STACK #159 Jan 2018

DVD&BD

FEATURE

THE OTHER AWARDS

BEST SUPERHERO FILM: Spider-Man: Homecoming The Spidey reboot we had to have, with a Peter Parker we could love. BEST FOREIGN FILM: Elle Paul Verhoeven’s triumphant return to the thriller territory of Basic Instinct . MOST OVERRATED: Split James McAvoy is fun, but this is textbook M. Night Shyamalan – all filler, no killer. MOST UNDERRATED: The Great Wall and A Cure for Wellness A tie. Wellness was too weird for many, but watch it become a cult movie. Wall has stunning production values, cool monsters, and Matt Damon. Check ‘em out. BEST SEQUEL: War for the Planet of the Apes An immensely satisfying conclusion to a great franchise reboot – hail Caesar! WORST SEQUEL: Transformers: The Last Knight Even more incoherent and chaotic than Revenge of the Fallen . Yes, that is possible! MOST UNNECESSARY SEQUEL: Jack Reacher: Never Go Back Passable if you don’t go back to the original film, which is much better. WORST REBOOT: The Mummy Establishing a new cinematic universe took priority over entertainment value. ENOUGH ALREADY!: Underworld: Blood Wars Surely every drop of blood has now been drained from this endless franchise? MOST DISAPPOINTING: T2: Trainspotting The gang was a lot more interesting when they were young and on drugs.

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anchored by a magnificent, Oscar-winning performance from the perennially brooding Casey Affleck. Quietly devastating but never maudlin. 9 GET OUT Who would have thunk that one of the best horror films of the year would come from the mind of comedian Jordan Peele. A nightmarish take on Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?, this smart satire on race relations in the US combines cringe-comedy and creepiness to startling effect. 10 BABY DRIVER Edgar Wright’s best film to date is a fast and furious action-thriller with a sweet romance at its heart, high-speed pursuits, and a soundtrack that refuses to quit. Propelled by a discernible rhythm and a love for the craft of filmmaking, this is a cool ride from go to whoa.

7 AMERICAN HONEY Boasting naturalistic performances from a mostly non-professional cast, and a cinema verité style, British director Andrea Arnold’s episodic road trip with a bunch of impoverished youths is a raw and authentic slice of Americana; a breath of fresh midwestern air after being suffocated by so many superheroes. 8 MANCHESTER BY THE SEA Writer-director Kenneth Lonergan’s textured

exploration of grief and the search for redemption following a past tragedy is

see page 26 for THE BEST OF 2017 TV

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