Michael’s Most Memorable Movie Moments of 2017
Sometimes when you walk out of the theatre, a movie just slips out of your mind. Other times you find yourself thinking about a movie for days to come, constantly turning it over in your head. Still other times you can find yourself forgetting most of a movie, but one particular scene is seared into your memory.
This list is a collection of memorable and entertaining scenes from movies released in 2017. Some of these movies aren’t my favourite of the year. However, all of the moments spring to mind immediately when I think of the film. They’re moments that have stuck with me and, hopefully, will stick with you if you give these films a chance.
The hacking scene in i don’t feel at home in this world anymore.
One of the funniest scenes of the year happened in one of the most forgotten scenes of the year. i don’t feel at home in this world anymore. is written and directed by Macon Blair, who seems to be taking cues from his frequent collaborator, Jeremy Saulnier, with a healthy dose of David Gordon Green and Elmore Leonard mixed in. Elijah Wood is pitch-perfect, like in this “hacking” scene where he helps Melanie Lynskey by Googling “look up license plate?”. It’s a strange and funny little parody in a movie peppered with strange and funny little parodies.
Joi and K have sex in Blade Runner 2049
The star of Blade Runner 2049 is Roger Deakins. I think it’s a fantastic movie. I’m a huge fan of the director and actors, but the movie is basically a three-hour show-reel for Deakins. I mean, he’ll still probably lose at the Oscars, but someone has to take Scorsese’s place as the person who is most ridiculously unrewarded by the Academy. All that aside, the best moment in BR2049 is when Joi and K finally make love with the help of Mariette. The effect of a hologram woman projecting over top of a real woman is new, weird, disconcerting and beautiful. It ends up being a lovely calm-before-the-storm moment for the film’s over-extended final act.
Chief Willoughby coughs in Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri is packed full of absolute assholes. It’s hard to like any character in the film. The movie constantly dares you to before ripping away a bunch of the goodwill you built up. The best moment in the movie, the one that resonated with me the most, is an impressive interruption of the films’ cadence. Writer/director Martin McDonagh is a successful playwright, and I did not expect him to break up a seemingly important bit of character interaction by having the cancer-stricken Police Chief accidentally cough blood on the grieving protagonist whose billboards, which kick off the whole film, accuse him of dropping the ball. It’s a shocking moment that stops the meaningful or stylize dialogue in its tracks. It lets two pros, Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson, do what they know what to do.
David and Walter connect in Alien: Covenant
It was a toss-up between the kiss and the opening with Peter Weyland/Guy Pearce. Whichever I chose, it was clear that Michael Fassbender’s David — and Walter — was the star of the show. Fassbender kissing Fassbender is obviously the weirdest/coolest scene. The prologue with Pearce is maybe my favourite scene in the film. But the one that sticks with me the most is when David teaches Walter about music. It’s a synthetic lifeform trying to teach a lesser model how to create because creation is what life is all about. As he says, “you have symphonies in you, brother.” It’s also the most enticing form of masturbation in a movie this year besides Elio fucking a peach in Call Me By Your Name.
Vince Vaughn destroys a car in Brawl in Cell Block 99
S. Craig Zahler’s follow-up to Bone Tomahawk (one of my favourite movies of 2015) is a genre picture, through-and-through. The over two-hour runtime may confuse you into thinking this might be a slow-moving character study, but it’s exactly the b-movie the title suggests. To reinforce this, and show its lead’s full potential as a bruiser, Brawl in Cell Block 99 has Vince Vaughn’s down-on-his-luck Bradley thoroughly and systematically destroy a car in anger with his bare hands. If anyone had doubts that the fast-talking star of Wedding Crashers could pull off this role they would certainly be gone by the end of the scene.
9/11 chat in The Big Sick
The hardest I’ve laughed at a movie in 2017 is the 9/11 joke in The Big Sick. It caught me completely off-guard, even though I think I heard it in a trailer beforehand. It’s expertly sold by Holly Hunter, Ray Romano and Kumail Nanjiani. The joke is a two-hander between Romano and Nanjiani. With Romano’s awkward dad energy setting up the question for Nanjiani to casually knock it out of the park. It works because it’s exactly the kind of awkward joke that is both very funny and completely the wrong thing to say.
Drinks with friends gone wrong in Colossal
The fact that Jason Sudeikis hasn’t been getting any awards attention is criminal. Colossal is a great, funny movie that came out too early in the year to catch much buzz, which is a shame. Sudeikis has spent years honing his charming everyman schtick, and it’s fantastically subverted here. In this scene, what has previously been a normal night of drinking after hours with friends becomes one man’s attempt to humiliate his friends and exert what little power he has. It’s a powerful display of what Sudeikis is capable of. Anne Hathaway and a Tim Blake Nelson match him every step of the way. It really shouldn’t be a new and surprising thing that the schlubby enabler is the villain of a movie, but it’s 2017, y’all.
Slow motion shootout in Bright
Bright has gotten a lot of negative attention. Which I totally get. I’m a fan of Joel Edgerton, David Ayer, Noomi Rapace and Will Smith (not so much Max Landis) so I’ve been excited for Bright for a while. I enjoyed it. I think the best part was Joel Edgerton, who acted his ass off under layers of latex. That being said, the actual best moment was Will Smith’s Officer Ward gunning down police officers while “World Gone Mad” by Bastille plays. It’s just great to see Will Smith put away four dirty cops in slow motion. It just feels right, you know?
Pennywise in the garage in IT
It was a decent year for horror in general — maybe not as good as last year — but it was an amazing year for mainstream horror. In particular, IT was huge. There were a ton of memorable moments in the movie — Georgie’s death, Pennywise waving at Mike, anything involving New Kids on the Block — but the biggest scare for me was Pennywise’s sudden appearance in the garage while the Losers Club were trying to figure out how to defeat it. In a film that was a little light on atmospheric or earned jump scares it was one that totally landed.
Ingrid dresses like Catwoman in Ingrid Goes West
There are moments in the film where Aubrey Plaza’s Ingrid is funnier or even crazier — specifically the pepper spray at the wedding –, but this scene is a wonderful encapsulation of what makes Ingrid Goes West a deeper movie than just a commentary on Instagram culture. When she dresses up as Catwoman and sleeps with O’Shea Jackson Jr, all aspects of her personality are on display. It ends up being the centrepiece of a sadly unrecognized performance from Plaza.
Peter meets the parents in Spider-Man: Homecoming
Marvel movies have generally had a problem with their villains being either direct copies of their heroes or totally uninteresting. A good way to combat that is by casting Michael Keaton. When Peter shows up to take Liz to the dance and Keaton’s Adrian Toomes is revealed as her father it’s a legitimately shocking moment in a fairly by-the-numbers superhero outing. Even better is Toomes threatening Peter in the car when he drops them off at the dance. It’s a great little twist on the pressure of a teenager meeting his date’s parents.
Scott Adkins has a snack in Savage Dog
Savage Dog isn’t my favourite direct-to-video action movie of the year (that would be Acts of Vengeance). It isn’t even my favourite Scott Adkins DTV action movie of the year (that would be Boyka Undisputed). But… it is the only DTV action movie that ends with Scott Adkins cutting out Marko Zaror’s liver and taking a bite out of it. For that, I am eternally grateful.
Zombie cars in The Fate of the Furious
The Fate of the Furious ended up being a lesser entry in the series for various reasons — Paul Walker’s absence, behind-the-scenes tension showing up on-screen — but there were still a handful of standout moments. The Rock redirects a torpedo by hand. There’s a fantastic prison breakout. Jason Statham rescues a baby from an in-flight airplane. But the moment that stuck with me was when Charlize Theron’s villain, Cipher, takes control of hundreds of cars in New York City. It’s a novel idea that visually quotes The Happening and puts its own spin on a zombie attack.
The police arrive in Get Out
If you saw Get Out in a theatre it was full of moments designed for intense audience reactions. The very best was the ending. Daniel Kaluuya’s Chris has escaped the house and a police car rolls up. In any other horror movie, this would be a welcome sign. But the film — and reality — has shown us that this may end up being the worst outcome. Luckily Get Out still has more twists, which proved to me that writer/director Jordan Peele was the perfect man for the job for the upcoming Twilight Zone reboot.
Kylo Ren the fuckboy in Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi
There were a lot of things in The Last Jedi that swerved in interesting directions. I can say, with absolute honesty, that I did not expect the main villain to send the main hero a “hey u up??” text. Complete with a shirtless pic. Force Skype was a new, interesting aspect they tossed into the film. It was predominantly used to cement the connection between Rey and Kylo Ren. The weird, seemingly late night call that Ben Solo sends to our hero gives us a lot of characterization through very little, which is a testament to Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley.
The Game of Thrones riot in Logan Lucky
One of the funniest and most surprising jokes of 2017 was the extended discussion about the difference between the Game of Thrones novels and TV show. Steven Soderbergh is no stranger to comedy. He’s definitely used to comedy during heist movies, but this extended scene comes out of nowhere and totally lands. There’s just something completely hilarious about a warden reading information off of Wikipedia while a group of convicts look on in disbelief.
Jessie degloves in Gerald’s Game
I read the book. Knew this was going to happen. I still can’t get it out of my mind. Do not Google “degloving”.
