In 2017, two films featuring young protagonists broke the mold to give same old same old tropes a fresh take. In “Baby Driver,” the creative use of music made it an extraordinary heist film, while the unlikely focus of “Lady Bird” on mother-daughter relationship set it apart from other coming-of-age movies. The two films are among the best and most original of last year’s crop of films.

“La La Land,” released at the end of 2016, was the right movie at the right time for many Americans like me in want of hope and inspiration, no matter how fleeting. Only the truly cynical and jaded heart would remain untouched by Damien Chazelle’s beautiful film.

When I read Emma Donoghue’s brilliant novel a few years ago, I thought its claustrophobic setting and 5-year-old narrator made the book impossible to turn into a movie. Thank goodness, I was wrong. Lenny Abrahamson’s film succeeds in capturing the book’s positive spirit and the young protagonist’s sense of wonder.

The Hollywood western is the ultimate American film genre, full of maverick heroes and brutish villains amid a sprawling frontier landscape. “Jane Got a Gun” delivers all of that—from the perspective of a young woman protecting her family and home.

Ridley Scott’s “The Martian” opens with a real downer. Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is left behind on Mars by his crew, believing he’d died in a storm. I almost expected a gross scenario to follow in the style of “Alien” and “Prometheus,” the other science-fiction films by Scott. But, no, happily this movie is a lot more fun than those two films combined.

There’s nothing more conventional than a boxing movie. From “Rocky” to “The Fighter,” we know what we’re going to get: a good fight. “Southpaw” delivers exactly that. It’s tough and comforting at the same time.

It’s risky to infuse a huge Hollywood film with a political message. It takes a visionary director like George Miller to reboot his “Mad Max” franchise with an unabashed feminist theme.

We’re all familiar with the curmudgeon character made popular by Archie Bunker on TV. Clint Eastwood played a similar character in “Gran Torino” and “Trouble with the Curve.” In “St. Vincent,” Bill Murray’s cantankerous neighbor is a refreshing take on the trope.

“Out of the Furnace” is not the kind of movie that jumps on you. It’s a cinematic slow burn that grows on you. The film, set in the steel town of Braddock, Pa., is about the Baze brothers—Russell (Christian Bale) and Rodney (Casey Affleck).

Although “Dead Poets Society” is set in a boys’ prep school in Vermont in 1959, moviegoers relate to it because it puts them squarely on a familiar ground. Most people remember a teacher like John Keating (Robin Williams) who changes his students’ lives. In every school, there’s a passionate soul like Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard), a painfully shy kid like Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke), and a rebel like Nuwanda (Gale Hansen).