Horror films dominated the cultural conversation in 2017. From the surprise hit “Get Out” to the movie adaption of “It” to the campy “Happy Death Day,” scary movies had an unusual hold on the collective imagination during that year. Maybe it's because reality was pretty horrifying, too. To punctuate the end of a hair-raising year, The New York Times Magazine asked ten actors who gave the best performances to play a series of eerie roles.
Horror films dominated the cultural conversation in 2017. From the surprise hit “Get Out” to the movie adaption of “It” to the campy “Happy Death Day,” scary movies had an unusual hold on the collective imagination during that year. Maybe it's because reality was pretty horrifying, too. To punctuate the end of a hair-raising year, The New York Times Magazine asked ten actors who gave the best performances to play a series of eerie roles.
2017-12-07
6.7
The year's best actors in a series of short frightening films.
In a suburban community, moms and dads, one after the other, mysteriously feel the irresistible impulse to attack and kill their own offspring.
Six romantic stories unfold in a New York hotel during the week leading up to Christmas.
In her first stand-up special filmed at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, Los Angeles native and rising star Tiffany Haddish tackles subjects ranging from her early days in foster care and being bullied on the playground to getting revenge on ex-boyfriends and introducing Will and Jada Pinkett Smith to Groupon.
A nurse living in a small town goes on a blind date with a man who is not the person he says he is.
As seniors in high school, Troy and Gabriella struggle with the idea of being separated from one another as college approaches. Along with the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical to address their experiences, hopes and fears about their future.
King T'Challa returns home to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as his country's new leader. However, T'Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne by factions within his own country as well as without. Using powers reserved to Wakandan kings, T'Challa assumes the Black Panther mantle to join with ex-girlfriend Nakia, the queen-mother, his princess-kid sister, members of the Dora Milaje (the Wakandan 'special forces') and an American secret agent, to prevent Wakanda from being dragged into a world war.
Xander Cage is left for dead after an incident, though he secretly returns to action for a new, tough assignment with his handler Augustus Gibbons.
A live-action adaptation of Disney's version of the classic tale of a cursed prince and a beautiful young woman who helps him break the spell.
Fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.
When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron emerges, it is up to The Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for an epic and unique global adventure.
Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.
Elastigirl springs into action to save the day, while Mr. Incredible faces his greatest challenge yet – taking care of the problems of his three children.
From DC Comics comes the Suicide Squad, an antihero team of incarcerated supervillains who act as deniable assets for the United States government, undertaking high-risk black ops missions in exchange for commuted prison sentences.
During World War II, Steve Rogers is a sickly man from Brooklyn who's transformed into super-soldier Captain America to aid in the war effort. Rogers must stop the Red Skull – Adolf Hitler's ruthless head of weaponry, and the leader of an organization that intends to use a mysterious device of untold powers for world domination.
Following the events of Age of Ultron, the collective governments of the world pass an act designed to regulate all superhuman activity. This polarizes opinion amongst the Avengers, causing two factions to side with Iron Man or Captain America, which causes an epic battle between former allies.
When 11-year-old Riley moves to a new city, her Emotions team up to help her through the transition. Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness work together, but when Joy and Sadness get lost, they must journey through unfamiliar places to get back home.
A conman and his seductive partner are forced to work for a wild FBI agent, who pushes them into a world of Jersey power-brokers and the Mafia.
Light years from Earth, 26 years after being abducted, Peter Quill finds himself the prime target of a manhunt after discovering an orb wanted by Ronan the Accuser.
The adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
Four teenagers in detention discover an old video game console with a game they’ve never heard of. When they decide to play, they are immediately sucked into the jungle world of Jumanji in the bodies of their avatars. They’ll have to complete the adventure of their lives filled with fun, thrills and danger or be stuck in the game forever!
One night on Valentine's Day, Rúben take dinner in a restaurant until someone spills accidentally a glass of wine on his shirt. Within the quiet of the street he smokes a cigarette with Jorge. Between cigarette puffs Jorge asks him a simple question for a complex answer: How long can he continue to run away from his problems?
A very handsome man finds the love of his life, but he suffers an accident and needs to have his face rebuilt by surgery after it is severely disfigured.
A Peacemaker, who rejects his final mission to save an endangered planet, is believed to be cursed when a solar storm hits his spaceship.
The low budget film starring the young Bruce Campbell that influenced the Evil Dead films.
Sheridan Le Fanu's classic story, Carmilla, is contrasted with Veronica and Amélia's, two rising actresses. Their relationship, which floats between hate, desire and passion, gets more intense when both get chosen to play opposites in the theatrical adaptation of Fanu's tale.
Samantha plays the role of "Fortune Teller," but she is a thorough skeptic about "paranormal activities" and all things supernatural - she certainly doesn't believe in ghosts.
Un Chien Andalou is an European avant-garde surrealist film, a collaboration between director Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali.
Betriek lives at the edge of a peat bog in the North of the Netherlands. When she and her family are attacked by a random stranger one night, Betriek sets out to find an explanation. The more she digs, the more she becomes convinced that she is being hunted by something ancient.
An inventor creates an electrical torch that reveals a hidden world layered upon our own - filled with beautiful spirits, strange creatures, and dangerous phantoms.
Sargad is about a young woman, Elina, that drives to a cabin with her mom and younger sister to spread her dad's ashes. They encounter three brothers that will make their weekend a living hell.
Our plasticine pooch pal Rex welcomes us to his dreamworld.
We meet Dr. Stevens, a psychiatrist, on her first day back to work since burying her sister. Tasked with paying a visit to a radically religious family who believe their mother is possessed.
Toby is afraid of the dark. His mom tells him to close his eyes and count to ten, what happens next isn't exactly what she had in mind.
On vacation, a man wakes up in an abandoned motel room in a tub of ice and his kidney missing. He finds his wife in the adjacent room waiting to be the next victim to a horrible organ harvesting organization. Originally taking the vacation to work on their failing marriage, they must now set their differences aside to escape before their captors return and their dark secrets are revealed.