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| Original caricature by Jeff York of Saoirse Ronan as LADY BIRD (copyright 2017) |
As the year 2017 draws to a close, movie critics, pundits and bloggers make their lists of the top films that they liked best. Thus, it’s time for me to publish my list too.
Despite all the consternation in American politics this year, not to mention problems internationally, 2017 was a great and inspiring year at the movies. It was difficult to hone the list of impressive films I saw down to 10. Some of the terrific films that didn’t make it include the following (in no particular order) :
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2
MUDBOUND
PERSONAL SHOPPER
DARKEST HOUR
THOR: RAGNAROK
I, TONYA
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
FOUR HANDS
THE SQUARE
HOSTILES
IN THE FADE
JANE
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
THE SHAPE OF WATER
RAW
VICTORIA & ABDUL
BATTLE OF THE SEXES
THE POST
THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES
THE TRIP TO SPAIN
BEAUTY & THE BEAST
MANSFIELD 66/67
A GHOST STORY
Whew! And there were many other good ones too. Still, here are the 10 that did make my list of the absolute best, along with the links to my previous reviews of them.
1.) LADY BIRD (http://bit.ly/2iRw7BD)
2.) THE BIG SICK (http://bit.ly/2q09Vf4)
3.) WONDER WOMAN (http://bit.ly/2pZcSN8)
4.) LOVING VINCENT (http://bit.ly/2BmDSba)
5.) ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD (http://bit.ly/2Cd11xC)
6.) MOLLY’S GAME (http://bit.ly/2DfAVJx)
7.) PHANTOM THREAD
8.) GET OUT (http://bit.ly/2Cmstvm)
9.) THE FLORIDA PROJECT (http://bit.ly/2zO5xQj)
10.) CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (http://bit.ly/2DJePQs)
(NOTE: PHANTOM THREAD has yet to be reviewed due to an embargo on Chicago critics’ reviews until after January 1. )
Oh, and if I was handing out the Oscars in the major categories, here’s what I would choose:
Best Director Greta Gerwig LADY BIRD
Best Actor Kumail Nanjiani THE BIG SICK
Best Actress Saoirse Ronan LADY BIRD
Best Supp. Actor Christopher Plummer ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD
Best Supp. Actress Tiffany Haddish GIRLS TRIP
Best Original Script THE BIG SICK
Best Adapted Script CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
Best Cinematography THE SHAPE OF WATER
Best Prod. Design BLADE RUNNER 2049
Best Costume Design PHANTOM THREAD
Best Sound Mixing BABY DRIVER
Best Sound Editing DUNKIRK
Best Visual Effects WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
Best Original Score PHANTOM THREAD
Best Original Song “I Get Overwhelmed” (A GHOST STORY)
Best Makeup DARKEST HOUR
Those are my picks. What did you like best?
