Top 10 Movie Moments in 2017
I've been putting this list off for a while as I wanted to catch up on some of the awards-season films in theatres. I actually wrote a bunch of these a couple of months ago, but wanted to hold off until I had seen more films this year. Sadly, I slacked off and/or caught up on some older films instead. I digress... Instead of just listing my favourite films of the past year, I wanted to list my 10 favourite scenes or moments in the films that came out in 2017.
I find with many "Top 10" or favourite film lists of each year, you get a lot of the same movies listed. Obviously there are many factors that play into this, keeping in mind that it can be hard to only pick a select number of films to recommend from any given year. Of course, many times the films that make the top 10 are generally considered the best of that year, but popularity and accessibility to these movies affects how many lists the films appear on too.
By listing my favourite scenes, it forces me to think more about the different films I saw and what I liked most about each of them. There are films that I really enjoyed, but I can't think of particularly stand-out moments that are worth listing, and there are films that I may not have enjoyed as much, but that have a couple really great moments. For example, I thought "Baby Driver" was really well crafted and entertaining, but thinking back, there are no specific moments I feel are worth mentioning. There are some really funny moments in there and the bank heist scenes are exciting, but there isn't really one that I can pin down as being my favourite moment in the movie.
Of the scenes I list below, I should clarify that there are movies I didn't list that still stood out to me and there are many films listed that are also my favourite films of the year. These scenes can be smaller moments or big, climactic moments too.
While I will try to avoid going too in-depth for any big moments, I should probably given an obligatory SPOILER ALERT for the following list.
In no real order, here is my list:
1) "Stephen King's IT" - Inside Ben's room and Eddie standing up to his mom
While I felt "IT" was one of this year's best horror films, my favourite parts of this adaptation all involve the young protagonists hanging out and creating "The Losers Club". Pennywise served as a creepy villain, but he was the least scary part of the film for me. What held the film together most were the performances from all the kids and their characters' bonds growing closer as they realize they share a common nightmare.
My two favourite moments are quieter and were also perhaps some of the funniest scenes I have seen this year. When we finally get a glimpse inside Ben's room, Beverly uncovers one of his more embarrassing choices in musical taste. It's a great moment of levity from the horrors each kid has to deal with, while also serving as a lovely beat developing Beverly and Ben's relationship.
My other favourite moment is when Eddie, who is a hypochondriac and neat freak (no thanks to his mother's similar phobias), finally stands up to his mother. It has one of the best one-liners in the whole movie and grants Eddie a moment of strength against perhaps his most formidable foes, his mother and his/her obsessions.
2) "Logan" - Professor Xavier's monologue
While this year did provide us with numerous strong superhero-movie entries, I opted to only pick one for this list. "Wonder Woman" takes a close second, but my top pick would be "Logan". While "Wonder Woman" has some really great standout scenes, none hit me as hard as Professor Xavier's bedside monologue in "Logan". "Logan" is certainly one of, if not the most sombre superhero movies I have experienced, and it serves as a satisfying send off for Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart's years of playing such iconic characters.
Xavier's monologue serves as his final moments before he is mercilessly murdered by X-24. It's a beautiful and emotional monologue that admits faults in Xavier's character while having some acceptance that he is at the end of his life (with or without X-24's help). What follows is an equally gripping fight between Logan and X-24 at the house they are at and it's a fight I felt was more tense and high-stakes than any other Marvel movie I have seen. Big CGI-laden battles are entertaining, but the stakes are often the same and there's the expectation that the good guys are going to save the day. "Logan" avoids this level of predictability and by making the fight "smaller scale" than something you might see in The Avengers proved to be far more engaging.
3) "John Wick: Chapter 2" - Everyone out to kill John Wick
Both "John Wick" entries so far have been thoroughly enjoyable and filled with memorable action scenes. However, my favourite is a more humourous montage showcasing John Wick's fighting skills in a series of vignettes. There is a point in the film where a contract is put out on John Wick to everyone in town, at which point, everyone from disguised violinists or your average thug try to kill John on his daily outings. It's a great compression of time and action scene in itself by serving the audience several quick instances of casual bloodshed around the city. This eventually ties into a running gag between both films referencing the creatively morbid use of a pencil. It's just lovely.
4) "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" - Sheriff Willoughby's day-trip with the family
"Three Billboards" serves as my absolute favourite film of the year and admittedly, it was hard to pick one particular moment as the "best". There are so many beautiful, terrible, funny, and emotional moments with director/writer Martin McDonagh's fleshed out cast of characters, but the one that comes back to me is a sequence dedicated to the town sheriff's day with his family. It's a series of events that, to me, encompasses much of the film's juggling of tones and emotions while giving us insight into a character who could have just as easily been two-dimensional.
Sheriff Willoughby's reputation is put into question when Mildred (Frances McDormand) puts up three billboards accusing him and the police department of doing nothing to solve her daughter's rape and murder. Add to that, he is slowly dying of cancer, which he brings up from time to time. We eventually are presented a sequence that shows Willoughby taking a break from being a sheriff and spending some time with his family. He takes his wife and kids out to the water and they have a nice day trip out together. However, as we lead into the evening, it eventually becomes clear this will be Willoughby's last evening with his family and this decision changes the direction of the film's events and many of it's characters as the film goes on from this point.
5) "Lady Bird" - Christine and Julie on prom night
"Lady Bird" is another film with many really great smaller moments. There are larger touchstones in Christine's coming-of-age journey, but some of my favourite moments involve Christine and her best friend, Julie. Their relationship has some bumps as many friendships do, but you can tell that Julie is a true friend and that (hopefully) their relationship will last as they get older.
My favourite moment with them is when Christine, after sidelining Julie in an attempt to befriend some of their richer, cooler classmates, decides to forego her original prom plans and spend the evening with someone who likes her for who she is and whose relationship she cherishes. It's an evening that starts rough for both of them, but mends itself once the two friends are reunited and doing what they want to do without caring what others think of them.
As a close-second, my other favourite moment with Christine and Julie is a brief scene of the girls chowing down on communion wafers while hanging out at their Catholic high school. It's not a particularly important scene narratively, but it shows off how natural the chemistry is between the two characters while also showing a casual, almost playful disregard for certain religious rules or expectations. When eventually caught by another disapproving classmate, all they do is laugh and continue having fun together.
6) "Blade Runner 2049" - K and Deckard fight
Something that I love about Denis Villeneuve's work is that he really knows how to build suspense and create satisfying pay-offs. There aren't a ton of action set-pieces over the film's near three hour runtime, but when the action hits... It hits hard. One of my favourite set-pieces in the whole film happens when K and Deckard finally meet. It's a long-awaited meeting and suffice to say, Deckard isn't the most accepting of strangers breaking into his hideout, a rundown casino of sorts. So starts a fight in one of the dining areas, punctuated by flashes of show lights and startling bursts of an Elvis hologram performing on stage. It's an incredibly staged sequence that makes great use of it's space, lighting and sound to create one of the more memorable one-on-one fights this year.
7) "The Shape of Water" - Elisa dance sequence
I'm trying to be vague here with my title because it truly is one of the most beautiful and strange moments in the whole film. "The Shape of Water" is another favourite from this year with beautiful visuals, a touching love story and ode to classic monster movies.
My favourite scene in the whole film starts when Elisa, who has been mute all her life, wants to tell her amphibian partner how she really feels about him. She attempts to communicate with sign language, but after much struggle to get the message across, she tries to speak. The lights dim, the colour fades into black and white, and her voice grows stronger as she communicates her love for him. Next thing we know, we're in the middle of an old-fashioned musical dance sequence between Elisa and the Amphibian Man. They swing around and hold each other and even if only for a few moments, enjoy a life without worry or consequence. As the dream sequence fades away, we're pained with the returning reality that this relationship may not be able to last in the world they live in.
8) "A Fantastic Woman" - The locker
"A Fantastic Woman" was one of my favourite films from this year's TIFF (next to "Three Billboards") and I can't recommend the film enough. I initially was going to list one or the film's more major plot points, but upon further reflection, another small, but intriguing scene came to mind.
Some background... After the death of her older partner, Marina must deal with her partner's prejudiced and difficult family during their collective grieving process. Being transgender, Marina is subjected to various instances of ignorance or hatred, but she stands strong for as long as she can and fights for the things that are hers. One mystery that is kept throughout much of the film is a key to an unknown locker that belonged to her partner. For me, I was hoping the locker's contents would contain some personal belongings of her partner that Marina could discover or some other "reward" that she could take without the hassle of her partner's family. While not a main plotline, it was a loose end I looked forward to seeing tied up. I don't want to reveal what Marina may or may not discover, but the sequence, while not satisfying in the traditional sense, made me think upon it's revelation and after viewing.
9) "Raw" - The finger
I admit I have some catching up to do in the horror department over the past couple years. There have been a lot of really strong horror films and sadly, I only saw a few new ones this year. Although, I technically would have considered this a 2016 film as I first saw it at TIFF's Midnight Madness, "Raw" was only released in North America this past Spring. It was a toss up between "Get Out" and this one, but "Raw" ultimately won me over.
"Raw" is advertised as a horror film, but it's closer to a gory, cannibalistic coming-of-age story. It garnered some notoriety at Midnight Madness after a patron fainted, but the film itself isn't a bloodbath so much as it's punctuated with moments of brutality amidst a young woman's coming-of-age. In one particularly gross moment, our protagonist Justine finally gives into her building cannibalistic urges.
However, it's not just any old person she starts nibbling on, but the severed finger of her older sister. Justine knows she shouldn't, but the urges are too strong for her to resist, allowing the darker parts of her character to finally flourish. It's both howl and gag-inducing and certainly a scene you won't forget.
10) "Call Me By Your Name" - Father-son talk
This moment stumped me for some time. I wanted to see more from this past year before listing my 10th entry in this list, but alas...
"Call Me By Your Name" is a coming of age/coming out film with many beautiful moments. While it is a much smaller, more intimate film than some of the Best Picture contenders, I really enjoyed the mood and feeling the film created. Everything from the cinematography to the film's summer setting felt very romantic and sensual and innocent in one way or another, which is not a description I use for most films.
I was tempted to write about a couple other moments that I have seen other articles praise or hype up, but one of perhaps my favourite monologues or bits of dialogue out of this year comes from a third-act heart-to-heart between the main character, Elio, and his father (played by Michael Stuhlbarg). Given the time period of the film, the discussion of Elio's sexuality could have easily taken a predictably tense or uncomfortable turn. However, to my surprise, it is a moment of tenderness and support. It's a touching and reaffirming monologue that gives some reassurance and comfort for Elio in a harder time.
That about sums it up! There were many other great moments in the films I saw this past year, but these are just some of the ones that keep coming back to me.
I find with many "Top 10" or favourite film lists of each year, you get a lot of the same movies listed. Obviously there are many factors that play into this, keeping in mind that it can be hard to only pick a select number of films to recommend from any given year. Of course, many times the films that make the top 10 are generally considered the best of that year, but popularity and accessibility to these movies affects how many lists the films appear on too.
By listing my favourite scenes, it forces me to think more about the different films I saw and what I liked most about each of them. There are films that I really enjoyed, but I can't think of particularly stand-out moments that are worth listing, and there are films that I may not have enjoyed as much, but that have a couple really great moments. For example, I thought "Baby Driver" was really well crafted and entertaining, but thinking back, there are no specific moments I feel are worth mentioning. There are some really funny moments in there and the bank heist scenes are exciting, but there isn't really one that I can pin down as being my favourite moment in the movie.
Of the scenes I list below, I should clarify that there are movies I didn't list that still stood out to me and there are many films listed that are also my favourite films of the year. These scenes can be smaller moments or big, climactic moments too.
While I will try to avoid going too in-depth for any big moments, I should probably given an obligatory SPOILER ALERT for the following list.
In no real order, here is my list:
1) "Stephen King's IT" - Inside Ben's room and Eddie standing up to his mom
While I felt "IT" was one of this year's best horror films, my favourite parts of this adaptation all involve the young protagonists hanging out and creating "The Losers Club". Pennywise served as a creepy villain, but he was the least scary part of the film for me. What held the film together most were the performances from all the kids and their characters' bonds growing closer as they realize they share a common nightmare.
My two favourite moments are quieter and were also perhaps some of the funniest scenes I have seen this year. When we finally get a glimpse inside Ben's room, Beverly uncovers one of his more embarrassing choices in musical taste. It's a great moment of levity from the horrors each kid has to deal with, while also serving as a lovely beat developing Beverly and Ben's relationship.
My other favourite moment is when Eddie, who is a hypochondriac and neat freak (no thanks to his mother's similar phobias), finally stands up to his mother. It has one of the best one-liners in the whole movie and grants Eddie a moment of strength against perhaps his most formidable foes, his mother and his/her obsessions.
2) "Logan" - Professor Xavier's monologue
While this year did provide us with numerous strong superhero-movie entries, I opted to only pick one for this list. "Wonder Woman" takes a close second, but my top pick would be "Logan". While "Wonder Woman" has some really great standout scenes, none hit me as hard as Professor Xavier's bedside monologue in "Logan". "Logan" is certainly one of, if not the most sombre superhero movies I have experienced, and it serves as a satisfying send off for Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart's years of playing such iconic characters.
Xavier's monologue serves as his final moments before he is mercilessly murdered by X-24. It's a beautiful and emotional monologue that admits faults in Xavier's character while having some acceptance that he is at the end of his life (with or without X-24's help). What follows is an equally gripping fight between Logan and X-24 at the house they are at and it's a fight I felt was more tense and high-stakes than any other Marvel movie I have seen. Big CGI-laden battles are entertaining, but the stakes are often the same and there's the expectation that the good guys are going to save the day. "Logan" avoids this level of predictability and by making the fight "smaller scale" than something you might see in The Avengers proved to be far more engaging.
3) "John Wick: Chapter 2" - Everyone out to kill John Wick
Both "John Wick" entries so far have been thoroughly enjoyable and filled with memorable action scenes. However, my favourite is a more humourous montage showcasing John Wick's fighting skills in a series of vignettes. There is a point in the film where a contract is put out on John Wick to everyone in town, at which point, everyone from disguised violinists or your average thug try to kill John on his daily outings. It's a great compression of time and action scene in itself by serving the audience several quick instances of casual bloodshed around the city. This eventually ties into a running gag between both films referencing the creatively morbid use of a pencil. It's just lovely.
4) "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" - Sheriff Willoughby's day-trip with the family
"Three Billboards" serves as my absolute favourite film of the year and admittedly, it was hard to pick one particular moment as the "best". There are so many beautiful, terrible, funny, and emotional moments with director/writer Martin McDonagh's fleshed out cast of characters, but the one that comes back to me is a sequence dedicated to the town sheriff's day with his family. It's a series of events that, to me, encompasses much of the film's juggling of tones and emotions while giving us insight into a character who could have just as easily been two-dimensional.
Sheriff Willoughby's reputation is put into question when Mildred (Frances McDormand) puts up three billboards accusing him and the police department of doing nothing to solve her daughter's rape and murder. Add to that, he is slowly dying of cancer, which he brings up from time to time. We eventually are presented a sequence that shows Willoughby taking a break from being a sheriff and spending some time with his family. He takes his wife and kids out to the water and they have a nice day trip out together. However, as we lead into the evening, it eventually becomes clear this will be Willoughby's last evening with his family and this decision changes the direction of the film's events and many of it's characters as the film goes on from this point.
5) "Lady Bird" - Christine and Julie on prom night
"Lady Bird" is another film with many really great smaller moments. There are larger touchstones in Christine's coming-of-age journey, but some of my favourite moments involve Christine and her best friend, Julie. Their relationship has some bumps as many friendships do, but you can tell that Julie is a true friend and that (hopefully) their relationship will last as they get older.
My favourite moment with them is when Christine, after sidelining Julie in an attempt to befriend some of their richer, cooler classmates, decides to forego her original prom plans and spend the evening with someone who likes her for who she is and whose relationship she cherishes. It's an evening that starts rough for both of them, but mends itself once the two friends are reunited and doing what they want to do without caring what others think of them.
As a close-second, my other favourite moment with Christine and Julie is a brief scene of the girls chowing down on communion wafers while hanging out at their Catholic high school. It's not a particularly important scene narratively, but it shows off how natural the chemistry is between the two characters while also showing a casual, almost playful disregard for certain religious rules or expectations. When eventually caught by another disapproving classmate, all they do is laugh and continue having fun together.
6) "Blade Runner 2049" - K and Deckard fight
Something that I love about Denis Villeneuve's work is that he really knows how to build suspense and create satisfying pay-offs. There aren't a ton of action set-pieces over the film's near three hour runtime, but when the action hits... It hits hard. One of my favourite set-pieces in the whole film happens when K and Deckard finally meet. It's a long-awaited meeting and suffice to say, Deckard isn't the most accepting of strangers breaking into his hideout, a rundown casino of sorts. So starts a fight in one of the dining areas, punctuated by flashes of show lights and startling bursts of an Elvis hologram performing on stage. It's an incredibly staged sequence that makes great use of it's space, lighting and sound to create one of the more memorable one-on-one fights this year.
7) "The Shape of Water" - Elisa dance sequence
I'm trying to be vague here with my title because it truly is one of the most beautiful and strange moments in the whole film. "The Shape of Water" is another favourite from this year with beautiful visuals, a touching love story and ode to classic monster movies.
My favourite scene in the whole film starts when Elisa, who has been mute all her life, wants to tell her amphibian partner how she really feels about him. She attempts to communicate with sign language, but after much struggle to get the message across, she tries to speak. The lights dim, the colour fades into black and white, and her voice grows stronger as she communicates her love for him. Next thing we know, we're in the middle of an old-fashioned musical dance sequence between Elisa and the Amphibian Man. They swing around and hold each other and even if only for a few moments, enjoy a life without worry or consequence. As the dream sequence fades away, we're pained with the returning reality that this relationship may not be able to last in the world they live in.
8) "A Fantastic Woman" - The locker
"A Fantastic Woman" was one of my favourite films from this year's TIFF (next to "Three Billboards") and I can't recommend the film enough. I initially was going to list one or the film's more major plot points, but upon further reflection, another small, but intriguing scene came to mind.
Some background... After the death of her older partner, Marina must deal with her partner's prejudiced and difficult family during their collective grieving process. Being transgender, Marina is subjected to various instances of ignorance or hatred, but she stands strong for as long as she can and fights for the things that are hers. One mystery that is kept throughout much of the film is a key to an unknown locker that belonged to her partner. For me, I was hoping the locker's contents would contain some personal belongings of her partner that Marina could discover or some other "reward" that she could take without the hassle of her partner's family. While not a main plotline, it was a loose end I looked forward to seeing tied up. I don't want to reveal what Marina may or may not discover, but the sequence, while not satisfying in the traditional sense, made me think upon it's revelation and after viewing.
9) "Raw" - The finger
I admit I have some catching up to do in the horror department over the past couple years. There have been a lot of really strong horror films and sadly, I only saw a few new ones this year. Although, I technically would have considered this a 2016 film as I first saw it at TIFF's Midnight Madness, "Raw" was only released in North America this past Spring. It was a toss up between "Get Out" and this one, but "Raw" ultimately won me over.
"Raw" is advertised as a horror film, but it's closer to a gory, cannibalistic coming-of-age story. It garnered some notoriety at Midnight Madness after a patron fainted, but the film itself isn't a bloodbath so much as it's punctuated with moments of brutality amidst a young woman's coming-of-age. In one particularly gross moment, our protagonist Justine finally gives into her building cannibalistic urges.
However, it's not just any old person she starts nibbling on, but the severed finger of her older sister. Justine knows she shouldn't, but the urges are too strong for her to resist, allowing the darker parts of her character to finally flourish. It's both howl and gag-inducing and certainly a scene you won't forget.
10) "Call Me By Your Name" - Father-son talk
This moment stumped me for some time. I wanted to see more from this past year before listing my 10th entry in this list, but alas...
"Call Me By Your Name" is a coming of age/coming out film with many beautiful moments. While it is a much smaller, more intimate film than some of the Best Picture contenders, I really enjoyed the mood and feeling the film created. Everything from the cinematography to the film's summer setting felt very romantic and sensual and innocent in one way or another, which is not a description I use for most films.
I was tempted to write about a couple other moments that I have seen other articles praise or hype up, but one of perhaps my favourite monologues or bits of dialogue out of this year comes from a third-act heart-to-heart between the main character, Elio, and his father (played by Michael Stuhlbarg). Given the time period of the film, the discussion of Elio's sexuality could have easily taken a predictably tense or uncomfortable turn. However, to my surprise, it is a moment of tenderness and support. It's a touching and reaffirming monologue that gives some reassurance and comfort for Elio in a harder time.
That about sums it up! There were many other great moments in the films I saw this past year, but these are just some of the ones that keep coming back to me.
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