The 20 Best Movies of 2017

In this post, I will be counting down the twenty best movies of 2017. I held off until I could see all awards contenders, and any other movies considered great by critics in 2017. I based this list off of a number of factors. These include quality of script, acting, overall enjoyability, and simply what I believe to be the brightest of all the films released last year. Supposedly, this is the same criteria that decides the Oscars, but you will find that my views differ from the Academy's.

#20. A Fantastic Woman
Daniela Vega, Francisco Reyes, Luis Gnecco, Aline Küppenheim, Ampalo Noguera

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, A Fantastic Woman tells the story of Marina, a transgender woman in Chile struggling to achieve the basic human rights we take for granted. When her lover dies, his family denies her the ability to go to his funeral, and fights to take her house, car, and dog away and erase her from their father's narrative. Newcomer Daniela Vega gives a powerful and stoic performance in the lead, and she commands every single frame. The film hammers home a powerful message without preaching a trans narrative. Everyone deserves human decency, and those who deny others are the lowest of the low. This isn't about LGBT rights, it's about human rights.

#19. Ingrid Goes West

Aubrey Plaza, Elizabeth Olsen, O'Shea Jackson Jr, Wyatt Russell, Billy Magnussen

I missed Ingrid Goes West in theaters and discovered it on Hulu, and had little expectation for it. Aubrey Plaza plays a mentally unhinged woman who becomes obsessed with an Instagram celebrity (a career-best Elizabeth Olsen) and travels to California to become best friends with her and steal her life. The film is a brutally honest look into social media and the ways in which we use it, and the ways that it can negatively affect mentally ill folks. I associate Plaza with April from Parks and Recreation, and her chilling performance here will quickly make you forget that image. The image of mental illness is still so stigmatized, and this is a very honest look into the forms it can take in this society. Ingrid Goes West is a sickening story of social media millennials, made more disturbing that it's so accessible in the digital age.

#18. Thor: Ragnarok

Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson

Karl Urban, Taika Waititi, Rachel House, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Hopkins

Thor: Ragnarok is the first Marvel movie that attempted to demolish the archetype and reimagine what a superhero movie could be. More comedy than even Guardians of the Galaxy, Ragnarok is a bold film, helmed by quirky indie wonder Taika Waititi. The film is hilarious, but still is able to retain the stakes needed for a Marvel film. While the first two outings of Hemsworth's Thor were bland and boring, this one is full of life and energy, and is an unforgettable film. The film is divided between Cate Blanchett's Hela and her takeover of Asgard, and Thor's adventures with the Hulk and Valkyrie in the Grandmaster's arena. Both villains and settings are well-realized and absorbing, but they clash together. There is a disjointed sense surrounding the film, but it doesn't detract from all of its success. Ragnarok is something different an unique, and a welcome change of pace for the MCU.

#17. It

Jaeden Lieberher, Bill Skarsgård, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff

Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Nicholas Hamilton, Jackson Robert Scott

It was one of the most shocking blockbusters in recent memory. An adaptation of what is arguably Stephen King's magnum opus, it stunned the world with its record-breaking debut. It successfully rode a wave of nostalgia started with Stranger Things (coincidentally, they share an actor) and was a horror film about much more than cheap scares. Pennywise, the titular terrifying clown, is an idea of fear, and It analyzes many ways that children internalize and deal with their fears. So many horror movies miss the mark when it comes to absorbing storytelling along with fear. Supported by some of the best child actors I've ever seen, It follows the current trend of smart horror movies that don't rely on an overuse of jump scares, and is a worthy addition to King's pantheon of horror films.

#16. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis

Lupita Nyong'o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern, Frank Oz, Benicio del Toro

The Last Jedi was easily the most controversial movie of 2017. Either you thought The Last Jedi was the greatest film in the Star Wars canon or you thought it was a pile of stinking rubbish, and anyone in the middle was drowned out by the fervent cries of each side. I lie in the middle. It's actually a pretty solid movie. It has gaping narrative flaws and can sometimes be actually quite annoying as a film, but the execution is perfect at every technical level. Director Rian Johnson really brought the auteur-like style from Looper and applied to the Star Wars saga, giving us beautiful shots and landscapes and a great moral conflict between good and evil. Add in a great performance by Mark Hamill and the overdue realization of Kylo Ren as a character, and you have a solid Star Wars film. It strives to forge a new path for the the series and its characters and create something bigger than just the Skywalker family saga.

  

#15. The Florida Project

Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Willem Dafoe, Valeria Cotto, Mela Murder

The Florida Project is the single most underrated movie of 2017. It's the type of film that should get a number of awards nominations, yet it was never embraced by any group, and was only nominated at the Oscars for Willem Dafoe's supporting performance (which he should have won!). Centering on the poor community in Orlando that live in ratty hotels in the shadow of Disney World, the film takes its title from Walt Disney's proposed universal housing plan: "The Florida Project". Spoiler alert: it never happened, and people of extreme poverty live right next door to a place synonymous with wealth. A place every child should go to, but these children will never see. There is barely any Disney tie-ins, likely out of fear of a lawsuit, yet you can feel the park's looming presence over their lives. It's not a film that is overt, and it's one that takes a lot of thinking. It doesn't say a lot, yet has a lot to say. It's filled to the brim with heart, and exploding with soul. I just wish more people saw it, because it's such a hidden gem.

#14. Logan

Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Richard E. Grant

Since The Dark Knight, superhero films have sought to achieve the same gritty realism that led that film to multiple Oscar nominations and wins. Finally, Fox achieved this with Logan, a brutal R-rated truth-bomb of the ugly sides of life. While most superhero films are able to balance humor, Logan is as bleak as they get. It's a depressing film that takes a lot out of you, but it teaches a beautiful lesson on humanity and what it truly means to live, and gives an incredible sendoff to Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, and Patrick Stewart's Professor X, characters they played for seventeen years. The nomination for Adapted Screenplay is a start, but Logan deserved so much more recognition. Not often does a superhero movie reduce an entire theater to tears.

#13. Baby Driver

Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Lily James, Jon Bernthal, Eiza González, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx

There is a magic associated with the first time I saw Baby Driver. The adrenaline was pumping non-stop, and the film's crazy edits and intense action scenes had me on the edge of my seat. It was one of the best theater experiences in my recent memory. Ansel Elgort, who was good in The Fault in Our Stars but not great, gives an amazing performance in the titular role, and his supporting cast of Jamie Foxx, Lily James, Jon Hamm, Eiza González, and Kevin Spacey (in what would unknowingly be his last role) back him up in hilarious caricatures. The film is a love-letter to cinema, and brings us back to the feel of classic action films while still feeling current and accessible. And once again, those action scenes are simply some of the best cinema has to offer, and a welcome departure from the Transformers kind of action. 

#12. I, Tonya

Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney, Julianne Nicholson, Paul Walter Houser

I, Tonya is a cheeky film, where lead characters wink at the camera and talk directly to the audience. The film centers around the incident in which U.S. figure skater Nancy Kerrigan's knee was bashed in, allegedly part of a scheme involving her rival Tonya Harding. I, Tonya is styled in a series of present-day interviews where the characters interact with a documentary crew and flashbacks to the events leading up to and taking place after the assault. Margot Robbie is able to inject Harding with the kind of humanity that wasn't seen when she was under mass scrutiny. The film is a fascinating foray into truth and its consequences, and how skewered perception can become. With a killer 80's soundtrack, a razor-sharp script, and an Oscar-winning performance from Allison Janney as the monster of all moms, I, Tonya is an undeniable hit across all fronts.

#11. The Big Sick

Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Bo Burnham, Aidy Bryant

I laughed harder at The Big Sick than I'd laughed at a movie in a long. Written by Kumail Nanjiani of Silicon Valley fame and his wife Emily V. Gordon, this is based on the true story of how they met (Nanjiani plays himself) and fell in love despite the sudden onset of a rare disease and her descent into a coma. And yes, this is a comedy. Romantic comedies have become so bland and stale, to see the genre injected with such life is a breath of fresh air. Kazan, who plays Emily, is barely onscreen in the film's second half and the film shifts to Kumail's interactions with her parents: Ray Romano in a rare serious role and an electric Holly Hunter. Tackling the complexities of Muslim arranged marriages without bashing them, and portraying the culture in comparison with American values with maturity, The Big Sick is so much more than just a date movie.

#10. Mudbound

Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke, Garret Hedlund, Jason Mitchell, Mary J. Blige, Jonathan Banks

Mudbound is the first Netflix original film to really make a splash in awards season. Nominated for four Oscars including Best Supporting Actress for Mary J. Blige and Best Adapted Screenplay, Mudbound tells the story of two families, one white and one black and their experience in 1940s Mississippi after WWII, while one member of each family serves overseas. The Jacksons have worked the land for generations, but live as dirt-poor sharecroppers, unable to make it their own. The McAllans are a kind family but find themselves adding to the problem with their increasing need of the Jacksons to get by. The film tackles a bunch of mature topics including slavery, the treatment of soldiers after the war, PTSD of soldiers, the KKK, and the roles of women in society. Mudbound isn't the kind of movie you watch if you're trying to wind down after a hard day. It's uncomfortable viewing, but immensely rewarding to watch.

#9. Dunkirk

Fionn Whitehead, Harry Styles, Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy

I'm sorry to break the news to you, but if you missed Dunkirk in theaters, there really isn't a point in seeing it anywhere else. The film deservedly won the Oscars for Best Sound Mixing and Sound Editing and you simply cannot recreate the intense battle sounds in your living room. Dunkirk is a strange film because there is no human connection, a usual staple of war movies. It'd be hard to shed a tear, as director Christopher Nolan keeps you at a distance from all the characters. The film is basically just a recreation of the Dunkirk events, and a stunning cinematic demonstration of what a war movie can be. Clichés are thrown out the window, and you feel as if you're thrown into the war with the soldiers. Many have complained about the lack of characters, and I'd like to point out that is merely a trope of overly sappy war movies. Dunkirk is the real deal, and an extremely rewarding theater experience.

#8. The Shape of Water

Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Octavia Spencer, Michael Stuhlbarg

In what world does a movie about a woman having sex with a fish win Best Picture? This is a testament to just how great The Shape of Water is. You believe the relationship between Elisa and the fish-man and not only give it a pass, but support it. I believe that The Shape of Water deserved to win Best Picture, I just believed that seven movies deserved it more. One cannot deny that it has everything. It has a great cast, stunning cinematography, period-appropriate sets and costumes, and a beautiful Oscar-winning score. It's cinematic perfection – the stuff that dreams are made of. The Shape of Water is a carefully crafted love letter to Old Hollywood, using the same style and flair and mashing it with Guillermo del Toro's signature style. It's the kind of movie I can watch over and over and never be bored.

#7. Wonder Woman

Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Connie Nielsen, Elena Anaya

I am an avid fan of Marvel, and to a lesser extent, DC movies. Yet never before has a superhero film placed so high in my yearly rankings. Wonder Woman is not your average supehero film. Fleshed out by an incredible performance from Gal Gadot, it's not only the rare DC film to actually be of good quality, it's the rare superhero film that's more than just a cookie cutter comic book tale. It strives to be more and it achieves it. Director Patty Jenkins had a clear vision for Diana and her journey and what this movie could and would mean for the millions of girls, women and moviegoers who would see it. I still can remember feeling stunned at the amount of artistic filmmaking, deeply flawed and realistic characters, and engrossing storytelling was in a DC film. Wonder Woman is what every superhero movie should strive to be, and it's something Marvel didn't find until Black Panther. It's a movie about war, conflict, love and humanity first, and Wonder Woman just happens to be the vessel this story is told through. Marvel may have the dollars and the fanbase, but DC has the best movie to date.

#6. Coco

Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renée Victor

It's near impossible to rank Pixar movies, so I feel like a broken record every time I say a movie is one of their best. That being said, Coco feels like one of Pixar's best and deserves to stand alongside Up, Toy Story and Finding Nemo. It tells a story full of bright colors and fun shenanigans that kids will love, while teaching them an important lesson about family, and one that is deep, flawed, and layered. Pixar is the master of telling emotionally complex stories (and making you cry) and Coco is no exception. I cried through the entire ending, and it wasn't even that sad. I was just served a barrage of emotions that I could not deal with. Presenting a charming Mexican tale of Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), it teaches you about Mexico and their beautiful traditions while seeming organic. It's a universal story with no politics, it seems colorblind, and the story carries the weight. Coco is also a musical and features some fantastic numbers, including "Remember Me" which won the Oscar for Best Original Song and it ties the movie's entire message together. I've seen Coco a number of times, and it never gets old. The beauty of its message is never lost on me.

#5. Blade Runner 2049

Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Jared Leto, Dave Bautista

It was Blade Runner 2049 that persuaded me to finally watch the classic Blade Runner from 1982. Much like Mad Max: Fury Road, Blade Runner 2049 perfectly captures the spirit of the original while updating it profusely with today's technology and storytelling. The first was a religious parable in a sci-fi setting, and 2049 continues the spirit of the original. In 2049, the "replicants" aka robots are assimilated into society, yet still discriminated against. Featuring the most stunning cinematography I've ever seen in a film (done by the exquisite Roger Deakins) and incredible visual effects (the hologram scene pictured above is staggering), Blade Runner 2049 perfectly catapults the series into new depths, while paying perfect homage to the original. It's both a challenging film with heady themes, and a blockbuster filled with explosions and gunfights. It might just be the most expensive arthouse film ever created.

#4. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Lucas Hedges, John Hawkes

Peter Dinklage, Abbie Cornish, Caleb Landry Jones, Kerry Condon

Three Billboards is the second of three films (The Shape of Water is the first) on this list that, if you were to strip away the art, presents a problematic story. Mildred Hayes is bitter and angry at the local police's reluctance to solve her daughter's brutal murder and wages a war of words and petty actions (possibly some small domestic terrorism). It's a painful film in the sense that the police really aren't at fault, but you still understand Mildred's desperation to hold someone accountable. Her actions are completely indefensible from a standard of human decency, but you find yourself giving her a pass. Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell both won well-deserved Oscars for their acting, Rockwell playing the dim-witted, racist police officer she finds herself at odds with. What's shocking is that Rockwell is given an incredibly deep character arc despite him seeming like a completely unredeemable character. Coupled with the best cast of the year (every performance is top-notch and each character is essential), Three Billboards becomes a scathing portrait of loss and the struggle to move on, given a fitting backdrop in a Middle American town, which becomes one of the film's greatest characters, and catapults it into an entirely different discussion.

#3. Call Me By Your Name

Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, Esther Garrell

Call Me By Your Name feels like a movie that doesn't belong in this decade, and that's not just because of the romance between a seventeen-year-old boy and a man in his early 20's. Yes, this is the final entry in the trio of films with stories that would be problematic if the art was stripped away. While the film centers around a gay romance with an arguably significant age disparity, it's about so much less, and becomes so much more. Call Me By Your Name is a story about first love, and the recklessness, fear, and tumult accompanying it, and the vessel through which this is told is in Elio, a seemingly "straight" boy who is swept off his feet by Oliver, a visiting grad student in 80's Northern Italy. The script and story are phenomenal, and well-deserving of the Academy Award it took home. Director Luca Guadagnino made a number of bold and a number of reserved stylistic choices that made Call Me By Your Name feel like a lost piece of classic Italian cinema. Dream sequences, jumbled cuts, and long takes, all in a movie that is almost dreadfully slow-paced. And then there's the acting, particularly the performance of Timothée Chalamet, that is undoubtedly the strongest acting I saw all year. For an actor of only 22 years, Chalamet displays immense complexity in Elio, well beyond his years. Call Me By Your Name might not be accessible to anyone who isn't an indie film lover, but it's cinematic perfection, and harkens back to the classics.

#2. Lady Bird

Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Timothée Chalamet, Lucas Hedges, Beanie Feldstein

Lois Smith, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Odeya Rush, Jordan Rodrigues, Marielle Scott

Directed by Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird is the story of a rebellious young senior at a Catholic school in 1990s Sacramento, and her desire to simply dismantle all her parents built for her and be her own person, failing to recognize the shortsightedness of her actions. Lady Bird isn't an antagonist even if she's an antagonizing force, and she never becomes unlikeable. Her roller coaster relationship with her mother is relatable to all mother-daughter relationships and is the tether that holds Lady Bird together. Lady Bird is a story about how hard it is to grow up and feel one's own worth, and the strongest example is in her beautifully complicated relationship with her mom. The entire cast is spot-on, with Saoirse Ronan giving her career-best performance in the leading role, and Laurie Metcalf in a surprising dramatic turn as her mother. Timothée Chalamet also gives another great performance, though not as dazzling as his nominated one in Call Me By Your Name. But Lady Bird's strongest attribute is its script, written by Gerwig. The hilarious, shocking, and brutally honest script allows the characters to feel authentic, as if we're watching a real young woman and her slice of life. It's because of this that Lady Bird is one of the most honest movies I've ever seen.

#1. Get Out

Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Catherine Keener, Caleb Landry Jones

Stephen Root, LaKeith Stanfield, Lil Rel Howery, Marcus Henderson, Betty Gabriel

There is no movie from 2017 that I have seen more than I've seen Get Out. This list isn't based on the number of viewings, but the amount of times I've seen Get Out is directly related to how good it is. There are some perfect movies, and then there are movies like Get Out, practically perfect in every way, yet still strive to break new ground. Jordan Peele, once famous for the Key & Peele duo, has now forged a path of his own, winning an Oscar for his provocative tale of a black man who visits his white girlfriend's parents and enters a horror movie. And Get Out is one of the most successful horror movies I've seen, able to terrify with jumps and a truly scary message about racial politics. It'd be so easy for Peele to adhere to the stereotype of conservative America, yet he instead points a finger at liberals, and the blind racism of the left. But Get Out is not just successful social commentary. It's execution is perfect, from every camera angle, to a spooky score and unforgettable performances. The film's three acts weave together seamlessly, and with perfect pacing. Not one moment is dry, nor one line misplaced. The scares are real and the comedy hilarious, and Peele's ability to master both in his debut film is outstanding. If there were one film that deserves to be held above all others that came out in 2017, it's Get Out. Jordan Peele created a true masterpiece of cinema, that will go down in history as such.