2017's Best Of The Year - Films

Yknow I love making Best Of The Year lists, but I am merely just one simple manboy. I don't go out of my way to do any of these things for a job, which means I don't always have the best all rounded opinion on everything that came out this year. But I do want to share my thoughts on things I did see and did enjoy, so here is MY Top Ten Films of 2017!

10. Dunkirk

A film like this only really comes around every so often, and when it does it becomes absolutely breathe taking. Dunkirk is a masterclass in story telling, with a story out of order, similarly to my favourite film of all time Pulp Fiction, it allows the viewer on first watch to try and piece together the timeline of the film, and when the films stories cross paths into a single moment it is amazing. To the same effect the story prevails through lack of dialogue, the quiet stillness of the film is atmospheric but communicative too. The sound design in this film is ultimately the best and worst part, the sounds that you hear in the cinema are completely riveting and encapsulate you in it's world, but because of this I don't think this film would have the same effect in a normal living room. This film is made for a cinema and seeing it in anything else probably conveys it as a dull war movie.

9. Thor Ragnarok

As the MCU keeps going the luminous 'superhero fatigue' feels less and less likely, Thor is the perfect example of why this is, Marvel allow themselves to take such creative directors and give them a boat load of money allowing them to do what they please. Taika Waititi takes everything great from he's previous work like What We Do In The Shadows and Hunt For The Wilderpeople. Most specifically the comedy! In reality it is just a very charming, hilarious and sometimes emotional movie.

8. Killing Of A Sacred Deer

Imagine finishing a movie and really really enjoying it, your brain all over the place constantly thinking about it with a big grin on your face, then all of a sudden, an old man from the back of the theatre says: 'That was fucking shit.'. Welcome to Killing of A Sacred Deer, as polarising as Mother! but more interesting and enjoyable to watch. This probably has loads of amazing layered meanings, probably some allegories, I love to think about that stuff, but for a post-modern film to be as enjoyable just on its face as a story is truly a mark of greatness. Immediately creepy from the get go, intense and strange, Killing Of A Sacred Deer is a film I absolutely fell into, after IT earlier in the year and Stranger Things last year turning me onto Horror films, Killing Of A Sacred Deer felt like a new form of Horror a refreshingly creepy and quiet movie. Definitely worth a watch if you are the open minded movie goer.

7. Get Out

Get Out uses the current social climate about racism to not only create a film that is just inherently 2017, but also a film that creates genuine real life horror around racism. I'm sure (as a white man) I would connect more to the lead character in Get Out if I were black but this still makes it a great film, not only does it scare me it makes me uncomfortable to watch, knowing that there are white people out their who are probably one step away from actions that are shown in the movie. If that wasn't enough add a dash of fantastical horror ideas and you've got a scary but also madly entertaining flick that also does a lot of social talking.

6. IT

Probably thee film that changed my perceptions on genre and allowed me to be more open to EVERY film that I could see. As someone who has always avoided horror films whenever he could, the immediate buzz around IT was too intriguing not to try. I finally understood the thrill of being sacred and the amazing story telling that can live around it. IT (like Stranger Things) feels like a labour of love for all things Stephen King and all things 80s, not shying away from some of the weird and creepy subjects of the book, but also not being afraid to take out the worst parts either, IT will go down as one of the greatest horror movies of all time.

5. Spider-Man: Homecoming

It took long enough, but finally, we got to see Spiderman interact with other heroes in the MCU, the next challenge was making the best Spiderman movie since Spiderman 2 in 2004. Well I'm happy to report that they did just that. Homecoming purposefully is not an origin story, which we have already had 2 of. It is a coming of age story, a high school romance story and a underdog story, some of the lowest stakes out of the most recent MCU films and it stills feels important, we have amazing performances from Tom Holland and Michael Keaton who manage to make these characters problems, which are small in the grand scheme of the MCU, feel like the most important thing to them, not only that but the basis of both their characters stems from the 10 years of the MCU we've had and that is possibly the most refreshing aspect.

4. Baby Driver

One of my favourite directors, Edgar Wright, releases he's fifth feature film this year and it is possibly his best. Baby Driver is one of the most unique movies of this generation. Creating an action film that could also be classed as a musical, syncing up moments from the film with pieces of music is one of the most satisfying and incredible visual/audio experiences you can have within a film. Possibly my favourite movie scene (at least top 10) of all time comes from this movie purely because of the track picked and the way actions in the film sync up with it. Although later shadowed by the whole (horrible) Kevin Spacey sexual assault, it still is a superb film that deserve a watch by everyone who reads this.

3. The Disaster Artist

If you haven't seen the best worst movie The Room, then this movie will not make much sense to you, it would still be enjoyable and it will be very funny just on face value, but the true joy of this film comes from being a fan of The Room. In that sense is this really Top 3 best films of 2017? For me it definitely is. As a fan of The Room, The Disaster Artist creates a genuine story from something that is completely ridiculous. Not just that but James Franco absolutely nails Tommy Wiseau and that only boosts it to this spot. Compelling drama and emotion, covered with hilarious moments and incredible acting.

2. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

After a great but by-the-numbers Star Wars movie in The Force Awakens, Rian Johnson provides the most refreshing and shocking take on Star Wars and it prevails in every aspect. The Last Jedi takes your expectations and twists them several times in a way that completely enthrals you. It is the best Star Wars movie since the original trilogy by virtue of it playing with story beats and ideas that the films feel like they purposefully ignore. Their is one character that I particularly hate in this film but is the only aspect of the movie that annoys me. I can't say more nice things about this movie and the fact that it is getting so much backlash from fans is completely baffling me, I just don't understand it.

1. Blade Runner 2049

Dennis Villeneuve has quickly become one of my favourite directors, with last years movie Arrival being in my Top 5 and now Blade Runner 2049 being this years number 1, I feel compelled to watch every movie he has put out. Blade Runner 2049 is the most beautiful movie I have ever seen, not only that but the story carrying on from the original is even more compelling than that first movie. I feel the 1982 movie was made to set up this one. It is an absolute crime that this movie flopped at the box office but I'm so glad I got to see it anyway. A modern masterpiece in every sense, if you haven't seen this you owe it to yourself to give it a watch.