This is the thread where we discuss matters pertaining to the detrius that accompanies the "End of the Year in Cinema" -- 2017

no US distro as yet for Hannah

The Square looks really annoying

It is! In a raelly great way, imo, but it's also a really Scandinavian movie. ymmv.

yeah i both liked and hated the square, i think it's worth seeing even if you kind of want to slap all of the main characters

I have to admit, it's made for me. I studied cultural communication, and I recognize pretty much all the characters...

I studied cultural communication

Parts of the Square are really feeble - the subplot about the piles of detrius being accidentally cleaned up (lol modern art is indistinguishable from rubbish lol), the entirely predictable/unshocking 'shocking' video of the child being blown up, cheap laughs at the guy with tourette's at the press conference, who cannot be silenced because of middle class artworld fear over 'blocking discourse'. The ape guy at the party is obviously meant to be socially awkward to watch, but the scene comes so late in this (much too long) movie that you can't help feeling just duffed up by it, even though the performance is obv a technical bit of work. The only time the film really came alive for me was the long sequence of the museum director and his work intern going off to post the leaflets in the block of flats - very tense, a sense of disaster looming, hubris, good music - and the robbery scene before that.

I don't think this has been posted yet

https://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/the-20-best-film-scenes-of-2017

xpost
And Killing of a Sacred Deer is ten times smarter and funnier than The Square about male privilege and economic inequality without resorting to apparently unironic shots of homeless people camped outside art museums.

I really like Dogtooth and The Lobster but Sacred Deer was a shitty arthouse revenge movie

I really like you Michael B but that was a shitty revenge on arthouse post

:P

witty arthouse revenge

And Killing of a Sacred Deer is ten times smarter and funnier than The Square about male privilege and economic inequality without resorting to apparently unironic shots of homeless people camped outside art museums.

^^^ this.

The Square played as if Östlund set out to write a parody of a Cannes favorite for a Eurotrash Living in Oblivion.

I give purportedly misanthropic cinema a colder reception, but Killing's wit and use of horror compensated.

The Square is not about economic inequality, that's one of the biggest misreads of it, imo.

To answer Eric's question: Sherwan Haji in The Other Side of Hope.

And the many shots of homeless people would be absolutely ordinary if you went to Stockholm. It's one of the things that has stuck with me after travelling to swedish film festivals.

It's like complaing an NY film had too many shots of subways.

does Elizabeth Moss do her usual mogadon performance in The Sq?

that everyone's like oh Eliz Moss is so magnetic! to

Nathan Rabin's Top 10

I preferred The Square to Sacred Deer despite it being about a half-hour too long.

xp shares only 4 of my top 10 list, not bad

man, Close really looked like an ill Stan Laurel in AN

square snobbery here is confounding to me but tastes differ i guess

Justin Chang's list.

and Chicago Film Critics announced their winners yesterday:

Picture: Lady Bird
Director: Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk
Actor: Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name
Actress: Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Supporting actor: Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Supporting actress, Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Original screenplay: Jordan Peele, Get Out
Adapted screenplay: James Ivory, Call Me by Your Name
Foreign language film: The Square
Documentary: Jane
Animated feature: Coco
Cinematography: Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049
Editing: Jonathan Amos and Paul Machliss, Baby Driver
Art direction: Blade Runner 2049
Original score: Jonny Greenwood, Phantom Thread
Most promising performer: Timothee Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name
Most promising filmmaker: Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird

"let's have the dead compete against one another for our memorial award," said the Online Film Critics Society pic.twitter.com/3utkYlpJVZ

— Jason (@jasonosia) December 18, 2017

Update: The Memorial and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Online Film Critics Society are no longer nominees, they will award all names mentioned in both categories. #OFCS

— Erik Anderson (@awards_watch) December 18, 2017

Goldderby summa. Let's see if Chalamet, the frontrunner, can shake off Oldman:

The Phoenix Critics Circle (PCC) had two picks for the best pic of the year: “The Shape of Water” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” This marks the first win for either film from any of the 14 critics groups heard from to date. “The Florida Project” and “Get Out” have four wins apiece from the critics.

The Phoenix scribes awarded Best Actress to both Sally Hawkins (“The Shape of Water”), and Oscar frontrunner Frances McDormand (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”). The former leads the latter by a margin of six wins to four.

Timothee Chalamet (“Call Me by Your Name”) won over the Phoenix critics thus bringing his total up to five. He continues to widen the gap with the two other leading Best Actor Oscar contenders who have each picked up a pair of prizes: Daniel Day-Lewis (“Phantom Thread”) and Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour”).

While Sam Rockwell (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”) picked up his third critics award, Supporting Actor Oscar frontrunner Willem Dafoe (“The Florida Project”) already has nine crowding his mantle. And with her win with the PCC, Best Supporting Actress Oscar frontrunner Laurie Metcalf (“Lady Bird”) now has nine as well while her closest rival, Allison Janney (“I, Tonya”), remains at four.

The Phoenix folks went with Christopher Nolan (“Dunkirk”) for Best Director and split the screenplay award between Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird”), Martin McDonagh (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”) and Jordan Peele (“Get Out”).

cuz it's all about THE OSCARS

THE GOLD STANDARD

Cynthia Nixon was nominated by the OFCS btw

http://ofcs.org/category/weekly-updates/ofcs-awards/

And this reluctant member tossed her a vote too.

Also, I have no idea how that dead people "nominees" thing came about.

Phantom Thread listed but not DDL is curious

Also, critics award ties are the actual worst.

THE GOLD STANDARD

are they made of gold? I thought they were chocolate.

hence Harvey Weinstein's have vanished

I gave Cynthia Nixon a nod too, along with Aubrey Plaza. Morbs' beloved Nahuel Pérez Biscayart among my actors.

whither Adam Sandler?

you'd think having an "arc" that finishes with washing your hands of Dustin Hoffman would have appeal

Musto

http://www.newnownext.com/michael-mustos-14-favorite-movies-of-2017/12/2017/

Dunkirk, Three Billboards AND Wonder Wheel!

At least Nolan, with skillful economy (100 fucking boyband rejects and Branagh's eyebrows) reminds us that war is fucking ace when you are the eventual victor. It pisses all over Paths Of Glory.

S&S clickorama

http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/best-films-2017-all-the-votes/#/?poll=combined&film=59ba532494069

I have a pdf of that issue. I can dropbox it if anyone is interested.

Nick Schager finished his list

http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a52209/best-movies-of-2017/

A handful of critics seem to really like The Blackcoat's Daughter (directed by Oz Perkins, son of Anthony), but I found it alternately dull and yucky (but mostly dull).

blackcoat's daughter is terrrrrrrrrible i have no idea what people see in it

anyone watched Wormwood?

no, but I'm off tomorrow and was toying with seeing a noon arthouse showing.