Moonlight (2016) Top 100

The final moment of Moonlight is one of the most powerful moments I have seen in a film ever. It is a moment of touching beauty which is reached only after a lifetime of pain. Anyone who has experienced the forced absence of a lover's touch can understand and relate to the hero of Moonlight's relief here. It is a profoundly moving moment which sums up a profoundly moving film.

Writer director Barry Jenkins has produced a stunning movie which explores poverty (especially as it intersects with racialized communities), toxic masculinity, and homophobia. Told over three periods of a young man's life (his childhood, his youth, and his young adulthood), Moonlight is raw and rich in its painting of this man. He is an example of strength and humanity as he faces some of the greatest challenges a young man might have to face. And it is in finding a moment of peace and love at the end which is so wholly triumphant. Jenkins' masterfully builds us to this moment and shows us just how beautiful and truly wonderful it is.

All three actors who portray Chiron do a wonderful job. Each plays him stoically and silently strong and yet each manage to reach into a very vulnerable place. It is Trevante Rhodes' lovely breaking down of a man shedding his armor in the last act of the film which makes it so successfully moving. He and Andre Holland have an amazing chemistry and their final act is so compelling, so watchable, so satisfying. It is impossible not to be moved by it.


I have now watched Moonlight a number of times and each time it becomes richer, more nuanced, more gorgeous. It strikes me powerfully each viewing and its achievement as a film is remarkable. Its story, one which gives voice to lives which often don't get to have their voices heard, is specific and its power is in that specificity. It isn't trying to be a film about an everyman. This is about Chiron and his story is as valuable, relevant, and important as any other story.

Moonlight will blow you away and will make you so very glad you spent your time with it.

Moonlight
Starring: Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, Alex R. Hibbert, Andre Holland, Mahershala Ali, Naomi Harris, Janelle Monae, Jaden Piner, Jharrel Jerome
Director: Barry Jenkins
Writers: Tarell Alvin McCraney, Barry Jenkins

The White Helmets (2016)

Through two simple approaches, director Orlando von Einsiedel paints a power portrait of human heroism. He interviews the heros themselves, letting them tell their story in their own voices, and he shows the very scenes of devastation they work in everyday. It is a powerful combination which gives its audience a taste of what true heroism looks like.

"Better to save a soul than take one." says one of the men interviewed in The White Helmets. A former soldier, who believed he was fighting on the right side, realized that he was being called to save lives instead of take them. He says it simply, without hubris. The men in this film don't see themselves as heroes. They are just doing what they feel they must do.

The horror of war is something millions live through. Many of us are comfortably unaware of this in the relative safety of our western world where we are being coerced into being scared anyway, despite all that we have. von Einsiedel very simply, succinctly, and effectively shows us what it looks like for the rest of the world. And what standing up to violence can look like. His short film is remarkable, almost as much as the subjects it follows.

The White Helmets
Director: Orlando von Einsiedel

Get Out (2017)

Smart horror is one of my favorite genres. It isn't a common one so when one comes along, a film which gets into creepy, upsetting, disturbing parts of our brains and not just throw a lot of blood and/or cliched "scary" images at us, it is a blessing. Get Out is straight up classic horror with a wicked breakdown of modern US culture.

At one point the film dares to say what can't be said. "When there are too many white people around I get nervous." The film posits that the American experience for many black people is one of horror. It's a pill many audiences won't want to swallow.

I imagined many things when I went into Get Out. I imagines bigots spewing racist epithets attacking our hero. I imagines nazi or klan imagery (terrifying enough on its own). I imagined more bloodshed. But none of that is what Get Out is getting at. Get Out's villains, the film's threat, the film's terror, isn't in outright bigotry. The film magnificently sidetracks that expectation by addressing a far more insidious and dangerous terror. The villains of the film fetishize black folks and focus on assimilating black people. This isn't about cross burning or lynchings, it's subtle microagressions, the use of black people for the majority's purposes, the degrading of people for not fitting into the anglosaxon mold. It is about the betrayal of "allies." It is more upsetting than one imagines a horror movie to be because it implicates its audience, or a part of it's audience.

Horror movies tend to ground us, the audience, in the hero's place. We feel their fear because we identify with them and are put in their place. Often smart horror will upend that a bit or invert it. Here the audience isn't necessarily allowed into that role easily. Chris isn't the universal "everyman" he is explicitly a black man and the film doesn't let us forget it. To be let in to the centre of the film we have to live that experience. His line about being nervous is one that will throw much of his audience away., the part of the audience who doesn't understand what that feels like. And instead that audience is left to struggle with how they identify with the rest of the movie, the villains. I imagine there will be quite a lot of discomfort with how that will make people feel.

Film maker Jordan Peele's critique of American liberalism is crafted slowly and brilliantly using the horror movie tropes we are all familiar with but to tell a story differently. We aren't building to a killing moment as much as we are building to something more deeply upsetting. But he uses the horror genre as a tool to get us to understand the fear that people live with every day.

And it works in so many ways. It works as straight up horror (very much in the Valley of the Dolls variety). It works as comedy. Peele doesn't give up his comedic history. And it works as smart social commentary.

Get Out
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford, Alison Williams, Lil Rel Howery
Writer/Director: Jordan Peele

Below Her Mouth (2016)

Sometimes when people meet, there is an instant attraction and passion which can be extraordinarily enjoyable, all encompassing, consuming. It can block out the world for a while, fill in the empty spaces, and make us do things, say things, we might not otherwise. It can be exhilarating. Eventually it changes to something else, a base for something more substantial, or a spectacular flame out which leaves us either bitter, or ready for the next hit.

Below Her Mouth captures that feeling rather well but lacks the ability to build into its finale. It starts weak, builds to something potentially interesting, and then falls flat, feeling a bit dishonest, rushed.

The first act leaves a bit of a bad taste in ones mouth. The film starts off with a stalker vibe. It's the kind of make cute meeting where one person says "no" which is ignored by the pursuer until the pursued gives in and sees what she has been missing all along. That has played for years in heterosexual romances but we're getting to the point where we know it's not cute, in fact it is sort of gross. It's no less gross when it is a lesbian pursuing another woman. The "no" not being taken for an answer is creepy. The film doesn't get off to a good start.

But I was won over through the second act as the women fell head over heals for each other. Not due to the explicit sex, although film maker April Mullen has a good eye for filming passion, not just making the sex "watchable" but making it feel authentic. Authentic sex in movies is often a hard thing to come by (no pun intended... oh who am I kidding) and I felt Below Her Mouth did a decent job of making me believe in the heat of passion I was witnessing. What won me over was the film's obsessing over its subjects. Just like we often do when we are falling for someone we just met. Reason and rationality don't play a major part. Instead we just become obsessed with small details (often ignoring bigger details), saying stupid sounding things (which sound so good at the time), and lose ourselves in the moment we know can't last. A less generous person would say the film was shallow but I felt it was capturing that feeling and I could see the trajectory and where it was taking me.

But the third act lost me again. The lead up doesn't create a passion which can inspire the end. It's flash in the pan excitement but the film asks us to buy a deeper connection it never shows us. The climax lost its authenticity. It was too shallow, too lost in its own passion, to make me believe in the happily ever after it was shooting for. Its rushed, clumsy denouement felt tacked on, felt fake.

There is also a striking amount of biphobia throughout the film which often, in subtle ways, discredits Jasmine's life and feelings outside of her passion for Dallas.  This, paired with Dallas' aggressive behavior in the beginning, gives a distaste to the way the film wraps up. If the film had moved in a different direction in the third act, perhaps...

 The film starts out with the lines:

"Did you cum?"

"A little."

That's how the movie feels at the end.

Below Her Mouth
Starring: Natalie Krill, Erika Linder
Director: April Mullen
Writer: Stephanie Fabrizi

Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts (2017)

Of the five animated short films nominated for an Oscar in 2017, 2 are from Pixar, an animation studio which continues to push the envelope creatively and narratively despite enjoying tremendous commercial success. The most well known (because it was shown in cinemas with one of the biggest films of the year (Finding Dory) is Piper, an incredibly innovative (at least technologically) short film about a small bird. It's lovely, gorgeous, and probably the most photo-realistic animated film I've ever seen. Don't get me wrong, I don't see photo-realism as the goal of animation. In fact I think there is a reason I love animation and it's because it differs from live action. However one can't deny how amazing Piper is to watch, and it's story, while light, is moving.

Borrowed Time, is sort of the opposite experience to Piper. Visually it appears like all other Pixar films and, despite having a "darker tone" appears as if it could have come out of any Pixar catalog. But it's story is where the film diverts from the expected. The film is violent, disturbing, and poignant. It doesn't have the feel of a typical film from this studio. It didn't get the sort of release that Piper got due to how upsetting it is. Together these films remind me why (despite my lack of enthusiasm for Finding Dory) why I say a fan of this studio's work.

One of the front runners is Pearl, a stylized portrait of the love between a father and daughter. At first it felt like a music video or inspiring commercial but the film finds some strength in how it touches its audience. It attempts a rags to riches American Dream style story which is lovely fantasy but I felt it's optimism was a bit misplaced and rang a bit hollow.

Even less successful for me was lengthy (ironic for a short) Pear Cider and Cigarettes which is reminiscent of the animation in Kill Bill both in tone and style. The film's dark story just doesn't hold up for it's 35 minute run time. It's striking to watch and the story, if it had been more contained, could have packed a punch. But its a bit too indulgent for my tastes.

Probably my favorite is the Canadian (Cigarettes is Canadian too by the way) Blind Vaysha which tells a complex emotional morality play and is the most "drawn" feeling. This film is haunting and lovely and I believe packs the most emotional punch of any of the nominated films. Perhaps it's my national bias but the NFB has always had a strong tack record and once again they don't disappoint.

Blind Vaysha
Theodore Ushev

Borrowed Time
Andrew Coats & Lou Hamou-Lhadj

Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Robert Valley

Pearl
Patrick Osborne

Piper
Alan Barillaro

A Cure For Wellness (2017)

Director Gore Verbinski has never been a film maker of great depth. His first film, Mouse Hunt, is a poor man's Tim Burton film, light on meaning and hyped up on visuals. From there he went into making spectacle tent pole films like the Pirates of the Caribbean films and the ill fated Lone Ranger remake. All his films have a signature combo of over the top camera angles and limited literary depth.

His ambitious A Cure For Wellness seemed to be a break in that pattern. Moving on from poor man's Tim Burton to poor man's David Lynch, Verbinski seemed to be reaching for new heights (or depths) with his creepy, stylized thriller. About half way through the very long running time of Wellness you begin to see that Verbinski is still Verbinski and Wellness, like his other films, is mostly gloss with little substance.

There are hints are interesting themes throughout, the suggestion of dream imagery is bread crumbed throughout the first act, preparing us, or anyone who has seen a Shyamalan movie, to not trust what it is we are seeing. But Verbinski pulls back. This isn't Shutter Island, there isn't a twist on that level. The twist that does come is telegraphed fairly obviously along the way and ends up being an explanation more than a surprise. Wellness remains completely straight forward in its narrative structure. The story plays out quite literally. And the exploration of its theme (dissatisfaction with modernity) is mostly surface level only.  It appears Verbinski hasn't been holding in his masterpiece while churning out Hollywood blockbusters, he's just a good fit for straight up light entertainment after all.

Does this mean I didn't enjoy A Cure for Wellness? Not at all. What Verbinski does well is on display here. His visual construction of his story is fascinating even if the story ends up being second rate. The gothic horror pastiche is engrossing and he manages a few chills. I actually found the most chilling moments to be the claustrophobic suggestions more than the fascination with eels and worms the film has. The film may never quite find a disturbing groove but it approximates it enough to be enjoyable

Despite the film's long running time and light story I wasn't bored. I enjoyed the ride for what it was. There may have been a few moments where Verbinski seems to be drawing out moments (like walking down a hall) but it always felt consistent with the genre's vibe and was forgivable. I don't think Wellness fails so much as just doesn't deliver on what I had hoped it would be. If I accept it for what it is, I find I can enjoy it.

And lead Dane DeHaan is perfect here. He is an actor who, after his strong debut in Chronicle, hasn't found roles worthy of his talents. He is on showcase here and watching his performance is worth the ticket price. 

So the biggest let down of A Cure For Wellness is the fact it doesn't deliver on the promise which was imposed on it. It isn't the movie it's being sold as. For what it is, a mildly creepy thriller and tribute to a lost genre, it works. Something to puzzle over it is not.

A Cure For Wellness
Starring: Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs, Mia Goth
Writer/Director: Gore Verbinski

Fifty Shades Darker (2017)

Yes the Fifty Shades movies are as bad as people say they are and this sequel is worse than the first. Yes there are problems with the plotting, acting, staging, etc. but these problems are common in many movies. Like many franchise films based on properties who have a rabid fan base there is a certain amount of pandering to that audience which takes away from the film's ability to be a good film. But the main problem with Fifty Shades Darker isn't any of the basic problematic elements. It's the very nature of the story itself.

People who know about BDSM will tell you the Fifty Shades series doesn't accurately represent the world of BDSM. It gets that stuff all wrong. In fact, what it does is mistake themes of dominance and submission with what is actually stalking, emotional abuse, and sexual assault. What is represented in these stories, and is sold as romantic titillation, is a series of abuse fantasies. The BDSM communities stress consent but Fifty Shades Darker is a story based on the lack of consent. It's disturbing.

This isn't a situation where a film is exploring the issue of assault/harassment/abuse and it's dark for those reasons. This is a situation where the film is glamorizing it, celebrating it as a form of romance. Christian is an abuser and the audience is gaslighted into falling for him. It's just gross on many levels.

And the sex remains that just hidden enough, and gender imbalanced, soft-core which rings so hollow in this day and age. The film doesn't explore sexuality in an engaging way but with a gaze which commodifies it.

I've heard some critics complain Fifty Shades Darker is even worse than Fifty Shades of Grey but honestly I don't know how you tell at this point, or why you would want to.

Fifty Shades Darker
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Kim Basinger, Marcia Gay Harden
Director: James Foley
Writer: Niall Leonard

The Lego Batman Movie (2017)

The Lego movie phenomenon is a hard one to wrap ones head around. Watching representations of Lego characters act out irreverent adventures seems counter intuitive.  One already has to suspend certain disbelief but watching the almost jagged, disruptive esthetic of a Lego world, should make it even harder to digest. Which is part of the mini miracle that the success (creatively) of the Lego movies has been. And since being irreverant is all in vogue right now (sincerity and seriousness in action movies is still an acquired taste) The Lego Batman Movie balances this perfectly.

The Lego Batman Movie is as smart and subversive as the film that spawned it (The Lego Movie). Both are films which truly shouldn't be as good as they are, as entertaining as they are. This one isn't quite as existential as its predecessor but still manages to get pretty deep into exploring identity, relationships, and emotions. But the real success is the humour. The Lego Batman Movie is relentlessly hilarious. That's the magic that truly sells this adventure.

Will Arnett stole the show in The Lego Movie and here he blossoms into engrossing hilarity. Teamed with his Arrested Development co-star Michael Cera, equally funny as Robin, the movie rarely leaves you a moment between laughs. It's clever humour, referencing everything from pop-culture to history to philosophy. With enough silliness to keep all ages laughing. Certainly one of the secrets of the Lego franchise so far is how it speaks to all demographics at once.

Proving that there are many interpretations of this character to be explored, The Lego Batman Movie hits the target and delivers an undeniably entertaining and fun ride which is almost impossible not to enjoy.

The Lego Batman Movie
Starring: Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes, Zach Galifinakis, Mariah Carey,  Jenny Slate
Director: Chris McKay
Writers: Seth-Graham Smith, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Jared Stem, John Whittington

John Wick Chapter 2 (2017)

At the beginning of 2017 2 action films were released, both extremely B-movie, both sequels starring somewhat past their prime action stars, both featuring diverse casts (and Ruby Rose), both set in multinational locations, both examples of what to do or not to do when making a straight up action film.

The first, Return of Xander Cage, did everything wrong. Cartoony, cliched, exaggerated, eyerolling, the XXX sequel was a poorly made mess for the poorly endowed crowd. The second, John Wick Chapter 2, was smart, stylish, and infectious. It does (almost) everything right. Former stunt man turned director Chad Stahelski proves he knows action and knows how to do it right.

Yes John Wick and this sequel are solely for action fans. The film doesn't break out of its genre but that's perfectly acceptable. Instead it digs deep into its genre roots and delivers a satisfying chapter in what fans will definitely want to see turned (at least) into a trilogy.

The biggest secret? Stahelski takes the time to set up his world. He makes his world lived in. He makes it breathe. He is going to ask you to accept a lot of out of reality moments so he builds up the trust, making his characters real, making his plot make sense, adding emotional depth, gravitas, so that when the fists and bullets start flying we're invested and we go along for the wild ride.

Then he takes his set pieces and makes little action masterpieces. As a stunt man, his scenes are choreographed exquisitely.  You can't take your eyes of the melee. Reminiscent of Garth Evans or Zhang Yimou, Stahelski finds poetry in his violence. It's not slick slo-mo Matrix style shots, but lovingly sequenced fights that make you feel each punch, take each bullet. And he shoots it all in beautiful locals with a true eye for flare. The climactic showdown puts the fantastic Skyfall battles to shame. John Wick Chapter 2 is not only exciting, thrilling action with a gut punch story that won't let go, it is also a thing of beauty.

My only complaint is casting Ruby Rose as a deaf body guard. Deaf parts should go to deaf actors and her clumsy signing is distracting from an otherwise thrilling film. Common stands out as a character I wanted to see more of (as with Fishbourne's new character) but Rose's turn is a disappointment. And I'll always have my beef with Reeves who I think has never really been a very good actor. Fortunately Stahelski seems to know how to handle him, give him as little dialogue and emoting to do and he can pass.

If only the XXX series took itself seriously enough to keep up with this series. Hopefully we've seen the end of Xander Cage but we certainly have not seen the end of John Wick. Clearly we are gearing up for a mindblowing Chapter 3 and in my opinion it can't come fast enough.

John Wick Chapter 2
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Common, Laurence Fishbourne, Ruby Rose, Riccardo Scamarcio, John Lequizamo, Ian McShane
Director: Chad Stahelski
Writer: Derek Kolstad

Life, Animated (2016)

As must be clear by this point, I relate to the world through movies, they help me connect to others and understand the world around me. Animation holds a special place in this, especially the Disney canon. There was a real sense of recognition and connection watching this film which is about this very thing for another human who also finds connection in this way. To see yourself reflected back, to see others have a similar experience, is one of those parts of the human experience that makes us feel whole. For me seeing Owen find his way through his passion, a passion which relates so closely to mine, was powerful for me.

Autism remains quite poorly understood amongst neurotypical folks. We are only now starting to understand that autistic people may be experiencing the world in a way that is as valid and rich (but different) than the way neurotypical people do.  We have a long way to go to seeing value in people who don't live the way we expect people to live.

Life, Animated is a story made by a father, of how he began to see his son for the full person he was. After being told over and over how less Owen's life would be, his family began to see that just wasn't true. He would live his life differently than they would but that was okay, no, it was more than okay.

There has been some criticism by those who feel the film minimizes what the experience of Autism is, that by focusing on this one way Owen connects is reductionist. The film never prescribes watching Disney movies as some sort of cure. It shows how this one man has funneled his passion into living a full and rich life. How is that not exactly what most self-actualized people do?

Life, Animated is told from the point of view of Owen and his dad, the people who live it. It's not told from the perspective of outsiders. It is their story and they get to set the terms for how it is told.

Life, Animated is a love letter from a father to a son and it's incredible beautiful. Especially for those of us who love films, animated films, Disney films, this is wonderfully affirming. But for others it will also be awakening. There are moments when some people will speak about the autistic/average person divide in a way that is condescending but what I found so admirable about the film is the way it eschews that and proposes that perhaps we're still seeing it incorrectly. Autistic folks are living in a predominantly neurotypical world and therefore are in a position, like many other non-conforming folks, of having to live in that world. But it doesn't mean they need to become like others. The film purports perhaps we all should be living in the way that fulfills who we are, instead of trying to be what the world thinks is normal.

And that is the most beautiful part of Life, Animated.

Life, Animated
Director: Roger Ross Williams
Writer: Ron Suskind

The Salesman (2016)

Two actors working on a Persian production of Death of a Salesman have their domestic life pulled apart when one of them is attacked and their reactions take them in different directions. Writer/director Asghar Farhadi paints an acute and fascinating portrait of the difficulty of recovering from violence.

Shahab Hosseini plays Emad playing Willy Loman, whose rage, fear, powerlessness, and compassion leaves him wrecked when the woman he loves is hurt. Taraneh Alidoosti plays Rana playing Linda Loman, whose way of surviving is to move forward, pursue her passions, and care for loved ones. Their needs and desires are diametrically opposed and they can't find a place to heal together. When The Salesman reaches its climax and things have spiraled beyond the point of no return, Hosseini and Alidoosti are both pitch perfect and portray a multiplicity of hurts, hopes, and horrors. It is breathtaking.

Some of my favorite moments are when Farhadi mounts his take on Death of a Salesman. It made me want to see this version of the play. This grounds his story in being about artists, they are described at one time in the film as being "in culture." There is a power in what these people are doing and it is shattered.

The Salesman is a somewhat quiet film whose power comes from the richness in that quietness. It will leave you wondering about your own means of reacting to, surviving violence. It will make you question how and why we do what we do. And it has a beautiful tragedy to it, not in the victimization but in the way this relationship plays out. The Salesman is a painfully lovely little story.

The Salesman
Starring: Shahab Hosseini, Taraneh Alidoosti, Babak Karimi
Writer/director: Asghar Farhadi