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Top Films of 2017 25-23 Reviewed

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 Since I watched 365 films, I decided to delve into the best films I watched in 2017. 25. Rollerball Norman Jewison's Rollerball is fun to watch, and its portrayal of a man expressing his individuality in a society that threatens to completely control him is apt even in today's world. The sport of Murderball is brutal and when the executives continually change the rules, he struggles to maintain. Yet he manages to succeed, despite the fact that he will possibly ultimately fail. The sport is interesting, if a bit unrealistic, and the performances, especially that of James Caan, take the story beyond its generic science fiction trappings. 24. Jules and Jim Truffaut was one of my favorite directors this year, so it was hard to narrow down which films I wanted to put on this list. I picked Jules and Jim because I felt adversarial about it and had to think about the story and cinematography to really understand its value. The film's romantic love triangle is hard to w...

365 Films in 2017 #129-138

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129. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Bryan Singer, 20th Century Fox 130. X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Bryan Singer, 20th Century Fox 131. Suicide Squad (2016), David Ayer, Warner Bros. 132. Ant-Man (2015), Peyton Reed, Marvel Studios 133. The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), Joel Coen, Gramercy 134. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Anthony and Joe Russo, Marvel Studios 135. Captain America: Civil War (2016), Anthony and Joe Russo, Marvel Studios  136. Only The Lonely (1991), Chris Columbus, 20th Century Fox  137. The Penalty (1920), Wallace Worsley, Goldwyn 138. The Phantom of the Opera (1925), Rupert Julian, Universal

365 Films in 2017 #99-108

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99. Hail Caesar! (2016), Coen Brothers, Universal 100. Amuck! (1972), Silvio Amadio 101. Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, DC (1980-90) (2014), Scott Crawford, MVD 102. Color Me Obsessed: A Film About the Replacements (2011), Gorman Bechard, What Were We Thinking Films 103. D.O.A. (1950), Rudolph Maté, United Artists 104. The Money Pit (1986), Richard Benjamin, Amblin 105. Frank Zappa: From Straight to Bizarre (2012), Tom O'Dell, Sexy Intellectual Promotion 106. The Ringling Brothers: Kings of the Circus (2000) 107. Castle Freak (1995), Stuart Gordon, Full Moon 108. Near Dark (1987), Kathryn Bigelow, F/M

Sometimes I Feel Like The Dude: Oh, To Be a White Russian Swilling Anti-Hero

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  My relationship with the Coen Brothers' films is somewhat tumultuous. It seems like for every excellent movie they make, there are two that leave me with reservations.This applies to their entire filmography because I find myself loving certain movies like Barton Fink and Miller's Crossing , yet am completely disappointed with others like Raising Arizona and The Lady Killers. I admit that I probably should delve more deeply into their later films; I've barely given them the chance. In my teenage years, I was something of a indie film snob; I stayed up late at night to watch Bravo and any independent film on Showtime or HBO. I was there for the everything from Floundering and Spanking the Monkey to Clerks and Pulp Fiction. The first time I saw Fargo was on Showtime when they were counting down the best independent films of 1996. My taste at the time wasn't so refined; I remember thinking that Swingers should win -- I had an early, cloying fascination with th...