Brawl in Cell Block 99 descends deeper and deeper into a
circumstantial and corporeal hellscape as our main goon creeps closer and
closer to his objective, which will leave him in no better off physically. The
carnage follows in step as acts of violence become increasingly catastrophic.
It belongs to a very short list of movies that have stuck with me from 2017
(All These Sleepless Nights, Logan Lucky, A Quiet Passion, and mother! too). I also
haven’t been able to shake the final scene/closing credits of Good Time, a
similar stroll through an infernal cityscape where desperation plays such a
large role in behavior. The acts of violence here are far less graphic but much
more appalling because the acts are done unto the innocent. These poor few are
in the wrong place, or line of work, at the wrong time. It also features the
best portrayal of a person with developmental disabilities I’ve ever seen. Here
are my favorite movies from last year.
Right Now, Wrong Then (Hong Sang Soo)
Everybody Wants Some (Richard Linklater)
Silence (Martin Scorsese)
Love and Friendship (Whitt Stillman)
Allied (Robert Zemeckis)
Paterson (Jim Jarmusch)
The Wailing (Hong-jin Na)
O.J. Simpson: Made in America (Ezra Edelman)
The Other Side (Roberto Minervini)
Sunset Song (Terence Davies)
I also have varying degrees of love and respect in my heart
for:
No Home Movie, The Love Witch, Things to Come, Manchester By
the Sea, The Witch, Hail Caesar, Knight of Cups, Hush, The Shallows, Sully,
Certain Women, Gimme Danger, Cemetery of Splendor, and Train to Busan.
I liked The BFG, Arrival, The Handmaiden, Midnight Special, and
The Autopsy of Jane Doe. Those haven’t stuck with me however. Against any conceivable taste or better judgment, I enjoyed Don’t Breathe and that last Purge movie.
I failed to see The Mermaid, Demon, Aquarius, The Illinois
Parables, and Happy Hour.
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