Here are my previous years' posts: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2005.
I think that the amount of movie watching that I do directly correlates to how much my friends at the time like seeing movies and also how much I fly on planes. The more I fly, the more I tend to watch movies. In 2017 I actually flew some red-eye flights, so I slept instead of watched movies. I think I only watched 12 movies from 2017. And it was harder to write this post this year because Netflix doesn't do stars anymore. They do thumbs up and thumbs down, which is annoying for purposes of doing this list because I can't go back and see how many stars I gave them. This is hard. Welp, here it is!
1. Murder on the Orient Express - I remember reading this book a long time ago, but somehow I didn't remember the ending of it. Well, I love a good mystery, and this movie kept things mysterious. While a lot of the characters were pretty one-dimensional, I still enjoyed the portrayal and the delivery of the movie. It was a delightful movie that was imaginative with beautiful scenery and costumes.
2. Star Wars: The Last Jedi - This was not my favorite Star Wars movie. In fact, it might be my least favorite, but I still enjoyed it. I liked some of the humor but also the seriousness of the movie. Kylo Ren is one of the most captivating characters in the Star Wars universe. He's whiny like Anakin and very volatile, but there are times when you're like... this guy is redeemable. I think that's why his relationship with Rey is so interesting. He plays with her mind, and she tries to save him, but then he kind of turns against everything again. It's so frustrating but also brilliant.
3. The Greatest Showman - I know that a lot of people love this movie, like they gush over this movie. That is not me. That being said, I really enjoyed this movie. This is the best chick-flickish movie I've seen in a while. I absolutely love what they did with the relationship of P.T. and Charity Barnum. In fact, I enjoyed most of the relationships of the film. The conflict of the movie was real and relatable, and I liked how everything wrapped up nicely, but not in a way that isn't realistic. Problems and conflict still existed at the end, but everyone was able to move on with their heads held high with confidence that they tried and would try again. They also discovered the positive things of their lives and saw the beauty in the journey and in their relationships with each other. I liked this movie. Oh, and the music and dancing was good.
4. Dunkirk - I guess that I was already bugged by the spelling of the movie because my awareness of Dunkirk began when I actually traveled to Dunkerque. The French spelling, to me, should have been used. We English-readers can all read it with its real spelling. Anyway, my opinion is that the story of Dunkerque was actually one of the greatest single stories of the entire war. So the story for me was and has been a huge thing. It is one that can evoke emotion and is symbolic of humanity's ability to accomplish miraculous things when everyone is willing to work together, no matter how small a part they play. Somehow, though, the portrayal didn't quite hit the gravity of the story and situation for me. I don't know if it's because of the theater environment when I saw it, or missing the part where one of the stories was one hour, another one day, and another one week and all of it ultra-chopped up together, or if it's just because I had high expectations that weren't quite fulfilled. I think this movie deserves a rewatch, but when I heard the story the first time, I cried, and watching this movie evoked very little emotion from me.
5. Split - First of all, I think that this is a movie that anyone with a history of sexual abuse should not watch. It is quite disturbing in a lot of ways and would probably cause bad memories to surface. However, it was also creepy and suspenseful and scary, which is what it was supposed to be. It's like a modern-day Psycho, where the antagonist is so mind-bogglingly crazy, that you feel helpless. That is a really scary scenario, and since the movie is supposed to be that way, it succeeded. I also enjoyed the reference to Unbreakable because I love the movie Unbreakable.
6. Thor: Ragnarok - This movie is like the bridge between the Avengers movies and Guardians of the Galaxy. Each of them have their own sort of feelings, where the Avengers movies tend to be more politically heavy with humor and Guardians of the Galaxy is downright wacky with a bit of seriousness. Thor: Ragnarok is serious and wacky and takes out-of-this-world creatures and attempts to infuse the flavor of the Avengers movies with some of the characters. It absolutely didn't take itself seriously and made fun of itself, and that's why I thought it was pretty good. A lot of the make up in these movies goes a bit overboard for me, though.
7. Spider-Man: Homecoming - Like I've said before, why are we continuously rebooting Spider-Man? I get that this particular Spider-Man is a goofy teenager, and you had to reboot him to get him there, but seriously. Enough. It is enjoyable, though, but a lot of the reason I liked it was because I think his friend Ned is hilarious. Also, it fits into the Avengers overall storyline.
8. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - This movie was not as good as the first one. It was still enjoyable, but his father's planet and everything there was really wacky, along with pretty much everything else. It's such a wacky, wacky movie.
9. Wonder Woman - I liked this movie alright, but there were parts of it where I couldn't suspend my disbelief, like when she's wearing a sword down the back of her dress, and she dances with the guy, and somehow he doesn't notice that there's a sword down her dress. Also, I didn't care for the love story portion with Wonder Woman and Chris Pine's character. And I felt like the plot was really see-through. And the part at the end with David Thewlis's character was a bit garbage with the effects.
10. Cars 3 - This is probably my least favorite of the Cars movies, but it was alright still. I enjoyed the parts where they did crazy eights because I actually do enjoy demolition derbies, so I thought that part was pretty funny.
I also saw:
Beauty and the Beast - I kind of liked the art, and I kind of hated the art. It was like I was watching an animated movie, but it wasn't really an animated movie, so ultimately, it didn't really work for me. And I feel like the hamminess of some of the characters like Lefou only really works for me in cartoon form. If I'm going to watch a movie and rewatch it at home, like Beauty and the Beast, I'll be watching the animated version, which I like.
The Mountain Between Us - The guy taking the ticket at the movie theater gave away an important plot point right when my friend and I were going into the movie. I was annoyed. It bothered me through the whole movie. I also was just bugged kind of by the way it ended and that these people are dying, but then they're like, ah well, let's just break into this cabin and do it, even though we're dying and one of us is engaged. That wasn't really that enjoyable to watch.
I also saw from 2015:
Selma - I enjoyed it. I felt like it kind of abruptly ended, though.
Far from the Madding Crowd - I liked it, but I was also very frustrated by aspects of the movie. I felt so many conflicting things about it.
A Royal Night Out - I actually really enjoyed this one.
The Walk - I felt so much anxiety watching this one. I guess it's cool that he accomplished that, but WHY?!?
I also saw from 2016:
Hail, Caesar! - I don't know what I'm supposed to say about watching a movie about pretty much everyone doing crazy things and the clean up and cover up of all of it. It's really uncomfortable in a lot of ways but also interesting.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - I actually really liked it, even though some of the creatures were artistically disturbing. It was odd but good.
Love & Friendship - I didn't care for it that much. It might deserve a rewatch, but I'm not positive I'm that interested in a rewatch because one of the characters drove me nuts!
The Magnificent Seven - It was like it was going to be good, but then it ended up being kind of corny. I really need to watch the earlier version. My friend tells me it's much better.
Central Intelligence - It was really, really dumb. But it was also kind of funny.
La La Land - I liked it, but then at the end, I kind of disliked it. I'm conflicted.
Kubo and the Two Strings - It was kind of weird, but it was just barely on the good side of weird. I enjoyed it.
Passengers - I already had my tickets and had a meeting that went long, so I got there about 30 minutes in. Because I missed the beginning, Chris Pratt's character was that much creepier. I didn't know the whole time if he was an insane psycho or what, so it made it suspenseful and thrilling because I had missed the whole beginning where I saw his motivation. When I saw the beginning later, I was kind of like... oh. Meh. It was an interesting premise. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't really that great, either, and there is no way they would have survived that, so I had to seriously suspend my disbelief.
Fences - It's really not that exciting to watch disfunction, but I did like the showing of good moral character of Viola Davis's character. But I also had a hard time watching Denzel Washington's character.
Lion - Really liked it.
Hidden Figures - Loved it.
Movies I still want to see from 2016:
The Secret Life of Pets
Suicide Squad - maybe
Miracles from Heaven
Queen of Katwe
Inferno
Movies I might still want to see from 2017:
Shanghai Dawn
The Space Between Us
The LEGO Batman Movie
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
The Dark Tower
Justice League
Coco
Wonder
Coco and Wonder are the only ones I'm really itching to see. The rest are sort of like meh.
I'm in a movie slump where I'm just not that interested in sitting down to watch a movie with my undivided attention, which is the only way I can really watch new movies. We'll see how many I'll watch in 2018.
Please tell me if you have any recommendations because I'm just not feeling it lately, and I know I can count on you guys with good suggestions!
14 comments:
Seriously? I swear I just read your 2016 post last week. A year has passed? Weird.
I can't think of anything to suggest at this time. Unless... Was Psych the Movie in 2017 or 2018? Or is it even out yet? I obviously don't get out much, and I know I could just Google it, but I'm also lazy. But, I would probably see that one some day.
Beauty and the Beast. I was actually surprised I wasn't thinking, "That's Hermione" every scene (it was more like every other scene - ha ha). No, I think she did a great job. I liked the relationship between her and the beast better than the animated version -- like, he already knew how to read and their love of literature brought them together more. It gave him more depth of character. I liked watching it, but I have not desire to own it or watch it again, really. If I was somewhere sometime where someone was watching it, I might watch it again with them, if it was on.
I want to see Coco because of the relationship to family history that I've heard about.
Oh, this is Sarah, not Aaron. Too lazy to sign out and sign back in. Google, seriously. Why do you make things so easy and yet so hard?
I loved Wonder Woman. My boys did not. I think it is because woman do not usually save the world in movies. I am one of those people that LOVED The Greatest Showman. One of my sons was very displeased with this installment of Star Wars. My other son said it was better than his brother made it out to be. I enjoyed Beauty and the Beast more than I thought I would. I enjoyed Midnight on the Orient Express. I have never heard of Split and I have not seen Dunkirk, but my mom LOVED it.
I was like... what Aaron is this? :)
I did watch Psych the Movie, but since it was a release to TV, I didn't count it. I enjoyed it, though. For some reason I had a hard time streaming it. Like, it stalled a lot. I'm not sure if it was their site or what, but I don't have problems streaming on Netflix or Amazon, so I assume it was their streaming service. It detracted from my overall enjoyment of the film.
Ruth, that's awesome. And I'm glad you loved The Greatest Showman. It was a quality film.
With Star Wars I rolled my eyes a few times, for sure. Like, when the iron came on the screen, I was like, what's with the iron? And then it was an iron. So it wasn't that funny because I immediately thought it was an iron. For people who didn't, I'm sure it was funny? But it was stuff like that where I thought it didn't quite hit. But I still liked it and thought it was good. And the mining planet was really cool.
Oh, I forgot. I also want to see Darkest Hour and maybe The Post.
I don't see a lot of movies but a surprise for me was Ferdinand the Bull. I knew the premise of it but had no idea it would be so fun.
I didn't love Orient Express. Mostly because of Kenneth Branaugh playing Hercule Poirot. His accent kept making me thinking of Inigo Montoya! Also, they threw in silly bits about a woman he loves that weren't in this book or any other. Sigh. I guess I'll admit it wasn't as bad as expected. :)
I'd like to see The Greatest Showman someday and am sure to see Star Wars someday...I just don't know when for either. :)
Btw, I always enjoy your movie posts. Thanks!
I'm just glad that people still read my posts! It's amazing! I will have to check out Ferdinand the Bull. It did look pretty good, actually. Thanks for the suggestion, Julie!
I enjoy these posts each year!
I don't see a lot of movies in theaters, but I did see Wonder Woman, Justice League, Smurfs: Lost Village, Coco, Ferdinand, and My Little Pony in the theater. (Can you tell I have a 5-year-old?!) Coco and Ferdinand were both really great.
I'd like to see The Greatest Showman because everyone raves about it, but that will most likely be once it's on DVD or Netflix. And I agree about Netflix rating change, thumbs up/down is too vague. I rate things on IMDB so I have 1-10 stars!
And I found The Secret Life of Pets kind of creepy.
Thanks, Jill! Yes, I can tell you have a 5-year-old! But I do have to say that I feel like a lot of movies for kids these days are also good enough that they're enjoyable for adults, too. I love that.
Thanks for the suggestions about IMDB. I will for sure have to start that. Ten rankings will be perfect for me. I do already have their app on my phone, so it should be pretty easy to do that.
Good to know about The Secret Life of Pets. I think I'll have to be in a particular mood for that one.
Hello Cardine. I am a Pastor from Mumbai, India. I am glad to stop by your profile on the blogger and the blog post. I am also blessed and feel privileged and honored get connected with you as well as know you and about your interest in movies that is reflected through your blog post. I love getting connected with the people of God around the globe to be encouraged, strengthened and praying for one another. I have been in the PASTORAL MINISTRY for last 38 yrs in this great city of Mumbai a city with a great contrast where richest of rich and the poorest of poor live. We reach out to the poorest of poor with the love of Christ to bring healing to the brokenhearted. We also encourage young and the adults from the west to come to Mumbai to work with us during their vacation time. We would love to have you come to Mumbai to work with us during your vacation time. I am sure you will have a life changing experience. My email id is: dhwankhede(at)gmail(dot)com and my name is Diwakar Wankhede. God's richest blessings on you, your family and friends also wishing you a blessed and a Christ centered new year. Looking forward to hear from you very soon.
In reference to your surprise that people were still reading your posts, I admit, I was surprised when I noticed that there was a new one.
I also did the Aaron double take. ;-)
A few thoughts.
I loved Wonder! It was really great. I highly recommend it.
I really liked Coco, even though I did predict part of the plot,
but the scenery was amazing, and My wife loved the authenticity to latin culture.
I think this would be one you'd totally enjoy... unless the animation would creep you out. ;-)
I started into the secret life of pets, but I couldn't really get into it. You might like it better than I did, and I don't think I watch the whole thing, but after a while I said, Meh.
Also I really liked the queen of Katwe! I definitely don't think it got the credit or the crowds it deserved.
Hi Warnser,
Thanks for commenting! I agree that The Secret Life of Pets was kind of meh. I did end up seeing it while I lately had the flu. And I watched The Queen of Katwe, which I really enjoyed, and I would recommend it for sure.
I still haven't seen Wonder or Coco, but I plan to for sure. I feel like I can already guess the plot of Coco, but I'm sure it's still good.
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