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Video: The 50 Best Films of 2017

At the close of every year, film critics and cinephiles tend to label it as a "good" or "bad" year for movies. Personally, I'm at the point in my life where I think every year is a good year for film. Some years might have more masterpieces in them, sure, but aren't we always discovering new ideas, images and icons when all is said and done? To help make this point, I expanded my best of the year video to include 50 films (in the past, I've done as many as 30 films).

You'll notice that certain awards-darlings like Dunkirk and Darkest Hour -- among others -- aren't on my list. They just didn't do it for me, plain and simple. And as opposed to including a shortlist of the year's worst films, like Tulip Fever and Transformers: The Last Knight, I'd rather put a spotlight on the year's most disappointing film: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. I think a film like Three Billboards can do more harm than a forgetful Michael Bay film, because awards groups will wrongly prop it up as an important piece of art, and thus invite similar half-baked works to enter the landscape with an entitled sense of importance. Let's hope the film writings and perspective pieces in the coming years help rectify such a misfire.

The full list for my 50 Best Films of 2017 can be found under the embedded video.
50. The Square Directed by Ruben Östlund
49. All The Money In The World Directed by Ridley Scott
48. The Shape of Water Directed by Guillermo del Toro
47. War For the Planet of the Apes Directed by Matt Reeves
46. Gold Directed by Stephen Gaghan
45. Strong Island Directed by Yance Ford
44. Logan Directed by James Mangold
43. Human Flow Directed by Ai Weiwei
42. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Directed by James Gunn
41. Columbus Directed by Kogonada
40. Ingrid Goes West Directed by Matt Spicer
39. Molly’s Game Directed by Aaron Sorkin
38. Hostiles Directed by Scott Cooper
37. Professor Marston and the Wonder Women Directed by Angela Robinson
36. Logan Lucky Directed by Steven Soderbergh
35. It Comes At Night Directed by Trey Edward Shults
34. The Big Sick Directed by Michael Showalter
33. Toni Erdmann Directed by Maren Ade
32. Los Modernos Directed by Marcela Matta & Mauro Sarser
31. I, Tonya Directed by Craig Gillespie
30. Personal Shopper Directed by Olivier Assayas
29. Coco Directed by Lee Unkrich & Adrian Molina
28. My Happy Family Directed by Nana Ekvtimishvili & Simon Groß
27. Call Me By Your Name Directed by Luca Guadagnino
26. I, Daniel Blake Directed by Ken Loach 
25. Stronger Directed by David Gordon Green
24. Phantom Thread Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
23. Rat Film Directed by Theo Anthony
22. The Post Directed by Steven Spielberg
21. I Am Not Your Negro Directed by Raoul Peck
20. American Made Directed by Doug Liman
19. The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) Directed by Noah Baumbach
18. Blade Runner 2049 Directed by Denis Villeneuve
17. Brawl in Cell Block 99 Directed by S. Craig Zahler
16. Happy End Directed by Michael Haneke
15. First They Killed My Father Directed by Angelina Jolie 
14. Song to Song Directed by Terrence Malick
13. Mudbound Directed by Dee Rees
12. Lucky Directed by John Carroll Lynch
11. A Ghost Story Directed by David Lowery
10. Get Out Directed by Jordan Peele
9. The Florida Project Directed by Sean Baker
8. Lady Bird Directed by Greta Gerwig
7. mother! Directed by Darren Aronofsky
6. Downsizing Directed by Alexander Payne
5. Good Time Directed by Josh Safdie & Benny Safdie
4. Wind River Directed by Taylor Sheridan
3. In The Fade Directed by Fatih Akin
2. Faces Places Directed by Agnès Varda & JR
1. The Lost City of Z Directed by James Gray
"...a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?"
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