2017 was a really solid year for movies, and in typical fashion, the Oscars for the most part completely ignored the real gems out there to focus on their usual formulaic stuff. So here’s my own (spoiler-free!) list.
Honorable Mentions (in order):
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; Get Out; Lady Bird; Wind River; Okja; Free Fire; Win It All; Guardians Vol. II; Wonder Woman; Spiderman Homecoming
Did Not Watch:
The Florida Project; Call Me By Your Name; Personal Shopper; It; Atomic Blonde; Mother; Lost City of Z; Patti Cake$; A Ghost Story
10. John Wick 2
Directed by Chad Stehelski; starring Keanu Reeves, Common, and Ruby Rose
My top three honorable mentions could easily have been swapped for the #9 and #10 spots, but I really wanted a guilty pleasure movie in here. This John Wick sequel is the second best action movie of the year, hands down. Not as original as the first, and it is “more of the same”, but when that gun-fu is so on point, I’m not complaining. Keanu Reeves has really found his niche in this physically emotive and brooding tough guy role, and it’s fun exploring more of the hidden world of the Continental and its furtive rules. And it was so, so incredibly satisfying to see just exactly what John Wick could do with a pencil. Let’s hope the third movie finally comes up with a villain charismatic and devious enough to play a proper foil.
9. Darkest Hour
Directed by Joe Wright; Starring Gary Oldman, Ben Mendelsohn, Lily James
I came in expecting a powerhouse performance by Gary Oldman in a dull Oscar vehicle, but I was pleasantly mistaken about the second assumption. Oldman’s performance is magnificent (forget about the speeches for a second, just watching him strut around and cough was mesmerizing enough) and he deservedly ran away with the Best Actor statue. But Joe Wright keeps this film moving and tense, while some unexpectedly artful direction and beautiful camerawork – he may be the best period piece director in the game right now. Ben Mendelsohn, Lily James, and Kristin Scott Thomas do their thing too (though the female roles are a bit limited). This is basically a better version of The Post in every respect (a historical movie turning on a single momentous decision by an embattled leader in trying circumstances, though we know the end result). If only it didn’t have that hokey underground scene…
8. I, Tonya
Directed by Craig Gillespie; Starring Margot Robbie, Allison Janney
Aptly described by some as Goodfellas on ice, I, Tonya is a enthralling biopic of Tonya Harding. The subject matter might seem stale, but with one of the most creative narrative structures in recent times – multiple narrators, all unreliable, with documentary framing – this movie will make you laugh and cringe at the same time (I can’t stop imitating Eckart saying “um, incorrect”). The long takes with the ice routines felt like something out of Creed, imparting a sense of physicality and aggression I never previously associated in ice skating. Allison Janney, as the mom, and Paul Walter Hauser, as the bodyguard, put in two wildly different but all-time great supporting performances. Almost every scene with Tonya and her mom were memorable, but man, that last scene between Tonya and her mom with the press in front of the house… And, the best part of the whole film is at the very end when the credits roll, and you see the archival documentary footage, you realize that the performances (and personalities) were not over the top at all, but astonishingly accurate.
7. Baby Driver
Directed by Edgar Wright; Starring Ansel Egort, Lily James, Kevin Spacey
With an amazing soundtrack and stunning choreography and timing, Baby Driver is the most fun movie of the year while remaining smart and engaging. Lily James is magnificent as usual, and Ansel Egort is perfect. The opening scene is one of the best car chase scenes I’ve ever seen, but the running scene is also in the running (pun intended) for the best foot chase of all time. As a bonus, Edgar Wright’s scores of easter eggs and intricate details make this a supremely re-watchable film, and the direction is world-class – like Damien Chazelle in La La Land last year, there are times when it’s basically showing off. It’s like watching someone do a 360, through-the-legs dunk – it’s not about the two points, he’s doing it to put on a show, and just to show you that he can. Similar Inglorious Basterds, this is a well put together movie where the individual scenes and set pieces are the real standouts. Just imagine how good it would be if Kevin Spacey had been a little less goofy and they swapped Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm’s endings.
6. The Big Sick
Directed by Kumail Nanjiani; starring Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Ray Romano, Holly Hunter
It’s a crime that this film (and also Coco, for that matter) was not even nominated for Best Picture with an open slot still remaining. This is, for my money, the funniest romantic comedy of all time – the backstage standup lines are comedic platinum – and one of the best overall. The Big Sick provides an insightful look into interracial relationships, especially from an immigrant perspective that’s sorely lacking today, but most importantly, it is wickedly funny, charming, endlessly quotable, honest, and sincerely touching and vulnerable. Kumail Nanjiani’s acting is a little stiff but Zoe Kazan is delightful and irresistible, and Ray Romano and Holly Hunter turn in top notch supporting performances. This roller coaster of a film is also a feat of writing, balancing humor, romance and wit with just the right dose of realism. It’s not easy to make an affecting movie like this, but that’s why they call it love.
5. Good Time
Directed by Safdie Brothers; Starring Robert Pattinson, Barkad Abdi
This reminds me why indie films are so good and what they can be when done right. The Safdie brothers have made this incredibly raw, gritty, pulpy, grimpy crime/unravelling film starring Robert Pattinson surrounded by a bunch of amateur actors (other than Jennifer Jason Leigh and Barkad Abdi). I’ve really come to admire Pattinson for seeking out interesting projects ever since Twilight when he could have been sitting on his Edward Cullen fame. This terrific movie is full of palpable tension almost from start to finish, except for the beginning and ending scenes, which are so riveting. Except for one kind of silly sequence, this fantastic story feels so real and so committed, set in the seedy underbelly of NY (the 35mm is perfect here), and shows what desperation can lead to in a person, even for seemingly good intentions. Remember: don’t count your chickens.
4. Brawl in Cell Block 99
Directed by S. Craig Zahler; Starring Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Carpenter, Don Johnson
RIP Mitsubishi Eclipse. After Bone Tomahawk in 2015, Craig Zahler is now 2/2 and has to be one of the best up-and-comers out there (along with Jeremy Saulnier, a fellow violent-indie-film director). Here, Brawl is a meaty, ultraviolent 70s style grindhouse/exploitation/vengeance thriller with shades of Drive, Oldboy and The Raid. This movie is definitely north of OK – it’s one of the best prison films of all time. Zahler, who’s in a band, scores his own film with original, nostalgia-filled 70 style rock – what kind of director does that? It’s refreshing to see a practical effects film for one as gory and stunt heavy as this, and it’s the first time I’ve ever fully realized how big of a man Vince Vaughn is, and the gravitas and physicality he brings to this transformative role is career-defining – I’m fully on board the Vaughnaissance. I’ll also never look at concrete floors in the same way.
3. Silence
Directed by Martin Scorsese; Starring Andrew Garfield, Liam Neeson, Adam Driver
Based on Shusaku Endo’s massively popular 1966 novel, this passion project of Scorsese completely flew under the radar, but is the deepest and most thematically complex film of the year. Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, and Liam Neeson are the big names but the unsung heros are the Japanese villagers and the unforgettable Kichijiro. Silence cuts deep and unflinchingly addresses themes of faith, humanity, sin, desperation, and prayer. I’ve often thought about how different watching this movie would be as a non-Christian, but as a theist, some of the struggles of the film at times harks back to the the struggles of an early Church planting its roots, and is also personally relatable to our personal relationships with God – praying and then trying to decipher the apparent silence in return. I probably reference this movie once a month, so impactful has it been. I still think of the fumie, the lapping of the ocean waves, and Kichijiro begging forgiveness, wistfully pleading that “in another time, I would have been a faithful Christian.” This is a rare movie that lends itself equally to hours of discussion or hours of prayer.
2. Coco
Directed by Lee Unkrich; Starring Anthony Gonzalez, Gael Garcia Bernal, Benjamin Bratt
I’ve already spilled too many words on this masterpiece, so I’ll keep this brief. Coco is not just one of the best animated movies of the year but now, after the dust has settled a bit, I can confidently say it’s my favorite Disney/Pixar film of all time. Coco also happens to be just the second time I’ve ever watched a film twice in theatres (after my upcoming #1). With its magical soundtrack, heartwarming characters, and smart and culturally rich story, this tearjerker of a film is an instant classic with a proud corazon that we will always remember, especially the scene between Miguel and Mama Coco at the end.
1. Your Name
Directed by Makoto Shinkai
So this is cheating a little bit since this is technically a 2016 film, but its 2017 US release is reason enough for me to revisit this movie, which needs a lot more love. Your Name is a film that’s indescribably enjoyable on the first watch and somehow just gets deeper with each repeated viewing. Essays and volumes could be written about any number of different aspects of this movie. Everything, from its characters to the plot, its visuals to the music (it really needs to be experienced on the big screen), is absolutely and utterly absorbing. There is not one second or a single frame of the movie that does not have a purpose. With elements of romance, comedy, drama, and sci-fi, Your Name is full of meaning, tension, laughter, love, and beauty. I’m not typically a fan of animated films so my top two this year are a little unexpected, but Your Name is not just the best movie of 2017, but an all-time great film.
