Happy New Year fellow film fan,
After a few technical delays, it’s our pleasure to present our annual Year-in-Review focusing on the highlights in feature films for the year of twenty-seventeen.
Against the prevailing winds, it was the first year in many where AroVideo focused on expansion rather than retrenchment, thanks largely to the "Adopt-a-Movie" scheme, which has been adopted enthusiastically by customers far and wide. We added over 600 titles to the library, including many exclusive imports, plus thousand discs (of mainly TV archives) acquired from the now defunct Fatso Home-Delivery service.
While we try to include something for everyone in our "Best of" list, it is admittedly skewed to festival go-ers and those that appreciate a range of savoury cinematic flavours, as opposed to the refined (or not-so-refined) sugars of Hollywood. We merit courageous or innovative film-making matched with exceptional craft, and also consider its impact on audiences (like you).
Always a bit of film-nerd fun, we hope it offers you some reliable guidance or at least stimulates some debate. So whether you agree or disagree with our rankings, we encourage you to add your own star-rating and review/comment on any film to our website, or add any of those listed here to your personal wishlist when logged in to your My-Aro account.
AROVIDEO TOP 50 DVDS RELEASED IN 2017:
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1. Hell or High Water
This richly rewarding crime film was our winner by sheer consensus
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2. Arrival
Stunningly ambitious drama that takes an Alien invasion seriously
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3. La La Land
Despite the post-Oscar backlash, this was the most joyously romantic film in years
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4. Get Out
Scary and funny conspiracy thriller that’s a landmark in black cinema
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5. Lion
An extraordinary true story rendered with extraordinary beauty
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6. Captain Fantastic
Fantastic parenting drama brim-full with ideas and conflicting emotions
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7. I, Daniel Blake
Ken Loach’s masterwork of social injustice in the UK
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8. Dunkirk
Technically miraculous re-creation of an iconic WWII event
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9. Moonlight
Oscar-winning indie drama surveys an alternative "black experience"
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10. Manchester By the Sea
A melancholy yet spellbinding drama of loss and hope
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21. The Beguiled
Exquisite chamber piece sees dir. Sofia Coppola in top form
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22. Little Men
Elegant domestic drama weighted with capitalistic tension
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23. The Autopsy of Jane Doe
A black comedy that delivers on its ghoulish premise
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24. Nocturnal Animals
Brilliantly structured revenge thriller that keeps you guessing
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25. It Comes at Night
A post-apocalyptic thriller loaded with drama & metaphor
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31. Wind River
Chilling detective story from the writer of HELL OR HIGH WATER
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32. Embrace of the Serpent
Herzogian explorer adventure from Colombia
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33. Francofonia
Masterful cinematic essay from the dir. of RUSSIAN ARK
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34. Paterson
Leisurely, graceful drama from Jim Jarmusch
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35. Elle
Troubling, divisive psycho-sexual thriller that can’t be ignored
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36. The Red Turtle
Wordless French poetic fable in animated motion
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37. Denial
Cracking fact-based courtroom trial of a Holocaust denier
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38. Their Finest
Warmly inviting British wartime nostalgia
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39. Pecking Order
Must-see Kiwi doco that was widely seen
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40. Spookers
Must-see Kiwi doco that was little-seen
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41. Logan
A muscular superhero movie to be taken seriously
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42. Perfect Strangers
Bella Italian dinner comedy for the iPhone age
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43. Personal Shopper
Haunting Parisian glamour chase
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44. Kedi
Purr-fect doco about felines & friends in Istanbul
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45. Baby Driver
Delirious pop culture/popcorn actioner
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46. Moana
Disney smash salted with our South Pacific flavour and talent
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47. The Odyssey
Splendid biopic of iconic Frenchman Jacques Cousteau
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48. Truman
Delightful Spanish drama of middle-aged bro-mance
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49. Operation Avalanche
Skillful moon-landing hoax spoof
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50. Life, Animated
Life-affirming doco of autism & Disney movies
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These also made the not-so-short list for the Best of 2017 ~
In Drama (UK/Ire): A United Kingdom, Una, London Road, A Date for Mad Mary, Alone in Berlin, A Quiet Passion, Sunset Song, My Cousin Rachel, Sense of an Ending, Victoria and Abdul, Viceroy’s House, The Man Who Knew Infinity.
In Drama: Silence, The Lost City of Z, Equity, Fences, Hidden Figures, Allied, The Founder, Norman, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, The Wizard of Lies, Miss Sloane, The Zookeeper’s Wife, The Light Between Oceans, Remember, The Birth of a Nation. Indie-drama: Christine, American Honey, Faults, Wakefield.
In Comedy: Cafe Society, The Trip to Spain, A Street Cat Named Bob, Logan Lucky, The Family Fang.
In Documentary: The Eagle Huntress, Dancer, LA 92, Notes on Blindness, A Flickering Truth, Free to Run, National Bird: Drone Wars, Risk, The Family, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, Tomorrow, Le Ride. Plus doco imports (multizone player required): Lo And Behold, Welcome to Leith, The Queen of Ireland The Overnighters, Fire at Sea, Heart of a Dog, The Merchants of Doubt.
In Foreign Language: The Salesman, A War, Land of Mine, The Innocents Things to Come, Neruda, Dheepan, Julieta, After the Storm, Arabian Nights, Aquarius, A Man Called Ove, Rosalie Blum, God Willing, The Country Doctor.
In Sci-Fi/Fantasy: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Doctor Strange, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Spider-man: Homecoming, Wonder Woman, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Colossal, The Girl with All the Gifts, Life, Alien: Covenant, War for the Planet of the Apes, Passengers, Shin Godzilla.
In Action/Crime: Hacksaw Ridge, Patriots Day, Deepwater Horizon, The Accountant, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Atomic Blonde, American Made. Fight Club: Chuck, Jawbone, Beast.
In Horror: It, Split, Berlin Syndrome, The Devil’s Candy.
In Family: Pete’s Dragon, Sing, Beauty and the Beast, The Queen of Katwe, A Monster Calls, Song of the Sea, Long Way North, The Lego Batman Movie, The Boss Baby, A Dog’s Purpose.
In Young Adult: Your Name, Handsome Devil, Edge of Seventeen, Jasper Jones, Carrie Pilby, Before I Fall.
In Music: Whitney: Can I Be Me, Sinatra: All or Nothing at All, What Happened, Miss Simone?, Gimme Danger, The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble.
From NZ: My Year With Helen, Poi E: The Story of Our Song, McLaren, The Heart of the Matter, The Changeover, One Thousand Ropes, The Great Maiden’s Blush, Chronesthesia.
From the edge: Raw, The Neon Demon, The Greasy Strangler, Spaghettiman, Darling, Hard To Be A God, Headshot, Train to Busan, The Wailing.
Outstanding TV Mini-series and series debuts: OJ: Made in America, Big Little Lies, Taboo, The Young Pope, Westworld, Legion, American Gods, This Is Us, Apple Tree Yard, Decline and Fall.
