Michael Darvell Looks Back at the Year of 2017

30 Dec

For me it was a good year for films, although I enjoyed some rather eccentric, not to say extreme, titles: Get Out, Suburbicon, Breathe, The Florida Project. Of four outstanding films on gay themes I saw God’s Own Country and Call Me by Your Name but plan to catch up with Beach Rats and Heartstone. Aspects of public life were finely delineated in Dunkirk, Goodbye Christopher Robin and The Death of Stalin, while for sheer entertainment value Paddington 2 was unbeatable. Titles I regret having to omit from the Top Ten include Sally Potter’s little gem, The Party, Disney's delightful Beauty and the Beast, Stephen Frears' historical curiosity Victoria and Abdul, the brilliant documentary I Am Not Your Negro and Lone Scherfig’s Their Finest, a beady look at the wartime Ministry of Information. I could have done without Blade Runner 2049 and Murder on the Orient Express, both major disappointments.

Michael Darvell’s Favourites:

1. Get Out
2. God’s Own Country
3. The Florida Project
4. Call Me By Your Name
5. Breathe
6. Suburbicon
7. Dunkirk
8. Paddington 2
9. The Death of Stalin
10. Goodbye Christopher Robin

Michael Darvell

Michael Darvell trained as a librarian at Watford and in Surrey before joining Ealing Libraries where he became Music Librarian for the borough. He edited Masthead, the magazine of the University of North London School of Librarianship, The Surrealist, the staff magazine of Surrey County Library, and contributed to the Assistant Librarian and London Librarian professional journals. A freelance film reviewer since 1970, he has written for Film, Films Illustrated, Film Review, Movie Maker and Radio Times, as well as editing Montage, the London film societies magazine, for ten years. A change of career saw him joining What’s On in London as Features Editor and he eventually stepped into the shoes of the late F. Maurice Speed (founding father of Film Review annual) as the magazine’s Editor. From 2007 to 2015, he was co-editor of the Film Review annual with Mansel Stimpson. As well as writing about films, Michael has reviewed theatre for The Stage newspaper, and has written about music theatre and cabaret for the Classical Source and Musical Theatre Review websites. He is also a former restaurant critic for the ViewLondon website. Michael has been a member of the London Film Critics’ Circle since 2005.

Michael Darvell Looks Back at the Year of 2017

Blowing the Bloody Doors Off

Mansel Stimpson Looks Back at the Year of 2017