Favourite Movies of 2017

Making this list wasn’t easy. I could have easily made this list my favourite 15 to 20 movies for 2017. It was actually a surprisingly good year for movies, there were some massive successes, some even bigger surprises and some entertaining trips to the theatre. It hurts me to leave some of these movies off my list so I have a few honorable mentions to start with. I missed a lot of the Oscar contenders that had not been released in 2017 like Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Lady Bird, The Post, Shape of Water, Molly’s Game and I, Tonya so naturally I left off those movies that a lot of people loved.

Honorable Mentions in no order:

• IT
• Professor Marston and the Wonder Woman
• Logan
• The Florida Project
• Logan Lucky

And now the main event; Here are my 10 favourite movies of 2017.

10. The Disaster Artist

When I saw the first teaser for this movie I couldn’t stop laughing. More than that though it got me intrigued to see the alleged worse movie ever made, The Room. I can’t say I enjoyed it all that much, I laughed at the outrageous and ridiculous nature of the film but if I never see it again I’ll be happy. Then I saw The Disaster Artist and it was brilliant. It could have easily been a mockery of Tommy Wiseau, or even a fan boy appreciation film, but it was so much more. It told a fascinating and humorous story about the most bizarre movie ever made. I think my enjoyment of this film also came from the fact it was perhaps my best cinema going experience of the year, with a fantastic crowd and in great cinema.

Image via A24

9. Get Out

Get Out is a great movie start to finish and it gets even better with each watch. I am usually alright at predicting the out comes or plot twists in a movie but I never saw the twist in Get Out coming. The “give me the keys” scene is definitely one of my favourites in the film; it is brilliantly shot and builds so much tension by feeling like something is off. Get Out could be a contender as Best Picture winner and it would be a deserved winner. Jordan Peele does something special by the way he crafts a social commentary into a thriller movie, but does it subtly, not beating the audience over the head with his message, instead highlighting issues like positive racism through horror and humour.

Image via Blumhouse

8. Wonder Woman

I went into Wonder Woman not expecting it to be good, I wasn’t a fan of the DC movies and I wasn’t in love with marketing. I love this movie. I bought it straight away when it came out and have watched it several times. It is easy to watch but still packs an emotional punch. It makes me wonder what movies we would have seen if Patty Jenkins had directed more movies in the decade she was working in TV. She really made some thing incredible with this movie, not just the fact that Wonder Woman is the first female lead superhero movie; it is that she made a great movie. She played to Gal Gadot’s strengths and had Chris Pine do a lot of the heavy acting but it never felt as though Pine was the lead. This was Dianne’s story and I believe it worked out excellently. I still get an emotional feeling watching the beach scene or the No Man’s Land sequence.

Image via Warner Brothers

7. Thor: Ragnarok

I don’t think I laughed as hard at any movie in 2017 as much as I did with Thor: Ragnarok. It was brilliant to see a big Hollywood movie with so much Australian and New Zealand humour actually get made, but without cheating the audience. It still amazes me that this movie was as good as it was given how poorly the first two Thor movies performed. It really was the radical shake up that was needed to make people love the character of Thor. It was also a perfect blending of the fantasy and sci-fi elements that make the Thor movies stand out from other Marvel movies. I can’t wait to see Thor 4.

Image via Marvel

6. Blade Runner 2049

I like the original Blade Runner, I think it is clever and can appreciate it thematically and technically. I am not someone who adores it though. I loved its sequel. You could watch this movie with no sound and be engrossed by just how stunning this film is. That and the intriguing story being told makes it a fantastic time in the cinema. For a movie that is almost 3 hours long it didn’t feel like it, which is a hard task for a film to achieve and some how Denis Villeneuve manages to pull it off. It is also nice to see Harrison Ford give a performance where he actually cares about the movie he is in, and not just the paycheck. This isn’t a defining factor for the success of Blade Runner 2049, but it has one of the most interesting sex scenes that is fantastic to watch. If you have seen the movie you understand, that would not have been an easy scene too shoot. I am upset I only saw this in the cinema once and it wasn’t IMAX, but if it came out again I would definitely go again.

Image via Warner Brothers

5. Wind River

Taylor Sheridan has written some of my favourite movies of the past few years, but it is one thing to write a movie another to direct it. Well its now obvious that he is a talented man because he does a great job at both. Wind River is a movie that flew under a lot of people’s radars but is a movie I would recommend people see. It is a murder mystery set on an Indian Reservation in Wyoming, with a young FBI agent teaming up with a tracker to find the killer of a young Native American Girl. It might sound simple but the way Sheridan constructs this movie and uses the harsh wilderness builds so much tension as you follow along trying to work out who the killer is. Wind River features some of the best performances from Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen who have perfected their chemistry following their time together in The Avengers.

Image via TWC

4. Star Wars The Last Jedi

There was something brilliant in what Rian Johnson did with his turn at the helm of the latest installment of Star Wars. I know it wasn’t for everyone but I truly adored this movie. I have seen it three times and plan to see it more because it keeps getting better. Things I didn’t see the first time make more sense and things I didn’t like get better. I definitely have a few issues with the movie, but that can be said about nearly any film but they do not over all take away from the brilliance that is The Last Jedi. I think given the fact we see so much development from our new characters is praise upon Johnson as a writer and filmmaker. I believe that the Throne Room sequence is one of the most beautiful and impacting sequences to the story of the entire film. It was incredibly well choreographed and had some of the best lightsaber moves of any Star Wars movie.

Image via Lucasfilm

3. The Big Sick

This true story is so crazy it has to be true, how else would someone be able to tell a love story like The Big Sick. There was so much heart and joy in such a small film and it was an absolute delight to watch. I didn’t expect I would love this movies are much as I did. It definitely hit me emotionally whilst making me laugh so hard. The Big Sick deals heavily with racism and understanding different cultures but does it in a humorous way, through seeing how Kumail deals with wanting to be an American whilst hanging on to his Pakistani heritage. The Big Sick is one of the best comedies I saw all year, with some of the one liners having me laugh ridiculously loud, but it is also a film that left me feeling great afterwards. A great date night movie and a great movie.

Image via Amazon Studios

2. Dunkirk

I haven’t been the biggest fan of Christopher Nolan. I love some of his movies and can’t stand others but Dunkirk was something special in my eyes. I was transfixed from start to finish; from the beautiful cinematography to the intense score; the movie was excellent. Nolan made a different kind of war movie, not one built on epic battles, or blood and gore, but one of desperation, an intense turning point in World War II. The battle itself is interesting given it is actually a loss to the Allied Forces, but in the end there was success for the troops returning to Britain. They lived to fight another day. Whilst no one actor can be given the lead role, there are so many incredible performances from a long list of excellent British and Irish actors. Do yourself a favour and see Dunkirk in IMAX 70mm.

Image via Warner Brothers

1. Baby Driver

I don’t know how Edgar Wright did it but he made something incredible with Baby Driver. There is so much to love and enjoy about this face paced, action packed movie that feels like a musical. I am massive fan of blending sounds into music beats, such as gunshot or car engines, and Edgar Wright may have perfected this technique, adopting it throughout the entire film. The soundtrack to Baby Driver isn’t one that I knew much of going into the movie, or recognised during the movie, but it plays such an important part of the story that when I listen to it I can picture the scenes from the movie.

Image via Sony Pictures

 

There you go those are my favourite movies of 2017. Check out my reviews for all the movies if you want a more in depth look at why they made my top 10 of 2017. What are your favourite movies of 2017? It really was a good year for movies across the board.

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