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?

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?

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!

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?

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.

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.

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!

La La Land

What a unique and joyous film this is! I wasn't that aware of La La Land until the first trailer came out a few months ago, but I was instantly intrigued by the concept. It's been a long time since we've seen an original musical made for the big screen, and with these two fantastic leads (both of whom shined in 2011's Crazy, Stupid, Love) I knew it had the potential to be something special. Throw into that mix Damien Chazelle's directorial follow-up to the critically-acclaimed Whiplash, and it was clear that this had Oscar contender written all over it. So does it live up to this tremendous potential?

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Everyone who knows me could tell you that I'm a HUGE fan of Star Wars. If you need proof, just check out the reviews I've done for the prequels. Even a lot of Star Wars fans don't like those films. So it was surprising to me when I was making my list of most anticipated films of 2016 last year that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story wasn't at the #1 spot. I mean, I had just seen The Force Awakens and was on possibly an all-time high in my fandom for the property. However, perhaps due to its exclusion from the saga storyline (at least in name), I wasn't finding myself as hyped for it as previous Star Wars films. Don't get me wrong, I purchased my opening night tickets as soon as they were available, and even purchased the collectible metal popcorn bucket with the Death Trooper and AT-ACT walkers on it. As the release date came closer and closer, I started to get more and more excited... but was that anticipation rewarded with a satisfying experience?

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

We're back with the Star Wars saga, and though Rogue One is already in theaters, I couldn't review it without first talking about the most underrated film in the franchise, Revenge of the Sith. This was the first Star Wars movie that I was old enough to buy my own ticket, drive myself to the theater, and even skip a day of school to wait in line on opening night. I had seen every trailer, TV spot, and featurette that had been released, and I was beyond ready to see how the prequel films would be able to tie into the original trilogy. Beyond that, however, my curiosity was at its peak for Anakin's turn to the dark side, which was promised by the film's title.

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

I'm back with another Star Wars review in anticipation of this week's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. As I stated in my review of The Phantom Menace, I am one of the defenders of these prequel films... but I can still recognize the obvious problems. However, I do feel that the rhetoric on these movies has gotten way out of hand over the last ten or so years, so hopefully I can provide some semblance of balance to this predominantly one-sided argument. After what felt like an eternity following the exhilaration of seeing Episode I in theaters, I was dying to see how this story would progress in the next film. Seeing an older Anakin Skywalker, some mysterious Mandalorian (which means he looks like Boba Fett), and a title like Attack of the Clones in the trailer, I found myself itching to see what would happen in the continuation of the Star Wars saga.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Welcome back to FlashBack Friday! Yes, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a couple of weeks from debuting, and I cannot wait! I've wanted to review the Star Wars films ever since I started this blog six years ago (I can't believe it's been that long!), and I even tried and failed to do so last year for The Force Awakens. I'm still planning to get all of these reviews out in the next couple of months, they may just be released in a rapid-fire manner. Like the Indiana Jones movies, no other film franchise was as influential to my childhood as Star Wars. If you've read my brief bio on the right side of this page, you know that I would intentionally stay home from school pretending to be sick so I could re-watch The Empire Strikes Back for a fiftieth time. In short, these movies are VERY important to me!

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Here's another film that was on my most anticipated list for 2016, and I'm happy to say that I am not embarrassed by that decision like I am with a few of my other choices (ahem, Independence Day: Resurgence...). I don't know how to address the magnitude of my fandom for the Harry Potter universe, except that it's 2nd only to my love for Star Wars. I've read the books more times than I care to admit, and I was able to watch every one of the films during their opening weekend of release (except for Order of the Phoenix, but I was out of the country). With that in mind, I was a bit reticent to jump fully on board with this idea when it was first announced, and it was only after watching the teaser trailer that I began to imagine how fun another entry into the Harry Potter series could be.

Doctor Strange

There's a lot going on in the world right now, so let's focus on something fantastical and imaginative to distract us! Marvel has continually risen the bar for superhero movies, integrating sub-genres into their films that keep their formula as fresh as possible throughout the last 8 years. I've been looking forward to this movie ever since it was announced, though I was a bit disheartened when I first saw how some of the imagery looked so similar to my all-time favorite film, Inception. Still, the other trailers seemed to emphasize the mystical nature of the story rather than the mind-bending aspects, and my anticipation and expectation for the movie rose steadily as a result. After so many traditional superhero films from the prolific studio, I was ready for something completely different. Some might even say strange... Can I get away with that?