#adam driver has the power to stop time & it literally nevers effects the plot. including during 9/11

[tacticalgrandma]

Looking on twitter & so many of us independently came to the realization that Megalopolis is just a neil breen movie with a budget so I guess it achieved something?

[maudelebowski29]

My Top 10 Movies Of 2017

So this was hard because I saw a lot of good shit this year and I thought 2017 was a way better year for films than 2016. Here’s my list:

1. Baby Driver Is Edgar Wright capable of making a terrible movie? The answer so far has been a resounding no. The man who gave us The Cornetto Trilogy and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World continues his unstoppable streak as one of the best film makers of the 21st century and gives us a fantastic hybrid of heist movie and jukebox musical. Baby Driver is an excellent example of great character study, technical prowess, and scene geography. I adored every second of it. It also has the best soundtrack of the year. Oh, and a film that finally knows how to use Jon Hamm correctly!

2. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 Are Wonder Woman, Logan, and Thor: Ragnarok technically better movies than this? Probably. But I don’t care. GOTG Vol. 2 is still my favorite comic book movie of 2017 and holds the most emotional resonance for me. It deals with themes of losing a parent, toxic fatherhood, and making a family of people who aren’t blood-related to you and it had many moments where I wept in a movie theater openly. It’s a tearjerking heartbreaker that still manages to deliver the laughs and satisfying space battles. I can’t wait to see what James Gunn has in store for us in Guardians 3.

3. Blade Runner 2049 Easily the best science fiction movie of 2017. Absolutely gorgeous to look at, fantastic performances all around (including one of the best roles Harrison Ford has had in many years) and manages to ask a lot of poignant questions about what it means to be human. There are things about it I like even more than the original and that’s saying a lot. Unfortunately this didn’t do well at the box office, but I hope more people do see it. Denis Villeneuve is one of the most gifted directors working today.

4. Thor: Ragnarok The best movie in the Thor trilogy, the most fun I had at a movie all year, and it has some subtle anti-colonialism messaging to boot. Marvel lets Taika Waititi loose on their product and he gave us a cosmic party adventure that wouldn’t look out of place in the Flash Gordon universe. It’s drenched in 80′s - the colors, the costume design, and Mark Mothersbaugh’s synthy score, but it doesn’t feel cynical like the upcoming Ready Player One. Also, hearing the term “devil’s anus” in a superhero movie will never not be funny to me.

5. I, Tonya Darkly funny, well acted, and an almost feminist call-to-arms to reevaluate Tonya Harding in the pop-culture landscape. This is a star-making turn for Margot Robbie and I hope she wins all the awards she can for it. We also see strong acting from Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney, Paul Walter Hauser, and Bobby Canavale. The cast is stellar. I only saw this a couple days ago as of typing this out and I can’t stop thinking about it.

6. Star Wars: The Last Jedi My favorite Star Wars movie since The Empire Strikes Back. I loved The Force Awakens but you can’t deny it played it quite safe. This, on the other hand, does not. I love the weird, bold choices it makes in terms of storytelling and the Star Wars mythos, the characters, and the stunning visuals. Mark Hamill has never been better as Luke Skywalker and Rey, Kylo, Poe, and Finn continue to be fascinating. I also really loved Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico, a fangirl who loves Finn but doesn’t shy away from pointing out his faults. Plus a lot of MRA and Reddit choads hated this movie which gives it a ringing endorsement, as far as I’m concerned. 

7. Logan Lucky Holy shit. A movie about working-class people that doesn’t condescend to them. Steven Soderbergh’s return to the director’s chair sees him going back to the well for a heist movie but I liked this way better than any of his Ocean’s films. Adam Driver’s quiet dignity as Clyde and Channing Tatum’s likable Jimmy make for a great duo. Though Daniel Craig steals the show as Joe Bang. He’s terrific. There’s a scene in this movie where a little girl sings “Country Roads” by John Denver at a beauty pageant and could have been corny as hell and laughable. But it’s not. It’s a show-stopper and an emotionally effective moment.

8. Get Out The best horror movie of the year. No contest. Smart and genuinely scary. It has a lot of intelligent and relevant commentary about race in America but never comes across as preachy and heavy-handed. The fact that this is Jordan Peele’s first time as a director is astonishing. Oh, and I will never look at a spoon tapping against a teacup the same way ever again. *shudders*

9. Logan So if you’re Fox what do you do with the X-Men franchise after the disappointment of Apocalypse? Why, you do a Wolverine solo movie, make it R-Rated, and turn the universe into a dystopian western. Nice. Logan isn’t for everyone - it’s violent and bloody as hell and there are no happy endings. But I fucking loved it. It’s certainly the best X-Men film since First Class. Dafne Keen is a revelation as Laura Kinney (X-23) and one of my favorite female characters in recent memory. When her claws came out the first time I literally squeed in the theater. Please give her her own movie as soon as possible. Logan is a fitting send-off to Hugh Jackman’s signature role.

10. War For The Planet Of The Apes The third entry in the second best trilogy of the 2010′s (the first being Captain America) is a different breed of summer blockbuster and one I hope to see more of. It’s thoughtful, ambitious, and emotionally devastating. The themes of slavery and genocide and the allusions to militias and the white power movement are pretty clear and it definitely puts you on the side of the apes. Andy Serkis is still amazing as Caesar and the motion capture used to create him is astoundingly realistic, Woody Harrelson is genuinely frightening as the main villain, and Amiah Miller as the mute Nova is one of the best child performances of the year. Oh, and that last shot is killer. I’m hoping they make more of these films, but if they don’t this is one hell of a finale.

Some honorable mentions: Spider-Man: Homecoming Huge thank you to Marvel Studios for saving our favorite webslinger from the awful Amazing Spider-Man franchise, two movies that turned Peter Parker into Edward Cullen from Twilight (ugh).

Wonder Woman After the cinematic wrongness of Man Of Steel, Batman v. Superman, and Suicide Squad (three of the worst big-budget movies of the decade that are not Transformers films), I had really low expectations for this one and was pleasantly surprised by how good this is. Three words: No Man’s Land.

IT Another film that surprised the hell out of me. A horror movie released in the beginning of September has no fucking right to be this good. But it is!

Dunkirk Christopher Nolan at the peak of his powers. This almost made my top 10 list for its technical acumen alone but it didn’t quite make the cut.

Atomic Blonde Probably the best pure action movie of the year. Is the plot convoluted as all hell? Sure. But it has Charlize Theron kicking major ass in well-choreographed fight scenes and making out with Sofia Boutella. What’s not to love?

[atrophiedcompassion]

the last jedi review

spoiler free: it was overall good, but not as good as it could’ve been. it had about 30 mins of filler and some of the plots execution was less than desirable. certainly needs at least one more viewing for a proper opinion

spoiler full review under the cut

what they did well was near perfection: Luke, Leia, Kylo and Rey were beautifully characterized, their arcs clear, well done, exceptionally emotional and powerful.

First of all, they finally gave Leia the standing she deserved in the new trilogy. it was like Rian Johnson heard my criticism of TFA Leia (no force sensitive mentions, just an old hag they had no clue how to use. it was and remains one of the most disappointing things about TFA) and finally gave her a meaty role, in a way, the perfect way to end Carrie’s work with Star Wars. sure, the travel through space scene was a bit cartoonish, but finally, FINALLY, we were given, shown, FORCE SENSITIVE LEIA. it was emotional, especially that it came after the very clear moment between her and Kylo, when he hesitated in shooting at her ship. it was very clear that they were sensing each other and Kylo’s reaction when the ship was shot after all was also amazing.

her whole role was great, finally the General i had always expected from post ROTJ Leia to be. and even if they didn’t kill her on screen, and it’ll have to be an offscreen death (or who knows...who knows), i think they did conclude her arc remarkably and whatever happens in episode IX it can only finish her participation in a great way. 

the final meeting with Luke, the forgiveness, the closeness, i am so glad they gave us that. the space twins live on, and we were given true closure.

second of all, Luke. LUKE WAS PERFECT. the guilt, the wisdom, the cranky old master behaviour a la yoda in ESB, it was miraculous. every time he was on screen it was emotional and powerful. the awe and fright at Rey’s abilities. his disappointment that she went straight to the dark, that she didn’t fight temptation at all, when it was clear that he had done that all his life and it had cost him so much! i mean, it’s clear that Luke’s resolve in ROTJ is strong, and that he will certainly not cave in to the Emperor’s requests. but now, with his anger at Rey’s easy temptation, it becomes clear to me how much it had cost him to say no to Vader in ESB. at his lowest moment, having just been mutilated, having just learned that his great mentor Obi Wan had lied to him, at the very revelation that the long sought after father was finally before him offering him the world, he still found the courage, the strength and maybe even the weakness to say no. to allow himself to die rather than to fall to the dark side. and then this kid, with enormous grasp of the Force, dives right into the darkness on the first occasion!! the fact that they gave us that on screen was immense.

and then, the final battle, when he displays the most stupendous command of the Force, when he shows Kylo off in a spectacular fashion, that was amazing, it was one of the best moments in the whole SW saga.

the death moment was perhaps a little sudden, because it clearly stemmed from the fight with Kylo, and not later, but it still comes peacefully, and not at the actual, real hand of his nephew.

Now, Rey, her journey was not as spectacular as it was in TFA, but she was the emotional core of the film and in many ways, the only true pure Force sensitive person in the saga. sure, Leia was as pure and free of temptation as possible, but there is something murky about the relationship between her, Ben/Kylo and Han. something happened to Ben to have all that great darkness inside him, and as a comic panel once said, it surely came from her side of the family. Rey can and did dive into the darkness and came out unscathed. she not for one second yields to Snoke nor is she willing to accept Kylo’s offer of joining him to rule the galaxy (at some point in these movies, this has to stop tho. it’s the worst offer in the galaxy ffs! no-one seems to take up on it). she is the voice of reason and the hope the galaxy needs.

the big family reveal is underwhelming for a reason. it’s something Kylo says, it’s her biggest fears that he’s voicing, trying to play with her mind. it may be a misdirection, my dad says, and he’s been right about this (after snape’s “treason” in HP6, he was the first to point out that it may play out differently in the end. plus, should her true, actual, shocking parentage be revealed in the middle film, it’d be too much on the nose copying of ESB. we already had the offer scene and the moment between the dark and the light characters.

Finally, Kylo Ren. first of all, what a pleasure it is to watch Adam Driver perform!! he is magnetic in every scene and you can literally see the conflict in his face. his weirdly beautiful face. i love the guy (i mean, i went to see Silence in the theater, a religious film! starring Andrew Garfield!). i think his arc is tremendous and if my gut feeling is right, they might actually make him the big bad. no redemption. he just follows the darkness through and through. at the start of the movie, he has that moment with Leia, he hesitates, he takes the finger off the button. at the end, he barges full on, take no prisoners kinda way, totally willing to kill every single person in the mine/bunker, his mother included. it’s interesting, because so far it seems that killing Snoke (and not his father or Rey) finally completed his apprenticeship in the dark side, killing the puppet master finally allowed him to go completely dark.

@winteredfall believes there’s the parallel with Anakin, who also made the offer to Padme, to kill the emperor & take over, and in the end he was still redeemed.  but....that was the third movie. this is just the second movie. i think it’d be much more interesting if this guy didn’t get redemption and if he was simply the bad guy. it’d make the character richer, it’d be a departure from the classic SW and it’d show that some people cannot be redeemed. it’d finally take Nu SW into a new direction and the following trilogy wouldn’t have the baggage. (side note: for me, after learning in the prequels what Vader did to access the dark side, aka kill 30 kids, Vader’s redemption in ROTJ is meaningless and unacceptable. for me, Vader cannot be redeemed after we know what he did. he can be forgiven by his son, who doesn’t exactly know the details. but me as the viewer, i cannot forgive him anymore. his son saving is nearly an empty gesture given his actual really heinous crimes. and this is why i hate the prequels, because they ruined Vader for me, arguably the most interesting character of the OT)

the offer to Rey immediately after offing Snoke shows that he never really wanted to be good. he just wanted to stop being manipulated and used. his rage after she rebukes him and takes off is not brattisness, but simply the dark side finally taking over. rage fuels the dark side, anger is the prime motivator, so it all works. and Kylo is a better character for it. and the movie could take the SW saga into a whole new direction. but we shall see.

The Force was finally restored to its original meaning, fuck the midicloridians. Sure, luke’s explanation seems a rehash of Obi Wan’s but it had to be done. also perfect was Luke’s put down of the Jedi and their hubris, it was amazing to see the concerns people had with the prequels, namely the sith emerging during the Jedi’s highest power, addressed and put to bed.

the Kylo - Rey relationship was intense, and heightened, but unlike in TFA, where it did have some dark sexual undertones (Kylo does mind rape Rey and the sexual overtones of that scene cannot be overlooked), this time it had a very sibling vibe. Rian Johnson took note of the unholy Reylo shippers and of the effects of that scene in TFA and turned it around. sure, it was weird that Rey was bashful to see Kylo shirtless (but thank you for the scene nonetheless), but all that malefic sexual energy from TFA was gone here and it felt great.

all their scenes together, be it in the Force, or actually side by side fighting were superb. they have immense chemistry and made it all seem very palpable. also, at the end, where Rey’s leaving in the Falcon and they communicate once more, that was not Snoke’s doing, so their connection IS real, and not “forced” by a higher power.

now, what they did wrong may actually be not that bad on a second viewing, perhaps it needs a little more attention to detail. but so far, the whole Casino plot, get them on the FO ship, Benicio del Toro char, all of that was awful. i understand the political aspect of the plot, of showing the war profiteering and the real reason why the galaxy is still at war, which is highlighted by the fact that at the end, no-one comes to the aid of the Resistance. but the tone of those scenes was all wrong. it was choc full of species, of way too much slapstick humour, cutting away from Resistance cannot get a moment’s respite really awful situation, to Rose & Finn riding blissfully, almost forgetting their mission, on those animals?! it was worth it now that they saved those animals, even if they were about to die and leave their Resistance with no actual hope?! WHAT THE FUCK!! i get why it was liberating for characters like Rose & Finn, who had lost everything and had always been downtrodden, to finally do something rebellious and for themselves, but in the bigger picture of what was happening with the remaining Resistance crew, it was very offputting.

i liked Rose a lot, because she had heart and seemed sharply focused, but then..they gave her some really weird choices. it was almost like let’s give the POC characters something meaningless to do (because they eventually not only fail their mission, but they bring into Resistance secrets a third party who betrays them, leading to a near disaster for the Resistance), while the white characters were given the actual plot, and actual plot resolution. remember, Poe is also mistaken in his plans, and eventually, the white woman Holdo was right all along.

now, let’s get into the open misogyny of Poe Dameron’s character. undercutting even Leia, and causing massive loss (all the bombers!!!) in the opening battle and acting like he was right. disbelief that the heroic Vice Admiral Holdo is a woman (that was such a jarring moment, wtf!!) and not trusting her, and her cautious ways. of course, the plot is awfully trying to make us think Holdo is a bad guy, simply by having her not relay her every decision to an underling, which she should do why!??! (because he is the man right?) the reveal is just awful and even if i read somewhere that some folk like how the second in command is bad trope was subverted, Holdo was highly mistreated by her inferior and we can only understand that it was because she was a woman.

why they chose to portray Poe this way, i don’t know. but the whole plot was very very poor and even if the end is quite satisfying, as Holdo’s cautious, womanly plan actually works, she saves the day, and Poe’s manly action plan fails, it still begs the question why was this whole plot necessary!?

what was also filler was the minute rivalry between Phasma and Finn, absolutely pointless. also, i know Finn / John Boyega is a main character, but after giving him a horrible plot, him sacrificing himself would’ve been a little more satisfying than him being “saved” by Rose out of love. that whole romance came out of nowhere! of course, with Finn sacrificing himself we wouldn’t have the epic Kylo - Luke confrontation, still the resolution of Finn’s sacrifice could’ve been better. Also, this romance feels made up just so they wouldn’t have to “ship” Finn with Rey, even if for sure, they have far better chemistry, an actual story together and real feelings for each other. maybe i am just looking into this from an inappropriate angle, but it did somehow bothered me that they aren’t willing to let Finn/Rey happen. while i certainly don’t ship anyone in the new movies, some chars have obvious chemistry together while some don’t!

finally, who is Snoke!? his death probably robs us of any possibility of finding out who he was. i mean, this guy seems far more powerful than the Emperor even, so where did he come from? was he another hidden apprentice!? was he the emperor in a new disguise!? was he just some random dude who happened to be exceptionally good with the Force? how could he come to power when Luke/Vader ended the sith in ROTJ!?! all these questions might never receive an answer. i mean, the whole Casino scene proves why an organization like the First Order can prosper and exist in the first place, as war is profitable as fuck. but there’s no explanation for this Force sensitive ultimate bad guy. ugh!

now what was truly atrocious: all the animals, the 4 tittieded animal Luke milks (blue milk! but are they telling me this is where Beru also got the milk? because for sure those creatures didn’t look like desert dwellers. and if it was imported, no wonder they were poor LOL), the island caretakers, the porgs, the animals Rose & Finn ride, all the Casino creatures. filler filler filler. this is pure disnification and it sucks

BB8 was also just awful. he was given R2D2 in ROTS powers, remember how bad it was when R2 started flying?!? BB8 showing up in the Imperial pacer was worse!! a true great reveal would’ve been if it was the BDT char coming to an unlikely rescue minutes after selling Rose & Finn out, but no. it had to be the wonder robot! how did he get up there in the first place!? that was horrendous. and i will finally say it. i hate BB8. i didn’t like it in TFA, but here i hated it. god!

and finally, the marvel type jokes seconds away from a highly emotional/intense moment. i understand the technique and even in marvel movies it is sometimes hit and miss, but in the tonally dark TLJ, where the resistance cannot catch a break, are taking loss after loss, with less and less hope and more and more deaths, these cute moments don’t fit at all. SW needs humour, even in its darkest movies, but not this type of humour. give us something else. or at least, give us the joke after the tears have started flowing, and not when they’re just still brimming in the eyes, that is not too much to ask!

overall, this is a 8.5 i would say, even if i have a lot of criticisms, the action scenes are brilliant and it has some real, amazing, SW-like moments.