RESPECT THE UNEXPECTED
RICHARD ROEPER'S MIDTERM MOVIE REPORT CARD
Didn’t see that coming. The first half of the 2017 movie calendar has been filled with surprises. Some of the movies on my “Most Anticipated” lists are now prime candidates to appear on my “Worst of the Year,” while a handful of films flying beneath most radars prior to release became instant favorites.
M. Night Shyamalan returned to master storyteller form with “Split,” Jordan Peele announced his presence as an original voice with “Get Out,” Kristen Stewart was brilliant in the disturbing “Personal Shopper” and Chris Evans and Mckenna Grace were the most irresistible guardian- child duo in recent years with “Gifted.” I loved, loved all four of those films.
Meanwhile, the loopy and dopey techno- thriller “The Circle” was dead on arrival despite the presence of Emma Watson and Tom Hanks, big- budget Chinese epic “The Great Wall” with a ponytailed Matt Damon turned out to be an embarrassing monster movie, and “The Mummy” ...
Let’s just say Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe made Brendan Fraser and Arnold Vosloo look like bigscreen geniuses by comparison.
Nearly halfway through the 2017 movie season, the most interesting superheroes were a tiny plastic Batman, a burnt- out Wolverine and a wondrous World War I heroine equipped with serious bracelets and a true heart.
Here’s your Midterm Movie Report Card for 2017.
Inflated controversy No. 1
“The Great Wall” was hit with accusations of “whitewashing” because Matt Damon was cast as the main hero of the film. The great director Zhang Yimou (“House of Flying Daggers”) pointed out the movie was not about the construction of the Great Wall and that Damon’s character ( a traveling mercenary) was never conceived as Chinese. Yimou asked audiences to withhold judgment until actually seeing the movie. ( Advice to remember for the trolls of the world.)
Once “The Great Wall” was released, it was immediately apparent the casting of Damon wasn’t the movie’s biggest problem. The movie was the movie’s biggest problem.
Bucking the trend
When we talk about sequels almost never equaling or besting the original, we trot out the traditional exceptions to the rule: “The Godfather Part II,” the “Toy Story” franchise, “Aliens,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.”
So far 2017 has been a solid year for sequels, with “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” “The Lego Batman Movie,” “John Wick: Chapter Two,” “T2 Trainspotting” and “Cars 3,” among others, serving as worthy next- chapter tales.
Hey, even “Fifty Shades Darker” wasn’t quite as brutal as “Fifty Shades of Grey.”
Best performances by actors in leading role
Chris Evans, “Gifted”; James McAvoy, “Split”; Hugh Jackman, “Logan”; Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”; Tracy Letts, “The Lovers.”
Best performances by actresses in leading roles
Emma Watson, “Beauty and the Beast”; Gal Gadot, “Wonder Woman”; Debra Winger, “The Lovers”; Kate Mara, “Megan Leavey”; Anne Hathaway, “Colossal.”
Inflated controversy No. 2
An evangelist and an anti- LGBTQ hate group called for a boycott of “Beauty and the Beast” over a scene with “an exclusively gay moment,” as director Bill Condon called it. Meanwhile, stories claimed Josh Gad’s LeFou was “the first gay character ever” in a Disney movie.
If you think that was the first gay character ever in a Disney movie, you really haven’t been paying attention during numerous Disney movies. Also, the “exclusively gay” moment took up less than 1 percent of the movie’s running time.
Finally, if you’re bothered by a gay character in “Beauty and the Beast,” what about the beauty and, you know, the beast.
As for the boycott: In the history of unsuccessful boycotts of mov- ies, this might well have been the least- effective of all the ineffective boycotts. “Beauty and the Beast” has grossed more than $ 500 million domestically and more than $ 1.2 billion worldwide.
Romance, with a twist
There have been some very … interesting couples this year: the young lovers played by Alison Williams and Daniel Kaluuya who visit Williams’ parents in what turns out to be an insane weekend; the philandering spouses played by Tracy Letts and Debra Winger in “The Lovers”; the American wife ( Diane Lane) considering an affair with a Frenchmen ( Amaud Viard) in “Paris Can Wait”; the inter- species romantic dance between Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” and have we mentioned the young woman who falls for the creature with horns and hooves in “Beauty and the Beast”?
There’s no business
Some of the best documentaries of the year have been about the business of show.
“If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast” is a life- affirming chronicle about showbiz legends such as Carl Reiner and Dick Van Dyke as well as non- famous achievers, all over 90.
Premiering on HBO shortly after the deaths of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, “Bright Lights” is a bittersweet but lovely and often hilarious look at the unique relationship between the legendary mother- daughter duo.
And in “Dying Laughing,” dozens of the most successful stand- ups of the last quarter- century recount some of their most painful experiences onstage and how they handle hecklers.
Inflated controversy No. 3
When a handful of theaters held all- female advance screenings of “Wonder Woman,” some incredibly sensitive men with an incredible amount of time on their hands howled in protest, crying “Discrimination!” and “Double standard!”
Keep in mind, these were advance, specialty screenings. Once “Wonder Woman” opened commercially, nobody was keeping anybody out of any theater.
Also, specialty screenings are nothing new. Theaters sometimes host private events for veterans, or special interest groups. Last year I attended a screening for “Bad Moms” that was populated by … moms. I might have been the only guy in the place. It never occurred to me to be offended by this.
The intellectually dishonest argument against an all- female screening is, “Imagine the protests if they had an all- male screening!”
Please. Do you really think women would care if some theater held an all- dude advance screening of some guy- friendly movie?