Film in 2017

So 2017 is nearly at an end. How does it stack up?

I like it less than 2016 - but not by a whole bunch. I missed many of the "great" movies like Logan, Wonder Woman, and Baby Driver - they did little to interest me.

This year had quite a lot of films that flew under the radar - maybe they weren't the best, but I liked them a lot.

So, let's go.




10. Power Rangers [gif]

No one had hopes for this movie - I was more indifferent, having not seen much of any iteration of the show. But I found the characters and actors charming enough. And yes, I liked the diversity both visible and not - when was the last time you saw an Autistic person in a movie who verbally said it? Sure there was a very weak allusion to the Yellow Ranger (okay I don't remember anyone's name besides Billy, I honestly call the Red Ranger White Man) not being straight but it's ... nothing.

I would love a sequel.


9. Spiderman Homecoming [gif]

I enjoyed the Raimi Spiderman films as someone not familiar with the character besides "His name is Peter Parker and apparently people hate One More Day".

The charm comes from how down to earth everything is. I don't care a ton about the MCU or DCEU when the ENTIRE WORLD is at stake or nonsense. Seen it. A kid trying to stop an alien arms dealer? I can dig it.

8. Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets 

This has a lot of problems. The titular character ... nothing's right here. De Haan plays the character more obnoxious than charming, though I do think Cara is leagues better here than she was in Suicide Squad.  There's an alien race that comes off far too uncomfortably like a Jewish stereotype.

It's gorgeous, the plot is simple enough but allows for a lot of creativity, the world has a ton of potential. You will not see a sequel, as this is probably the most expensive movie to flop this year. But you can always read the French comic books it's based off of.

7. Score; A Film Music Documentary

Exactly what it says on the tin. Also, you get to see what Hans Zimmer looks like.

6. Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

As an old school fan, they did something very wise; They adapted a smart amalgamation of the first three books instead of the setup of the first book, which would have seen like a cinematic universe movie - used to set up the next movie instead of standing alone.

There's kind of a long stretch where it's quite aimless, and you really feel that it is a kid's movie, but as a fan from way back, I was pretty pleased.

Onto the Top Five.

5. Atomic Blonde [gif]

This is unusually high up for a movie with a plot that really makes so little sense. But it's so pretty and stylish and the music is awesome. It's just so much fun to watch a woman beat the shit out of people and they don't make her immune to the violence. It's real and she beats everyone.

I don't know if the graphic novel it's based off of, The Coldest City, has more story or sequel potential but MAN did I love this a lot.


4. Star Wars: The Last Jedi [gif]

I can't rewrite all this, so read it here.

3. Girls Trip [gif]

Same thing, here you go.

2. Get Out

A 'satire' that doesn't have overt racists, but the more prevalent, insidious racism of white liberals that they don't think exists.


And my favorite movie of 2017 is......

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Almost there

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1. Coco

I had apprehension. Everything about the advertising made it look like a ripoff of The Book of Life. Yet there was still some kind of small hope that wanted to see what happened, and I'm so happy I did.

It's so pretty, remarkably well paced for the amount of lore they put in (but The Filmmakers did expect you to have the inkling of knowledge about Day of the Dead), the songs are all fabulous and singable, and the animation could have looked very odd with clothing over skeletons but it doesn't and there's just so much personality in every person, that you miss everyone when the movie is over.

I've never considered a Pixar movie to be the best in a year - out of all the major animation houses, Pixar was always behind Dreamworks and WDAS, but I am really pleased that they made Coco with so much care and detail and did wonderfully right by it - so much so that this is the highest grossing movie in Mexico ever. [gif]