Top Ten of 2017

1. Phantom Thread
2. Good Time
3. Lady Bird
4. Get Out
5. Baby Driver
6. The Florida Project
7. Brawl in Cell Block 99
8. Mother!
9. Logan Lucky
10. Coco

Honorable Mentions: The Wailing, A Ghost Story, All These Sleepless Nights, Columbus, The Big Sick, Dunkirk

Still want to see: Quiet Passion and most of the foreign films that haven't been released over here yet

Phantom Thread was an easy choice. Not only was it my favorite of the year, but it's a strong contender to be my favorite of the decade. I pre-ordered it on iTunes and I look forward to watching it for the third time.

I own a copy of Good Time and I hope to rewatch it soon. Connie, played by a transformative Robert Pattinson, leaves one hell of a destructive path in his wake. This one is also pretty flawless in my mind.

I've considered renting or buying Lady Bird to watch it again. I saw it toward the end of December and I really enjoyed it. It's fair to point out that the subject matter in this movie has been explored a bajillion times, but I really love Gerwig's voice. The opening scene is one of my favorites of the year and establishes a unique tone, imo.

I've seen Get Out 3 or 4 times now, and every time I watch it, I enjoy myself. It's a good mix of horror and comedy, and I love all of the performances--even the minor characters. The Sunken Place shots will never be forgotten, nor will the sounds of a spoon scraping against the bottom of a tea cup.

I'm not as high on Baby Driver as when I first saw it, but I still enjoy it. It has its flaws, but it's a fun movie with a great soundtrack. Kevin Spacey's role in the film is now very unfortunate.

The Florida Project probably deserves a rewatch. Then I could determine if it should be pushed back or not. I really enjoyed this when I saw it. Like Good Time, it's tough to look away from all of the awful shit that you witness.

Brawl in Cell Block 99 starts off very slowly, but my god does it really accelerate after that. Weird note, but I love the sound design on this one. All of the punches and the physicality are palpable. The violence in it is unrelenting, but very well staged and shot.

I like Darren Aronofsky more than most, and I do love how much he swung for the fences with Mother! There are some moments in this that I don't particularly like, but the good outweighs the bad for me.

Logan Lucky is a lot of fun, with some truly great performances. Kudos to Daniel Craig, Adam Driver, Riley Keough, and Channing Tatum. I do love heist films and this one was well-executed. It'd probably be higher on my list if the script were tighter.

Like most Pixar films, Coco was fun and beautifully designed. Having said that, I don't know that I would watch it again unless someone was like, "Hey...let's watch Coco!"

For the honorable mentions, I actually love The Wailing a lot, and it would easily be in my top ten if it were a 2017 film. I'll store it here for now and will have it on my 2016 list. There are things in A Ghost Story that I absolutely love, but it's also just too slow and boring at other points. Same with All These Sleepless Nights. I know it's technically a 2016 film, but it'll still here till I see more 2017 foreign films.

I really enjoyed The Big Sick. It may be overrated, but it's better than most of the romantic comedies we've seen over the past few decades. Dunkirk is Christopher Nolan's most polished movie but it's boring as hell. It's well shot and the sound design is great. If you missed seeing it in the theater, I don't know that I'd recommend watching it...which is not something you should have to say about a good movie. IT is not on my honorable mentions list, but I guess I want to give it a shoutout. I had a really fun time watching it in the theater...despite Bill Skarsgard's Pennywise being fucking terrible.