Top Ten of 2017

It's that time of year again ... the ten best films I saw in the cinema in 2017. I saw *a lot* of films this year - they call it funemployment! - and there were certainly some cracking good ones.

So, in alphabetical order, here we go ...

Baby Driver: I agonised about including this one. Yes, because of the "Kevin Spacey Factor". Ugh. But I had to - this is a modern classic. Utterly original from the brilliant mind of Edgar Wright. A rip-roaring and ridiculous ride, with surprising heart.

Brisby Bear: What a strange wee film. It's really best you see this without knowing much about it. If you want to simultaneously feel a bit weirded out and a warm glow, check out this indie gem.

Denial: What a cast. What a story. What taut drama. The three leads - Rachel Weisz, Timothy Spall & Tom Wilkinson - are a triumphant triumvirate of masterclass acting. A great courtroom drama based on real events.

Dunkirk: The most surprisingly intimate war movie in recent memory. In Christopher Nolan's capable hands, the varying timeline strands are a masterstroke. I cried buckets.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer: Director Yorgos Lanthimos' films are an acquired taste, for sure. His 2015 outing, The Lobster, is one of my favourite movies of this century. Sacred Deer is just as discombobulating and definitely darker. Highly recommend (to a very small group of people!)

Logan: A welcome relief from the same-same superhero movies that have inundated cinemas in the last few years. Logan is excellent - grimy and violent and sad, with great performances by Huge Action and Sir Pat Stew.

Maudie: What a gem. It's a big call, but Maudie might just be my film of the year. This is an enchanting, emotional, intimate movie about finding happiness in unlikely places. Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke deserve *all* the awards.

Norman (The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer): Who knew Richard Gere had some real acting chops behind that charmingly wooden silver fox exterior? This is a smartly told, satisfying, surprisingly affecting story. A great wee film that no one saw.

The Shape of Water: Magical. Guillermo del Toro does it again with this masterful, very adult fairy tale - funny, poignant, horrific, other-worldly. And Sally Hawkins - she can do no wrong in 2017.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: This darker-than-the-darkest-night comedy is brilliant. Frances McDormand is at her Fargo-best as an angry, vengeful, grieving mother. In fact, everyone is pretty angry in this funny, sad, violent film.


Honourable mentions: Colossal, Manchester by the Sea, Moonlight, Paddington 2, The Party, Toni Erdmann