Let’s continue to look at those just outside of my top ten of 2017. You can also read my #16-20. I’ve seen most of these on other people’s top ten lists and I think that they could all be up there if I was in a different mood. You’ll notice that on most of these mini reviews, I’m not focusing on technical merit or acting unless it was hands down better than anything else I’ve seen this year. Instead, I’m choosing my top films by selecting the ones that resonated the most with me. I hope that you will read my thoughts on these five and give me your thoughts. Link me to your top 10s, Tell me why I’m wrong or what I got right.

15. IT

Bill Skarsgard’s unsettling demonic clown is one of the best characters of the year. Working with a group of kids can be challenging but they really did a fantastic job. We got a good amount of character development with each character. Reading that gigantic Stephen King novel was a formational part of my childhood. While I liked Tim Curry’s Pennywise in the 1990 miniseries, it left a lot to be wanted. I was very happy that they left out certain portions because they would have been very inaccessible for most audiences that don’t have a history with the book.

It could serve as a great primer on the nature of fear. The evil Pennywise loves to tease and tenderize his prey with fear, apparently it seasons the meat. So instead of a jump scare and a death, we see the slow development of fear and terrifying climaxes where each person is forced to come to their own decisions about Pennywise and whether the fears that he is attempting to bring out will paralyze them, or whether they will take that fear and turn it into a tool to accomplish their plan.

14. Dunkirk

Most movies fall into the trap of telling you what to feel or think in some way or another. However, in Christopher Nolan’s latest there are hardly any words uttered. It could have just as easily been made as a silent film and been just as effective. Nolan here is submersing the audience into a situation that is beyond their control and putting them into a state of encouraged empathy.

We feel the bombs dropping on the beach as we stand with our company trapped between the advancing Nazi troops on one side and the icy waters of the channel on the other. Hope is fading and it seems as though our country has forgotten us or doomed us to perish as a penalty for our failure to stop the German blitzkrieg. This setting is woven seamlessly with a handful of other connected story lines as we see a civilian sailor, a British Captain, and a couple of British pilots all work together in their own separate ways to save the boys that are trapped.

I honestly had never even heard of this story until I saw Nolan’s first trailer. The word Dunkirk flashed on the screen and I went searching for more information. I was pleased that this was not another political drama, those have their place as we will soon see, but I loved the intricate way that Nolan tied all of these stories together without making it about any one person. It is a story of the triumph of the human spirit, and we need as many of those as we can get.

13. Darkest Hour

As a companion piece to the aforementioned Dunkirk, Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour is almost its polar opposite. While the former could have been made in silence, the latter is all about words. Winston Churchill was a crafter of words and was known to be good at it, and Gary Oldman in amazing makeup and prosthetics disappears into the role and gives us all a glimpse of this enigmatic man and the passions which drove him to lead his country deeper into war against the urging of many highly ranked officials in the government.

Is this exact history, of course not. Many have squabbled over the subway scene saying that it is manufactured as a plot device. Of course it was. This is a movie, and it is a very good one. I have to admit that this type of film is one of my favorite whether the topic is political like in this film or A King’s Speech, or religious as in A Man for All Seasons. We see someone who is standing up for their convictions against all odds. Let’s not forget that the decisions made in this time period most likely changed the course of history.

If Churchill does not rally to fight against Germany, they may have continued their march and overtaken the whole of the European continent. Would Japan have gotten involved and bombed Pearl Harbor? We can’t say for sure, but I can tell you that this film is moving and powerful and driven by an actor that I would watch fold laundry.

12. Blade Runner 2049

I can’t believe that a movie of this caliber is outside of my top 10! Most years, I feel like it would be in the top 5 but this has been an extraordinary year. This sequel to the 1982 Ridley Scott film has not been met with universal praise and sadly it vastly under-performed at the box office making just over $92 million in the US against its production budget of $150 million.

I was lucky enough to catch it on the biggest screen I could find before it left theaters and I am glad I did. Not only does it present a thought provoking storyline and premise but it does so in a visually captivating way. There are many shots in this film that I would gladly frame and hang in my house as art. If Roger Deakins doesn’t win for best cinematography, I will assume that they forgot what good movies look like and I will promptly turn the TV off.

This film tackles big ideas about humanity, identity, sexuality, and throws in some big biblical parallels as well. It’s not your average blockbuster sequel. Clocking in at a cool 2 hours and 43 minutes it is on the long side, but I didn’t mind. I would have absorbed that gorgeous film for another hour without complaint.

11. Wind River

I am so close to calling an audible with all of these as I write my reviews. But in particular, I find it hard not to put this directorial debut from Taylor Sheridan in that top 10. This performed adequately at the box office despite the buzz machine not really working for it. It grossed over 33 million which is better than Hell or High Water from the same writer, Taylor Sheridan, last year but not even close to what Sicario did two years ago.

Jeremy Renner carries the film along with the Native American actors that they have in other key roles. The film features one of the most electrifying shootout action sequences I’ve seen in a number of years. We get to see through the experience of a marginalized victim and we feel their pain and the pain of their families. There is definite chemistry between Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch (oops!) but I love that they don’t try to shoehorn in some kind of pointless romance.

So, those are the five movies on the outside of my top ten fence looking in. What do you think? Do you disagree with any of my picks? I’m looking forward to sharing the top 10 very soon. I’m also working on my Oscar predictions and making my own list of what I feel should have won in each of the main categories. So keep an eye out for those, or just subscribe and it will come right to you. You can leave comments here or follow me on any of the major social platforms.