Top 10 Films of 2017

2017 will go down as one of my favorite film years. As such, I decided to change things up. Instead of simply ranking my annual top ten favorite films of the year, I will spotlight sixteen films and documentaries, categorized within six genres: Early-Year Gems, Blockbusters, Streaming Greats, Indie-Darlings, Underrated, and Documentaries.  

Note: At the end, you will find a more traditional top 10 ranking. 

The Early-Year Gems

The Founder 

This is a film about sociopathic ambition. It is the story of a man (Ray Kroc) whose domineering drive for success made McDonald’s a global giant, but only after (effectively) stealing the intellectual property of its creators. Michael Keaton gives a brilliant performance as Kroc, an at first almost “aw shucks” traveling salesman, but by film’s end, an archvillain knowingly lying to the public about the origin of the revolutionary fast-food chain. 

Get Out

We all saw the trailer in the fall of 2016. To me, it looked like a slight, but maybe too wild exploration of interracial politics. I was wrong. This ain’t slight. That said, Get Out IS tonally wild. It has dramatic, thriller, and comedic beats, which works so well in symphony because the film’s subject matter (i.e. the travails of being black in all-white spaces, the complicated posturing within interracial relationships, and the strange and insidious strain of racism within white liberalism) can be equal parts traumatic, nerve-racking, and hilarious. 

The Blockbusters

It

I’m among the hordes of distressed children who were made forever averse to clowns because of the original television miniseries. And as far as I’m concerned, Tim Curry is still the gold standard of the iconic (and terrifying) Pennywise the Clown. But Bill Skarsgård’s performance had the benefit of being a part of the better film. This updated It is an aberration of the old coming-of-age Hollywood trope. These kids have potty mouths. Neighborhood kids are being murdered. And (of course) an interdimensional, malevolent clown is terrorizing the town. Even if the film doesn’t do anything especially innovative, it manages to successfully update a revered property and is incredibly watchable. In short, It is a good time. 

Girls Trip

The only comedy of 2017 to gross $100 million at the box office is a rollicking, oft-bawdy movie starring black women characters going to the Essence Music Festival (a distinctly black cultural event). That is monumental. And every plaudit the film receives will have been well earned, because anything this boisterous and joyful and brilliant ought to be celebrated. I hope Tiffany Haddish (the film’s charismatic MVP) gets enough traction to earn an Oscar nomination. 

Logan

Ordinarily, I have little use for comic book adaptations.  These films are typically loud, mindless, formulaic affairs that turn-up the volume on cheeky dialogue and rote performances. The X-Men films have been especially annoying, particularly when we consider that the Wolverine character was given numerous attempts at a solo-franchise, and churned-out (mediocre) films that hardly anyone loved. But I’m glad I was dragged to Logan. Yes, it’s loud and there’s plenty of cheeky dialogue, but it’s smart and fresh and boasts Academy Award-worthy performances. 

Blade Runner 2049

I went in prepared to hate it (the run-time was a turn-off, not to mention my deep aversion to unnecessary sequels). I also tend to hate the film noir genre (I know, I know). So, it is safe to say that ‘2049’ was at a disadvantage. That said, I found it spellbinding. A well-crafted bit of film-making that left me scratching my head at criticisms about its “confounding” plot or “slow and dull” pacing. It managed to do what so few sequels do…compliment the original and stand tall as an achievement on its own merit. It stayed on my mind well after leaving the theater.

The Streaming Greats

Mudbound

This film tackles a sweet-spot in American history not well-worn in cinema: the immediate aftermath of the post-WWII South, as well as the suffocating “freedom” of the black tenant farmer and their abusive "relationship" with poor, dependent whites who “owned” the land. I thought director Dee Rees captured the brutal poverty and desperation of Southern black (and white) farmers well. Here, the drama (and tension) was well choreographed. The film does not sensationalize nor romanticize violence against black people (thank goodness). Its violence was saved to serve the story (and ultimately the characters involved). And while the first 20 minutes are a struggle (because of the film's nonlinear editing), it eventually earns its due as a worthy to see, well-crafted drama.

Okja

A strange, frenetic, multi-lingual, and globe-trotting epic that could be fairly mistaken for vegan-propaganda (a cause célèbre in 2017, it seems). I’m not sure why I liked this film so much (something I was admittedly slow to determine after initial viewing). It is a bizarre (but insanely fun) exploration of global capitalism and corporate villainy, and it boasts the same child-loves-beast conceit of an “E.T.” or “The NeverEnding Story”.   

The Indie-Darlings

Beatriz at Dinner

Tackling a similar subject to “Get Out” (albeit in more straightforward fashion), ‘Dinner’ dramatizes the awkward chemistry of people of color (solo) navigating all-white spaces. Here, again, white liberals are not given the opportunity to self-congratulate. Instead, their (underexplored) blindness to systemic class, cultural, gender, as well as racial and ethnic inequities is being exposed. See the film for two award-worthy performances from Selma Hayek and John Lithgow. 

Patti Cake$

Some have (amusingly, if unfairly) referred to this film as the “female version of 8 Mile.” It is an understandable comparison (a young, aspiring, poor and white teenager tackling the mostly-black world of hip-hop), but it isn’t an apt one on several levels. First, this movie is a blast. It suffers none of the limitations of the self-serious “8-Mile,” a film that bored me to tears back in 2002. Second, the lead (Danielle Macdonald) proves herself a formidable (and engaging) actress. No one is going to confuse Marshal Mathers with Laurence Olivier. Hell, no one is going to confuse him with Hayden Christensen. Third, you feel invested in every supporting character here, even the less-than-sympathetic mother gets an emotional arc, and it all succeeds to give this movie what that movie didn’t have: heart. 

Crown Heights

Imagine being violently arrested, accused of murder by authorities, and convicted (without physical evidence) based on the lies of coerced eyewitnesses. Now imagine spending 20+ years in prison knowing you were nowhere near the crime and no one (save your best friend and mother) believes you. This film is the harrowing true story of a man who suffered the fate of so many young, poor, black men in our criminal justice system. It boasts a remarkable lead performance by the seemingly ubiquitous Lakeith Stanfield (seriously, this man has been in everything lately). Its indie-sensibilities can be a little distracting at times (there are some directorial choices that were head-scratching), but don’t let them keep you from watching. 

The Underrated

The Lost City of Z

I suspect ‘Z’ could have been a major box office draw had its director decided to lean heavily on the action-adventure elements of the story. Instead, the film tackles (imperial) exploration of the new frontier (in this case, South America) as a dramatic character-study. One man bent on finding a “lost” city in the Amazon. If you can look past its problematic limitations (the film never openly asks whether the city was “lost” or simply not meant to be found; and its gaze isn’t critical enough of British colonialism), the performances are universally stellar and this (true) story is infinitely fascinating. 

Suburbicon

Maligned for its scattershot tone, critics argued George Clooney’s directorial approach failed to successfully balance the disparate elements of the story.  I wholeheartedly disagree. The film takes a satirical look at the advent of white-flight “Levittowns,” rank with aversive (and sometimes overt) racism. Its dramatic beats are anchored by a black family who move into this fictional suburb, and immediately endure bullying by its white citizens, fearful that a black family will lug crime into their “peaceful” community. Of course, while mobs are surveilling their home, all sorts of horrors are happening around the corner (this is where the thriller elements are introduced). Yes, there is a valid critique that Clooney doesn’t give enough agency to this black family. Indeed, it could be argued that they’re simply used as a plot device, barely given dialogue or screen-time (I suspect a lot of their story was left on the cutting-room floor). Nonetheless, the film is not undercut nor compromised by this slight. In fact, perhaps a three-dimensional focus on the black family is besides the point. After all, these raging (and delusional) suburbanites are the one’s being spoofed here, and it’s being done quite well.   

Roman J. Israel, Esq. 

It is a testament to Denzel Washington’s enviable range that after 30+ years in film, he still manages to surprise us with performances we’ve yet to see from him. “Roman Israel” is unlike any character Washington has portrayed. And he slays it. The film itself has been criticized for its tonal shifts (peep this common thread among these underrated movies), as it begins as a straight-forward character study, morphs into a legal drama, and then climaxes as a thriller. It is true that the film’s third act betrays what could have been a full-bore deconstruction of the Prison Industrial Complex (which was hinted at earlier), but director Dan Gilroy’s clear intention was to keep focus on his titular character, and because his lead is so dynamic (the actor and his character), it works. Ignore the critics on this one. A misfire it ain’t. It’s just misunderstood. 

The Documentaries

I Am Not Your Negro

Oscar-nominated alongside 30 for 30’s “OJ: Made in America”, ‘Negro’ served as part of this year’s one-two-punch of well-regarded, widely seen documentaries exploring complicated themes of race and class in America. Seen through the lens of James Baldwin, a renowned author, activist, and public intellectual of the mid-to-late 20th century, audiences of this documentary are forced to critically examine America’s difficult (and oft-white washed) history with black leadership and racial progress. 

The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson

If you’ve heard of the Stonewall Riots, you should have also heard that Marsha P. Johnson (and Sylvia Rivera) started the revolution. Unfortunately, for many years, like so many historical figures from underrepresented and marginalized communities, their contribution to American history (and the LGBTQ rights movement, specifically) was appropriated, buried, and forgotten. In the 1990s, Johnson was found dead in the Hudson River, which the authorities claimed was suicide, but those closest to her suspected something closer to foul-play. This documentary follows the investigative work of a friend who wants to get to the bottom of Johnson’s mysterious disappearance and death. It works on several levels. As a murder-mystery, we meet all sorts of interesting, aged characters, some more sordid than others. As a historical piece, we learn so much about Marsha’s work with S.T.A.R. and the tireless efforts of the trans community in New York City toward queer liberation. We also get an extended portrait of Sylvia Rivera, herself an icon of LGBTQ rights activism, and someone who merits her own documentary one day. As an intimate chronicling of the life of Marsha, we see a flawed, but gregarious person with wit and personality and charm. See this documentary for these elements and more. 

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Top 10 Films of 2017

10. Girls Trip

9. The Founder

8. The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson

7. Beatriz at Dinner

6. The Lost City of Z

5. Get Out

4. Mudbound 

3. Patti Cake$

2. Suburbicon

1. Blade Runner 2049