2017: a year of ups and downs, a roller coaster designed by an architect who clearly never experienced vertigo.
For such a tumultuous time frame of figurative and literal fires, seeking refuge and comfort in the cinema became a normal foray of escapism. Add with the advent of MoviePass (thanks to a friend for fueling my addiction!), movie theaters quickly became secondary homes.
Below are personal favorites without adequate description for lack of adequate time. I’m fully aware of how problematic and/or flawed some of these are; they are listed here because I saw them at distinct moments in my life at the time.
Which is to say: each of these movies has an attached and associative memory, most of which are indirectly related to the movies themselves. I’m only including a snippet to each movie to indicate why they’re on the list.
1. Coco - dir. Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina
"Omg you need to go see Coco. It's sooo good. Cried my tears out. Reminded me so much of you."
2. The Last Jedi - dir. Rian Johnson
"Look, Certain Subset of Star Wars fans: Star Wars is about the same stuff it was when you were a kid. It's not the franchise's fault you grew up to join the Epmpire."
3. Blade Runner 2049 - dir. Denis Villeneuve
"The most awful thing the world has done to K is to put him on a spectrum where he’s defined as less than human. The world defines so many of us that way every day. It shouldn’t matter. But it does. Because there’s institutional power behind it. Because there’s violence behind it. Because when the world tells you day in and day out that you’re worth less, it’s hard not to start believing it sometimes."
4. Logan - dir. James Mangold
"I think we should watch 'Logan' on Thursday though. Will you be free enough to squish with me?"
5. Paddington 2 - dir. Paul King
"btw: I saw a movie called "Paddington 2" on Saturday. It was like getting the most comforting hug you could ask for" "Q is really into creepy animals"