Marc Savlov’s Top 10 Films of 2017

1) Mother!

Darren Aronofsky's febrile nightmare takes on gender roles, religion, and the nature of chaos itself and ends up the most disturbingly unforgettable film of the year.

2) Call Me by Your Name

Gorgeous, sensual, and true to the bracing spirit of first love no matter what your sexual identity might be, this is a perfect film.

3) Dunkirk

Christopher Nolan's "you are there" depiction of the great escape is terrifyingly real. Hans Zimmer's score only adds to the poignant realism.

4) The Shape of Water

True love knows no boundaries in this interspecies, Cold War masterpiece from the great Guillermo del Toro.

5) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Staggeringly excellent across-the-board work from all involved (kudos to Sam Rockwell), this mélange of grief, vengeance, and small-town life is simply brilliant filmmaking.

6) Get Out

It's either Steve Bannon's favorite film of the year, or his worst nightmare. Race, class, and horror collide in a wholly original fashion.

7) Baby Driver

Yes, it's true, I received a speeding ticket on my way home from my first of several viewings of this high-octane, musical heist/love story. Gotta pay that ASAP.

8) The Florida Project

The lush, dreamy palette of twilight violets and little lonely lost girls in Trump's America is simultaneously beautiful and heartrending.

9) Lucky

Harry Dean Stanton's final film is a fine a career denouement as any actor could ask for.

10) Wonder Woman

Finally, a femme-centric superhero for not only our times but all times. Now if only Gal Gadot could kick some Nazi ass here in the real world.

Near Misses

Okja, Nocturama, Mayhem, Brigsby Bear, A Ghost Story

Most Overrated

Blade Runner 2049; Detroit; I, Tonya

Most Underrated

Marjorie Prime, Mayhem, Patti Cake$

Wild Card

Probably the most accurate, animated depiction of the future of humankind by a guy named Don Hertzfeldt: World of Tomorrow Episode Two: The Burden of Other People's Thoughts

Acting Kudos (Male)

Harry Dean Stanton (Lucky), Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.), Andy Serkis (War for the Planet of the Apes), Steven Yeun (Mayhem), James Franco (The Disaster Artist)

Acting Kudos (Female)

Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Aubrey Plaza (Ingrid Goes West), Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird)

Best Director

Edgar Wright (Baby Driver), Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk)

Best Original Screenplay

JR and Agnes Varda (Faces Places), Bertrand Bonello (Nocturama), Adrian Molina (Coco)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Dee Rees and Virgil Williams (Mudbound), James Ivory (Call Me by Your Name), Angelina Jolie and Loung Ung (First They Killed My Father)

TV series/event:

The Vietnam War

Worst Film

Geostorm