SPECIAL
CITATION – THE YEARS GREATEST PIECE OF CINEMA…WAS ON TELEVISION
Twin Peaks: The
Return
Washington State. The White
Lodge. The Roadhouse. The Double R Diner. The Great Northern Hotel. Laura
Palmer. Dale Cooper. Diane Evans. Audrey Horne. Dougie and Janey-E Jones. Gordon
Cole. The Log Lady. BOB. MIKE. The Arm. HELLOOOOOO!!
This is David Lynch and
Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks.
The recognition from film
critics over what is clearly a masterwork has once again sparked the debate as
to what constitutes a film. For me it has always been dependent on the medium
to which it was both intended and ultimately presented. Both Lynch and Showtime
intended for this to be television, so it is. End of discussion. That being
said, no other work of art this year grabbed me, frightened me, uplifted me or
even moved me as much this 18-hour leviathan.
When people – somewhat transparently,
I feel – cite that they believe television in recent years is more satisfying
or audacious than cinema, I often think of something Charlie Kaufman once said:
“I’m still waiting for the experimental TV”. I feel similar. I have dedicated my
life to movies not because it’s my resolute religion, but because I truly see
nothing else that quite measures up to them, despite a love/hate relationship
that we share. If something someday greater reveals itself, it’ll be a glorious
discovery. But until then, Fire Walk with Me...
SPECIAL
CITATION – MOST OVERRATED FILM OF THE YEAR
The Shape of
Water
Del Toro’s sketchbook of
ideas has never worked for me. And I remain astonished as to why this one in
particular worked for so many others. All the characters are flimsy cyphers
with none of what they represent coalescing in any way. Even apart from that,
as a piece of direction, it’s pedestrian at best, with Del Toro clumsily
keeping his camera moving for no reason other than to add mobility to an inert
plot.
Runner Up: The Killing of a Sacred
Deer
SPECIAL
CITATION – MOST UNDERRATED FILM OF THE YEAR
Wonderstruck
One of the best children’s
films of recent years. It flopped at the box-office and even critics didn’t feel
it measured up to Todd Haynes' previous work. Please ignore all of this and
experience it for yourselves. It’ll stay with you.
Runner Up: Logan Lucky
SPECIAL
CITATION – MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE OF THE YEAR
Star Wars:
The Last Jedi
One of the most
incontrovertible examples of the influence and necessity of a dynamic auteur: Rian
Johnson crystalizes all the adolescent mumbo jumbo of the Star Wars franchise,
designed to coddle a malnourished movie-going public that is bred on nostalgia,
into a rather gratifying piece of interplanetary theatrics. The religious
mysticism is harmonized, the humour is acute and the battle sequences, both on
the military and hand-to-hand scales, are expertly filmed. He also accomplishes
the task of conveying a sense that momentous consequences are involved in the
decisions taken. Surely the best Star Wars film since the original trilogy, the
aesthetic is deeply rooted not only in those films, but in the Kurosawa
masterpieces that inspired them. It’s too long, too sentimental and too
preoccupied with setting up plotlines for future instalments, but this is
probably about as personal as these films are going to get.
Runner Up: Happy Death Day
SPECIAL
CITATION – BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE YEAR
The Beguiled
Surely Sofia Coppola’s
least interesting work to date, not so much adapting the novel again but
directly remaking the 1971 film. Her version strips away the psychosis of
wartime impropriety and sexual frustrations and relies, almost solely, on
atmospherics, and the disequilibrium that comes from isolation. The isolated
girl – the ladybird trapped in a cage, if you will – has always been Coppola’s
dominating theme but there is little evidence of anything else added here and
the reason she would want to remake such material remains, for me, a mystery.
Runner Up: I, Tonya
SPECIAL
CITATION – MOST MISUNDERSTOOD FILM OF THE YEAR
Downsizing
Truly a strange, half-baked
brew, and one that merits admiration for its unconventionality alone. The fun
here is in the details, as opposed to its narrative, which sets up its central
premise brilliantly and then completely collapses into a hole of liberal
finger-wagging and distasteful stereotypes. Though claims of stereotyping and
racism were fairly undeserving, with said reaction stemming more from being
bored. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,
Missouri is far more queasy in its depiction of the prejudiced but, because
it’s a far more conventional movie, no one outside of the film critic community seemed to
care.
Runner Up: The Boss Baby
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