This isn’t a Top 10 List. I have a few more movies to check off before I can make that list but I wanted to share some of the moments that wowed me on screen this year.
BEWARE OF SPOILERS!
Logan
In the final minutes of the film, Logan injects himself with the mutant serum that allows him to be at full strength one last time. The action scenes that follow of Hugh Jackman sprinting through the trees cutting people in half was an exclamation point on an already incredible film.
Wind River
The flashback to where we learn what happened to Natalie Hanson and her boyfriend Matt. It is the most uncomfortable and unsettling scenes of 2017 where the tension and dread keeps building until the end. Nothing is cut away from or “glossed over” in this scene. Most writers and directors would have had a character tell you what happened but Taylor Sheridan decided to show us everything which is so much more powerful in the story.
Blade Runner 2049
The opening 10 minutes of the movie where Ryan Gosling goes to dispatch Dave Bautista. Hardly any dialogue is used but the scene perfectly paints the tone and direction of one of the most beautiful looking movies of the year.
Get Out
The ending when the TSA agent friend shows up. Usually I am here fighting for the most logical or darkest ending to horror thrillers but when he got out of that security car I was absolutely thrilled.
Coco
The most sincere emotional ending to almost any movie this year. When Miguel starts playing ‘Remember Me’ and Coco pulls out the picture and you see her start to remember there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. If that scene didn’t move you, you’re a monster.
The Florida Project
When the film reaches the only possible place it could go with Moonee’s mother, Moonee makes a run for it and the director who made Tangerine on an iPhone goes back to what feels like guerilla filmmaking as he films Moonee’s sprint to an actual magical kingdom just steps away from the real world and all the destruction it causes. An emotional moment of real escapism and a perfect ending to one of the best movies this year.
John Wick 2
In a movie with at least 4 action sequences that other movies wish that had half of, the catacombs escape shootout is by far the longest and most thrilling.
Wonder Woman
Diana climbing out of the trenches into No Man’s Land is a truly iconic and heroic shot that will give you chills as the music gets louder. Inarguably the best ‘hero moment’ of any of the new DC movies and an image will we see decades from now.
The Disaster Artist
The diner scene where Tommy makes Greg act out a play in front of a bunch of dining strangers was all at once hilarious, touching, inspiring, and set the relationship up for the rest of the movie.
Girls Trip
Every single thing Tiffany Haddish did or said on screen.
The Last Jedi
The entire scene in Snoke’s throne room from the fight to the conversation between Rey and Kylo. The fight was absolutely thrilling. The conversation after in which both characters plead with the version of the other they’ve idealized in their head is some of the best character work you’ll see in a blockbuster ever.
Dunkirk
The opening shot that follows the group from the town to the beach is perfectly ‘Nolan’ in every single way.
Atomic Blonde
The apartment fight could have gone on another hour. I actually think it was an hour long to begin with and kept upping the action while the characters who wouldn’t stop fighting actually got tired. I can’t remember the last time I watched two people karate chop each other for 3 minutes actually get fatigued but in this endless scene everyone is gassed by the end.
Ladybird
The Cry Me a River party scene is a time machine to my high school years and everything about that part of the movie is perfect.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2
If you don’t smile during the opening credits of Groot dancing while the team tries to destroy that weird alien then why do you even watch movies?
Fate of the Furious
Jason Statham and a baby on a plane in mid air. Best babysitter ever.