My 10 Favorite Films of 2017

The films that made 2017 a little more bearable.

By: Josh McCormack

I'm lucky to have a loving family and great friends who make me feel loved and comfortable in my life. But the truth is 2017 has been hard for so many and has been nothing but absolute chaos, politically. 

However, in those rare moments in which I was able to turn off my phone and escape from the rampant childish tweets of our President and violent acts of racism and mass shootings, I was able to find some comfort in one of the best years of film in recent memory. 

Here are my ten favorite movies of the year and a few honorable mentions that very nearly made the list. Keep in mind I still haven't seen a lot of films that others have listed as the year's best ("I, Tonya", "Call Me By Your Name", etc).

Super Honorable Mention: Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Whether "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" was the greatest or worst "Star Wars" movie ever, I was never going to put it on my top ten list. My love for this franchise defies any typical film criticism, therefore it wouldn't be fair to "The Last Jedi" or the other films on my list if I attempted to rank it.

While "The Last Jedi" does have its handful of issues, as I've mentioned recently on the site, it's an exciting and inventive new addition to the immortal series with an Oscar-worthy performance from Mark Hamill as a different kind of Luke Skywalker.

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10. Coco

PIXAR's 19th feature film is a movie that I predicted from the opening ten minutes. I practically knew every plot twist that was bound to happen and what the film's final message would be about. However, the journey to getting to these twists and turns is so beautifully made and filled with lovely characters in a wonderfully realized world that in the end it doesn't matter if you know where the story is going. 

Even with some faulty movies like "Cars 2" or "The Good Dinosaur" messing with their winning streak in recent years, PIXAR still proves no one can quite match them when it comes to smart, emotional and wholesome family entertainment. 

"Coco" is filled with lovely music, great characters and one of the most wonderfully realized settings PIXAR has ever brought to screen. 

9. Detroit

Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal reunite to bring you the most harrowing and frightening true story drama of the year. 

Based on the real life 1967 Detroit riots, the meat of the film revolves around a horrific incident at Detroit's Algiers Motel in which local police officers responded to nearby gunfire with ruthlessly torturing and violently interrogating African American witnesses. 

The film almost owes just as much of a debt to something like Wes Craven's "Last House on the Left" as much as it does other historical drama in terms of how vile the police officers are (led by a terrifying Will Poulter). This has led some critics to call the film gratuitous and meaningless, but to me it only adds to the film's importance and saddening relevance.

Arguably the most important film of 2017. 

8. The Disaster Artist

Based on the true story that's chronicled in Greg Sestero's wonderful book of the same name, "The Disaster Artist" is a funny, strange and eventually inspirational true story about the making of the "worst movie ever made". 

While I still wish there are elements spoken of in the book that made their way into the movie, director/writer/star James Franco understands that the heart of the story is Tommy Wiseau's brotherly relationship with "The Room"'s co-star, Greg Sestero (played by James' younger brother, Dave Franco). 

"The Disaster Artist" is a wild movie, but one that never forgets where its heart is. 

7. Get Out

Jordan Peele's directorial debut shattered everyone's expectations and the domestic box office. A horror film for the post-racism era lie we live in. 

From the opening tracking shot I was aware that this movie would be terrifyingly entertaining while simultaneously touching on aspects of real world terror. This is what all the best horror movies are able to pull off.

The scariest thing of all; it made a white guy like myself ask, "Oh no. Do I do that?" (Not the brain transmitting stuff, I mean. Yeesh, I'm not THAT insane).

6. Logan 

James Mangold's "Logan" is a superhero film for the ages. It's one that I truly believe we'll be talking about in the years to come with the same respect and admiration that we have for "The Dark Knight" or "Superman: The Movie". 

For all of its R-rated gore and heavy themes of loss, "Logan" felt more like a pure superhero film than any movie I've seen in the past few years. The sacrifices made by the characters are far more heroic than any Avenger or Justice League member flying into the sky to destroy some giant outer space laser. 

The performances are incredible all around with Hugh Jackman not only giving his best performance of the X-Men franchise, but also of his entire career. The farewell to his character left me spellbound and the film's final image remains with me ever since my first viewing.

5. The Florida Project

I love it when a director clearly loves his characters. I love it when a director can film a person of a certain social status or background and want to live in their shoes and not look down on them or even take pity on them. 

In the hands of another director The Florida Project could be misery porn, begging you to feel bad for these impoverished families living in motels on the outskirts of Disney World. Or worse yet, they could portray them as nothing more than a nuisance and find ways to humiliate the way they try and make their living.

Sean Baker, however, allows his audience to experience a day-by-day look at a 5-year old girl's life with her friends and how her young mother tries (or doesn't, for that matter) to make ends meet. Along the way these characters range from sympathetic, bratty, hopeless to even cruel. But that's because they're just human beings and products of their harsh reality. 

Accenting this wonderful movie is an amazing performance from Willem Dafoe who plays one of the greatest working class heroes I've seen in a long time. 

4. Lady Bird

How can a movie that's so seemingly simple, be so fantastic?

Well, by having a writer and director who's so confident behind the lens and by focusing on a too rarely seen mother and daughter relationship. The fantastic actress Greta Gerwig puts on her directing hat for the first time and puts most other modern coming-of-age films to shame.

Saoirse Ronan's performance is mesmerizing and to think she can go from something completely different like 2015's "Brooklyn" to "Lady Bird" just shows her range and proves that she's one of our best young actors working. She is joined by a fantastic supporting cast in which there are absolutely no weak links. Laurie Metcalf's performance as the complex mother is just as riveting. She will bring you to tears in the film's final moments.

"Lady Bird" proves how amazing high school dramas can be when done with this much care and honesty. It manages to be the funniest movie of the year while still being incredibly moving. 

3.  Blade Runner 2049

A sequel 35 years in the making. The original "Blade Runner" has become an integral piece of film in the history of science fiction cinema, so to make a sequel is incredibly daunting and fell on the shoulders of director Denis Vileneuve.

Vileneuve's film continues many of the themes of the 1982 original, but finds a way to be an amazing sci-fi movie in its own right. It's gorgeous to look at, due to the incredible cinematography from Roger Deakins, but it's about so much more than just the style. "Blade Runner 2049"'s performances are amazing and Ryan Gosling as the mysterious and conflicted Officer K is a masterclass in perfectly nuanced acting.

It's a film that does the "Blade Runner" fan base proud, but more importantly blazes its own trail as one of the most engaging and complex science fiction movies of the decade. 

2. The Shape of Water

Guillermo Del Toro is a blessing.

As someone who loves monster movies and classic cinema in general, Del Toro has proven to be one of my favorite filmmakers of my generation. James Whale toyed with the idea of a misunderstood monster in 1935's "Bride of Frankenstein" and no director has ever picked up on the promise of the beautiful story opportunities that offers in the way Guillermo Del Toro has. 

In "The Shape of Water" Del Toro gives his take on the classic monster film, "The Creature from the Black Lagoon", except turning it into a romance between the monster and a mute woman. I already fear the "woman has sex with fish-man" jokes that will inevitably be at the forefront of every awards show this season, but believe me when I tell you how beautifully handled this beauty and beast story is.

As Sally Hawkins' character states in the movie, "When he looks at me, he does not know how I am incomplete. He sees me as I am."

The cast of heroes in "The Shape of Water" are all oppressed outsiders living on the fringes of society in 1962 America. A mute woman (Sally Hawkins), a gay man (Richard Jenkins) and an African American woman (Octavia Spencer). These three come together to give a misunderstood creature its freedom from evil government forces led by an incredibly villainous Michael Shannon. 

With a small budget of only $19 million, Del Toro has crafted a beautifully unique love story that has  everything from political relevance, a great creature design and even a wonderfully unexpected musical sequence (YES! SERIOUSLY!). It's a movie for everyone and second only to the masterful "Pan's Labyrinth" in Del Toro's grand pantheon of films. 

1. Baby Driver

I can't recall a movie I've been so excited to share with people more than "Baby Driver". In the glut of terrible summer movies consisting of a third "Cars" movie and a fifth "Transformers" travesty, "Baby Driver" zoomed in to my local multiplex and knocked me off my feet. 

Director Edgar Wright has yet to make a false step in his career and "Baby Driver" is his masterpiece. It's a film that oozes with energy and has a swagger that is so effortlessly cool, never drawing attention to itself. It's both nostalgic and kind of groundbreaking. 

The editing of the action sequences that are choreographed to the music Ansel Elgort's titular Baby has playing on his iPod is incredible. The opening car chase alone is more thrilling than the third acts to all the Marvel films combined. And you feel every bullet hit, punch to the face and car crash as if you were in the scene yourself. 

The music choices ranging from Simon and Garfunkel to The Vandellas all give the movie a perfect percussive beat that just never lets up, and you don't want it to. 

Of course you can't mention "Baby Driver" without mentioning the amazing ensemble cast. The two young leads, Ansel Elgort as Baby and Lily James as Debora (who looks like a zebora) have great chemistry and are wonderful young faces to follow on this crime-fueled journey. But in the end, it's the supporting cast that leaves the greatest impression. Actors from Jon Hamm, Eiza Gonzales, Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey (who really is great in this movie, even though we know he's a total piece of shit now), Jon Bernthal, Flea and even a quick appearance from PAUL F-IN' WILLIAMS. Each actor brings something different to their characters whether they're big or small and it really helps this world feel fleshed out. 

I could write a book about what "Baby Driver" meant to me as a lover of film. All you have to know is that once I saw it in late June, I already knew it would pretty much be impossible for any film to knock "Baby Driver" from the top spot.

"Baby Driver" is not only my favorite movie of the year, but one of my all-time favorite movies. 

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Honorable Mentions:

*It

*Brigsby Bear

*Dunkirk

*Spider-Man: Homecoming

*The Big Sick