Bob Ignizio's Favorite Movies of 2017

As this year comes to an end, so does the Cleveland Movie Blog. But first, one last obligatory year-end roundup article.

I had big plans for the last two weeks of December. I was going to get out and see most, if not all, of the big end-of-year awards bait movies playing locally. Alas, it was not to be. The whole family came down with various illnesses – flus, colds, sinus infections – that are still lingering as I write this.

So no, I did not see LADYBIRD, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING MISSOURI, THE DISASTER ARTIST, THE SHAPE OF WATER, or THE FLORIDA PROJECT. I didn’t even get to see STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI.

Despite missing all those prominent releases, I still somehow managed to take in 160 first run features in 2017. Given that writing about film is more of a hobby than a job (i.e. no one pays me for this), those are respectable numbers. And out of those 160 films, there were more than enough exemplary movies that I still feel good about my list. If anything, not it means I have room to include some less ballyhooed movies that would, in any year, be worthy of inclusion on a “Best of” list. So without further ado, here are my best films of 2017, divided between scripted films and documentaries.

Underworld: Blood Wars (now on home video)

Review by Bob Ignizio

Plotless is a criticism one often sees leveled against action films. That's one failing  UNDERWORLD: BLOOD WARS certainly does not suffer from. On the contrary, there is so much plot that the film becomes a huge, incomprehensible mess. Not only do we have four previous films worth of backstory to recount in flashbacks and voice-overs, but there are multiple factions of vampires and werewolves each working to their own ends as they cross and double-cross each other. And sure, you can follow it if you pay close attention, but given how dumb and ridiculous it all is, the rewards don’t really justify the effort.

Dumb and ridiculous has always been a trademark of the UNDERWORLD series in which blood sucking “death dealer” Selene (Kate Beckinsale) has to do battle with the savage Lycans (the series name for werewolves) while simultaneously fending off scheming members her own kind. That was fine in the previous films, though, as it never felt like they took themselves all that seriously. As disposable as they may have been, they were entertaining on a B movie level, always offering plenty of well-staged action scenes and cheesy special effects. Here, the action and CGI monsters seem like more of an afterthought, with Cory Goodman’s script instead focusing on the dense mythology of the series.

 

My Friend Dahmer

Review by Bob Ignizio

It’s funny how a movie adaptation of a book can be faithful in very many ways, and yet still wind up missing the heart and soul of its source material. Such is the case with MY FRIEND DAHMER, adapted from the graphic novel by Clevelander John “Derf” Backderf. It’s an autobiographical tale in which Derf (played in the film by Alex Wolff) recounts his high school semi-friendship with Jeff Dahmer (Ross Lynch), who would go on to become one of the most infamous serial killers in American history.

At the time, Dahmer just seemed like a harmless weirdo whose bizarre antics provided Derf and his friends with a source of amusement. They made Dahmer a mascot of sorts, encouraging his odd disruptive behavior. Eventually, though, the fun came to an end as Jeff's dark side became more apparent. This was most obvious in his level of alcohol consumption, which even in the party hearty era of the seventies seemed excessive, and clearly not done for fun.

Wrapping things up

In case you haven't noticed, there hasn't been much action here on the Movie Blog for about a month.  Part of that is real life has been extremely busy for me. And the fact is, things show no sign of slowing down any time soon. But the truth is, if I were still as enthusiastic about doing this blog as I was when it started seven years and a month or so ago, I'd find the time. But the enthusiasm just isn't there anymore.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the blog during its run - Pamela Zoslov, Charles Cassady Jr., Pete Roche, George Thomas, Matt Finley, Joseph Anthony, Candice Lee Catullo, Eric Sever, Marcie Gainer, Eddie Fleisher, Milan Paurich, Grace Snyder,  Zoe Brown, Edward Mishic, R. J. Justavick, Ben Lybarger, Ric Nimrod, Jeff Niesel, and Wayne Richards.  

 

And of course, thanks to John Ewing and Timothy Harry at the Cleveland Cinematheque, Dave Huffman at Cleveland Cinemas, The Owens Group, Allied, and all the other great PR people, filmmakers, and distributors who provided The Cleveland Movie Blog with advance access to the films covered here. 

And finally, thank you to the readers who visited this site.

With what little free time I have, there are only so many creative projects I can pursue. And I feel as if I've pursued this one as far as I want to. It's been a lot of fun, but now it's time to move on to something else. And it'll be kind of nice to go back to watching movies just for fun, too. Not to mention not having to watch the ones that aren't any fun all the way to the end just because I have to write a review.

I'm still planning on doing a year-end best/worst wrap up at the end of the month, and after that... 

 

 THE END

Sincerely,

 

Bob Ignizio

31 Days of Halloween 2017: Cold Moon (now playing at Tower City Cinemas)

[31 Days of Halloween 2017: COLD MOON opens today in Cleveland exclusively at Tower City Cinemas.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

The late writer Michael McDowell is best known these days, if at all, for co-writing the screenplay to BEETLEJUICE, which led to further film work in the nineties. But during the eighties, he cranked out a number of pulpy horror novels, including the then ubiquitous “Blackwater” series. Early in his career he wrote the novel ‘Cold Moon Over Babylon’, published as a paperback original in 1980. That novel has now been adapted into the film COLD MOON by director Griff Furst and his co-writer, Jack Snyder.

At first, COLD MOON plays like a fairly typical seventies gothic slasher movie, something along the lines of BLOOD AND LACE or THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN, perhaps. That means unlike a FRIDAY THE 13^TH eighties style slasher, there’s more emphasis on character, place, and subtext. We sense there will be a little more meat on its cinematic bones than just seeing how high a body count the killer can rack up, and what interesting forms the deaths might take.

31 Days of Halloween 2017: Antibirth

[31 Days of Halloween 2017: ANTIBIRTH is now available on home video and streaming.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

Lou (Natasha Leone) is the kind of girl whose hard partying lifestyle could plausibly lead to a situation like the one in which she finds herself in ANTIBIRTH. To be specific, she is evidently pregnant despite not having had (to her memory) sexual intercourse for the last 6 months. But hazy memories point to the possibility that something may have happened at a druggy warehouse party. Maybe she was raped by Gabriel (Mark Allen Webber), a small time drug dealer and sammer, or his buddy Warren (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos). Or maybe some other, stranger kind of violation took place.

Lou looks for support from her friend Sadie (Chloe Sevigny), Gabriel’s girlfriend. But it is Lorna (Meg Tilly), a mysterious drifter who talks about alien impregnations, who ultimately helps Lou get to the horrifying truth.

31 Days of Halloween 2017: Death Note (now available on Netflix)

[31 Days of Halloween 2017: DEATH NOTE is now available on Netflix.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

A high school student finds a magical book that lets him kill anyone he wants just by writing their name in DEATH NOTE. Based on a Japanese manga which was, in turn, previously filmed as an anime feature film, director/writer Adam Wingard’s version tries to adapt the premise for western audiences.

The student in question is Light Turner (Nat Wolf), a smart kid who sells term papers and is still coping with the murder of his mother. Once he finds the book and starts reading it, a demon named Ryuk (voice of Willem DaFoe) appears and explains that he can kill anyone Light wants him to, provided he writes the victim’s name in the book and can concentrate on their face.

Light decides to use this newfound power over life and death to be something of a superhero, taking out the kind of bad guys his policeman father (Shea Whigham) often has to let go due to technicalities. Sort of a supernatural Dirty Harry, if you will.

Nosferatu (October 6th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[NOSFERATU screens Friday October 6th at 9:30 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque. Live musical accompaniment by The Invincible Czars.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

For those who don't already know, F.W. Murnau's silent horror classic NOSFERATU is in reality a very thinly disguised and very much unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'. Stoker's heirs were not pleased and tried to have every copy of the film destroyed, but like any good movie monster NOSFERATU managed to rise from the grave. It is now considered one of the undisputed classics of the horror genre, one of those films that film historians and critics will tell you that you simply have to see in order to have an appreciation for the development of cinematic art, blah, blah, blah. And they're right, of course, but that's not why you should watch it. You should watch NOSFERATU because, even at almost a century old, it's still fun to watch.

31 Days of Halloween 2017: It

[31 Days of Halloween 2017: IT is now playing in theaters.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

Stephen King’s 1986 novel ‘It’ is over 1000 pages, takes place in two different times, boasts a monster who appears mainly as a clown but is, in reality, comprised of orange lights from another dimension, and includes a scene in which group of adolescent friends engage in a consensual gang bang. To say that it is a difficult work to adapt faithfully to the screen is probably an understatement.

The first attempt to turn ‘It’ into a movie was the 1990 TV film version directed by Tommy Wallace. It boasted a strong cast that included Tim Reid, John Ritter, Harry Anderson, and Annette O’Toole, with Tim Curry giving an iconic performance as the monstrous Pennywise. It’s well acted and reasonably true to the book, but in trying to cram everything into three hours skips over a lot. The special effects are, to be charitable, dated, and much of the horror had to be toned down for the television standards of the time to the point that you’re not always sure whether characters have died or disappeared or been injured until it’s flat out told to you.

31 Days of Halloween 2017: The Blackcoat's Daughter

[31 Days of Halloween 2017: THE BLACKCOAT’S DAUGHTER

 is now available on various home video formats.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

Although it is the first feature film directed by Oz Perkins (son of Anthony), THE BLACKCOAT’S DAUGHTER is his second to see release. I AM THE PRETTY THING THAT LIVES IN THE HOUSE was released last year by Netflix, and was one of this critic’s favorite films of the year. Despite having sat on a shelf for a while, THE BLACKCOAT’S DAUGHTER is almost as good.

Perkins takes a familiar horror film setup – a private girl’s school oozing with barely contained sexuality and beset by evil – and puts a fresh and satisfyingly creepy spin on it. With most of the students going home for break, Kat (Kiernan Shipka) remains, waiting for her parents to arrive and fearing that they won’t. The only other student on campus is Rose (Lucy Boynton), who has lied to her parents about when they should pick her up because she needs to deal with her unexpected pregnancy.

31 Days of Halloween 2017: Beyond the Gates

[31 Days of Halloween 2017: BEYOND THE GATES is now available on various home video formats.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

Imagine JUMANJI as a low budget eighties horror movie, and you have a fairly good idea what to expect from BEYOND THE GATES. Two estranged brothers – the successful Gordon (Graham Skipper) and ne’er do well John (Chase Williamson) – reunite after the death of their father to settle his affairs. In particular, there’s the matter of the video store dad owned and all the movies contained therein. Left behind in the store’s back room: a strange board/VHS game that sucks the brothers into a netherworld where their choices result in people dying. And once the game has begun, quitting is not an option. 

Director Jackson Stewart, who co-wrote the screenplay with Stephen Scarlata, is obviously working with a low budget here, but that’s fine. He clearly knew what his limitations would be, and doesn’t try to stage anything he can’t pull off satisfactorily. Besides, capturing that eighties aesthetic doesn’t really require millions of dollars. Just plenty of fog, colored lighting, latex, and slime. 

Woodshock (opens today at the Cedar Lee Theatre)

[WOODSHOCK opens in Cleveland on Friday September 29^th exclusively at the Cedar Lee Theatre.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

With its hazy, washed out cinematography, languid pacing, ambient soundtrack, and naturalistic performances, WOODSHOCK is every inch the modern indie film. Written and directed by fashion designers turned filmmakers Laura and Kate Mulleavy, it is a film that announces early on that it has something to say, and then goes about saying it in a whisper so low you’re not really sure what was said. It is a tone poem about a woman descending into grief and madness while engulfed in a haze of marijuana smoke.

The plot, to the degree the film has one, is that Theresa (Kirsten Dunst) works at a medical marijuana dispensary. In addition to the usual fare one would expect to find in such an establishment, Theresa also offers a special euthanasia blend to terminal customers. As the film begins, Theresa is giving this drug to her mother. It may be what mom wants, but Theresa has a hard time dealing with her guilt afterwards.

The Lego Ninjago Movie

Review by Bob Ignizio

Both THE LEGO MOVIE and THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE were far more entertaining than I expected. The plots may have been standard issue kid flick stuff about being true to yourself and/or the importance of friends and family, but the jokes were clever and plentiful. Heck, THE LEGO MOVIE even managed some emotional resonance. So despite not having much of an idea what Ninjago was (other than having put together a few Lego sets bearing the trademark), I was hopeful that THE LEGO NINAJAGO MOVIE would be up to those standards.

It’s not, but it’s not terrible, either.

The Girl Without Hands (September 21st and 22nd at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[THE GIRL WITHOUT HANDS screens Thursday September 21^st at 8:50 pm and Friday September 22^nd at 7:30 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

It’s a given in fairy tales that when someone makes a deal with a supernatural being, be it a witch or whatever the heck Rumplestiltskin is, there’s going to be a catch. In THE GIRL WITHOUT HANDS a poor woodsman trades “what is behind [his] mill” to an incognito Devil for wealth, thinking all he is giving up is his apple tree. What the woodsman doesn’t realize is, at the time the deal is struck, his daughter is in said apple tree, making her part of the package.

As is often the case with fairy tales in their purer forms (and this adaptations sticks fairly close to the Brothers Grimm text), this one is probably too dark and loaded with subtext to qualify as children’s fare. The idea of a father lopping his daughter’s hands off to make good on his deal with the Devil is certainly nightmare fuel. And when the handless girl eats pears from a Prince’s garden, it certainly seems suggestive of something else. Or maybe my mind’s just in the gutter, and sometimes a cigar (or pear) really is just a cigar (or pear).  

Bill Made a Movie: An interview with 'Dave Made a Maze' director Bill Watterson

Interview by Bob Ignizio

Born in Cleveland, Bill Watterson (no, not the “Calvin and Hobbes” guy) eventually went west for a career in Hollywood. He worked his way up from the bottom, starting as a production assistant and eventually moving into acting and voice work. And with DAVE MADE A MAZE, Bill has added writing and directing to his resume.

The film is an original and fun mix of horror, comedy, and cult sensibilities in which an artist who can never finish anything builds a box fort in the middle of his apartment. Somehow, the fort is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside (sort of like the TARDIS of box forts, I guess), and is something of a maze, complete with booby traps and a minotaur.

I personally enjoyed the film quite a bit, and wanted to know a little more about Bill and his movie. Fortunately, he was gracious enough to answer my questions.

Kekszakullu (September 7th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[KEKSZAKULLU screens Thursday September 7^th at 6:45 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

The best scene in KEKSZAKALLU, and the one that best encapsulates what the film is about, is its very first. It takes place on the diving board of a public swimming pool, where we watch several adolescent boys enthusiastically launch themselves into the water below. Then an adolescent girl walks to the end and pauses, contemplating what it is she is about to do. She hesitates, and looks back. We never do find out if she takes the plunge.

The scene is a metaphor for the uncertainty that comes with the transition from childhood to adulthood, which this film seems to argue is more difficult and ambivalent for females than males. Various vignettes follow a small group of young women as they navigate this transition. There is little concern with traditional narrative or story, focusing more on creating an atmosphere in which to explore its central theme.

The Queen of Spain (September 1st at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[THE QUEEN OF SPAIN screens Saturday September 1^st at 7:00 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

A mix of cinematic nostalgia, farcical comedy, and political intrigue, Fernando Trueba’s THE QUEEN OF SPAIN never really congeals into a satisfying whole. The main plot concerns glamorous Spanish actress Macarena Granada (Penelope Cruz) returning to her home country after becoming a star in America only to find that her presumed dead lover Blas Fontiveros (Antonio Resines) is alive. Blas gets a job on the film Macarena is starring in, a biopic about Spain’s Queen Isabella, but quickly runs afoul of his ex-wife’s new beau, an officer in the Franco regime.  

Blas is sent off to do hard labor, and at the urging of his ex-wife, Macarena goes to visit him. As it becomes increasingly apparent that someone wants Blas not just imprisoned, but dead, Macarena hatches a plot with the cast and crew of the film to help Blas escape.

Unlocked (opens September 1st at Tower City Cinemas)

[UNLOCKED opens in Cleveland on Friday September 1^st exclusively at Tower City Cinemas.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

In this densely plotted political thriller, CIA agent Alice Racine (Noomi Rapace) is still dealing with guilt for a terrorist attack she couldn’t stop when she gets called back by her former superior (Michael Douglas) to help stop a biological attack. The virus being used, we are told, “may just trump Ebola for the nightmare trophy.” Overseeing the operation from afar with no shortage of snark is Bob Hunter (John Malkovich).

Unbeknownst to either Alice or Bob, another faction of rogue intelligence agents have a different plan in mind. It is these morally dubious individuals who pick Alice up and bring her back to interrogate a courier who is being sent by his Imam not to launch a terror attack, but to stop one. They plan to eliminate Alice once she gets the information they need from the courier, but she realizes what’s happening and manages to escape.

Repost: Kedi (August 26th and 27th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[KEDI screens Saturday August 26th at 8:15 pm and Sunday August 27th at 8:25 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

Attention cat lovers, your movie of the year has arrived. The documentary KEDI takes audiences on an exotic journey to Istanbul, where felines are given free reign of the city. These are not feral cats, keeping their distance from humans and surviving on the fringes. Nor are they pets in the usual sense of the word. Instead, they exist somewhere between those two points, enjoying food and attention from humans while still maintaining a level of independence and staying true to their animal nature.

Directed by Ceyda Torun, the film is part travelogue, part nature film, part history lesson, and part study of human nature as it susses out the various reasons why Turks have chosen to co-exist with cats in this way. Sure, the cats get food and love, but the relationship is symbiotic as humans benefit, too. But then, if you're a cat lover, you already knew that.

Wind River

Review by Bob Ignizio

The frozen body of a young woman is discovered on an Arapaho reservation by US Fish and Wildlife Service officer (and skilled hunter/tracker) Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner), setting the plot in motion in WIND RIVER. The discovery hits Lambert hard. The victim was a friend of his daughter, who herself died under mysterious circumstances a few years back. So when out of her depth FBI agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) asks for Lambert’s help, he agrees.

Writer/director Taylor Sheridan previously wrote the screenplays for SICARIO and HELL OR HIGH WATER. Like those films, this is an intelligent, adult crime drama with a touch of social commentary. And also like those films, it arguably feels more exceptional than it is simply because the standards have been lowered. I don’t mean to take anything away from WIND RIVER, but this would just have been the level of quality audiences would have expected from a major studio drama in the seventies.