In 2017,
Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States;
The Nintendo Switch was released;
Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, and Hurricane Maria struck the US;
Stephen Paddock killed 58 people at a Las Vegas music festival;
The Walt Disney Company announced plans to purchase 21st Century Fox;
The exposure of Harvey Weinstein as a serial abuser of women led to an avalanche of accusations and revelations about men in Hollywood;
Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey;
Former FBI Director Robert Mueller began an investigation into Russian interference of the 2016 US Presidential election and potential ties to the Trump campaign;
Inspired by Colin Kaepernick, NFL players began a controversial season long protest of racial injustices in America by kneeling during the playing of the national anthem;
Prince Harry announced his engagement to American actress Meghan Markle;
William Peter Blatty, Eugene Cernan, Miguel Ferrer, John Hurt, Mary Tyler Moore, Barbara Hale, Emmanuelle Riva, George “The Animal” Steele, Bill Paxton, Derek Walcott, Chuck Berry, Don Rickles, Charlie Murphy, Erin Moran, Jonathan Demme, Michael Parks, Powers Boothe, Chris Cornell, Roger Moore, Jim Bunning, Gregg Allman, Manuel Noriega, Glenne Headly, Adam West, John G. Avildsen, Stephen Furst, Helmut Kohl, Michael Bond, Michael Nyqvist, Martin Landau, George A. Romero, Chester Bennington, John Heard, June Foray, Sam Shepard, Jeanne Moreau, Glen Campbell, Dick Gregory, Jerry Lewis, Jay Thomas, Tobe Hooper, Harry Dean Stanton, Bobby Heenan, Jake LaMotta, Hugh Hefner, Monty Hall, Tom Petty, Jean Rochefort, Fats Domino, Robert Guillaume, Roy Halladay, Malcolm Young, Charles Manson, Della Reese, David Cassidy, Rance Howard, Jim Nabors, Sue Grafton, and Rose Marie died;
The following is my list of the ten best movies released in 2017:
A synopsis of a Batman movie is beside the point. It’s always Batman vs. one of the many villains dedicated to killing him, or, in this case, all of his rogue’s gallery with the Joker at the forefront.
This is, for my money, the best DC movie since Christopher Nolan left the fold. Refreshingly, it realizes the absurdity of the Batman mythology and embraces it.
Will Arnett is great as the titular detective. Galifinakis is a perfectly cast Joker and Ralph Fiennes is wonderful as Alfred (it gives us another delightful layer of meta humor when his character encounters Voldemort). I enjoyed seeing Michael Cera (as Robin) paired with Arnett since this allows us to insert our own Arrested Development jokes.
The cameos were phenomenal, especially Mariah Carey as the mayor and Conan O’Brien as Riddler.
This is fun mash-up of popular culture and a brilliant deconstruction of the Batman character. The deep dive into the comic book source material feels like vindication for all us nerds who spent much of our adolescence pouring over the books.
I’m a huge fan of the 1991 animated movie and this remake was a well crafted version of the beloved film, largely faithful to its source material, but with a few additional scenes.
The casting was impeccable: Kevin Kline, Emma Thompson, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, and Ian McKellen were delightful. Emma Watson was impeccable as Belle. I thought Dan Stevens was fine, but the role is so heavily dependent on CGI, any moderately handsome British man could have pulled it off.
The only misstep was Josh Gad as Le Fou. The character’s more overt sexuality didn’t bother me (I see him as a Mr. Smithers type), but I didn’t care for Gad’s performance. Everyone else was restrained and mannered, but he played it over the top, mugging for the camera. In his defense, he has a lot more experience in Broadway and may have been playing for the rafters.
I loved this because of my affinity for the previous Disney film and Jean Cocteau’s 1946 version. I suspect most people’s impression of this movie will be dependent on their feelings and experiences with prior iterations.
I love Tobey Maguire’s take on everyone’s favorite neighborhood webslinger and I think Andrew Garfield’s version is better than people realize. However, Tom Holland is already the best Spider-Man to appear onscreen. He’s charismatic and charming and injects just the right amount of levity and teen angst into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Tony Stark as the grizzled veteran helping the newcomer learn the ropes seems appropriate considering Robert Downey Jr.’s position in the franchise.
For those of us who grew up watching him as Batman, it’s surreal and cool to see Michael Keaton as a comic book villain. In light of his recent acclaimed performance in Birdman, it takes on even more weight.
Tyne Daly in a Marvel movie is a pretty awesome development and I hope Anne Marie Hoag continues to pop up. Ditto Donald Glover who was once the subject of a rabid internet push from Community fans to become Spidey. Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May is a welcome contrast from previous film versions of the character as a much older woman (closer to Peter’s grandmother than aunt).
The decision to not kill Uncle Ben in this film was a huge relief, and getting Gwyneth Paltrow back into the fold was a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed Peter’s nerdy friend Ned (the film’s breakout character). The relationship with Liz and subtly introducing a new iteration of MJ (Zendaya) for future films were smart decisions.
I don’t think the director or screenwriters made any missteps and I’m excited John Francis Daley (who has one of the best smiles in Hollywood) is breaking through as a writer with this movie.
7) Columbus
Jin (John Cho) arrives in Columbus, Indiana to take care of his comatose father and meets Casey (Haley Liu-Richardson) who works at the library while caring for her drug addicted mother (Michelle Forbes).
The pair of them tour the city discussing its internationally renowned architecture and their lives (especially their respective dysfunctional relationships with their parents).
It’s an impressive, thoughtful effort from Kogonada which doesn’t feel a particular need to be about anything. The principal performances are compelling. The supporting performances from Michelle Forbes, Parker Posey, and Rory Culkin are top notch. I especially loved Rory’s talk about perspective.
It reminds me a lot of Museum Hours (a good thing). I enjoy good, plot driven films as much as anyone, but we need more slow, thoughtful films like this.
Vic Edwards (Burt Reynolds) was an important movie star, but like the family photo in Back to the Future, he’s fading from memory, a preview of what will happen when he dies.
A huge fan of Edwards’ work, Doug McDougal (Clark Duke) invites him to be the guest of honor at a film festival retrospective. Vic initially blows it off, but his friends talk him into going.
He’s picked up at the Nashville airport by the director’s sister, Lil (Ariel Winter), but when he arrives and realizes the festival is a small gathering of less than a hundred friends in the back of a bar, he gets drunk and behaves like an ass.
Increasingly desperate, he coerces Lil to drive him to his hometown so he can briefly relive his days as a football player at Tennessee.
There were few stars bigger in the 1970s than Reynolds. Forty years later, he knows how fleeting and meaningless fame is which informs his performance and our relationship to it. In a brilliant move, director Rifkin digitally inserted the octogenarian Reynolds into scenes with his younger self.
Winters is a revelation, more self-assured and confident than she ever showed in Modern Family.
This is a wonderful elegiac film about legacy and purpose. I love the contrast between the fading movie star coming to terms with what he’s done with his life versus the young girl figuring out what to she will do with hers.
When a dead musician returns as a ghost, he watches his wife rebuild her life without him. When she leaves their home, he stays behind and lives through several inhabitants until the house is abandoned; he remains as it is demolished and turned into a skyscraper. When he jumps from the roof, he is inexplicably transported to the 19th century.
It’s not a scary film, but it is haunting. Despite being underneath a sheet the entire film, Casey Affleck gives a memorable performance as a man reduced to mere observation, unable to experience his life or the life of those around him.
The irresistible and delicate movie shouldn’t exist, but it does and it’s glorious.
4) Spielberg
There’s been a rash of recent films seeking to cement the historical importance of the great filmmakers of the late mid twentieth century.
Few filmmakers who emerged in the Hollywood New Wave of the 1970s have had as big a cultural impact as Steven Spielberg. He’s responsible for Jaws, ET, Indiana Jones, and Jurassic Park. Even after he moved towards a more artistic sensibility, his films are cultural touchstones: Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, Lincoln.
He’s worked with many of the biggest stars on the planet, his presence is everywhere in Hollywood, and he’s responsible for the many of the fondest memories of children who grew up in the 1980s.
This is a fun look back at a true living legend.
3) mother!
Darren Aronofsky is the rarest of unicorns: a big budget, avant-garde filmmaker. Most casual movie fans are familiar with his work though The Wrestler and Black Swan, his most accessible films. While both are solid, his best films are more enigmatic and deal with issues of faith, religion, and the human spirit.
Requiem for a Dream is one of the greatest depictions of addiction in cinema. The Fountain is an earlier, trippier version of Interstellar.
Recently, Aronofsky has turned his attention to grandiose ruminations on the foundational stories of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Noah (2014) was a loose adaptation of the mythical flood story; this movie is a much looser adaptation of the creation narrative.
I believe the hatred for the film originated in fans of Jennifer Lawrence’s previous work who were expecting something similar to The Hunger Games. The film was poorly marketed as a thriller and that’s what they wanted.
The allegory is straightforward and simple, but it’s powerful. It’s confusing and chaotic, jumping forward in fits and starts, echoing the first several chapters of Genesis. I loved it because it shows how relevant, adaptable, and powerful these stories are.
2) Coco
Twelve year old Miguel longs to be a singer, but his family forbids it. Years earlier, Miguel’s great-great-grandfather abandoned his family to pursue a musical career; the family has had a contentious relationship with music since.
When Miguel steals the guitar of his deceased idol, Ernesto de la Cruz, he’s cursed and enters the Land of the Dead where he meets Hector, who is about to permanently disappear because his memory is fading from the Land of the Living.
The two form a temporary partnership. Hector will aid Miguel in returning home if Miguel will take a picture of Hector back to his family so his memory will continue.
While in the Land of the Dead, Miguel encounters Ernesto and learns the unsavory truth about his rise to fame.
It’s a lovely, touching movie. The final ten minutes is similar in scope and purpose to the initial ten minutes of Up. If you’re not moved by the universal truths expressed about the human condition in these two sequences, I worry about your soul.
Pixar’s movie centered around the primarily Mexican holiday Dia de Muertos is a moving story about family, dreams, heritage, and loss.
In the near future, a service provides grieving individuals with holographic images of their deceased loved ones.
Octogenarian Marjorie (Lois Smith) spends time with a younger version of her deceased husband, Walter (Jon Hamm), but Marjorie’s adult daughter Tess (Geena Davis) refuses to interact with the recreation of her father and vents her frustration to her husband Jon (Tim Robbins).
After Marjorie passes away, Tess uses a holograph of her mother to work through her grief and frustration and later, Jon uses one of Tess (after a despondent Tess commits suicide).
This plays like a Black Mirror episode, but it’s much slower and introspective. Whereas Black Mirror is inherently cynical about our encroaching reliance on technology, this movie has a more balanced view. Who hasn’t wanted to have one last conversation with their deceased loved ones? Who hasn’t wanted closure?
In addition to its themes of technology, it plays with the idea of how memories are created, how they survive, and how important fidelity to the truth is in our relationships.
As technology infiltrates our lives, it will change the way we interact with each other and the way we see ourselves. This film forces us to be honest about the positive and negative changes as they occur.