Click here if you want to view part 1 of the countdown, which revealed #85-31. And now, time for the even better stuff: the year's top 30...
30. THE DISASTER ARTIST (dir: James Franco)
180.5 points
An adaptation of the Greg Sestero book on the making of the 2003 so-bad-its-good classic The Room. Besides directing the picture, James Franco plays the movie's director, Tommy Wiseau, in a role that led him to win a Golden Globe before allegations of sexual misconduct emerged, leading to his reputation taking a hit and, subsequently, his chances of an Oscar nomination getting destroyed.
29. THE SQUARE (dir: Ruben Östlund)
182 points
Three years after making a name for himself with Force Majeure (#18 in the 2014 countdown), the Swedish Östlund returned with a drama about a director for an art museum (Claes Bang) who has to deal with many challenges, including performance-art stunts that end up being total disasters. IThe film ended up winning the prestigious Palme d'Or at that year's Cannes Film Festival.
28. DAWSON CITY: FROZEN TIME (dir: Bill Morrison)
183 points
A documentary about the town of Dawson City, Canada, located deep in the Yukon territory, as told by old silent film footages from the early 20th Century that were found during a 1978 bulldozing project.
27. STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI (dir: Rian Johnson)
192.5 points
Mired by controversy amongst certain members of its fanbase for various reasons (some legitimate, some that were nonsensical and mostly guided by bigotry), the eight episode of the franchise still managed to produce. Not only did it become just the third movie ever to gross $2 billion, it also was a hit among many film critics for its performances (including Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker) and deconstruction of various old tropes.
26. BPM (BEATS PER MINUTE) (dir: Robin Campillo)
210.5 points
An inspiring and tear-jerking drama about a French branch of the AIDS victim advocacy group ACT UP. The film received the honor of Grand Prix at that year's Cannes Film Festival.
25. WONDER WOMAN (dir: Patty Jenkins)
230.5 points
Gal Gadot plays the famous Amazonian superhero in the days of World War I, where she sets out to help an American soldier (Chris Pine) stop the German army from unleashing a series of chemical gas attacks. While this isn't the first superhero movie to star a female character, this movie (and, in particular, its success) did manage to shake Hollywood up and demonstrate that it would be beneficial to make more female-led movies like it in the future. Its also without a doubt the most acclaimed DC Comics movie adaptation since Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises (#16 in the 2012 list), which isn't nothing.
24. mother! (dir: Darren Aronofsky)
236 points
While the controversy over The Last Jedi was arguably more louder in the discourse, mother! managed to do something which hadn't been done by an acclaimed film in a while: become so polarizing that you managed to have people booing it and people calling it a masterpiece in equal measure. I mean, how often have you seen movies place this high while not even breaking 70% on Rotten Tomatoes? Starring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem, this trippy horror film will likely be both angering and thrilling cinephiles for years to come.
23. THE LOST CITY OF Z (dir: James Gray)
247.5 points
Charlie Hunman plays British explorer Col. Percival Fawcett as he goes through an obsessive quest while searching through the Amazon river in the 1920s. Robert Pattinson and Sienna Miller also star. Its the second straight appearance in the top 25 for director James Gray, whose last film, The Immigrant, managed to make a theatrical release in 2014 despite being in post-production hell courtesy of Harvey Weinstein (oh, how times have changed) and received the #21 spot in the 2014 countdown.
22. NOCTURAMA (dir: Bertrand Bonello)
267.5 points
A group of diverse French youths successfully pull off a series of terrorist attacks in Paris and spend the subsequent evening in a mall while in hiding. The film is especially praised for its mesmerizing mise-en-scene and fascinating examination into the psyche of these murderous young people.
21. LOGAN (dir: James Mangold)
271 points
The year's highest-ranking superhero movie, so good that it actually managed to be one of the few in its genre to earn a serious Oscar nomination (for the category of Best Adapted Screenplay). It also marks what's expected to be the last appearance of Hugh Jackman in the role of the famous X-Men character Wolverine.
20. TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN (dir: David Lynch)
294.5 points
Is the 18-part miniseries created by Mark Frost and David Lynch (a continuation of the famous early '90s cult series) a movie or a TV show? While yours truly believes the answer was that it was obviously a TV show (due it being basically the third season of Twin Peaks as well as a weekly serial airing on the network Showtime), turns out the issue was not so simple. Back in December, for instance, famous European film publications Sight & Sound and Cahiers du cinema had it near the top of their year-end film rankings, with a bunch of other film critics following suit (overall, this series set a first-place percentage record in this countdown's history with, 76% of its 33 top ten placements being at #1). Meanwhile, Lynch himself claimed he treated it as one long movie, while the first two installments managed to even land a premiere at the coveted Cannes Film Festival. Either way, I'm sure that Twin Peaks fans would be happy to know that the series was loved by critics of all stripes (it also placed high on aggregate TV critics polls).
18(tie). MUDBOUND (dir: Dee Rees)
300 points
A moving drama about a family of black and white sharecroppers working in the Jim Crow South. This film, which premiered to raves at Sundance, was nominated for multiple Oscars (include Best Cinematography for Rachel Morrison, the first woman ever nominated in the category) and helped propel Netflix's prestige (along with The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) and Okja ).
18(tie). I, TONYA (dir: Craig Gillespie)
300 points
Margot Robbie stars in this biopic about Tonya Harding, the controversial American figure skater who is most famous with attempting to sabotage competitor Nancy Kerrigan at the 1994 Olympic Winter Games.
17. A QUIET PASSION (dir: Terence Davies)
313.5 points
The underrated director of such recent-classics as The Deep Blue Sea (#19 in the 2012 countdown) tells the story of famous American poet Emily Dickinson. Cynthia Nixon plays the starring role.
16. BABY DRIVER (dir: Edgar Wright)
316.5 points
A well-edited action romp with a great soundtrack that stars Ansel Elgort as a talented getaway driver that enjoys listening to music on his iPod. Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, Lily James and Kevin Spacey (in his last-famous role before being outed as a pedophile creep) also star. This marks Wright's first film since The World's End (#26 on the 2013 list) as well as his first since being outed from shooting Ant-Man, which shows that he appears to be doing just fine.
15. THE POST (dir: Steven Spielberg)
331 points
A free press film with feminist and anti-Trump undertones, Steven Spielberg delivers the story of The Washington Post attempts to publish The Pentagon Papers after it was stolen by former military analyst Daniel Ellsberg. Meryl Streep stars as Katharine Graham, the trailblazing publisher of the Post, as well as Tom Hanks, playing the role of editor-in-chief Ben Bradlee. In general, the whole cast is top-of-the-line, with roles played by such people as Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson, Carrie Coon, Matthew Rhys, and more. The film won the National Board of Review award for Best Film.
14. FACES PLACES (dir: JR, Agnes Varda)
342 points
The year's highest-ranking documentary, as the unlikely duo of Agnes Varda and JR travel across the country of France to take photos of various residents and put them onto murals. The film was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards.
13. THE BIG SICK (dir: Michael Showalter)
351.5 points
One of the darlings of 2017's Sundance Film Festival, the romantic comedy is based on the love story of co-writers and spouses Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani. Nanjiani plays a version of himself in the movie, with Zoe Kazan playing the role of Emily. Ray Romano and Holly Hunter also star.
12. PERSONAL SHOPPER (dir: Olivier Assayas)
354.5 points
A woman (played by Kristen Stewart) received paranormal messages from her dead brother in the latest collaboration between Stewart and Olivier Assayas.
11. BLADE RUNNER 2049 (dir: Denis Villeneuve)
469.5 points
Set 30 years after the events of the 1982 Ridley Scott classic Blade Runner, we see a replicant cop (played by Ryan Gosling) attempt to discover the whereabouts of another replicant that was found to sexually reproduce. Harrison Ford reprises his role as Rick Deckard in this one, and the movie also features performances by Jared Leto and Robin Wright. The film marks yet another film in Denis Villeneuve's recently remarkable run (Prisoners, Sicario, Arrival). As demonstrated by the high positioning of this movie and Twin Peaks: The Return proves, 2017 was quite the boon year for sequels to property previously released decades prior.
10. A GHOST STORY (dir: David Lowery)
503.5 points
Inspired by the movies of Terrence Mallick, we see the ghost of a deceased man (played by Casey Affleck) carry out his being while living in the same house that he resided in before passing away.
9. GOOD TIME (dir: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie)
556 points
Robert Pattison plays a guy who hustles and cons his way into finding bail money for his brother. The film marks yet another acclaimed contribution by the Safdie brothers into the more grimy parts of New York City, following the success of Heaven Knows What (#38 on the 2015 countdown).
8. THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI (dir: Martin McDonagh)
701 points
Frances McDormand earned her second Oscar playing Mildred, an angry mother who was so pissed off by the lack of closure into the investigation over her daughter's death, she ends up calling out the town sheriff (played by Woody Harrelson) in a series of three billboards. Sam Rockwell also earned an Oscar for his performance as one of the town's deputies. This movie won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture- Drama.
7. PHANTOM THREAD (dir: Paul Thomas Anderson)
785.5 points
Three years after writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson came out with Inherent Vice, arguably his least loved movie of this century (only a #10 finish in the 2014?!? PTA, you're slipping!), he managed to dazzle audiences with another trip back to the mid-20th Century (following 2012's The Master, which appeared as #2 in that year's countdown). This time, in involved Daniel Day-Lewis in his final on-screen role as Reynolds Woodcock, a famous fashion designer, and the antagonistic yet loving relationship he had with his wife, Alma (Vicky Krieps). Despite just barely premiering in time to be considered on year-end lists (mid-December, which is why some of the earlier year-end top-ten lists didn't feature it), the movie still wowed audiences enough to earn six Oscars, including Best Picture.
6. THE SHAPE OF WATER (dir: Guillermo Del Toro)
796 points
The 2017 Best Picture winner (a choice that was both pretty predictable and also completing shocking given its plot), a tale of a deaf woman (Sally Hawkins) who falls in love with a captured sea creature. Guillermo Del Toro brought his usual production design craft, leading him to also receive a Best Director victory after a successful 20+ year career.
5. DUNKIRK (dir: Christopher Nolan)
1094 points
The highest-rated summer blockbuster movie on this list, not to mention the highest-rated movie involving the battle of Dunkirk (see: part 1 of the countdown). Despite Christopher Nolan's films being known for a lot of exposition and plot chicanery, this film was rather subdued in those elements with the main chicanery being that of three different storylines being told in a non-linear fashion. Tom Hardy, Fionn Whitehead, Harry Styles and Kenneth Branagh lead the way in a movie that was far less focused on their backstories and more on their selfless pursuit of fulfilling their duty to their country.
4. THE FLORIDA PROJECT (dir: Sean Baker)
1177 points
Two years after coming out with Tangerine (#11 on the 2015 countdown), Sean Baker followed-up with another look into the world of a marginalized community, this time a motel of poor families living by Disney World in Orlando (with a manager played by Willem Dafoe).
3. CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (dir: Luca Guadagnino)
1190.5 points
A romance story based on the novel of the same name, about a young man (Timothy Chalamet, in his breakout role) and an older visitor to his parent's Italian estate (Armie Hammer). This marks the second straight year a Guadagnino movie has appeared on the list (following last year's #38 placing for A Bigger Splash) as well as the return in prominence for legendary filmmaker James Ivory, whose script earned him the category as oldest Oscar winner ever at age 89.
2. LADY BIRD (dir: Greta Gerwig)
1396 points
Above all else, it was a pair of longtime actors and freshman directors who led the way in 2017. One of them featured Greta Gerwig directing a drama loosely based on her time as a teenager from Sacramento, California in the early 2000s. Saoirse Ronan plays the titular Lady Bird, a rambunctious senior at a Catholic high school who wishes to leave her home in order to go to college in the East Coast. The movie was nominated for five Oscars, including writing and directing noms for Gerwig as well as recognition for the supporting performance of Laurie Metcalf as Lady Bird's mom. At one point, Rotten Tomatoes had it as it highest rated movie ever.
1. GET OUT (dir: Jordan Peele)
1639.5 points
But while Gerwig's directorial debut earned excellent praise, it was still no match in 2017 for Jordan Peele's directorial debut, a horror film about a young black man (Daniel Kaluuya) who visits the suburban family of his white girlfriend (Allison Williams). Thanks to an Oscar-winning script, a great horror atmosphere and some stellar performances, Get Out was able to capture audiences with its interesting take on race relations, getting a massive box-office payoff in the process. Terms like "the sunken place" have entered the pop-culture lexicon, while Peele managed to flaunt his talent in a new direction after being known for years through his excellent comedy work (such as the Emmy Award-winning Key & Peele).
Get Out's positioning at #1 is probably the least dominant finish in a while. Its 40 number ones were pretty minimal compared to Moonlight's 92 in 2016, or even Mad Max: Fury Road's 68 in 2015, but it was still more than anyone elses (Call Me By Your Name finished second with 34). It also appeared on only 61% of the top ten lists, while #1 films in years past got at least 65% , which reflected a year of critics lists with more parity (Lady Bird, The Florida Project, Call Me By Your Name and Dunkirk also broke the 40% barrier, in that order). That being said, a #1 spot is what it received, and given how much attention had been paid to it all throughout 2017 from the moment of its February release, it most certainly feels deserved.
Coming tomorrow: a list of some other movies mentioned by critics lists we counted
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