Top Twelve Movies for 2017

(Apologies for the delay to one and all....) Tower (2017) Keith Maitland's documentary on Charle Whitman reign of terror as the Texas Tower Sniper does something no other film has ever quite done, made animation the servant of journalism. It is a conceit that Wellesian in it's implications. Get Out (2017) A film that conclusively demonstrates that there are worse fates to be suffered than mere race based genocide. Director Jordan Peele did something pretty amazing here, he turned perky suburban nonentity Allison Williams into a mortal threat to the survival of the human race so....respect! Colossal (2017) because ALL alcohol driven dysfunction in this world can be effectively summarized & illustrated thru Giant Kaiju Monsters AND Anne Hathaway. Wonder Woman (2017) This makes the list simply because it took decades to upgrade the Amazing Amazon to Feature Films and DC Comics is notorious for screwing up two-car funerals, so I'm astonished that they got what they got right on this one, which is chiefly casting. If Gal Gadot keeps her health she can play Wonder Woman for another ten years easily....she played the part three times already and stolen every single scene she was in...she is a super heroic bargain at twice the price. Baby Driver (2017) Because Hollywood has "Institutional Aphasia" genres that used to be no-brainers become increasingly impossible to execute, so its just bracing to see someone pull off a good "car chase/heist" movie with such brio. Dunkirk (2017) This was likely the closest we'll ever get to a neorealist revival, a bunch of characters largely defined by their jobs and uniforms in on a ghastly historic battlefield at once expansive and claustrophobic. Logan Lucky (2017) Channing Tatum should just camp out in front of Steve Soderbergh's door and wait for his next script to be completed, those two are made for one another, a dry screen presence and a director that knows what whats those kinds of actors funny and interesting. Plus...this is the first time I've ever laughed at anything Daniel Craig has done on the big screen.... The Battle of the Sexes (2017) I always give props to two things, winning historic impersonations (Steve Carell as Bobby Riggs & Emma Stone as Billy Jean King) and movies that remind us how cringeworthy we were, we are and likely always will be... Mansfield 66/67 (2017) Jayne Mansfield!! The First Modern Celebrity who proved that complete non productivity and toxic fame were easily compatible...She is literally The Mother of All Kardashians! This was pulpy gruesome stuff and I loved every retrograde minute of it, one of the best documentaries I've seen all year... The Darkest Hour (2017) Remember what I said about historic impersonations?? Is there anything more satisfying than Gary Oldman of all people playing the hell out of Winston Churchill?? I, Tonya (2017) Margot Robbie for Best Actress, Allison Janney for Best Supporting Actress and all from a Tonya Harding biopic with virtually no miscasting whatsoever! The Shape of Water (2017)...or what would've happened in "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" had finally gotten the girl at the end of the movie...Guillermo Del Toro can do no wrong in my books, even his interspecies love stories are fascinating. I liked all these movies, for a industry in decline Hollywood managed to punch way above it's weight this year, lotsa history lotsa fantasy...but those are genres I like what can I say?