2017 was a wonderful year for cinema but not for the reasons/films some of you may assume. While a lot of the bigger/critically acclaimed films from this year were good (The Florida Project), very solid (Lady Bird), or fun to watch in a theater (Wonder Woman & The Shape Of Water), I found some of the smaller/under the radar movies like A Dark Song & Goon 2: Last Of The Enforcers to be the ones that (surprisingly) delivered.
That’s not to say any popular/critically acclaimed films didn’t make their way on to my Top 10, Jury Prize or Honorable mention. The Killing Of A Sacred Deer & Thor: Ragnarok both lived up to the hype and then some. John Wick 2 was criminally underrated, and while it was definitely a hillbilly remix of Ocean’s 11, Logan Lucky was fun and showed that Steven Soderbergh’s autopilot setting is still better than a lot of active filmmakers at their best (that movie seemed to disappear just as soon as it came but I think it deserved more attention).
Get Out |
Wonder Woman |
The Killing Of A Sacred Deer |
Logan |
Enjoy…
TOP 10
All Around Great:
Frustrating but rewarding:
Under The Radar:
These movies had no business being this good:
Jury Prize:
Movies I genuinely loved but have personal ties to in some form or fashion. I may know the filmmakers personally (like in the case of White Face & Lazercism) or show blind favoritism to other filmmakers (Terrence Malick), or the film may be about my hometown which I have a lot of favoritism towards (A Quiet Passion)
Honorable Mention:
It wouldn’t be right to define an entire year with just a handful of movies. Below are some more incredibly solid films from 2017 that are definitely worth your time and then some...
Honorable mention - Top Tier:
Honorable mention - frustrating but kind of rewarding:
Honorable Mention - this movie had no business being this good:
Honorable HONORABLE mention:
A few more movies from 2017 worth your time...
Personal Favorite Performances of 2017:
*Barry Keoghan - The Killing Of A Sacred Deer
Colin Farrell - The Killing Of A Sacred Deer
Harry Dean Stanton - Lucky
Colin Farrell - The Killing Of A Sacred Deer
Harry Dean Stanton - Lucky
Colin Farrell - The Killing Of A Sacred Deer
Juliette Binoche - Slack Bay
*Wyatt Russell - Goon 2: Last Of The Enforcers
*Wyatt Russell - Goon 2: Last Of The Enforcers
Adam Sandler - Meyerowitz Stories
*Rooney Mara - Song To Song
Willem Dafoe - The Florida Project
Brooklynn Prince - The Florida Project
Cynthia Nixon - A Quiet Passion
*Lil’ Rell - Get Out
Cicely Tyson - Last Flag Flying
Bautista - Guardians Of The Galaxy 2
Bautista - Bladerunner 2049
Hugh Jackman - Logan
Lesley Manville - The Phantom Thread
Lesley Manville - The Phantom Thread
*Robert Pattinson - Good Time
Personal favorite images from 2017:
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & OTHER RANDOM MOVIE MOMENTS FROM 2017...
Yes, I saw these: Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Okja, I, Tonya, Call Me By Your Name, IT, Wind River, Dunkirk, It comes at night , Mudbound, Beguiled , Baby Driver, Alien covenant, Bushwick, Mother!, Justice League , Spider man: Homecoming, Atomic Blonde, Guardians Of The Galaxy 2, The Other Side Of Hope, Meyerowitz Stories
Please just put a fork in the Alien franchise
Not to beat a dead horse but this was not good (Mother!)
Nathan Fielder & Patrick Horvath showing up in The Disaster Artist
Woodcock is visited by his mother's ghost (The Phantom Thread)
Nathan Fielder & Patrick Horvath showing up in The Disaster Artist
Woodcock is visited by his mother's ghost (The Phantom Thread)
Not gonna lie - I was kinda rooting for Colin Farrell by the end of The Beguiled
“Pagina Man” (Meyerowitz Stories)
*Coulda used more Bokeem Woodbine (Spider-Man: Homecoming)
So we’re just ignore the creature from The Shape Of Water killing that cat?
Michael Shannon reviving his role from Premium Rush in The Shape Of Water
Hal Hartley regulars; James Urbaniak & Damian Young showing up in Wonderstruck
Could used more Bautista (Bladerunner 2049)
You really expect us to believe Ryan Gosling could overpower Bautista in a fight? (Blade Runner 2049)
*Too long but strangely not long enough (Bladerunner 2049)
You’re better than this (Dave Bautista in Bushwick)
Apparently you can throw a guy out a window and almost beat him to death and not go to jail? (3 Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri)
The dinner scene (The Square)
The dinner scene (The Square)
Most French movie of 2017: Moka
Most American movie of 2017: Logan Lucky
Most American movie of 2017: Logan Lucky
Final moments of Logan
Colin Farrell tells his son about the time he jerked off his father (The Killing Of Sacred Deer)
The guys visit Cicely Tyson (Last Flag Flying)
*the flashback scene in Good Time
It was fine but didn’t Trouble Every Day already do this? (Raw)
Lemme guess - Mother! Will be considered a misunderstood masterpiece in 10 years?
Crowd surfing baby in Mother!
I didn’t know polish trap music was a thing (All These Sleepless Nights)
Frankie slowly fades in to the swamp (Beach Rats)
*Being forced to say that Wonder Woman is a masterpiece and nothing less
Lexington Steele’s cameo in Kuso
The final moments of Happy End
“How long has this been goin’ on? This thaaang” (Get Out)
The joy in Daniel Craig's performance in Logan Lucky because he didn't have to play James Bond
The joy in Daniel Craig's performance in Logan Lucky because he didn't have to play James Bond
*“I got some uranium! I bought it off my mom!” (Song To Song)
“I’m sorry that you’re not as proud of me as you are with my sisters” (Song To Song)
“No! No more fucking candy! What the fuck! Holy shit!!” (Goon 2)
"I don't care. I do it." (The Disaster Artist)
"I don't care. I do it." (The Disaster Artist)
“I don’t really trust the government right now” (Last Flag Flying)
"I know everything there is to know about computers, ok? ALL the twitters. I know 'em." (Logan Lucky)
"I know everything there is to know about computers, ok? ALL the twitters. I know 'em." (Logan Lucky)
The final act of A Dark Song
The sunken place (Get Out)
People putting all the problems concerning race on the shoulders of a single movie (Get Out)
*Anya Taylor Joy’s presence in Split
Korg in Thor: Ragnarok
Bobby Brown’s antics in The New Edition movie
Juliette Binoche giving it her all in Slack Bay
Queens getting FIVE major shoutouts in one year (Spider-Man, Good Time, Wonderstruck, Meyerowitz Stories & Transfiguration)
Can we see more of you in 2018?: Bautista, Juliette Binoche, Tom Noonan, Millicent Simmonds, Daniel Kaluya, Michael B Jordan, Lupita Ngoyo, Alia Shawkat, Anya Taylor Joy, Lil Rell, Alex Descas, Hannibal Burress, Laurence Fishburne, Bokeem Woodbine, Michele Williams, Buddy Duress, Nathan Fielder.
Can we see less of you in 2018?: Amy Schumer, Jared Leto, Kevin Hart, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Lawrence, The Rock (sorry it’s Bautista’s turn now), Caleb Landry Jones
Can we see just as much of you in 2018 as we did in 2017?: Cate Blanchett, Juliette Binoche, Isabelle Huppert, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Colin Ferrell