Whoa, this was a tough list to put together. The explosion of distribution outlets has made more movies available to us, which is a definite plus, but it’s also become easier for some great films to get overlooked. I love putting this together each year because it reinforces my belief that there are no bad years for film. There may be some years with a few more disappointments, but if you can’t find two or three surprises for every one that sucks then you aren’t looking hard enough.
As usual there is a healthy mix of indies that may not have found an audience, some that had really crappy marketing, and a few mainstream flicks that didn’t get the credit they deserved. Y’know, like how last year I had Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping because you all didn’t go see it? Yeah, well this year you get the criminally under-seen Battle of the Sexes. Shame on you.
The criteria I use is simple: If I felt a movie didn’t get the attention it deserved, up it goes. I also won’t include any movies that will be on my Best Movies of the Year roundup, so you won’t see a few things everybody already knows I love. If you ask me about Columbus I will kick you, then forward my “Best of 2017” post to you every day for a week. This year I struggled to whittle down from about 50 movies and each one I dropped was like asking me to give up one of my Pop! Vinyls. These are my children!!!
Anyway, check it out below, click on the links for reviews when applicable, and follow all of our end of the year coverage here! More to come this week!
Colossal (review)
Director: Nacho Vigalondo
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis, Dan Stevens, Tim Blake Nelson, Austin Stowell
Ingrid Goest West
Director: Matt Spicer
Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Elizabeth Olsen, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Wyatt Russell, Billy Magnussen, Pom Klementieff
Novitiate
Director: Margaret Betts
Cast: Margaret Qualley, Melissa Leo, Dianna Agron, Julianne Nicholson
Happy Death Day
Director: Christopher B. Landon
Cast: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard
Battle of the Sexes (review)
Directors: Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris
Cast: Emma Stone, Steve Carell, Sarah Silverman, Andrea Riseborough, Bill Pullman
Brawl in Cell Block 99 (review)
Director: S. Craig Zahler
Cast: Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Carpenter, Don Johnson, Udo Kier
Thirst Street (review)
Director: Nathan Silver
Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Damien Bonnard, Esther Garrel
Headshot (review)
Director: Kimo Stamboel, Timo Tjahjanto
Cast: Iko Uwais, Chelsea Islan
Bushwick (review)
Director: Jonathan Milott, Cary Murnion
Cast: Brittany Snow, Dave Bautista
Pilgrimage (review)
Director: Brendan Muldowney
Cast: Jon Bernthal, Tom Holland, Richard Armitage
I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (review)
Director: Macon Blair
Cast: Melanie Lynskey, Elijah Wood, Jane Levy
Logan Lucky (review)
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Riley Keough, Daniel Craig
The Wall (review)
Director: Doug Liman
Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, John Cena
Patti Cake$ (review)
Director: Geremy Jasper
Cast: Danielle Macdonald, Bridget Everett, Siddharth Dhananjay, Mamoudou Athie, Cathy Moriarty
The Lost City of Z (review)
Director: James Gray
Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, Tom Holland
Free Fire (review)
Director: Ben Wheatley
Cast: Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, Cillian Murphy, Sharlto Copley, Jack Reynor, Michael Smiley
After the Storm (review)
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Cast: Hiroshi Abe, Yoko Maki, Taiyô Yoshizawa, Kirin Kiki
The Girl with All the Gifts (review)
Director: Colm McCarthy
Cast: Sennia Nanua, Gemma Arterton, Paddy Considine, Glenn Close
Newness (review)
Director: Drake Doremus
Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Laia Costa, Danny Huston, Matthew Gray Gubler, Courtney Eaton, Pom Klementieff, Jessica Henwick
A United Kingdom (review)
Director: Amma Asante
Cast: David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike
