Written by I’m not big on ranked lists. I think they tend to invite argument more than they facilitate healthy discussion and conversation.
“How is X only at #10?”
“You don’t honestly think A was better than B?”
“Where’s C?”
But I do believe in giving credit where credit is due, so this is my list of favorite movies from 2017. In alphabetical order and without any qualifications, these are the great movies, guilty pleasures, and good times I had at the theater last year.
Baby Driver. A fun and original crime movie. It’s always interesting to see what Edgar Wright attempts and Rachel Prior has impeccable taste in projects.
The Big Sick. One of the freshest and most entertaining romantic comedies in years. Plus, the 9/11 joke Kumail Nanjiani tells Ray Romano is hands-down the funniest line in any movie this year. I haven’t heard a theater genuinely laugh that hard for a long time.
Coco. After only seeing this once, it’s already one of my favorite Pixar movies (and that’s a tall order). Can’t wait to go back and watch it again.
Fate of the Furious. This one is more nostalgic than anything else. My brother and I hadn’t seen a movie together in years, and we both love the over-the-top ridiculousness of this franchise. It was so great to just sit in a theater together again and laugh at the most ridiculous installment of them all.
The Glass Castle. I really enjoyed the book and thought they did an excellent job on the film. This one (and Room) made me really excited about Brie Larson being cast in Captain Marvel.
The Greatest Showman. The songs were great and the visuals of the film were really fun. I loved the old-timey credits and the fact that they weren’t afraid to show some of PT Barnum’s less admirable qualities. Mostly the songs, though.
John Wick: Chapter Two. One of my favorite recent action franchises delivered a sequel that more than lived up to the original.
Lady Bird. I completely identified with the protagonist’s desire to leave her hometown while friends and family alike don’t seem to get why anyone would want to leave. And as a fellow Sacramento native, seeing some of my hometown on screen was fun.
Logan. Fox followed up last year’s Deadpool by doing another Marvel character right.
Marvel Cinematic Universe. I’m totally biased because I worked on all of these, but I’m immensely proud of the work the Marvel team did this year on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Thor: Ragnarok. They continue to make great, entertaining movies and I continue to be lucky to be a part of them.
Molly’s Game. I could watch Sorkin dialogue for hours. And Jessica Chastain did a phenomenal job embodying Molly Bloom.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Yeah, yeah, I know a lot of people really hate this one, but I didn’t. I thought there were things that both worked really well and came up well short, but all in all, I admire the ambition and the risk-taking in the most recent installment of one of my favorite franchises of all time.
Wonder. This was really sweet and cute and inspired me to actually read R.J. Palacio’s novel, which my wife has been telling me I need to read for months.
Wonder Woman. The first DC movie since The Dark Knight that I really enjoyed. The climactic battle was a bit of a mess, but I was happy to hand DC my money for this one.
HAVEN’T SEEN, BUT ON MY ‘TO WATCH’ LIST
Some are on my ‘To Watch’ List significantly ahead of others. 😛
American Assassin, American Made, Atomic Blonde, Blade Runner 2049, The Belko Experiment, Cars 3, Colossal, The Dark Tower, Detroit, The Disaster Artist, The Foreigner, The Founder, Get Out, Ghost in the Shell, Girls Trip, The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, I Tonya, It, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Logan Lucky, The Mummy, Murder on the Orient Express, Patti Cake$, The Post, The Shape of Water, Split, Suburbicon, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Wind River
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