I found one of these threads for last year, so I figured why not start one for this year? It's been a really strong year for movies so far! My Favorites Of 2017 So Far: 10.) Colossal - Fun and creative new take on the classic "giant monster" subgenre. I had way more fun with this than Kong: Skull Island or the latest Godzilla movie. 9.) Detroit - Gritty and disturbing movie based on true events. Powerful performance from Algee Smith, serving as the central core of the movie. 8.) The Book Of Henry - This will undoubtedly be a controversial pick, as the critics tore this movie apart. I loved it. It's Amblin meets Lifetime. 7.) Brigsby Bear - While it starts out as a quirky hipster version of Room, it ultimately becomes an incredibly charming and moving love-letter to movie-making and cinefiles. Try not leaving the theater with a smile on your face. 6.) Okja - Far too good for a NetFlix only release. Just like the director's previous film Snowpiercer, this is a big budget spectacle with high-stakes and heart. 5.) The Blackcoat's Daughter - A moody slowburn horror film that haunted me for days. The strange thing is, I can't even put my finger on what exactly I loved so much about it, but it really struck a chord with me. 4.) Patti Cake$ - While you can probably predict nearly every plot point of this underdog story, the finale had the entire audience cheering and dancing as they exited the theater. PBNJ! 3.) A Monster Calls - While technically released in NY and LA at the tail end of December, this didn't get a wide release until January. It's a shame it didn't find an audience, because it's a lovely, moving, and emotionally devastating modern fairy tale. 2.) Get Out - A wildly entertaining horror movie with brilliant social commentary. How exciting to not only receive a movie this good as a horror fan, but to see it crossover and achieve mainstream success as well. 1.) Baby Driver - I love everything about this movie. Few movies have made me smile as much as this one did. I can't wait for the blu-ray release so I can watch it again and again. Honorable Mentions: - The Big Sick - A far above-average romantic comedy with a great cast that provokes an interesting discussion on race / ethnicity without being overly preachy or one-sided. - Deidra & Laney Rob A Train - Not your typical teen movie, with stellar performances from the two charming leads (Ashleigh Murray is currently on the CW's Riverdale). Most Anticipated: - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (if you haven't watched the red-band trailer for this, stop what you're doing and watch it now!) - Better Watch Out - Happy Death Day - The Babysitter - The Shape Of Water - Logan Lucky - Leatherface - The Florida Project - It - The Ritual - Kingsman: The Golden Circle - Mayhem - Cult Of Chucky - Battle Of The Sexes - Super Dark Times - The Disaster Artist What have been your favorites so far! I'd love to see recommendations for movies I might have missed.
Get Out and The Void are two standouts as far as horror films are concerned this year. The Belko Experiment was a lot of fun too. I'm looking forward to revisiting that one on blu ray soon. But I had a blast catching a midnight screening of this. My favorite comedy by far was Fist Fight. Absolutely love that flick. I also enjoyed Baby Driver quite a bit. 47 Meters Down was decent enough. I found more older films that I hadn't seen but loved this year than anything else (that's usually the case though) I was looking back through my watch list this year and realized it's been a pretty average year so far for genre films. Par for the course these times unfortunately...... but the latter half of the year has some titles in store I'm very much looking forward to.
It's been a pretty solid year so far. Here are the stand outs for me, in no particular order: Casting JonBenet It Comes at Night The Devil’s Candy I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore Get Out The Lego Batman Movie Logan Train to Busan
I haven't been to the movies a lot this year but I enjoyed every movie I did see- in order of my favorites: Baby Driver Guardians of the Galaxy 2 War for the Planet of the Apes Kong Skull Island Alien Covenant
In no definitive order yet, will reserve that for the final tally at the end of the year, but my mid-year top 10 for 2017: Casting JonBenet Endless Poetry The Love Witch 20th Century Women It Comes at Night The Little Hours Evolution I Don't Feel at Home in this World Anymore Tower Paterson
I should add that in the short time since I posted my initial list, I've seen Wind River and Logan Lucky, both of which are terrific and would easily crack my top 10. Both are in theaters now and I'd highly recommend them! Also saw Ingrid Goes West and NetFlix's Death Note adaptation this weekend, both of which were really good (although probably not the best of the year). August alone has been full of great movies, especially on the indie front (I still need to see Good Time).
Caught this the other week and liked it a lot, but I have to say it reminded me a lot of American Honey. Not as good as Tangerine, but still damn good and agree it should not be missed.
American Honey was my favorite movie of last year, and I also loved Starlet and Tangerine, so this movie was already up my alley. They're saying Florida Project is going to be a major awards contender, which excites me. This has been a terrific year for movies, I feel like I've been seeing so much great stuff lately. Planning to see Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Lady Bird, and possibly Killing Of A Sacred Deer in the next week.
I'm a huge Yorgos Lanthimos fan and Killing of a Sacred Deer is amazing and profoundly unsettling and unnerving, I'm still reeling from my viewing the other weekend. It'll definitely be in my year end Top 10.
For fans of Blue Ruin, check out Sweet Virginia it has a similar vibe and probably my favourite movie of the year so far. Also looking forward to Blu-ray releases of The Florida project, Three Billboards and Lady Bird. I really liked Tangerine and American Honey so hope those three will be as good or better.
Lady Bird is terrific if you like coming-of-age movies. I was surprised by how much I loved it. Three Billboards is extremely different from what I was expecting based on the trailers, but still an excellent film.
If you haven't seen Frances Ha I recommend checking that out, also co-written by (and starring too) Greta Gerwig. She also co-wrote and starred in Mistress America which is worth a look if you like Frances Ha but for me wasn't as good.
I've seen both and they're definitely two of her better films, but she has also been in a lot of quirky indies I haven't liked (Damsels In Distress, Greenberg, 20th Century Women, etc). I was worried Lady Bird might be along those lines, but fortunately it wasn't. I really loved it. Every little thing in the movie has a beautiful pay-off at some point.
No mention of Good Time? Just watched that tonight and it's fantastic. Robert Pattinson is outstanding.
I haven't hit the awards movies yet, but I'm do want to see Three Billboards... A friend of mine saw it at a film festival back in September and was really captivated by it. Will also check out Lady Bird, as anything with Saorise Ronan is watchable by her presence alone. Here's hoping the first of her many Oscars is coming soon. So far, the best 2017 films I've seen (and really, I haven't seen many) is a Korean film called A Day. Here's a trailer:
Now that the "Oscars DVD screener leak" season is here I've managed to see a few of these movies. Lady Bird and 3 Billboards were both great but the surprise favourite so far is I, Tonya. It has that "Fargo" style dark comedy/drama vibe, well worth checking out.
