4. “Get Out”
On first viewing, Jordan Peele’s directorial debut is impressive, particularly in how deftly it handles tone. In its story of a black man (Daniel Kaluuya) who meets his white girlfriend’s (Allison Williams) family, it knows exactly when to make you gasp, giggle and cringe – sometimes within the same 10-second stretch (especially, as was my experience, if you’re sitting next to your black boyfriend in a theater full of white people). But “Get Out” gets even better on repeat viewings, with every detail planted by Peele’s script providing something that you might have missed the first time around. Its themes of racism, appropriation and merited fear by people of color sadly have been relevant for at least decades, but it feels depressingly timely for 2017. Peele has created a masterpiece of social satire, but it’s also truly terrifying, placing it alongside some of horror’s most essential films including “Night of the Living Dead.” With so much to unpack and such craft in its making, this is a movie that can – and should be – taught in film classes for years to come.
3. “Call Me by Your Name”
Am I glowing? Breathing faster? Because just thinking about Luca Guadagnino’s romance makes my heart feel like it might burst. The rare film that simultaneously engages the body, mind and soul, “Call Me by Your Name” left me feeling nostalgic for its charms before its final credits scene even finished. Set in northern Italy in 1983, the movie evokes the blushes, joys and awkwardness of first love, though here it is compounded by same-sex desire. The arrival of Oliver (Armie Hammer) at the home of Elio (Timothée Chalamet) awakens unexpected feelings in the teenager, and their summer relationship is marked by yearning, tenderness and fumbling. It somehow feels at once universal and entirely specific from start to finish, thanks to the gracious script from James Ivory and graceful direction from Guadagnino.
2. “Lady Bird”
Watching Greta Gerwig’s solo directorial debut expands your heart to a size you didn’t think it could reach, even allowing room for affection for Dave Matthews Band’s “Crash” to creep (back) in. This seriocomedy about high school senior Lady Bird (Saoirse Ronan) is suffused with warmth, demonstrating love for every element inside: the city of Sacramento, rebel boys who read Howard Zinn, the polarized nature of mother-daughter relationships in adolescence, high school theater productions and Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River.” But what elevates “Lady Bird” above a standard coming-of-age film isn’t just its precision; it’s the unique perspective as well as the performances that make it all ring true. Films made by women about high school are still rare, and there’s a feeling of revelation watching your experience on screen. (Is this how dude critics felt with “Boyhood”?) Though its details felt so much like my Christian high school life, there’s still a universality to it in the exquisite pains of first love, the desire to leave home and the pull that brings you back.
1. “Phantom Thread”
Like Daniel Day-Lewis’s fastidious fashion designer, Paul Thomas Anderson is a controlling force, guiding his audience while we’re we’re unsure of where exactly he’s taking us. “Phantom Thread” first appears classical in its construction, not only in Anderson’s formal direction, but also in the impeccable work in production design from Mark Tildesley, costumes by Mark Bridges and score by Jonny Greenwood. But then it takes a turn, revealing a deliciously fucked-up – and yet still sweet – romance between Reynolds Woodcock (Day-Lewis) and his muse, Alma (Vicky Krieps), and we can’t help but marvel at the achievement, when we’re not busy laughing at its darkly comic dialogue. This is a richly textured film, both figuratively and literally with velvet, organza and tweed on screen echoing the movie in all its various facets.
In a year this good (for film), there are far too many greats for a simple top 10. The other other Dunkirk movie “Their Finest” deserves a special shoutout, particularly given how little it was seen in its theatrical run stateside. The multiplex offered plenty of well-made crowd pleasers, particularly “Dunkirk,” “Logan Lucky,” “Girls Trip” and “Atomic Blonde.” Meanwhile, “Mudbound,” “Okja,” “The Big Sick” and “Wonderstruck” all demonstrated that streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon are doing more than making bingeworthy TV with films that should be seen on the big screen. Beyond “The Florida Project,” “Lady Bird” and “The Lovers,” A24 and Neon continue to release risks that pay off with “The Disaster Artist” “Good Time,” “Colossal” and “Ingrid Goes West.”
Documentaries that wowed me included “Faces Places,” “Jane,” “Step,” “Obit,” “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story” and “Charged: The Eduardo Garcia Story.” In addition to “Thelma”’s absence on the Foreign Language Film shortlist at the Oscars, I’m still smarting over the Academy overlooking “BPM.”
Nerds like me had plenty to obsess over with my comic book and genre favorites being “Logan,” “Blade Runner 2049,” “Thor: Ragnarok,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” “Lego Batman,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and “Wonder Woman.” This was also the strongest year for horror in recent memory. Beyond “Get Out,” I was terrified by “Raw,” “The Girl with All the Gifts,” “The Lure,” “Gerald’s Game,” “Prevenge,” “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” and the surprisingly good (and unexpectedly sweet) “Happy Death Day.”
