On September 14th, mother! became the 100th movies seen and (eventually) reviewed by MHT with a release date in 2017. From a pace perspective, the site is 25 movies behind the previous year but there’s been plenty of days where we’ve been viewer-ready but the theaters haven’t cooperated with a movie to see. Baby Driver (seen in the last 25 movies graded) was joined by 4 5-star films released and seen in the time span it took to get from 75 to 100 with Wind River taking over the top spot on the Top Movies of 2017 list. In addition, mother!, It and A Ghost Story all received 5 stars. There were also 2 movies that couldn’t even muster up 1/2 a star with The Emoji Movie and Kidnap receiving 0 stars. Please check out the previous postings here:

The “Thumbs Up” Group

Wind River 5 out of 5 stars (5 / 5)
mother! 5 out of 5 stars (5 / 5)
A Ghost Story 5 out of 5 stars (5 / 5)
It 5 out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

4 of the current Top 5 films of 2017 (at least in MHT’s eyes) were released at the end of summer/beginning of fall. Only 1 of the 4 were huge box office successes (It) and mother! and A Ghost Story have had a polarizing effect on their audiences. Wind River is just flat out excellent.

Detroit 4.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5)

For a short window, you could hear a conversation about Detroit not involving Matthew Stafford’s mediocrity.

Ingrid Goes West 4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

Along with the previous 5 mentioned, Ingrid Goes West makes 6 new films to the current Top 8.

Crown Heights 3.5 out of 5 stars (3.5 / 5)
To The Bone 3.5 out of 5 stars (3.5 / 5)

A small budget film about injustice and a Netflix exclusive about eating disorders.

Logan Lucky 3 out of 5 stars (3 / 5)
Atomic Blonde 3 out of 5 stars (3 / 5)
Home Again 3 out of 5 stars (3 / 5)
Girls Trip 3 out of 5 stars (3 / 5)
The Hitman’s Bodyguard 3 out of 5 stars (3 / 5)
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power 3 out of 5 stars (3 / 5)
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets 3 out of 5 stars (3 / 5)
Birth of the Dragon 3 out of 5 stars (3 / 5)

A plurality of films received 3 stars with comedy, drama, Sci-Fi, action and documentary all appearing in this grouping.

The “Thumbs Eh” Group

True to the Game 2.5 out of 5 stars (2.5 / 5)
Tulip Fever 2.5 out of 5 stars (2.5 / 5)
The Glass Castle 2.5 out of 5 stars (2.5 / 5)
Good Time 2.5 out of 5 stars (2.5 / 5)

This 4-pack includes a movie for which I saw the trailer for over a year and one that I did not see any trailer for prior to seeing it. 

The “Thumbs Down” Group

Valley of Bones 2 out of 5 stars (2 / 5)
The Dark Tower 2 out of 5 stars (2 / 5)

The Dark Tower is the “Goofus” to It‘s “Gallant” when it comes to Stephen King releases.

Annabelle: Creation 1.5 out of 5 stars (1.5 / 5)

Only 1 of 2 sequels in this batch of films. While we’d hope this is a trend, it’s likely just a lull.

Kidnap 0 out of 5 stars (0 / 5)
The Emoji Movie 0 out of 5 stars (0 / 5)

It was a tough call but The Emoji Movie was actually slightly worse than Kidnap but both get the Patrick Stewart emoji.