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moonlightchess · 7 years ago

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I’ve been feeling inspired lately, so here’s a moodboard for + the beginning of a bonus short story I’ve been working on!

Casper J. Saltpeter either had a flair for the dramatic, or a highly self-aware sense of humor. Given that I’d never actually met him, I wasn’t entirely sure which was the truth yet, but the elaborately wrought black iron wall sconces and gloomy charcoal damask wallpaper along the hallway that was currently leading me into his study was a nice touch. Casper himself had to have been deliberately cultivating his own image as an eccentric millionaire ghost hunter, in his black wool turtleneck and slim-fitting gray Burberry pants. He even wore a pair of Browline glasses that I suspected he didn’t even need, and was leaning casually against an elegant teakwood desk when I arrived. In his hand was a book that was either a grimoire of dark supernatural secrets and mysteries, or the last Harry Potter, I couldn’t tell yet given that his enormous study was lit only by about two dozen flickering candles for some reason. Their soft glow illuminated only what was necessary, throwing the rest of the room into shifting shadow.

“Evening,” he greeted me with an almost boyishly gleeful grin that directly contradicted the scene he was clearly trying to establish. “I’m so glad you came, London. Welcome to the party.” There were five of us, including Casper, and someone, presumably him, had set out champagne and tea and snacks on gold-plated trays. The air smelled sweetly of clove and cinnamon, and I realized then that the candles burning were scented. There was an Asian man who looked to be in his thirties, dressed with the kind of casual sophistication that only the truly wealthy could wear like an aura, in his thick cream-colored cashmere sweater and expertly treated jeans that looked to be custom-fit to his body. The candlelight caught the glint of his heavy designer watch as he sipped from a tumbler glass of bourbon. There was a woman, her skin so moon-pale she nearly glowed in the light, with laughing brown eyes and a heart-shaped doll’s mouth, as small and petite as a pixie with long honey-blonde hair.

The final person was a man, warm autumn-brown skin with dark chocolate curls and gentle amber eyes, strangely delicate with his birdlike wrists and lilting British accent when he spoke. “Hello,” he said, his voice as soft as his features. He could have been twenty-five or forty-five, it was impossible to tell. Casper himself was wrapped in a bizarre and ethereal air, a kind of arresting oddness to his features that I couldn’t stop watching. He was impossibly tall, all legs, with a sharply upturned nose and a full, lush mouth, but the most of it were his eyes. They were drowsy and heavy-lidded, so huge that he was teetering into uncanny valley territory, and so light that they were nearly colorless, like a mirror, framed by dense, downy lashes. He had dark circles framing them, and a thick mop of wavy hair the color of Swiss coffee. He was not beautiful, and he was not especially attractive, but god, he was something. He was a stunning storm of strange features coming together in an alien way that looked like how a cryptid who had only ever seen humans from a distance by moonlight might have drawn one.

I was only wearing black velvet flats, and I could feel the thickness of Casper’s jet black carpeting through them, under my feet. “I’m Casper J. Saltpeter, a superfluous introduction I’m sure, but we are civilized people and niceties must be observed,” he went on. “And you, good man, are Christian Lin, world-renowned master chef and paranormal enthusiast with a very special skill beyond the magic you create in the kitchen.” He presented Christian with a flourish of his hand. “This lovely lady right here is Dr. Hanna Bright, genius astrophysics consultant for NASA whose gifts are unknown even by the stars. Which of course brings us to the always amiable Hassan Said, son of the Iranian ambassador to England and soon to be his father’s successor, not to mention Oxford University’s most prominent golden ribbon honor society member from the political sciences department.” Hassan flushed slightly, shifting his gaze as if embarrassed. “And finally, London Montier, daughter of the greatest ballet dancer Paris had ever known in the eighties, and a botanist mother who discovered the plant that is used to make more than one modern-day anxiety medication through cross-breeding, not to mention New York City’s most gifted up and coming dancer herself, in more ways than one.” He winked at me, and we all gaped wordlessly at him.

“...Am I horrified? Amused? Rolling my eyes? Someone decide for me.” It was Christian Lin who broke the silence, and Casper laughed out loud. It melted the moment, and then we were all laughing, rolling our eyes, and reaching for drinks. Casper was profoundly likable and ridiculous, his energy radiantly warm even in this dimly lit room that looked like a Victorian spiritualist’s parlor. Casper lit up a slim black cigarette that smelled sweetly spicy when he exhaled a throatful of smoke up toward the ceiling.

“I suppose you’re all wondering why I’ve gathered you here,” he said, slow and deep, and then he laughed again. “I have always wanted to say that! It even fits this time! As opposed to that one time I tried it at the bank. Luckily the police are pretty forgiving when you have enough money to fund their station for the next twenty years. Anyway, you’re all here because I’m looking for a ghost, and each and every person in this room has a special skill that I bet you thought no one knew about until now.” Dr. Bright looked slightly anxious still, and she was keeping her distance from Casper.

“How did you know about me?” she wanted to know. “I don’t go to any paranormal forums, I’ve never talked to TAPS, I’ve never told anyone about what I can do.”

Casper smiled at her, more warmly now. “Don’t worry, doctor,” he assured her gently. “No one else would ever have any way of knowing about you, but there’s no escaping my sight. Not the one I use my eyes for, anyway.” He tapped his temple. “That’s my gift, that’s what I do. I can see them, and I can see everyone who has some connection to the spirit world too. You all have an aura that standard people never do - a kind of shimmer, this silvery light wrapped around you like a mist if you’re the kind of person who can see it. I can. I can’t talk to them, I can’t hear them, I can’t touch them, but I can see them. And I can see you.” He tilted his head to one side in a curiously birdlike gesture, regarding Hanna. “I was standing in line behind you at a Peet’s coffee in Boston a little over a year ago, and I looked up from my phone and there you were, shining like the moon.”

Hanna melted a little, and god, who could have blamed her? “The next part is a lot less endearing - I used my phone to hack into yours and collected your contact data from some of your online accounts. That’s how I knew where to send your invitation,” he explained, watching her a little nervously. “You all have similar stories - Hassan, I met you at the benefit event in London for whales or sick babies or birch trees with depression or something, I can’t even remember. You shook my hand, and there it was. That shimmer, that silvery glow. Remember when you mentioned your upcoming charity event for Iranian schools and we exchanged numbers? That was all I needed. London, I met you when I donated some money to your New York Ballet company and they sent me tickets to that show of yours. You wore your glow like a cape made of starlight up there on that stage, I had to hack you too but your profile page on the company’s website made it easy.” He shrugged, unrepentant. “The point was getting all of you here, you beautiful shining people. Forgive my transgressions and come with me, and together we can unravel the unknowable.”

His huge, strange eyes shone with a kind of fevered light, a zealot’s hunger, but I found myself drawn in. “God, if all five of us work together…” I murmured, slowly realizing his vision. “Casper, you can see them, what can the rest of us do?”

There was a beat, a hesitantly silent moment, and then Christian said, “I can hear them. They seem to know this, they’re always begging me for favors. I wake up in the middle of the night to these whispering voices, these lingering echoes of their deaths. I’m getting better at tuning them out.”

Our eyes slid to Hassan, who shrugged. “I can talk to them,” he said. “I can’t see them or hear anything they say in return, but they can hear me. They don’t seem to be able to hear anyone else, because they’re always all over me, crowding my house, confused and alarmed from what I can tell.”

“I’m a summoner,” I supplied. “If I know their name and even better, what they looked like, I can call them to me. It’s especially easy if we’re close to or in the place where they died, but I can do it anywhere. I can pull them from the spirit world and into mine. Not that I like, make a habit of it or anything. I mean, it’s not like there’s much I can do with them once they’re here. I did it a lot accidentally, when I was a kid.”

Finally, Hanna. She swallowed hard before explaining. “I can hurt them,” she said. “I never mean to, but I can touch them, and it hurts them badly when I do, if I want it to. It does something to me though, it...changes me for a while. I can’t really explain it.”

☞ to be continued!

#writing #fiction #dark fantasy #paranormal #ghost stories #original fiction #my writing #do you guys enjoy these writing blurbs i've been posting?#i hope so!

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humansizedplanet · 6 years ago

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first semester.

In the last few days and weeks, I’ve laid witness to a flood of joyous “end-of-first-semester”-type posts on Instagram, Facebook and otherwise. Slides and galleries of shiny, beautiful humans — at parties and museums, in dorm rooms and at galas, some sober and some definitely not — have dominated my feed (and I am sure yours too, for my collegiate peers). So lucky to be here, the captions read. The end to an amazing semester. Whirlwind. Can’t believe it’s over.

From rooftops and in darkness, they shout, implicitly: look at my people! Look at how fun! Look at how deeply I am in love, and look how much I have done!

And I cannot doubt the veracity of these narratives. Rather, I congratulate them. I am sure the photos, or at least I hope so, are captures of moments of joy. They are emblems of what makes college an extraordinary experience for some. In fact, many of us — probably including myself — have experienced one of the best times of our lives this semester in college, whether it be our first or one of our last. In college, joy escapes few who permit themselves to feel it, and who have the circumstances to do so. Joy has acutely rested in the palms of the dominant majority as new experiences, bodies, feelings, and opportunities have bubbled excitedly to the surface. It is normal to live a collegiate life enshrouded by a happy ambiance, momentarily (or, for some, permanently) immune — or perhaps just deflective towards — negativity and anxious stress. I mean, when your school has just won its first NCAA men’s soccer College Cup in institutional history, how can you not stoke the flickering fire in your stomach, the warmth of a newfound pride radiating through every part of your body? When you dance to good music at strange parties, surrounded by those who you have claimed your own, how might you stop the spread of smile? When your professor grants you a good mark or says something kind to you in office hours, what rationale is there to suppress the kick of joy at your belly?

Beyond the scope of sports teams and compliments, my own joy has been immense throughout the last four months. From pieces for the Georgetown Voice + Independent to poetry slams, I’ve found spaces to write and create and share so much of my heart. In class and through conversation, I’ve learned previously unheard narratives and the contours of faces lost to the sands of history. I’ve let dance seep into my bones at concerts and political realism indoctrinate my foreign policy takes in seminars. I’ve tried strange foods and strange music; I’ve sang in stairwells at unholy hours. Most importantly, I’ve tied new knots in an ever-expanding safety net of human beings I love and trust, and these bows are ones made by some of the most considerate, intelligent, talented, and visionary people I’ve had the chance to meet. These are relationships that welcome challenge and fear no depth of dialogue; these are individuals who are happy to free dive into the muddy waters if it means emerging with a new clarity about the world above the surface afterwards. These are people who pivot to the sun without forgetting the shadow that leaks behind, who radiate light but shy, not, from sheer darkness. And God, I am so lucky.

I, too, then, have so much to post about: so much has been good to me.

Yet I cannot help but feel a bit of guilt at the subtractive artifice that comes with presentations of this first semester on social media. Those joyful posts I’ve encountered — and my own paragraph, immediately above — imagine a neon world, full of brightness and joy and success and humor. Indeed, social media is a preservationist tool: they tell us what you put on the Internet is out there forever, and I believe it. It makes sense to plaster joy on our feeds because it memorializes times and people that make us happy. Why not seal them in amber, parade them around like trinkets? Certainly, it’s better to celebrate what is joyful rather than what is tragic. I myself curate meticulously: my Instagram is filled with the flash of teeth, and it makes me happy to share with the world the moments of joy that I feel profoundly.

But in doing so, we lose the messy, real edges. We erase unshapely life. The neon world ends up neglecting the hours that are not so glorious, and preaches delusional narrative to the consuming masses that all is to be filled with joy. Perhaps social media is not meant to be very realistic, but I have spent so many hours in its vestiges that I refuse to accept that this must be its only formulation. I write this post not to critique social media or launch into yet another explanation of how social media changes our psychology and has toxic aftereffects. As (mostly) conscious consumers, we are all aware of this truth. I am sure many of you have gone on your own social media cleanses, have identified how it propagates challenges with self-esteem and forms artificial, at-times untenable expectations.

So I come to you, instead, with an admittance of (at least some of) the messier edges of my own college experience. Yes, it has been defined so loudly by joy: I feel lucky every day to be at Georgetown and to be surrounded by such magic. But for every night of spontaneity and fun and happiness and catharsis there has also been one of struggle. For one, college is also about confronting loneliness, and normalizing social singularity. I ate many meals alone this semester, many more than I would like to admit. Sometimes as a result of schedule, sometimes as a result of intention (“needing space”), and other times simply because I was too shy to ask someone to dinner, I found myself often in the dining hall amidst a pulsating, socialized universe. And though I had always been so comfortable with loneliness — as the only child of immigrant parents, this reality is unavoidable — I found the collegiate breed of it to be particularly corrosive. What am I doing wrong? I wondered. Am I not good enough?

And it is this question of “good enough” that defines so many of the darker narratives of the collegiate experience. So much of college — at least at Georgetown — is this process of trying out for things; applications for clubs and fellowships and grants build a mountain of attempts to try to throw yourself into things. This story is, I think, particularly familiar to the first-year student: we are told, before even stepping foot on campus, that there is some family here for you. Most of the time, there is — and so it makes sense to continue this narrative. But the result is that freshmen blindly throw themselves at things, and so much emotional gravity is placed on acceptance into these spaces. Rejection, eventually, becomes a quiet but familiar face for so many. Rationalizing with it yields no comfort; ultimately, there is only the necessity of accepting that you are not meant to be certain places at certain times, and the search continues. You convince yourself that you are good enough…for something. Hopefully. And I searched. Even when I was lucky enough to have been given entrypoints, I was still confronted with this persistent question: is this it? Am I here?

When asked about my support system — my place on campus, more specifically — by old friends, former teachers, even fellow freshmen on campus, I came up with a routine answer: still working on it. I am still working on it. This is no hyperbolic dramatization: I think the cycle is still spinning in my laundry machine. The engineer of that machine never gifted me a timer, however, so I see no end to this process. I know it must come, at some point, but when? How will I even know?

This sense of perpetuity — this continuous question of finding where exactly I belong — has been accompanied by a strange reorientation of social place. Beyond mere loneliness, I found myself often struggling to parse through the literal thousands of students I was surrounded by. How do I find my people? Who do I even like? What do I even like? What the hell am I even doing? I struggled with my gut instincts about individuals because in the past I have been proven, again and again, so profoundly wrong. First impressions rarely reveal the elemental nature of relationships. So on a college campus where the only real tool towards beginning to feel social place is capitalizing on first impressions, what do you even do?

Even those that I found myself gravitated to — things were not always pretty. Nor will they be. People fight. Misunderstandings happen. Even beyond conflict, I found myself time and time again having to help friends confront new challenges in their personal lives. Lots of hands held. Lots of hugs given. Many hours of sitting in the quiet. Presence matters. And it’s hard, often, to be as present as you need to be.

There was a reckoning with the past, too. There were catch-up calls with old high school friends where I felt, suddenly, like a foreigner peering into their local lives, startled by how much of their worlds were no longer landscapes I could even begin to understand. I struggled to figure out who to message when I got off the plane at Thanksgiving because I didn’t know who liked me enough to spend their precious hours with me during those short days. There were text message discussions with my former high school teachers where I felt alien, too mature and yet not enough to exist, still, in their worlds. And along the lines of all of this was a quiet fear that I had done it all in high school, and that I had left so much for so little.

You may have noticed the excess of rhetorical questions that have colonized the last few paragraphs of this piece. I think it’s clear that I’m still in a state of inquiry. And I accept it joyously, because that state of inquiry had historically always led to better results for me in both lab reports and in general life things. Just know that as I have questioned and answered and questioned again, there have been valleys as much as there have been peaks.

If you’re a first-year student reading this and haven’t had the best few months of your life, I hear you. I love you. Your story is valid. There were many nights where I felt like I was the only one going through stuff, even though I knew there definitely were so many others feeling the same way. There were many sad moments in private library rooms where I chewed on gummy candy and contemplated why I was where I was. In shower stalls, mindlessly letting water cascade, wondering if my day was going to be any good. If you’re a first-year student reading this and have experienced nothing but utmost joy, props. I hope, dearly, that it lasts. If you’re yet to enter college, I hope reading this demolishes any pressure you have come next fall to make your freshman year perfect. It might not be. And that’s okay. And if you’re one of the lucky people that is years older, I hope this post related experiences and validated emotions you may have felt so many years ago.

When I look back on the last four months, I refuse the rose-colored glasses. Not everything has been easy. But in seeing my first semester realistically, with all its mess, I find such value and such room for optimism for the next one. I’m incredibly excited. Sunlight feels good now, don’t it? So many kisses. x

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hqnatalia · 7 years ago

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TOP 10 BEST MOVIES OF 2017

The year of 2018 is now in full swing and, with the year of 2017 completed, it’s time to exam the “best” and “worst” ssrmovies that of that year. Indeed, there was a lot of movie releases seeing in 2017. In total, I’ve personally seeing (and reviewed) over 81 new movies in 2017, some that were very recognizable, while others were “sleepers” that flew underneath the mainstream radar. There were also a lot of movies that made big money at the box office in 2017 as well as some that gained critical praise from both critics and moviegoers.

I’ve already posted my list for Top 10 Worst Movies of 2017 and now I’m ready to share with my list for what were the best movies of the 2017 year. These films, whether met high expectations, creativity imaginative, or just simply really good, were my personal best choice of the movies I saw throughout the course of the 2016. Surprisingly, Disney had a terrific year in movies, grossing billions at the box office, so you can imagine some (if not most) will be on my list. What can I say… I’m a sucker for Disney. But before I begin with number 10, take a look at some honorable runner-ups that almost made it on my top ten best movies of 2017.

Runner-Ups

A MONSTER CALLS

“How Does the Story Begin (And End)?

THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE

“The Dark Knight Returns (In LEGO Brick Form)”

JOHN WICK CHAPTER 2

“John Wick 2.0 (Faster, Harder, Stronger)

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

“The Tale as Old as Time Returns”

LA LA LAND

“Old School Hollywood Magic”

(technical a 2016 release, but it was nationally released in 2017)

And now my top ten!!!

10 – Patriots Day

Ratings: 4.4 Out of 5Review:

Patriots Day

In amidst terrible tragedy and frantic chaos, courage and everyday heroism unfolds. Director Peter Berg’s Patriots Day presents (through a cinematic lens) the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing in a raw and emotion way, showcasing the horrors of the terrorist attack as well as the bravery shown by those who were affected by the attack. It’s powerful and emotional film, which is compiled and presented with enough attention to detail (both thematic and in entertaining) thanks to Berg’s direction and to the film’s cast. More profoundly, the film’s ending message echoes into recent events with love being stronger than hate, especially acts of terrorism and hate crimes are on the rise. While I do love Patriots Day, my heart does go out to the real-life individuals who were affected by this event and those who aided in the capture those who caused such a violent attack of terrorism. To those people, and for that matter the people of Boston, stay strong…Boston Strong!

9 – Spider-Man: Homecoming

Rating: 4.4 Out of 5Review:

Spider-Man: Homecoming

In 2017, everyone’s favorite “webslinger” superhero swung back with a new face (Tom Holland) and new challenges into theaters in Spider-Man: Homecoming. While actors Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield have already played the character of Peter Parker before, Tom Holland’s charismatic energy and meaningful sincerity to the character is what sold me (and a lot others). Director by John Watts, Homecoming worked on multiple levels, working as both a high school comedy and a MCU comic book tale about a youthful, but inexperienced superhero. The movie doesn’t necessarily move the MCU’s overarching story forward, but ultimately succeeds at being more of a standalone (and smaller) entry rather being dependent on its own cinematic universe world-building and “larger story” components. The story was solid, the cast was great (especially Holland and actor Michael Keaton), and it was an entertaining summer blockbuster. It will be interesting to see where Holland’s Spider-Man will go next. I can’t wait to see him in Avengers: Infinity War.

8 – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Rating: 4.4 Out of 5Review:

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

What can I say, 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy was a smash hit, bringing a different angle to the MCU by introducing lesser-known Marvel characters to the big-screen and providing a solid sci-fi / superhero adventure that was still a part of the MCU, but able to stand on its own merits (and awesome soundtrack). 2017 saw the return of the cosmic ragtag team of Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and the adorably cute Baby Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Much like its predecessor, director James Gunn cultivates a second cinematic installment of humor, heart, and sci-fi nuances. While it didn’t outshine the first film, it was still a solid and very entertaining movie, offering a dazzling array of visual appeal, humorous bits, character driven moments, likeable performances (both from the return cast and its new ones) and the sounds of Star-Lord’s “Awesome Mix Vol.2”. With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 already confirmed, I’m curious to see where their solo adventure will take them. That being said, I can’t wait to see the Guardians meet the Avengers in Avengers: Infinity War!

7 – Logan

Rating: 4.4 Out of 5Review:

Logan

While many X-Men fans out there will debate on which vitality of the X-Men cinematic universe, no one can deny that actor Hugh Jackman makes for the absolute best portrayal of the infamous mutant character of Logan (aka Wolverine). The movie Logan represents the final performance of Jackman as the titular Wolverine, which director James Mangold, bids an emotional farewell to the character. While most of the previous X-Men movies rely on heavily visuals and superhero nuances, Logan is the most “grounded” entry in the franchise, providing an emotional “human” tale of Logan’s last stand as well as mutant newcomer Laura. Additionally, the film’s R-rated violence (the first in the franchise) worked and provided the nearly representation of Wolverine’s comic book source material. Naturally, Jackman was excellent in the role as well as Patrick Stewart and young actor Dafne Keen. Whatever happens in future X-Men movies is still unclear (whether they recast someone else in the role or omit the character completely), one thing is profoundly clear…. Hugh Jackman will always be the definitive movie version of Logan / Wolverine…and he’ll be missed.

6 – Baby Driver

Rating: 4.4 Out of 5Review:

Baby Driver

While most of these 2017 films on this list I’ve either heard about or was looking forwarded to seeing them, Baby Driver was one of the movies that quite literally took me by surprise. Directed by Edgar Wright, this movie, which followed the exploits of a young (music-loving) getaway driver, was a high-energy heist adventure, finding Wright’s effectively tweaking the classic scenario to his style of filmmaking. The end result is fantastic, especially thanks to Wright’s direction, editing, musical nuances, and a group of talented actors who play some interesting and colorful characters. In the end, Baby Driver was a sleeper hit for the summer of 2017 movie season, proving that you don’t need an expensive pre-release marketing campaign…. just a good “word of mouth” and engaging cinematic story to tell.

5 – Blade Runner 2049

Rating: 4.5 Out of 5Review:

Blade Runner 2049

In 1982, moviegoers everywhere were introduced to director Ridley Scott’s sci-fi / neo-noir film Blade Runner. To this day, the film is regarded as definitive masterpiece for its science-fiction concept and storytelling nuances. In 2017, Blade Runner 2049, the long-awaited sequel to the original film, was released. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Blade Runner 2049 expands upon Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi classic, bring all the right set of nuances from the original film and translating / updating them for a modern movie going audience. The film was a visual gorgeous and cinematically beautiful as well as great performances (from a stellar cast), and a deep and compelling sci-fi story. While there’s been some debate on this movie (causal moviegoers vs. the cult following), Blade Runner 2049 stands tall and proud in the cinematic world, achieving greatness on its own merits as a sequel and as a self-contained story, while standing shoulder to shoulder to its sci-fi classic predecessor.

4 – Coco

Rating: 4.5 Out of 5Review:

Coco

Pixar has always been known for their animated features, producing emotional “human” drama as well as being colorful and dazzling with its cartoon animation and imagined characters. 2017’s Coco stands as a testament to that statement. Director Lee Unkrich and co-director Adrian Molina present the nineteenth animated film for Pixar Animated Studio, infusing their signature style into a heartwarming tale about family, music, and the celebration of the Mexican culture. The movie, the journey of Miguel in the Land of the Dead, is a fantastic addition to Pixar’s film library, offering up incredible colorful animation, solid voice talents, and a touching story that can resonate with everyone. Coco stands tall and proud as a Pixar classic masterpiece, proving that the animation studio’s still reigns supreme in children’s cartoon feature films and that their original ideas are just as strong as ever. In short, Pixar (via its release of Coco) seizes its own moment!

3 – Dunkirk

Rating: 4.5 Out of 5Review:

Dunkirk

When Christopher Nolan releases a movie, everyone celebrates with eager anticipation at what the acclaimed director will present. Dunkirk, his 2017 release, was a bit of a departure from his previous works, diving into the WWII historical drama, but reimagined in his own way and style, which made the film succeed in the eyes of many. The film, which told of the evacuation of the British soldiers from Dunkirk from three different points of views, was technical marvel to behold and a crowning achievement in moviemaking history, thanks to Nolan’s masterful directorial work, cleaver storytelling, technical marks (sound editing / mixing and film score), its cinematic visuals, and its solid actors. While there’s been many war movies out there, Dunkirkshines the bright for Nolan’s ingenious work at breathing new life into the WWII genre of films.

2 – IT

Rating: 4.5 Out of 5Review:

Hollywood loves adapting bestselling author Stephen King’s work. Some there are good (like ShawshankRedemption), while other times they flop, which was the case with 2017’s The Dark Tower. However, while that film bombed at the box office (and with critics and moviegoers), King’s other 2017 movie adaptation ITwas indeed a cinematic success. This movie literally took me by surprise as I’m not much of a fan of horror movies, but IT is now definitely one of the favorites. Directed by Andy Muschietti, the movie, which followed the tale of seven children (aka the Losers Club) who battle against an enigmatic being known as “IT” (or Pennywise the Dancing Clown), brings Stephen King’s terrifying novel to the big-screen, capturing the right amount of disturbing / horror scenes as well as balancing the movie with a “coming-of-age” story that perfect works within its context. While the film only tells half of the novel’s story (IT: Chapter 2 is set to be released in 2019), the movie is still a highly effective adaptation, respecting King’s source material (both narrative and horror-based imagery) and succeeds in its storytelling, thanks to the film’s directors and the talented cast, especially the younger ones and Bill Skarsgard’s Pennywise. In a nutshell, IT hauntingly floats…and you’ll float too!

1 – War for the Planet of the Apes

Rating: 4.5 Out of 5Review:

War for the Planet of the Apes

So, what could beat out several favorable superhero blockbusters, a Pixar feature, a unique WWII drama, and Pennywise the Dancing Clown…. War for the Planet of the Apes. While there’s been series of films out there, usually (the ones that are not based on books) usually falter and loose their steam by the time they get around to the third installment. However, War for the Planets of the Apes is that exception. While it’s processor (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) is slightly better, War for the Planet of the Apes is masterful and entertaining film.

Directed Matt Reeves, the movie, which continues to further follow the story of main protagonist ape leader Caesar, brings this new Planet of the Apes trilogy full circle, culminating in a wholesome feature that blends a compelling cinematic storytelling with incredible CG visuals, and amazing motion capture performances, especially with Serkis’s masterfully work as Caesar. The movie itself is hugely entertaining and powerful told; proving once again that a movie doesn’t have to be a “dumb” popcorn flick to be a summer blockbuster release. While the movie concludes Caesar’s tale by the time the end credits begin to roll, the movie’s ending leaves the door open for additional Planet of the Apes movies, further bridging the gap to the original 1968 classic (with plenty of room in-between). As it stands, War for the Planets of the Apes is a crowning hallmark achievement, delivering an emotional and highly satisfying final chapter of this trilogy. Which is why War for the Planet of the Apes is my #1 movie of 2017.

And so that’s my top ten “best” movies of 2017. There were some movies that I didn’t get to see, so (naturally) I can’t critique them and pass my movie critic judgement on them, which is why they might not be on my list. So, what do you guys think? What were your “best” movies of 2017?

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