The Shape of Water (2017)

This is a brilliantly, confidently composed creature/romance movie. It may seem like an odd combination, but Guillermo del Toro knows exactly what he's doing. It works on both levels really well as he waivers on neither front, including an out of place yet appropriate black-and-white dance sequence.  The whole concept derived from an (allegedly real) Islamic poem del Toro remembered coming across is very creative. The beast is a gorgeous, intelligent, godly anthropomorphic sea creature.  He is just a pawn in the context of the Cold War. But to Sally Hawkins's mute janitor, the creature is so much more. They connect on a deeper level beyond the superficial romances Hollywood typically produces. There are a number of amazing underwater shots that I'm assuming must have been computer generated. I don't know how else everything could have been so perfectly suspended in the water. The production design transports the audience to 1960s Baltimore, which contrary to Michael Shannon's villainous words, seems pretty cool. The acting is fantastic all around; shout outs to Hawkins (did she learn sign language?), Jenkins and Spencer.

Hidden Figures (2016)

Hidden Figures is an excellent, straightforward crowd pleaser. It highlights three African American women at West Area Computers division at NASA who faced challenges at every turn. It is an important story for our generation, hopefully inspiring girls and African Americans and other POCs to enter STEM fields. The story draws attention to the fact that minorities need to be so much more brilliant to achieve the same level as less brilliant white men.  Octavia Spencer's character has the foresight to see that her division is about to become obsolete and being so self-reliant, she teaches herself Fortran. Not only that, she teaches her co-workers Fortran to keep them relevant and indispensable. They need to be that much better to keep their jobs. Also, I think it's hilarious that computer was a human job. From the perspective of 2017, it's funny to think about doing all that math by hand. It sounds like a nightmare.

I thought Pharrell and Hans Zimmer's music was very fitting for the era. The acting is all phenomenal.  Octavia Spencer is the Oscar-nominee, but i think Taraji P. Henson steals the show in her pivotal outburst. And Janelle Monae has had some amazing year.                                            

Zootopia (2016)

On the surface, it is an animated buddy cop comedy (helmed by a strong, dominant female lead), but there is so much more to it. Zootopia is a brilliant allegory that is funny, relevant, and witty. Predators and prey live together in harmony, or so they believe. But stereotyping and discrimination run abound. It is not a perfect analogy to the real world. Nor can it be expected to capture all of the complexities and intricacies of our society. But Disney creates its own world with its own imperfections, a utopia that cannot reach the high bar it sets for itself. It is very thoughtful and thought provoking. It preaches a message of tolerance that falls upon American ears that need to hear it. But the message is never too blatant--it is balanced well with genuinely funny jokes (including references to The Godfather and Breaking Bad) and modern animation. 

Get On Up (2014)

The James Brown biopic is helmed by Chadwick Boseman who plays the Godfather of Soul convincingly.  He nails the huge ego and personality, the at-times-unintelligible speech, the dance moves, and the unforgettable singing voice.  However, a good performance can only carry the movie so far.  There is a lot of unnecessary time jumping and I think it would have been more appropriate for such a biopic to go through his life chronologically, to simply follow time linearly.  The movie is mostly about Brown's ego and how it affected his personal relationships.  I think we had enough of that; instead we were shorted on music in a movie about one of the greatest musicians of all time.