Top 15 Best Movies of Summer 2017
Well, Summer 2017 you were something. I mean so many movies were released that it's insane how I managed to watch all of them. Well, you get the gist. Out of everything I've seen this summer, these releases are the TOP 15 MOVIES OF SUMMER 2017!
15) Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie – It still pains me that out of every single animated flick released this summer ranging from "Despicable Me 3" to "The Emoji Movie", "Captain Underpants" was the underrated film that did poorly at the box office when it's far much better than other 2017 family films combined. Seriously there are only three animated films this year of quality, and "Captain Underpants" is 2nd best right below "The LEGO Batman Movie" and right above "Cars 3". Everything else just ultimately sucks. The movie is a cleverly hilarious family flick that is faithful to its source material while providing a ton of heart in its emotional core. "Captain Underpants" is visually imaginative, it features a rather tight script, and most of all it's funny from beginning to end for families. I still want to know why the hell this didn’t make any money. It's always the best-animated movies that barely make a profit. It's just like "Kubo and the Two Strings" all over again.
14) Logan Lucky – Soderbergh? Where have you been? You said you were going to retire? Oh well, it's good to have you back with a quirky heist film that is both hysterical and fun from beginning to end. The central reason this is right up here is because of Daniel Craig being an absolute comedic joy to watch which proves that he does have range outside of being Bond.
13) Dunkirk – I can hear those cinephiles now. "BUT DUNKIRK IS AMAZING! ITS ONE OF THE BEST WAR FILMS OF ALL TIME! NOLAN IS A MASTERMIND OF A DIRECTOR!" Though I think all of this is true to some extent, Dunkirk is a mesmerizing war film but lacked the emotional residence to make me feel something towards the number of characters introduced throughout it.
“BUT NOLAN SAID THAT WAS HIS INTENTION!”
Okay, my #1 movie had a shit ton of characters and had me emotionally attached to every single one introduced. That said, I love the sound mixing and filmmaking of the film where you feel like you’re a pilot whenever it focuses on Tom Hardy. Dunkirk is a great summer movie. Nothing more, nothing less.
12) Ingrid Goes West – So I saw this film in April but didn’t decide to review it because I didn’t know what to rate it at the time and over time it grew on me. "Ingrid Goes West" is a disturbing dark comedy that points out the danger of social media while making you want to get out of it. Aubrey Plaza hones in her weirdness and provides a chilling lead performance both creepy and comedic. O’Shea Jackson Jr. excels as a comedic actor arguably much better than his father. Matt Spicer delivers a script as sharp as his direction for both are pretty passionate to tell this story of a woman in desperation of a friend stalks the ever living crap out of a woman she finds off Instagram.
11) Girls Trip – Holy crap talk about a genuine surprise. Girls Trip may be way too long for a comedy, but just the chemistry from the ensemble and sheer amount of successful jokes [and barely having to deal with being a black woman but being a woman in general] makes Girls Trip one of the year’s funniest comedies. Now if you excuse me, I’m going to campaign for Tiffany Haddish to get a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination because she gives such a killing performance in the same way Melissa McCarthy did in "Bridesmaids".
10) Wind River – You know what this summer needed? A good murder mystery. After years providing some of the best screenplays for entertaining thrillers with a brain, Taylor Sheridan gets behind the director’s chair for the first time and provide an eye opening story based on real events while shining light on reservation laws. "Wind River" an incredibly diverse film that you don’t see in modern cinema today as it benefits the effectiveness of the theme. By the end, you will be both enlightened and entertained in similar to the works Sheridan written in the past.
9) Good Time – Who would’ve seen it coming that Robert Pattinson would star in a great movie? No Twilight does not count as good movies. What makes "Good Time" such a good time is its pacing, stylistic direction, an excellent performance by Robert Pattinson (who I swear is doing a Colin Ferrell impression throughout), and a perfect balance between authentic thrills and hard hitting humor. With this being the Safdie Bros.’ 3rd film, this feature is their yellow brick road to Hollywood superstardom. This modern caper has the nostalgic feel of an 80s flick, and it is one of the most entertaining films of the summer.
8) The Little Hours – It's weird that this indie movie is classified as an indie film especially when it features nothing but A-list comedians. Since The Little Hours is a movie with a fully ad-libbed screenplay, somehow it manages to be heartfelt, unstoppably funny, and most of all refreshing in the realms of R-rated raunchy comedies. Mainly since its source material, The Decameron, is an absurd story written long before our time, Jeff Baena fearlessly abides by its craziness for he lets his actors natural humor take charge while telling a story of these sexually curious nuns messing around with a refugee who must play as a mute.
7) Wonder Woman – Blah blah blah best DC movie. Blah blah humorous and heartfelt and faithful to the character in every meaning of her name. What really puts Wonder Woman here on the list isn’t mainly because of the film itself, the production and care in both its filmmaking and writing or even the success it had at the box office. The main reason I have this on this list is because of the effect it had with females young and old. I just want you to read this tweet from director Patty Jenkins and tell me it doesn't inspire you to become an empowering warrior like Princess Diana.
6) Spider-Man: Homecoming – The third reboot of Spider-Man in the 21st century? Thankfully in the hands of Disney’s MCU where it should’ve been since 2012, Homecoming isn’t just a refreshing Spider-Man movie but more of a coming of age high school superhero comedy that works on all cylinders and one of its kind. Tom Holland makes for a perfect Peter Parker/Spider-Man while director Jon Watts brilliantly portrays what the spirit of this hero really is by making his stakes smaller while having him maintain being a kid with vulnerabilities. Besides Wonder Woman, this one of the few cases where you watch a superhero movie and want to be that superhero.
5) Baby Driver – When your favorite director bounces back from the superhero flick he was supposed to direct [Ant-Man] but didn't get to do it in his original vision with an original action crime film that runs on high octane fuel and music, it is irresistible to not fall in love with Baby Driver. This is one of those films I had the pleasure to see not once or twice but three times, and it never felt old for I kept analyzing it deeper and finding clues that foreshadow the callbacks and plot elements that come up later in the film. It's one of those films that makes me infatuated with the art of film and triggers my creative bone to write again.
4) War for the Planet of the Apes – Out of every blockbuster released this summer WAR has to be the one that defines what a summer blockbuster should be; thrilling, exciting, tasteful, and emotional. As a huge chunk of the film plays as a biblical epic with character depth and insightful themes about humanity, this thrilling conclusion to a damn near perfect trilogy is both one of the year’s best movies and hands down the best (big budgeted) movie of the summer.
NOW WE GET INTO THE MEAT!
3) Brigsby Bear – Saturday Night Live cast member Kyle Mooney and longtime collaborator/best friend Dave McCreary transition from the small screen to the big screen with a film that is an unexpected drama that mixes a realistic and dark story with down to earth loveable characters who all feel human more than a caricature. You have all these comedians in this movie, and they all give effective dramatic performances. "Brigsby Bear" is one of the best-unexpected surprises I’ve seen this year from a creative standpoint. If you don't like Mooney as an SNL cast member, you'll love him as a leading actor & screenwriter.
2) The Big Sick – The best kind of movies to watch are the ones you walk into cold not knowing a thing about it. That is exactly what I did with The Big Sick before its first trailer was released back in May and boy its undoubtedly one of the films that snuggled its way into my heart and made a home. It is a personal story that makes you see these two working screenwriters in TV and film as dept humans in their lives and relationships. While providing an emotional rollercoaster of
"The Big Sick" had me going back to it three more times with each viewing being a new way of falling in love again. I said it once, and I’ll say it again, The Big Sick is like the When Harry Met Sally of this generation and I will fight anyone who says otherwise.
1) Detroit – This film seriously came out of nowhere for me and ended up breaking me in every shape and form; emotionally, physically, and mentally. Okay, I might be over exaggerating with physically, but I did literally break down into tears far after watching it to an extent it gave me insomnia within the same night.
With everything I’ve seen this year, no film made me feel as much as Detroit did. No movie made me feel as if the weight of the world was on my shoulders like Detroit did. I don’t care whatever horror film gets released because this is a horror movie more than a historical drama and I think its damn perfect as acting goes, as storytelling goes, and as a movie goes. Well, it has no absolute rewatch value due to its traumatizing content, but some of the best movies can only be seen once.
And to all the critics giving it the “Passion of the Christ” treatment by coming out saying, “Oh this is too violent. It's just a torturous exploitation of violence.”
Or just flat out saying,“Why is a white female director such as Kathryn Bigelow taking on this story about African American struggle during the Detroit riots? Why wouldn’t an African American tell this story or someone of color?”
Um yeah, John Ridley doesn’t have the American blood to capture a story like this fully; F. Gary Gray was busy directing Fate of the Furious; Barry Jenkins just directed an episode of Dear White People. What would you prefer someone like Tyler Perry taking on this story?
Detroit is so far not only my favorite film of the summer but also my favorite movie of the year so far, and I’m never going to watch it ever again.
WINNERS OF THIS LIST:
3) Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman)
2) Comedians coming out of their shell (Kumail Nanjiani, Kyle Mooney)
1) Aubrey Plaza (The Little Hours | Ingrid Goes West),
