Best of 2017, Top Movies

As 2017 fades away, I'm looking back at my favorite things of the year. In this final post of the year, I'm listing my favorite and most disappointing movies of the year.

A couple of notes — first some of the most interesting possible films of the year are still in limited release and I'm not in the place where they've been limitedly released (The Post, The Phantom Thread, Molly's Game, I, Tonya). So I haven't seen everything. Second, these lists are subjective, even moreso than regular movie reviews. This is the list of 10 movies that I enjoyed most during the year in ascending order. The five most disappointing also appear in ascending order. I hope you didn't have to see any of those.

10. Beauty and the Beast — This was the big, live-action adaptation of the classic Disney tale, and it featured some great performances from Dan Stevens and Emma Watson. I loved the look and the music. They nailed the adaptation. It was a lot of fun.

9. Logan — By now we've seen just about every kind of X-Men movie, and every kind of Wolverine movie. So, for Hugh Jackman's last go-around, James Mangold and Scott Frank did something really interesting. And it worked. This was a darker, grittier story than we've seen, and Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and Dafne Keen were great in it.

8. The Shape of Water — I didn't love all the aspects of this story. Guillermo del Toro made some choices that I found uncomfortable. However, the idea of the story is great and the performances from Sally Hawkins, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer, Doug Jones, and Michael Shannon are great. And this is one of the most visually engaging films of the year.

7. The Big Sick — This was a little movie released during summer that just kept going, and for good reason. Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon share their story, and they do it in a beautiful and engaging way. I loved a lot of the humor in this story and the performances are great.

6. Thor: Ragnarok — Thor has always kind of been the little brother in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but this third solo outing was not even his best, it was one of the best in the MCU. This was a fun, funny ride, and I loved it.

5. Wonder Woman — Just when you were giving up hope on the D.C. Cinematic Universe, Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot come on to the scene and save it. "Wonder Woman" was all you could hope for and more. It was beautifully told and beautifully executed, with great performances and a great cinematic look.

4. Wind River — Over the past few years I've really enjoyed the work of Taylor Sheridan, who wrote the scripts for "Sicario" and "Hell or High Water." Here he crafts another interesting crime tale, this time set in the frozen wilds of Wyoming, on an Indian Reservation, and boosted by beautiful performances from Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner. This was one of my favorite movies of the year.

3. Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri — Frances McDormand is a fine actress, and she really shows her range and talent in this film. It's a story that goes where you don't expect, and McDormand is flanked by some great performances from Sam Rockwell, Woody Harelson and others. Martin McDonagh is a great writer and director, and he blends drama and comedy in an interesting way here.

2. Dunkirk — Christopher Nolan is about my favorite director working today, and he didn't disappoint with this World War II tale. Some didn't appreciate the storytelling style of the script, but I thought this was one of the most fascinating, thrilling, and interesting films of the year.

1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi — I have seen this movie three times, and I love it more each time I see it. I think what Rian Johnson did here was brilliant, and the performances are great. As much as I love "Empire Strikes Back," this might be my favorite "Star Wars" film of all time. It was completely daring and went to places I didn't expect. I was engaged emotionally the whole time, and for me, that's what excites me most about the medium of film. This film was simply incredible.

Most Disappointing:
5. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword — There have been a lot of versions of "King Arthur" told before, but I had hopes for this when it debuted this summer. It wasn't great. It was weird, confusing, and felt like there was too much studio input in this one. There are flashes of Guy Ritchie's style as a filmmaker, but not enough for it to work.

4. The Great Wall — I thought this movie would be cool. It wasn't. The story was almost as disappointing as Matt Damon's ponytail. This was a disaster.

3. Transformers: The Last Knight — It's time for this franchise to end. This was a bloated and boring tale that was a complete waste of time.

2. The Mummy — Wow, for a franchise starter this was a total bomb. I was a big fan of the 1999 Brendan Fraser version of "The Mummy." This movie made me yearn to watch that. This was bad, perhaps the worst Tom Cruise movie I've ever seen.

1. 47 Meters Down — I love shark movies, and I thought this had potential. Instead, about 10 minutes in, I realized I'd made a huge mistake. Never. Trust. A. Mandy. Moore. Shark. Movie. This was the most painful theater experience of the year, and that's really saying something.