Even though The Meyerowitz Stories lacks the magic of Frances Ha or the emotional import of The Squid and the Whale, it still manages to justify its existence by veering off the beaten path—even if just slightly.
Princess Cyd (Cone, 2017)
I urge you all to seek this out as soon as possible. It is one of those obscure achievements that deserves all the attention it can get.
Coco (Unkrich, 2017)
Like much of the Pixar canon, Coco is a universal film that reaches the hearts of both children and adults alike.
Columbus (Kogonada, 2017)
Columbus reminds me of Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson mixed with sprigs of Linklater’s Before trilogy and Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation.
Logan Lucky (Soderbergh, 2017)
Not having seen Ocean’s Eleven or its sequels, I don’t have much of a basis to make comparisons here. I know this is a heist film and a comedy, and that’s as much as I have to judge.
All These Sleepless Nights (Marczak, 2016)
All These Sleepless Nights is a weird hybrid of documentary and artifice, dealing with real Polish youth and their restlessness
Beach Rats (Hittman, 2017)
This isn’t 2017’s best LGBTQ film. But in its own way, it provides a striking counterpoint to the stories that seem more hopeful in nature.
The Room (Wiseau, 2003)
Everything about this is inept and misjudged.
Manifesto (Rosefeldt, 2015)
Cate Blanchett plays over a dozen characters, takes on half as many accents, gets to wear some great (and not so great) wigs.
Your Name (Shinkai, 2016)
Your Name is really fun to watch, and takes more risks than I would have expected it to. I may not be blown away, but I am still very impressed.
Landline (Robespierre, 2017)
If this had been less predictable, I think it would’ve gotten more attention than it has. That doesn’t mean it’s worth forgetting. Far from.
The Death of Louis XIV (Serra, 2016)
Does anyone nowadays care how Louis XIV died? I certainly didn’t. Nevertheless, Albert Serra imagines the event as though it were a slowly deflating balloon in a burnished Baroque painting.
The Lego Batman Movie (McKay, 2017)
Everything is… not so awesome this time around, I’m afraid.
Battle of the Sexes (Dayton & Faris, 2017)
A number of people whose opinion I value didn’t much care for Battle of the Sexes. I decided to give it a go all the same, in case there was something in it they weren’t seeing. I’m sad to say that they were right.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (Waititi, 2016)
Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople is so precious. I don’t mean that negatively—it’s just a really cute film that you want to give a warm hug to.
