Best Movies of 2017
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
New Year’s Eve is just around the corner.
Once again, the Cassandras are predicting the end of Hollywood, and the death of movies. Certainly, it’s been a trying year. Politically, the change in US president combined with the widespread use of social networking as a news source has spearheaded a widespread attack on journalistic integrity. And the exposure of sexual harassment in movies and TV meant a loss of credibility in the Hollywood infrastructure. Brexit – if it goes through – could damage cultural production in both Europe and the U.K. The big studios are consolidating like crazy. Disney just bought Fox, and a Timewarner/Comcast merger is in the works. Net neutrality is out the window. Finally the big studios are releasing their movie plans years in advance, which seem to consist solely of cartoons, space movies, superheroes and comedies based on bad TV shows. And in Canada the government signed a sweetheart deal with Netflix, saying the media giant should produce Canadian content… but only if they feel like it. No pressure! And no tax on your Netflix bill!
Sounds awful, doesn’t it? Then how come there were so many fantastic movies this year. So many I can’t possibly put all the great ones on my list of the best of 2017.
But here goes, in no particular order – my list of movies that played in Toronto – either in theatres or at film festivals in 2017. These are all movies that moved, surprised and delighted me in some way. (Not included: documentaries and animation.)
First two movies that were made the previous year but finally reached the big screen in 2017:
I, Daniel Blake is Ken Loach’s deeply moving look at an ordinary guy screwed by by British austerity measures.
Certain Women is Kelly Reicharts look at women out west who don’t quite get it right.
Honourable mentions to the surprising crime drama Good Time, the subtle A Ghost Story, and the funny Wilson.
Next some genre movies I really liked:
Get Out is a dryly funny and satiric horror movie played out against the backdrop of the American racial divide.
Verónica is a Spanish movie set in the early 1990s about a teenaged girl in Catholic school who lets loose demons when she plays with a Ouija board during a solar eclipse.
Now some fantastic movies that opened in the fall and are still playing.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri is a cutely violent story of a woman – played by 
Frances McDormand – trying to bring to justice the unknown killer of her daughter.
Call Me Your Name is a flawless take on first love in Italy in the early 1980s. It’s not the sappy sentimental story it looks like in the trailer, but an intelligent and subtle drama.
The Shape of Water is about a mute cleaning woman working in a government lab in the Cold War 1960s who falls for a man who is part fish.
There are many more great movies – like Ladybird, Florida Project, Wonderstruck, Happy End, 
Thelma, BPM and The Square – that should also be mentioned.
Here are some movies made in 2017 but scheduled for release in the new year, that must be seen.
Lean on Pete is a touching and realistic tale of a kid and the horse he takes care of, setting off in a journey in unknown territory.
Loveless is a heart-wrenching story of a kid in Moscow who runs away from home after he 
overhears his parents say neither of them wants him.
Foxtrot is a sharply satiric comedy drama that looks at a middle aged couple who discovers their son — who works at a military checkpoint – might be dead.
A Fantastic Woman is about a woman whose life falls apart when her lover dies, and his family 
discovers she is a transwoman.
Sweet Country is set in the Australian outback in the early 20th century. Its a classic western, but told for once from the indigenous point of view.
And finally, The Captain, is a fast moving, jaw-dropping, absurdist drama about a German deserter at the end of WWII. He puts on an officer’s uniform, totally changing his identity, status and sense of morality.
As usual, I had a whole year to decide but end up scribbling down my choices right before I record it. So I’m sure I left out a lot of great movies, but hopefully you will catch some of these.
Once again, the list:
The Captain, Sweet Country, A Fantastic Woman, Foxtrot, Loveless, Lean on Pete, The Shape of Water, Call me By Your Name, Three Billboards outside Ebbing Missouri, Veronica, Get Out, Certain Women, I Daniel Blake.
This is Daniel Garber at the Movies, each Friday morning, on CIUT 89.5 FM and on my website, culturalmining.com.
Seeking his Fortune. Films Reviewed: Lean on Pete, Sheikh Jackson, Valley of Shadows
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
Whether it’s Jack or Hans or Esben or Ivan, many fairytales start with a young man leaving home to seek his fortune. This week I’m looking at three new movies premiering at TIFF17 about young men heading off into the unknown. There’s Khaled, a young man in Egypt, Charley, a 15-year-old in Oregon, and Aslak a six-year-old boy in northern Norway.
Sheikh Jackson
Dir: Amr Salama
Khaled (Ahmad Alfishawy) is an imam at a mosque in Cairo who is having strange dreams and hallucination. He cries during prayers and keeps seeing a strange man dressed in black with pale skin and a glittering glove. Is family is very religious — his wife wears a niqab scolds their daughter for watching Beyoncé videos on youtube. And his uncle is his mentor and spiritual advisor. And everyone notices something is not right. He sees a psychiatrist and after many false starts he 
finally opens up and tells his story.
In his youth, Khaled (Ahmed Malek) lived with a loving family in Alexandria. His father is a body-builder entrepreneur, his mother stays at home.And he is entranced by a strange figure he sees on TV — it’s michael Jackson. His mother approves, but his father says “don’t watch that 
transvestite”. When his mother dies, he becomes obsessed with Michael Jackson, changing his hairstyle, buying new clothes, and going to nightclubs to hear his music. He also wants to impress another fan, a beautiful girl in his music class. But things with his father get worse and worse, until everything explodes. He runs to his 
uncle for help, who says he can,ove inwith his family as long as he gives up his current life and studies the Koran. But, back in the present, Michael Jacksons death turns his life upside down. Can he reconcile his moonwalking past with his religious present?
Sheikh Jackson is a delightfully cute look at the conflicts of contemporary Egypt. Religious vs secular, western pop culture vs more traditional ways. It’s also a bittersweet coming of age story about a non-conformist looking fir his place in the world. And — no spoiler – it includes a dance number to the tune of Thriller!
Valley of Shadows
Dir: Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen
Aslak (Adam Akeli) is a 6 year old boy who lives his mom on a farm in remote northern Norway. His older brother is in some kidn of trouble, so he theres no one to play with. And when an older kid tells him there are monsters in the woods and werewolves killing sheep, his imagination goes wild. And when his dog runs away, he realizes he is the only one who can save him. So he packs some sandwiches in a bag and heads out up the mountain and into the forest. This starts a long 
journey, through trees, down slopes, across rivers, encountering, huge beasts, wild animals and a magical hermit as he travels all around. Will he find his dog, survive alone in the forest, avoid the werewolves and somehow make his way home again?
Valley of Shadows is a beautiful look at a journey through the eyes of a little boy. Fantastic scenery and wildlife seen in a dark and mystical light. With very little dialogue, it shows instead what Aslak sees in his journey. It feels like Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are… but real.
Lean on Pete
Wri/Dir: Andrew Haigh
Charley (Charlie Plummer) is a fifteen year old kid who moved with his dad to Portland Oregon. His dad is a heavy drinker who picks up women and takes them home. Charley’s mom left when he was just a kid. Back home he would go running in the mornig and played on the Varsity football team. But he doesn’t know anyone here. One day on a monring run he meets a grizzly old man named Del (Steve Buschemi) who handles race horses. Charley knows nothing about horses, but Del 
needs someone willing to work hard and shovel manure. He hires charley on the spot. That’s where he meets a female jockey named Bonnie (Chloe Sevigny) and a 5 year old quarter horse named Lean On Pete. Bonnie warns him it’s a business, and never treat racehorses like pets, but Charley loves Pete and tells him all his secrets. And when something happens to his dad, and Pete’s life is threatened, he takes the only path he can think of. He sets off across the sagebrush and deserts to save the horse and maybe find a relative who can help him.
Lean on Pete is a wonderful and very moving story of a kid on his own crossing Oregon and Wyoming. It’s not an idealized version, it’s a realistic look at someone trying to eat, drink and stay alive while broke and homeless, and with no one to turn to. It’s a bit of a tearjerker but never maudlin, and kept me riveted to the screen all the way through. And Charley Plummer is great in the title role, telling his story aloud as he travels across country.
Valley of Shadows and Lean on Pete are both playing now at TIFF with Sheikh Jackson having its world prenier tonight as the closing film of Special Presentations. And on Sunday you can see the People’s Choice award winner for free at Roy Thomson Hall; tickets are handed out at 4 pm. Go to tiff.net for details.
This is Daniel Garber at the Movies, each Friday morning, on CIUT 89.5 FM and on my website, culturalmining.com
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