Tuesday, January 2, 2018

CWTC's Top 10 Best Movies Of 2017



     It was high time I did something with this thing again.  It is the end of the year so you know what that means: it’s that time when people who love watching movies let their lists of their picks for the greatest and shittiest films of the year fly.  Last year I did these lists on my YouTube channel but the last two months both physically and mentally have just really kicked my ass and…and I just can’t.  Not when I have the option to just write out the script that I would’ve read off of anyway and leave it here for you all to enjoy.
     A couple of quick disclaimers before I begin, though:
     1 – I did not get a chance to see all of the movies that I wanted to this year (probably the most bummed about not seeing Thor: Ragnarok).  Of the eventual 63 movies that I had on my radar for this year, I only saw 49 of them.  Sometimes shit happens, things don’t work out and then you don’t get to see the movie.  That sucks but that’s life.
     2 – If the movie had a limited release last year but a wide release this year, I’m counting it as a 2017 release since I do not live in an area where limited release movies play.  It seems to be “Go Wide or Go Home” where I live.  This is not exclusive to this year's list either as the same scenario happened with High Rise on my Top 10 Worst Of 2016 list.
     3 – These may not be technically the best made films of the year as far as things like cinematography, acting, scripts, whatever goes.  I rank these movies based on how I perceive them and how they make me feel.  You may agree with some of these but more likely you will not.  There’s 7 fucking billion of us on this planet, we’re not going to all like the same thing for the same reasons or amount.  Case in point, if social/political films that are about or delivery commentary on world events are your bag, that’s awesome but they don’t really do the same for me, so movies like Wind River, Dunkirk and Get Out won’t rank as high on my list as they do on your list and there’s nothing wrong with that.  Although those three aforementioned movies are worth seeing, just saying.
     Now that we’ve gotten the fine print out of the way, let’s start with my Top 10 Best Movies Of 2017:

     Honorable Mentions (#15-11): Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Wall, Get Out, The Lego Batman Movie


     10 – Kong: Skull Island: Okay, I know a lot of people are going to disagree on this one.  The cast may not be used to their full potential but I felt incredibly satisfied coming out of Skull Island.  The humans moved things along without feeling useless, Kong has never looked better special effects-wise, they don’t shoehorn in or beat you over the head with references to 2014’s Godzilla which lets Skull Island stand as its own movie and when the creature action goes down, it is absolutely incredible to watch.  If Kong’s rematch with Godzilla is handled as well as this movie was, I think we’re in good hands.  I mean, it can’t be any worse than the original, right?  Right?


     09 – Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2: This one kind of surprised me in the sense that it broke the MCU sequel mold where they either outdo the original (the Captain America sequels) or are received mixed at best (everyone else).  Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 felt just as good as the first Guardians film but not for the exact same reasons.  Guardians was one of my favorite movies of 2014 and it just so happens that Guardians 2 is one of my favorite movies of 2017.  A surprising amount of heart, a visual treat, another hit for Marvel, what’s not to like?


     08 – Life: I never did get around to seeing Alien: Covenant but oddly enough, Life scratched that Alien—esque itch for me.  A crew in a space station ducking through corridors checking over their shoulders as a growing life form picks them off one by one?  Sounds like a good time, even if it doesn’t carry quite the horror tone that Alien did.  I felt invested in these characters and I could just feel my hopefulness drain away as the movie went on and I remember the movie got to a certain point where I cupped my hands over my mouth in dread and muttered, “Oh, they are so fucked.”  Just writing this out, I really want to go watch this one again, Twilight Zone-style ending and all.



     07 – Resident Evil: Vendetta: Y’know, if someone came up to me in early 2017 and said, “Guess what, Kevin?  You’re going to have a Resident Evil movie on both your Best and Worst of 2017 lists (spoiler, I guess),” I probably would’ve said, “Wait, there’s two Resident Evil movies coming out this year?”  Yet, here we are.  I didn’t expect much from this one going in but I came away with the best Resident Evil movie I’ve ever seen.  It takes place in the same universe as the games, the overall tone strikes a great balance between action and horror, the combat scenes are coherent and thrilling, it was never gory for the sake of being gory, I loved Resident Evil: Vendetta and it certainly made up for the simply okay predecessor that was Damnation.


     06 – Baby Driver: I actually watched this movie while I was in the middle of writing this list and had to bump off The Lego Batman Movie to make room for Baby Driver.  This may be only the fourth Edgar Wright movie I’ve seen but it just might be my favorite.  Failing that, it’d be tied with Shaun Of The Dead.  You have a great cast playing really interesting and fun characters, yes, but I have never seen a movie incorporate music into the story (making the soundtrack a character in and of itself) so well outside of maybe a musical.  I had a huge smile on my face for most of the movie and it is incredibly satisfying to watch some of these characters get what’s coming to them.   I’ll definitely be picking this one up on Blu-Ray and Lily James just might be my new celebrity crush.


     05 – Wonder Woman: Are you happy to see a DCEU movie on here?  Because I am.  I said that if this movie had sucked then I’d be done with the DCEU but fortunately for them, Wonder Woman rocked.  A well-structured plot, there’s actually some color in this movie, really likeable characters, great chemistry between the actors, any visual styles borrowed from previous DCEU movies rarely felt overwhelming or gratuitous and it was nice to sit down, watch one of these movies and feel like I’m getting the entire movie for a change.  Still haven’t seen Justice League yet but if, IF that one isn’t any good, I’ll still be checking out the Wonder Woman sequel.


     04 – Logan: All good things must come to an end and that includes Hugh Jackman’s run as the character Logan aka Wolverine.  I said that it was going to be interesting to see how close to the top Logan stayed at the end of the year and it stayed fairly close.  To me, Logan felt like the superhero movie for people who don’t like superhero movies as it felt more like an r-rated western.  The three leads are great, especially Dafne Keen who is able to hold her own against veterans like Jackman and Sir Patrick Stewart.  People may be begging Jackman to come back to the role now that Disney has bought Fox but this movie was a great end to his character and to be honest, we don’t need Jackman back.  We need more Dafne Keen as X23, whether that’d be in the MCU, in a Deadpool sequel or better yet, her own movie.  An amazing end to an incredible 17 year journey for Jackman’s Wolverine and easily the best comic book film of 2017.


     03 – War For The Planet Of The Apes: Hey, look!  Another film that was an immensely satisfying conclusion to a well-loved character's arc.  The best film of the summer, War For The Planet Of The Apes nicely wrapped up the story that was started back in 2011 with Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes and also just so happens to be one of the best trilogies ever, even though it really had no right to be.  This movie has some real high points: one of Andy Serkis’ best performances (seriously, give that man an award for this), Steve Zahn’s greatest performance, amazing set designs, Michael Giachino’s best score and an ending that leads right into the original classic film.



     02 – A Monster Calls: A Monster Calls is why I clarified that whole “limited vs. wide release” thing.  This is a gorgeous looking movie with a truly heartbreaking story about having to come to terms with events beyond your control.  As The Monster tells his stories and Connor applies them to his real life, you can feel the emotional weight and the dread of his mother’s condition bearing down on both him and you and it all culminates with a heartbreaking but sweet finale.  If I can feel that much emotion watching a movie, I know that it’s doing something right.


      01 – John Wick: Chapter 2: This one really surprised me, considering that I didn’t love the first John Wick movie.  However, Chapter 2 gave me what I felt was a better story as well as a more in-depth look at the killer culture that was hinted at in the first movie and it was really fascinating to see, drawing me deeper and deeper into the story with every frame.  This movie also upped the action sequences without overdoing them (that battle in the mirror-laden nightclub) and made me super excited for John Wick: Chapter 3.  To me, this movie built upon what was established in the first movie and did it in such a way that it, in my eyes, eclipsed the first movie and is building up to what I imagine will be one helluva finish to the series and that is why John Wick: Chapter 2 is my favorite movie of 2017.

      Well, that was certainly an interesting list.  Let me know down below what your favorite films of 2017 were and keep an ear to the ground on this blog as I will be putting up my list for Coffee With The Cynic's Top 10 Worst Movies Of 2017 soon.

     Stay cynical!

     -The Cynic

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