Dunkirk 2017
Chris's favorite theater memory from 2017: a 70mm screening with free hats.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Awards · Draft
The 2017 Movie Draft
May 25, 2021/ 80 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · Chris Ryan
Sean, Amanda, and guest Chris Ryan draft what they call the best movie year of the last decade: Get Out, Lady Bird, Dunkirk, Phantom Thread, with enough left over (Logan, Mudbound, Call Me by Your Name) to run it back.
38 films across 3 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
2017: the best movie year of the decade?Sean, Amanda, and Chris Ryan on why the year holds up
Logan 2017
Amanda saw it with Chris's wife Phoebe and remembers almost nothing about the plot.
Wonder Woman 2017
Part of the same Amanda-and-Phoebe superhero double feature run.
The Lost City of Z 2017
Amanda saw it alone; Sean spent the release touring with James Gray.
Phantom Thread 2017
Another solo Amanda trip. She rewatched it and still remembers the words.
Beauty and the Beast 2017
Amanda caught a 3 p.m. showing alone, for no particular reason.
The Oscars, in retrospect90th Academy Awards, a comedown from the year's actual movies, in their telling
Best Picture
Best Director
- The Shape of Water Guillermo del Toro Winner
Best Actor
- Darkest Hour Gary Oldman Winner
Best Actress
- Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Frances McDormand Winner
Best Supporting Actor
- Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Sam Rockwell Winner
Best Supporting Actress
- I, Tonya Allison Janney Winner
The 2017 Movie Draft drafting 2017 movies
Sean Fennessey
Comedy or Horror
Get Out 2017
The No. 1 overall pick. Sean calls it maybe the most important movie of the last five years.
Animated and Foreign Language
Coco 2017
The default Pixar pick in an otherwise thin year for animation.
Sequel
Thor: Ragnarok 2017
Taika Waititi's humor unlocked Chris Hemsworth, plus an in-on-the-joke Matt Damon cameo.
Blockbuster
Baby Driver 2017
An original jukebox-musical car-heist movie that became a hit almost by accident.
Wildcard
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) 2017
Passed over mother! for Baumbach's ensemble cast: Sandler, Stiller, Hoffman, Thompson.
Amanda Dobbins
Comedy or Horror
Lady Bird 2017
Greta Gerwig's feature debut, drafted specifically so Chris couldn't have it.
Animated and Foreign Language
Okja 2017
Bong Joon Ho's Netflix film, half in English, but she says it still counts.
Sequel
Star Wars: The Last Jedi 2017
Her only real sequel option besides Guardians Vol. 2, which she can't stand.
Drama
The Lost City of Z 2017
James Gray's Amazon expedition film, with a Sienna Miller performance she'd build a whole draft around.
Blockbuster
Wonder Woman 2017
A pick for Bill Simmons, still mad she liked it. The Themyscira opening finally made superhero movies click for her.
Wildcard
The Big Sick 2017
Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon's script, with a notable Ray Romano performance.
Chris Ryan
Comedy or Horror
It 2017
A Stephen King adaptation that actually delivered, even if the sequel cooled enthusiasm on it.
Animated and Foreign Language
The Square 2017
Ruben Östlund's art-world satire, with Claes Bang and Elisabeth Moss.
Sequel
Blade Runner 2049 2017
Unfairly maligned at release, he says, for Villeneuve's visuals alone.
Drama
Phantom Thread 2017
Paul Thomas Anderson's film, conceded to drama despite his case for comedy.
Blockbuster
Dunkirk 2017
The chronological trickery matters less on rewatch than the performances, Kenneth Branagh included.
Wildcard
Logan Lucky 2017
A Soderbergh heist movie that plays better now than the 'this changes distribution' hype did at the time.
On the board, undrafted honorable mentions
Call Me by Your NameThe Florida Projectmother!You Were Never Really HereWind RiverAtomic BlondeThe BeguiledIt Comes at NightMudboundColumbusAlien: CovenantGirls TripLoganMolly's GameDownsizingThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, MissouriAll the Money in the WorldThe Boss Baby
Also mentioned raised along the way
Box office, not drafted Beauty and the BeastJumanji: Welcome to the JungleGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2Spider-Man: HomecomingDespicable Me 3Justice League
Off-year, mentioned in passing Christopher RobinA Quiet PlaceCruellaTriangle of SadnessZack Snyder's Justice League
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV The Mandalorian
Ads Recipe ClubBoar's Head