No spoilers! What's the best film you watched this year? Doesn't necessarily need to be a film released this year, just the best one you watched for the first time in 2017.

I thought Dunkirk was incredible.

Other more general film recommendations also welcome!

I went once this year to take my two nephews... Paddington 2

I'm not really a film/movie buff but I went to the Showcase in Leeds with the chairs and almost fell asleep they were that comfy!

Bladerunner 2049
Dunkirk
Paddington 2
Thor Ragnarok
The last Jedi

All very good, but Bladerunner 2049 was just a sublime film and exceeded all my expecations

Tale of tales.twice And Easy Rider.

Baby Driver.

The Wizard of Oz

69 WALLOP wrote:The Wizard of Oz

If I... was king... of the FORRRREEESSSTTT!

Thor and Star Wars were great but although technically 2016 I'd say Hacksaw Ridge as I watched that this year.

I haven’t seen the ending yet, so please don’t tell me what happens!

Jumanji

Bridge on the river kwai! Fantastic!

John Johnson 1605 wrote:Baby Driver.

This.

Dunkirk - quirky but thoroughly enjoyed it personally.

Blade Runner 2049 - being a child of the eighties and was mind blowed by the original, this just disappointed me on so many levels, visually and sonically I just felt it was generic pap.

Bladerunner 2049

Truly epic film, retained the world, style, visuals and philosophies of the original but added some excellent characters and expanded the world without cheapening. Pacing was far better too something the original had a lot of trouble with but sometimes is forgotten or glossed over with 'well it's film noir..."

I cant remember a more worthy revisit to a classic film in along time.
It didn't do as well at the box office as it could have, but in this case I think it's a good sign that they made the film they wanted to make instead of trying to please the mob.

Hozz wrote: Blade Runner 2049 - being a child of the eighties and was mind blowed by the original, this just disappointed me on so many levels, visually and sonically I just felt it was generic pap.

It's all subjective of course however compared to the recent Sci-Fi re-visits from the 80s (Robcop, Total Recall, Alien, Terminator etc) Blade Runner 2049 is Citizen Kane.
I'm amazed you sight two of it's strongest facets, visuals and soundtrack as poor considering they took so much inspiration from the original.

Denis Villeneuve is my absolute favourite director working today. (I think he's a genius.) Roger Deakins is my favourite cinematographer working today. Hans Zimmer is my favourite score composer working today. The original Blade Runner is one of my favourite films of all time.

Might just be a hunch, like, but I think I'm going to like this one!!! I'm planning on seeing it in the next few days.

The good the bad and the ugly in 4kuhd
Truly something to behold

Get Out was a great film. It felt in parts similar to Kubrick's The Shining in a way. Perhaps not in terms of composition and attention to detail, but in tone, at least.

Dunkirk was such a let down for me.

gandhisflipflop wrote:Dunkirk was such a let down for me.

Why?

I haven't seen it yet.

Yeah...why? (Seconded.)

There's nothing I can think of which I would change about that film. It's pure cinema.

Dunkirk, in my opinion, should be the blueprint of how to point a camera at a thing and tell a simple story. It isn't arthouse, to be sure, but it isn't a bull$hit blockbuster, either. I'd be intrigued as to what you found disappointing about it, ghandisflipflop. Everyone I've spoken to loves it.

Maybe not "the best film" of 2017 and won't win loads of awards and accolades but my favourite film I have watched this year was Going In Style - just a film to sit and not think too much about and smile at.

Bin Ont Turf wrote:Why?

I haven't seen it yet.

It also didn't reach the heights many sold it at for me either. I thought the sense of scale was lacking, I'm very happy when film makers eschew the over use of CGI but in it's proper place it enhances things. Nolan wanted to use original boats that actually took part which is admirable but means when we finally see the approaching salvation of the soldiers instead of hundreds of merchenment, fishers, paddle steamers etc we get about a dozen boats on screen, wow... We see 3 planes total in the entire film, a couple hundred men. The film as a whole seems entirely empty.

I thought it was hampered by the 12A rating, men simply disappear in burst of sand or we cut away to an implied fate. I didn't come for war porn (I'm looking at you Hacksaw Ridge) but at least show the reality.

Was not a fan of the time jumping, I think it's a useful and interesting tool (Memento, Primer etc) but poorly executed in this instance. Would much rather have seen one character's arc start to finish then reliving it with the next character. Instead it all skips arbitrarily without any logic.

There were some nice visuals, score was good. It had merits but doesn't come close to breaking my top 10 WWII films.

CombatClaret wrote:It also didn't reach the heights many sold it at for me either. I thought the sense of scale was lacking, I'm very happy when film makers eschew the over use of CGI but in it's proper place it enhances things. Nolan wanted to use original boats that actually took part which is admirable but means when we finally see the approaching salvation of the soldiers instead of hundreds of merchenment, fishers, paddle steamers etc we get about a dozen boats on screen, wow... We see 3 planes total in the entire film, a couple hundred men. The film as a whole seems entirely empty.

I thought it was hampered by the 12A rating, men simply disappear in burst of sand or we cut away to an implied fate. I didn't come for war porn (I'm looking at you Hacksaw Ridge) but at least show the reality.

Was not a fan of the time jumping, I think it's a useful and interesting tool (Memento, Primer etc) but poorly executed in this instance. Would much rather have seen one character's arc start to finish then reliving it with the next character. Instead it all skips arbitrarily without any logic.

There were some nice visuals, score was good. It had merits but doesn't come close to breaking my top 10 WWII films.

Got to agree with this..... very clearly lacked scale and as a result totally undervalued the effort involved....... and I also have to agree regarding character arcs.... the “hero” pilot spent the entire film running out of fuel

I'm very happy when film makers eschew the over use of CGI

So am I.

I mostly hate CGI.

As I've said before on here I love my ww2 films as it's my favourite genre and subject as a whole and I agree with a lot of the posters above sentiments. There was an empty feel about it entirely and didn't capture me the way other ww2 films have done. Hacksaw ridge was a much better film than this for authenticity and if I ignored the hype about that I'd say good film. With the hype not so much.

The time jump was a little unnecessary, actually, yes. I'll revise my 'nothing I would change' comment to include this-I'd actually forgotten about it!

I didn't actually find the apparent dearth of rescue boats to be a negative, personally. I was more invested in the smaller stories. That said-that might have been a consequence of my conditioning going in to the film (I went in to the film expecting 'personal' cinema based on the limited promotion of the film I exposed myself to and the opinions of others I listened to), but the scale didn't disappoint me, personally. I thought it was a brilliantly romantic piece of cinema. On a technical level (which is where I'm prone to creaming myself) I thought it was awesome.

My favourite ww2 genre films are in no particular order.

Enemy at the gates
Das boot
The thin red line (great for action)
Unbroken (a massively underrated film)
Downfall.

All good for different reasons.

Bin Ont Turf wrote:So am I.
I mostly hate CGI.

Saving Private Ryan used CGI but to enhance and supplement the film without becoming the film, that's the difference.
Like editing the best CGI is the stuff you don't notice.

Spiral wrote: On a technical level (which is where I'm prone to creaming myself) I thought it was awesome.

I think as we strive for the technical we sometimes lose what story telling is, Nolan shot on 70mm iMax blah blah etc etc. The image is so clean it's almost sterile.

The Pvt Ryan landing scene was shot at a 45 degree shutter with 12 fps which they then doubled to make the standard cinema 24fps. This in effect brought it in line with the news reel footage of the time which is the only way we of this era has ever seen D-Day. They deliberately degraded the technical to serve the story and it's still is a beacon of film making.

I'm all for the technical but story first.

Fair point very well made, Combat.

but SPR didn't have any Spitfires!!!!!

3 Billboards in Ebbing Missouri fantastic acting

I have not seen many decent films this year but Get Out is probably the best.

I was disappointed by Dunkirk. There was a lot of hype so I was expecting it to be amazing. I watched it at home on a HD stream and kept thinking, this would be amazing at the cinema in IMAX. Some films need to be seen at the cinema and I think Dunkirk falls into that category. Was still an enjoyable watch

gandhisflipflop wrote:My favourite ww2 genre films are in no particular order.

Enemy at the gates
Das boot
The thin red line (great for action)
Unbroken (a massively underrated film)
Downfall.

All good for different reasons.

Just recently watched Das Boot on blu ray via a 4k TV...
Well worth doing if you get a chance.

Manchester By The Sea is the best film I've seen that was released this year.
I've seen a lot of films at the cinema thanks to my cineworld pass and on TV etc, but this one is the one that's stuck with me the most.

Thought provoking, emotional and very nearly made me cry.
Well worth seeing and in my opinion deserved Best Film Oscar more than the other film.

It's hard for me to choose one. I also really enjoyed Dunkirk (the soundtrack and sound effects were fantastic) and Manchester by the Sea.

However, my favourite film I've seen this year is probably Insomnia. It's a 2002 psychological thriller directed by Christopher Nolan. Features Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank. Not suggesting it's a classic by any means but I liked it and tend to enjoy films set in Alaska.

Inchy wrote:I have not seen many decent films this year but Get Out is probably the best.

I was disappointed by Dunkirk. There was a lot of hype so I was expecting it to be amazing. I watched it at home on a HD stream and kept thinking, this would be amazing at the cinema in IMAX. Some films need to be seen at the cinema and I think Dunkirk falls into that category. Was still an enjoyable watch

I definitely agree that Dunkirk falls into the category of needing to be seen at the cinema. Unless you spend a lot of money on a sound system, there's just no replicating the sound effects. The initial gunshots in the first scene made me jump out of my seat!

Dunkirk

Being eligible for the silver screen at £3 a go saw me return to the cinema after years of absence.
Certainly the picture quality has improved a lot and of course the animation gone up several notches, but somehow the big screen highlights the artificiality of much of it, one isn't drawn in.
Thought Dunkirk was interesting from the perspective of Churchills vulnerability and declining powers.
The Christopher Robin film again was interesting from the perspective of financial gain over a child's well- being and how that child overcame the lack of motherly care to forge their own path in the world.
Poirot was disappointing albeit the scenery spectacular, no character development, too many celebs, needed a completely fresh cast to give it some zing.
My wife liked Paddington,and it had its moments, but again for me littered with stars and Paddington lacked authenticity not beary enough.
My Cousin Rachel, again beautifully presented, an air of mystery but difficult to engage with any of the characters, a little too glossy.
Although not on the screen , the White Princess appeared on TV and was able to see the action parts filmed at Lacock, an interesting historical epic.

Hidden Figures

The Accountant

Watched both on the flight back from Cuba. Both excellent.

tim_noone wrote:Tale of tales.twice And Easy Rider.

If you're a fan of Dennis Hopper theres a newish documentary out called Along for the ride. Also The American Dreamer is well worth a watch

About Time is probably the best film i've watched for the first time this year. It came out in 2013.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2194499/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/about_time/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Dunkirk on the imax
As good as cinema can get

If you like das boot - try getting hold of the boxset series of which the film is an edited highlights version. Worth the effort

Garnerssoap wrote:If you like das boot - try getting hold of the boxset series of which the film is an edited highlights version. Worth the effort

Are you referring to when it was shown on TV as a series instead of a full length film?
I originally watched it as a series as a kid.

Dunkirk was good but I have to say I enjoyed "Murder on the Orient Express" the most with "Paddington 2" coming a close 2nd.

I watched very few films this year.

Lars and the Real Girl.

Based on a true story : Joyeux Noel (Merry Xmas)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRrr-CDXijs

I was also one of the few who loved mother!

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.