The Bamboo Awards: BORN IN CHINA WINS IT ALL!

[The Panda]

And starting off my top 10, which you can consider my 10 choices for Best Picture this year.

 

Number 10

Wonder Woman

 

"Be careful in the world of men, Diana. They do not deserve you."

 

My Grade: A

Most Valuable Player: Patty Jenkins for her Direction and Gal Gadot for starring as Wonder Woman

Box Office: 412.6m

Tomatometer: 92%

Synopsis: Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, when a pilot crashes on their shores and tells of a massive conflict raging in the outside world, Diana leaves her home, convinced she can stop the threat. Fighting alongside man in a war to end all wars, Diana will discover her full powers and her true destiny.

Critic Opinion: "Suffering Sappho! Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman” is that rarity: a superhero movie with a heart.  Though this heroine, in her trademark red-and-gold bustier, has been around for more than 75 years — making her debut in World War II-era comic books, where she was known to employ the expletive above — Wonder Woman, aka Diana, Princess of the Amazons, aka Diana Prince, is headlining her first feature film. And it’s everything fans and moviegoers would want it to be: smart, swift, sometimes funny, occasionally dazzling and surprisingly soulful. “I believe in love,” says this superhero (Gal Gadot), quietly; words stronger than any blow." - Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times

User Opinion: "This is the first superhero film I've seen in awhile that's been really good at actually staging its heroism. Part of it is a credit to Rupert Gregson-Williams' excellent score but I felt some genuine emotional surges when Diana jumped into a fight. The story is pretty standard origin-story stuff but both its surface themes and gender politics allegory are sadly still very prescient in today's world, and Gadot and Pine's chemistry and mutual sense of humor help to move things along. I still have misgivings about the DC universe as a whole but I gotta hand it to Patty Jenkins and DC on this one. They nailed it." - @tribefan695

Reasoning: Uh oh, another comic book movie just showed up on my list, and it's not even a rated R satire or genre deconstruction!  I must be turning into a pleb!  Joking aside, Wonder Woman, while imperfect, is a wonderful blockbuster and the truest superhero movie made since the original Superman.  Patty Jenkins goes for a classical style, and the movie absolutely shines because of it, giving us good-natured summer fun that's packed full of hope.  There's a reason this movie resonated with audiences so well that it was carried to a near 4x multiplier.  While the movie does have quite a few flaws, especially in its villain Ares, the highs more than make up for it.  No Man's Land may just in fact be my favorite scene of the year, although that's a tough one to decide.  It's hard to describe just what the film makes you feel other than refreshed and joyed.  It's an honest film that does exactly what a classic superhero movie ought to do, create a positive role model who is able to inspire with their character, beyond their cool powers.  

 

 

 

[Fancyarcher]

Though it wouldn't make my top ten. Wonder Woman is still very good, even upon rewatch. It's nice to see a superhero film with an actual inspiring hero (or heroine) for a change. 

Edited December 30, 2017 by Fancyarcher

[The Panda]

Number 9

Wind River

 

"Take the pain, Martin. It's the only way to keep her with you."

 

My Grade: A

Most Valuable Player: Taylor Sheridan's Screenplay and Direction

Box Office: 33.8m

Tomatometer: 87%

Synopsis: A veteran tracker with the Fish and Wildlife Service helps to investigate the murder of a young Native American woman, and uses the case as a means of seeking redemption for an earlier act of irresponsibility which ended in tragedy.

Critic Opinion: "Although the resolution to the mystery wouldn’t do credit to a third-rate thriller, it’s crazily powerful — sudden and bloody but with no real catharsis, just a sense of waste and a feeling of, “What now?” I’m not sure how Sheridan would answer that — not that an artist really needs to. He has a soft spot for vigilantism, which I’m guessing he sees as a necessary evil — or perhaps a Western genre convention that he’s loath to pass up. (Renner wears a cowboy hat.) In any case, long after the gunshots of Wind River fade, you might think you hear the cries of the dead." - David Edelstein, New York Magazine

User Opinion: "Wind River was the follow-up from Taylor Sheridan after the amazing Hell or High Water, and he didn't disappoint. Wind River is the type of moody adult thriller that is on the verge of extinction, which is a damn shame. Jeremy Renner leads a fantastic cast with some top-notch acting in a chilling scenery in the middle of the snow and there are some really amazing shots of the mountains and lets not forget how well directed was the fantastic shooting between multiple characters near the end. The score also helps setting up the mood for what is one of this year's best movies." - @CJohn

Reasoning: Wind River is a chilling movie that I just recently was able to catch, mostly because I saw it suggested and popping up on a few lists (as well as the fact that I've been a fan of Sheridan's screenplays).  The movie plays out like a contemplative Western in the Snow, turning the terrain of Wyoming into a character of its own.  You feel cold watching the movie, and somewhat isolated, as many of the characters do.  Sheridan is able to use this to reflect on the themes of grief and loss, as well as make a poignant statement about social epidemics still going on in our society with rape culture, especially when it comes to women in low positions of power.  There are so many ideas in this film that just stick with you, and it's one you reflect back on and appreciate more the more you let the themes sink in.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2017 by The Last Panda

[That One Girl]

I’m cool with Wonder Woman and Wind River but they really don’t deserve to be that high

[Fancyarcher]

Slight correction but Sheridan didn't direct Hell or High Water. That was David Mackenzie. Sheridan did however make his directing debut with a horror film called Vile, which I'm assuming he did for cash, and maybe directing experience, as he was still an actor when he made it. 

[The Panda]

Best Actor

 

Honorable Mention #4

Andy Serkis, War for the Planet of the Apes

 

Honorable Mention #3

Jeremy Renner, Wind River

 

Honorable Mention #2

Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out

 

Honorable Mention #1

Hugh Jackman, Logan

 

Co-Runner Up

James Franco, The Disaster Artist

 

Runner Up

Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

 

Winner

Mark Hamill, Star Wars: The Last Jedi

[The Panda]

16 minutes ago, Fancyarcher said:

Slight correction but Sheridan didn't direct Hell or High Water. That was David Mackenzie. Sheridan did however make his directing debut with a horror film called Vile, which I'm assuming he did for cash, and maybe directing experience, as he was still an actor when he made it. 

Thanks for the catch, I was really thinking Mackenzie for some reason!

[Fancyarcher]

10 minutes ago, The Last Panda said:

Thanks for the catch, I was really thinking Mackenzie for some reason!

No biggie! I could understand the confusion since Sheridan's script and Mackenzie's direction are both a large part of the reason why Hell or High Water works as well as it does.

[The Panda]

Number 8

Logan

 

"Nature made me a freak. Man made me a weapon. And God made it last too long."

 

My Grade: A

Most Valuable Player: Hugh Jackman as Logan

Box Office: 226.3m

Tomatometer: 93%

Synopsis: In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X, somewhere on the Mexican border. However, Logan's attempts to hide from the world, and his legacy, are upended when a young mutant arrives, pursued by dark forces.

Critic Opinion: "In nine “X-Men” films over 17 years, Wolverine’s biggest nemesis has arguably been a PG-13 rating. While the popular Marvel character had the swagger and sideburns right, the conformist limits of big-money blockbuster making ensured few real surprises. “Logan” takes its indestructible metal claws to comic-book movie norms and destroys them, and it’s a wonderful thing. The new Wolverine film exists in an established universe, but it takes a massive tone shift from the relatively bloodless earlier X-Men films, going berserk in its own moody and ultraviolent direction." - Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle

User Opinion: "A lyrical, near-perfect send-off for Hugh Jackman's Wolverine that stands as the best X-Men film of them all and one of the best comic book movies ever. I have seen all of these movies in theaters going back to the original 17 years ago, and James Mangold delivers a fitting conclusion to the film saga that got this particular fan choked up by the end. Anyone who doubts that superhero movies can't be as powerful as the best dramas need to look no further than this for the rebuttal." - @filmlover

Reasoning: Wow!  I put three comic book movies on this list, and two of them in my top 10, what a crazy year this is!  Logan is a thoughtful deconstruction of the X-Men franchise and the superhero genre, and it's a fitting send-off for Hugh Jackman's time as Wolverine.  This movie is the comic book genre's version of Unforgiven, and so it's a moving redemption story filled with some grueling action sequences.  The movie isn't without its flaws, especially pertaining to parts of the third act and the weakness of a villain who often seems like he gets in the way of the better stronger storytelling.  However, Logan is full of emotion and is perhaps the most daring superhero film ever made.  Plus I love Westerns, and Logan sunk its teeth into the Western genre and its themes, which definitely bumped the movie up a few more slots for me.

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 7

The Big Sick

 

"What's my stance on 9/11? Oh um, anti. It was a tragedy, I mean we lost 19 of our best guys."

 

My Grade: A

Most Valuable Player: Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon for the Screenplay

Box Office: 42.9m

Tomatometer: 98%

Synopsis: Pakistan-born comedian Kumail Nanjiani and grad student Emily Gardner fall in love but struggle as their cultures clash. When Emily contracts a mysterious illness, Kumail finds himself forced to face her feisty parents, his family's expectations, and his true feelings.

Critic Opinion: "It sounds impossible—too melodramatic, too crazy—but it’s true. Actor and writer Kumail Nanjiani fell in love with his then-girlfriend, now-wife, Emily V. Gordon, when she was in a coma. It also sounds impossible that such a story would make for a crowd-pleasing comedy, but that’s exactly what “The Big Sick” is, and so much more.  Director Michael Showalter’s film defies categorization. You could call it a romantic comedy and that would be accurate, because there are indeed elements of romance and comedy. It mines clashes across cultures and generations for laughs that are specific to Nanjiani’s experience but also resonate universally. “The Big Sick” also functions as an astutely insightful exploration of how we live now with the Pakistan-born comic, starring as himself, enduring racism that’s both casual and pointed." - Christy Lemire, Roger Ebert

User Opinion: "It's excellent, at least @MrPink and I are on the same page again" - @Chewy

Reasoning: A hilarious comedy about cross-culture dating, and it's a movie I really loved.  I laughed myself to death in the theater and even on re-watch all of the humor kept its bite and edge.  Beyond that, the movie is also heartwarming and honest, which is partly why the humor seems to work so well in the movie.  The entire ensemble is great, with Holly Hunter being the standout playing Emily's mom.  Despite the touching topic at hand, the film also never crosses into a territory where it's overly sentimental or sappy, all of its emotional beats come naturally and it never tries to force a tear.  The 'romantic comedy' genre isn't one with much depth to it, but The Big Sick proves that there's high quality content that can be made in the rom-com field.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ethan Hunt]

for starters Hamill would definitely be supporting for seconds lol lol lol at putting him anywhere on that list LMAO

[The Panda]

Disney campaigned Hamill as lead on their FYC soooo 

 

Best Actress

 

Honorable Mention #4

Seo-Hyeon Ahn, Okja

 

Honorable Mention #3

Gal Gadot, Wonder Woman

 

Honorable Mention #2

Michelle Williams, All the Money in the World

 

Honorable Mentions #1

Daisy Ridley, Star Wars: The Last Jedi

 

Co-Runner Up

Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water

 

Runner Up

Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

 

Winner

Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri

[The Panda]

Number 6

Dunkirk

 

"We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be."

 

My Grade: A

Most Valuable Player: Christopher Nolan's Direction

Box Office: 188m

Tomatometer: 92%

Synopsis: Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Empire and France are surrounded by the German Army, and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II.

Critic Opinion: "Nolan concentrates exclusively on the perspective of the trapped Allies in a film that, as it transports viewers back to that desperate week in 1940, would seem to capture the actual experience of war in a way few others have done before.  Technically awe-inspiring, narratively inventive and thematically complex, Dunkirk reinvigorates its genre with a war movie that is both harrowing and smart." - Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail

User Opinion: "War movies are often violent and heroic, or either of those things. Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, on the other hand, is a film that literally gives the audience the true feeling and experience of the actual war as it depicts the battle of Dunkirk (Dunkerque, France), during World War II. It’s not a traditional war film, and it certainly doesn’t follow a traditional story structure either. Dunkirk is an amazing film that deserves to be seen in the best IMAX theater possible." - @Fancyarcher

Reasoning: Dunkirk is Christopher Nolan's tightest film when it comes to running times, and it's also his best film.  The movie is neatly interwoven between three stories transpiring over different time frames, and that narrative style is just exceptional in its style.  The cinematography is both beautiful, and works to display the intensity that would be taking place in this situation.  Nolan leaves you on the edge of your seat the entire time, despite not really knowing who is who as all of the faces seem to blend together, and this almost feels as if it is part of the style Nolan is going for.  It's a showpiece on Nolan's behalf, and it really works.  The whole movie almost feels like a horror film, leaving you feeling as if you're trapped inside the war as well, and waiting out of fear of when a bombing strike might happen.  Seeing this in 70mm IMAX was an experience, and not really to the film's fault, it doesn't hold up quite as well when downgrading, but that still doesn't stop the movie from being great in its own right.  Dunkirk is an unconventional, minimalistic war film that I really enjoyed.

 

 

 

[4815162342]

27 minutes ago, The Last Panda said:

Disney campaigned Hamill as lead on their FYC soooo 

 

 

Not the first time a studio's campaigning is total ass-backwards.

[CoolioD1]

this isn't going well.

[Ethan Hunt]

Feel like it's pretty obvious what the next five films are. Just a question of order.

 

My bet

 

5. Lady Bird

4. 3 Billboards

3. Star Wars

2. Blade Runner

1. Get Out

 

Let's see how well I know Panda

[The Panda]

Number 5

Lady Bird

 

"Did you get emotional the first time you drove through Sacramento?"

 

My Grade: A

Most Valuable Player: Greta Gerwig for her Direction and Screenplay

Box Office: 30m+

Tomatometer: 99%

Synopsis: Christine "Lady Bird" MacPherson is a high school senior from the "wrong side of the tracks." She longs for adventure, sophistication, and opportunity, but finds none of that in her Sacramento Catholic high school. LADY BIRD follows the title character's senior year in high school, including her first romance, her participation in the school play, and most importantly, her applying for college.

Critic Opinion: "I wish I could convey to you just how thrilling this movie is. I wish I could quote all of the jokes and recount the best offbeat bits. I’d tell you about the sad priest and the football coach, about the communion wafers and the Sacramento real estate, about the sly, jaunty editing rhythms, the oddly apt music choices and the way Ms. Ronan drops down on the grass in front of her house when she receives an important piece of mail. I’m tempted to catalog the six different ways the ending can make you cry.  I’ll settle for one: the bittersweet feeling of having watched someone grow in front of your eyes, into a different and in some ways improved version of herself. In life, that’s a messy, endless process, which is one reason we need movies. Or to put it another way, even though Lady Bird will never be perfect, “Lady Bird” is." - A.O. Scott, New York Times

User Opinion: "The future belongs to Saoirse Ronan" - @That One Guy

Reasoning: What should have played out like a typical coming of age story ends up being something so much more special than even one of the good ones, such as Edge of Seventeen.  Greta Gerwig crafts the script and the film lovingly and with thought to reflect herself in Lady Bird, and she puts detail into the city of Sacramento, in which Lady Bird lives.  Lady Bird perfectly captures the adolescent yearn to escape, and it presents a plethora of moments that are quirky, funny and relateable to anybody in the audience.  There's a reason this movie set a record for the longest streak with no negative reviews, and it's because of how broadly accessible the film and it's themes are to any of those who watch it.  The film is filled with great performances from Metcalf to Ronan, and the finale hits you in the heartstrings.  It's a wonderful little film.

 

 

 

 

[Ethan Hunt]

v good take

[The Panda]

I spent about 2 hours studying for my GRE, so I’m in need of dinner.  

 

Best Director, My Honorary Bamboo Stick and numbers 4 - 1 in an hour and a half or so

[That One Girl]

18 minutes ago, The Last Panda said:

User Opinion: "The future belongs to Saoirse Ronan" - @That One Guy

 

!