Even as it becomes increasingly obvious that we're living in the darkest timeline, 2017 still managed to deliver some absolute gems. It so happens a lot of the best art this year was decidedly old-fashioned, linked to comic books, heroic young people, and/or an era in which the bad guys were easy to spot. But there was also art that held up a mirror - dark, ugly, damning - to our own society. And still more, like this year's best video game, that just asked us to embrace it all. So go, enjoy. There were some wonderful creations this year. And if you're anxious for it to be over, 2018 is just around the corner and I hear the second season of Legion is starting soon.
FILM
An old-fashioned war movie spruced up with modern editing and special effects, DUNKIRK is a thrilling yet respectful account of the most infamous defeat of World War II. Like the greatest war movies, it gives audiences a core group to cheer for, without forgetting the wider impact of the conflict. Thus, we see tragedy - untold casualties, the fall of France in what Churchill called "a colossal military disaster" - but also incredible heroism. Those heroes include the teenage soldiers struggling to survive until rescue, the Air Force pilots who chased down German bombers in order to buy time, and the incredible true story of the little ships of Dunkirk, a flotilla of civilian boats that raced across the English Channel to assist in the evacuation. Somewhat surprisingly, the film clocks in at a lean 1 hour 47 minutes, in an admirable show of restraint on the part of writer/director Christopher Nolan.
The first three-quarters of woke horror-thriller GET OUT are so insidious, so unnerving, that it helps to remember you're essentially watching a straight adaptation of the African-American experience in the United States. Yes, black people live under the unrelenting threat of violence in the white police-state that is America. Yes, even the liberally-minded can get hung up on platitudes - "I voted for Obama", "I like Tiger Woods", the (unspoken, but hanging over the film) "Some of my best friends are black people". Even in the latter part of the film, when the particularly unspeakable evil that lurks in these white woods reveals itself, it's hard not to see it as a manifestation of every white (and to a degree, male) insecurity that gave rise to another unspeakable evil: the one currently residing in the White House.
TELEVISION
If superhero stories require a suspension of disbelief, then LEGION requires a suspension of that suspension. This show is weird, unlike any comic book property you've ever encountered, and unlike anything else on TV. A loose X-Men spinoff, the series features Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens as David Haller, a maybe-schizophrenic/maybe-psychic weirdo who may also be the most powerful mutant on Earth. But whatever he is, and whatever that (deliberately?) artificial American accent is supposed to be, it's all secondary to the increasingly strange scenarios that Haller and friends get caught up in. Echoing Haller's fragile mental state, the show plays at the fuzzy edges of the mind, offering up oddball scenarios that dare the audience to believe what they're seeing. Did they really just indulge in a Bollywoodeseque dance number? What's that weird obese creature with the glowing eyes? Is Aubrey Plaza even real? That the show admirably answers (most of) these questions within the space of its brilliant first season only makes us wonder: what the hell are they going to do next year?
The absurdly self-aware and borderline satirical RIVERDALE is the Archie Comics adaptation you never knew you wanted. And like its lead character, perennially young 75-year-old teenager Archie Andrews, it's dumb, funny, and a pleasure to look at. In hindsight, adapting Archie Comics into a teen soap-cum-murder mystery makes perfect sense. You get to keep all the heightened personalities of the comics, from beanie-wearing Jughead to the impossibly perfect Betty and Veronica, while also leveraging those personalities to tell an actual, compelling, serialized story. Its only fault? Too much maple syrup, not enough hamburgers.
The absurdly self-aware and borderline satirical RIVERDALE is the Archie Comics adaptation you never knew you wanted. And like its lead character, perennially young 75-year-old teenager Archie Andrews, it's dumb, funny, and a pleasure to look at. In hindsight, adapting Archie Comics into a teen soap-cum-murder mystery makes perfect sense. You get to keep all the heightened personalities of the comics, from beanie-wearing Jughead to the impossibly perfect Betty and Veronica, while also leveraging those personalities to tell an actual, compelling, serialized story. Its only fault? Too much maple syrup, not enough hamburgers.
The existence of RUNAWAYS is a miracle akin to Rocket Raccoon having multiple action figures. Runaways is, of course, its own little beast, a quirky tale of teenagers who find out that, yes, their parents really are that evil. The creation of Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona, the original comic quietly came and went in the early 2000s, barely a handful of readers even aware of its existence. Now, like everything else these days, it's part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and for my money, it's a more accurate portrayal of the teenage experience than the life of Peter Parker. Plus (light spoilers) there is a goddamn dinosaur.
GAMING
The first moments of EVERYTHING (Windows, Mac, PS4) are so aggressively alienating it almost feels like a joke from the developer. But once the game really gets going, once its mechanics are revealed and you're encouraged to really play around with it, you realize what a special experience you're in for. I hesitate to say more, but if you ever thought Katamari would be more fun if you could be the objects rather than picking them up, then you have a good idea. (Honourable mention here to CONSTELLATION, a nifty free browser game that embraces a similar spirit, albeit at a more limited scale.)
RESIDENT EVIL VII (Windows, Xbone, PS4) is a fantastic and long-overdue corrective to a series grown over-reliant on big guns and loud set-pieces. Even if it can't live up to its obvious inspiration Alien: Isolation - i.e. the scariest video game ever made - it nevertheless offers a mostly rewarding, mostly terrifying experience. The first few hours in particular, when you find yourself trapped in a strange house with no weapons, no map, and no clue as to what terrors lurk in the shadows, are unforgettable.
It's hard to imagine a huge audience for SCOTT PILGRIM'S PRECIOUS LITTLE CARD GAME, but Toronto-loving gaming-and-comic book nerds will be happy with this board game release. Playing a bit like Dominion, it improves on the deck-building model by adding humour - in the form of challenges like "get a job" and "win the girl" - and, as I noted in my review, Street Fighter-style combat.
↓↘→B ↓↘→B ↓↘→B but don't spam or you'll anger the other players!
↓↘→B ↓↘→B ↓↘→B but don't spam or you'll anger the other players!
