Back in 2010 I began tracking every contemporary movie I watched on a list that was ordered according to how much I enjoyed each movie, and on the day of the Academy Awards I emailed the top ten movies on my list to a few of my friends, highlighting my favorite movie of the year. Some of my friends responded to my email with top ten lists of their own, and thus a pretentious little annual tradition was born…

This year I’ve decided to post my top ten list on this website for all the world to see. Hopefully there are a few movies on here that you haven’t heard of, and might even check out and enjoy!

Full disclosure: I still haven’t seen Phantom Thread, Call Me By Your Name, The Disaster Artist or I, Tonya.

So without further ado, here are my ten favorite movies of 2017:

Blade Runner: 2049
A Dark Song
The Florida Project
Get Out
I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore
Lady Bird
The Lost City of Z
Mudbound
Raw
Wonder Woman

Honorable Mentions (aka cheating): Manifesto, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, The Shape of Water, Logan

The Florida Project was my favorite movie of the year. I don’t know if it’s the first hard-R children’s movie ever made, but I’ve never experienced anything quite like it. It’s about the struggling families that live in low rent motels surrounding Disney World, as seen through the eyes of the kids. It is simultaneously ultra-realism and whimsical fantasy, a combination that makes you cringe for the first 10 minutes, and then cry uncontrollably during the last 10 minutes. I can’t recommend this movie highly enough, just prepare yourself for a really tough, really gritty (it truly earns the R rating), ultimately uplifting emotional experience.

Well, there’s my list. What about you? What were your favorite movies of 2017???