Top 10 Films of 2017

I don't want to talk in hyperbole here, but I honestly believe that 2017 has been the strongest year of cinema in which I've been alive from what I can remember. It helps that I've managed to more or less see every release I've wanted to see this year, with the exception of The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, The Greatest Showman and a few more. This is also based on UK release dates, so a lot of films that are technically this year that aren't released till 2018 in the UK will count as next years list (The Shape of Water, Phantom Thread, Coco etc). I also saw Three Billboards in 2017, but I'm counting that for next years due to the release date being at the end of January. Let's get started anyway. Links to my full reviews will be on each film.

10. Dunkirk 

Christopher Nolan's war epic had a lot going against it: A 12A rating, a strangely short run-time and the odd casting of Harry Styles, yet it all worked so well. An intense survival story that is more concerned with intensity than cliche and sentimentally than most war films suffer from. Harry Styles also managed to be an inspired piece of casting. 

9. mother!

While hated and ignored by the mainstream due to its strangeness and uncompromising vision, I adored Darren Aronofsky's hardcore and terrifying horror film that just unfolds and unfolds until the last act explodes with some of the most insane content I've seen in a cinema ever. It's been a few months now, but everything I saw from this is still very fresh in my head.

8. War for the Planet of the Apes

No one expected the reboot to the Planet of the Apes series to be this good, but we're finally at the end of Caesar's story and it went out in the most heartbreaking and poignant way possible. A blockbuster that was far more focused on character and story than it was mindless action and spectacle. Not to say the action wasn't spectacular, as it was, thanks to the insane CGI used to create Caesar that is still raising questions as to whether Andy Serkis can bag an Oscar in a motion capture suit (He should).

7. The Florida Project

I have yet to see Sean Baker's previous film Tangerine, but after being blown way by this I really need to. A desperately sad, but touching and sweet look at the outskirts of Disneyland Florida. An indie-comedy drama most people won't see, but I really recommend you dig this out and give it a go.

6. La La Land

There was a time where I thought La La Land would be my film of the year, but it somehow managed to not land the top spot. A gorgeous and endlessly watchable musical drama with some of the best energy I've seen for a while. And this is coming from someone who hates musicals.

5. The Disaster Artist

Somehow a film about the making of the worst film ever made managed to be one of the best films of the year. A touching look at trying to achieve your dreams as an actor in Los Angeles while everyone is against your vision. Also, by far the best comedy of the year thanks to James Franco's career high best as the always fascinating Tommy Wiseau.

4. Baby Driver

Once you look past the silly title (Which does make sense), Baby Driver is one of the best films of the year. An electric musical action comedy with the best soundtrack of the year filled with classic rock and a variety of everything. Edgar Wright can do no wrong at this point.

3. T2 Trainspotting

Trainspotting has always had a special place in my heart, I've seen it several times and while seeing these characters again sounded appealing, the 20 year gap and general lack of success with belated sequels had me worried (That awful title too), Danny Boyle managed to surprise me and deliver a film that adds a lot to the first one while taking the characters in new directions. I'd really like to see these characters return in the future too.

2. Blade Runner 2049

Blade Runner 2049 is one of those rare sequels that not only improves on the original, but completely blows it out the water. Denis Villeneuve has made a gorgeous and fully realised film that takes its time and delivers one of the most emotional experiences of the year. It's also nice to see Harrison Ford not phone it in for the first time in a while. Fuck Jared Leto though.

1. Logan

It wasn't going to be anything else. Huge Jacked Man's 17 year run as The Wolverine came to a beautiful and powerful end in a film that was a more a quiet western than it was anything close to a superhero film. A brutal, bleak and depressing drama and the best thing to happen to superhero films since The Dark Knight. The fact Logan won't even get nominated for any Oscars at all is an embarrassment. 

Well, that's my top 10, but here is some honourable mentions:

1. Raw

2. John Wick: Chapter 2

3. Good Time

4. Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2

5. Get Out

6. Battle of the Sexes

7. Atomic Blonde

8. Brawl in Cell Block 99

9. Moonlight

10. Detroit

11. American Made

12. 20th Century Women

13. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

14. Silence

15. Wind River

16. Kingsman: The Golden Circle

17. IT

18. The Handmaiden

19. Song to Song

20. Fences

Thanks for reading and here's to a hopefully excellent year of films. Also look out for my bottom 10 films of the year soon.

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Logan (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written February 28th, 2017*

"Don't be what they made you"

If there was any film likely to leave me in tears this year in the cinema, it was going to be Logan. Hugh Jackman's swansong to the X-Men franchise and to the character of Wolverine he'd been playing for 17 years. Logan is a character I've been watching since I was 4 years old back in 2000, so in many ways it felt like the end of my childhood.

Thankfully, Logan is a film that has matured with its audience that had been watching X-Men since their early years. It's a dark, miserable and depressing film and barely resembles a single superhero film of recent years. I'll also say seriously that this is the best superhero film since The Dark Knight, possibly even better.

This was a beautiful, powerful and violent send-off that worked far better than I ever possibly could have imagined. Hugh Jackman plays a far older, broken and worn down Wolverine whose healing powers don't work very well anymore and has to look after a dementia stricken Professor Xavier who is prone to dangerous psychological outbursts. Logan ends up reluctantly having to look after and take a clone of himself in the form of a young girl he has to take to sanctuary while being hunted by a military group.

Where Logan differs itself from other superhero films is its tone and content. While Deadpool was a violent and crude film, Logan is far more mature, resonate and powerful. This is not a kids film, not just due to the adult content, but the bleak and miserable tone throughout.

It's really sad to see these characters you grew up with in such a broken state. Logan is a borderline alcoholic reduced to being a limo driver, while Xavier is a shadow of his former self. It's heartbreaking stuff that works so well thanks to the incredible performances from Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart. They manage to mix superhero nonsense with genuine heart, warmth, tragedy and even comedy at times. It's all so bittersweet, but it works.

They're joined by a star making turn from Dafne Keen as 'Laura' a near mute clone of Logan who is on the run from a military group. While barely saying anything, Keen brings so much to the role, delivering a really touching father-daughter relationship Logan had been unable to have throughout his whole tragic life. What's even more impressive is the fact this is only Keen's second role in her entire career and she nearly stole the show from Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart. This is probably the best child performance I've seen since Chloe Grace Moretz in Kick-Ass.

The Office/Extras writer Stephen Merchant also gave a memorable turn as Caliban, a pale albino mutant who brings a lighter tone to some of Logan's more bleak outlook. He's essentially doing what he usually does, but with some makeup on. Anyway, it was nice to see him a huge blockbuster film for once. He earns it more than his co-writer Ricky Gervais. And now I just imagined an alternate universe where Gervais was in this too...

James Mangold takes on directorial duties as he did with the previous Wolverine outing 'The Wolverine' in 2013, which was a bit of a mess, but at least better than 2009's 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'. Logan thankfully does not suffer from the same pitfalls as Mangold's last effort with the Wolverine character. Probably due to the fact he was allowed creative control to make a violent, R-rated send-off that lacks a bombastic CGI heavy finale.

All the action in Logan feels small and contained, but is brutal and hard-hitting at the same time. It was so satisfying to see Wolverine actually cut people up into gory messes. While extremely violent, it all works within the tone of the film. I wasn't a massive fan of the frequent swearing at the beginning of the film, but that soon wore off and they toned it down.

Mangold directs the action scenes with kinetic beauty, making use of both Wolverine and Laura in some visually beautiful action scenes. The cinematography of Logan feels closer to No Country for Old Men than it does a superhero film. Logan has the vibe of a neo-western and looks gorgeous, full of nice looking deserts and even a trip to Las Vegas.

Without spoiling anything, I'd honestly be okay if this was the ending to the X-Men series as a whole. It leaves things in such a powerful and perfect way that I was tearing up. While this is the end of Hugh Jackman's run as Wolverine, it also feels like the end point of the X-Men we all grew up with, and it managed to do it all perfectly.

Logan is a powerful, violent and beautiful send-off for Hugh Jackman's 17 year run as Logan. It's also one of the best superhero films of all-time and likely to be one of the best films of 2017. I really hope there's Oscar considerations for Logan for next years awards.

10/10 Dans

Logan is out July 10th in the UK on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD
Watch the trailer below:

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