Retrospective 2017 – A Year in Film

November

In the cold November rain . . .

Image sources: Curzon, Altitude & 20th Century Fox

While our cousins across the pond were wrapping-up and giving thanks for the year’s blessings, Brits were treated to an eclectic selection of independent and small-budget studio films, as well as a few less memorable big studio numbers.

UK audiences got a latest taste of unique Yorgos Lanthimos sensibilities through dark thriller ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer‘ and were delighted by social-realist indie drama ‘The Florida Project‘, plus quirky female empowerment Tennis period dramedy ‘Battle of the Sexes‘ and Safdie brothers crime thriller ‘Good Time‘. There was also a selection of star-studded studio films on show, including Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of ‘Murder on the Orient Express‘, plus irreverent seasonal comedy sequels ‘Daddy’s Home 2’ and ‘A Bad Moms Christmas’.

Enter the League . . . but prepare for a hasty exit

Image sources: Warner Bros.

After the distinctly lukewarm response to last year’s ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice‘ and the success of this year’s ‘Wonder Woman‘, November 2017 was the point where DC and Warner Bros. truly launched their ‘Extended Universe’ with the birth of their own super team in ‘Justice League‘—a troubled production which upon its release divided opinions between fans and critics. For us this confounding and underwhelming head-scratcher of a comic-book blockbuster smelled like filmmaking by committee from the start, an understandable reaction to all the criticism—making for a cinematic dud of epic proportions, which leaves the future of the DCEU in artistic (if not box office) limbo.

Those We Lost

Image source: Universal, ITV, Sony & CBS

The penultimate month of the year took from us American TV and film actor John Hillerman (84) (Blazing Saddles, Magnum, P.I.) and Keith Barron (83) (Doctor Who, Duty Free), plus American teen icon David Cassidy (67) (The Partridge Family, The Spirit of ’76) and prolific supporting actor Julio Oscar Mechoso (62) (Bad Boys, Jurassic Park III), as well as American TV star Jim Nabors (87) (The Andy Griffith Show, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas).

December next page>

Comments

comments

Comments are closed.