The BEST film's of 2017!

2017 was a really good year for film. Though box office numbers project the audiences are down compared to last year, as far as the amount of quality and diverse cinema that was presented this past year, it has to go down as one of the best of the 21st century. So much so, that my ability to dissect the TOP 10 films i saw in 2017 was no easy feat; this is always a good and bad thing, as i find it increasingly difficult to handpick films from a plethora of impressive talent, even if i was incredibly happy to have seen so many good films this year. In this following list, i’m strictly adhering to films released in US cinemas in the year 2017, as that’s where i shall be reviewing films from and as to not confuse those who are wondering why Moonlight or La La Land aren’t in my list (they were released here in 2016). As a small consolation to those films who didn’t quite make my TOP 10, i’ve added an addendum to the list at the end entitled “HONORABLE MENTIONS”, which is there to boast popularity to those particular films which in any other year would have surely caused me more of a headache. Let’s see what we’ve got here;

1. A GHOST STORY- (dir. David Lowery).

Terrifying and elegant in equal measure - this old-fashioned style thriller pits Casey Affleck’s bed-sheet wearing ghost haunting his grieving widow Rooney Mara over a number of years. Time and patience become central themes, as well as the endearing aspects of eternal love. Beautiful to look at, and impossible to guess where it would go next, it’s the most delicately told love story of recent memory.

2. THE SHAPE OF WATER (dir. Guillermo Del Toro)

We know Mexican filmmaker loves movies as much as he loves breaking your heart with his own stories. In this 60’s set espionage-style thriller is also a unorthodox love story, which sees government laboratory worker Sally Hawkins fall in love with a captured beast of another planet. Their flamboyant love story sees her disability (she’s a mute) pitted against his beast-like aquatic creature, and there connection through everything but language. A beautiful and heartbreaking picture, with an exemplary performance from the always bug-eyed Michael Shannon, who attempts to use the creature for untoward reasons.

3. THE FLORIDA PROJECT (dir. Sean Baker)

Known from filming his previous film Tangerine on a iPhone 6, director Sean Baker this time presents a extraordinary depiction of the hardships of a young girls life living in a hotel in spitting distance from the DisneyWorld resort in Florida. Though it’s not the directors intentions to wallow in the misfortunes of our scrappy and precocious young heroine, played brilliantly by Brooklyn Prince, but rather to celebrate the little aspects of her life that make her personality so appealing. Bolstered by supporting performances from the always excellent Willem Dafoe and newcomer Bria Vinaite, this enchanting tale of youth is handled with real charm by the second time director, and includes some of the funniest dialogue of the year.

4. RAW (dir. Julia Ducournau)

Perhaps the first film to depict life in the year of a veterinarian school student, albeit with a misanthropic edge. Julia Ducournau’s exemplary story of a young vegetarian girl’s burgeoning taste for human flesh is told during her vetenerian studies - and the results are horrifying and entertaining in equal measure. In any other year, Ducournau’s horror masterpiece would be the best film of the year, and it deserves all the accolades thrust upon it.

5. THE LOST CITY OF Z (dir. James Gray)

Delving into the amazon rainforest has been as popular a subject for film this year as adapting the years best-seller. Here, Charlie Hunman plays real-life British explorer Percy Faecett’s expeditions into the Amazon rainforest in 1925 with the aim of finding a hidden city unearthed by civilization. Gray and cinematographer Darius Khondji breathe extraordinary resonance in to the landscape and the ensuing drama is both well-written and impossible to guess. Although it must be said that it polarized critics, who disliked the simplistic narrative, for this critic, everything gelled effortlessly and the usually uncharasmatic Charlie Hunman is perfectly cast in his lead role, as is a small cameo by the ever intriguing screen presence Robert Pattinson. The Lost City of Z is not to be missed.

6. STAR WARS: EPISODE 8: THE LAST JEDI (dir. Rian Johnson)

“Darkness rises and the light to meet it” - so says our villain Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) in the follow up the J.J Abrams’ juggernaut “The Force Awakens”. It becomes the thesis of Rian Johnson’s sequel, which takes place immediately following the events of the last film, as our gang of heroes attempt to tackle the oncoming behemoth that is Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and the First Order. Here, a 200 million dollar blockbuster which tackles philosophical ideals of lineage, guilt and power on a grand scale is met with some of the most jaw-dropping action set pieves ever put to film.

Another film of 2017 which polarized audiences, this time critics absolutely admired the films potent attention to detail and it’s jaw-dropping action sequences, core Star Wars fans have already asked for the character arcs to be scrapped from the saga’s canon. Whether or not you agree with the director’s choices for the character’s story arcs, there’s method in his madness, as there were several moments in this spectacular space opera that had me grab my seat in shear delight, and the unexpected twists left me with an equal measure of confusion and delight. The force is very strong with this one.

7. CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (dir Luca Guadagnino)

Everybody’s talking about this film. Italian director finally transfers his enigmatic directorial style to an English-lanaguage production, which sees graduate student Armie Hammer becoming enamored with his professors youngest son during his residence at their French house in the summer of 1984. What separates Guadagnino’s gay romance from small arthouse to potent Oscar winner is the development of the characters, played with an astonishing amount of bravery from Hammer and Chalamant. A year after Moonlight, a story about a young gay black man in rural Miami, here’s another film gaining real notieratiy for becoming a mainstream attraction of a gay romantic encounter. Their love-story is often infuriating, as they take their time in figuring out their burning and complicated feelings, but when they embrace their emotions, it’s always beautiful and endearing to be on their journey together and effortlessly entertaining.

8. BABY DRIVER (dir Edgar Wright)

I'm going to borrow Cyndi Lauper for my next pithy review of my 7th favorite film of 2017. In the wise words of 80's icon, "Girls just want to have fun", and that's also true for movies. We just want to have fun. In Edgar Wright's first American-set film, young street-racer Baby (Ansel Elgort) works as a getaway driver for boss Kevin Spacey. He's fast, he's the best and he's got tinnitus. After meeting love interest Deborah (Lily James), his life is turned upside down, and he attempts to brush off his life of crime and remove himself from the company of such un-desirables Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm. The combination of music with the breathtaking driving sequences push "Baby Driver" to the front of the car-chase cinematic genre, and the pithy dialogue and accomplished storytelling from the British director makes for one hell of a ride!

9. LADY MACBETH (dir William Oldroyd)

You heard it here, remember the name Florence Pugh. In this jaw-dropping account of a woman thrust into an unhappy marriage to a man twice her age in early 20th century Northern England. Our titular heroine Katherine resorts to her most basic desires when she engages in a illicit affair with the local stable boy. It's a mesmeric performance, worthy of every and any accolade you could bestow upon the young actress, as her central disdain at her husband's treatment of her, and our anti-hero's uncanny ability to manipulate and entice those around her make for a sensational period piece with equal amounts of shock and awe. Delicious landscapes and authentic costumes add to the dramas originality and bring poignancy to the drama - I couldn't help sympathize with Katherine's plight from the beginning and ultimately despise her when you have nothing else to give.

10 ~ BEATRIZ AT DINNER dir (Miguel Arteta) / GET OUT (dir. Jordan Peele)

I just couldn't choose between the next pictures. Although they have very different themes and motifs, at their heart they both have elements of true horror cinema.

In the case of Jordan Peele's Get Out, which sees Daniel Kalyuuya visiting his white girlfriend's all-white family for the first time, is perhaps the most original horror comedy of the year. Satirizing society's representation of black people in all-white neighborhoods, it's entertaining, scary and hilarious in equal measure.

It's the nature of good vs evil which is at the very core of Miguel Arteta's heartbreaking and sensuous film, "Beatriz at Dinner". Stranded at her boss' house, buddhist masseuse Beatriz (Salma Hayek) is forced to dine with upper-class Californians in modern day Los Angeles. At first, her quirky and hipster lifestyle choices are cute and delicate, but shortly after the arrival of real-estate mogul Doug (Jon Lithgow - clearly resembling a certain New York businessman) the dinner becomes awkward as Doug starts unravelling his immoral business ventures which causes Beatriz to speak her mind. With a terrific script from Mike White, who also made another small and independent gem "Brad's Status: this year, Arteta brings an abundance of nuance and poignancy to this Sundance hit, as well as incorporating the gorgeous Californian landscape. It's not to be missed, though you might find it hard to track down.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The Big Sick (dir. Michael Showalter)

Wonder Woman (dir. Patty Jenkins)

It Comes At Night (dir. Trey Edward Shults)

Dunkirk (dir. Christopher Nolan)

Landline (dir. Gillian Robespierre)

Wind River (dir. Taylor Sheridan)

Ingrid Goes West (dir. Matt Spicer)

Good Time (dir The Safdie Brothers)

Patti Cake$ (dir. Geremy Jasper)

Beach Rats (dir Eliza Hittman)

IT (dir. Gary Muschetti)

Battle of the Sexes (dir Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris)

Blade Runner 2049 (dir. Denis Villeneuve)

The Disaster Artist (dir. James Franco)

Coco (dir. Lee Unkrich)

Mudbound (dir. Dee Rees)