[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]By now you’ve no doubt realized this is a Top 15 Movies of 2017 — GASP! — rather than a traditional Top 10. Well, 2017 was not your typical year, for reasons both positive and negative. But in terms of cinema, it proved to be one of the best in recent memory. I’ve never had at least 20 films worthy of inclusion for an end-of-year Top 10 before. I compromised at 15, because 10 is an arbitrary number and this is my blog, after all. I make the rules here. Ultimately, I love talking about the movies I love, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to rescue five more films from being relegated to the obscurity of Honorable Mention.
The usual disclaimer: This is not a definitive list by any means. These may not necessarily be the “best” movies that hit theaters in the last year, but they were certainly the ones that I liked the most.
Without further adieu, here are my Top 15 Movies of 2017.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”825″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow”][vc_column_text]15. War for the Planet of the Apes. It is a shame that, for the foreseeable future, Andy Serkis will not get the recognition that he deserves. His motion capture performance as Caesar, the de facto leader of an intelligent ape civilization that has begun to take hold of the planet as the human race faces extinction, is extraordinary. Brought to life with awe-inspiring visual effects from Weta Digital, Caesar — or any of his other ape compatriots, for that matter — has never felt more real, and Serkis imbues him with visceral emotions that never feel anything but authentic. This is vital to the success of War for the Planet of the Apes, the concluding chapter of the prequel trilogy I never knew I needed, because the film’s emotional arc belongs to his character. Here, Caesar finds his commitment to peaceful co-existence between man and ape put to the test when his wife and child are killed during a botched assassination attempt by a ruthless military colonel. Consumed with vengeance, the ape leader must choose between satisfying his need for revenge or acting in the best interests of the apes he has vowed to protect.
Writer(s): Mark Bomback & Matt Reeves
Director(s): Matt Reeves[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”857″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow”][vc_column_text]14. Wind River. The snow-covered Wyoming Indian Reservation where Wind River takes place feels like the land that law enforcement forgot. As Elizabeth Olsen’s FBI agent Jane Banner puts it, the local Tribal Police has a chief and six officers to patrol an area the size of Rhode Island. When she raises the possibility of waiting for back-up before approaching the home of a potential suspect, the Tribal Police chief responds, “This isn’t the land of back-up, Jane. This is the land of you’re on your own.” The pair, along with Jeremy Renner’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent Cory Lambert, are investigating the death of a young girl who was raped before she ran six miles barefoot across a remote area of the reservation, eventually succumbing to the subzero temperatures. Upon her arrival in Wyoming, Banner is treated like a stranger in a strange land, out of her element as Lambert helps acclimate her to a world where lawlessness and injustice feel like simple facts of life. It’s a dark and brutal tale, one where the characters seem to have become as cold as their surroundings. Not by choice, but out of necessity.
Writer(s): Taylor Sheridan
Director(s): Taylor Sheridan[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”828″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow”][vc_column_text]13. Baby Driver. I listened to Baby Driver‘s eclectic soundtrack a week or so before I saw the actual film, but couldn’t get into it. Then I saw the film and spent the following days listening to the soundtrack again. This time around, I couldn’t get enough it. Credit writer-director Edgar Wright (if you’ve never heard of Wright’s Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, Google it now and set aside roughly the next six hours of your life), whose music selections are often as integral to his films as the camera work or the performances. The tracks are so ingrained within the film that listening to them feels like watching the action play out all over again. But Baby Driver also benefits from Wright’s fast pace and quick wit, delivering a heist film that is more fun and unpredictable than any in recent memory. Ansel Elgort is endearing as the titular protagonist, but Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm threaten to steal the show as a pair of bank robbers — brought to the table by Kevin Spacey’s calculated but principled Doc — who might’ve been reduced to one-dimensional caricatures in the hands of a less talented filmmaker. Put simply, Baby Driver is a blast.
Writer(s): Edgar Wright
Director(s): Edgar Wright[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”862″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow”][vc_column_text]12. Logan Lucky. There is a point in the third act of Logan Lucky when Hilary Swank’s dogged FBI agent Sarah Grayson is unable to ascertain the whereabouts of a suspect because his cell phone has been turned off due to non-payment and he drives an ’83 Ford F-150, inadvertently defeating any attempt to use GPS to track his movements. It’s the kind of dumb luck you’d expect from director Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s 7-Eleven, a hillbilly heist film in which an unemployed construction worker convinces his bartender brother — an Iraq War veteran who lost his left hand and forearm to a roadside bomb — to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway. It’s a tightly plotted caper that indulges in all of the intricacies of a good heist film, although where Logan Lucky stands out is in the character department. Daniel Craig’s Joe Bang, a colorful convict with bleach blond hair and an appetite for vending machine hard-boiled eggs and whose surname is a not-so-subtle hint at his area of criminal expertise, makes the biggest impression. But the film also traffics in memorable minor characters like Dwight Yoakam’s warden, who refuses to let riots, fires, and breakouts damage the tenuous reputation of his prison.
Writer(s): Rebecca Blunt
Director(s): Steven Soderbergh[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”954″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow”][vc_column_text]11. The Post. There is no getting around the fact that The Post has been delivered as a much-needed rebuke of a president who combats negative press by sowing seeds of distrust in the media and labeling certain outlets as “Fake News.” I know that some would rather talk about anything else but politics, but there are some conversations that need to be had, whether you’re comfortable or not, because of what is at stake. And The Post makes clear those stakes, as 1970s newspaper publisher Katharine Graham must weigh whether to allow her editor-in-chief to make public confidential documents exposing government lies about the Vietnam War, with the looming threat of legal action from the Nixon White House. Meryl Streep, who has never not been a commanding onscreen presence, is an interesting casting choice for Graham, who inherited ownership of The Washington Post and struggles to assert herself among a board of directors who barely acknowledge her seat at the table. But in the fight to maintain the freedom of the press, she finds her voice, and the power brokers of today’s Washington D.C. would do well to listen.
Writer(s): Liz Hannah and Josh Singer
Director(s): Steven Spielberg[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”872″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow”][vc_column_text]10. Gerald’s Game. You wouldn’t have to look far to find an article with Stephen King’s Gerald’s Game and the word “unfilmable” in the same sentence. The novel — about a husband and wife who make a last ditch effort to revive their failing marriage with a weekend getaway to their cabin, only for him to end up dead from a heart attack, leaving her handcuffed to the bed after a failed attempt at kinky sex — takes place almost entirely within the confines of a single room. Much of the drama unfolds within the inner thoughts of the newly minted widow, Jessie Burlingame, as she struggles to retain her sanity while grappling with the hopelessness of her situation. But the film is a masterful adaptation of the novel, complete with a career-defining lead performance from Carla Gugino. Co-writer and director Mike Flanagan employs a clever conceit to visualize Jessie’s internal struggle, and Gugino is more than up to the challenge of portraying a desperate woman who must find strength in vulnerability as she is forced to confront the inner demons that handcuffed her long before her fateful trip to the cabin.
Writer(s): Mike Flanagan & Jeff Howard
Director(s): Mike Flanagan[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”979″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow”][vc_column_text]9. Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi. In the days leading up to the release of The Last Jedi, I realized I wasn’t nearly as excited as I had been for The Force Awakens. The latter promised the return of the franchise’s most iconic characters — who had been absent from the silver screen for 32 years — and coupled that with the introduction of a new cast of characters, each of whom was shrouded in mystery ahead of the premiere. Now that The Force Awakens had set the table, The Last Jedi was going to need more than nostalgia to succeed, especially for those who criticized the first film for feeling too much like a rehash of A New Hope. And writer-director Rian Johnson was certainly up to the task, his intentions made clear with the first appearance of Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker. He resolves the previous installment’s dramatic end scene — Rey delivering the exiled Jedi Master his original lightsaber — by having Luke toss the lightsaber over his shoulder like he was discarding a piece of garbage. The Last Jedi subverts expectations with bold and unexpected storytelling choices that challenge the status quo and allow the new characters to chart a path toward an exciting but uncertain conclusion.
Writer(s): Rian Johnson
Director(s): Rian Johnson[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”878″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow”][vc_column_text]8. The Disaster Artist. If you’ve never been to a midnight showing of The Room — not to be confused with the Academy Award-winning Brie Larson film — the atmosphere is akin to a rock concert. It is widely considered one of the worst films ever made, complete with an incoherent plot, inexplicable character choices, and the baffling decision to shoot on a rooftop set with a green screen. Yet it plays to packed houses, where fans dress up in the garb of enigmatic writer, producer, director, and star Tommy Wiseau, clap rhythmically during the film’s overlong and uncomfortable sex scenes, and even throw spoons at the screen, to name a few of the traditions from what has become an audience participation viewing experience. The Disaster Artist, which explores the real-life relationship between Wiseau and his closest confidant, co-star and producer Greg Sestero, while pulling back the curtain on The Room‘s bizarre production, tackles the question of how such a bad film could become such a cult phenomenon. The answer lies in James Franco’s performance as Wiseau, who is as fearless as he is vulnerable and as frustrating as he is inspiring in his attempt to be accepted by an industry that has only ever rejected him.
Writer(s): Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
Director(s): James Franco[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”951″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow”][vc_column_text]7. I, Tonya. I was two-years-old when an assailant struck the knee of Nancy Kerrigan with a police baton — a shocking attack that, six months later, would lead to rival figure skater Tanya Harding being banned from the sport for her involvement — so I never experienced the media circus that ensued, and I walked into I, Tonya with nothing more than a Wikipedia-level understanding of the incident and the colorful cast of people involved. But from what I’ve gleaned from the Internet and a 30 for 30 documentary, Harding has always had a rocky relationship with the truth, and I, Tonya embraces that wholeheartedly. The three central characters — Harding, her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, and her mother LaVona Golden — all have their own versions of the truth, and the film is also aware that there are people in the audience who’ve already made up their minds about Harding, largely based on how she was portrayed in the media. But while I, Tonya doesn’t absolve Harding of responsibility for the fate of her career — and nor does it attempt to sand down the jagged edges of her personality — it does dare you to consider the possibility that she is a deeply flawed human, and not the monster that six months in 1994 made her out to be.
Writer(s): Steven Rogers
Director(s): Craig Gillespie[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”874″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow”][vc_column_text]6. Blade Runner 2049. This sounded almost too good to be true. Ridley Scott, director of the original 1982 film, serving as executive producer and ceding directorial duties to Denis Villeneuve, who has been responsible for some of the best films of the last five years. Ryan Gosling taking over as leading man, paired with Harrison Ford reprising his role as Rick Deckard in a supporting turn. With a screenplay from original scribe Hampton Fancher and the red-hot Michael Green, whose year also included three other studio films and a television series. But Blade Runner 2049 is a triumph, and it is clear from start to finish that this was a collaboration between people who admired and understood the original film. It’s a worthy follow-up that only adds more layers to the existential question that serves as the driving force for both films: “What does it mean to be human?” Gosling’s Officer K, in a reversal from the original, is identified as a replicant — a bioengineered android — from the very first scene, allowing us to follow his journey as a life of service and solitude begins to offer a greater purpose when he unravels a 30-year-old mystery.
Writer(s): Hampton Francher and Michael Green
Director(s): Denis Villeneuve[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”942″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow”][vc_column_text]5. Lady Bird. Just when I think we’ve seen enough “coming-of-age” films, here comes Lady Bird, the semi-autobiographical directorial debut of actress and writer Greta Gerwig. The title character — the name on her birth certificate is Christine McPherson, but she touts her “given name” as Lady Bird and excoriates those who refuse to use it — is a self-serious 17-year-old Catholic high school student who longs to leave Sacramento to pursue artistic career aspirations. Her parents are struggling to make ends meet, but Lady Bird has no patience for or understanding of real world concerns, instead focusing her energies on befriending the popular girl at school, losing her virginity, and securing a prom date — all endeavors inevitably exposed as empty pursuits that fail to live up to her adolescent expectations. The heart of the film is Lady Bird’s strained relationship with her tough but loving mother, who vacillates between confidant and combatant, depending on the situation. It’s a dynamic that feels all too familiar, and one that perfectly captures the push and pull between a mother or father and their son or daughter.
Writer(s): Greta Gerwig
Director(s): Greta Gerwig[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”970″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow”][vc_column_text]4. The Shape of Water. In a calendar year bursting at the seams with remarkable lead performances from a number of different actresses, Sally Hawkins stands above the rest. In director Guillermo del Toro’s Cold War era fairy tale, she is a mute cleaning lady at a secret government facility, where she develops a bond with an amphibian man captured from the Amazon. The role requires no spoken dialogue — unless you count the non sequitur musical number that is among the most bizarre ever put to film — but Hawkins breathes life into the unlikeliest of romances with nothing more than her ability to emote without uttering a single word. Look no further than the heartbreaking scene where she tries to make her neighbor and closest confidant understand why she needs to save the amphibian man from a horrific fate at the hands of his captors. It’s a breathtaking performance in a beautiful film that finds love and compassion in the people who exist outside the wholesome American family, which in the film is embodied by Michael Shannon’s sadistic colonel. As events spiral out of control, cracks begin to form in his all-American facade, giving way to a grotesque inner self more inhuman than the amphibian man he considers an abomination.
Writer(s): Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor
Director(s): Guillermo del Toro[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”827″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow”][vc_column_text]3. The Big Sick. To be honest, it did not occur to me that The Big Sick was a “romantic comedy” until I was reading a review afterward that described it as such. While it has all the classic elements of your typical rom com — in a semi-autobiographical turn, Kumail Nanjiani’s aspiring stand-up comedian falls for Zoe Kazan’s Emily, but cultural differences and a life-threatening health scare leave their relationship very much in doubt — it never quite feels like one, at least not in the traditional sense. The fact that Emily spends the entire second act in a medically-induced coma could be a contributing factor, but I also think The Big Sick stands apart because the relationships feel so real. Emily doesn’t wake up from her coma and forgive Kumail upon finding him at her bedside, nor does she race to track him down and confess her love before he can leave town. Because The Big Sick understands that while those moments may tug at the heartstrings, there are no quick fixes when it comes to relationships — romantic, familial, and otherwise. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the vastly underappreciated Holly Hunter, who hasn’t got enough attention for her performance as Emily’s warm but fiercely protective mother.
Writer(s): Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani
Director(s): Michael Showalter[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”1009″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow”][vc_column_text]2. Logan. Eighteen years ago, Hugh Jackman became a household name as the fan favorite Wolverine in 2000’s X-Men, the film that launched a new era of superhero films. Nine films later, Wolverine has become his career-defining role. I can’t blame him for wanting to hang up the claws and close the book on the character who launched his career, especially after Logan. A far cry from the disastrous X-Men Origins – Wolverine and a step up from the mature but flawed The Wolverine, Logan is a cathartic final chapter that represents a serious departure from the rest of the X-Men film franchise. Less than a year removed from X-Men – Apocalypse, Logan trades global conflict for inner turmoil. Slowly dying from adamantium poisoning that has inhibited his healing factor, Logan is scarred both inside and out, having watched everyone he ever cared about die while he is reduced to moonlighting as a limo driver. It’s Logan like we’ve never seen him before, but an opportunity for Jackman to deliver a tortured performance that bears the weight of the character’s history from the last two decades on the silver screen.
Writer(s): Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green
Director(s): James Mangold[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”786″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow”][vc_column_text]1. Get Out. When I first heard that Jordan Peele was writing and directing a horror film, I would’ve been willing to purchase a ticket right then and there. He and Keegan-Michael Key’s sketch comedy show Key & Peele often subverted traditional elements of the horror genre for comedic purposes, which is why Get Out represents such a natural turn for Peele. The comedy duo also tackled issues of race through satire, and Get Out is no different. In fact, Get Out — which is essentially Sydney Poitier’s classic Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner with a horror twist reminiscent of The Stepford Wives and even Rosemary’s Baby — takes aim not at the overt racism you’ll find across America, but rather the microaggressions of white liberal elites who are all too eager to pat themselves on the back for their progressive ideals. It’s rife with clever symbolism and serves as a layered allegory for the modern African American experience in America, where not all racism and oppression is born out of hatred, but rather ignorance and hubris. For those weary of social commentary in their entertainment, fear not. Get Out is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking, complete with a breakout performance from Daniel Kaluuya as a black photographer whose visit to his white girlfriend’s family leads to a fight for his life.
Writer(s): Jordan Peele
Director(s): Jordan Peele[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Just A Bit Outside (in alphabetical order): All The Money In The World; Battle of the Sexes; Colossal; Detroit; Dunkirk; Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2; Ingrid Goes West; IT; The LEGO Batman Movie; Molly’s Game; Spider-Man – Homecoming; Split; Thor – Ragnarok; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; and Wonder Woman.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]