AFI recently announced its Top 10 list of Best Movies of 2017, one that could also lead the path.

On December 7, the American Film Institute announced its Movies of the Year list. This is often considered a bellwether for Oscar nominations, for many films that appear on the AFI’s Top 10 Movies of the Year go on to secure Academy Award nominations. Last year, seven movies from AFI’s list did just that.

American Film Institute Announces 2017 Movies of the Year

In past years, movies from independent studios have dominated the AFI’s Top 10 Movies of the Year lists. By contrast, just four of this year’s films were distributed by major studios: “Wonder Woman” (Warner Brothers), “The Post (20th Century Fox), “Get Out” (Universal Pictures), and “Dunkirk” (also from Warner Brothers).

The AFI’s list matched that of the Critics’ Choice Awards almost exactly. The CCA, however, gave the nod to “Darkest Hour” over “Wonder Woman.” Since “Darkest Hour” was made in the UK, it was ineligible by the AFI’s criteria.

Women may feel proud and be the chief beneficiaries of the AFI’s list, for six of the movies on the Top 10 list have female leads. That should help further discredit the notion that films with female protagonists won’t attract audiences or critical acclaim. Two of the movies were also directed by women: “Lady Bird” by first-time director Greta Gerwig and “Wonder Woman” by Patty Jenkins.

The complete list of the AFI’s top 10 movies of the year is as follows:

• “Wonder Woman”
• “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
• “The Shape of Water”
• “The Post”
• “Lady Bird”
• “Get Out”
• “The Florida Project”
• “Dunkirk”
• “Call Me By Your Name”
• “The Big Sick”

Ever since 2009, when the Academy Award adopted new rules allowing five to ten movies to be nominated for Best Picture, more genre movies like “Wonder Woman” have earned Best Picture nominations. No comic book movie, however, has been nominated for Best Picture in the last 86 years, and the Academy could still easily decide to nominate a foreign movie like “Darkest Hour” over “Wonder Woman.” Still, this latter did very well with both audiences and critics, and its many fans would likely want to see it get that nomination.

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