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 3 of 4, we look at five different categories that deal with the cinema of 2017.

• The films that were just fun
• The films that dragged on too long
• Masterclasses in film
• Recurring themes
• Stupid Character Deaths

So let’s dive into TL;DR Movie Review’s Awards of 2017 Part 3

 

Look every year there are those films that are just fun, you sit there throughout the film with a smile on your face, tears running down your face as your side is sore from laughing so much. A good comedy is such hard thing to pull off, because it is so easy just to use jump scare laughs and call it a day. In a good fun film, the writing, directing, acting, editing, the whole cinematic team have to come together to make it work, it also helps when they use the comedic elements to tell a deeper story. Well, there were a number of films that did just this throughout the year. And The Nominees Are:

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Paddington 2
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Thor: Ragnarok

And The Winner Is:

Thor: Ragnarok

 

This was actually one of the hardest categories to narrow it down to just one winner, because they are all very different films. Do I honour the fantastic romp across the Galaxy in Thor, earnest joy of Paddington 2, the coming of age hilarity of Spiderman, the ‘we tell jokes to deflect from the pain and then to become a family’ of GOTGVol2, or the sheer ensemble audacity of Jumanji. In the end, I went with the only barometer I have, my gut and picked the amazing Thor. I have seen Thor: Ragnarok twice now, and I think I laughed more the second time than I did in the first showing. Maybe it is the references that you might only get if you live in Australia or New Zealand, maybe it was Jeff Goldblum and Rachel House lighting up the screen. It could be the fantastic cameos, the wonderful casting, the strength of the direction from Taika Waititi, and what happens when you have worked together for so long that you have an instant rapport. I truly love this film, and it was the film that put a smile on my face.

Some films catch you from the start and take you along for the ride, like Mad Max Fury Road, others are a slow build that sneaks up on you and immerses you into their world, like Arrival (and yes I have already used these as examples, and I don’t care because they are amazing). Others still sit there are do nothing, they take forever to get where they are going and when we get there we discover the destination was not worth the journey. In other words, you could not pay me to sit down and watch these films again, ok real talk you could pay me, but it would be a bit of cash and I would not like it for a moment. And The Nominees Are:

A Cure for Wellness
Chasing The Dragon
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
The Villainess

And The Winner Is:

A Cure for Wellness

 

Now the last film we reviewed in 2017 The Villainess gave A Cure For a Wellness a run for its money in this category, but in the end, at least The Villainess had a solid first 20 minutes whilst is more than we can say for today’s winner. Once the novelty of the beautiful Swiss countryside wears off and the intrigue slips into really don’t care territory, this film becomes a truly painful film to sit through. The ending of the film does nothing to save it, and indeed probably made it worse, nope, I am never going to watch this film again if I can in any way help it.

 

Every year I walk out of a film showing and I am just in awe of what I have seen, this is because some facet of the film was so wonderful I felt like I had just witnessed a masterclass in front of my eyes. And The Nominees Are:

Baby Driver – Edgar Wright and Team; for their Integration of Music into the Narrative
Get Out – Jordan Peele and Team; for Creating and Managing the Build-up of Tension
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Frances McDormand; for a Masterclass in Acting
Thor: Ragnarok – Taika Waititi and Team; for Navigating the Dangers of a Dramatic shift of Tone
Wonder Woman – Patty Jenkins and Team; for Finding the Heart in a Film Franchise that has Lost There Way

And the Winner is:

Wonder Woman – Patty Jenkins and Team; for Finding the Heart in a Film Franchise that has Lost There Way

So much was on the line for Wonder Woman, the last films in the DC Expanded Universe were at best disappointments and underperformed at the box office. Add to this, the immense pressure the film was under as the first superhero in a long time headlined by a woman. Wonder Woman was and is such a powerful icon for people around the world, that if it had flopped it would have been damaging to WB/DC, given ammunition to the verbal fart side of the internet, more importantly, it would have been devastating for those who look up to Wonder Woman as the icon and role model that she is. However, none of that came to pass because of Patty Jenkins and the Team of Wonder Women through all of themselves into the film. The film captured the heart of who Wonder Women is, “it’s about what you believe. And I believe in love.” There was that moment when Diana literally walked into no man’s land and conquered it because it was the right thing to do. They found the heart in a franchise that desperately needed one, and I think this will be one of the hallmark films of 2017.

It might be a familiar face, location, or theme but some years there parts of film landscape that you will see over again across the year. And The Nominees Are:

Domhnall Gleeson
The Dunkirk Evacuation
John Denver

And The Winner Is:

Domhnall Gleeson

Ok, we may have given it away just a little in the title of the award, but only a little bit. However, what a year for Domhnall with appearances in The Last Jedi, mother!, American Made, and Goodbye Christopher Robin all in the space of one year. And hell, with how he’s 2018 is shaping up, well there is a very good chance we will see him back here next year, but seriously Domhnall make sure you get some sleep at some point.

 

Every year there are those character deaths that emotionally wreck us, as their fate is sealed by forces outside of their control, and we can only sit and watch as the horror unfolds. These are not the deaths that we are looking at today. For today, we are looking at those stupid deaths, those deaths where you go, really, really, did you want to die, is that what happened? Because I think a normal person would not have died there. And The Nominees Are: (Also Major Spoilers)

Alien: Covenant – Crewman Ledward
Alien: Covenant – Crewman Hallett
Alien: Covenant – (Acting) Captain Oram
Divinity: Original Sin II – That Damned Chicken (Not a movie, I know, but I don’t care, stupid Chicken)
Kingsman: The Golden Circle – Whisky
Rough Night – Jay (The Not-Stripper)

And The Winner Is:

Alien: Covenant – (Acting) Captain Oram

 

Ok wow, nearly every single death in Alien: Covenant was avoidable with just a moment of common sense like wearing environmental suits on an alien planet when you don’t know what is in the atmosphere. However, Oram has to take the prize due to just how stupid his actions are. So he has just witnessed David talking to the Alien that just killed one of his crew. But, instead of killing the now clearly untrustworthy synth he follows David, of his own free will, right down into the heart of the building past a plethora of evidence that David in unhinged and then actively looks into what is clearly an egg/pod thing and with something pulsating inside when David asks him too. I mean come on dude, there were so many points where you would not have died if you had even a sliver of common sense.

So this is the end of Part 3, you can see Part 1, Part 2, 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