Good Times, Clowns and a Fishy Romance: Josh's Top 10 of 2017

It’s always hard narrowing down a year worth of films to just 10 titles. It's nearly impossible in a year where Marvel Studios delivers THREE very good films, horror/genre films are at an all time quality high and potential award winners pile up at the local art theater. I could have easily put together a solid top 25 list BUT I managed to put together a list of 10 films that my stress levels, coffee intake and sleep schedule are happy with.

For now.

10) Super Dark Times (Written by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, Directed by Kevin Phillips)

SDT is one of the most underrated films of the year. It’s small town America drenched in 90’s grunge and murder. Highly recommended...unless you are from small town America, listen to grunge music and actually kill people. Then you already know how good this is!

9) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (Written and Directed by James Gunn)

I adore this movie. And it absolutely wrecks me every. single. time.

(What? YOU have the daddy issues here! Stop looking at me like that…)

8) IT (Written by Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga and Gary Dauberman, Directed by Andy Muschietti)

Listen, you can tell me this movie isn’t scary. I agree with you. No matter how loud I screamed out “I don’t like that!” when giant Pennywise crawled out of the screen. This is big budget, studio horror done right. Let’s all hope they stick the landing on September 6th, 2019.

7) Baby Driver (Written and Directed by Edgar Wright)

A brilliant take on the musical that hits all of the right notes. And baby, does it move! It also happens to be one of the best car-robbery-getaway movies out there. You want me to care more about those Fast & Furious flicks? Get Vin playing a mural saxophone. Or get Edgar Wright.

(Okay, just get Edgar Wright...)

6) The Disaster Artist (Written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, Directed by James Franco)

So there’s this guy, James, a true American hero, only said by me. He has it all. Good movie, big sock, and also maybe James is award winner. We’ll see.

5) The Big Sick (Written by Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, Directed by Michael Showalter)

I didn’t heckle this movie, just woo-hoo’d it. It’s supportive. And this is a movie you should totally support. It’s a true story (unlike that totally made up THE POST movie..) and it’s true romance (also unlike that other True Romance. Less death. Although, Emily Gordon almost died so maybe it’s close?..)

4) Brigsby Bear (Written by Kevin Costello and Kyle Mooney, Directed by Dave McCary)

The only good Mark Hamill movie that came this year.

Oh wait. Star Wars, I forgot about Star Wars.

Okay, the only good Mark Hamill movie that came out EARLIER this year. THIS is a huge love letter to filmmaking (which might explain my profound love for it..) Brigsby Bear is the kind of movie where you go in expecting one thing and leave with something else completely. That something else would be teary eyes, a big ole smile and the overwhelming desire to have one last meal at a classic ShowBiz Pizza Place.

3) Good Time (Written by Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie, Directed by the Safdie Brothers)

I remember sitting at Keystone Arts with my wife about to watch a Big Sick/Brigsby Bear double feature and this retro type trailer for GOOD TIME played. I looked over at Camille with a “Hell yes!” type smile. She looked back at me with a “Hell No” type glare. And then the deja vu kicked in. We had this exact exchange with the TWILIGHT trailers. She was all “Hell yes” and I was all “Hell no”. And regardless of how I felt about Robert Pattinson then or how she feels now, he shines in both movies. He delivers and absolute knockout performance in this Safdie brothers thriller. It’s gritty as all hell and gives New York City the kind of grimy filter we haven’t seen since early Wu-Tang Clan music videos. Good Time is underselling this one. Amazing Time would be a much better title.

2) Get Out (Written and Directed by Jordan Peele)

This is the perfect movie for the horror that 2017 has been. It’s a horror film, it’s a social thriller, it has amazing depth and it’s one helluva directorial debut. I have a good feeling Daniel Kaluuya is going to put a good amount of acting nominees into the sunken place this Awards season. I know I’ll be eagerly watching with a nice cup of tea.

1) The Shape of Water (Written by Vanessa Taylor and Guillermo Del Toro, Directed by Guillermo Del Toro)

There’s something you should know about me when it comes to Guillermo Del Toro. Well, to put it frankly, DEL TORO IS LIFE. I worship the guy, even if I don’t like ALL of his movies (I’m looking at you Crimson Peak..) From the very first trailers, it was very likely I was going to love THE SHAPE OF WATER. I just wasn’t prepared to love it as much as I did. This feels like a movie made specifically for me. You love classic monster movies, Josh? HERE YOU GO. You love classic cinema and love letters to cinema? HERE YOU GO. You love musicals? HERE YOU GO. You love batshit crazy Michael Shannon? Guess what? HERE YOU GO.

You can see Del Toro’s passion and love for all of these things and more in every frame of this film. He turned Doug Jones into Monster Fred Astaire and it WORKS. There are scenes in this film that would NEVER work for another filmmaker and somehow they seem completely normal in Del Toro’s world. It’s not only the best film of 2017, it’s Guillermo’s best film. I want everyone to love this movie as much as I do and I hope they do. I don’t want an intricate, beautiful thing destroyed.

BONUS:

2017 has been an amazing year for movies so to only point out 10 would be a crime against cinema. So here are a few smaller lists to check out:

Runner Ups: Logan, The Devil’s Candy, It Comes At Night, The Bad Batch, Spider-Man: Homecoming, A Ghost Story, Dave Made a Maze, Brawl in Cell Block 99, Thor: Ragnarok, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore

Films I missed (and deeply regret..): Lady Bird, Blade Runner 2049, Phantom Thread (goes nationwide in Jan), Raw, Dunkirk, War for the Planet of the Apes, Wind River, The Florida Project, My Friend Dahmer, Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing Missouri, Call Me By Your Name, I Tonya, The Post