which, of course, also ties into the common plot thread of him having a personal connection to his foes. At the same time, it also continues the trend of Peter’s villains not necessarily being ‘evil’. In Toomes’ case, he was a former salvager who got screwed over by Stark Industries when he and his team tried to salvage remnants from the Battle of New York in the first Avengers, which then results in them moving into the business of making weapons out of Chitauri technology and selling them on the black market. Simply put, Keaton does an excellent job in the role, especially in terms of handling his character’s motivations (e.g. him trying to provide for his family). On that note, I also liked how the film handled the relationship between Peter and Liz. While never fully going down the same romantic path as Peter and Mary Jane from the Raimi trilogy or Peter and Gwen from the Amazing films, the film does a nice job of showcasing the solid connection that they have while also showing Peter’s inability to admit his feelings for her. It all ends on a bittersweet note when Peter is forced to ditch Liz at Homecoming to stop her father and she and her mother end up moving to Oregon following Toomes’ arrest. Finally, closing out the film’s excellent ensemble cast is Jennifer Connelly in a voice cameo as Karen, the A.I. in Peter’s suit that he unlocks once he and Ned disable the suit’s ‘Training Wheels Protocol’ security feature. Not only is it a fitting cameo seeing how Connelly is married to Paul Bettany AKA Tony Stark’s original A.I. Jarvis (now the Vision), but she also works well off Holland as a friendly figure for Peter to talk to while he’s out fighting crime.

I only have one major issue with this film, and that is that it’s arguably a bit too overlong. Now, for the record, the first time that I saw this film was at the end of a very long travel day as I had just arrived in Los Angeles for vacation; so, understandably, I was rather tired while watching it. However, upon re-watch, I found that this issue of mine still stood. The best way that I can describe it is like this; when the film gets to the titular Homecoming dance, there’s still about half an hour to go in a film that has already been going for quite a while with several big ‘finale-esque’ action set pieces (e.g. Peter rescuing his classmates at the Washington Monument). Still, the film is engaging throughout thanks to everything that I’ve mentioned so far; plus, keeping in line with the MCU’s habit of tackling different genres, director Jon Watts does a great job of making the film feel reminiscent of the many classic high school comedies written and directed by John Hughes. And that’s ultimately Spider-Man: Homecoming in a nutshell. While I wouldn’t necessarily call it the ‘best’ MCU film to date, I would argue that it’s one of the franchise’s best character-driven entries because of its phenomenal work in developing the franchise’s rendition of Spider-Man. All in all, it was a well-deserved success story for all involved. It gave Sony one of their most successful franchise outings to date following the polarizing Amazing Spider-Man duology while also continuing Marvel Studios’ hot streak on the big-screen that I will always argue is still going strong today. Not only that, but at the time that I’m writing this, Spider-Man: Homecoming stands as the highest-grossing superhero film of the year worldwide. Not bad for a film that served as its title character’s third major live-action iteration in the past decade.

Image result for spider-man homecoming gif

And that’s the end of Part 1 of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s annual ‘Favorite Films of the Year’ list. Thanks for following along and be sure to check back in tomorrow for Part 2, in which I’ll be listing films #9-7.