Marjorie Baumgarten’s Top 10 Films of 2017

1) The Shape of Water

An original vision, a creature-feature storyline, and an underdogs-against-the-empire theme blend to create film rapture.

2) Call Me by Your Name

A resonant portrait of the jejune optimism, pained reality, and experiential insight of first love.

3) Lady Bird

Sterling performances and an unsolipsistic viewpoint enhance this fresh take on a coming-of-age story.

4) Faces Places

A casual riff on some faces and places becomes a thoughtful meditation on the past and future of France.

5) Get Out

A timely subversion of horror expectations reminds us of why we love our formulas so.

6) Dunkirk

Christopher Nolan revives the art of the film epic with impeccable technique and passionate storytelling.

7) The Florida Project

Seemingly off-the-cuff and trenchantly on-point, these character portraits raise more questions than answers.

8) Hostiles

The Searchers by way of Ulzana's Raid, this revisionist Western touches on some of the moral issues of our times.

9) A Quiet Passion

Images, words, and a towering performance by Cynthia Nixon make Emily Dickinson's life palpable in this unconventional biopic.

10) Mudbound

This sweepingly intergenerational, interfamilial, and interracial tale of postwar America is deeply moving.

Near Misses

The Post; The Big Sick; Kedi; The Disaster Artist; I, Tonya

Most Overrated

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; Molly's Game; Good Time

Most Underrated

Catfight, The Bad Batch, Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond – Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton

Wild Card

Female characters dare to be unlikable: Frances McDormand in Three Billboards, Miranda Richardson in Stronger, and Allison Janney in I, Tonya

Acting Kudos (Male)

Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver), James Franco (The Disaster Artist), Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water), Michael Stuhlbarg (Call Me by Your Name), Laurence Fishburne (Last Flag Flying)

Acting Kudos (Female)

Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird), Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird), Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Miranda Richardson (Stronger), Lois Smith (Marjorie Prime)

Best Director

Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water), Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name), Agnes Varda and JR (Faces Places)

Best Original Screenplay

Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water), Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird), Jordan Peele (Get Out)

Best Adapted Screenplay

James Ivory (Call Me by Your Name), Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (The Disaster Artist), Sofia Coppola (The Beguiled)

TV series/event:

Wormwood

Worst Film

The Ottoman Lieutenant: Corny romance provides cover for a whitewashed history of the Armenian Genocide in this film hijacked by the Turkish government for its own propaganda purposes.