Down Under Flix 2017 Review

Published 2018 on Down Under Flix

Due to a spot of travel these past few weeks I’m a bit late assembling my Best of 2017 list. But this isn’t a particularly conventional Best of 2017 list either. Instead, this piece is divided into three parts. Firstly, I list the top 10 films covered on Down Under Flix in 2017. Secondly, I list my top five new Australian releases of 2017. Finally, I list the top 15 films I watched – both old and new, Australian and non-Australian, and excluding any films I’d seen previously – in 2017. Without further ado…

Best films covered on Down Under Flix in 2017:

1. Lonely Hearts (Paul Cox, 1982)

2. Mister Johnson (Bruce Beresford, 1990)

3. Careful, He Might Hear You (Carl Schultz, 1983)

4. The Year My Voice Broke (John Duigan, 1987)

5. Hoodwink (Claude Whatham, 1981)

6. The Big Steal (Nadia Tass, 1990)

7. The Getting of Wisdom (Bruce Beresford, 1977)

8. Youth on the March (Mike Retter, 2017)

9. High Tide (Gillian Armstrong, 1987)

10. Manganinnie (John Honey, 1980)

Best new Australian films of 2017:

1. Jasper Jones (Rachel Perkins, 2017)

2. Lion (Garth Davis, 2016)

3. Mountain (Jennifer Peedom, 2017)

4. Youth on the March (Mike Retter, 2017)

5. Australia Day (Kriv Stenders, 2017)

Best films overall of 2017:

1. A Town Called Panic (Stéphane Aubier & Vincent Patar, 2009)

2. The Thin Man (W. S. Van Dyke, 1934)

3. Lonely Hearts (Paul Cox, 1982)

4. Mister Johnson (Bruce Beresford, 1990)

5. Blade Runner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve, 2017)

6. Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan, 2017)

7. Mephisto (István Szabó, 1981)

8. Careful, He Might Hear You (Carl Schultz, 1983)

9. Amateur (Hal Hartley, 1994)

10. Paterson (Jim Jarmusch, 2016)

11. Tie: The Year My Voice Broke (John Duigan, 1987) & Jasper Jones (Rachel Perkins, 2017)

12. Lion (Garth Davis, 2016)

13. Elle (Paul Verhoeven, 2016)

14. The Decline of Western Civilisation Part II (Penelope Spheeris, 1988)

15. Take this Waltz (Sarah Polley, 2011)

Ben Kooyman

The Return of Down Under Flix: Elvis (2022), Burning Man (2011), and Telegram Man (2011)

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The Way, My Way (2024)

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Season's greetings from DUF

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