G. Bruno Fischer's Favorite Films of 2017

Once again, here we are; standing on the edge the precipice of yet another new year. It’s been a saccharine annual cycle with regards to film I was mostly pleased with the results. But then again, I only really bother going to new movies in theaters if they pertain to my specific sensibilities, intrigues, or are by directors, writers, or studios whose work I admire and consistently enjoy. This means that I probably haven't seen all or even some of the more superb independent movies of 2017 and probably wont until after the new year, but be that as it may here be my l list of the “best” films of 2017. With that in mind, the film’s I’ve selected for this “end of year review” are by no means what I consider to be the crème de la crème of 2017. Heck, I consider John Carpenter’s Big Trouble In Little China to be one of the most fascinating works of cinema ever made, but I doubt we’ll be seeing Kurt Rustle’s face slapped on a Criterion Collection box anytime soon. 

Now before I delve in I’d just like to mention that this list is based on my criteria of what makes a film “good,” which is as follows:

• Enjoyability, or how consistently entertained I was throughout the film. 
• Technicality, or how impressed I was with the overall constitution/production/presentation of the film.
• Rewatchability, or how many times a film can be watched after a first viewing.

Got it? Alright, let’s get too it then. Here are:

G. BRUNO FISCHER’S FAVORITE FILMS OF 

- 2017-

10) The Disaster Artist 

If you’ve read my review on James Franco’s rose-tinted adaptation of Greg Sestero’s book on the making of the “best worst film ever made,” then you may be wondering why it’s on this top 10 list in the first place. Well for starters, I regrettably didn’t see too many “new” movies this year, but I did still enjoy it. I’ll admit that my admiration for The Disaster Artist stems entirely from my love of the original film by the conventionally untrammeled human mystery that is Tommy Wiseau. Franco’s performance (or rather, imitation of Wiseau) is a spectacle worthy of attention and accolades. In truth, I’m mostly hopeful that The Disaster Artist will shepherd in more audiences to the masterpiece that is The Room; but for what it’s worth,The Disaster Artist still makes for an enjoyable “follow your dreams,” picture on the subject of accidental cinematic brilliance and though the final product is flawed it’s ethos is pure and story’s bizarre enough to earn itself in the number 10 slot. 

9) Alien: Covenant 

Now, I’m a titanic fan of Ridley Scott’s original 1979 extraterrestrial slasher movie and the subsequent “Alien” franchise born (or rather chest-bursted) out of it. Alien Covenant is the eighth installment of phallic-faced deep space killer’s cinematic saga so it should come as no surprise that it’d make it on my end of the year list. Covenant is not a “great” film, it’s not even “good,” per-say (not by a long shot), but that’s not really the point of this movies; I mean, the killer is quite literally a murderous bipedal cockmonster. It’s a modern-day B-movie (and a super fun one at that) with a hefty special effects budget that makes for a wonderful array of scenes where dimwitted space pilgrims die in laughably gruesome ways. Covenant is not be the best installment in the Xenomorph’s big screen repertoire (or even the second Alien film directed by Ridley Scott) but it’s still a pleasurable extraterrestrial monster mash that’ll quench your ephemeral blood lust. Plus it’s the only Alien film to feature a robot Michael Fassbender “fingering,” a second robot Michael Fassbender!

8) Coco

2017 wasn’t a particularly bountiful year for animated feature films, which is a shame because I still haven’t grown up and always cherish cartoons, anime, and theatrical displays of computer rendered animation. Coco is Pixar studio’s latest addendum to their already impressive roster of family-friendly films and I’m so pleased to say that it’s earned its place among their top-tier productions. The visuals are dazzlingly colorful and rife with imaginative allusions to Mexican culture, mythology, history, and praxis. The music is mellifluous and expertly composed. The story’s sweet, and the characters are fleshed out despite lacking, well, flesh. Overall Coco is an exceptional example of animated storytelling that’ll tug at your heartstrings like the chords of a fine-tuned guitarrón. Coco is a perfect picture show for lovers or art, music, imagination, and you can chance your coccyx I’ll be showing it to my kids when they eventually come into existence.  

7) Dunkirk 

I’ve always considered Christopher Nolan to be one of those consistently “good” but sparsely “great” directors but after witnessing the man’s take on the (debatably bloated) WWII genre I’ve finally acquiesced the fact that Mr. Nolan is better than “good,” he’s fantastic. Dunkirk is one of those films that acts more like a cinematic experience with the narrative following three different groups of characters taking place at three different timelines all edited together as if its one coherent chronicle. It’s no small task to take on a film in which the entire audience knows hows the story ends (SPOILERS: the nazi’s loose) but Dunkirk’s commitment to a nonlinear narrative with focus primarily fixed on visual story telling in lieu of dialogue (serious, there’s like two pages worth for a film just under two hours long) makes for a fascinating work of cinema. Dunkirk isn’t just another good WWII movie, it’s an unequivocal spectacle of filmmaking!

6) Thor: Ragnarok 

Much like the bulk of films under Christopher Nolan’s belt, I enjoy most of the entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; but rarely do I ever feel the need (or even desire) to re-watch them or deconstruct their cinematic constitutions. I’m not hating on the MCU but I mostly view their movies as little more than silly little action comedies that are designed to come, entertain, and disappear like Bond movies or porn. So you can imagine my surprise when I watched Thor: Ragnarok, the third movie in the “Thor” series, and discovered that it’s not only the best theatrical depiction of the viking God of thunder and mallets, but also the most entertaining Marvel movie to date. I mean, I’m still pretty perplexed that a Marvel movie made it on the list but as soon as I learned of who was directing it all became clear. I simply adore director Taika Waititi (don’t feel bad, I can’t pronounce his name right either), from his work on the short lived HBO series, Flight of the Conchords to his New Zealand independent tragicomedies (Hunt for Wilder People, What We Do In The Shadows). I consider Waititi to be one of the funniest directors currently working, and he’s more than brought his A-game to the MCU. Ragnarok is gut-bustingly hilarious but also action-packed, wildly colorful and knows how not to take itself so seriously. It’s a strange concoction of cinematic artistry that culminates into a perfect tongue-and-cheek science fiction superhero rhapsody that’s well overdue in this age of endless comic book movies.

5) Logan

Now I’d like to stress the fact that I’m not a superhero film fanboy by any means. I didn’t bother seeing Justice League, and I don’t care all that much for the X-Men franchise, but lord almighty did I love the crap out of Hugh Jackman’s send off to his Wolverine character in Logan. Apart from being a much more darker take on a source material marketed to children and comic book nerds; Logan delivers us a comic book movie that’s jam-packed with brutal over-the-top violence and gore but is also unafraid of adult themes and topics almost unheard of for super hero movies such as: later-life crisis, depression, cancer, suicidal thoughts, alzheimer’s disease, decapitation, child abuse, familicide, child murder, child murderers, murder-suicide, and the acceptance of one’s own death. In summation, Logan is one fucking bleak hero flick, but it works! In addition to being a justifiably dark and brutally violent hack-n-slash action romp underutilized by the superhero genre, Logan also serves as an emotionally driven character study of a pop culture icon at the end of his relevancy. It’s a much needed cinematic hero’s journey that’s mature, melancholy, and is as deliciously bittersweet as life itself. Hugh Jackman’s knocks it out of the park with his final Wolverine performance, and director James Mangold’s influence makes for a impressive dark genre film with prominent western and samurai film influences. It’s the kind of comic book movie you’d expect to get out of Quentin Tarantino or Martin Scorsese type; just throw in a hunky protagonist with knives coming out of his fists and you got yourself one fine-ass deconstruction of the the superhero genre! 

4) Blade Runner 2049

 I swear I’m not an unabashed Ridley Scott fanboy, despite the fact that this list contains two sequels to the man’s most popular science fiction properties, but Blade Runner 2049 certainly deserves its place on this board. I certainly have my fair share of issues with director Denis Villeneuve’s sequel to Scott’s existential android noir, but I’ve added it to the list (and placed it rather high) because of how gosh darn fascinating it it. Unlike the Star Wars and (to a lesser extent) Star Trek admirers I like my science fiction films abstract and atmospheric. The highest complement I can offer 2049 (apart from its beauteous cinematography, sound design, and performance by Ryan Gosling) is its ability to intrigue the viewer long after the film has ended. I don’t think I’ve dedicated more thinking time to another movie released this year than this one, which has lead to many debates and discussion among my cinephile friends and I and I believe that’s more significant appeals to the “hard” science fiction genre. It’s a vibrant and gloomy philosophical puzzle of consciousness, humanity, and technology’s place in it all, making for a film that’ll dazzle your eyeballs and exercise the more ponderous parts of your brain. If you’re seeking a film that presents the viewer with futurist metaphysical riddles without any clear answers or solutions then check out Blade Runner 2049! 

03) IT

 Oh man! Oh man! Oh man! There was a big-budget killer clown movie released this year, and I am still riding the megalomaniacal giddiness of that fact! It’s certainly no secret that horror movies are what gets me out of bed in the morning (apart from my fiancé and alarm clock) and director Andrés Muschietti’s It is one hell of a ride through the nightmareospher. Because the film centers around a group of children terrorized by an ancient evil shape-shifting clown the movie primarily serves as a vehicle for as many different horror scenes as the Muscheietti can get away with, should the runtime allow it. Yes, there’s an actual “plot,” and characters that are handled well and given a right amount of attention and development that all enhance the genuine horror of his multifaceted scare-feature. Really, the whole film’s like a variety show of nightmare fuel including the likes of: headless corpses, decomposing hobos, demented paintings, disembodied hands (ala Roman Polanski Repulsion), zombies, monsters, and of course clowns! To put it simply, It a horror junkie’s heroine that’s flashy, entertaining, and oodles of fun and I can’t wait for the sequel come 2019. 

 02) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri 

If you’ve read my review of Martin McDonagh’s third crack at cinematic storytelling, then you know precisely why Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri is so high on my list. I can’t in full confidence say it’s the best-written movie released in 2017 (because that would require me to actually watch every film released this year and I’m no masochist) but McDonagh’s undoubtedly scribed the best screenplay out of all the film’s I’ve personally seen for 2017. It also doesn’t hurt that the cast is utterly brilliant with stand out performances from Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, and Woody Harrelson and with McDonagh’s directing the end-result makes for a joyfully bleak yet strangely compelling dark dramedy. McDonagh always surrounds his films (and probably his plays though I really can’t say as I haven’t seen any of them) around morally grey characters deep in a life-or-death battle for their souls that mirrors the everyday moral choices we now cinematically inclined humans must endure in our day-to-day lives. Three Billboards is a hard movie (for those not inherently drawn to dark thematic narratives) but shines a powerful light on the spectrum of human emotion that you can’t help but find yourself sucked into your temples. I can only hope the next Martin McDonagh film wont take 5 years to make, but honestly if it takes that long I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait.

01) Baby Driver

Director Edgar Wright is one hell of a filmmaker! Don’t believe me? Well, I did a little math based on all the feature films written and directed by the guy, and their total average Rotten Tomatoes rating comes out to a positive score of 89.4%. To put in perspective, Steven Spielberg average Rotten Tomatoes score is at 77.8% “fresh,” Oliver Stone’s average is at 62% and Ridley Scott’s currently standing at 61.4% and out of all those directors, the only one without an Oscar is Wright. Baby Driver is currently Mr. Wright’s most “fresh” film on RT, and upon watching it, it’s not difficult to see why. The entire film’s constructed over what appears to be a cinematic challenge set by Wright as the main character “Baby” (played by Ansel Elgort) is portrayed as always listening to an eclectic selection of music that’s entirely in sync with everything (and I mean EV-ER-Y-THING) that happens on screen. From the blocking of actors, to camera movements, editing techniques, even gunshot blasts, everything the audience sees is in tune with the tunes. From beginning to end Edgar Wright’s created the most action-packed, high octane, quick whited jukebox movie musical that ever has ever existed. I must admit that the bulk of my adoration for Baby Driver comes from my own experience as a video editor. Editing’s a factor I tend to pay close attention to when movies (even when I’m not actively looking for it), and Baby Driver is the most blatant display of big screen editorial pornography I’ve ever seen; making it the most rewatchable, entertaining, and cinematically impressive work of film I’ve seen all year and easily my most favorite movie to come out of 2017. 

G. Bruno Fischer 

December 31, 2017

;P