2018 Catch-Up

Okay, I know what you're thinking... you're still doing these things? Well, the answer is yes and no. Yes, with this post I can now say that I am still doing these things. No, because for the last 12 months I have not done any of these things. Wait, where was I going with this post? Oh yeah, I'm trying to catch up on movie reviews for all of the films I saw from last year that I didn't get around to reviewing officially. Don't worry, though, I'm going to keep them brief. One or two sentences max. Okay, maybe three or four... It's going to be tough, but I will force myself to keep it brief.

(DISCLAIMER: I didn't get to go to the theater as much as I would like, so some movies I may have saw in full at the cinema, I decided to stop watching once I realized they were bad. That's why you won't see any reviews for films less than 3 stars. The lesser ones would have been: A Wrinkle in Time, Pacific Rim: Uprising, Mama Mia: Here We Go Again, and Tomb Raider. Just in case you think I like all movies indiscriminately.)

With that introduction out of the way, should we start in chronological order? Yes, we should!

Most Anticipated Films of 2018

We're now pretty deep into 2018, which begs the question, "Why are you just writing this blog post now?" Well, there's not really a great reason for that. It's just tough to find a couple of hours uninterrupted to write a post like this. That's not to say that I haven't wanted to. I've had this list in mind since before the new year even began. With that in mind, I am going to be listing my most anticipated films for this year as if I haven't seen any of them (which remains true for almost all of them). These aren't necessarily the films that I think are going to be the best, but rather these are the ones that I am the most excited to see. To give you an idea of how deep this year's slate of films is, here are some movies that didn't make the list: X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Deadpool 2, Pacific Rim: Uprising, Venom, A Wrinkle in Time, and Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2. This looks like it's going to be a record-breaking year at the box office, and hopefully we'll get some unforgettable moments at the theater as well. With that, let's get into my list!

Best Films of 2017

Yet again, the year ends and I find myself wishing I had time to catch up on all of the potentially great films I've missed. Logan, The Post, Baby Driver, Downsizing and Wonder are among those that would have surely been contending for spots on this list if I had been able to see them. However, I can't wait to see all of the year's films before making my list. It's been far too long since I've even written an actual review, so I can't miss my annual recap of my favorite movies of the year. With all of that out of the way, here is my list of the best films of 2017!

Dunkirk

Wow, what a unique movie-going experience this turned out to be! I'm not going to pretend that I wasn't expecting this to be great. Christopher Nolan is my favorite director working today, and he has yet to disappoint me. I thought Interstellar was a masterful work of sci-fi with mind-bending concepts explored in a thrilling and eye-popping way. I was also one of the few who thought that The Dark Knight Rises was the best of the Batman trilogy, which is an opinion that I mostly still hold. Then there's Inception, which may be my favorite movie of all time. I honestly can't think of a single flaw in that masterpiece of a film. So yeah, I obviously have a great deal of admiration for Nolan has accomplished, but with that also comes increasingly lofty expectations for his latest efforts. Could he possibly live up to his own high bar with this unusual WWII film?

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

It's been six months since I saw this movie, but I figured I should probably type out my thoughts while they were still in my head.This is the first movie of the year that was on my list of most anticipated films of 2017, and man was I looking forward to Beauty and the Beast. The original animated movie holds such a special place in my heart that I was both eager and a bit uncertain about the live-action adaptation. There was a good chance they would continue with their excellent track record of late with Cinderella and The Jungle Book, but they could also fall back into Maleficent territory. Would they use this as an opportunity to expand on the story, or would it be a shot-for-shot remake of the Academy Award-nominated original?