Best Movie Moments of 2017

Having stopped working at a movie theater as of the start of the year, I found, unsurprisingly, that I have not seen nearly as many movies as I would have liked last year. As such, I felt making a worst of list would not be possible (as the only real bonafide stinkers I saw this year were Alien: Covenant, Suburbicon, and Downsizing), and I don’t think I saw enough to make a best of list.

I can, however, feel more comfortable with making a list of moments in film this year that I thought were rather exceptional, as these don’t really need to come from films that I actually thought were among the best this year, and I do think I have more of those than truly best films in my opinion.

To be clear, I did not see every movie, so if it’s not in here, either I didn’t see it, or I’m a colossal idiot, I get it a lot. There may be spoilers for anyone interested in seeing these movies who hasn’t yet, though I will try to be as punctual as possible so as not to spoil their true impact, so with that being said, let’s begin.

10. Churchill Takes the Underground from Darkest Hour

There is a lot to admire from this film, Gary Oldman’s arguably career-best performance as former Prime Minister Winston Churchill notwithstanding, and some top-notch writing including a dramatization of the delivery of one of the greatest war speeches ever given.

This all begins its buildup near the last twenty minutes of the movie when, on an impulse, Churchill decides to take the London Underground on his way to address Parliament regarding peace negotiations with Nazi Germany. While riding the tram, he begins socializing and exchanging in pleasantries with the citizens, who are all dumbstruck by his presence. What’s so great about this scene is how we really see the best parts of Churchill’s personality shine through, where everything before this point has portrayed him as a volatile, headstrong individual.

The scene reaches its peak when the riders, upon being asked about their opinions of the war, proudly state their intention to fight the Germans no matter the cost. It was just such a powerful, down-to-Earth moment that, while not the most important, was one of the most resonant.

9. Mourning Over Pie from A Ghost Story

I saw this movie at its second screening ever held last May, and other than it being another A24 movie and that it was being made by David Lowery fresh off his bold remake of Disney’s Pete’s Dragon, I wasn’t fully sure what to expect.

When the scene of Rooney Mara’s M discovering a chocolate pie left on her kitchen counter by a friend following the untimely death of her husband Casey Affleck, C, came on, what followed was a sequence I was certain was going to be iconic regardless of peoples’ opinions on it. It sounds too simple and crazy to be believed, but yes, in a single, unbroken static shot equaling nearly five minutes in length, M sits on her kitchen floor and eats the entire pie while C’s ghost watches over her.

It’s an extremely uncomfortable scene to watch, made more wrenching by Mara’s sobs that break the silence, but it really put into perspective the amount of time that it takes C’s to try and achieve his own peace and closure. It’s simply an incredible moment that makes an incredible film.

8. Pete’s Death from Wind River

Wind River was a landmark in storytelling that sadly got lost in the shuffle of more willing contenders from the latter third of the year, but as with any Taylor Sheridan film, it is certainly not to be missed, especially for it’s explosive climax.

After trying to solve the death of a Natalie, a Native-American teenager, Jeremy Renner’s Cory Lambert and Elizabeth Olson’s Jane Banner finally track down her would-be killers: a group of oil-drillers who murdered her boyfriend, a co-worker of theirs, in a jealous rage after they attempted to gang-rape her. Though she managed to evade them, she ran out for help that never came before collapsing in the sheer cold of the Wyoming wilderness. The shootout that follows afterward is immensely cathartic, but nothing can top the punishment that Lambert had in store for the sole survivor and leader of the gang, Pete.

After knocking him unconscious and dragging is body to the highest peak in Wyoming, Lambert offers Pete his freedom if he can make a five-mile run to the nearest road while barefoot, giving him the same odds that Natalie was forced with when she was running from him. While the tough-as-nails Natalie made it several miles before she met her untimely fate, Pete gets a few-hundred feet before perishing. Good. Riddance.

7. Bobby Thwarts a Pedophile from The Florida Project

This movie is rife with hilarious, memorable moments, including but not limited to Moonee and her friends visiting an abandoned house or its guerilla-style ending. Many of this movie’s best moments come from Willem Dafoe playing Bobby, the manager of the seedy Magic Castle hotel, and this moment was by far the most poignant and exhilarating.

After a creepy old man tries to socialize with the many younger residents of the Magic Castle playing outside, including our prepubescent heroine Moonee, Bobby catches him, and after the man tries to weasel his way out of his situation by claiming he wanted a soda, Bobby, slowly but surely, forces him to make good on his excuse before spectacularly shaming him off the property.

There were many scenes in which Bobby showed his stern and strict sides and his warm and supportive sides throughout the movie, but both were put on full display here and cranked to eleven, running the tensions high and providing reasons as to why Bobby was a favorite character of mine in 2017.

6. Protecting Spyglass from Atomic Blonde

This is precisely what I meant when I said a movie doesn’t necessarily need to be great to make this list. As disjointed and convoluted a story as Atomic Blonde was, it had more than a handful of great moments, the single-shot marvel that comes near the film’s ending topping them all.

Charlize Theron’s Lorraine Broughton is an MI6 agent trying to protect Stasi officer codenamed Spyglass, who has memorized the contents of a highly sought-after list containing the identities of all field agents stationed in Berlin on both sides of the wall. While trying to safely escort him to West Berlin, Broughton and Spyglass are ambushed by KGB agents, leading to a spectacular gun and melee fight in which she fights them off.

While single-take-style shots are clearly nothing new, the one from Atomic Blonde is particularly incredible due to the complexity and brutality of the fight choreography and Charlize Theron’s peerless acting abilities. Director David Leitch has already proven his worth as an action director with both John Wicke movies (though uncredited), and it only makes the wait for Deadpool 2 this year feel that much longer.

5. Dickens Figures Out His Ending from The Man Who Invented Christmas

Not only was this one of the best movies of 2017, this is probably one of the most genuinely great Christmas movies since probably Elf. There were honestly too many great scenes to pick from in this movie, but the one that meant the most to me was when Dickens finally realizes how to effectively conclude his opus, A Christmas Carol.

With his deadline to send his story to his publisher rapidly approaching, Dickens falls into despair as he cannot figure out a narratively satisfying arc for his protagonist Ebenezer Scrooge, whose presence taunts Dickens throughout the film. After returning to a blacking factory where Dickens spent a portion of his childhood, he remembers words his father said to him, which inspires Dickens to formulate the pivotal scene in his story in which Scrooge laments his death and promises to change his miserly ways.

Not only is this scene lush with emotion, this context and added depth also provides one of the most powerful retellings of this classic Christmas Carol scene ever put to film. Though, it also certainly helps to have the immeasurable talents of Christopher Plummer and a career-best performance by Dan Stevens. This is a movie I shall eagerly await to rewatch next Christmas season.

4. "No More Catholics Left" from T2 Trainspotting

This one may have been more of an “in-the-moment” inclusion, considering I was in the same theater as Danny Boyle and Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh when I saw this and was hyped as all hell, but it doesn’t take away from how side-splittingly funny this sequence was.

While trying to rob a Protestant social club to renovate a pub ran by Jonny Lee Miller’s Simon “Sick Boy” Williamson, he and Ewan McGregor’s Mark Renton are nearly caught in the act, but the patrons, believing them to be new members of their group, tell them they cannot leave unless they sing a pro-Protestant drinking song. With Sick Boy on the piano and Renton singing, the pair poorly, but successfully improvise a song of a victorious Protestant battle that gets more wild and energetic as the drunken crowd is swept away by its message.

This is classic screwball-style comedy made funnier by Boyle’s off-kilter angles and pacing, and it’s just an otherwise glorious moment for this pair when it has no right to be. I suppose it would be fair to say that the whole sequence ends in an equally hilarious fashion, but I’ll leave you to experience it for yourself, as well you should.

3. The Algiers Motel Interrogation from Detroit

While there were some truly frightening moments in film last year, whether it be Chris’s hypnosis in Get Out or pretty much any scene in mother!, none could come remotely close to this sequence, featuring one of the decades most terrifying performances in the form of Will Poulton’s Phillip Krauss.

The film dramatizes both the events of the 12^th Street Riot and the subsequent Algiers Motel Incident in ghastly detail, and the scene in which the brutal and deeply racist Krauss and his fellow policemen begin terrorizing occupants of the motel, believing one of them shot at police and Guardsmen from the windows, despite the offender having used a starter pistol.

It’s a very long and harrowing sequence that will make even the most hardened viewer’s skin crawl. Between Katheryn Bigelow’s dark and claustrophobic direction and Poulter’s performance, it’s a scene that that turned an otherwise racially-charged thriller into an all out horror film. But speaking of horror movies…

2. The Entire Second Half from mother!

Yeah, I’m totally cheating on this one, but it was impossible to pick a singular moment within the chaos of this underrated gem because the second half of this movie just feels like an entire scene in and of itself.

Jennifer Lawrence is Mother, who lives in a large house isolated from society with Javier Bardem’s Him, a poet suffering from writers block. It’s very easy to tell when the “scene” begins, but Him finally writes his next great poem, prompting a flock of admirers to come and adore Him and his work. And from there, things go from 0 to 100 really, really quick. People start stealing stuff from the bathroom while Him anoints his followers with ashes, a war breaks out in the dining room complete with protesters throwing Molotovs at police in riot gear, Kirsten Wiig’s publicly executing people in the living room, and by the end of all of it, no one is going to want to eat at Chili’s ever again.

Given its rare F rating on Cinemascore, its very clear that this movie did not do anything for lots of people, and for fair reason. I, on the other hand, found this movie to be nothing short of an experience, and it’s all thanks in part to Darren Aronofsky’s extreme direction, Mattew Libatique’s hellish cinematography, and a very committed performance by Jennifer Lawrence. I highly advise anyone interested in this to proceed with caution. For better or for worse, you will leave this movie changed.

Before I unveil my Number 1, here are a few honorable mentions.

Elio Says Goodbye to Oliver from Call Me By Your Name

K vs. Derrick from Blade Runner 2049

Meeting the Parents from The Big Sick

Storming Veld from Wonder Woman

"Hocus Pocus" Foot Chase from Baby Driver

And finally...

1. The Escape from Get Out

I was blessed to see an early pre-release screening of this movie in packed auditorium, truly the only way someone can truly appreciate this movie. Though this still would have been an extremely satisfying and entertaining scene on its own merits with any different audience, and it was indeed the audience that I saw it with that made this scene one of my favorite film-going experiences of my life.

Daniel Kaluuya’s Chris Washington is meeting his white girlfriend’s parents for an extended weekend. After realizing the family has sinister intentions for him, Chris just barely sets a plan of escape in motion, leading to a nail-biting and gut-busting climax of blood, fire, smashed heads, and deer trophies.

Jordan Peele really shone through on this movie, perfectly blending horror and comedy in ways most veterans couldn’t hope to achieve, all of which come to a head in those final twenty minutes. While there were many genuinely uncomfortable moments and really funny scenes, it was the moment Chris bashes the bocce ball into the back of his girlfriend’s brother’s head that it went from a movie to a sporting event. With each confrontation and death, the audience applauded Chris on like he was singlehandedly winning the Super Bowl, and I was clapping and hollering right there with them. I didn’t think anything could could possibly come close to topping the ending to Whiplash in my lifetime, but Peele nearly achieved that in a mere three years. Truly some dazzling filmmaking.

Comments

[Super Trampoline]

I still need to see Get Out, but I hate scary movies... :/