Skip to main content

The Ten Best Films of 2017

Top Ten Films of 2017



10. I, TonyaSee the source image

You have to hand it to Margot Robbie, who proved her acting chops and her capability as a producer with the same film. Robbie transforms her voice and her physicality in order to play infamous figure skater Tonya Harding at various stages in her life. She's never a perfect match for the real-life Harding, but she's so different from the Australian bombshell that we see on the red carpet that it's the type of performance that wins Oscars. Also fantastic in the film are Allison Janney as Harding's mother, Sebastian Stan as her ex-husband, the consistently under-appreciated Julianne Nicholson as her coach. Also featuring zippy editing and a great soundtrack, I, Tonya raises some very timely questions about classism, the media, and the nature of truth. 


9. Battle of the SexesSee the source image

It was not immediately clear to me after seeing Battle of the Sexes whether or not it would end up on this list. But when it came time to for me to pick ten movies, I couldn't stop thinking about how good this movie made me feel while watching it. It's a movie about triumph, about winning. Directors Valerie Faris and Johnathan Dayton land an upbeat and inspirational tone that is perfect to tell the story of the 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. Steve Carrell is hilarious as Riggs. And as King, Emma Stone gives what might be my favorite performance of hers, which is saying something because I love just about every performance she gives. 


8. Only the BraveSee the source image

Ever since I've been in LA, where the 3pm news begins every single day with updates on yet another wildfire, I have tried to become more aware of the sacrifices of the people who fight these flames. Only the Brave tells the true life story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, an elite group of firefighters in Arizona. The film has incredible visuals, powerful emotional stakes, and terrific performances from Josh Brolin, a never-better Miles Teller, and an affecting Jennifer Connelly. No other film this year has an ending that left me as devastated as the ending of Only the Brave. 


7. Molly's GameSee the source image

The first time Aaron Sorkin has directed one of his own scripts, Molly's Game is far better than most thought it would be. It's an absorbing real-life drama about Molly Bloom, a woman who runs an underground poker game for the rich and famous that becomes the target of an FBI investigation for connections to the Russian mob. Jessica Chastain is incredible as Bloom, as is Idris Elba as her lawyer. Although it is nearly two and a half hours long, Molly's Game is an energetic dazzler with a fantastic script that boasts some of the best Sorkin lines yet.


6. Dunkirk

See the source imageTo quote my review, Dunkirk is "an artful, gripping, and truly unforgettable survival film." Perhaps the most technically challenging film of director Christopher Nolan's career, Dunkirk is an impressive feat of filmmaking and one of the best war movies that I have ever seen.

5. Lady Bird

See the source image

I have long been a fan of Greta Gerwig, so my anticipation for Lady Bird, a movie she wrote and directed, was extremely high. Gerwig did not disappoint, delivering an era-defining take on the high school movie. So universal and yet so specific, Lady Bird beautifully elevates the pangs and triumphs of being a senior in high school to cinematic art. Saorise Ronan is wonderful as Lady Bird, as are Laurie Metcalf and Tracy Letts as her parents. 


4. Wind RiverSee the source image

As I said in my review, "Wind River is a masterfully written look at a largely overlooked sector of American life that features several powerhouse performances" from Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen as investigators of a brutal murder on an Indian reservation. It's a bleak and brutal movie, but also one of the most resonant movies of the year - both emotionally and politically. 


3. Personal ShopperSee the source image

In my review, I called Personal Shopper "mysterious, elusive, and, at times, chilling". Although it has been almost a year since I wrote that review, no other impression has replaced the elusive nature of the film in my mind. It is so difficult to think of Personal Shopper as one thing because it is, by design, so many things at once. It's a thriller, it's a mystery, it's a ghost story about the power of human connection. And all of it hinges on the performance of Kristen Stewart, who has never been better than she is as a personal shopper/medium waiting for a sign from her recently deceased brother. 


2. Murder on the Orient Express

The cast! The costumes! The train! The mustache! There is so much to praise about Kenneth Branagh's glorious adaptation of Agatha Christie's classic whodunit. The mystery is as sharp as ever and Branagh's resplendent visuals and Alexandra Byrne's Oscar-worthy costumes make Murder on the Orient Express a feast for the eyes. As I say in my review, "I had a smile on my face the entire time I was watching it."


1. The BeguiledSee the source image

Everytime Sofia Coppola releases a new movie, it's an event. It becomes a marker of time, as 2017 will always be, for me at least, the year of The Beguiled, or, alternatively, the year Sofia Coppola won Best Director at Cannes. With The Beguiled, Coppola uses her mastery overtone and atmosphere to maximize suspense in this story of a Union soldier who is staying at Virginia girls' school while he recovers from an injury. The cast, including Colin Farrell as the soldier and Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, and Elle Fanning as the women who come into his orbit, comprise Coppola's finest ensemble yet. While this remake of a 1971 Don Seigel film initially didn't seem like a good fit for Coppola's style, she, to quote my review, "shows a remarkable adeptness at creating tension and suspense." Now begins the dreaded waiting period, as Coppola fans eagerly wait for news of her next project. 

What are YOUR top ten films of 2017? Put your list in the comments! Thanks for reading!



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Who is The Black Hood on Riverdale? Here are 5 Possible Suspects

There's a killer on the loose in Riverdale , the setting of the CW's dark adaptation of the Archie Comics, now in its second season. He's called the Black Hood, a reference to the vigilante superhero comic book of the same name published by Archie Comics. So far, he has shot Fred Andrews (Luke Perry), murdered Ms. Grundy (Sarah Habel) with a cello bow, and shot at Midge and Moose ( Emilija Baranac and Cody Kearsley), all while wearing his executioner's hood-style hood, which is how he got his name. His letter to the Coopers in the third episode of the season reveals he is targeting victims that he sees as criminals or hypocrites and the fourth episode revealed he got the idea from Betty's (Lili Reinhart) speech from the end of last season, where she pleaded that "Riverdale must do better." It's looking like figuring out the Black Hood's identity will be the big mystery of season two, so I have put together a list of possible suspects. Note: Th

Jim Parsons and Katie Holmes to Return to Broadway in Our Town: Review

A champagne problem of mine is that, having grown up in a suburb of New York, my knowledge of the theatrical canon is largely confined to the plays that have been revived on Broadway in my lifetime. And since Thornton Wilder’s seminal Our Town was last produced on the Main Stem when I was four years old, I had never encountered it until I saw Kenny Leon’s new revival, opening October 9th at the Barrymore Theatre. My theatre-going companion, hailing from a Midwestern small town not dissimilar from Grover’s Corners, was intimately familiar with the material via multiple high school interpretations. Despite being an oft produced play, Our Town had eluded me for so long that I was floored by the daringness and perceptiveness of the text when I finally saw it for myself. But that was all that floored me. Remarkably meta-theatrical for a play written in 1938, Our Town is both a play about life in a small town at the turn of the twentieth century and a play about a play about life in a sm

"My Mind Turns Your Life Into Folklore": Why Taylor Swift's "Gold Rush" Is a Song About Songwriting

"My mind turns your life into folklore." That line, from the song "Gold Rush," is the only time the word "folklore" is spoken on either of Taylor Swift's 2020 records, Folklore and Evermore , the latter of which is where the song appears. The presence of the line indicates that "Gold Rush" is a pivotal song not only in Swift's lockdown duology, but in her maturation as a songwriter.  Swift's early albums often drew heavily from her own experiences, with fans and the media scouring her lyrics for clues as to which ex-boyfriend her numerous breakup songs referred. Her tumultuous dating life made as many headlines as her music, in part because it informed so much of the music. The discourse was often ridiculous and reductive, and thankfully, that period of her career is over (Swift has been in a relationship with the actor Joe Alwyn since 2016).  Both of her 2020 albums have their fair share of autobiographical songs, but they also see