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Author Topic: #662: (Pt. 2) Top 10 Films of 2017  (Read 4421 times)

pixote

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#662: (Pt. 2) Top 10 Films of 2017
« on: December 29, 2017, 12:37:10 PM »


With their 'outlier' picks behind them, Adam and Josh - joined by guests Tasha Robinson (The Verge) and Michael Phillips (Chicago Tribune) - get down to business in part two of the Top 10 Films of 2017 countdown with their consensus choices for the best films of the year. Consensus, that is, with the exception of a pair of films that also happen to be among the most divisive films of '17. (Trigger warning for those of you who don't like to hear mommy and daddy fight.)

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His Bobness

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Re: #662: (Pt. 2) Top 10 Films of 2017
« Reply #1 on: December 31, 2017, 10:35:57 PM »
Adam in this show demonstrated to me yet again that his most vital service on this program is as a perfect reverse indicator of a film’s merit. Josh was bang on in his criticism of the significant tonal problems with Three Billboards (a hallmark of its hugely over-rated Irish writer-director Martin McDonough - a wannabe David Mamet). The movie is a mess in structure, style and dialogue, redeemed only by Frances McDormand’s performance. But, of course, Adam could see none of that, digging in his heels as he tends to do and going into over-praise mode. The wonder is how someone who is a professional critic can be so constantly off-beam in his assessments.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2017, 10:37:54 PM by His Bobness »

Adam

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Re: #662: (Pt. 2) Top 10 Films of 2017
« Reply #2 on: January 01, 2018, 12:00:49 PM »
Adam in this show demonstrated to me yet again that his most vital service on this program is as a perfect reverse indicator of a film’s merit.

I'm perfectly fine with providing this service (if it wasn't nonsense that surely could be contradicted by 1 or 100 movies we've reviewed on the show over the years that you feel the same way about. Hyperbole is fun though).

What a crazy thing to dig in your heels for a movie you love. Perception of tone is totally subjective - obviously. There's a website that tallies up all the various critic top 10 lists and Billboards is at no. 7, making 126 lists and ranking no. 1 on 12 of them. I'm kind of disappointed I'm not more out on a ledge to be honest, but hey, there's a lot of reverse indicator critics out there for you to seek out.
« Last Edit: January 01, 2018, 12:06:07 PM by Adam »
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Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: #662: (Pt. 2) Top 10 Films of 2017
« Reply #3 on: January 01, 2018, 12:05:33 PM »
Oh man, there goes another professional critic with his own personal tastes and opinions and not assimilating with consensus. Don't you just hate it when they do that?

Teproc

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Re: #662: (Pt. 2) Top 10 Films of 2017
« Reply #4 on: January 01, 2018, 12:07:01 PM »
Really liked the new format for the top 10s.
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Adam

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Re: #662: (Pt. 2) Top 10 Films of 2017
« Reply #5 on: January 01, 2018, 12:12:45 PM »
Good to hear Teproc - heard from only few people so far who didn't like it. I don't think we're locked into anything for next year - the picks themselves will largely determine whether the structure works or not. But I definitely don't see going back to the format where we get 3 or 4 different people all explaining why they put movie X at Y slot. I definitely liked the way we built up to Ghost Story, Florida Project, Lady Bird and Get Out as the films of the year. Feels right even if Ghost Story stands out a little.
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Junior

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Re: #662: (Pt. 2) Top 10 Films of 2017
« Reply #6 on: January 01, 2018, 12:34:47 PM »
I also very much like the new format. As a guy who likes hearing people both talk about the things only they love so I might also discover it and talk about the stuff everybody loves so I can hear different perspectives on it, the format really works for me. And those picks really do stand out as not only great films but also particularly 2017-y.
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1SO

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Re: #662: (Pt. 2) Top 10 Films of 2017
« Reply #7 on: January 01, 2018, 07:42:27 PM »
This thread is going to be interesting when Three Billboards receives 4(ish) Oscar nominations including Best Original Screenplay.

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Re: #662: (Pt. 2) Top 10 Films of 2017
« Reply #8 on: January 02, 2018, 06:07:10 PM »
Honestly, kind of shocked how Tasha lists MOTHER!, PHANTOM THREAD, & I, TONYA but doesn't even acknowledge the problem many people have with all three films: they either have a questionably misogynistic view of their leading female characters or don't treat their problems with the respect they deserve. I hoped that someone else on the roundtable would've discussed these problems, but not a peep.  :-\

SPOILERS FOR THE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED MOVIES:

Both MOTHER! and PHANTOM THREAD don't investigate the central female characters beyond their relation to their man. Their goal is to love a man who is withholding love for them because they're obsessed with their art. Regardless of how innovative in style they are, the core narratives of these films have not only been done before, but are pretty repugnant.

I TONYA, on the other hand, gives full breadth of who Tonya Harding is as a person, but repeatedly shows her being brutalized in domestic abuse over and over, sometimes playing it for macabre laughs. I don't know what more there is to gleam from showing the nth time a woman is beaten other than to feel hollowed out by the casualty Gillespie employs in his form with it. I would feel like there could be a point to these excessively violent scenes if there were any commentary on them, but there's barely any.

Adam

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Re: #662: (Pt. 2) Top 10 Films of 2017
« Reply #9 on: January 02, 2018, 06:38:25 PM »
Appreciate these perspectives but don't share them. (Haven't seen Mother.) Can't speak for Tasha but would seem she doesn't either.
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