Top 2017 moments include ‘Girls Trip’, ‘Get Out’
From Tiffany Haddish and that grapefruit to Wonder Woman taking on No Man’s Land by herself, here are the 10 movie moments from 2017 that we can’t stop talking about. Beware, mild spoilers lurk below.
NO MAN’S LAND, “Wonder Woman’’
Goosebumps. I still get goosebumps thinking about Gal Gadot emerging from that trench and walking confidently with a steely calm into that empty and unwinnable field, swatting bullets away with her golden bracelets and giving hope not only to those counting on her in the film but to every woman in the audience too.
THE SUNKEN PLACE, “Get Out’’
In Jordan Peele’s part horror, part social satire “Get Out,’’ ‘’the sunken place” is a brainwashing technique employed by Catherine Keener’s Missy Armitage on her daughter’s black boyfriend Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya). She hypnotizes him stirring her tea methodically and suddenly he is trapped and falling in horrifying space. On a superficial level, it made an impact as a straight horror technique, but the sunken place went even deeper than a scare tactic: Peele later explained that it represents the marginalization and silencing of African Americans.
ELIO CRIES, “Call Me By Your Name’’
It is the very last shot of the movie (spoiler alert!), but it is also what that entire impossibly beautiful film is leading up to: Elio (Timothee Chalamet) heeding his father’s advice and really feeling the loss of his summer romance with the impossibly beautiful Oliver (Armie Hammer). Director Luca Guadagnino lets the credits roll as he keeps the shot close on Chalamet’s face, gazing into a fireplace while Sufjan Stevens sings and life goes on around him.
9-11, “The Big Sick’’
You know, just some casual conversation with your ex-girlfriend’s parents who hate you but you’re all stuck together in a hospital cafeteria because she’s in a coma.
Terry: So, uh, 9-11. No, I mean, I’ve always wanted to have a conversation … about it. With ... people.
Kumail: You’ve never talked to people about 9-11?
Terry: No, what’s your, what’s your stance?
Kumail: What’s my stance on 9-11? Oh, um, anti. It was a tragedy. I mean we lost nineteen of our best guys.
THE AIRPORT, “Lady Bird’’
Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird’’ is bursting with humanity and humour in every frame so it’s hard to choose a single moment, but Laurie Metcalf having a real-time change of heart about getting out of the car to say goodbye to her only daughter, who is leaving for college, while circling the Sacramento airport is pretty stunning. Just give her the Oscar already.
THAT SINK ISN’T BRACED! “mother!’’
Jennifer Lawrence didn’t get enough acclaim for her performance in Darren Aronofsky’s “mother!’’ The movie’s divisiveness overwhelmed everything and we seemed to collectively ignore just how great she is as the unnamed wife of a selfish poet who gives and gives and asks very little of her very rude houseguests. Sure, “mother!’’ is an allegory for the Bible, but there wasn’t a more relatable moment this year than Lawrence shrieking at a few uninvited guests to get off of her sink. It’s. Not. Braced.
THE GRAPEFRUIT, “Girls Trip’’
Tiffany Haddish stole the whole of “Girls Trip’’ right out from under her more famous counterparts as the bawdy, take-no-prisoners Dina but it was that moment with the grapefruit that we’ll never forget. It’s more than a little R-rated when she simulates a sex act with that piece of fruit with such wild-eyed enthusiasm, but thanks to Haddish, it’s hilarious too. Not only that, it made us all learn her name too.