The Best Films of 2017

Being that we are currently in the midst of the holiday season, I figured what better time than this week than to do my top 5 lists of 2017.

2017 has been kind of a train wreck, but there has been some pretty good things to come out in the world of music, movies, TV, podcasts and sports moments. Those are the 5 topics I will cover this week, one topic per day. Today I'm going to start with movies.

Movies was one of the hardest lists for me to pair down to 5. There were a ton of very good movies that came out this year. For example, some great movies that did not make my list, "Wonder Woman", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "The Big Sick", "John Wick: Chapter 2", "The Lego Batman Movie" and "Coco". I saw all these movies and thought they were awesome. Also, I have not seen the new "Star Wars" movie, I haven't seen "Thor: Ragnarok" or "War for the Planet of the Apes", "Dunkirk", and many, many others. Too many to name. But, I finally got my list paired down to what I consider to be the best 5 movies of the year. Here we go.

At number 5 I have "Blade Runner 2049". That enough should show you how great I thought the movies were this year. This was the movie I was looking most forward too, and boy did it deliver. I'm a big time fan of the original "Blade Runner", so I had enormous expectations. Well, Ryan Gosling and Denis Villenvue delivered. The visuals were stunning. The acting was great. The story was great. The scenery was magical. I loved that they kept the tone and look of the original. It was everything that I wanted, but so much more. The movie ran almost three hours long, and I could have watched it for three more hours. "Blade Runner 2049" more than lived up to the hype, and it is such a quality companion to the wonderful "Blade Runner". That is my number 5 movie people.

At number 4 I have "Baby Driver". I know that this movie has the Kevin Spacey stink on it, but if you can try and push past that, this movie is amazing. The opening chase scene set to Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's "Bellbottoms", is heart racing and tremendous. From that moment on, "Baby Driver" just goes and goes hard. The driving is so cool and slick and real. The acting is top notch. This is Jaime Foxx's best role in my opinion. The action is intense. But what makes this movie stand apart is the way Edgar Wright mixes the music with the storyline. Every song has a meaning to the scene that it is in. I heard someone describe the movie as an action/car chase/ musical, and I couldn't agree more. Edgar Wright completely knocked it out of the park with this movie. Also, the soundtrack rules. Go watch this movie now, then go buy the soundtrack and watch it again. "Baby Driver" is awesome.

At number 3 I have "Get Out". I'm one of the few people that didn't get to the theaters to see the movie, but I did see it recently. My wife and I rented it on Netflix and watched it right around Halloween. "Get Out" is a big time achievement by Jordan Peele. His love for the horror genre, but also his comedic chops, make this a one of a kind movie. The Golden Globes got it way wrong by putting this movie in the Comedy and Musical category though. It should just be nominated for Best Movie. Putting that aside though, "Get Out" had me on edge more than any horror/suspense movie that I have ever watched. I also could not look away from the screen, and I did not figure out what was going on until they revealed it in the movie. All the actors did an amazing job as well. They put their all into their roles, and it really shows. Jordan Peele has an unique vision, and I cannot wait to see what he does next. Until then though, go watch "Get Out".

At number 2 I have "Logan". This is, by far, the best "superhero" movie I have ever seen. I know awhile back that I wrote that "Guardians of the Galaxy" has taken over as my favorite superhero movies, but "Logan" is still the best "superhero" movie. What I love so much about "Logan" is the violence. This movie is brutal. "Logan" shows what his claws would actually do to someone's head when he uses them. There is so much blood and gore. It is crazy. I also love how "Logan" is more a Western than a "superhero" movie. I like to say that it is a Western that just happens to have some super heroes in it. Besides all that, the acting in "Logan" is pretty amazing. Hugh Jackman is great. The little girl that plays Weapon X is awesome. The villain is brutal. Stephen Merchant is a revelation. But no one is better than Sir Patrick Stewart. What he does with an old, Alzheimer's ridden Professor X in this movie is amazing. He more than deserves Oscar consideration. "Logan" may be the best "superhero movie ever made.

And at number 1, I have "The Disaster Artist". And no, this is not recency bias. "The Disaster Artist" is a masterpiece. James Franco made something absolutely perfect. I could not love this movie anymore. It is perfect in every single way. The comedy is top notch. The drama, and yes there is drama, fits in quite nicely. The recreations of all the insanity that went into making "The Room" was amazing. James Franco better damn well get Oscar consideration. Not only does he direct this movie great, but his acting as Tommy Wiseau is perfection. He was so, so good. So was his brother Dave Franco as Greg Sestero. Everyone else in this movie, and there are a lot of big time names, did a wonderful job. For any fan of "The Room", "The Disaster Artist" is a stupendous love letter to the wackiness of it all. For people that didn't see "The Room", "The Disaster Artist" is a must see for fans of friendship/Hollywood/chasing your dream style of movie. For me it gets no better than "The Disaster Artist" in 2017. It is a masterpiece.

There you have it, my top 5 movies of the year. Come back tomorrow for my top 5 albums of the year. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He also did not see the number of forgettable movies that got nominated for a bunch of Golden Globes. He still needs to catch up to timeless classics like "The Tourist", "The Artist", and "La La Land". He will catch up with those films when he is bored with good movies.

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Jamie Foxx Gives the Performance of the Year in the Awesome "Baby Driver"

Get your rear to the theater and see Foxx and "Baby Driver" on the big screen

I'm coming to you all straight from Chicago, and I want to talk about my new favorite, "Baby Driver", once again. Instead of giving a spoiler free review or talking about a certain song, I want to single out who I thought had the best performance in the movie. First off, this movie is packed with stars. Names like Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Lily Adams, Ansel Elgort fill out some of the big names. But, one of the biggest names also did the best job, in my opinion, and that person is Jamie Foxx as Bats.

Jamie Foxx was tremendous in this movie. I know I kind of singled him out last week, but I want to dig a little deeper today. I know that Foxx is an Oscar winner(Ryan Gosling should have won that year), but for the most part, he's a comedic actor. He is not funny, at least not on purpose, in "Baby Driver". He's a psychopath in fact. When he first showed up on screen, in a cocked red leather hat and a big red sweater with a King playing card on it, he was all business. He was a criminal that wanted to get his money by any means necessary. He did not like Baby right off the bat, and he made this known immediately. He belittled and mean mugged him the moment he met him. He didn't trust Baby either. When Doc is laying out a plan and Baby has his headphones in the whole time, Bats is eyeing him. Even when Baby tells him the plan back verbatim, Bats is still skeptical. It only got crazier from there, and Foxx displayed that craziness to perfection. When Bats' team job goes awry, Foxx pulls off the psychotic side so convincingly, I forgot he was acting. I no longer saw Jamie Foxx, I saw Bats. That is how I know he nailed it. When I only refer to you by your character's name to people I tell the movie about, that means, to me, that you nailed it.

Later on, and this isn't a spoiler, when Bats, Buddy and Darling get together to do a job, Bats is still super weary of Baby. Possibly more so than he was the first time. Foxx played this paranoia great. I bought his skepticism, his worry, his want for truth, his need for everyone to be all in on the job. Then the cop scene happens. Again, no spoilers, but Bats shows his true colors, and it's horrifying. Mind you, Foxx plays this completely serious. There are no laughs to be had, only fear. I squirmed in my seat, and I think that's what Foxx and Edgar Wright wanted. The following scene, in the diner, was just as creepy. His breakdown of Buddy was eerily correct. His face to face with Debora, real scary. His shake down and argument with Darling was incredible. And his nose to nose with Baby, again, I was squirming. When they eventually do their big job, Bats gets what's coming to him, but it is shocking. I will reiterate, no spoilers, go see the movie to see what happens. You'll thank me later.

What Foxx did was undeniably great. Even people who aren't as high on this movie as I am have singled out Foxx's performance. He was incredible. I'd much rather he get the Oscar for this performance than for playing Ray Charles, and he was great as Ray Charles. He was so much better as Bats though.

There's a million reasons to see "Baby Driver", but Foxx's performance would be reason number one I would tell people to see it. See it on the big screen as well, to get Bats' full effect. This is the third time I've talked about "Baby Driver" in the past 6 days, and I guarantee I will talk about it a bunch more. This movie is great and Foxx's performance is noteworthy and classic.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has been a huge Jamie Foxx fan since his big-time breakout role as Coach Armstrong on the classic television program "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper".

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"Baby Driver" is a Perfect Movie

And this is the perfect music delivery system

I just got home from seeing "Baby Driver", and I'm here to tell you that you need to see this movie. My review is going to on the shorter side because I implore everyone to see this on the big screen. That is the way this movie is meant to be seen. Anyway, I went with my father to a matinee. I have been waiting to see this movie, so I have been purposefully staying away from reading anything about it or watching too many previews. I'm glad that I did it that way.

There is so much to like in "Baby Driver". Ansel Elgort as Baby is phenomenal. I didn't know who this kid was, my wife told me he was in "The Fault in our Stars", but I haven't seen that movie, so I didn't know what to expect. Well, he was outstanding as the getaway driver. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that this is a movie about a driver that helps bank robbers get out of trouble. That is in all the previews. What makes Elgort's performance, and the movie for that matter though, is he is always listening to music because of an accident he was involved in as a child. He has a ringing in his ears, so to offset the noise, he listens to all types of music. I'd go so far as to say that this was a musical crime movie. The music is just terrific. There is a little something for everyone. I was also very pleased to see Baby listen to his music on an iPod. I think he and I may be the only 2 people in the world that still have them, and use them.

Besides Elgort's performance and the music, Jamie Foxx was great. He is bad to the bone, and when he is on screen, you know there is trouble. Same thing can be said for both Jon Hamm and Eiza Gonzalez, a relative unknown to me. They were a married couple that like to rob banks together. Their relationship was one of my favorite things from this movie. Jon Bernthal, in a very small performance, is equally as scary and as good as everyone else. His line, again, this is not a spoiler, "you have to be a little criminal to be in crime", should be the tagline for this movie. Kevin Spacey, making a return to the big screen, was brash, arrogant, rude and I loved his performance. It was like they took his character from "Swimming with Sharks", and put him in this movie. I'm always reminded of how good an actor he can be when placed in the right role. Lily James as Debora and Baby's love interest was perfectly cast as the damsel in distress. She was excellent as well. Everyone, even Flea, did a great job in this movie.

Edgar Wright also holds a special place in my heart when it comes to movies. He made "Shaun of the Dead", "Hot Fuzz" and "The World's End", all with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as a trilogy of sorts, and I love all those movies. Then he made "Scott Pilgrim vs the World", and that is one of my top 5 movies of all time. I was predestined to enjoy "Baby Driver". But, I more than enjoyed it, I adored it. It was fast paced. There were multiple love stories. It was dark. It was humorous. It was well acted. It was especially well written and directed. And again, the use of music was just wonderful.

Like I said at the top, I do not want to spoil anything, and I feel like if I dig deeper into the plot, that is exactly what I'll do. Just do yourself a favor and go see this movie ASAP. It is getting great reviews, as it should. I love that it feels like a 50's heist movie, what with the clothes worn and the music being played, but it is set in modern day. I love Atlanta being the town that the movie takes place in. I loved every little thing about this movie. 

Just go now and watch this movie. I think that is the third time I have said that. It is so well done, and it is so nice to see an original movie nowadays when everything seems to be a remake or a sequel. "Baby Driver" is neither of those things, it is an original.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He will never give up on his iPod. Music was meant to have the clicks of the mechanical wheel when a person is choosing their next track. It is more pure.

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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.