my top 10 films of 2017

1. The Killing of a Sacred Deer
   
   You know it's something special when there's virtually zero acting and you still can't take your eyes (and ears) off it. How did Yorgos Lanthimos go from The Lobster to this?
   
   
2. Dunkirk
   
   Gospel truth: Christopher Nolan works on a different planet. There are a few things you can nitpick here, but in its entirety it's a masterpiece. Just the fact that a genre film succeeded outside its conventions is enough to end debates.
    
3. Get Out
   
   Everything this touches turns to gold. Suspense, check. Humour, check. Intelligence, check. Flawless, not just for a debut director, but any director.
    
4. Blank 13
   
   Touching and funny, never have I seen a film take a 180-degree change in tone and still works.
    
5. The Square
   
   Films that make you uncomfortable are usually good films. This pummels you until you want to slit your throat, while offering a cutting critique of so many issues I shan't list them.
    
6. Logan
   
   A superhero movie like no other. Compelling characters, gritty action, utterly depressing.
    
7. No Date, No Signature
   
   Like most great Iranian films, an intriguing premise laced with social commentary. Nobody does hopelessness like Iran.
    
8. 分贝人生
   
   A poor and dysfunctional Chinese family in Malaysia. And it gets worse. A tragic story through and through.
    
9. The Big Sick
   
   They don't do rom-coms like this anymore. A good romance doesn't have to be smart; a smart film rarely pairs with a good love story. This picture achieves all these and much more.
    
10. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
    
    I have to save a spot for this. Simply helming a project like this and not messing up is an achievement.

留心的话 没有什么事是小事

i like motion pictures

over and over, Episode 8 preaches hope and renewal. where JJ Abrams delivered fan service with Episode 7, Rian Johnson nudges traditionalists in a new direction.

let go of the past and the three original heroes. Jedi or no Jedi, hope does not die.

it is a plot yet also a message to fans.

the greatness of Episode 8 is not a rebirth that promises great future films. they might not, they might suck. the true greatness of Episode 8 is giving you hope about future films, and sometimes, hope itself is enough.

Increase the supply and the demand will follow.

The Boxer 20th anniversary

20 years ago this month. a film that tackles and works on so many levels -- a man turning over a new leaf, the Northern Ireland conflict, boxing, love. also when DDL starting to make his mark.

Wall Street 30th anniversary

30 years ago this month. the original capitalism film.

"The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind."

P.S. I Love You 10th anniversary

10 years ago this month. not a genre i typically venture to but a beautiful film.

i like motion pictures

rewatched Shakespeare in Love after 19 years. realised its message of female empowerment would be right at home today.

越烂的牌越用心打 发脾气没用的

"That's how I know he can be beaten. Because he's a fanatic. And the fanatic is always concealing a secret doubt."

投名状 10th anniversary

10 years ago this month. a surprisingly sensitive blockbuster. in my opinion Jet Li's greatest "acting" performance.

时间一分一秒让情爱枯萎 没有想过永远的完美

i like motion pictures

Ruben Ostlund is a master of dread and The Square is probably his magnum opus. some brilliant set pieces although it's more a collage and i feel his Force Majeure is a tighter film.

don't send a rabbit to kill a fox.