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Monday, December 18, 2017

Darkmatters Top Ten Films of 2017



Top 10 films 2017

This year has been an absolute cracker for cinema goers – with something for everyone… From high profile sequels, to masterfully created new experiences and a host of fresh ideas. Here are Matt Adcock's picks of the bunch:


10 Get Out

A hair-raising human horror. Possibly the most startlingly vibrant and shocking cinematic opus to racial divides to date, this manages to be darkly funny without skimping on delivering a pure terror rush.

In this age of Trump when the threat of white supremacist mindsets is suddenly a horribly relevant again, Get Out sneakily tears down racist ideals and has lots of fun in the process.



9 Moonlight

The story of young black guy’s quest to find himself and what it means to be a man growing up in a tough and unaccepting world. With a heartfelt depiction of the struggles of identity, masculinity and the conditioning of bigoted society – the acting is outstanding and the cinematography just stunning.

Moonlight is beautifully shot and engagingly paced with a cool soundtrack and is directed with a quiet grace that makes this essential viewing.


8 Brigsby Bear

Brigsby Bear is a wildly unconventional breakthrough film that feels bit like last year’s excellent Hunt For The Wilderpeople in that it mainlines joy directly delivering into your mind’s pleasure cortex.

First-time Director Dave McCary has created a contagious feel-good comedy that transcends the darkness of its plot with a lust for life narrative driven by an incredible performance by Mooney.


7 The Last Jedi

Director Rian Johnson who made the excellent alternative gangster thriller Brick and the time jumping Looper feels right at home building the mythos around the Force and the Jedi, crafting a take on the Star Wars universe which is unlike any that has gone before.

This a bold and brilliant addition to the intergalactic franchise which should be witnessed on the biggest screen you can find. There is life in the Force yet…


6 Thor: Ragnarok

 A new kind of superhero buddy movie and it’s a grin inducing riot of quality laugh out loud humour, crunching super smack downs and brilliant sci-fi, feel good heroics.

Director Taika Waititi takes the Marvel Cinematic Universe and gives it a endorphin boost. Not since Deadpool has a super hero film been such fun and Thor: Ragnarok manages to pack in jaw dropping action, laugh out loud gags (both visual and dialogue) and even keeps it all almost family friendly with a 12a certificate.


5 Baby Driver

Baby Driver is a true romance tale, violent, funny and very cool, imagine Drive mixed with La La Land – so buckle up for super charged (non CGI) car chases, bank heist action and criminal capers all wrapped around a sweet boy meets girl core.

Director Edgar ‘Hot Fuzz’ Wright makes all the right moves and delivers an exciting, full throttle modern classic.


4 La La Land

A cinematic piece of musical wonder and smouldering romance which will leave you dazed and amused in the best possible way…

The cinema equivalent of a sugar rush mixed with a roller coaster which delivers quite a high and yet might also put a tear (of joy) in your eye.

Here's to the fools everywhere who dream.


3 Blade Runner 2049

Blade Runner 2049 is everything that fans of the original could want in a sequel. Ryan Gosling is superb in the lead role and he’s ably backed up by the rest of the cast including Harrison Ford who delivers his best performance for many years.

Packed with retina burningly cool scenes and a stunning storyline that adds pathos to the events that follow on from thirty years before. This is incredible near future neo-noir stuff. Sci-fi on the cutting edge which makes you ponder life and meaning whilst engaging your cinematic pleasure receptors.


2 Logan

Logan is a poignant glimpse into what happens when heroic mutants are aged and jaded. With their powers waning and their world view tainted – these final X-remnants come across a young new mutant Laura, also known as ‘X23’ (a star-making turn from upcoming young Dafne Keen) who brings a world of trouble to their lives.

Not your average super-movie. With Jackman on top form, Logan is a fantastic conclusion to the Wolverine trilogy which makes every other X-Men movie look weak in comparison.


1 The Florida Project

Welcome to the flip side of comfortable life, where poverty stalks every character and surviving is no mean feat – even when you live in the very shadow of Disneyland itself…

Sean Baker’s The Florida Project is a heavy duty treatise on the durability and joy of childhood, a soul-destroying expose of living on the edge and heart-breaking almost-romance that never could be.

Brutal and bleak but also engaging and wonderful in equal measure, this is a film that will enrich your life and make you thankful for everything you have.


Runners up (you really should check these out too!):

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

A Ghost Story

Logan Lucky

Hacksaw Ridge

Dunkirk

Wonder Woman

Atomic Blonde

Spiderman: Homecoming

Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2

Kong: Skull Island

War for the Planet of the Apes

Free Fire

T2: Trainspotting

A Cure for Wellness

IT

The Lego Batman Movie

Lady Macbeth

Raw

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