Though I may not have watched a lot of the movies in 2017, the past year still saw many great works be generated from a grand sea of diverse voices. Known comedy figures stepped behind the camera to give dramatic material a darker or heartfelt twist with a chaser of satire. Love conquered all, reunited families, brought heroes and villains together, or was sold via technology. The film market was flooded with superhero movies but nearly all of them had a unique avenue to explore and filled their audiences with joy and aspiration. We learned to be scared by circus clowns and white people again. Famous heroes and father figures sacrificed themselves in order to save the next set of warriors. And if nothing can stop the world from falling apart, burn it all down or run off into your dreams. Despite my movie-going experience being minimal, I was still able to find twenty films that stayed with me for days, played with my emotions so elegantly and made me want to watch them again and again.
These are the films I have deemed the best of 2017. Though I put them in list format, I was equally entertained and moved by all of these films.
Now comes the usual disclaimer that everyone forgets to remember: This list is of my own opinion, not the general public nor the Internet consensus. If I didn't see the film at all or in its entirety, it isn't counted or considered to be included.
TOP TEN BEST FILMS
1. Get Out
It's a horror movie. It's a comedy. It's a psychological thriller. It's a social drama. It's all of that and more. It made people talk and open up about their own experiences. It generated an absolutely humongous profit. It once again showed Hollywood that real substance and a R rating can really work with audiences. It was a masterpiece and it was the best film of 2017. Thank you, Jordan Peele.
2. The Shape of Water
Those who were easily able to look past the idea of a human woman and a fishman having a romance were bequeathed with the most heartwarming movie of the year. The movie dripped absolute beauty, from is the lavish recreation of the early 1960's, to the delightful color scheme amid dark lighting, to the dramatic and artistic shifts with tone, to the most gorgeous looking yet badly made key lime pie. Also helping its case is its focus on outsiders who choose to buck the system and the toxic masculinity that has run rampant for far too long in America. Another magnum opus from Guillermo del Toro.
3. The Disaster Artist
Sometimes the best films you watch are the ones that keep a firm smile across your face. The trials and tribulations of Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero as they try to make it in Hollywood and eventually create possibly the worst movie ever made are all hilariously condensed and curated by actor-director James Franco in this exhilarating adaptation of the tell-all book by Sestero and Tom Bissell. A perfectly offbeat movie for those who chose to dream and express their artistic side, no matter how it turns out.
4. Wonder Woman
Warner Bros. and DC Comics needed a savior for their battered and bruised cinematic universe. They didn't get with a turbulent invincible alien who refuses to wear tights, nor a hooded avenger who likes to kill criminals with guns. They instead found one with an immortal woman warrior who braved into a dark period of time for the planet Earth in order to battle the ills of man and seek peace. Director Patty Jenkins and actress Gal Gadot helped give the world a chance of hope.
5. mother!
I was disappointed yet enraptured. Angry at its pretentiousness yet shocked to my core. I would warn people but also tell them that they had to experience it right away. I combed through and heard different views of the film, from the obvious intent from writer-director Darren Aronofsky to the more elaborate. All I can really sum up is that never have I had quite a moment last year as I did when I watched this brave art film at my local Regal Cinemas.
6. The Florida Project
Anyone with eyes and ears can spot that the so-called Happiest Place on Earth has some dark corners. Instead of relishing upon the human despair just outside the pearly gates of Orlando's amusement parks, director Sean Baker choose to expertly shine a caring light on the people making do to survive and the various misadventures children go on during one hot summer in order to preserve their innocence.
7. Blade Runner 2049
I really did not want a sequel to 1982 cyberpunk classic but director Denis Villeneuve and his crew were able to bring me back into the dreary and rain-soaking world of humans and replicants. It's utterly soaked with gorgeous visuals and it intelligently explores themes never seen in Hollywood movies. Never has a near three hour running time moved so quickly.
8. Baby Driver
Edgar Wright proved that even with a simple story he can work wonders over many of his competition. The car theatrics made The Fast and Furious crew look at their feet, the soundtrack literally had James Gunn considered, and the editing had Nolan fuming and trashing his computers.
9. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
James Gunn does it again, making an ultimately satisfying sci-fi comic book movie that just instantly blooms more and more in mind and make me want to see it in theaters again. I've seen some amazing endings this year but this film had one of the very few to make me produce some genuine tears.
10. Personal Shopper
Olivier Assayas isn't one of my favorite directors but it often seems that whenever I watch one of his films, they just linger in my memory constantly no matter my critical opinion of them. This one just struck me more than his usual fare thanks to the phenomenal work by Kirsten Stewart and its curiously evocative look at purgatory. Special mention of course needs to be laid upon the now celebrated texting on the Chunnel sequence.
THE NEXT TEN
11. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Rian Johnson should not have to be totally besmirched by so-called fanboys for all of the great touches he brought to the Star Wars universe. The movie may be long, often too depressing and a little overhyped as the next Empire Strikes Back but Johnson, the cast and crew gave us a gloriously powerful look at rebellion from all fronts while also showcasing the often neglected grey areas of this world, namely war profiting, environmental destruction and animal abuse.
12. The Belko Experiment
If you follow video games, you would know that one of the big titles of 2017 was PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, an online multiplayer game that rose above the many mods inspired by the popular book/movie Battle Royale to deliver an uniquely satisfying experience every time you played. The cinema had a similar experience courtesy of this film, thanks largely to violent and funny efforts of director Greg McLean and writer James Gunn.
13. Logan
20th Century Fox continued their experiment with bloody R-rated superhero films with this exceptionally dark movie that's secretly a western and allows Hugh Jackman to give one last great performance as the character that made him a movie star.
14. Dunkirk
Christopher Nolan reinvented the vision of World War II in film with his latest epic. Movie stars are few and far between, the enemy is always hidden, gunfights are one-sided, time and space is played around with, and that ever haunting score by Hans Zimmer is ready to make you tense up once again.
15. Spider-Man: Homecoming
It took a lot of handholding and real talent via Marvel Studios in order for Sony to finally make an amazing Spider-Man film. This movie also gives us what can possibly be the very best version of Peter Parker and his motto of "with great power comes great responsibility" on screen.
16. The Beguiled
Sofia Coppola helped spice up last year's Cannes Film Festival and nab the Best Director award with this stunningly beautiful and female focused remake of a Don Siegel-Clint Eastwood film.
17. Coco
Pixar may be on auto-pilot but I can't stop myself from being caught up by their delightfully colorful take of Día de Muertos and the Land of the Dead. More and more, it seems my assessment of it growing on me with time is proving true.
18. The Lego Batman Movie
The Lego film franchise is sadly in a bit on an impasse right now but I was still wowed early last year by the funny and shockingly steep in comic book lore world of the caped and bricked crusader.
19. It
Stephen King fans certainly enjoyed living through one of the best years of his adapted works, thanks mainly to director Andy Muschietti and his brilliantly distressing take on the first half of King's most celebrated book.
20. One Piece Film: Gold
Out of left field to end this list comes this shonen anime flick. I can't explain what exactly caused this movie to stick with me throughout the year. Maybe it's my slow burning desire to dip my toe back into anime. Perhaps I just loved the extravagant animation. It could have been its fun handling of the story, starting off with a vibrant casino trip, switching then to a heist caper before concluding with an action blockbuster. Or, it's conceivably that I was thrilled watching a bunch of hotblooded heroes fighting against a tyrannic man with a penchant for gold and keeping the rich comfortable.
Next Up: The Worst Performances of 2017
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