Now that 2017 is drawing to a close (thank goodness), we here at the Fandomentals are taking stock of our favorite movies of the year. The five FAVORITE movies of 2017 to be exact. These are the movies our staffers have been ranting and raving about on and off-site. The movies that struck a chord with us and stayed with us long after the credits stopped rolling.
‘Favorite movies’ are different than ‘Best of’ lists, but they do often share some overlap. We’re not saying the movies below aren’t legitimately ‘great.’ Rather what we’re saying is these are the movies that we couldn’t stop thinking about and whose impact haven’t lessened in repeat viewings.
We created a poll, and every writer and staffer had an opportunity to both nominate a movie and to vote. We then ranked the results in ascending order. Staffers and writers were able to claim whichever movie they wanted to talk about on a first come, first serve basis.
Below are the ranked results:
5. Blade Runner 2049 – Corentin
I’m still having trouble accepting that this movie managed to exist in 2017. This thing was a risk. Not on the idea to make a sequel—it’s brand recognition after all—but on the movie itself. I was expecting all kind of stupid decisions, a remake of the old one, a complete deconstruction of the world shown to us at the time, or maybe two hours of Harrison Ford starring into Ryan Gosling’s eyes. I was not prepared for this movie to take its predecessor so seriously, and with that much respect.
Blade Runner 2049 took its time. Not just because it’s a long movie, but because it moves slowly too. Denis Villeneuve knows how to compose, and it shows. Each scene is given just enough time to breathe, to let the actors express everything they need, and to let the viewer enter this world. The beauty of the first Blade Runner was its atmosphere, and this movie decided to go even further. We don’t get to see the same places but with better FX, we visit new places, we discover new ideas.
Blade Runner is breathtakingly beautiful. The cinematography and the music rhyme in such a simple way, highlighting the ugliness of this world that fascinates us. I probably could go like that for a while without finding the words needed to describe professionally. It takes your eyes away.
It’s difficult to talk about this movie without sounding very stupid and very artsy. I honestly didn’t care that much about the story I was being told. I was just so happy to finally see a movie that uses sci-fi ideas and doesn’t just throw them at the screen without any intention of doing anything with them. Blade Runner explores them, slowly, carefully. It doesn’t judge them or deconstruct them; it lets them live. Breath. Grow. For the viewer to make his own opinion. Going further with the question that the first Blade Runner asked, what is human?
And even that doesn’t matter; this is not a philosophy dissertation. This is an ode to sci-fi, to cyberpunk, and cinema. The movie isn’t perfect. It’s great, and it fills me with joy to know that something like that can still be produced in Hollywood.