An Impossible Mission

A rare horror movie to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, 2017's Get Out, written and directed by Jordan Peele, fuses its slow-burner tale with creepy atmosphere, relevant social commentary and touches of comedy, making it so much more than just a straight-forward horror flick. With a story somewhat reminiscent of The Stepford Wives, protagonist Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya – an Oscar nominated performance) is an up and coming photographer, an African American twenty-something living a fulfilling life in the big city. In a loving relationship with Rose Armitage (Allison Williams) for the past five months, she has decided to bring him home to meet the folks – a weekend trip that is not exactly the most enticing scenario for the man.

There is a scene in 1954's Creature from the Black Lagoon where the female lead, played by Julie Adams, swims through the water. Shot from both above and below, there is a loving elegance to the camera work, and, in a few of the underwater moments, the lighting almost makes it seem as if she is swimming in the nude. Eventually, the Creature appears, and what develops can be looked at in two lights. . . one – that he is stalking her, murder in the monster’s every fibre; two – his movements, mirroring hers, are almost like a sensuous dance, a love-match for the long secluded and lonely Creature. This year’s Academy Award Best Picture contender, The Shape of Water, accepts the second perspective not followed in the Universal horror classic, developing a movie that very much could be its long lost alternate reality sequel. Written and directed by horror maestro Guillermo del Toro, he sews several threads together so that movie afficionados could almost believe that this is the case – perhaps most importantly that it is set only a few years after 1954 (a moment when xenophobic fears were running high with the Cold War at its most tense) and that the creature comes from the Amazon as well. . . while security expert Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon) makes it very clear that it was no easy feat transporting the powerful and mysterious amphibian back to America. Its look is also very much influenced by the horror classic.

If you were formulating a modern day all-star cast and crew, you couldn’t do much better than The Post. Directed by the legend that is Steven Spielberg (three time Oscar winner and seventeen time nominee, as well as the recipient of the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for “Creative producers, whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production”), Meryl Streep (three time Oscar winner and twenty-one time nominee), Tom Hanks (two time Oscar winner and five time nominee), composer John Williams (five time Oscar winner and fifty-one time nominee), cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (two time Oscar winner and six time nominee), and co-writer Josh Singer (Oscar winner for 2015's Spotlight), it is a veritable who’s who of the industry. Tackling the battle between the Washington Post and Richard Nixon’s government of the 1970s, Streep plays Kay Graham, the somewhat reluctant head of said newspaper. A woman in a man’s world, she has a difficult time transitioning from the non-working socialite wife to decision-making newspaper mogul. Tears always seem like they are soon to come as she clumsily drops things and nervously bumbles her way through this confusing world.

Bringing to life the fierce bulldog, the prolific orator, the never wavering backbone of a nation during wartime that was Winston Churchill, Gary Oldman has placed himself as the early frontrunner as Lead Actor this Awards season (already having taken home the honour at The Golden Globes). Transforming into the stately politician by way of superlative make-up work and masterful acting, it is as if the man himself has been regenerated, mumbling growl and all. Before delving into the depths of Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour, I must indulge myself and pass along a few examples of Churchill’s legendary wit. Constantly at odds with fellow politician Lady Astor (the first female Member of Parliament), she targeted him by saying, “if you were my husband, I’d poison your tea”, to which he dryly replied, “Madam, if you were my wife, I’d drink it!”. Another retort finds Astor pointing out that he was drunk, to which he responded, “but I shall be sober in the morning and you, madam, will still be ugly”. This should give you an idea of what to expect from Anthony McCarten’s script – a Churchill-ism if I’ve ever heard one; “would you stop interrupting me while I am interrupting you”. Another one for good measure finds the man in the washroom while one of his aids tells him that he “needs to reply to the Lord Privy Seal”, to which he explains, “I am sealed in the privy, and I can only deal with one shit at a time”.

After a much lauded rebirth of the Star Wars franchise with 2015's The Force Awakens (directed by J.J. Abrams), it is understandable why the 2017 sequel, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, this time written and directed by Rian Johnson (Looper), is one of the most anticipated films of the year. To keep your mind at ease, I will attempt to keep this one mostly spoiler free. Picking up almost immediately after the 2015 offering ended (the first time a Star Wars film has done this), the remaining Resistance fighters are being mercilessly tracked soon after a First Order fleet has attacked their planetary base. Led by the unifying Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), she must try to navigate them away from General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson). By her side is the fast talking, wild-card hero fighter pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), who is no less spontaneous. Finn (John Boyega), having recovered from his injuries, has his own secret mission with Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) – a new addition to the franchise.

The third feature in the Thor franchise, 2017's Ragnarok, directed by New Zealander Taika Waititi (the talented filmmaker behind the comedic horror mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows), is like a well buttered (as in oiled) popcorn flick (of a machine). . . an entertaining, humorous, action-packed sci-fi extravaganza that does not take itself too seriously, all while showing an impressive amount of ingenuity and creativity for a multi-film Marvel saga. With three movies in this particular series (as well as several other mash-ups within the ever growing Marvel Universe), these actors, who we have known for some time, have grown into their respective parts, feeling fully meshed with their onscreen personas. Through the writing of Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle, and Christopher Yost, as well as by way of the flowing direction of Waititi, the comedy is so smooth in Ragnarok that it feels as if we are watching a well-seasoned vaudeville act hitting every mark as they try to explain exactly ‘who’s on first?’ It is a very different tone that works, meshing with recent excursions in The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise and Spider-Man: Homecoming.