The Flickering Myth team vote…
July marks the second half of 2017, can you believe it’s been half a year already? We’ve seen so much already! Audiences have been wowed by the movies approved by the Academy, Beauty and the Beast earned $1 billion, we’ve seen Fate of the Furious push the franchise to whole new levels of crazy, and we’ve been surprised by Kong: Skull Island and Wonder Woman. It’s not all been good though, there was Alien: Covenant and The Mummy, after all.
So with it being the halfway point of the year, we tasked the Flickering Myth writing staff to vote for their favourite films of 2017 so far. It’s quite simple: each writer submits their top 5 nominations, and their top pick gets five points, the second gets four points and so on. Over 40 films were nominated across 24 writers, and you can see the results below…
10. T2 Trainspotting (7 points)
After a twenty year break, Danny Boyle returned to his movie that helped define the 1990s with T2 Trainspotting. All the original cast are back, and our writers seemed to really enjoyed it. In total 45 films were voted for, and T2 Trainspotting just managed to get into the Top 10 by just one point, beating out Split, Free Fire and The LEGO Batman Movie. It’s great to see a movie released in the UK in January crack its way into the list, even if it didn’t get the glowing reviews the original did.
“T2 Trainspotting may not capture the zeitgeist like its predecessor did, nonetheless this sequel is a welcome shot of adrenaline among January’s prestige dramas vying for awards glory.” Read Sara Hemrajani’s full ★★★★ review here.
9. Baby Driver (8 points)
The complete opposite of T2 Trainspotting, Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver has only just been released in cinemas – but enough of our writers saw it and enjoyed it to secure the ninth spot. If it can get 8 points from only a few votes, then it will surely be high up the list come the end of the year. With its killer soundtrack, great performances and incredible direction, Baby Driver is bound to be hailed as one of the best of 2017.
“Baby Driver represents the kind of originality and creativity that Hollywood is desperately lacking at the moment. Edgar Wright may draw influence from Quentin Tarantino here, but this is 100% his own idea. Anyone else would probably fail at adapting a concept this complex, where Wright uses it to show why he’s one of the best working modern filmmakers.” Read Robert Kojder’s full ★★★★★ review here.
8. Lady Macbeth (10 points)
Lady Macbeth is perhaps the funniest entry in this Top 10, because it only got two votes from our 24 writer pool. However, both of those votes placed it number, earning it ten points in total. So, with only two big votes, Lady Macbeth topped several movies with multiple lower votes. William Oldroyd’s adaptation of Nikolai Leskov’s 1865 novella Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District was highly praised upon its release.
“Lady Macbeth is an assured and accomplished piece of filmmaking. Pugh captures the vulnerability versus predatory nature of her character, all the while nurturing a responsive mix of sympathy and disgust from her audience. The interpretation of Birch’s script by the actors has an air of the melodic, the rigidity of social hierarchy of the 1860’s used to create a melodic rhythm in the verbal exchanges. The film represents a perfect marriage of script and performance, a calm that unfortunately escapes Katherine’s loveless and antagonistic marriage.” Read Paul Risker’s full ★★★★ review here.
7. Moonlight (15 points)
It was given the Best Film honour at the Academy Awards (not La La Land, of course) but Moonlight has only managed seventh place on the Flickering Myth list. It will be interesting to see if it makes it into the list come the end of the year. Mahershala Ali shines in a fantastic performance, and Barry Jenkins showed why he’s one of the best directors in the industry today.
“Every performance in Moonlight is perfect and Jenkins’ direction is natural. The score blends classical opera with hip hop and R&B seamlessly. Moonlight is a quiet film with a big statement to make – and it does this expertly.” Read Helen Murdoch’s full ★★★★★ review here.
6. Kong: Skull Island (18 points)
The first tentpole blockbuster on our list, Kong: Skull Island was the second step in Legendary Picture’s MonsterVerse following 2014’s Godzilla. Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, it took a group of explores to Skull Island where they try and escape while avoiding the presence of Kong and the horrible Skull Diggers. It’s burst of incredible CGI, great comedy and sublime action, Kong: Skull Island was a surprise to many who saw it. Those who were expecting a bog-standard monster flick got so much more.
“With such a long linage of films – including the groundbreaking original – it seems almost impossible to say this is the best of the lot, but Kong: Skull Island really is the best Kong movie ever. It has all the missing elements of recent monster efforts like Godzilla and Pacific Rim with its brilliant characters and performances, with the best of modern action blockbusters. It’s epic, brilliant, wonderful and one of the best pictures of the year so far.” Read Luke Owen’s full ★★★★★ review here.
Originally published June 30, 2017. Updated November 30, 2022.
