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

• The characters that I loved
• The biggest surprise
• The best team up
• The best villain
• The most emotional film

So let’s dive into TL;DR Movie Review’s Awards of 2017 Part 4

 

 

Look there are times in film when you just want to see a character succeed, whether it is winning the competition, defending the planet, making it through high school, getting the girl, getting the boy, or just ramming a deer head through the racist hierarchy that is literally trying to kill you because they think you are a commodity for their own use, you know there are a range of issue. And The Nominees Are:

Ali’s Wedding – Ali & Yomna
Get Out – Chris
Hidden Figures – Katherine Goble Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan & Mary Jackson
Spider-Man: Homecoming – Peter Parker
The Big Sick – Kumail & Emily
Thor: Ragnarok – Thor, Valkyrie & Hulk  

And The Winner Is:

Ali’s Wedding – Ali & Yomna

So Ali’s Wedding is a story old as time: Boy meets Girl, Boy is the son of the local cleric, Girl works in the local fish and chip shop, Girl gets best grades in the entire mosque, Boy lies about his grades because another boy and his father are just the worst, you know the classic boy meets girl tale. Look jokes aside, Ali’s Wedding is a beautiful Aussie film that came out this year, and you just can’t help but want to see them together at the end. I mean the tag line of the film is ‘A True Story … Unfortunately’ what’s not to love about that.

 

 

I watched 84 odd films this year, which was really interesting experience, however there are some draw backs. One of them is that you do start to see some predictable patterns appear in films, so a lot of films, especially average films don’t tend to surprise me anymore. However, even with all that, there are still those every year that just sneak up on me out of the blue and shock me, and these are the films we are celebrating today. And The Nominees Are: (also some spoilers)

Baby Driver – Michael Myers has a sort of cameo
Get Out – Rose is not hypnotised
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – Jack Black can make playing a teenage girl stuck in a overweight 40-year-old look effortless
Spider-Man: Homecoming – The Vulture is Liz’s Dad
Wonder Woman – DC can make a fantastic film

And The Winner Is:

Get Out – Rose is not hypnotised

Ok Spider-Man: Homecoming amost took out this award, for Michael Keaton’s acting alone, but when I think back at the year that was 2017 it is the big reveal in Get Out that stands out the most. Get Out kind of goes out of its way to give the impression that Missy is controlling everyone through hypnosis making them act against their wills. So there is this wonderful moment where Chris is desperately trying to leave as Rose is trying to find the keys to their car in her handbag as her mother Missy, father Dean, and brother Jeremy close in, and then the penny drops. In an instant the façade drops and it is revealed that Rose is not hypnotised at all, it is just an act that she puts on to lure people into the house. A fantastic moment in cinema, and not something a saw coming.

 

 

Yes individual characters in films are fantastic, the command a scene and give stunning performances. However, for me, I live for the ensemble fighting against impossible odds, the pair duelling into the night, the buddy/cop, the secret lovers, and the tent pole action flick with every cameo they can muster, that is my jam. So in this award we champion to teams and pairs that made an impact on me during the year. And The Winners Are:

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: The Fam
Jumanji: Enter The Jungle – The Avatars
Logan – Logan/Charles/Laura
Spider-Man: Homecoming – Peter Parker & Ned
The Hitman’s Bodyguard – Michael & Darius
Thor: Ragnarok – The Revengers
Wonder Woman – Wonder Woman & Steve

And The Winner Is:

Logan – Logan/Charles/Laura

What makes this team stand about the rest, well it is of course the performances of all the actors, and what a find Dafne Keen was. But no it is more than this, it is the fact that everyone both needs something from the other and also resents each other a bit. Laura Is looking for a protector, but Logan is washed up and his body is literally rejecting him. Charles resents Logan keeping him locked away but tragically it is for his own good. They all deeply want to be a family but bar for one perfect moment they can’t be and it both hurts and is also a better film for it.

 

Ah the villain, you need the villain, and if they are really good you may even like or sympathise with them. A good villain can elevate a film to a new height, a mediocre villain means you could be in a Phase 2 Marvel film, and a bad villain can completely undercut your film. And The Nominees Are:

Get Out – Rose
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – Ego
It – Pennywise
Okja – Both Tilda Swintons
Power Rangers – Rita Repulsa
Spider-Man: Homecoming – Vulture
The Big Sick – Emily’s disease

And The Winner Is:

Get Out – Rose

 

There are a number of reasons why Rose is our top villain of 2017 and it is this combination of factors that edged her out in front of Spider-Man’s Vulture. Of course it would be remiss not to start with the phenomenal job that Allison Williams who essentially played two different characters, the charming lover, and then the killing psychopath that has lured dozens of people to their deaths. She plays the role as a perfect predator hunting her prey and the fact you don’t see it coming only adds to her villainy.

 

 

Now for our final Key Moment of 2017. So I am someone that has no problems with sheading a few tears in the cinema. If a film can hit me in the feels all the better because it shows that the characters, story, acting, editing, music, effects, well really every part of the film, has worked because it has allowed you to have an emotional connection to the work of art. Indeed I have a whole category about that on the site. But sometimes it is not just a tear down the side of the cheek, no you get so invested that you find yourself having to desperately not turn into an emotional wreck whilst surrounded by, at best, your friends and family or worst complete strangers. It is those films we honour today, and I know I picked the right films because I started to tear up just writing the nominees down. And The Nominees Are: (also MAJOR spoilers)

Coco – The role of family in our lives, even those who have passed away
Lion – Reunions are bittersweet
Okja – Even in escape you might not win
Paddington 2 – Sometimes it is the more simple present that is the most rewarding
War of the Planet of the Apes – Moses didn’t get to enter the promised land

And The Winners Are:

Coco – The role of family in our lives, even those who have passed away
Lion – Reunions are bittersweet
Okja – Even in escape you might not win
Paddington 2 – Sometimes it is the more simple present that is the most rewarding
War of the Planet of the Apes – Moses didn’t get to enter the promised land

Is this a cop out, maybe, but frankly it’s my list and I honestly don’t care. When I was sitting here working out which one would be the winner I was taken back to those moments when I saw the films for the first time and the emotions came flooding back, indeed I had to stop and go get a Golden Gaytime before I could continue on. The ending of Lion which was so powerful there was not a dry eye in the entire cinema, even the staff that came in to clean up afterwards had to compose themselves, and they only caught the end of the film. Or Coco which beautifully walked into the world of the dead and charted a story about who our family is and that final scene broke me, and it did again writing this section. Or Okja, that weird odd film that sucks you in with the powerful relationship between a girl and her animal, and that emotional core is used to highlight an ending that is both a success and a failure. Or Paddington 2, when even when I knew what was going to happen, I knew it was coming, but it still hit with the emotional force of a cyclone. Or War of the Planet of the Apes, where Caesar can only watch as his family is killed for no good reason, and then after everything he didn’t get to have his happy ever after, but he did get to see his people make it to safety and watch his son enter the promised land. Good films entertain, great films engage, wonderful films leave a lasting impression, and every single one of these films are wonderful.

So this is the end of Part 4, you can see Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3, 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