It’s the end of the year boys and girls, you know what that means? It’s list time!!
There were some great films that came out this year. The list really ranges all over the place, so you’ll see a wide array of titles, and even some surprises. But, of course, this is my list and my opinion so your list might be different, obviously, it is okay.
The list will have the films in alphabetical order, just to be fair, and because I really don’t want to go through the trouble anymore of picking a number one because it would be really tough. First let’s start off with the film that I didn’t get around to watching, whether it’s because I missed out in theaters, or because they were only in theaters in my area for a short time. Then we’ll move to the films that just missed the list, surprises of the year, honorable mentions and then the big ones.
Movies I Missed That I Wanted to Watch
Silence
The Wall
The Beguiled
The Glass Castle
The Little Hours
Stronger
Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House
Last Flag Flying
Mudbound
Call Me by Your Name
Raw
Prevenge
Gerald’s Game
Just Missed the Lists
A Ghost Story
Atomic Blonde
Battle of the Sexes
Colossal
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Patriots Day
The Florida Project
The Hitman’s Bodyguard
Gifted
Wind River
Band Aid
The Founder
Okja
It Comes at Night
John Wick: Chapter 2
Surprises of the Year
Cars 3
Girls Trip
Ingrid Goes West
Lowriders
Sleight
The Girl with All the Gifts
Honorable Mentions
Blade Runner 2049
Blade Runner 2049 was probably one of the most visually appealing films of the year, and it shouldn’t be a surprise since Roger Deakins was behind the cinematography along with director Denis Villeneuve (Arrival). While the film did have moments that went on a tad bit too long, Blade Runner 2049 did manage to get you invested in the world of Blade Runner again.
Darkest Hour
Gary Oldman is absolutely fantastic as Winston Churchill. Darkest Hour puts all the weight on Oldman’s shoulders, and he’s able to carry it all the way until the very end of the film. Set during the very beginning of Churchill’s appointment as Prime Minister during England’s worst time, and the film shows all the obstacles that he had to face. The film surprisingly doesn’t lull around too much, which it could have easily done, and while the film could have stretched out on a few places, it was Churchhill’s story and worked.
Detroit
Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit was a hard film to watch. It puts you right into the thick of the horrible incident at the Algiers Motel during the Detroit riots, and never lets up on the tension. However, that’s one of the things that make it so enthralling. The cast is incredible and the claustrophobic feel of the movie makes the long time worth it. That said, Detroit is not a film that at the end you say, “man, I want to watch that again soon.”
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
While I think we can all agree that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was not as great as the first movie, it does have a more emotional story than the first. If you didn’t tear up with the last scene with Peter and Yonda, you’re dead inside – I should know because I’m slightly dead inside too. Sure not all the jokes worked, but damn it, I enjoyed the hell out of Vol. 2.
It
The new iteration of Stephen King’s It was definitely going to divide fans. While some fans preferred the original with Tim Curry playing Pennywise the Clown, I rather enjoyed and liked this new version more. I know one of the biggest gripes with the new film is that it wasn’t scary enough – or at all if you ask some – but for me, It was indeed more creepy than scary, but in the end, it doesn’t matter.
Kong: Skull Island
Kong: Skull Island feels like one of those movies, no one seems to really talk about as the year ended. Whether it be because it came out early in the year in March or people just weren’t for it at all. Personally, the movie does have faults with pacing, but it’s finally seeing Kong let loose on everything in his way – like the helicopter attack – was a sight to see. Also, the film is now part of Legendary’s Monster Universe with Godzilla, so it should be interesting to see how all of it fits together.
Lady Bird
Lady Bird was a film that I wanted to watch as soon as I watched the trailer for the first time. Saoirse Ronan was fantastic as “Lady Bird,” who wants to escape Sacramento because she finds it rather boring. However, it’s the journey from beginning to end, and her interactions with the people like her best friend Julie (Beanie Feldstein) and her mother Marion, played greatly by Laurie Metcalf.
Logan Lucky
Steven Soderbergh’s return to the big screen did not fail or disappoint. Taking the heist film and giving it a southern twist with “cursed” brothers, played by Channing Tatum and Adam Driver, trying to turn their luck around. I really enjoyed the hell out of the movie, but the real draw for the film was definitely seeing Daniel Craig let loose as Joe Bang.
Molly’s Game
Aaron Sorkin made his directorial debut with Molly’s Game and it was a great one. Lead by Jessica Chastain playing Molly Bloom, telling her incredible true story, Sorkin infused his own style with a true story about Molly Bloom running the biggest poker games around, and her downfall after getting arrested. It’s a rather compelling story, and one that – with the exception of a few scenes – doesn’t let up until the very end.
Power Rangers
Look, I grew up with Power Rangers, and yes, I had my doubts about the movie. However, I enjoyed the hell out of this. An updated version of what the show was, even adding some new things to the mythology we knew of the original series. Was it the best movie of the year? No. But I’ll admit seeing and hear the zords run along each other with the original song – although cheesy – hit me right in the chest.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Yes, I know a lot of people have mixed feelings about Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and I still do too. However, when I step back and look at everything from the movie – now seeing it more than once – I did enjoy the movie a little more. There are some awesome visuals and shots in the movie that, for me, made it worthwhile. Nevertheless, I will say that yes, I do see a lot of the things that make the movie very divisive.
Split
Let’s face it; we had all given up on M. Night Shyamalan. I know I did, but The Visit restored some of it, but after watching Split, it was almost like watching the Shyamalan of old. That being said, Split was a movie that could have burst at the steams anytime, but it was Shyamalan’s direction with James McAvoy’s amazing performances as Kevin, and his different personalities. However, what made Split stick out the extra mile was classic Shyamalan twist at the end, which made Split connect to one of Shyamalan’s best early films.
The Disaster Artist
I have never seen The Room, and despite everyone saying I should watch the “worst movie ever made” I didn’t do it before I saw this. Thankfully, you didn’t need to absolutely watch The Room to enjoy and get The Disaster Artist – I’m sure it helped in some cases. But, what James Franco was able to get out of everyone on the cast, including what he was able to do by bringing Tommy Wiseau to life, but more importantly how he brought the story to life was great. The movie wasn’t just about the crazy making of The Room, but about Tommy and Greg (Dave Franco) living out their dream of making it in Hollywood.
Best/Favorite Movies of the Year
A Monster Calls
I had heard a lot about A Monster Calls before it was officially released. I also never read the book, so when I walked in, it was pretty much a clean slate. That was something I was not prepared for. A Monster Calls is an emotional gut-punch from beginning to end, and the last twenty to fifteen minutes had me in tears. That’s right, I said it TEARS! That along gave A Monster Calls a place on my list.
Annabelle: Creation
I wasn’t a huge fan of the first Annabelle. It had its moments, but overall it lacked the certain punch that its parent film The Conjuring had. Cue in director David F. Sandberg, who had just directed the hit horror film Lights Out, who upped everything about the first film, and dare I say, is right up there with the Conjuring movies in terms of quality and scares. Creation did bring a lot to the table, and had me on the edge of seat the whole time.
Baby Driver
Edgar Wright is one of those directors who apparently can’t make a bad movie. The buzz and hype around Baby Driver was extremely high when it premiered at SXSW that I pretty much told myself, “it can’t be that good, can it?” I was wrong, very, very wrong. Wright had made this high-octane and funny heist movie with great characters and an awesome soundtrack. Needless to say, I had force myself not to speed home after the movie.
Coco
I had my doubts about Coco, but of course we’ve all come to never doubt Pixar, and yet that’s what I did. And like all great Pixar movies, Coco had it all. A great story, great characters, amazing visuals, an amazing soundtrack; and more importantly, it tugged on every emotional string it would find. I’ll admit, it had me on the verge of tears, A LOT.
Dunkirk
I know Dunkirk had some fans divided, but I stand by what I said earlier in the year that Dunkirk is one of the best movies of the year. Christopher Nolan did an amazing job putting together the film, which on a technical level, is justified to be put on any top list of the year.
Free Fire
Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire has a simple premise, a gun deal gone wrong in a warehouse. Even with that simple premise, Free Fire was such a great, fun and funny film with a great cast that almost also felt like a throwback to the old 70s or early 80s gangster movies with similar premises.
Get Out
If anyone thought Get Out was going to be hurt because of Jordan Peele comedic background, you were sorely mistaken. Get Out became an important movie that didn’t shy away from its message: racism, and what black men go through. Needless to say, Get Out put Peele on the map as a director to look out for.
I, Tonya
I wasn’t old enough to remember the whole Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan incident, but it was something I heard. However, I, Tonya isn’t a film about that, but a combination of a biopic about Tonya Harding, played by Margot Robbie, and the events that lead up to the incident and the effect it had on Harding. It’s a powerful film filled with great performances by the cast – with Allison Janney being the standout – scenes that are hard to watch and scenes that completely come out of left-field which includes a scene that has Tonya directly speaking to the audience that I wasn’t expecting.
Logan
It took three tries, but 20th Century Fox finally got the character of Wolverine right. Maybe it was that we knew this was Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart’s last ride, or it had a breakout performance by newcomer Dafne Keen. Either way, Logan was a great bookend to one of the most popular X-Men characters and a fitting end to the character that Hugh Jackman did such a great job with.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Yes, another Spider-Man reboot seemed unnecessary and maybe unwanted, but this Spider-Man was finally connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe! However, this reboot was worth it because it finally feels like we have the real Peter Parker on the big screen (I liked Andrew Garfield, so settle down). Plus, the movie was a hell of a lot of fun.
The Big Sick
This was something I was interested in from the very beginning. Based on the actual story of Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, The Big Sick tugged on every emotion. It was funny, charming, heartbreaking and hopeful from beginning to end.
The LEGO Batman Movie
The LEGO Movie was a surprise hit for everyone, and LEGO Batman was definitely one of the highlights of it, so when it was announced that LEGO Batman would get his solo movie, everyone was pretty excited. Lucky for us, The LEGO Batman Movie was just as good, even better than its predecessor, but even better than that, the film had a lot of heart and was a love letter to the character of Batman.
The Shape of Water
Guillermo del Toro is probably one of my favorite directors of all time, and one of those directors that anytime a movie comes out by him, I’m undoubtedly going to go watch. That said, what he did with The Shape of Water was seamless. A twist on the classic “beauty and beast” story with some Creature from the Black Lagoon and other old timely films, The Shape of Water is a beautiful film from start to finish with a great score, production design and a cast lead by Sally Hawkins as mute Eliza, Richard Jenkins and del Toro mainstay Doug Jones as the creature.
Thor: Ragnarok
The Thor movies have never been the big blockbusters the other movies have been. Sure they’re popular enough with some fans – I’m looking at you Tom Hiddleston fans – but the Thor movies were always more on the serious side than the others. Marvel then turned Thor on its head as they splashed it with color and more humor, and I for one, loved it.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
I’ve been a huge fan of Martin McDonagh’s work like In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths, and when I found out about this film and the cast, I immediately put this on “to watch” list. Thankfully, the movie delivered, and even surprised me too. Frances McDormand is great, but for me, the movie belonged to Sam Rockwell, in one of my favorite performances by him. The film was truly a dark comedy that hit on every level, and it left me wanting more, which doesn’t happen often.
War for the Planet of the Apes
Not many modern trilogies turn out to be good. They often fall apart in the sequel or even the third movie, but thankfully that didn’t happen here. War for the Planet of the Apes closed a trilogy that started as an origin story to what really feels like a segway into the original films. However, what really made these films so special is Andy Serkis’ performance as Caesar and the overall impressive and awe-inspiring special effects.
Wonder Woman
Finally, finally we got a Wonder Woman movie, but more importantly, IT WAS GOOD! Gal Gadot washed away some doubt of her casting as Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but it was undoubtedly Wonder Woman that made non-believers finally see Gadot was almost born to play the character. Taking the action during her first adventure was a great move. The movie was full of charm, great characters and character building, but more importantly, made Wonder Woman freaking badass.
That’s it folks. It was definitely an interesting year for movies, films and everything in-between. What were your favorite, enjoyable, liked and best movies/films of the year? Do you agree with me? Disagree? Undecided? Nevertheless, here’s to another great and awesome year of movies and films.
Movies with Chris 