Sunday, December 31, 2017

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. LoganThe 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!

Sunday, September 10, 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?

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Spider-Man: Homecoming


Okay, I know that at the beginning of the year I didn't put this film in my most anticipated list for 2017. I didn't think there was anything particularly new that they would bring to the table with yet another Spider-Man reboot. I get it, I was wrong. Obviously I had a feeling Tom Holland was going to be awesome in the role, having already seen him pull it off spectacularly in Captain America: Civil War, and with the addition of Tony Stark it looked like they were trying their hardest to appeal to as many fans as possible. The trailers for this film looked really fun, but I didn't really get the vision that Marvel had for Spider-Man: Homecoming until I sat down in my seat to watch it on the big screen. But what was that vision, and how well did it end up working?

Monday, June 5, 2017

Wonder Woman


Finally! If I could write a one word review, I think that would be it. Not only has DC been waiting to have a major release get near universal praise as well as box office success, but the character of Wonder Woman has been around for over 75 years without any theatrical adaptation whatsoever. During that time, we've gotten six major Superman films and eight major Batman films, not including the infamous team-up we got last year (that just so happens to debut the title character from this film). A lot was riding on Wonder Woman, and Warner Bros was in the midst of a PR nightmare after their first two releases failed to win over the majority of fans or critics. As a result, the future of their cinematic universe rested on the very capable shoulders of this Amazonian demigod, and I am thrilled to report that she did not disappoint!

Friday, May 26, 2017

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2


Finally we have another major release to talk about! April has been a very long month in that regard. As someone who has never seen a Fast and the Furious movie, I've been biding my time for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 since Beauty and the Beast came out in March. From here on out we're getting a blockbuster a week until the end of summer, and I couldn't be happier! It's been almost three years since the first Guardians of the Galaxy was released, and given its unexpected success it was surprising that Marvel took their time churning out this hotly anticipated sequel. But how did this film measure up to the heightened expectations after the surprise success of the first film?

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Kong: Skull Island


It's been so long since this movie came out that I've actually seen it twice. As a huge fan of the 2014 Godzilla reboot (not to mention of the creature in general), I couldn't wait to see where Warner Bro's was going to take this expanding movie universe. Being as keyed in to movie news as I am, I've known for months and months now that they were building towards a King Kong vs. Godzilla movie (though Godzilla: King of Monsters is obviously the next on the docket). With that in mind, I went into Kong: Skull Island with a lot of optimism.

The Lego Batman Movie



I have a ton of movies to catch up on, so this will have to be a bit abbreviated. As anyone who read my review of The Lego Movie could tell you, I thought that was a top-notch animated film on the same level as the Toy Story movies. How could they possibly make another movie that met our increased expectations with as much wit and heart as they were able to pull off with the original? 

Split


Wow, that was quite the hiatus. This movie has been out for a while, and since I have so many movie reviews to catch up on, I'll be keeping this brief. Shyamalan has been a point of curiosity for me ever since he went from a tremendous run of hits to a deplorable stretch of misses over the last twenty years. I've been pulling for him, though, as The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs are all tremendous thrillers that I've seen multiple times, and I even enjoyed The Village for what it was. So when Split started to get some positive buzz, I hoped that it would help pull M. Night out of his self-imposed obscurity and back into the spotlight as the ambitious and talented filmmaker that I believe him to be.

Monday, January 2, 2017

Most Anticipated Films of 2017


It's a new year, which means we have a whole bunch of exciting new movies to look forward to over the next twelve months! As with all years, I can't include all of the films I'm anticipating on this list. For example, I've had to exclude the new Mummy remake with Tom Cruise (even though it looks pretty intriguing), Stephen King's Dark Tower adaptation starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, and original films like The Circle, starring Tom Hanks and Emma Watson. So which movies did make the list? You'll get my top 10 list in a second, but first here are some honorable mentions.

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Best Films of 2016



Wow, another year is in the books, and while few would call 2016 one of their favorite years ever, it's tough to argue that the movies were a total bust. In fact, there were so many good movies released this year that I'm hard pressed to narrow it down to 10. Of course, as usual there are several great films that I didn't get a chance to catch up on this year. The most likely to feature on this list would have been Arrival, Hidden Figures, A Monster Calls, Sully, and Patriot's Day. I'm sure I'll get to them soon, but I didn't want to wait for that to release my annual list of my favorite things from the past year in film. Hope you all enjoy!