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.

Pamela Zoslov's Favorite Movies of 2017

We bid farewell now to 2017, that most terrible, awful, Trump-cursed year. Good riddance, bad year! As always, the movie theater proved a good escape from the frenzied chaos, and the year brought us some excellent films, and not too many terrible ones.

My list of favorites includes two titles starting with "I," the first-person pronoun, and not one of this year's four movies with the word “Wonder” in the title. I did, however, like cinematography and Kate Winslet's performance in Woody Allen's Wonder Wheel. I didn't see everything this year, God knows, and have not seen some scheduled to be released soon, like The Post, All the Money in the World, Molly's Game and Phantom Thread.

The top movie on my list, Martin McDonagh's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, is currently playing in theaters, and is getting the nominations and recognition it deserves. McDonagh, the Irish playwright whose infrequent movies have included the coruscating In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths, has had a popular breakthrough with Three Billboards, in which Frances McDormand plays a woman determined to get justice for her murdered daughter.

Ranking the Coen Brothers 17 Films

 This last week saw the release of HAIL, CAESAR!, the 17th feature film from brothers Joel and Ethan Coen. For the last 32 years, the Coen brothers have assembled a filmography that includes every type of genre there is. Their output is compelling, creating work that is accessible to the masses while never compromising its quality to do so (save for a film or two). The brothers make movies in and about America. Most share the narrative: the folly of man, particularly in the pursuit of greed. Underneath that narrative simmers humor, tragedy, gripping dialogue and beautiful photography to create an experience unique to the Coen’s.

Ranking their films (not including their wonderful short-film in PARIS JE T’AIME) is a fool's errand. Of their 17 films, 10 can be considered classics or masterpieces (not to use the term lightly), and the rest an assortment of fine filmmaking. Often, mood determines the Coen brothers film I need that day, or maybe that year. The past decade of Coen brother releases still feel fresh. The Coen’s produce work that grows and matures on you. They give you so much to think about that there is no right way of compiling this list (in the pursuit of ranking their films, you’re sure to offend a few). Having seen HAIL, CAESAR! only a day ago, its inclusion is perhaps absurd. But like any good Coen brothers character, I’ll proceed on despite my own absurdity.

Bob Ignizio Looks Back at the Year in Film for 2011

By Bob Ignizio

The most important and amazing thing I saw this year wasn't a movie; it was the birth of my son Vincent on January 31st. I try to leave my personal life out of this blog, but in this case it's relevant because having a baby in the house couldn't help but affect my movie viewing. On the one hand, I saw fewer films in the theater because I was busy being a stay at home dad. And yet I wound up seeing more movies overall this year than I ever have thanks to DVD, Blu Ray, Netflix Instant, and various On Demand services, all of which helped make those long nights waiting for the boy to wake up at 4 am expecting a feeding a little easier to bear.

I usually try to be a “glass half full” kind of guy, but I have to admit that 2011 was a pretty lean year for great movies. And as always, a lot of the more interesting films came out at the end of the year, many playing only in big cities like New York and Los Angeles solely for the purpose of Oscar consideration. Even among the films that have played Cleveland this past year, I wasn't able to see everything I wanted to. In particular, I really wish I had caught TAKE SHELTER, HUGO, MONEYBALL, THE IDES OF MARCH, THE DESCENDANTS, THE SKIN I LIVE IN, and MARY MARCY MAY MARLENE. Regardless, I feel confident that I saw a wide enough selection of the films released in 2011 to come up with a list I can live with.

Before I go any further, I should probably explain my personal criteria. The way I see it, a movie is a 2011 release only if it had its theatrical debut in NE Ohio in 2011, or else skipped theaters altogether and debuted on home video this past year. If I couldn't see the movie in Cleveland in some manner until 2011, then it's a 2011 release as far as I'm concerned. That's why you might see a few movies that are technically considered 2010 (or even earlier) releases on my lists.

Matt Finley's Some Movies I Dug (And Others I Didn't) In 2011

By Matt Finley

2011 was a great year for movies… or so I’m told. I was a total cinema slacker this year, due to equal parts full-time employment and general chronic lumpishness. Any authoritative list I made would, therefore, be under-informed, incomplete and sweaty with mis-appended superlatives. But, after all, this is the internet… and I do have opinions, so I may as well write something.

A Few Movies That I Dug, In The Order That They Occurred To Me As I Sat Here Writing This:

ATTACK THE BLOCK - Undeniable urban science fiction. cracking creature design, a groovy dubstep-by-way-of Ed-Wood score by the blokes from Basement Jaxx, and solid action all bangered and mashed together with a massive helping of Britsy pop culture-soaked wit. And it still manages a biting socio-political subtext.

Charles Cassady Jr.'s Top Ten for 2011

By Charles Cassady, Jr.

Cyber-bullying being a major problem in US schools, I only felt I have to do my bit. Word reached me of the top-five-movies-of-the-year-2011 list compiled by the esteemed student newspaper of Case Western-Reserve University. If memory serves, it goes something like this:

(1)     CAPTAIN AMERICA

(2)     THOR

(3)     CAPTAIN AMERICA

(4)     GREEN LANTERN

(5)     Tie – CAPTAIN AMERICA and THOR

What can I say? The voice of young America speaks. Glad to know the future of our culture is in such good hands.

Okay, despite my sarcasm, maybe the Case kids are just warming us up for the global apocalypse in 2012, reminding us that if the world does end next year around this time, it will surely be a tragedy on a cosmic scale – except for contempo cinema. No great loss there. Unless you were counting on a Wolverine-Superman crossover, or the fourth/fifth attempt to get a Punisher feature right. Otherwise, stick a Mayan Calendar fork in Hollywood, it’s done. The art form has run its course.

Pamela Zoslov's Best of 2011

By PAMELA ZOSLOV

The week between Christmas and New Year's finds media people assembling lists (people love lists) and recycling their favorite columns and broadcasts of the year (beats working!). And so I am compelled to compile my own list of the year's “best” films. My list includes a whopping five documentaries, because I lean toward the learning experience, or what P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves might call “an improving film.” I want films to tell me about something I don't know, rather than just take me on a ride. And in a momentous year that saw the rise of Wikileaks and increasing opposition to government secrecy, truth-telling seems much more important than fantasy. Haven't we all been living too long in a fantasy world?

Still, there was a smattering of outstanding fiction films this year, as well as cheerfully vulgar comedies (a guilty pleasure), like HORRIBLE BOSSES and THE SITTER. Interestingly, a number of the year's best fiction films (HUGO, THE ARTIST, 50/50 and MONEYBALL) were also based on true stories.

Pete Roche's Top Ten for 2011

By Pete Roche

I always approach year-end and best-of lists with trepidation.  Film is art, after all, and I wouldn’t presume to tell people what the year’s “best” pictures were—because it isn’t for me to say.  Tastes are subjective, so there really are no right or wrong answers when polling someone on the matter.  Moreover, posting a year-end “best of” list might suggest to readers that the author has actually seen most—if not all—titles released during those months in order to fashion a comprehensive list that accounts for every movie, from small art house indie flicks to mega-million dollar Hollywood blockbusters. 

I most certainly haven’t seen ‘em all.  If I had, current buzz-worthy releases like THE DESCENDANTS, CARNAGE, THE ARTIST, and SHAME might very well have leapfrogged their way into my Top Ten.  I’d also have taken into consideration lower-budget, close-to-home titles like TAKE SHELTER and I LOVE YOU, CLEVELAND.  But since I can’t speak to (or for) movies I haven’t yet previewed, what follows is a list of personal favorites taken from the dozens of 2011 efforts I did check out. 

Bob's Lists: The Best of 2011 so far

We're just a little over halfway through the year in movies, which means it's about time for most critics to start complaining about what a rotten year in cinema it's shaping up to be. I'm not going to be one of those critics.

For starters, one of the benefits of living in a city that Hollywood doesn't deem to be important like New York City, Los Angeles or Chicago is that a lot of the good movies that opened in those cities at the end of 2010 didn't hit my town until January or February of this year. That helps ease the pain of having to sit through the dregs Hollywood dumps on audiences in those lean months. And since I had no way of seeing those movies until 2011, as far as I'm concerned that's when they came out.

Bob's Lists: Bob's 10 Favorite Coimic Book Movies

By Bob Ignizio

I like making lists. I like writing for this blog. Here is where the two come together. At least once a month, maybe more, I'll be putting together a cinematically related top ten list. This time it's my top ten favorite comic book movies.

Notice I didn't specify super hero movies. There's a lot more to comic books, and comic book movies, than guys running around in funny costumes and punching each other. Not that you won't find plenty of that kind of thing on here, but some of my favorite comic book movies are much more down to earth. So without further ado, here's the list.