2017 Year In Film

Honorable Mentions: Dunkirk, Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Big Sick, Okja, mother!, Hounds of Love, The Work, Here Alone, Brigsby Bear.

Films I Missed: Phantom Thread, The Post, I Tonya, Call Me By Your Name, The Florida Project, Hostiles. Columbus, The Beguiled, Trainspotting 2.

10 — GOOD TIME

In this dark and gritty, ‘feels like this happens every day’ nightmare of a New York tale, Robert Pattinson continues to surprise. Delivering a career best performance as Connie, a low-life thug who takes advantage of his slow-minded brother, Pattinson is finally able to shake the residues of the Twilight franchise and come into his own.

9 — THE DISASTER ARTIST

A funny yet sweet real life story of never giving up on your dreams and following through on a promise no matter any obstacles in the way. This is one film I had been looking forward to for years, and it did not disappoint.

8 — GET OUT

Jordan Peele’s take on 'Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ meets ‘The Stepford Wives’ is a dark social critique, and a genius yet thoughtful film on race in our modern age. His Hitchcockian tale filled with clever twists elevates him from any expectations he made while writing and starring in former sketch comedies ‘Key & Peele” and ‘MAD TV”.

7 — THE SHAPE OF WATER

Guillermo Del Toro’s gorgeous modern(ish) fairy tale is darkly inventive and original, featuring a career best and silent performance by Sally Hawkins.

6 — BABY DRIVER

For a film in which every moment is motivated by music, you’d expect the characters to sing. But in this masterpiece, the wheels spin instead. While the plot of the film is your basic ‘one last heist’ type deal, it’s the layout of the film, the way writer/director Edgar Wright cuts from shot to shot using the beat of the soundtrack as a guide, that sets it apart from most other action-thrillers.

5 —THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

Probably the best written screenplay of the year in a film that features some the best performances as well. Sam Rockwell and Francis McDormand steal each scene from one another while Woody Harrelson continues to prove that he is the most underrated actor working in film today.

4 — A GHOST STORY

A slow and haunting film that asks its viewers to be patient and take in each and every second. In his most Terrence Malick-y of films yet, writer/director David Lowery was able to create a mesmerizing tale of loss and love, in a story that spans lifetimes and transcends time.

3 — LOGAN

A beautiful, thoughtful, yet violent farewell to the character who has anchored a series for nearly two decades. Both Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart give career best performances in a film that will make even the most hardened comic book reader cry.

2 — LADY BIRD

A beautiful coming of age story and love letter to all mothers who felt misunderstood and the misunderstood children they raised. Greta Gerwig has created an incredible story with career best performances by Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf.

1 — WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES

I could gush for hours on the masterfulness of Matt Reeves, Andy Serkis, Michael Giacchino and the countless others who helped create and finish the greatest film trilogy of the modern age. But what is the point? All I ask of you is to watch this film. The score is a sweeping, enormous wonder, and easily the best composer Michael Giacchino has ever written. It’s beautiful beyond words, even as I listen to it right now. Matt Reeves has truly shown himself to be an auteur with each and every film he makes, and is one director I will show up for, every single time. And Andy Serkis… wow. I know he’ll never get the full recognition for his work on these films, but it is something most artists only dream about. And while he is hidden beneath layers of 1s and 0s, he IS Caesar. I never thought that these three films would have quite the emotional impact on me that they have, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. I can’t recommend this film more. It is incredibly uplifting, emotional, and features the single best performance from an actor that we never see on screen.