[[nid:3403]]Two of my favorite movies in recent years were Sicario and Hell and High Water, both written by Taylor Sheridan. Mr. Sheridan made his directorial debut in 2017 with the movie Wind River. A riveting thriller, Wind River tells the story of a young F.B.I. agent (Elizabeth Olsen) who teams with a professional tracker (Jeremy Renner) to help apprehend the murderer of a Native American woman. This eye-opening crime movie is both tough and unrelenting.

[[nid:3404]]I’ve always had a special place in my heart for the heist movie and Good Time is no exception. It starts out as a bank robbery that totally goes awry. While watching this movie I had no idea where it was going and I loved every minute of it. The real revelation of this movie is Robert Pattinson as Connie Nikas, an inept bank robber who makes nothing but bad decisions. Pattinson’s performance makes incompetence compelling.

The Lost City of Z is the haunting true story of British explorer Col. Percival Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) and his trials and tribulations trying to locate a lost city in the Amazon during the 1920’s. Writer and Director James Gray does a wonderful job of capturing the era. Also, kudos to supporting cast members Robert Pattinson (2017 is the year of Pattinson) who is unrecognizable as Fawcett’s traveling partner Henry Costin, and Sienna Miller as his wife Nina Fawcett. The movie is based on the non-fiction best-seller of the same name by David Grann.

[[nid:3406]]While their films haven’t been overlooked, Filmmakers Patty Jenkins and Greta Gerwig both deserve the highest praise for their respective films in 2017, Wonder Woman and Lady Bird, two very different but very excellent movies. But let’s not forget another great female filmmaker, Lone Scherfig, who directed Their Finest, a film set during World War II about a British Ministry of information film crew who makes a propaganda movie about the evacuation of Dunkirk. Gemma Arterton is a captivating lead as the screenwriter of the movie. It’s a good mix of comedy and drama, and a nice lighter companion piece to Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk.

I can't recommend these four movies enough. Each is unique and totally original (no super heroes) and an excellent way to kick off your movie watching in 2018.