As the year draws to a close, it seems as if every magazine and newspaper is replete with 'best/worst X of 2017' lists on every facet of pop culture and lifestyle. In a year of singular villainy, we've even felt the need to call out the 'best people', if only to remind ourselves of the few bright sparks in an otherwise lacking moral landscape. I, for one, love a good list and naturally the only lists I really care about have been this year's 'best movie' lists. But I have to admit that as I was reflecting on the year I actually found 2017 to be a year of slim pickings, box office bombs and critical nose-dives.
Overall, I'm convinced this year will actually go down mainly as a year of turkeys and flops held up by a few stunningly unexpected successes (more on that shortly) rathee than a year of consistently high quality, out-of-the-park hits. To name but a few iconic high-budget turkeys: King Arthur: Legend of the sword, crawled in at a $30m loss on a $175m budget; The odious Valerian and the city of a thousand Planets, which earned a feeble 49% score on Rotten tomatoes, and barely recouped its $180m budget worldwide ; The Mummy flopped in the U.S. with a $32m opening weekend (from a $345m budget) and crucially failed to successfully establish Universal's 'Dark Universe' among critics and audiences (which is criminal considering that Universal is a studio built on the historic successes of horror classics like The Mummy, Dracula and Frankenstein).
Even releases that weren't technically box office flops still managed to confound audiences and critics alike with dull, inconsequential storytelling, cringeworthy self-indulgence (Song to Song) and outright offensive material (Ghost in the Shell) - not to mention the sequels and prequels we never asked for and didn't like (Justice League, The Kingsman: Golden Circle and Alien: Covenant to name but a few).
Bearing all that in mind, let's take a look at the few sparkling gems amidst the garbage pile that was film in 2017 - all based on UK release dates!
1) Moonlight
2) Get Out
This year's sleeper hit came in at a budget of $4.5m but garnered a record-smashing $252m in box office returns - making it 2017's most profitable film. Get out is an innovative genre mash-up of thriller, horror, comedy and social commentary ( dubbed 'social horror' by writer-director Jordan Peele) that turns our collective gaze away from the card-carrying red necks that have come to exemplify contemporary notions of racism on screen, instead fixing our attention on that class of liberal elites who espouse egalitarian values while reifying racial categories and upholding racist ideas. It's Guess who's coming to dinner via David Lynch and Tarantino; explosive, daring, highly unexpected and downright chilling, giving us some of the most haunting imagery and laugh-out-loud moments of the year.
3) I Am Not Your Negro
An insightful, moving documentary that gives new life to James Baldwin's critique of American society and culture. Through the prism of archival footage, Baldwin’s own speeches, interviews, letters and essays (brilliantly narrated by Samuel L. Jackson) director Raoul Peck brilliantly evokes Baldwin’s cool rage and the blisteringly incisive insight of America’s foremost cultural critic.
4) Dunkirk
While clearly inspired by modern war epic Saving Private Ryan, Christopher Nolan's WWII thriller Dunkirk could not be further from war film cliches, steering away from gory battle scenes and grand military tactics to individual vignettes tracing the horrors of war. Although the film is relatively bloodless, Nolan still manages to exert a vice-like grip on his audience; building claustrophobic tension throughout the film with character-driven action, oppressive score and an absorbing narrative structure built around three separate timelines. Dunkirk will creep up on you and hold your breathless attention to the final frame.
5) The Handmaiden
Park Chan-Wook's ambitious adaptation of Sarah Waters' romantic thriller The Fingersmith transplants the novel's original Victorian setting to Japenese occupied Korea and irons out many of the source texts implausible plot twists, leaving a well-paced and richly drawn world of greed, passion and female desire. The Handmaiden is both provocative and transgressive and, as usual, Park Chan-Wook's lush, sensual style is beautifully captivating.
6) Blade Runner 2049
While Blade Runner 2049 performed weakly at the box office and left some audiences snoozing with its sedate pacing and simple storyline, it was a much needed antidote to the bloated comic book sequels of 2017 and far more than style over substance. Denis Vileneuve creates a rich, expansive visual style and exciting narrative addition to the Blade Runner universe.
7) Logan
Logan is perhaps best considered as an anti-hero movie that plays with and breaks most of the super-hero tropes that we have become so overfamiliar with in recent years. Hugh Jackman plays against type as a vulnerable, worn-down Wolverine facing down his own mortality in a bleak post x-Men world. Logan strikes a refreshingly thoughtful and melancholic note in a year full of popcorn fluff blockbusters.
8) War for the Planet of the Apes
In the third installment of the Planet of the Apes trilogy, we find Cesar and his community fighting for survival in the face of extinction in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Like Logan, War for the Planet of the Apes struck a contemplative tone, adding depth and weight to its more action-fuelled predecessors. A perfect conclusion to a flawless trilogy.
9) Hidden Figures
As all hell broke loose in 2017 we all needed an uplifting story with a happy ending to make us feel better and this tale of black women saving the world (well, helping NASA put a man in space) was it. Wonderful performances from Janelle Monae, Octavia Spencer and Taraji P. Henson as three NASA scientists fighting racisim and sexism in Cold-War America made this the feel-good film of the year.
10) The Big Sick
In a romantic-comedy category littered with meaningless unfunny and unromantic garbage, it was refreshing indeed to come across Kumail Nanjiani's semi-autobiographical rom-com, which manages to be genuinely laugh-out-loud funny and convincingly romantic.
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