100 Movies of the Decade: 2017.

If you’re new to this thread, you should know I’ll be compiling a list of 100 movies through this decade, but breaking it down to 10 movies per year. If you haven’t seen 2010,  2011, 2012, 2013,  2014, 2015, and 2016, feel free to check it out.

2017 was the year I left for college. I spent about six months meeting friends and saying goodbye and preparing for what I thought was a nervewracking experience. It wasn’t so bad. Met a lot of great people from places so I like to consider myself mildly culturally literate; I learned how to manage my finances (an ongoing process); saw snow for the first time, truly found out what it meant to be homesick.

In terms of pop culture, in 2017 salt bae and fidget spinners were all the hype. The internet broke when Taylor Swift dropped Reputation, and Beyoncé made her pregnancy announcement. The #metoo movement kicked off and all the men in Hollywood collectively held their breath, Ed Sheeran was randomly on an episode of Game of Thrones, and the Oscars pulled a Steve Harvey and called up the wrong movie for Best Picture. I’d link a video but it‘s literally too awkward and the secondhand embarrassment was too much to take in.

Here are my top ten for 2017:

Thor: Ragnarok	Logan Lucky
Gifted	Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Split	Going In Style
Logan	The Greatest Showman
Wonder	The Upside

Thor: Ragnarok (dir. Taika Waititi)

Thor and Loki must defeat their long lost sister, Hela, the goddess of Death and also save Asgard from being destroyed. Once Hela gets the upper hand, the brothers end up in Sakaar, where Thor meets the Hulk. With the help of his former teammate and several others, they escape the planet and go back to face and defeat Hela. My explanation is nowhere close to how brilliant this movie is and you just have to watch it to believe me.

The best movie in the Thor trilogy and one of the best in the MCU. Taika Waititi took these characters and elevated them to a level no director before him has done before. I don’t use the word genius lightly (unless it’s an insult), but this man is truly a genius and a visionary. It’s funny, creative, and has an epic soundtrack to the final fight. Taika really did justice Thor’s character and showed where is true strength lies; he should be allowed to direct all the Marvel movies. There are so many hysterical scenes in this but nothing with top the snake story. I cry laughing every time.

Gifted (dir. Marc Webb)

After the tragic death of his sister, Frank takes care of his niece, Mary, who is exceptionally smart for her age. As per his sister‘s wishes, he wants Mary to grow having a normal life despite her superior intellect. Frank’s mother wants to gain custody of the child and train her in mathematics, the same way her daughter was, so the two end up in a custody battle over the little girl. It’s a devastatingly beautiful movie that will make you weep.

I love Chris Evans, but the real star of this movie is McKenna Grace, who plays Mary. This movie broke my heart so much that every time I watch it I will actually sob. It’s cute, it’s funny, it’s insightful, and it’s so sad. The characters are well rounded and the storyline is direct so it a very rewarding cinematic experience. Hydrate before watching, you’ve been warned.

Split (dir. M. Night Shyamalan)

Three girls are kidnapped by a man who suffered from a dissociative personality disorder. The girls must figure out which ones out for his 23 different personalities are friendly and can help them escape before he figures it out. It’s a gripping and intense movie and the storyline is intriguing so it’s a very good watch.

James McAvoy should have gotten every single award out there for his world-class acting in this movie. Each of the personalities are so different from each other that you instantly know who is who when they switch, but it’s the same man playing them. This is what really means to have range. This movie had a supernatural aspect to it, which I wasn’t expecting, but that was my fault because we all know M. Night Shyamalan likes a bit of pizzazz in his films. This is the second installment to the Eastrail 177 trilogy, which took 19 years to complete.

Logan (dir. James Mangold)

Logan, otherwise known as the Wolverine is retired and trying to go about his life without having to claw his way out. He’s suddenly burdened with the task of looking out for Laura, who is trying to get to Eden, her safe place. Reluctantly and grumpily, old man Logan, Professor X, and Laura set off to find Eden and face many obstacles along the way.

I out of watching this movie because some fool not so graciously spoiled the ending for me. So, in my mind, if I didn’t watch the movie, I didn’t have to see Wolverine die and for the longest time that seemed like sound logic for me. The X-Men movies have been around forever and the one constant in them was Hugh Jackman, so to say goodbye to this role was quite difficult. It was a pretty exceptional, irreplaceable role. I know the mutants are coming to the MCU, but I don’t know if I’m ready to see another man fill his shoes.

Wonder (dir. Stephen Chboksy)

Auggie Pullman was born with a rare medical facial deformity, and he’s been homeschooled for quite a long time. His parents decide that he needs to make friends and see the world so they enroll him in a private middle school. Most of the kids are really mean (as general middle schoolers are) and they avoid him, but he makes one friend called Jack who sticks around. It’s a beautiful movie about acceptance, love, and friendship.

The trailer touched my heart, and the cast in itself was enough to get me to watch this movie. With Owen Wilson, Julia Roberts, and my sweet baby boy Daveed Diggs, this was bound to fall on my watchlist. Jacob Tremblay, who plays Auggie delivers a masterful performance that will tug at your heartstrings. Also, Chewbacca has a cameo.

Logan Lucky (dir. Steven Soderbergh)

Logan Lucky follows two brothers who plan to rob a NASCAR event. Both of them are former criminals so they have contacts to make a crew, and one of them needs to be broken out of prison. This is nonsensically hysterical but also inexplicably gripping for a movie of this genre. Steven Soderbergh literally came out of retirement to direct this, and its made by the same people behind all the Ocean’s 11 movies and Magic Mike.

I love heist movies, and if they’re done well there like freshly baked bread and soft, salted butter. Not only was this a heist movie that I loved, but it also had a cast I was obsessed with. Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig and my sweet baby boy, Sebastian Stan star in this hilariously clever dramatic comedy, and that was enough to get me on board. Also, seeing all these men do a southern accents cracks me up every time.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (dir. Matthew Vaughn)

After their headquarters are taken out and existing Kingsman agents are taken out, Eggsy and Merlin have to look towards the Statemen, their American counterpart. The two organizations must join forces to take down a drug cartel that’s working on weeding out addicts and drug users and attempting to wipe them out.

I will say that I love the first one more than this, but this had so many redeeming qualities, and I wouldn’t have put it on the list if I didn’t feel like it was amazing. Merlin‘a rendition of Country Roads will always punch me in the gut when I watch it. I didn’t appreciate the fact that this movie Channing Tatum baited me, but there was a good portion of Pedro Pascal in it so I’m willing to let that slide. Also, I love that all the Stateman agents are named after alcohol. My kind of people.

Going In Style (dir. Zach Braff)

Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Alan Arkin decide to pull off a bank job in this movie. They target the bank that robbed them of their pensions, and they need the money to ensure that their families will be looked after once they die.

I came across this movie when I writing a post on what movies to look forward to in 2017. I was pretty amused by the fact that God, Alfred the Butler. And inspector Jacques Clouseau attempting robbery. This movie is so touching, absolutely amusing, and it’s well worth the watch.

The Greatest Showman (dir. Michael Gracey)

Based on P.T. Barnum’s life, this movie shows his rise to fame and success and how wanting too much gets him in a lot of trouble. He keeps trying new things and in the process neglects his friends, family and basically anyone that cared for him. With the most beautiful original soundtrack to come out of a movie this year, this fantasy dramatic romance musical is one of the most heartwarming films ever.

I’ve been told the actual Barnum is a grade A dick who exploited a lot of vulnerable people amongst other things, so we don’t care for that in this household. We do, however, stan Hugh Jackman powering through and beating his cancer to play this role, and sings these songs despite his doctor advising against it. Both the music and the cast in this movie so breathtaking and I still can’t stop singing it.

The Upside (dir. Neil Burger)

Phillip is a wealthy quadriplegic who has given up on life and Dell is a parolee desperate for a job. By some twist of fate, he gets hired to become a caretaker and while their cultures clash at first they become really accustomed to one another. Despite being from vastly different backgrounds and having separate views on life, they find common ground and Dell teaches Phillip how to enjoy life to the fullest again, despite being stuck in a chair.

Kevin Hart’s roles are always funny. I’ve ever doubted that, but he also brought a really emotional aspect to this role that I’ve never seen before. He and Bryan Cranston have some undeniable chemistry and it’s a great movie about love, friendship, and straight-up nonsense.

There are several things my top ten of 2017 have in common and those are:

• Hugh Jackman has a lead role in two movies (The Greatest Showman and Logan).
• Channing Tatum has a lead role in Logan Lucky and a minor role in Kingsman.
• Gifted, Logan, and Wonder all revolve around children.
• Current Professor X, James McAvoy (Split), and former Professor X, Sir Patrick Stewart (Logan) are in movies this year.
• Two movies are derived from Marvel Comics, one owned by Marvel Studios (Thor: Ragnarok) and one by 21st Century Fox (Logan) but both under Disney.
• There are several Star Wars references in Wonder, and Ben Solo/Kylo Ren has a lead role in Logan Lucky. I’d go further and say that in this movie he’s missing a hand (well, arm) just like his uncle (Luke Skywalker) and grandfather (Darth Vader).
• Two movies have the word Logan in the title (Logan and Logan Lucky).

For a list of movies that came out in 2017, click here.

Image from LetterBoxd.