TL;DR – This is the end of the year, so let’s take a look back at the year that was by examining twenty categories across cinema, ranging from exquisite to the obscured, and all between

Awards –

It is the end of the year (well a bit later than that but life happened) and while I will have the traditional Best of 2017 and Worst of 2017 lists, I have found that both of those lists miss some of the important facets that make films work, or not work. To eligible for these awards, they simply had to be a film I reviewed in 2017, and there may be some notable absences simply because we have not got those films here yet.  So in Part 1 of 4, we look at five different categories that deal with the cinema of 2017.

• The actions sequences that entertained
• The films in 2017 that decided that just ok, was good enough for them
• The films that exploded off the screen with beautiful cinematography
• Those sneaky cameos they snuck in
• The fantastic characters in cinema that are not just one person’s performance, a team came together to make it work

So let’s dive into TL;DR Movie Review’s Awards of 2017 Part 1

 

 

2017 was a fantastic year for action films, and more than any other category I had to work to get the list down to a manageable number of nominees, And The Nominees (in alphabetical order) Are:

Atomic Blonde – Staircase Brawl
Baby Driver – Opening Bank Chase
John Wick Chapter 2 – Taxi Yard Collision
Logan – Hello My Name Is Laura
The Fate of the Furious – Taking Out A Submarine With A Car
The Villainess – The Motorcycle Duel
War of the Planet of the Apes – Opening Skirmish
Wonder Woman – No Man’s Land

And The Winner Is:

The Villainess – The Motorcycle Duel

As I said this was such a great year for cinema, and indeed, I could have gone with the beautiful single shot staircase fight from Atomic Blonde, or indeed most of John Wick 2. However, where The Villainess stood out was in its creative use of camera and movement, also I have watched that Motorcycle Duel five times now, and I still don’t know how they shot it. If you missed it, at least check out this sequence.

 

 

There were a lot of fantastic films in 2017, there were also a lot of terrible films in 2017, and in this award, we are championing neither of them. Instead, this is the award for those films that were so average, they were noticeable average in their averageness. And The Nominees Are:

Baywatch
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
Rough Night
The Case for Christ
The Dark Tower

And The Winner Is:

The Case for Christ

Many of these films were trying to play on our nostalgia and failed, or were trying something new and just didn’t quite work, The Case for Christ is interesting because it has both of these issues. It wants to be ‘Introduction to Christian Apologetics’ the film, but then it used language and concepts that you would only understand if you are already a believer, which asked the question who was this for and landing it squarely in average territory.

 

 

Every year there are those movies that because of their cinematography, locations, effects, or better still a combination of those things are simply a joy to watch. You see it in the Action scenes of Mad Max Fury Road, or the first reveal of the spaceship in Arrival. This year we have films set in the dark of space, the world beyond, and the world of the past, And The Nominees Are:

Alien: Covenant – Bringing Milford Sound to the big screen
Blade Runner 2049 – World building through visuals
Coco – Marigolds, lights, and colour
Dunkirk – Bleak, foreboding, and captivating
Star Wars: The Last Jedi – The interplay of light and dark, red and white

And The Winner Is:

Blade Runner 2049 – World building through visuals

This was another tough category, with Coco’s beautiful creation of the life after death, and Star Wars stunning creations so close to taking home the award. However, I just can’t go past Denis Villeneuve & Roger Deakins’ beautiful creation. They made a world that was both beautiful and run down, intriguing yet brutal, imaginary yet also real. It is such a joy to watch films like this where every shot, every frame could be taken as a painting.

 

 

Every year films will try a sneak a surprise into cinemas, a big star in a small role that you were not expecting. Now if you are really, really lucky no one (and yes I am looking at you movie promotion companies) will have leaked/spoiled it before you go in so it is a beautiful surprise. And The Nominees Are: (also some spoilers here)

Blade Runner 2049 – Sean Young (Rachael)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – David Hasselhoff
Star Wars: The Last Jedi  – Frank Oz (Yoda)
Thor: Ragnarok – Matt Daemon
Thor: Ragnarok – Sam Neil

And The Winner Is:

Thor: Ragnarok – Matt Daemon

Now, this might not have been your experience but I had no idea Matt Daemon was in Thor before I saw the film. Indeed the title of this award comes directly from me watching the play sequence and might be the reason why even though I have seen it twice now I have still yet to see my uncle that was an extra in the film because I can’t help but be amused by it.

 

 

While the Oscars have so far been unable to work out how to recognise characters that are composite creations, that is both actors and animators working together to create something wonderful. Well, the Oscars might not be ready, but we are, so today we are going to look at those performances that highlight both the actor’s talents and the artists that diligently worked together to create memorable characters. And The Nominees Are:

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn & Framestore)
Kong: Skull Island – Kong (Terry Notary, Toby Kebbell & Industrial Light & Magic)
Okja – Okja (Jeong-eun Lee & Method Studios)
Paddington 2 – Paddington (Ben Whishaw, Lauren Barrand, Rodeo FX & Framestore)
War of the Planet of the Apes – Caesar (Andy Serkis, Shawn Beaton & Weta Digital)
War of the Planet of the Apes – Maurice (Karin Konoval, Shawn Beaton & Weta Digital)

And the Winners Are:

War of the Planet of the Apes – Caesar (Andy Serkis, Shawn Beaton & Weta Digital)
War of the Planet of the Apes – Maurice (Karin Konoval, Shawn Beaton & Weta Digital)
You know what I’m calling it: the whole cast.

 

I don’t know quite where to begin here, I deeply cared for something that was created digitally in front of me. I cared for the apes, their stories, and their lives. I cared because both the actors and the animators were working together to bring these characters to life in a way I have not seen before. Look if The Oscars have to create a whole new category for this kind of performance then go ahead because the actors and animators deserve the recognition for the beautiful work that was on display here.

So this is the end of Part 1, you can see Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4, as well as our Best of 2017 and Worst of 2017 over the coming days.

 

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

What are your favourite cinematic moments from 2017?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

 

Credits – All insert images were created by the author, yep you just sat through the holiday pictures from my time in New Zealand, the banner credits are the actors, filmmakers, and production companies of the respective films