What was the greatest year in film history? 1994 and 2007 always seem to get a lot of love. Each of those two years had multiple iconic movies that have stood the test of time. However, I’m making this case that their little brother, 2017, should also be in the conversation.
Big and Small Budget Films Take The Year By Storm
2017 is full of fantastic movies. Some got tons of love when they were released while others slid under the radar. Oscar nominated films like “Dunkirk,” “Call Me By Your Name,” “Lady Bird,” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri” topped many movie lists that year. While some hidden gems like “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” “Good Time,” and “The Florida Project” made some iconic festival runs.
Let us not forget, 2017 started off the year with a bang. Just last week “Get Out” celebrated its four year anniversary and the film has only gotten better with age. “Get Out” became one of the few first quarter movies to win an Oscar. Jordan Peele picked up an Original Screenplay award for writing the script.
2017 also gave us some stellar blockbusters. “Blade Runner 2049” did an excellent job of expanding on the original’s story. And the cinematography? Wow. Deakins is a master. “Baby Driver” was the most fun films of the decade. Even superhero films took a big step up in 2017. “Wonder Woman,” “Thor: Ragnarok,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” and “Logan” each redefined the genre in their own ways.
Animated Films Can’t Keep Up
If there’s one place 2017 lacked fire power it was with animated films. While, “Coco,” “Loving Vincent,” and “The Breadwinner” were all really well done, they didn’t have much company. Also, the incredible animation that was waiting around the corner in 2018 just makes 2017 animation look sad.
Some Standouts of 2017
Regardless, 2017 was absolutely stacked. So much so that I have a hard time definitively saying one film was the best of the year. It seems like each time I rewatch a 2017 film it tops my year end list. In order to put into perspective how many great films came out in 2017 here’s a list of some of the best.
- Phantom Thread
- Call Me By Your Name
- Dunkirk
- The Killing of a Sacred Deer
- The Dawn Wall
- Okja
- Molly’s Game
- Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri
- The Florida Project
- Blade Runner 2049
- A Ghost Story
- Get Out
- Spider-Man: Homecoming
- Baby Driver
- Wonder Woman
- I, Tonya
- Thor: Ragnarok
- The Shape of Water
- Logan
- Loving Vincent
- It Comes At Night
- The Disaster Artist
- The Big Sick
- Lady Bird
- The Meyerowitz Stories
- Song to Song
- Wind River
- Casting JonBenet
- mother!
- Good Time
- Logan Lucky
- It
- Ingrid Goes West
- The Breadwinner
- The Greatest Showman
- Coco
- First Reformed
