It’s January of 2018 and with the new year comes lots of new movies, but now I’d like to reflect on my personal favorites of the past year, so here are my top 10 movies of 2017

10. Spider-Man: Homecoming

Homecoming is the third reboot of the Spider-Man character put to film in the past couple of decades, and while some may be growing tired of this character, Tom Holland brought so much fresh energy and fun to this role and Michael Keaton’s villainous Vulture was a delight to watch and this was just one of the most fun movies of the year for me.

9. Coco

Coco was beautiful, culturally appropriate, heartwarming, and overall an extremely entertaining film. Pixar rarely disappoints, and with Inside Out and Coco in the past few years I can not wait to see where they go from here. This movie had such a rich culture and incredible music and the animation was top notch.

8. The Big Sick

I caught this movie on demand late into the year and it was a refreshingly original film in the romantic comedy genre, which has become stale over the years. This movie definitely exceeded my expectations in all regards and is easy to enjoy for pretty much anybody. You’ll laugh and cry and it will leave you thinking after the credits start to roll.

7. The Last Jedi

Some hardcore Star Wars fans would cringe at this even making the top ten, and I understand why people are so passionately divided over this film, but I am in the half that absolutely loved it. The space action was thrilling, the old characters were great to watch on screen and this movie took just enough interesting turns to really stand out from the rest of the Star Wars films as something very different. Adam Driver as Kylo Ren is, in my opinion, one of the most complex and well-acted villains I’ve seen on screen in a very very long time. I can’t wait for Episode IX.

6. A Ghost Story

This surreal drama starring Casey Affleck as a man who dies and returns home as a ghost is very difficult to explain and even harder to understand. There is very little dialogue and the film relies almost entirely on visual storytelling to get its point across, and I thought it was done flawlessly. This movie was a very heavy, heartbreaking, and intimate look into a relationship between two people and what can happen when an unexpected tragedy occurs and separates them.

5. IT

Stephen King has for years been a favorite author of mine and as someone who was never a diehard fan of the 90’s miniseries, I was so thrilled to see this movie be a more faithful and more thrilling adaptation of the book. Don’t get me wrong, Tim Curry is a genius and watching him perform in the older adaptation is fantastic, but this new film told the story in a more faithful and interesting way that could not have been done on TV 27 years ago, and I am so excited for Chapter Two. Bill Skarsgård gave an intense and disturbing performance, the child actors were great, the mix of coming of age story and monster movie was seamless and this will be looked at as a great horror film of this age in the future.

4. Lady Bird

The directorial debut of Greta Gerwig was this very endearing, loosely autobiographical coming of age story about a young teenage girl in Catholic school in Sacramento, California and her turbulent relationship with her mother. This movie had something that anyone could relate to, the feeling of not knowing who you are or where you fit in, the longing to get out of the small town and move to a big city and explore after high school, trouble connecting with or understanding your parents decisions, it was real and heavy and also very fun and sweet at times.

3. Get Out

Jordan Peele had already proved his comedy chops with his hit sketch show Key and Peele, but Get Out proves that he has even more to offer behind the camera. This movie was directed incredibly well and is one that just gets better and better the more you watch it. If you somehow have avoided learning the plot of this movie, just watch it with fresh eyes because it is thrilling,very intelligent, and goes in many unexpected directions. The social commentary on race blending into the horror elements make this movie feel more grounded in reality and has me very excited for Peele’s future film projects.

2. Baby Driver

Edgar Wright is one of my favorite directors and this car chase and action filled movie also doubles as a sweet love story and is just so much fun to watch. The performances were great all around, and the use of music and sound design in this film to move the plot forward was something that I’ve never seen executed so well before. I hope many action films in the future emulate as much style and clever attention to detail that this one did.

1. Blade Runner 2049

If you know me personally, I’m sure I’ve already talked your ear off about this movie and I said pretty much everything I needed or wanted to say in my review of it for this paper a few issues ago. Ryan Gosling is an actor who I’ve been impressed with in every major film he’s done. Drive, La La Land, The Big Short, and he does not let down here either. Denis Villneuve did an amazing job behind the camera, creating some of the most beautiful shots I have ever seen, and this sequel is one that I truly feel far outshined the original Blade Runner. In my opinion this film will only become more and more well renowned as time goes on and I am so glad that I got the opportunity to see it in theaters.