Best Movies of 2017

Once again, I did a bad job last year of watching new movies that weren't about super heroes punching each other. I don't go to the theater very often because it's so easy to watch movies at home, and most of the movies I watch at home tend to be a little older. I stand behind everything on this list, though. They're all really good movies I'd like to watch again.

Best of 2017

10. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2


Super hero movie as bonkers space opera. Volume 2 is not as fresh and exciting as the original was a few years ago, but James Gunn recognized that he had a good thing going and didn't mess with it too much. He just made another solid, hilarious, original space adventure movie with decent dramatic chops. Family is a pretty common theme in modern action movies that try to have a heart, and this one tackles the idea head-on. It has what you would want from a sequel. More of what was cool about the original, without feeling like a retread and adding new characters and twists. Add another good soundtrack and you're all set.

9. Blade Runner 2049

There's lots of doom and gloom going around about the state of the movie industry, but I love that things like this can still get made. 2049 is a very long, slowly paced, big budget, R-rated science fiction movie. Worldwide, it probably lost the studio money. But it exists, and nobody can stop it from existing. The original Blade Runner is still revered, and its best assets were its sense of style and mood. I think 2049 captures those aspects well, with gorgeous cinematography, a soundtrack that feels both familiar and new, and an extension of the concepts of life and identity that are pretty familiar at this point. I think the movie works best as an exploration of tone and texture more than story. It tells a decent sci-fi noir mystery, but the best moments are just taking in the lavish sights and sounds. Plus it's the most tolerable Jared Leto has been in years.

8. Spider-Man: Homecoming


Super hero movie as teen comedy. Spider-Man is my favorite comic character, and it's great to see him in a movie that actually explores the original idea of a high school student juggling his powers and hunger for action with his everyday worries. Tom Holland is already my favorite actor to take the role, and he and his supporting cast create a great, fun atmosphere that backdrops the action. It really is a comedy more than anything else, though Michael Keaton's Vulture is a surprisingly good villain, with a few scary moments and exciting action beats. The movie doesn't totally follow through on the idea of responsibility that are the character's core, which is why it's not higher on this list. Still, I had a great time watching it.

7. Logan


Super hero movie as violent neo-western. I liked The Wolverine more than I think a lot of people did, and Logan goes even further in exploring the character of James Howlett and giving a different perspective on the cinematic X-Men universe. The movie takes place in a dour future where most of the famous mutants are gone, and the ones we recognize are really getting old. Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart both give standout final performances as their iconic characters. It's very R-rated, with lots of curse words and graphic violence in the action scenes, which are infrequent but always land with an impact. It's sort of the end of an era, but it also opens the door for other possibilities with the franchise. The question is whether any of that gets explored or if it all gets absorbed into Disney after recent corporate dealings.

6. Thor: Ragnarok


Super hero movie as broad cosmic farce. I enjoyed the first two Thor movies, but this is the first time the character has felt truly vital and relevant. Chris Hemsworth drips charisma and has great comic ability, and the whole cast and crew lean into that as they produce a movie that is not only grander than previous entries in the series, but also far sillier and more entertaining. It's a wonderful ensemble, with Bruce Banner, Valkyrie, Korg, and Jeff Goldblum's very Goldblum-y Grandmaster all making strong attempts to steal the movie. And while once again the villain doesn't get as much time to develop into a full character as we might like, Cate Blanchett is clearly enjoying the hell out of the role. It's a solid movie from start to finish, the best in a very strong year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

5. Get Out


Not all racism is overt. It's not all slurs and hostility. Sometimes it's just a clear change in attitude in response to a person of another race being around, or saying what you think is a compliment but comes off as another stereotype. Or sometimes it's being victim to a system of violence because people simply care less when racial minorities are targeted. Get Out takes the familiar scenario of a black man meeting his white girlfriend's family and turns it into a horror story. They're all friendly enough, but what are they really thinking and hiding? Being a true horror movie, Get Out obviously goes a bit beyond reality with the events that follow, but the scariest part of the movie is how close to reality it stays in certain aspects. This is Jordan Peele's first time directing a film, but it sure doesn't feel like it. The movie is funny and scary when it wants to be, and his style is assured at all times. I already liked him as an actor, but I'm definitely interested in anything else he tries behind the camera.

4. John Wick: Chapter 2


I enjoyed John Wick, but I did not love it to the extent that a lot of action movie fans did. It felt like another Taken with only a couple of new ideas to differentiate it. John Wick 2 though? John Wick 2 is extremely my shit. It's a combination of things, I think. The action choreography felt further developed from where it was the last time. Close up head shots are cool, but close up head shots while performing complicated martial arts takedowns are cooler. We also see a bigger variety of weapons and situations, including a fantastic succession of scenes between Wick and someone who's actually close to his equal in skill. The story had more depth to it than the functional but simple revenge tale of the first. This ties into another thing I liked, the expansion on the strange alternate universe the series takes place in, where things seem normal on the surface but there's an underground society of high rolling hitmen and codes of honor and gold coins and hobo spy networks. The situation isn't as black and white for John, as he has to decide what he's willing to do to protect himself, and considers the cost of the actions he takes. I really liked the movie more than I expected and I would love to see a third.

3. Baby Driver


Edgar Wright's fifth film is his first that wasn't based on another work or co-written with Simon Pegg, so it's an interesting look at what his personal talents and interests are. If he has a weakness, it's probably creating women characters that stand on their own, but I enjoyed the hell out of most of this movie. It's an odd hybrid of action heist film and musical, where most of the chases and shootouts are timed to match the background music, which was chosen from an eclectic variety of periods and genres. The cast is pretty outstanding, and there are unexpected twists on the pretty familiar story of a criminal with a heart of gold who just wants to get away and live a simpler life. Almost every moment just works, and it has a sort of fairy tale tone that I liked. There's talk about a sequel, and I have no idea what that would be, but I'd definitely see it.

2. Dunkirk


Dunkirk is further proof that Christopher Nolan can take any type of story or setting and turn it into a taut, tense, non-chronological, clockwork puzzle box. The Dunkirk evacuation is one of the most famous events of World War II from the British side, and this movie examines it from the perspectives of soldiers waiting on the beach for rescue, civilians recruited to retrieve them across the English channel with their own boats, and fighter pilots protecting both groups from slaughter by the Germans. Each perspective is on a different time scale, and it can get complicated trying to keep track of events you see from multiple perspectives that can occur out of order based on that timeline. You kind of can't help but smile as Nolan pulls this off in what could have been a straightforward war movie. The film is greatly buoyed by Hans Zimmer's score, which uses a ticking clock as a constant motif and keeps the tension ratcheted at all times as Nolan cuts between scenes of various intensity but a nearly constantly sense of impending doom. It's a good thing the movie's under two hours, because if it was closer to standard war movie length it might become unbearable. As it is, it's one of my favorites of the genre, without relying on the intense violence and gore that's been so common since Saving Private Ryan.

1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi


After buying the franchise rights from George Lucas, Disney released Star Wars: The Force Awakens to get people to trust that they knew what they were doing. It's a pretty good movie that hits on familiar story beats, introduces a very likable new cast of characters in addition to some familiar faces, and really doesn't do anything to rock the boat. The Last Jedi is different. It's a movie that defies expectations, tears down false beliefs, and pushes in new directions. Very much unlike The Force Awakens, it provoked strong reactions on both sides. Personally, I loved it. Following in the footsteps of The Empire Strikes Back, the best Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi allows its characters to fail. But in failure, they learn things and find out more about who they really are. How does Poe handle discovering that his piloting skills aren't enough to truly lead the resistance to a meaningful victory? Can Finn find something bigger to believe in than just the safety of himself and the people he's close to? How does Rey handle realizing that there's more to the force than magic tricks and fighting skills, and that just because a bad person is conflicted, it doesn't mean that they're capable or worthy of being saved? I think there's honest quibbles you can make about many of the moments in the film, but the questions it was asking and how they were answered felt far more important to me. It rejects things I really didn't like about the prequels or The Force Awakens, and finds a new path forward for the series that I'm looking forward to seeing explored in future sequels. Mark Hamill gave probably his best ever performance as Luke Skywalker, and I thought the handling of that character fit perfectly with the themes and scope of the story. It also has some of the best action scenes and most astonishing imagery the series has ever had. I wasn't sure there would be another great Star Wars movie again, but I believe this one was.

Delayed Entry

This is the best movie that wasn't released in 2017 but I didn't see until then.

Arrival

Denis Villeneuve directed Blade Runner 2049, but his best science fiction movie is Arrival. It starts with first contact with aliens and explores the nature of language in interesting ways, and expands from there into broader examinations of the very basics of perspective, communication, and life itself. It plays with the nature of storytelling brilliantly, showing you how basic assumptions can be wrong, all of which ties into the basic plot itself. You add in Villeneuve's skilled direction and a terrific cast and you have a pretty amazing movie.

Best Movies of 2013

What usually happens is I end up seeing a lot of above average mainstream movies during the year, and I don't really get caught up with the more prestigious films until after I've already made this list. While that's still somewhat true, as I managed to see things like Star Trek Into Darkness and Elysium while missing new work by acclaimed directors such as the Coen brothers, Steve McQueen, and Spike Jonze, I do think I did a slightly better job this year of seeing some smaller, really good movies. Mostly a fun year, even if the summer was a bit disappointing.

Best of 2013

10. Mud


Matthew McConaughey has always had a charismatic presence on screen, but he spent a lot of the last decade acting in movies no one cared about, playing regular charming guys and not pushing himself. That's changed in the last few years with roles like in Killer Joe and Magic Mike, and continues with Mud, and seeing him emerge as one of film's most captivating actors has been a real treat. I've noticed a trend recently of well made, independent movies set in rural America going around, and Mud fits right in there with the story of two boys in Arkansas who befriend a strange man living on an island who they slowly realize is a fugitive. The story is simple, but the performances are strong and it's a well-put-together coming-of-age tale worth checking out.

9. Spring Breakers


I guess Spring Break culture is still a thing? I remember MTV pushing it really hard about fifteen years ago. Spring Breakers is a fairly fascinating movie that completely revels in that culture while simultaneously mocking it and subverting it, and the effect is pretty remarkable. It's hard to know what to take from it at certain points, but at the very least, James Franco gives an unusual and memorable performance, there's some truly well crafted shots and moments, and it's a solid crime movie from start to finish. The girls, especially Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Benson, are fearless in their roles, and despite the rampant sexualization of every woman on screen it somehow comes out feeling like a feminist work on the other end. You kind of need to see it to know where you stand on it.

8. Frances Ha


Noah Baumbach isn't as well known as his occasional writing partner Wes Anderson, but Frances Ha shows how much more human his work can be. He and star Greta Gerwig co-wrote this movie about a young woman struggling to live in New York, and like most good movies of this works well as a story about a young person struggling to do anything. She strives to be more than an assistant at a dance company, she has fights with her best friend, she misses opportunities that could have turned into something important. But the movie is far from depressing, with Gerwig's great, eye-catching performance, the pervasive little moments and snatches of humor, and the way that in the end it shows that, while it can be tough finding how you can live your life and be happy, it's always possible.

7. Pacific Rim


It's sort of funny how Guillermo del Toro left The Hobbit because it was taking too long to get into production, and then the first movie came out before the next thing he actually directed. It was worth it though, since Pacific Rim is one of the most jubilant and exciting original summer blockbusters to come out in years. It seems kind of odd to describe an apocalyptic action movie as jubilant, but I think it fits. The story here could have been stretched out into a trilogy, but they skipped all of the boring parts and went straight to giant robots fighting giant monsters, and express humanity's can-do attitude as the few people left capable of mounting a resistance against the Kaiju fight valiantly to do so. There's only three real fight scenes, and they're all darkly lit, and only the second one is truly of consequence and grandeur. But holy hell, is that ever an action sequence. The cast of mostly TV actors do a fine job of pushing the story forward, and it's a really fun world to inhabit for a couple hours. Again, despite the whole apocalypse thing.

6. Stoker


Park Chan-wook is at the forefront of the Korean cinematic movement that's going on right now, and his first English-language film is a big relief - it's his best movie since Oldboy, and it shows that he can keep his trademark style while working in a completely different system. It's kind of impressive how well that style translates - the actors are white and speaking English, but it really does seem to have an Asian sensibility to it. A fairly innocuous-seeming story slowly reveals its layers of darkness in more and more horrifying ways. It's not really a horror film - it's just horrific. It's unique as far as American movies go, and only gets better as it goes on.

5. Iron Man 3


After The Avengers, I was maybe a bit concerned that Marvel's Cinematic Universe would lose steam and lose whatever special extra kick they had that made them different from the other handful of super hero movies that get released every year now. That wasn't really a problem, though. Shane Black and Robert Downey Jr. reunited to create one of the best movies of this whole crazy Marvel enterprise, and the best action movie of the year. It's a movie that proves to people that Tony Stark is Iron Man, not the suit he wears, and does so by having him not actually wear that suit for a great deal of the running time. Along with some other diversions from what you'd expect based on the trailers, Iron Man 3 is the type of movie that could upset people who are maybe a little stuck in their ways. But I think it's exactly what Marvel needed, and has me excited to keep watching these things every time they come out.

4. Upstream Color


Shane Carruth's first film, Primer, was the essence of pure science fiction. It had a grounded take on time travel that it took very seriously, and was the basis and driving force for the entire story. Upstream Color also has an intriguing science fiction mechanism that kicks off the story, but it goes in a different direction, one that is completely human in a way I really didn't expect. Terence Malick definitely influenced Carruth, as there's a lot of dreamy, wistful sequences that resemble his work closely. But I'm not sure if I've seen Malick's style match the subject matter of his work as well as Upstream Color's does. It's at times terrifying, beautiful, haunting, mournful, and hopeful, and it has an inescapable grip that pulls you through a journey whether you want to go or not. It's kind of incredible.

3. The World's End


To me, The World's End is the best movie in the "three flavours" trilogy. Big fans of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz might disagree, because The World's End is not quite the pure genre exercise that those movies are (and excel at being). The World's End is secretly a character piece that uses genre (in this case, alien invasion) to explore its concepts of adulthood, addiction, friendship, and other important things, and it does a lot of it under the surface. It's also extremely funny, has Simon Pegg's best performance yet, and proves again that Edgar Wright is secretly one of the best directors of action working today. It's a god damned good movie and an excellent way to put a cap on the themes they started exploring nearly a decade ago.

2. The Wolf of Wall Street


After I saw this movie, it was sort of baffling to see that there were people who didn't get that it doesn't actually like or approve of the people or actions it depicts. Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DeCaprio know they shouldn't have to rub our noses in it. Jordan Belfort and his cronies are inherently scum. They do tons of drugs, they will have sex with anyone willing, and they smugly give not a single shit while robbing people of their fortunes. The movie doesn't punish them because these people don't get punished in real life. That's the point. For crying out loud, Belfort's best buddy is married to his first cousin and starts masturbating in the middle of a party while high on Quaaludes. I'm getting away from what I wanted to say though, which is that Wolf is a great movie, and it's unfortunate that Scorsese is still having people react in exactly the wrong way after all these years. It has great acting from everyone, a great sense of humor, great pacing (three hours that feel like maybe a little over two), and... it's great. Retweets are not endorsements.

1. Gravity

Scientific accuracy is a funny thing. The closer you get to it, the more the deviations that remain feel like they could completely snap you out of the experience. Some people struggled with this in Gravity, even if they had to look up what the inaccuracies actually were afterward. But I appreciate that Gravity hewed as close to reality as possible, fudging the truth only when it was needed to make the story work. Gravity is one of the most tightly constructed and effective thrillers that has ever been made. Every big sequence is absolutely breathtaking, and the periods in between make for solid drama in bridging the gaps. The visual effects and long takes are exceptional, and at times I wondered how the hell they were doing certain things. The dialogue is a bit clunky at times, and there were a couple of places where the science probably could have been better without hurting the story. But they're very minor quibbles when you're looking at pure filmmaking that is this well done. I don't have any qualms with calling this my favorite movie of 2013.

Delayed Entry

This is the best movie that wasn't released in 2012 but I didn't see until then.

The Man From Nowhere

I'm not sure exactly why I love The Man From Nowhere so much. Well, that's kind of a lie. A big part of it is the fight scene at the end. It's seriously one of the ten best things I've ever seen in a movie. It's worth a lot. The rest of the movie is good too, though. While modern Korean cinema doesn't have the breadth of experience as Japanese movies did in their heyday, I'm still reminded of that movement when I see all of these movies by different directors with little previous experience and they all seem so good. This might be my favorite. It's sort of just a revenge movie, but a well crafted revenge movie can be a wonderful thing, and it's really a great example of what you can do with straight up genre filmmaking. Like a lot of my personal favorites, some people might not understand where I'm coming from. But what can I say. It's a great movie.

The Adventures of Tintin

My only previous experience with Tintin was seeing a few episodes of the cartoon when I was a kid. They made enough of an impression though that I was interested in seeing the movie as soon as I heard about it, especially based on the amount of talent involved in its creation. Directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by Peter Jackson, written by three talented British writers, and starring a pretty solid cast. It's actually a pretty darn small cast - if you don't count the bad guy's many henchmen, the film has only a handful of characters with real roles, and there are all of maybe two women who have any lines at all. But it's not really a film focused on dialogue, or subplots, or anything that doesn't relate directly to the central quest. If there's ever a movie that earned the term "breakneck pace", it's this one. It stomps on the gas pedal in the opening minutes, and never lets up until it's all over. Even the exposition scenes are packed with action and visual trickery. That and the fact that the script crams together elements of three different Tintin stories lends the movie a sort of rushed feeling, like there was just too much adventure to get through and not enough time. But while it can be tiring by the end, the movie is so packed with charm and fun that I couldn't help but enjoy it the entire time.

Jamie Bell stars as Tintin, a young European journalist (Bell is British, though in the original books he's Belgian) who frequently gets involved in larger-than-life adventures when following a story. He finds a scale model recreation of a famous lost ship, and when he refuses to sell it to a man played by Daniel Craig named Sakharine, he gets kidnapped and brought on board a boat. There he meets its captain, Haddock, played by a drunken and bumbling Andy Serkis, and the two (along with Tintin's dog Snowy) escape, attempting to find the treasure that Sakharine is really after. The treasure ties into Haddock's family history, and he and Tintin become unlikely friends on their quest to solve the mystery of his past. Serkis gives quite a fun performance, even if he resorts to rhyming exclamations a bit too often. Bell fits well as Tintin, it's fun to see Craig play a villain, and Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are once again a likable pair as Thompson and Thomson.

Of course I haven't really mentioned the fact that the film is animated, or any of the controversy around that. I've seen numerous people complain about the realistic look the movie goes for, rather than exactly mimicking the original art style. There have also been repeated references to the uncanny valley, though I've come to accept that people will now complain about it every time something animated even attempts to resemble reality. Maybe some people really are instinctively put off by any computer animation that isn't completely cartoony, but I was able to watch this entire film without noticing anything that really bothered me. The movie walks a very fine line by obviously being animated but still having extremely detailed nuances in the texture and animation of its characters, but I thought they pulled it off for the most part. I also think they really took advantage of the animated medium, especially in the crafting of the action scenes. There's a heck of a lot of them, and almost every one manages to do things that real life action wouldn't. The highlight of the whole film is a chase scene in a single take, through a Moroccan city and with numerous different characters involved at various points in both the chasing and being chased. Obviously being animated makes such a scene feasible, but even with that caveat, it's still a complete marvel of planning, design, and coordination to pull it off. That it isn't quite the film's climax is a symptom of the fact that the creators might not have known when enough is enough, but it's still a great scene. The last moments of the film are pretty explicitly setting up a sequel, and I hope the movie is successful enough for one to get made, because they did a great job of establishing a really fun and endearing setting, and I'd like to see Peter Jackson take his turn at the wheel.

Best Movies of 2010

As far as prestige films go, I really didn't see anything this year. The Coen brothers' latest work would almost count, but it's actually probably their most accessible film since O Brother, Where Art Thou? a decade ago. But that's okay. I watch movies to be entertained, and I had plenty of fun with a number of mainstream releases this year, including a couple of the best blockbusters I've ever seen.

Best of 2010

7. Let Me In


If I had never seen the film that this one is based on, I probably would have given it a lot more credit. As it is, it's still a more than competent remake of one of my favorite horror films ever, with at least a few things it does better or on its own that are almost as impressive. Some of the technical aspects are problematic, but what's important is that it's a well shot version of a creepy, interesting story.

6. Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2 isn't as good as its predecessor, but it's still one of the most enjoyable non-Batman comic book movies in a long time. The cast is absolutely overflowing with talent, and they all contribute to a really fun, comedic atmosphere that compliments the series' tendency to go for the bombastic when it comes to action scenes. Far from a subtly told tale, but it was a lot of fun for a couple hours.

5. Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World


Few movies can match Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim in terms of just pure visual style and creativity, and he did a great job faithfully adapting the crazy setting and plot of the comic while massaging it to make sense in two hours. In addition to being very funny, it also had possibly the best action all year - well choreographed fights that you could actually see what's going on in. Another huge cast, and almost everyone fits their parts.

4. True Grit


I guess it's not that surprising that this is now the Coens' biggest box office success ever, and it's nice to to see them make a film that audiences at large actually like. True Grit is not really one of my favorite films by them, but as a simple exercise in pure genre filmmaking, it works out really well. I'm not even sure if I want to see the first film based on the same work, lest it dilute my memories of what they did here.

3. Shutter Island


It wasn't that long ago that I despised Leonardo DiCaprio as a pretty boy actor, and here we are with this as only my second favorite movie he starred in this year. Martin Scorsese's creepy thriller wasn't his most nuanced work, but it was remarkably sure of itself and marvelous to look at, with some of the most purely haunting imagery I saw all last year. The ending managed to be effectively moving despite its predictably, and the care with which it was made elevates it above what it could have easily been.

2. Toy Story 3


If I was a hack, I'd write something using the words "Pixar" and "'Nuff said", and then move on. But yeah, Pixar makes consistently excellent family-friendly (not kid-friendly) animated films, and this might be my favorite of them all. Hilarious, visually brilliant, and disarmingly emotional in places, it's impressive that they managed to not only meet the success of the first two movies over a decade later, but totally surpass them.

1. Inception

Probably my favorite action movie since The Matrix, and for many of the same reasons. The characters are well cast and likable, the story is heady and exciting to think about, the action itself is genuinely exciting, and it could turn out to be extremely important when it comes to effects in big movies. Whereas The Matrix sort of helped bring along a tidal wave of heavily computer-aided action movies, Christopher Nolan did as much of Inception as possible in camera, and it was all the more effective because of it. Hopefully filmmakers realize they can dazzle audiences without spending millions on animation, and put that money into things that our brains aren't all hardwired to immediately detect as fake these days. Hopefully.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World

By the time I saw this movie my Scott Pilgrim fandom had waned slightly, not because of anything in particular, but just because the novelty had worn off a bit. Still, it's a very entertaining property, and Edgar Wright managed to strike a perfect balance between faithfully bringing Bryan Lee O'Malley's unique vision to the screen while changing enough to keep it fresh. I think the books and the movie both have their own strengths, the comics obviously have more time to spend developing secondary characters and the setting whereas the movie rushes through that a bit, but it also helps towards the end where it builds to a natural climax and exciting conclusion instead of the weird vibe I got from the final volume. It's a good companion to the books, and also stands well enough on its own for someone who's never read them to still enjoy the heck out of it, even if some of the background comes off as shallow.

Visually, it's one of the most kinetic and unique things I've ever seen. Wright is constantly playing with reality, having scenes warp and distort to fit the mood, and the editing is intensely in tune with whatever is being seen or heard. It calls a lot of attention to itself, but it works for the type of story it is, frantically racing from scene to scene, musical performance to martial arts fight, and it creates an atmosphere of giddy energy. All of the bands sound pretty much how they should, and the use of music to accentuate the mood or a fight (or even be a fight itself in one instance) is effective. There's also a ton of video game crap all over the place, tons of borrowed sound effects and musical cues and a few visual elements that pull you into the strange version of Toronto the film is creating and are also a nice bonus activity for nerds to spend their time identifying. The movie is primarily a comedy, and it's very funny, but what's impressive is how well the action works. The movie combines the weird gaming sensibility with some genuinely entertaining fight choreography, and while the stunt doubling is occasionally obvious, they're still very well produced scenes and I'm confident in saying they're actually the best action scenes I've seen this year. Fast, exciting, and you can actually see what's going on the entire time. It's an impressive feat.

The movie also works because almost everyone is right for their parts. Michael Cera actually doesn't fit how I pictured Scott Pilgrim acting in real life, as he's usually much closer to his completely awkward and shy persona. But that version of Scott manages to work in Wright's film, and he's surrounded by a pretty great supporting cast. A lot of the faces are recognizable elsewhere, as they pretty much got as many hot young people with talent that they could find. The evil exes in particular stand out, the twins are pretty much gone before they can do anything, but Matthew Patel is extremely weird, and the other actors who I actually know all do good jobs. Thomas Jane as a member of the vegan police was a bizarre but welcome cameo, and Bill Hader has a great narrator's voice. Kieran Culkin is a standout among Scott's friends as his awesome gay roommate Wallace. It might have been a good idea to tidy up the parade of Scott's acquaintances and merge a few parts just to make it easier to keep so many minor characters straight, because I'm not sure how manageable that is without prior knowledge. Still, it was fun seeing everyone so well realized in live action form. Not my favorite movie this year but certainly one of the most fun, and it continues to show how much skill Edgar Wright has with putting pure joy on film.

Spaced

Spaced was the breakout hit for its creators, who went on to make popular movies like Shaun of the Dead and are now recognizable successes. It's a short and brilliant little series about a couple of new friends who pretend to be a couple to get an apartment. The focus of the show thankfully isn't their wacky hijinks as they try to keep up the ruse though, it's just a funny look at life through the eyes of its interesting cast of characters. A huge part of it is pop culture references, as Simon Pegg's character spends his time playing video games and trying to break into the comic book industry. There's a lot of references to Star Wars in particular, and an episode in the second season heavily satirizes The Matrix, the events of which the characters call "slightly unbelievable".

For the most part, the show is just pure fun to watch. Even when I wasn't laughing out loud, I usually at least had a smile on my face. There's only 14 episodes across two seasons, but each one is good and packed with references and inside jokes, making the show a little too esoteric for some members of the general populace but a big treat for anyone who gets it. Even when it's not trying to be funny it succeeds. It says some genuine things about friendship, and the relationship development between co-writers Pegg and Jessica Stevenson is extremely well done. It doesn't last very long, but Spaced is pretty close to the perfect sitcom.

Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz is the next genre comedy from the Shaun of the Dead guys that honors its subject matter as much as it satires it. Shaun was a great take on zombie movies. Not only was it very funny, it was actually more than competent as just an example of the style. Hot Fuzz purports to do the same with Hollywood action movies, except for the fact that more than half of it is a lot closer to a slasher/mystery movie. Simon Pegg is the hotshot, ultra-serious officer who was transferred to a small town for being too good, and Nick Frost essentially reprises his role as Pegg's dumb, yet sympathetic friend. The two bond over the course of the movie, and at times their togetherness seemed almost romantic. I later learned that there was originally a female love interest for the main character who was cut, and a lot of her lines were given to Frost without any changes, which is actually pretty funny.

Anyway, Sandford is in the running for England's nicest village again, but a mysterious hooded figure has been killing townspeople and disguising his work as accidents. Pegg is sure it's murder, but no one believes him. He has to piece together what's really happening before the killer strikes again. It really is more like Scream than any action movie I've seen. Even if it wasn't what I expected, it was still plenty entertaining, with lots of great lines and jokes and hilariously over-the-top death scenes. A little closer to the end than I would have liked, they finally make the transition to the action part of the movie. There's a lot of entertainment to be had in the short time he and his allies are having gun fights with barkeepers, old men, and supermarket workers. They poke a lot of fun at the ridiculousness of modern movies while having a good go at it themselves. There's a dramatic climax with one more sickly humorous moment before a contrived ending finishes the movie a bit weakly. I think Shaun of the Dead was a bit better focused and stronger as a film, but Hot Fuzz was still good fun.