Lastly, moving away from music, here (in significantly
briefer form than the albums list) is my top 20 films of the year list. That
was a stretch – I think I only saw 20 films in total that came out this year,
so a lower ranking is not necessarily a stamp of approval (20th on
this list literally represents my least
favourite of all the films that I have watched that came out in 2017). There remain plenty of other 2017 movies that I want to see but still have not
yet seen (current list: Silence, mother!, The Death of Stalin, Get Out,
Colossal, Dunkirk, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Alien: Covenant, It, Loving, War
for the Planet of the Apes, Wonder Woman – I suspect I’ve forgotten others).
That these, or any other, films are absent here is without prejudice
to how good (or bad) I ultimately might find them to be: this list likely would
look very different if I was writing it a year from now, once I’ve caught up a
bit. Finally, this all comes with the caveat of me not necessarily being 100%
sure when films were released. I think
all of these were 2017 UK cinema releases (even though some came out in 2016 in
the US), but I might be wrong.
20.
The Lego
Batman Movie
Not as strong as The Lego Movie from which it sprang, but still fun (also, tellingly,
the only DC superhero film I’ve yet seen from 2017…).
19.
La La
Land
I avoided this for a long time (musicals not
really being my thing) but when I finally got around to watching it, I did really enjoy it. There’s a joy to the choreography
and script, and the songs – while forgettable – never are annoying.
18.
John
Wick, Chapter 2
Still loads of fun, but not a patch on the
original (which I unexpectedly adored). Needed to take a few more risks. No franchise is doing hand-to-hand
action better right now, though.
17.
Life
An Alien
rip off at its heart, but the effects are outstanding and so were some of the
performances.
16.
To The
Bone
An unsentimental piece on eating disorders,
which takes real pains to make it about character first and the disease second.
15.
T2:
Trainspotting
I really enjoyed this, and it’s great to have
these characters back, but – while many praised it for being a nostalgia trip –
I wanted a bit more than that (and, particularly, for it to draw more on Irvin Welsh’s
sequel book Porno).
14.
Okja
A lovely, if at times a bit preachy, little
movie about a giant pig. Evokes the Spielbergian
80s and made me genuinely sad in places.
13.
The Girl
With All The Gifts
The best zombie movie for some while,
thoughtful and genre-skewing. Great
central performance from newcomer Sennia Nanua.
12.
Baby
Driver
The action and the score (and the intertwined
combination of them) were great, but the plot was thin and so were the
characters. Need to see it again, but on
first viewing: a very enjoyable car-opera but ultimately disappointing, given the
premise and those involved.
11.
Logan
Meaty, grown up X-Men, a deserved high-note for
Hugh Jackman to leave on. This finally
did Wolverine justice.
10.
Split
My favourite M. Night Shyamalan movie in
forever. James McAvoy sells an impossible role convincingly, and it’s got some
really unnerving scenes, especially towards the end.
09.
Guardians
Of The Galaxy: Vol. 2
There are problems with it – the villain being
an especially big one – but this still is way
more fun than it has any right to be.
08.
Moonlight
The best picture Oscar winner is a top film,
which puts character ahead of all else. Sympathetic without being patronising.
07.
Spiderman:
Homecoming
The leads were great (Holland now is the best
on screen Spiderman for me, Keaton made a thinly written villain soar), and the
action is strong, but it feels like Marvel still can do better now that they
have their hands on their prize asset.
06.
A United
Kingdom
Managing to be personal and universal, this is
a great tale of love, empire and the dehumanisation of Africa that I enjoyed
way more than I expected to. Rosamund Pike
yet again is outstanding.
05.
Blade
Runner 2049
About as good as a Blade Runner sequel possibly could be, this looked great, and had
the right balance of similar to/different from the original. Plus Denis Villeneuve
got Harrison Ford not to look bored for the first time in quite a while. Pretty impressive in all respects, although I
did have some issues with parts of the plot and with Jared Leto’s horrible
performance.
04.
Free Fire
I’d argue that ‘warehouse shootout’ movies
should not be judged against Reservoir
Dogs, because that’s an unfair benchmark. Assessed on its own merits this is a huge amount of fun. Craftily directed by Ben Wheatley and with
some stonking performances (Armie Hammer continues to surprise with some increasingly
strong turns).
03.
Manchester
By The Sea
A thoughtfully scripted and impeccably acted
drama, this starts slow, but when it descends into the abyss you’re unavoidably
taken with it. Would have been my choice
for best picture (of those that were nominated, anyway).
02.
Thor:
Ragnarok
The best Marvel movie since Iron Man 3 (which I might be alone in
thinking is the best Marvel movie,
period). Turning it into an out-and-out
comedy was risky, and Cate Blanchett was underused. But pretty much all the jokes land, the whole
thing looks amazing and by the end
you’re not just on board, you’re smitten. Where’s my stand-alone Mark Ruffalo Hulk movie?
01.
Star
Wars: The Last Jedi
I’ve still only seen it once: time and repeated
viewings will allow me to make a proper assessment. But, on first viewing, I
thought it had nuance, surprises, more laughs than expected and some truly
stand out moments. It also had some
dodgy parts (especially the Canto Bight stuff – pretty much in its entirety),
and could have been trimmed a little in places for pacing. Too early to tell whether these (minor, in
the overall scheme of things, I think) concerns will persist on repeated
viewings. Even with them, I easily
enjoyed this more than any other film that I saw that came out this year. No great surprise there.