2017 in Review: Lisa Marie’s Picks For the 16 Worst Films of 2017!

Posted on January 8, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, it’s the second week of January and that means that it’s time for me to now to announce my picks for the best and worst of the previous year! Let’s start things out with my picks for the 16 worst films of 2017!

(Why 16? Because Lisa doesn’t do odd numbers.)

(Also be sure to check out my picks for 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010!)

16. Fifty Shades Darker,

15. Snatched,

14. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword,

13. Transformers: The Last Knight,

12. The Glass Castle,

11. Beatriz at Dinner,

10. Alien: Covenant,

9. Rings,

8. The Last Word,

7. The Circle,

6. Fist Fight,

5. All Eyez On Me,

4. To The Bone,

3. The Emoji Movie,

2. The Book of Henry,

And the worst film of 2017 was…

Wolves at the Door

Tomorrow, my look back at 2017 continues with my picks for the greatest moments for the best and most important television show of 2017, Twin Peaks: The Return!

Previous entries in the TSL’s Look Back at 2017:

Here Are the 70 Songs That Are Eligible For Best Original Song of 2017!

Posted on December 18, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Academy announced the 70 songs that will be eligible to be nominated for best original song! So, if you’re putting down bets and making out your predictions, here are your best song possibilities:

“U.N.I (You And I)” from “And the Winner Isn’t”
“Love And Lies” from “Band Aid”
“If I Dare” from “Battle of the Sexes”
“Evermore” from “Beauty and the Beast”
“How Does A Moment Last Forever” from “Beauty and the Beast”
“Now Or Never” from “Bloodline: Now or Never”
“She” from “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story”
“Your Hand I Will Never Let It Go” from “The Book of Henry”
“Buddy’s Business” from “Brawl in Cell Block 99”
“The Crown Sleeps” from “The Breadwinner”
“World Gone Mad” from “Bright”
“Mystery Of Love” from “Call Me by Your Name”
“Visions Of Gideon” from “Call Me by Your Name”
“Captain Underpants Theme Song” from “Captain Underpants The First Epic Movie”
“Ride” from “Cars 3”
“Run That Race” from “Cars 3”
“Tell Me How Long” from “Chasing Coral”
“Broken Wings” from “City of Ghosts”
“Remember Me” from “Coco”
“Prayers For This World” from “Cries from Syria”
“There’s Something Special” from “Despicable Me 3”
“It Ain’t Fair” from “Detroit”
“A Little Change In The Weather” from “Downsizing”
“Stars In My Eyes (Theme From Drawing Home)” from “Drawing Home”
“All In My Head” from “Elizabeth Blue”
“Dying For Ya” from “Elizabeth Blue”
“Green” from “Elizabeth Blue”
“Can’t Hold Out On Love” from “Father Figures”
“Home” from “Ferdinand”
“I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” from “Fifty Shades Darker”
“You Shouldn’t Look At Me That Way” from “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool”
“This Is How You Walk On” from “Gifted”
“Summer Storm” from “The Glass Castle”
“The Pure And The Damned” from “Good Time”
“This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman”
“The Hero” from “The Hero”
“How Shall A Sparrow Fly” from “Hostiles”
“Just Getting Started” from “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast”
“Truth To Power” from “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power”
“Next Stop, The Stars” from “Kepler’s Dream”
“The Devil & The Huntsman” from “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword”
“Have You Ever Wondered” from “Lake of Fire”
“I’ll Be Gone” from “Lake of Fire”
“We’ll Party All Night” from “Lake of Fire”
“Friends Are Family” from “The Lego Batman Movie”
“Found My Place” from “The Lego Ninjago Movie”
“Stand Up For Something” from “Marshall”
“Rain” from “Mary and the Witch’s Flower”
“Myron/Byron” from “The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)”
“Longing For Summer” from “Moomins and the Winter Wonderland”
“Mighty River” from “Mudbound”
“Never Forget” from “Murder on the Orient Express”
“Hold The Light” from “Only the Brave”
“PBNJ” from “Patti Cake$”
“Tuff Love (Finale)” from “Patti Cake$”
“Lost Souls” from “The Pirates of Somalia”
“How A Heart Unbreaks” from “Pitch Perfect 3”
“The Promise” from “The Promise”
“Kaadanayum Kaalchilambe” from “Pulimurugan”
“Maanathe Maarikurumbe” from “Pulimurugan”
“Stubborn Angel” from “Same Kind of Different as Me”
“Dancing Through The Wreckage” from “Served Like a Girl”
“Keep Your Eyes On Me” from “The Shack”
“On The Music Goes” from “Slipaway”
“The Star” from “The Star”
“Jump” from “Step”
“Tickling Giants” from “Tickling Giants”
“Fly Away” from “Trafficked”
“Speak To Me” from “Voice from the Stone”
“Walk On Faith” from “Year by the Sea”

The Academy also announced that 141 films will be eligible for Best Original Score. In the interest of space, I’m not going to post them all here. You can check out the list on Awards Watch!

And, finally, here are the nominations of the St. Louis Film Critics Association!

Posted on December 12, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As soon as I post this, I will be caught up on sharing all of the precursor awards here on the Shattered Lens (or, at the very least, all of the precursor awards that have been announced so far. There’s several more to come). It’s not a minute to soon either! Tomorrow, the SAG Nominations will be announced. That’s one of the biggest of the precursors.

Anyway, the St. Louis Film Critics Association announce their nominations yesterday. The winners will be announced on December 17th.

Here are the nominees!

BEST PICTURE

“Get Out”
“Lady Bird”
“The Shape of Water”
“The Post”
“Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”

BEST DIRECTOR

Greta Gerwig, “Lady Bird”
Jordan Peele, “Get Out”
Denis Villeneuve, “Blade Runner 2049”
Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water”
Steven Spielberg, “The Post”

BEST ACTRESS

Kristen Stewart, “Personal Shopper”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”
Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Meryl Streep, “The Post”
Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”

BEST ACTOR

Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”
James Franco, “The Disaster Artist”
Tom Hanks,”The Post”
Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Kristin Scott Thomas, “Darkest Hour”
Holly Hunter, “The Big Sick”
Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”
Hong Chau, “Downsizing”
Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Michael Shannon, “The Shape of Water”
Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water”
William Dafoe, “The Florida Project”
Woody Harrelson, “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“The Big Sick”
“Lady Bird”
“Get Out”
“Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”
“The Shape of Water”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“Mudbound”
“It”
“The Disaster Artist”
“Molly’s Game”
“Call Me By Your Name”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

“Dunkirk”
“The Shape of Water”
“Blade Runner 2049”
“Wonder Wheel”
“Darkest Hour”

BEST SOUNDTRACK

“Atomic Blonde”
“Coco”
“Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”
“Baby Driver”
“Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2”

BEST EDITING

“Darkest Hour”
“The Post”
“Baby Driver”
“The Shape of Water”
“Dunkirk”

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

“Phantom Thread”
“Dunkirk”
“The Shape of Water”
“Blade Runner 2049”
“Beauty and the Beast”

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

BEST SCORE

“Dunkirk”
“Phantom Thread”
“The Shape of Water”
“Blade Runner 2049”
“The Post”

BEST DOCUMENTARY

“Jane”
“Last Man in Aleppo”
“Never Say Goodbye: The Kshe Documentary”
“Whose Streets?”
“City of Ghosts”

BEST ANIMATED MOVIE

“Despicable Me 3”
“Loving Vincent”
“The LEGO Batman Movie”
“Coco”
“Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie”

BEST FOREIGN FILM

“Frantz”
“The Square”
“Graduation”
“Land of Mine”
“First They Killed My Father”

BEST SCENE

Harlem Shuffle Opening, “Baby Driver”
Elio’s Dad’s Monologue, “Call Me By Your Name”
Stairway Fight, “Atomic Blonde”
Coach Directing The Tempest, “Lady Bird”
‘Oh, hi, Mark,’ “The Disaster Artist

WORST FILM

Quick Review: King Arthur – Legend of the Sword (dir. by Guy Ritchie)

Posted on May 12, 2017 by Leonard Wilson

KingArthur-LegendoftheSword Usually, when I go to the movies, I either eat before I get there, or after the movie is done. This way, I don’t have to get up at all and miss anything. If it’s a film I’ve seen before, I’ll take the weakest part to use as a bathroom / food break, if I have to go. It’s one way I can tell if I like what I’m watching.

I got up twice for King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. Once to go downstairs and get a popcorn and drink, and a second time for a free refill. I even left my stuff behind in my chair for anyone to take on the second trip out. That’s how low my interest in this film fell after about 30 minutes in. I trusted the fates not to have someone steal my motorcycle jacket (keys, gear and all) to take a break from this film.

This may not be the best review to read about King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.

The Arthurian Legend has been captured in film a number of times. The Last Legion, First Knight, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Excalibur (my personal favorite), and most recently, Antoine Fuqua’s King Arthur starring Clive Owen. There’s nothing wrong with a retelling of the story, but Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is all over the place and feels like it has nothing to do with the legends. This isn’t anything against Ritchie. I own Rock-N-Rolla and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and I loved Snatch. King Arthur was just off to me. Even the Sherlock Holmes films seemed more grounded than this one does. None of the actors are truly able to save this film, and a few people actually left in the middle of my showing. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever watched, but Ritchie’s made better films than this.

Granted, I didn’t really walk in with a lot of expectations. The film had it’s release date changed, being sandwiched right between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 the week before and Alien: Covenant the week after. It really didn’t have a chance, though I thought maybe it could at least hold the weekend. On the other hand, the movie did feel like a lot of the sword and sorcery films I grew up with in the ‘80s, such as Hawk The Slayer, Beastmaster, Ridley Scott’s Legend, The Sword & the Sorcerer, hell, even Barbarian Queen. In that sense, I might say that the film holds up. If you’re not trying to compare it with anything Arthur/Camelot related, you may actually enjoy it.

Legend of the Sword is the story of Arthur (Charlie Hunnam), who needs to save his land from the evil King Vortigern (Jude Law) after reclaiming the great sword Excalibur. I could say more, but I’d give too much away. He’s aided by his friends, Sir Bedivere (Djimon Hounsou) and Goosefat Bill (Aidan Gillen), along with a Mage (Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey) that takes the place of Merlin, who’s absent here. Everyone’s performances are okay, particularly Law and Gillen, who chew up any scene they’re in. Hunnam does just as good with what he’s given, but his Arthur is a bit of an ass at the start. Everyone seems to enjoy what they’re doing here. Even David Beckham gets a moment as a henchman. Of them, the only character I really cared about was Goosefat Bill. Aiden Gillen can play the hero, and play one well.

To his credit, Guy Ritchie’s direction is as quick and sharp as it ever was. When there’s action, it’s fast and fluid. You’ve got great running sequences, and giant CGI animals. Even the swordplay is fun, particularly when Excalibur is involved (those are really the best parts). It’s stylish, and looks awesome in some scenes. The dialogue is rapid, with quick cuts along whole segments. It’s what we’ve come to know and expect from Guy Ritchie. Though it worked well for his modern crime films, it come across as being a little disjointed here. I was hoping for King Arthur, not Underworld Boss Arthur who could be Robin Hood, along with his would be Merry Men of Sherwood Forest.

While I’m not saying that every element of the Arthur tale needed to be expanded upon, Legend of the Sword suffers from a few jump cuts that say “Don’t worry about all of this info, just know we reached point B from point A.” It’s efficient, but also turns the entire tale into a Cliffs Notes / Wikipedia summary. The film moves that quick. The film is peppered with these abbreviations that’s supposed to move the narrative along, but does this so fast that you almost have a tough time believing this movie was actually 2 hours long. I’m not asking for Hamlet, but at least allow your characters to flourish or grow or gain something about them that’s endearing. I’ll also admit to having a short attention span, it’s not that short that it requires quick-cut bursts to keep me enthralled.

Overall, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword was a miss for me. If you have to catch it, you may want to wait for the VOD edition.