Top 10 Films of 2017

Decisions decisions.  With 2017 on it's last legs and we look to a wild 2018 in cinema, we can do nothing else but reflect on what was a diverse and overall successful year for movies.  We were graced with a new Spider-Man franchise, another trip to a far off galaxy, Vin Diesel faught all his Fast and Furious friends both on and off camera, The Rock rebooted Jumanji and Baby Groot stole our hearts.  For all this, we had ten standout films that stole the screen.  These elite films of 2017 were unique and masterfully crafted by the genius teams behind each.  Some have bottomless heart, other gut busting laughs, quick draw action and sprawling colorscapes, but one thing they all have in common...they made our top ten.
First, the following films have been omitted from this list as I haven't had a chance to see them yet.  I can tell you right now, The Disaster Artist, The Phantom Thread and Ladybird should probably all make this list, but to be fair, I want to see them first .  Here's what is omitted:

The Disaster Artist
Ladybird
The Phantom Thread
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Call Me by Your Name
Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri
I, Tonya
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Ingrid Goes West
Detroit

With that MovieMercs.com presents:

The Top 10 Films of 2017

10. Guardians of The Galaxy: Volume 2 (8 of 10)
Director: James Gunn
Writer: James Gunn, Dan Abnett
Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Kurt Russell

This was my most anticipated movie of 2017.  I have been a GIANT James Gunn fan since Slither found it's way into my dvd player all those years back and I have been following his career since.  When he was announced as the director of a Marvel movie, I told everyone for two years it was going to be epic.  Then they cast Chris Pratt, my favorite idiot from TV (Andy from Parks and Rec) and I really wouldn't shut up.  Enter into the frey, Guardians of The Galaxy, which played like a space installed version of Indiana Jones and both stole our hearts and our walking around money.  It was inevitable that Gunn would get the team back together.
What he does in the sequel is continue the good times and catchy soundtrack from the 1970's, but adds Kurt Russell as Star Lord's father, Ego the Living Planet.  Russell is perfect for the role and brings his kind of cool all the way through. 

Gunn's use of spectacular is on display from the opening scene all the way to the post credit scenes and we are blessed with one of the most stunning and funny films of the year.  Was it as good as the first?  Not exactly, but it does build on it properly and relies on the characters to bond with the crowd like before.  Rocket is prickly as ever and Baby Groot is a riot, but Yondu (Michael Rooker) finally gets his moment to shine and boy does he.  The action is fast and funny but with a dark mortality surrounding it.  As Guardians 1 is known as the film with the most deaths on screen EVER, it seems Gunn wanted to challenge that in a more viseral way.  What he sets up for the future of Marvel and it's cinematic universe, however, will be a wonder to behold for sure.

9. The Big Sick (8 of 10)
Director: Michael Showalter
Writer: Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani
Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter

The Big Sick was getting stellar reviews around the film festival circuit early in the year.  That is a sure sign of a strong indie film.  The story revolves around the true story of Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley's Dinesh) and his wife (then girlfriend), who contracts a mysterious and serious illness and Kumail's interaction with her family and her during this process.  Knowing the outcome in real life made this more of a love song to co-writer Emily V Gordon (who is the girlfriend character played by Zoe Kazan) told through the eyes of Nanjiani.  The result is a carefully sweet confession of learning life's lessons the hard way, but that learning these lessons can lead to unexpected things.

Director, Michael Showalter, who until now has relied on his slapstick mastery in such projects as Wet Hot American Summer and The Baxter, finally found an outlet for his chipper charmed sense of humor and it blends quietly into the film as if it were baked in perfectly.  There is no room in this for silly jokes about butts or big hammers hitting heads, this is a sophisticated, love story with the real world of comedy allowing the trouble drama scenes feel as real as our own.  With amazing performances from Holly Hunter and Ray Romano (who continues to show range after CBS), this is a beautiful story of sad pieces put together.  The Big Sick is a must watch.

8. John Wick: Chapter 2 (8 of 10)
Director: Chad Stahelski
Writer: Derek Kolstad
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ian McShane

John Wick shot onto the scene with one of the silliest premises of all time.  An ex-assassin nicknamed "The Boogeyman" is forced to exact revenge on the men who steal his car and murder the dog his dead wife left for him.  The rest is glorious, bloody history.  Keanu Reeves dominated the screen with double taps and quick reloads, all the while delivering havoc in horror measures.  With Chapter 2, they shed co-director David Leitch (who directed Atomic Blonde this year and Deadpool 2 next).  They also shed all of John Wick's dead weight as the sequel blasted onto screens earlier this year to resounding reviews and a $171.5 million worldwide gross (off a $40 million budget).  

What made it so good?  Simple, Keanu.  Here, Reeves is unhinged, not so much about revenge this time, this time it's survival.  When the whole world around him falls down, it is Reeves who shows incredible range physically while driving home the meticulous, calculated and stylish John Wick persona in every scene.  He is quicker than before, more awakened and incorporates so many judo throws and improvised action that this film was like a ballroom blitz (literally).  The story was better than the first and it forced John Wick into a corner, which is exactly where fans want him.  With great effort by Common,as Wick's enemy counterpart, the action had the perfect places to excel and overcome the first and did at every turn.  From the set designs, the use of colors and space to the unrelenting cat and mouse between Reeves and Common, John Wick : Chapter 2 could go down as my second favorite film of 2017.

7. Dunkirk (8 of 10)
Director & Writer: Christopher Nolan
Starring:  Fionn Whitehead, Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh

We were able to review this one, so please check out our review HERE.

The film has a strong sense of grandeur and stays close to historical accuracy.  The distribution of storytelling by land, air and sea develops an interesting narrative that collects in pools of intense survival scenes cut between air battles and the calm limbo on land.  This is a love letter from one of the best visual directors ever born and everything about it proves willing to go outside of what a conventional war film would.  They don't rely on the fog aspect, where body limbs blow off and blood spills onto screen, instead, Nolan allows the environment to be the main character and the actors are simply moving through it.  With huge highlights in ever air battle with Tom Hardy, who is a madman in the sky, there is this sense of urgency and survival while building a beautifully visual and striking film overall.

6. Thor: Ragnarok (8 of 10)
Director: Taika Waititi
Writer: Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle & more
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett

This is another film we were lucky enough to see in 3D and review.  READ IT HERE!

Of all superhero films this year, in a year where comics shined dramatically and thematically, there was only one true winner of them all...THOR RAGNAROK!  From start to finish, this film was both a visual and comical blast of entertainment.  Equal measures beautiful and brutally hilarious, director Taika Waititi revamps and reboots the Thor franchise without breaking the Marvel Cinematic Universe cycle.  How?  He strips Thor of all the pieces we identify him with and then builds him up as more of the comic version of the hero than ever before.  With amazing performances from the entire cast, especially Chris Hemsworth and Taika Waititi himself (Korg) and an action packed fight between Thor and Hulk midway, this colorful, insane film is arguably the biggest surprise of the year.  When it beat out Justice League in the box office, however, it became a beacon for quality superhero films that take risks and try to do things right and how that formula is much better than Zack Snyder's dark, slow and boring one.

5. Logan Lucky (8 of 10)
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Rebecca Blunt
Starring: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig

There were two films this year with the title character of "Logan" in it.  This is the better one by a long mile.  Yes, I liked Logan with Hugh Jackman, but that movie would have been the perfect ending to a real Wolverine trilogy, not two shoddy movies and an old man at the end.  In Logan Lucky, Channing Tatum and Adam Driver plan to rob a NASCAR track vault to break their family's bad luck streak.  It is an incredibly clever and comical film, one of the funniest this year and has all of the regular Steven Soderbergh madness in it, but with little use of drama to the movie's benefit.  The acting is point blank, all the way down to Daniel Craig's idiot brothers.  A perfect popcorn flick but one with enough heart and head to stand out against a sea of caper genre films.

What really makes Logan Lucky go is the way the actors engage within this goofy, broken down world.  All the oddities of the film, like Adam Driver's fake arm fiascos and Sebastian Stan's NASCAR driver character on a Tom Brady level detox, all play well to bond the shenanigans of the heist.  Great supporting characters and a genuine enjoyment from all involve that oozed through the screen makes this one of the best, most original and enjoyable films of the year. 

4. Baby Driver (9 of 10) 
Director & Writer: Edgar Wright
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Jon Bernthal, Jon Hamm

When Edgar Wright dropped out of Antman just before shooting started, I told everyone Marvel was going to regret driving him off a project he had worked on since before Iron Man.  While they may not have felt it when Antman came out, the proof was in the picture and Peyton Reed's lack of experience with action and big budget productions bleed through the quick cut, close up heavy film that should of been just over two hours but Reed rushed so rapidly from scene to scene it ended up being somewhere around an hour and forty minutes.  Wright walked though, all the way over to SONY and was able to get the budget and freedom he wanted to direct a movie about a young driver who had to listen to earbuds to drown out the "hum in his drum".  The result is Baby Driver, a far superior film than anything Peyton Reed ever did (Yes Man and Bring it On, please).

What makes this movie great is the incredible intricacies and awareness of Wright.  Wright is the type of person to build around an idea with such passion that the people who are around him during this time often excel and shine as well.  This time, the actors all came with their A game in play and like an All-Star home run derby, everyone was swinging for the fences.  The acting, however, couldn't compete with Wright's keen style and ability to blend his amazing soundtrack of self selected songs with every inch of motion on screen.  When our driver, "Baby", dances his way around town to his ipod, we watch as Wright syncs up every movement perfectly with the beat...all the while holding the shoot to make it a single take and force the film crew to really work in unison to succeed.  The results are obvious and wondrous and Wright's continued progression as a filmmaker was rewarded with rave reviews and a personal best $226.9 million worldwide ($107.8 million in America alone) off a tiny $34 million budget.  With award season around the corner, Baby Driver is on the radar to clean house in the original script, directing categories.  Hard to top this driver.

3. Get Out (10 of 10)
Director & Writer: Jordan Peele

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradly Whitford

Very few films attempt what Jordan Peele has with the horror/thriller/comedy that is Get Out.  This is a film that hinges on mystery in the same flavor that Hitchcock would savor, but with a much deeper meaning than anything else made this year.  This is the story of a black man visiting his white girlfriend's parents for the first time...only to find things aren't exactly as they appear on the surface.  Add in a whole slew of tense, quiet moments expertly maneuvered by Peele and you have yourself a bonifide nail biter.

At it's core, Get Out is a story of social commentary in a time where the call for equality is a battle cry.  Peele knows this and executes his story first, with keen thought behind it and then worries about the boarders of race and perception of culture.  As a result, the audience is captivated by the nerve-racking tension and unspoken spook, but learning a lesson about how white and black cultures differ (even if the white culture depicted is exaggerated to a thriller level degree).  Constantly, Peele displays adapt ability to curve the mood of the picture to benefit the tone.  His insert of comedy is perfectly placed and without needless props or simple humor, but baked into the bigger picture.  With a perfect twisting ending that pays off everything Peele winds up and stellar acting from Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams (and everyone really), this is a strong thriller film with true purpose and actual meaning.  Something original to learn from and enjoy, which is rare in the world of remakes and half cocked studio franchises.  One day in the future, we will hail Get Out as a film for the time, that was entirely needed.

2. Wind River (10 of 10)
Director & Writer: Taylor Sheridan
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Jon Bernthal

We reviewed Wind River late last year.  Check it out HERE.

Taylor Sheridan was an actor on the first season of Sons of Anarchy, playing Deputy Hale, who was eventually killed off for some pointless reason.  Since then, he has produced more influential and critically praised films than everyone on the entire show (seriously).  As a writer, Sheridan wrote the stellar Sicario, then followed it up with Hell or High Water, and then took on directing with this year's Wind River.  While the script may not have been as cutthroat and ruthless as Sicario, the story was more important.  The plot revolves around a young native american girl who is found dead in the winter mountains of a Wyoming reservation.  As Elizabeth Olsen arrives as an FBI agent, she works with tracker, Jeremy Renner, to solve the death and prove it to be a murder.  From there, the film is quick, precise and brutally heartbreaking.  Sheridan shows a real knack for being behind the camera, leading the film exactly how it should to maintain the tense pace.

The acting is truly on display in this one and not nominating Renner for an Oscar will be a tragedy.  Blending his ability to display deep rooted pain with Sheridan's sharp writing makes the most out of a character we learn small chunks of along the way.  By the end, Renner is utterly captivating to watch.  With great supporting acting and a willingness to speak out against the social injustice for native american women, who are the only gender and race of people in America who the police do not file missing person reports for, Sheridan allows the dark corners of his story to bond with the white cold of the winter as a lesson to us all.  I was so amerced in this film, which moves quick, that I often yelled at the screen in overreaction to the lingering tension built.  While this film has already seemed to been blackballed by the Golden Globes because of it was originally produced by The Weinstein Company, the company agreed to cut their ties with the film, giving it back to Sheridan and the other producers and donate the entire proceeds of the film's gross to native american female victims.  Still, the name holds a black cloud over the film and has led to it being overlooked.

1. Blade Runner 2049 (10 of 10)

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Writer: Hampton Fancher, Michael Green

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas

First off, FUCK EVERYONE WHO DID NOT SEE THIS MOVIE!  You were all killing me last year, a year where Vin Diesel grossed the most money by any actor due to a Groot technicality.  A year where you all poured hundreds of millions of dollars into IT, even though it was laughable rather than frightening and championed Wonder Woman for being "amazing" even though it stole the plot to Captain America: First Soldier (it was still very enjoyable).  Instead, of going to the film event of the decade, more people watched Bright on Netflix (11 millon people and growing).   With that, here's why this film is #1.

Blade Runner 2049 picks up where the original Harrison Ford/Ridley Scott film left off, but with a 30 year age gap.  In that time, things in this futuristic world has changed, but one thing hasn't, Blade Runners be hunting replicates, the humanoid clones developed by Tyrell Corp.  Enlisting Denis Villeneuve, arguably the best director currently alive, who stole our minds with Prisoners and brought us to the dark side of the world with Sicario, then bent time and space with Arrival, came into Blade Runner with a perfect respect for the source material.  His strong suit is his vision, which wallows in the shadows when it isn't sprawling with widescreen scenic shots of a displaced future.  When you include the fact that this film has THE BEST SOUND MIXING of any film EVER and stunning, colorful visuals, it is no wonder why Villeneuve was given over $100 million to make the film.

The story might not be the most original, but it beckons all fans of the original to go on another run and with a solid and emotionally deep performance from Ryan Gosling, the film can follow his Agent K to all the dark spots of his journey properly and with perfect justice.  That is what Villeneuve does, blends the old guard with the new and builds on it.  He doesn't try to reboot the technology Ridley Scott developed in the 80's, he takes it all and ages it thirty years to make it all seem logical and proper.  He pays heavy tribute to the original, infusing Scott's neon city steampunk into every shot of technological glory.  This is a display of directorial force and a crash coarse in how to use sound to drive a movie to new levels.  I couldn't get over how visually amazing and real everything was, but then when the music took over, it stole the scenes.  Harrison Ford was sharp and so well versed in his craft, we almost forgot he could do drama, but here, it's on full display.  Add in high target action, a thoughtful purpose, one of the best villain monologues since Blade Runner and an enduring story with years of care put in it, this is the best film of the year, the best film of the decade and maybe the best sequel ever.  You need to see this, do yourself a favor, even if you never saw the original, this is a MUST WATCH FILM and the new bible to true filmmaking.

Tyler Baker