Top Films of 2017 6-1 Reviewed

6. Withnail and I -- This film surprised me as I was completely unprepared for its premise and picked it due to its poster because it was drawn by Ralph Steadman. Later, I learned that it was one of my best friend's favorite films and wondered how I missed it. Bruce Robinson based it on his life in London in the 1960s, and it follows the lives of two struggling actors,  the manic Withnail (Richard E. Grant) and the more sedate Marwood (Paul McGann)  who take a disastrous holiday to Withnail's Uncle Monty's (Richard Griffiths) cottage. The two men cope the best they can in their daily farcical struggles for alcohol and drugs, running into strange characters and stranger situations. The film is dark, yet laugh-out-loud funny at times.

5. My Winnipeg -- My favorite film for purely visual, surrealistic inspiration. Complete with reimaginings of hockey teams and horse heads which appear near the Red River, Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg is a stunning pseudo-history, what he refers to as a "docu-fantasia" of the director's relationship with Winnipeg, juxtaposing fictional scenes that could have occurred in the city's history with actual ones and never explaining which is real. Meanwhile, the narrator attempts to escape. Madden casts actors as stand-ins for his real family. Ann Savage is particularly amazing as his mother. The film's visuals and interesting melding of the fictional and factual make it a mesmerizing first viewing, and it only gets better in later watches. Maddin weaves so many minor details into the narrative.

4. Powwow Highway -- One of several road films on my list, Jonathan Wacks' Powwow Highway is at times acerbic and at others fairly heartwarming. It follows the adventures of Buddy Red Bow (A Martinez) and Philbert Bono (Gary Farmer). The two are a classic movie odd couple as Red Bow's fiery personality clashes with Bono's friendly demeanor. Red Bow is an activist fighting against strip mining on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation whose sister is arrested in Santa Fe. Since he does not have a car, he recruits Bono, a man of intense spiritual visions, to make the trek with him to help her. The film's passionate performances and fast-paced narrative, coupled with a different take on the American road story, are refreshing.

3. Parting Glances -- Bill Sherwood's low-budget, yet big-hearted excavation of the 80s AIDS crisis in New York City revolves around a couple, Robert (John Bolger) and Michael (Richard Ganoung), who must part for two years because Robert is going on assignment in Africa. The film intimately captures relationships in the gay community and frankly discusses the fears and concerns of a culture dealing with the impact of the disease. Kathy Kinney, in an early role as the couple's friend, Joan, and Steve Buscemi, in his first role, as Michael's ex-boyfriend who is struggling with AIDS, stands out in a picture filled with great performances.

2. Häxan-- Benjamin Christensen's documentary-style silent horror film is something of a revelation even for those who have spent most of their lives watching horror. The visuals, cinematography, and monster creation are like little since. The film is loosely based on the Malleus Maleficarum and ostensibly presents a narrative showing how mass hysteria led to witch hunts. The real treat here though is the stunning visual representations of witches, demons, and other horrific creatures. The film is separated into five sections that focus on different aspects of how culture has viewed demons and witches throughout history, particularly the middle ages, but ending with a section on how modern society, at least at the time, viewed medieval superstitions.

1. Paris, Texas -- The final road movie on my list and one of my favorite views from the last five years, Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas is a consummate picture that has everything to please a cinephile as well as any average film viewer. It chronicles the journey of an amnesiac Travis Henderson (Harry Dean Stanton) whose brother Walt (Dean Stockwell) finds wandering in the desert looking for Paris, Texas. He is then reunited with his son Hunter (Hunter Carson), who is being raised by his brother and his wife Anne, and eventually takes the boy to find his mother, Jane (Nastassja Kinski). The entire family is wary of the estranged Travis as he has problems connecting with others. Wender's film is a journey through the American landscape and identity. Beautiful cinematography, especially the establishing and long shots, are par for the course with Wenders, and they are awe-inspiring here. While the whole cast is impeccable, particularly Kinski and Stockwell, Stanton, who is no stranger to amazing roles, shines the brightest here. The relationships his character builds, despite his estrangement, (with his son, his brother and his wife) are palpable and realistic. I had trouble putting the other films into order on my list, but Paris, Texas was an easy choice for my favorite. Even in a year where I watched hundreds of amazing movies, it was the standout. I am sorry to see Stanton go and wish he could make more films, but I cannot wait to watch more of Wenders' filmography. I'm not sure any film I watch this year can match this one for sheer power, verve, and characterization.