I can’t really recommend this film to very many people because it is truly disturbing and frightening, but not in a cheap or exploitative way. The viewer is taken into an emotional hell.
Every cast member turns in truly creepy, nuanced performances, and the script as well as direction are remarkably disciplined. In the vein of 2016’s “The Witch,” this is supernatural horror at its darkest and most joylessly powerful. Technically, it is a film from 2015, but wasn’t released until this year. In terms of sheer terror and suspense-building, this was the best film of the year and the most truly horrific film of 2017. Lord willing, Hugh Jackman still has a long career ahead of him, but when all is said and done this may be his pinnacle. Its use of the classic western “Shane” as a framing motif gives a beautiful messianic shade to Wolverine as the man of “sin” who must leave society to save it. Like “Get Out,” this film effortlessly exceeded its genre limits by focusing on near-poetic film craft. Fox’s 10 X-men films have seen wildly mixed results over the years, but this last “pre Disney” outing was by far the best. “Logan” was easily the best superhero film since “The Dark Knight,” and one of the best Westerns made so far in the twenty-first century. Identity politics be darned, Jordan Peele was the best filmmaker of 2017, and I can’t wait to see what he does next. One of the strongest directorial debuts ever, it deserves to win every single award it gets nominated for, and oodles more. It works very well as a horror movie, but even better as a film.
#BEST MOVIES FROM 2017 AND2018 FREE#
Like Hitch and all his best horror disciples, this film breaks free of mere genre appeal. “Get Out” was hands down the best fictional film of the year-and not because it tries to be “woke.” This is the best film of the year because every aspect of it was Hitchcockian perfection. We had to say goodbye to one Batman this year (Adam West), and thanks to Nobleman millions have gotten to know a Batman they didn’t even know existed. The truth really is more amazing than fiction. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for his journalistic work on this deep, dark secret. While fans like me have known the truth for a long time, it took the dogged guts of Marc Tyler Nobleman to finally bring the truth into the gloriously tragic light. Bob Kane has always been credited as the man behind the bat, but his sordid tale makes Charles Foster Kane look like Brian Gumble. “The Dark Knight” and “Mask of the Phantasm” are better adaptations of the character, but this film tells the true origin story of the greatest superhero ever. It was the myth-busting Hulu documentary “Batman and Bill,” the best Batman film ever made. But in the midst of all this nonsense there was a tiny flicker of truly bipartisan journalism. We live in an era where “facts” are supposedly up for debate, where news is suspect and partisan. But it might be the most important, and it was certainly my favorite. I flipped and flopped over this because I know it wasn’t actually the best film that came out this year. So here is where I finally came down on the top 10 movies from 2017.
We had a bold, epic, and controversial new Star Wars, two follow-ups to legendary films by Ridley Scott that didn’t stink, as they almost certainly should have, two Wonder Woman movies, an epic end to the excellent Planet of the Apes trilogy, and some amazing stuff on Netflix! Ticket sales may be down, but cinema’s vitals are strong.