Top Ten Films of 2017

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

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It seems to be an unwritten law that every film critic must compile a list of the year’s best films. Here’s mine.

Generally, such picks focus on film quality rather than entertainment value. That’s why you won’t find such box-office winners as “Wonder Woman” or “Baby Driver” on this list (despite the fact that I liked them a lot).

One of the films on the list below will pick up a Best Picture Oscar this weekend. Ignoring my own rankings, I’d expect “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” to walk away with the gold statuette.

10. “The Post” — Steven Spielberg’s film about the Washington Post’s risky 1971 decision to publish the Pentagon Papers is an important statement for our times — when Freedom of the Press is being challenged. Truth is, I liked “Spotlight” better as a newspaper movie.

9. “Call Me By Your Name” — Despite its onetime-taboo sentiments, everybody loves this homoerotic love story set in northern Italy. However, I thought Luca Guadagnino’s film sometimes meandered in its unhurried telling.

8. “A Ghost Story” — A clever-yet-old concept, that the spirits of deceased people are seen as spooks in sheets. But for me this Casper the Friendly Ghost resonance got in the way of David Lowery’s haunting examination of a life gone by.

7. “The Florida Project” — Sean Baker’s snapshot of a passel of rambunctious children at a rundown motel within sight of Disney World offers a powerful juxtaposition of images. Willem Dafoe gives a standout performance; and newcomer Brooklynn Prince proves herself a natural.

6. “Phantom Thread” — Excellent acting by Daniel Day-Lewis as an haute-couture designer offers an existential bleakness in Paul Thomas Anderson’s moving drama.

5. “Dunkirk” — History comes alive with Christopher Nolan’s telling of Britain’s miraculous evacuation from the French beaches of Dunkirk as Hitler’s forces attempt to crush them. Nolan’s exposition argues that pictures speak louder than words. Would make an interesting double feature with “Darkest Hour.”

4. “The Shape of Water” — Beautifully filmed and expertly told, Guillermo del Toro’s film is still “The Creature From the Black Lagoon” with heart.

3. “Lady Bird” — Another coming-of-age story, but this one masterfully told by Greta Gerwig offers a spot-on performance by Saoirse Ronan.

2. “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” — Martin McDonagh’s dark comedy features several great performances, with Frances McDormand’s grieving-but-determined mother at the head of the list. Not a perfect film, but close.

1. “Get Out” — An even darker comedy, Jordan Peele’s reworking of “The Stepford Wives” as a racial commentary is both entertaining and brilliant. Like “The Shape of Water” it transcends the horror genre.

There you have my list. But everybody has an opinion. What’s yours?

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com