I probably should watch all the movies I want to watch before making a top ten list, but I’m pretty sure this other movie I will review in the next week ain’t coming close to cracking the top ten. 3 guesses as to what movie that is. Lots of singing, maybe some cups, and a hint of misogyny. Yep that one. Oh, and as I write I am looking at that one Netflix movie. Sooooo anywhoooo… MY TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2017 LIST AT YOUR READING PLEASURE!!!!
As always, the provisions to my lists are to be read and established beforehand so you all don't come for my head. Here they are:
1) There are plenty of potential “top 10 caliber” movies that I have not seen this year and I will not be able to see in the 5 days we got left in the year. The following movies will not be showing up: The Post, Three Billboards…, Shape of Water, Call Me By Your Name, and plenty of other Oscar contenders I did not get around to seeing.
2) Yep just that up there so let’s get this going
THE HONORABLE MENTIONED:
15-11: Blade Runner 2049, Logan Lucky, The Last Jedi, Wonder Woman, IT
The fives of these movies were really entertaining. They all were carried by the great ensemble cast and had mixture of humor with their main tone (except Blade Runner, far from any humor in that one). However, there was something about each of them that brought the movie down just enough to leave it off the list. I almost fell asleep in Blade Runner. Logan Lucky’s heist felt unfinished. Last Jedi had too much of a prequel vibe during some of the Canto Bight scenes. Wonder Woman had a bit of a typecasting problem. IT… hmm, this one’s a bit hard so I will just say the other ten just beat it out. Still, these were all some great movies in a somewhat not so great year (until the end and the assumption of the greatness of the aforementioned missed movies up there).
THE LIST:
SPLIT
One of the biggest surprises of the year. I am pretty sure most people did like I did and wrote off M. Night by the time this preview hit theaters in 2016. But there was something different about this preview compared to something like The Village or After Earth. That difference was James McAvoy. He has been criminally underrated for his performance this Oscar season. He truly became 24 different people living inside the one body of Kevin Wendell Crumb. So much so that the audience could even feel the characters that weren’t portrayed on screen. Anya Taylor-Joy was refreshingly not a damsel in distress while still showing real anxiety and fear throughout. The story was tense, suspenseful, and left me on the edge of my seat for the entire movie. Plus, I audibly yelled out “oh sh*t” at the patented M. Night “twist” at the end. This started off the year of subversive horror flicks that broke the mold in a tremendous way.
Memorable Character: Hedwig (James McAvoy)
Memorable Scene: Hedwig’s Room
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
The first of many movies that you should go back and read my full RuView on the main page. This may not have been the war that was expected, but it showed the war that no one wanted to see. That made it so much more powerful and a beautiful cap to a great trilogy. As always, Andy Serkis and Woody Harrelson were great, especially in their scenes together. And Steve Zahn does the rare feat of making an annoying character not annoying. When the action does arrive, it brings it full force. But the true heart of the movie lies in between the gunshots and explosions.
Memorable Character: Bad Ape (Steve Zahn)
Memorable Scene: Last Action Sequence (yes I just spent a paragraph saying everything else made the movie great, but this scene was amazing dammit)
GIRLS TRIP
The BEST comedy of the year. I thought this would be another stereotypical movie that had all the stereotypical characters and all the stereotypical plot points with all the stereotypical jokes (insert the word black as many time as you would like in that sentence). But man, I was wrong. Somewhat. It had a lot of the same tropes I have seen before in other “black” movies, but they did this movie so damn authentically that it didn’t matter. You wanted to be on that trip with the girls, you wanted to be at the Essence Festival, and yes, even men wanted to flirt with short ass Lorenz Tate. Plus, Tiffany Haddish. Need I say more really? If you have not seen this movie, do yourself a favor and go fix that mistake now. It was the best time to be had in a movie in 2017. Yes, even better than a certain marvel superhero to be mentioned at a later time.
Memorable Character: Dina (Tiffany Haddish)
Memorable Scene: Ziplining across Beale Street
DUNKIRK
This movie has split people almost as much as that Star Wars movie. No, it doesn’t have any main characters with names that you attach to for the entirety of the movie. And no, it doesn’t have one storyline that connects the audience to any one character throughout. Instead, it has multiple nameless characters that you latch on to for dear life. It has interweaving stories that creates arcs for multiple characters in a short amount of time. This journey of a movie takes the audience on a visceral, violent, and vicious (ALLITERATION STILL ASTOUNDS!!!!) adventure through what war really is. I have never seen a more exhilaratingly boring plane fight scene in my entire life. If Apes showed the horrors of war in between the gunshots and explosions, Dunkirk showed the horrors while you are in it. War leaves thousands of men and women nameless on a blood-soaked field filled with nothing but the sound of your heartbeat inside your head and bullets and propellers ringing in your ears. That is the feeling you have while staring at the end credit. It was spellbinding.
Memorable Character: Mr. Dawson (Mark Rylance)
Memorable Scene: Waiting for High Tide
SPIDERMAN: HOMECOMING
This is the best Spider-Man movie and Tom Holland is the best Spider-Man. Don’t at me. Or do, whatever, cuz you know I am right. Tom Holland is the snarky and sarcastic Spider-Man I grew up with from the 90s TV show. Homecoming is the epitome of why Marvel is getting it right within its cinematic universe. They are no longer making formulaic superhero movies. They are creating genre films that fit perfectly for their characters. This one is the coming of age story that people have been wanting to see in their Spider-Man. Luckily, they also knew not to have a 3rd Uncle Ben telling us about responsibility and power. It was a whole lot of fun to watch, and Michael Keaton breaks the marvel villain curse by just being his natural menacingly charming self. It’s a glorious experience.
Memorable Character: Adrian Toomes/Vulture (Michael Keaton) – Donald Glover was a close second
Memorable Scene: That Car Ride to Homecoming (dramatically what this scene was comedically)
GET OUT
To all of my Caucasian brothers and sisters out there who want to know what we as African Americans have nightmares about, Get Out is the satirized, but not really, embodiment of that. It is one of those movies that have as much of a cultural impact (if not more) as a storytelling one. I will say that I was slightly disappointed when I left the theater because the hype the preceded it, but I had so many questions and wanted to have so many conversations about it afterwards. The farther away I was from watching it the more I appreciated and enjoyed just how good it really was. The nuanced micro aggressions are too real. The horror conventions are still there and continues that run of horror’s great year. Daniel Kaluuya deserves what seems to be the Oscar coming his way. Allison Williams, Brad Whitford, Catherine Keener and (especially) Caleb Landry Jones were creepy goodness (if I just spoiled something for you that is your fault for not seeing this yet). The there’s Lil Rel. The humor he brings to the movie is over the top, but somehow fits in perfectly. The combination of suspense, comedy, and social commentary creates an enthralling experience that pulls you in and never lets go.
Memorable Character: Rod (Lil Rel Howery)
Memorable Scene: The T, S, muphugin A
THOR: RAGNAROK
Another RuView you can go read and discover how Chris Hemsworth’s picture is under the definition for fun. This is what this movie is up and down. Hulk. FUN. Valkyrie. FUN and boss as hell. Grandmaster. FUN. Loki. Do I even have to say? Hela. HELLA FUN (yea that was bad sorry). Saw this one in the theaters 3 times for good reason. This is the best Thor movie and could easily be top 5 MCU movie.
Memorable Character: Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson)
Memorable Scene: Thor vs. Hulk in the Contest of Champions
BABY DRIVER
This might be the best ensemble cast of the year. Ansel Elgort is incredibly likable as the kid who doesn’t want to be in the world he was dragged into. His chemistry with Lily James is palpable. Jamie Foxx is perfectly Bats (both literally and figuratively). Jon Hamm and Eiza Gonzalez are just bad ass. But the best part of the whole movie is the music. It doesn’t stop from the opening scene. It blends itself in so extensively that it breathes life with every beat. From background words that sync up with lyrics to the gunshots matching with the beats in action sequences, each song is a new character. This movie has some of the best car chases of the past decade, it has the most heart of any movie this year, and I can’t stress how well acted this movie is. Even he who must not be named is likable. This is Edgar Wright’s best film, and that’s saying a lot.
Memorable Character: Bats (Jamie Foxx) – gotta also mention CJ Jones’ Joseph
Memorable Scene: The Post Office Heist
COCO
This is my 3rd time writing about this film, and I am still tearing up. I don’t know how much more emotional torture I can take. So, just go look at the other two times I wrote about this masterpiece before I start crying again. Thanks so much.
Memorable Character: Abuelita (Renee Victor)
Memorable Scene: Coco and Miguel Singing “Remember Me”
LOGAN
I did not want to watch this movie. Not because I thought it was going to be bad. Because I knew it was going to rip my childhood to pieces. And it did. Twice. This movie is not only one of the best superhero movies ever, but also one of the best movies of all time. There may never be two people who fit a role as well as Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart have for the past 17 years. Dafne Keen embodies raw emotion as Laura. The entire movie is filled with anger and pain and loss, and you feel every bit of it in all three of the main characters' portrayals. They emanate the peaceful chaos that is growing old and dealing with the failures in your past. Resolving the legend of your successes with who you are today, and how all of that leads to the legacy you want to leave to the next generation. This was the perfect way to send of Hugh Jackman in his defining role. And somehow, even as Old Man Logan he looks better than he did in that first X-Men movie. It doesn’t make sense.
Memorable Character: Laura/X-23 (Daphne Keen)
Memorable Scene: Berserker and X-23 in a forest