In spite of all the films released in 2017, the year will most likely go down in movie history as the year of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Not that there weren’t plenty of great movies being made (there were actually quite a few of them), it’s just that nobody seemed talk about them quite as much as that controversial little indie released by Disney. So, while the debate rages on as to whether or not Last Jedi was good (it wasn’t), bad (it wasn’t that, either), or a complete travesty that ruined the legacy of Luke Skywalker (that was the best part!), take some time and think about some other movies you may or may not have heard a few things about in 2017.
1. Mother!
Is Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! the movie I most enjoyed in 2017? Was it the most emotionally satisfying? Do I want to rush out and see it ever again? No to all of the above.
Mother!, however, is a ballsy, aggressive, absurd, darkly hilarious, ambitious, and brilliant film that is in a league in and of itself. Is it a euphemism for human destruction of the planet, an updated take on the Bible, or an emotional representation of the self-sacrifices one has to make while being married to a narcissist? Wherever your interpretation leads you, the film gets into your head, stays there, and infects your entire being with every unforgettable frame of its existence. There is nothing like it before, and there will be nothing like it again.
Mother! is a truly astounding accomplishment, even if I will most likely only watch it once or twice more in my lifetime. It may not have been the most joyous film of the year, but it was certainly the most memorable and, consequentially, the greatest.
2. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Easily the most satisfying movie of 2017, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri boasts a perfect script, perfect cast, and a perfect execution.
Writer-director Martin McDonagh’s third feature film (following In Brugess and Seven Psychopaths) showcases an impressive growth and maturity to his already-impressive talent. Frances McDormand gives the greatest performance of 2017 for any actor/actress, though one can’t discredit the excellent support she receives from Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Peter Dinklage, and the rest of the film’s stellar ensemble.
Heartfelt, bitingly hilarious, and uncompromisingly dark, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is the kind of perfect movie-going experience that doesn’t come around too often, and needs to be suitably appreciated and devoured by large (paying) audiences when it does.
3. The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Director Yorgos Lanthimos’ follow-up to The Lobster is an equally bizarre, unsettling, and monotone-delivered dip into The Twilight Zone (if it had been reimagined by Stanley Kubrick). As terrifying as it is hilarious, Killing of a Sacred Deer invokes laughter one minute and nausea the next. It’s either a schizophrenic comedy or a bipolar horror film, and the result is one of the most unpredictable and wonderfully mystifying films in recent years.
Star Colin Farrell further proves himself as one of the most (if not the most) interesting and developed actors of his generation. Up-and-coming talent Barry Keoghan is also great, delivering a hauntingly vulnerable performance as a sweet-natured youngster who also happens to be a highly dangerous demon boy who is presumably (and inexplicably) from the deepest depths of hell.
4. Brawl in Cell Block 99
There isn’t a more interesting rising talent than writer/director S. Craig Zahler. The follow-up to his astonishing Bone Tomahawk is just as brutal and thrilling, but also evolves into something much more complex, ambitious, and daring as it steadily and expertly unfolds.
Vince Vaughn finds a new, fresh breath of air in his career as the conflicted but overwhelmingly ethical lead: a drug runner who risks his own life to save police officers then, while serving an unjust prison sentence, becomes an unwilling assassin in order to save his pregnant wife. Don Johnson delivers a wicked career-highlight performance as a twisted warden while Dexter’s Jennifer Carpenter gives effortlessly solid and integrity-laden support as Vaughn’s equally strong (and fundamentally flawed) spouse.
Brawl in Cell Block 99 is one of the best, most gritty, and wonderfully, brutally violent surprises in recent memory.
5. The Florida Project
Sean Bakers’s directorial follow-up to his similarly-styled and equally great film, Tangerine, is set in a low-budget motel complex that resides close to Disney World.
The Florida Project follows a group of neglected (though not unloved) children through their everyday lives residing at the motel, while occasionally taking breaks to focus on the kindhearted hotel manager (Willem Dafoe, in one of the most quiet and sensitive performances of his career) who takes a special interest in their safety.
The film allows us to see the world through each of its characters’ eyes, wandering from the children to the adults, effortlessly creating empathy and love for even its most flawed players. As a result, The Florida Project is a bittersweet experience that is as brutally real as it naively hopeful.
6. Dunkirk
Ambitious, labored perfection from beginning to end, Christopher Nolan’s sprawling, multi-charactered Dunkirk is the ultimate World War II movie for those wanting to experience the horror and tension of battle on land, in the air, and on the sea.
Not carrying an ounce of fat, Dunkirk is only concerned with characterization in the moment, which forces the viewer to relate to each individual’s predicament on a purely instinctual and human level. It nothing but succeeds in what it sets out to do, rivaling the intensity of Saving Private Ryan, the lyricism of The Thin Red Line, and culminating in an experience that is exhaustively unforgettable.
7. Mean Dreams
Mean Dreams is easily the most criminally under-known and underrated film of 2017. Something of a modern-day Badlands, the film tells the story of two teenagers (beautifully played by relative newcomers Sophie Nelisse and Josh Wiggins) who wistfully run away together from their unhappy and abusive home lives. What unfolds is something of a dark, beautiful, and dangerous teenage daydream, not entirely realistic but not entirely pretending to be, either.
Nathan Morlando’s (a name to watch) direction is subtle, poetic, and non-invasively disciplined. What is very sadly his last major acting role is also, happily, one of costar Bill Paxton’s best, ranking with his expert work in One False Move and Frailty. Playing the crooked cop father to Nelisse’s troubled youth, Paxton gives a terrifying and layered portrayal of an abuser: well-intentioned in his own eyes and often to those around him, but unable to fully bury his hatred or the damage it inflicts on others.
8. Una
Rooney Mara and Ben Mendelsohn deliver two of the most daring and vulnerable performances of 2017 in Una. Based on David Harrower’s (who also wrote the screenplay) play, Blackbird, the film tells the story of a now-grown woman who confronts the adult man with whom she had a sexual relationship when she was only thirteen years old.
In its empathetic and honest portrayal of the war inside both the victim and the predator, Una is an unsettling and frank drama. It observes without manipulating the viewer or forcing emotions/morals into its highly uncomfortable subject matter. Not easy to take by any means, Una is an emotionally draining and thoroughly cathartic look at the ever-lasting reverberations and realities of sexual abuse.
9. Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2
Roughly five years ago, it was starting to maybe kind of sort of look like the Marvel Cinematic Universe was running out of steam. The stories seemed to blend together, the characters were getting ever-so-slightly stale, and most everyone in front of and (particularly) behind the camera seemed to take themselves a tad bit too seriously.
Joss Whedon changed that when he directed the first (and eventually second) Avengers film, adding much-needed humor, flair, and banter to characters that were beginning to feel a bit like cardboard cut-outs. In 2017, directors James Gunn and Taika Waititi took it even further with the colorful extravaganzas that are Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Thor: Ragnarok.
While both films almost feel like comedies, the heart, character dilemmas, creativity, and action are still at the forefront like any other Marvel movie. The rides are just more playful, layered, full, and unapologetically more fun on a purely cinematic level.
10. Detroit and Molly’s Game
It was fair for the number nine spot on this list to be tied since they’re both Marvel entries in the same universe. Admittedly, there’s no theme bonding Detroit and Molly’s Game other than I couldn’t decide between them and they’re both intelligent, adult-oriented dramas that had wide theatrical releases in 2017. Take your pick.
Director Kathryn Bigelow reminds us that she is still one of the most fearless and audacious forces behind the camera with Detroit, her depiction of police corruption and brutality amidst Detroit riots in 1967. Taking on territory that used to be reserved for the likes of Spike Lee or Oliver Stone, Bigelow’s film is an uncompromising smack in the face of reality that is sorely needed and relevant in today’s (largely) otherwise safe and vanilla marketplace. John Boyega, as great in Detroit as he is annoying in the new Star Wars trilogy, stands out amongst the stellar and pitch-perfect ensemble cast.
Writer-director Aaron Sorkin’s Molly Game is a fast, funny, and intelligently drawn character drama. The film tells the true story of Molly Bloom, a former Olympic skier who became a private high-stakes poker hostess and subsequently had run-ins with movie stars, billionaires, scam artists, the Russian mafia, and, inevitably, the FBI. Jessica Chastain is flawless in the lead, effortlessly portraying a believable strength and integrity that fulfills both the character’s and the film’s heart. In his best performance in years, Kevin Costner delivers great support as Bloom’s stern, flawed, but devoted father.
Top Ten Movies That Were Very Painful Not to Include In The Top Ten Movies of 2017:
The Shape of Water, Baby Driver, Phantom Thread, Wind River, The Big Sick, Free Fire, The Beguiled, Get Out, The Glass Castle, All the Money in the World
Honorable Mentions:
Ingrid Goes West, Colossal, Lady Bird, Permanent, The Disaster Artist, What Happened to Monday?, Good Time, War for the Planet of the Apes, Atomic Blonde, Lucky, It, Split, Blade Runner 2049, Song to Song
