2017 has been a year that started as strong as any year in recent memory when it comes to movies. From the January and February box office smashes of Split (which, personally, I wouldn’t say I liked as much as many others) and Get Out to the successful continuations or reboots of franchise movies such as Kong: Skull Island, Alien: Covenant, War of the Planet of the Apes, and Logan to the absolutely captivating Life and Wind River, we had about ten movies heading into September, whereas in a normal year, we might have half that many. Now, if I asked a common moviegoer to name five non-animated movies released before September, the five could not include any of the ones I have just listed. They may have said Wonder Woman, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Dunkirk, Spider-Man Homecoming, and Transformers: The Last Knight. Notice I did not list any of these films. Sure, Wonder Woman was fun and well-made, but it offered nothing that any other superhero origin movie in the last 10 years hadn’t already offered. Spider-Man Homecoming I didn’t even give a chance. Homecoming is the sixth Spider-Man release and third “origin” movie in the last 15 years. Eventually, you have to throw your hands up in the air and say, “Enough is enough. Stop taking my money.” The only one on this list of five that I had any real expectations for was Dunkirk and, while I didn’t dislike it, it failed to overwhelm me and certainly failed to live up to the lofty expectations I had set for it. There was also the little surprise of Baby Driver, which I have so much appreciation for because of its originality. Still, one that ultimately fell off the tracks the deeper it got into the movie. And as we head into Oscar season, I’m worried that 2017 will be a forgotten year. I hope to be surprised, but I feel that the movies nominated for Best Picture this year are going to disappoint. I hope to be wrong. I mention all of this because there have been some diamonds in the rough, and one of those is Destin Daniel Cretton’s (Short Term 12) The Glass Castle.
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