With another year of cinema behind us, 2017 was a year of horrendous missteps, divisive opinions, and genuine surprises. Now that the year is over and I have seen all that I could this year, here is a brief list of my top 10 picks of 2017.
10. Wind RiverIt’s not often that a mystery thriller is able to hit a range of emotion high notes whilst carrying a captivating narrative. The performances are the true standouts in Wind River. Specifically Jeremy Renner who delivers much of the vital emotional beats. Utterly engrossing and satisfying throughout, Wind River is a worthy first entry onto this list.
Damien Chazel’s latest film was a love letter to classic Hollywood musicals and jazz. With an effortlessly cool visual style with a phenomenal soundtrack, too, La La Land brought the musical genre back into modern cinema.
A genuinely unsettling horror film with a sprinkling of comedy that’s also a poignant social commentary on contemporary race relations, Get Out was the surprise of the year; nobody expected the directorial debut of Jordan Peele to be so well written and polished, especially given the overall poor standard of recent horror cinema. Peele is certainly one to watch in the coming years.
From one surprise horror to another, the recent cinematic adaptation of Stephen King’s IT reminded audiences that clowns are terrifying with Bill Skarsgard’s performance as Pennywise. A talented cast of young actors (including Stranger Things‘ Finn Wolfhard) add a much-needed sense of levity amongst a barrage of intense horror which pulls few punches. Although IT does suffer slightly from questionable tonal shifts, these are too few and far between to hinder the sheer entertainment of this circus of entertainment.
In a cinema landscape dominated by comic-book cinematic universes, Logan was a breath of fresh air that showed audiences that a comic-book movie could be so much more in a different liar vain as The Dark Knight,. Whereas The Dark Knight placed the superhero movie within a gripping psychological crime thriller, Logan graciously situates itself in the Western genre to deliver an intense and grizzly story of redemption.
If therewas one film this year that divided opinion and generated debate, it was Aronofsky’s Mother! Aronofsky has never been one to shy from challenging material and he took this to new dizzying heights in his latest epic. In short Mother! Is the sort of thought provoking work that all cinema should strive to be.
A sequel to a beloved sci-fi masterpiece, Blade Runner 2049 respects the original in terms of its awe-inspiring cinematography and sound design which recaptures the original!s iconic style whilst being bold enough to tell its own story to expand upon the world Ridley Scott gifted us thirty years ago. It’s only a shame not enough directors are brining intellectually challenging films into mainstream attention.
Edgar Wright is renowned for his unique and effortlessly stylish filmmaking which has consistently delivered and Baby Driver is no exception. “Cool” is the best way to describe Baby Driver. The use of music combined with Wright’s filmmaking makes for a purely enjoyable cinematic experience.
Is there anything to say about Dunkirk that hasn’t already been said? Dunkirk is Nolan at his best and gives us a powerfully raw interpretation of the Battle of Dunkirk. It’s cinema on an epic scale that only Nolan could achieve. It simply has to be seen to be believed.
This indie gem proves that, when done right, less is more. David Lowery’s unconventional take on a Ghost Story is a testament to the power of cinema. With minimal dialogue and extreme long takes combined with its home movie aesthetic, watching A Ghost Story often feels like you’re intruding on these characters’ most intimate moments. Witnessing such moments – one including the infamous pie eating scene – can verge on being uncomfortable yet there lies a provocative message of life and grief at the film’s core that hits hard. So much rich emotion drenched with a profound insight into our place within the universe makes A Ghost Story my pick for the best film of 2017.
Brawl in Cell Block 99
The Last Jedi
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Wonder Woman
Paddington 2
War for the Planet of the Apes
It Comes at Night
Raw
My Life as a Courgette
The Disaster Artist
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