The movies of 2017

We are two days into the month of February and I have finally listened to the yearly recaps from my movie and pop culture podcasts: Filmspotting, Relevant, Weekly Planet, and You Hate Movies. Now I am adequately prepared to list my favorite movies of last year. My top ten list has been compiled but first, a disclaimer.

Financial budgets and time restraints mean I'm unable to see every movie. There were movies I wanted to watch yet have not yet been able to do so. I feel as if I've failed as a geek because of these five omissions. I hope to correct my errors as soon as possible.

5. Blade Runner 2049
4. Colossal
3. The Girl with All the Gifts
2. Thor: Ragnarok
1. Wonder Woman

Now, my ten favorite movies from 2017.

10. Bright (Netflix) starring Will Smith and Joel Edgerton. Two cops, a human and an orc protect an elf with a mythical magic wand and find themselves at the center of a dispute over an ancient prophecy. The movie critiques race relations, class warfare, and police corruption in a story that answers what would happen if Tolkien's creatures from Lord of the Rings existed in modern Los Angeles.

9. Kong: Skull Island (Warner Bros) starring John Goodman, Samuel L Jackson, Brie Larson, and Tom Hiddleston. A group of scientists and soldiers are sent to an unexplored island at the end of the Vietnam War in hopes to prove the existence of a mythical giant creature.

8. The Lego Batman Movie (Warner Bros) starring Will Arnett, Zack Galifianakis, Michael Cera, and Rosario Dawson. Lego versions of Batman, Robin, and Batgirl try to maintain order in Gotham as Batman unleashes the villains of multitude of other franchises in an attempt to permanently defeat The Joker.

7. Split (Universal) starring James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy. A troubled teen is kidnapped by a disturbed individual with dissociative identity disorder. The film follows her efforts to escape while interacting with many of Kevin's 23 personalities.

6. John Wick: Chapter 2 (Lionsgate) starring Keanu Reeves. Wick is still can't escape the world of assassins despite his desire to retire to a life of peace. So, he shoots a bunch of people. Again.

5. Downsizing (Paramount) starring Matt Damon, Hong Chau, and Christoph Waltz. After an irreversible medical shrinking procedure, a newly divorced man tries to figure out who his is and his place in this world.

4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (Disney/Marvel) starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, and Kurt Russell. Star Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, and Baby Groot face their greatest challenge yet - an absentee father named Ego.

3. Get Out (Universal) starring Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams. Chris, a photographer from the city travels to the country side with his girlfriend to meet her parents - a neurosurgeon and a hypnotherapist. It doesn't go well. After hearing racist comments from his girlfriend's brother and witnessing odd behavior from the groundskeeper and housekeeper, Chris begins to suspect something disturbing about the family.

2. It (Warner Bros) starring Jaeden Lieberher, Bill Skarsgård, Sophia Lillis, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Finn Wolfhard, Jack Dylan Grazer, Chosen Jacobs, and Wyatt Oleff. A group of nerdy kids and outcasts collectively known as the Losers Club battle violent bullies, abusive adults, and Pennywise the creepy shape-shifting killer clown who feeds off fear.

1. Logan (20th Century Fox/Marvel) starring Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and Dafne Keen. Jackman's ninth and final performance as Wolverine is easily the best of the entire X-Men franchise. It also packs the greatest emotional punch. Logan (AKA Wolverine) is getting old and his mutant healing powers are not as strong as they once were. He provides palliative care to a senile and cantankerous Charles Xavier (AKA Professor) in a world where all other mutants have been killed. Logan crosses paths with his clone, a young girl trying to find freedom from the diabolical scientists who have been experimenting on her and her friends. It's a superhero movie, a genre I love, based on one of the first comic book characters I read when I was a junior high student. It's also a mature story with an ending that made me cry ugly tears.

What was your favorite movie of 2017? What did I miss?