Jessica's Top Ten Movies of 2017
1. Get Out
![]() |
Image credit: Francesco Francavillia and Jay Shaw |
I mean, duh. There's really no contest. Get Out was the movie of the year, breaking genre expectations and providing the most scathing social commentary of any form of media, all while being damn entertaining and funny. The acting is great, particularly Daniel Kaluuya's subtle reaction shots to the numerous micro-aggressions he experiences. Let's be clear, I don't really like horror movies. I was so confused when I first saw the trailer ("wait, Jordan Peele, of Key and Peele hilarity, is now a horror film director??"). Of course, trying to fit it into a single genre like that shows the limitations of how we think about movies (and reminds us how great Get Out really is). Jordan Peele had the best response to the HFPA classifying it as a comedy for the Golden Globes:
‘Get Out’ is a documentary.— Jordan Peele (@JordanPeele) November 15, 2017
Required viewing.
2. The Big Sick
I wish I could just draw a gigantic heart around this movie. No other film this year ran me through quite the same emotional gamut. I'm really not sure if I've ever laughed so hard and cried so much in the same movie before. It's such a beautiful and personal story, and Kumail Nanjiani is, obviously, perfect in it (since he's, you know, playing himself). But Ray Romano and Holly Hunter as his (future) wife's parents are so fantastic as well. The hardest Oscar for me by far is Best Original Screenplay, where The Big Sick and Get Out are going head to head, because how do I choose between my loves?
3. Call Me By Your Name
This movie is just so beautiful. I want to live in it. I don't really know what else to say. Timothee Chalamet is a revelation. Every so often a young actor shows up that just does this whole "acting" thing better than anyone around him. The movie feels so intimate, with gorgeous locations and great performances all around. It even made me like Armie Hammer (kind of).
4. Lady Bird
No movie spoke more to 16 year-old Jessica than this one. Some "coming of age" stories are more personal than others, and this one took me right back to my formative years. Complicated characters, fantastic acting, and excellent direction by Greta Gerwig make this movie one of my favorites. Saoirse Ronan is perfect, and Laurie Metcalf is the standout as Lady Bird's mom. The scenes of the two of them together feel so real. Plus, bonus Timothee Chalamet!
5. Coco
Oh man, this movie. If you want to know what a room full of grown adults and small children all crying sounds like (joyful tears, sad tears, cathartic tears... they're all there), go see Coco before it leaves theaters. I want to hold this movie next to my heart and not let go. The animation is incredible, with some of the most gorgeously colorful scenes you can imagine, but ultimately the reason this movie is so wonderful is its story- about family, and love, and loss. Also, representation matters, and having a movie about a young Mexican boy, rooted in Mexican culture, and created by Mexican filmmakers is really important. Finally, I didn't think there was any way possible for a song to compete with the perfection that is Mystery of Love from Call Me By Your Name, but if Remember Me doesn't win Best Song I'm going to start throwing things. For those who have seen the movie and want to re-experience a good cry, here you go.
6. Wonder Woman
What was that about representation mattering? Oh yeah. Seeing Wonder Woman finally brought to the big screen was exciting enough, but seeing it done with such care and skill by women for women made me burst into tears during the film's most iconic action sequence. Gal Gadot is perfect as Wonder Woman, giving her strength, caring, and idealism without devolving to naivete. The best part of seeing it in the theater was seeing all the little girls dressed up in costume who get to grow up in a world of mainstream female superheroes. The second best part was hearing a little boy tell his mom that he's not sure any more if his favorite super hero is Captain America or Wonder Woman. The movie does lag a bit in the third act, but by that time it doesn't matter- I'm already entranced.
7. The LEGO Batman Movie
Yeah, you heard me. I freaking love this movie. There's no way it should possibly work, and yet it does. I adored the first LEGO Movie, and thought Will Arnett's Batman was hilarious, but I also thought there was no way they could keep that joke up for a full film. Particularly since part of what makes his Batman so hilarious is the complete lack of character depth. How do you make me care for that character? Turns out, the LEGO movie makers are way smarter than me, because this movie is hilarious and somehow touching as well. And, of all the movies on this list, it is the one I will ALWAYS stop on if it's on TV (yes, I still have cable, I should be in a museum).
8. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
I love Star Wars. I grew up on it. Princess Leia (or General Organa) has always been and is still a hero of mine, and part of that is because she was one of the only strong female characters I had to look up to. It sometimes overwhelms me to think that girls today get to grow up in a world where Star Wars heroes look like them. I loved this movie. I love the direction it took with Luke (even if whiny fanboys don't); I love the decision about Rey's parents (SPOILER: there is something so spectacular about having her not be from some special lineage. She's not powerful because of who her parents were; she's powerful because of who she is); and I LOVE that the main characters are all women and people of color. Read this, because it basically says everything I want to say about this movie better than I can.
9. I, Tonya
As I walked into this movie, I said to my friend, "I don't know how I feel about the fact that it's apparently changing everyone's perspective on Tonya Harding- I'm not sure I think our perspectives should change." Yeah, I know, that was a dumb thing to say. Especially since I walked out of this film with an entirely new viewpoint on figure skating and privilege. It's a fascinating mode of story telling- giving multiple perspectives without taking a position on which is true. Margot Robbie is fantastic as Harding, with a physicality in the role that is rarely seen. And Allison Janney is just wonderful as Harding's (truly terrible) mother.
10. Dunkirk
The last movie I saw in preparing for my top ten. I'm sad to say that I didn't watch it in a movie theater, because this seems like the type of film that is improved exponentially by a giant screen and dark theater. Even so, I still loved it. Classic Christopher Nolan direction style, jumping back and forth between multiple perspectives and timelines on a single battle. Strong performances and gripping tension throughout. Plus, Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy. That's pretty much all I need in a movie.
Honorable Mentions:
Baby Driver, Battle of the Sexes, Gifted, Girls Trip, Logan, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Post, Thor: Ragnarok
Special 2017 Movie Note:
You will notice there are some conspicuous Oscar front-runners missing from this list. Some I simply never made it to (The Phantom Thread). Some I just wasn't particularly interested in (The Darkest Hour). And some are very intentional omissions. We'll get to Three Billboards in a minute, but I just really did not love The Shape of Water. It's a movie that should be made for me. I love Guillermo del Toro, Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, and Octavia Spencer. I'm all about romantic movies, and enjoy fantasy. But I mostly just left this feeling confused. I truly never felt like there was a romantic relationship, at least from the amphibious man's perspective. And (SPOILER ALERT) I can't really get behind our main character having sex with a creature ten minutes after it ate a pet cat, which was explained away as "he's a wild animal." Finally (and others have said this better than me), if you have issues with the age difference in Call Me By Your Name but are enamored by this cross-species relationship, I do not understand you.
2. The Big Sick
I wish I could just draw a gigantic heart around this movie. No other film this year ran me through quite the same emotional gamut. I'm really not sure if I've ever laughed so hard and cried so much in the same movie before. It's such a beautiful and personal story, and Kumail Nanjiani is, obviously, perfect in it (since he's, you know, playing himself). But Ray Romano and Holly Hunter as his (future) wife's parents are so fantastic as well. The hardest Oscar for me by far is Best Original Screenplay, where The Big Sick and Get Out are going head to head, because how do I choose between my loves?
3. Call Me By Your Name
This movie is just so beautiful. I want to live in it. I don't really know what else to say. Timothee Chalamet is a revelation. Every so often a young actor shows up that just does this whole "acting" thing better than anyone around him. The movie feels so intimate, with gorgeous locations and great performances all around. It even made me like Armie Hammer (kind of).
4. Lady Bird
No movie spoke more to 16 year-old Jessica than this one. Some "coming of age" stories are more personal than others, and this one took me right back to my formative years. Complicated characters, fantastic acting, and excellent direction by Greta Gerwig make this movie one of my favorites. Saoirse Ronan is perfect, and Laurie Metcalf is the standout as Lady Bird's mom. The scenes of the two of them together feel so real. Plus, bonus Timothee Chalamet!
5. Coco
Oh man, this movie. If you want to know what a room full of grown adults and small children all crying sounds like (joyful tears, sad tears, cathartic tears... they're all there), go see Coco before it leaves theaters. I want to hold this movie next to my heart and not let go. The animation is incredible, with some of the most gorgeously colorful scenes you can imagine, but ultimately the reason this movie is so wonderful is its story- about family, and love, and loss. Also, representation matters, and having a movie about a young Mexican boy, rooted in Mexican culture, and created by Mexican filmmakers is really important. Finally, I didn't think there was any way possible for a song to compete with the perfection that is Mystery of Love from Call Me By Your Name, but if Remember Me doesn't win Best Song I'm going to start throwing things. For those who have seen the movie and want to re-experience a good cry, here you go.
6. Wonder Woman
What was that about representation mattering? Oh yeah. Seeing Wonder Woman finally brought to the big screen was exciting enough, but seeing it done with such care and skill by women for women made me burst into tears during the film's most iconic action sequence. Gal Gadot is perfect as Wonder Woman, giving her strength, caring, and idealism without devolving to naivete. The best part of seeing it in the theater was seeing all the little girls dressed up in costume who get to grow up in a world of mainstream female superheroes. The second best part was hearing a little boy tell his mom that he's not sure any more if his favorite super hero is Captain America or Wonder Woman. The movie does lag a bit in the third act, but by that time it doesn't matter- I'm already entranced.
7. The LEGO Batman Movie
Yeah, you heard me. I freaking love this movie. There's no way it should possibly work, and yet it does. I adored the first LEGO Movie, and thought Will Arnett's Batman was hilarious, but I also thought there was no way they could keep that joke up for a full film. Particularly since part of what makes his Batman so hilarious is the complete lack of character depth. How do you make me care for that character? Turns out, the LEGO movie makers are way smarter than me, because this movie is hilarious and somehow touching as well. And, of all the movies on this list, it is the one I will ALWAYS stop on if it's on TV (yes, I still have cable, I should be in a museum).
8. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
I love Star Wars. I grew up on it. Princess Leia (or General Organa) has always been and is still a hero of mine, and part of that is because she was one of the only strong female characters I had to look up to. It sometimes overwhelms me to think that girls today get to grow up in a world where Star Wars heroes look like them. I loved this movie. I love the direction it took with Luke (even if whiny fanboys don't); I love the decision about Rey's parents (SPOILER: there is something so spectacular about having her not be from some special lineage. She's not powerful because of who her parents were; she's powerful because of who she is); and I LOVE that the main characters are all women and people of color. Read this, because it basically says everything I want to say about this movie better than I can.
9. I, Tonya
As I walked into this movie, I said to my friend, "I don't know how I feel about the fact that it's apparently changing everyone's perspective on Tonya Harding- I'm not sure I think our perspectives should change." Yeah, I know, that was a dumb thing to say. Especially since I walked out of this film with an entirely new viewpoint on figure skating and privilege. It's a fascinating mode of story telling- giving multiple perspectives without taking a position on which is true. Margot Robbie is fantastic as Harding, with a physicality in the role that is rarely seen. And Allison Janney is just wonderful as Harding's (truly terrible) mother.
10. Dunkirk
The last movie I saw in preparing for my top ten. I'm sad to say that I didn't watch it in a movie theater, because this seems like the type of film that is improved exponentially by a giant screen and dark theater. Even so, I still loved it. Classic Christopher Nolan direction style, jumping back and forth between multiple perspectives and timelines on a single battle. Strong performances and gripping tension throughout. Plus, Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy. That's pretty much all I need in a movie.
Honorable Mentions:
Baby Driver, Battle of the Sexes, Gifted, Girls Trip, Logan, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Post, Thor: Ragnarok
Special 2017 Movie Note:
You will notice there are some conspicuous Oscar front-runners missing from this list. Some I simply never made it to (The Phantom Thread). Some I just wasn't particularly interested in (The Darkest Hour). And some are very intentional omissions. We'll get to Three Billboards in a minute, but I just really did not love The Shape of Water. It's a movie that should be made for me. I love Guillermo del Toro, Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, and Octavia Spencer. I'm all about romantic movies, and enjoy fantasy. But I mostly just left this feeling confused. I truly never felt like there was a romantic relationship, at least from the amphibious man's perspective. And (SPOILER ALERT) I can't really get behind our main character having sex with a creature ten minutes after it ate a pet cat, which was explained away as "he's a wild animal." Finally (and others have said this better than me), if you have issues with the age difference in Call Me By Your Name but are enamored by this cross-species relationship, I do not understand you.
The Actors
Best Actor: Timothee Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name. He wins this in a walk, with both hands tied behind his back. I'd frankly give him the award for just the long cut of him that plays over the credits of the movie.
Runner-up: Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Best Actress: Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird. Wow, I loved this movie. And it only works if you believe her.
Runner-up: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Supporting Actor: Ray Romano, The Big Sick
Best Supporting Actress: (tie) Allison Janney, I, Tonya and Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird.
I refuse to choose between the complicated mothers this year.
Genre of the Year: Movies about superheroes. Notice the wording there. I've given this award to superhero movies in the past, and with Wonder Woman, Logan, Thor: Ragnarok, and Spider-Man: Homecoming all being good times at the theater (the last two simply being incredibly entertaining, and the first two having lasting impact on the genre), it certainly could go that way again. But "movies about superheroes" allows me to lump Professor Marston and the Wonder Women in here with them (a fascinating movie about the creator of Wonder Woman and the two women who inspired her, told through their polyamorous love story) which takes the genre to the top of my list this year. (And, hey, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was also enjoyable, if completely forgettable).
Movie I Have the Most Complicated Relationship With: The Florida Project. I'm honestly still not sure what I think about this movie. I typed it under "Honorable Mentions" and deleted it three times before deciding to give it its own category.
The "Up in the Air" Award for Critically Acclaimed Movie That Can Suck It
Runner-up: Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Best Actress: Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird. Wow, I loved this movie. And it only works if you believe her.
Runner-up: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Supporting Actor: Ray Romano, The Big Sick
Best Supporting Actress: (tie) Allison Janney, I, Tonya and Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird.
I refuse to choose between the complicated mothers this year.
The Extras
Dude Who Had A Really Good Year: Michael Stuhlbarg. As a critical part of Call Me By Your Name, The Shape of Water, and The Post, Stuhlbarg (who is one of those actors that you always know but sometimes forget about) really killed it in 2017. He's wonderful in Call Me By Your Name, and was frankly my favorite part about The Shape of Water. I could easily give this award to Timothee Chalamet, given Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird, but at some point praising him just feels redundant.Genre of the Year: Movies about superheroes. Notice the wording there. I've given this award to superhero movies in the past, and with Wonder Woman, Logan, Thor: Ragnarok, and Spider-Man: Homecoming all being good times at the theater (the last two simply being incredibly entertaining, and the first two having lasting impact on the genre), it certainly could go that way again. But "movies about superheroes" allows me to lump Professor Marston and the Wonder Women in here with them (a fascinating movie about the creator of Wonder Woman and the two women who inspired her, told through their polyamorous love story) which takes the genre to the top of my list this year. (And, hey, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was also enjoyable, if completely forgettable).
Movie I Have the Most Complicated Relationship With: The Florida Project. I'm honestly still not sure what I think about this movie. I typed it under "Honorable Mentions" and deleted it three times before deciding to give it its own category.
The "Up in the Air" Award for Critically Acclaimed Movie That Can Suck It
And here's where we get to Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Oooh boy. Look, Sam Rockwell and Frances McDormand are great (as is Woody Harrelson for that matter). They're not my picks for Best Actress or Best Supporting Actor, but I don't find the fact that they're going to win to be particularly offensive. What I do find offensive is Three Billboards' incredibly flippant approach to issues of race, particularly around police brutality. I'm not really here for redemption stories about violent racists whose redemption in no way addresses their previous racism. I also am so confused by Peter Dinklage's role, which seems to just exist for the other characters to get to make jokes about people with dwarfism. I find it mind-boggling that this movie could win Best Picture. But, hey, Crash beat Brokeback, so it's not like this is new.
(By the way, I think this is the part of my Top Ten that will most surprise fellow 3pies4rolls-ers Nancy and Kim, because we thought Colossal had this one all sewn up earlier in the year).
That's it for another year! Here's to more movies in 2018!
(By the way, I think this is the part of my Top Ten that will most surprise fellow 3pies4rolls-ers Nancy and Kim, because we thought Colossal had this one all sewn up earlier in the year).
That's it for another year! Here's to more movies in 2018!