Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.

New Year’s Eve is just around the corner.

Once again, the Cassandras are predicting the end of Hollywood, and the death of movies. Certainly, it’s been a trying year. Politically, the change in US president combined with the widespread use of social networking as a news source has spearheaded a widespread attack on journalistic integrity. And the exposure of sexual harassment in movies and TV meant a loss of credibility in the Hollywood infrastructure. Brexit – if it goes through – could damage cultural production in both Europe and the U.K. The big studios are consolidating like crazy. Disney just bought Fox, and a Timewarner/Comcast merger is in the works. Net neutrality is out the window. Finally the big studios are releasing their movie plans years in advance, which seem to consist solely of cartoons, space movies, superheroes and comedies based on bad TV shows.  And in Canada the government signed a sweetheart deal with Netflix, saying the media giant should produce Canadian content… but only if they feel like it. No pressure! And no tax on your Netflix bill!

Sounds awful, doesn’t it? Then how come there were so many fantastic movies this year. So many I can’t possibly put all the great ones on my list of the best of 2017.

But here goes, in no particular order – my list of movies that played in Toronto – either in theatres or at film festivals in 2017. These are all movies that moved, surprised and delighted me in some way. (Not included: documentaries and animation.)

First two movies that were made the previous year but finally reached the big screen in 2017:

I, Daniel Blake is Ken Loach’s deeply moving look at an ordinary guy screwed by by British austerity measures.

Certain Women is Kelly Reicharts look at women out west who don’t quite get it right.

Honourable mentions to the surprising crime drama Good Time, the subtle A Ghost Story, and the funny Wilson.

Next some genre movies I really liked:

Get Out is a dryly funny and satiric horror movie played out against the backdrop of the American racial divide.

Verónica is a Spanish movie set in the early 1990s about a teenaged girl in Catholic school who lets loose demons when she plays with a Ouija board during a solar eclipse.

Now some fantastic movies that opened in the fall and are still playing.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri is a cutely violent story of a woman – played by Frances McDormand – trying to bring to justice the unknown killer of her daughter.

Call Me Your Name is a flawless take on first love in Italy in the early 1980s. It’s not the sappy sentimental story it looks like in the trailer, but an intelligent and subtle drama.

The Shape of Water is about a mute cleaning woman working in a government lab in the Cold War 1960s who falls for a man who is part fish.

There are many more great movies – like Ladybird, Florida Project, Wonderstruck, Happy End, Thelma, BPM and The Square – that should also be mentioned.

Here are some movies made in 2017 but scheduled for release in the new year, that must be seen.

Lean on Pete is a touching and realistic tale of a kid and the horse he takes care of, setting off in a journey in unknown territory.

Loveless is a heart-wrenching story of a kid in Moscow who runs away from home after he overhears his parents say neither of them wants him.

Foxtrot is a sharply satiric comedy drama that looks at a middle aged couple who discovers their son — who works at a military checkpoint – might be dead.

A Fantastic Woman is about a woman whose life falls apart when her lover dies, and his family discovers she is a transwoman.

Sweet Country is set in the Australian outback in the early 20^th century. Its a classic western, but told for once from the indigenous point of view.

And finally, The Captain, is a fast moving, jaw-dropping, absurdist drama about a German deserter at the end of WWII. He puts on an officer’s uniform, totally changing his identity, status and sense of morality.

As usual, I had a whole year to decide but end up scribbling down my choices right before I record it. So I’m sure I left out a lot of great movies, but hopefully you will catch some of these.

Once again, the list:

The Captain, Sweet Country, A Fantastic Woman, Foxtrot, Loveless, Lean on Pete, The Shape of Water, Call me By Your Name, Three Billboards outside Ebbing Missouri, Veronica, Get Out, Certain Women, I Daniel Blake.

This is Daniel Garber at the Movies, each Friday morning, on CIUT 89.5 FM and on my website, culturalmining.com.