Cop Land (1997)

I remember the movie Cop Land as having been pretty well received, I also remember a story on Entertainment Tonight about it having a White House screening and that Bill Clinton really liked the film and had a long conversation with Sylvester Stallone about it. Watching the picture for the first time 20 years after its release I felt it might have been pushing the whole 'serious 90's cop movie' thing over hard, and playing it too much on the nose. A film about moral compromise and corruption in law enforcement with an all star cast. its no surprise when Harvey Keitel proves a corrupt cop, Stallone a soulful cop, Ray Liotta a compromised cop, and Robert Patrick a terminator cop. It has its moments, and while its a good enough film its just not as powerful and deep as it would like to think it is. ***

Darkest Hour (2017)

The recent uptick in cinematic depictions of Winston Churchill, three films since 2016 as well as a prominent role in the Netflix series The Crown, could suggest in these uncertain times a wider cultural longing for the kind of dynamic, principled leadership he has come to embody, or it could just be a coincidence. Darkest Hour centers on the tumultuous first month or so of Churchill's tenure as U.K. prime minister in the spring of 1940. A compromise choice for a war time unity government, Winston took on the role after Chamberlin's forced resignation and the demurral of the Conservative parties preferred successor Lord Halifax (who is kind of a villain of the piece). A Conservative who had spent 20 years as a member of the Liberal party, and twice First Lord of the Admiralty, Churchill was a sort of perpetual outsider, but had been right about the threat posed by Hitler and the Germans long before most of his contemporaries, and so was finally given the big job to which he had long aspired. The situation into which he entered such power however was dire, with 300,000 British solders in retreat in France. This film is about how Churchill handled the crises, and seemingly against the odds managed to rally his countrymen, and a skeptical parliament, to the war time cause.

This movie could just as easily be called The Prime Ministers Speech, as it builds to Winston's stirring "We shall fight on the beaches" speech to parliament on June 4th. King George VI of course plays a part in this story, his stuttering only hinted at here. Gary Oldman, excellent and unrecognizable in heavy makeup, plays Churchill a little less strident and vociferous then we are typically used to seeing him, but as most of the action here takes place behind the scenes, much of it in a command bunker, it makes sense that Winston would present himself differently to his inner circle then to the wider public. There is also a very crowd pleasing sequence here where Winston rides the London underground to get a better sense of what the common people are thinking about the war, now I'm not sure if this sequence is true but its fun to watch. The films capable cast is rounded out with various fine character actors, as well as Lily James who plays Churchill's personal secretary Elizabeth Layton, who didn't actually start in that position until the next year but we'll forgive the movie that. This is a movie that I am liking even more after having seen it, then I was when I was watching it. The films narrative takes events up to the launching of the civilian rescue fleet to France, so this would make an excellent double feature with Dunkirk. ***1/2

All the Money in the World (2017)

All the Money in the World is doubtless still best known as the movie that Kevin Spacey was edited entirely out of. In fact Christopher Plummer, who replaced Spacey in the role of oil billionaire J. Paul Getty, filmed all of his scenes in only 9 days, these scenes are set and presumably filmed in multiple countries, and Plummer was 87 years old at the time. His performance is impressive, already landing him a best supporting actor Golden Globe nomination, with an Oscar nod in the same category seemingly inevitable. Getty is a fascinating and difficult man.

The films story concerns the kidnaping of Getty's grandson John Paul Getty III (Charlie (no relation) Plummer from the BYU TV series Granite Flats) off the street in Italy in 1973, the months of his captivity and the efforts to free him, and to save money while doing so. The movie is based on the book Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty by John Pearson and feels at least mostly real, though I suspect that Mark Wahlberg's character Fletcher Chase, a former CIA agent and "fixer" for Getty is probably a composite. Also a very strong performance from Michelle Williams as the younger Getty's mother Gail. This is a beautiful looking film and reasonably taught, though not quite as much as I'd expected it be. A goodly number of twists and turns in this one. ****

The Best of 2017 Version 2.0

Your right about the omission. I think my issue with Dunkirk is that I had impossibly high standards for it. I guess World War II is my Star Wars. I think I can add it to the list if I do some bundling.

10.Our Souls at Night
9.All The Money in the World
8.Logan
7.The Big Sick/ Columbus
6.Dunkrik/ Darkest Hour
5.Baby Driver
4.Get Out
3.Ladybird
2.The Florida Project
1.Wind River

Cleanflix (2009)

Before VidAngel there was Cleanflicks, a video rental chain that edited PG-13 and R rated films to remove morally objectionable content for more conservative or family oriented viewers. Like VidAngel, Cleanflicks business model was upended by court rulings regarding copyright infringement. The documentary Cleanflix (available in both edited and non edited versions) charts the rise and fall of the Utah based chain, and some of its imitators, between roughly 2000 and 2008. As with many documentaries this film started out about one thing (movie editing rental services) but by the end events picked up by the filmmakers, largely by chance, made it about another. This is still a good overview of the film editing service, but things that happen in the personal life of a prominent Utah distributor, take  center stage in the films final act. 

As far as the controversy over the service Cleanflicks provided goes, I agree with some in the film that if the studios are already making edited versions of their films for television and airline distribution, why not offer those to willing buyers, there is certainly a market. Now if individual film makers, especially those whose products are more artistic expression then commercial venture don't want to participate that's fine, but supposedly 'big tent' Hollywood fair why wouldn't you?  I suspect that in the end Hollywood will come around, because money.  ***

Also seeing all the brick and mortar video stores in this film was  nostalgic.

Heavy Metal (1981)

Heavy Metal is an anthology film comprised of stories adapted from or inspired by the pulp magazine of the same name, all held together the through-line of an evil orb. Done in a variety of animation styles, some even look colored pencil-ish, this is a pretty juvenile film that really likes to animate large breasts. John Candy and Eugene Levy are among the  voice cast. **

The Amazing Spiderman 2 (2014)

The second in the second series of Spider-Man movies is held together mostly by the chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, despite a not entirely earned ending and Jamie Foxx playing the villain like he was in a Christopher Reeve Superman film. **1/2