Ten out of 120 Howard Viewed in 2017!
1.) “Paradise” (Rated R?) This film is from The 2017 Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival, entirely in black and white, the film is set during World War II, when three people cross paths. Simply put, “Paradise” one reason to go to big screen.
Cast: Yuliya Vysotskaya (Olga), Christian Clauss (Helmut), Philippe Duquesne (Jules),Viktor Sukhorukov (Heinrich Himmler).Running time: 130 minutes.Languages: Russian/German/French/Yiddish. Director: Andrey Konchalovskiy.
2.) “Phantom Thread” (R) A famous dressmaker Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis), and sister Cyril (Lesley Manville) are at the height of their careers making dresses for film stars, heiresses, debutants and dames at the House of Woodcock. Reynolds is an older gent, a bachelor, has had his share of women but then a young, shy woman Alma Vicky Krieps) comes into his life.
Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis (Reynolds Woodcock), Lesley Manville (Cyril), Vicky Krieps (Alma). Running time: 130 minutes. Director: Paul Thomas Anderson.
3.) “Dunkirk” (PG-13) Standard war movie with epic-like effects, including cinematographic beauty. The battle occurs May/June 1940, in Dunkirk, a city in Northern France, with a huge task of evacuating 300,000 men from the enemy fire, the Germans.
Cast: Fionn Whitehead (Tommy), Harry Styles (Alex), Jack Lowden (Collins), James D”' Arcy (Colonel Winnant). Running time: 107 minutes. Director: Christopher Nolan.
4.) “Get Out” (R)Â A unique psychological thriller involving an interracial couple: Daniel Kaluuya (Black) as Chris Washington and Allison Williams (White) as Rose Armitage meet her parents for a weekend. However, the weekend is no ordinary weekend because what happens is bizarre.
Cast: Daniel Kaluuya (Chris Washington), Allison Williams (Rose Armitage), Caleb Landry (Jeremy Armitage), Marcus Henderson (Walter), Catherine Keener (Missy Armitage), Bradley Whitford (Dean Armitage)Running time: 104 minutes.Director: Jordan Peele.
5.) “Lady Bird” (R) loved by critics and audiences alike, the movie deserves much praise and credit due to director Greta Gerwig. Gerwig should be nominated for best director for her fine work. The Academy has an abysmal record for nominating women for best director (maybe 5, at best); only one woman in the 52nd Oscar race has won best director: Kathryn Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker” (2008). But Saoirse Ronan is the main star, playing “Lady Bird”, attending a Catholic high school in Sacramento, California, in 2002. She wants to attend a college outside of California, but her parents cannot afford it. The young lady clashes with her mother (Laurie Metcalf) and learns how relationships with the opposite sex isn”'t easy. One of most mature films about teenagers in a long time.
Cast: Saoirse Ronan (“Lady Bird” Christine McPherson), Laurie Metcalf (Marion McPherson), Tracy Letts (Larry McPherson), Lucas Hedges (Danny), Timothee Chalamet (Kyle). Running time: 94 minutes. Director:Â Greta Gerwig
6.) “Call Me by Your Name” (R)Â Arguably the best romance in film for 2017 accompanied by very strong acting, beautiful soundtrack and cinematography. Set in the summer of 1983, in Northern Italy, an artifacts assistant named Oliver (Armie Hammer) to Perlman (Michael Stuhlbarg) develops a romantic relationship with his son Elio (Timothee Chalamet). Not only a coming of age film, but a meticulous, poignant gay love story nearly a masterpiece.
Cast: Armie hammer (Oliver), Timothee Chalamet (Elio), Micheal Stuhlbarg (Mr. Perlman).Running time: 132 minutes.Director: Luca Guadagnino.
7.) “The Shape of Water” (R)Â is about Cold War era America circa 1962 film where a secret government agency has an experiment only to have the cleaning women find out more than they bargained for. Visually a stunning movie, but Guillermo del Toro is no stranger to breathtaking cinematography such as his “Pan”'s Labyrinth” (2006), “Hellboy” (2204) and “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (2008).
Cast: Sally Hawkins (Elisa), Zelda (Olivaria Spencer), Michael Shannon (Strickland), Richard Jenkins (Giles). Running time: 123 minutes. Director: Guillermo del Toro.
8.) “The Florida Project” (R)Â Beauty (or lack thereof) is in the eyes of the beholder cannot be more accurate than through the eyes of children in hard times living in a motel in Florida with a manager that is trying to be reasonable.
Cast: Willem Dafoe (Bobby), Valeria Cotto (Jancey), Bria Vinaite (Halley), Christopher Rivera (Scotty). Running time: 111 minutes. Director: Sean Baker
9.) “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (R)
Months passed without a suspect in Mildred Hayes”' (Frances McDormand) daughter”'s murder so she”'s brazen enough to paint three signs to shock the town”'s police department and the townspeople.
Cast: Frances McDormand (Mildred Hayes), Woody Harrelson (Sheriff Willoughby), Sam Rockwell (Officer Jason Dixon), John Hawkes (estranged husband), Clarke Peters (Abercrombie). Running time: 115 minutes. Director: Martin McDonagh
10.) “Loving Vincent”
(PG-13) Shortly after the death of the famous artist Vincent van Gogh, Postman Roulin (Chris O”'Dowd), sets out to deliver van Gogh”'s last letter to his brother Theo (Cezary Lukasszewicz). Animation.
Cast: Cezary Lukasszewicz (Theo), Chris O”' Dowd (Postman Joseph Roulin), Saoirse Ronan (Marguerite Gachet). Running time: 94 minutes. Directors: Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman.
