Stuff I Watched in 2017

It's New Years Eve and I'm yet to make a Films of the Year list. Or a top TV list but then I barely watch much TV due to playing games for 90% of my leisure time. But then this year I also watched The Handmaids Tale and I can't not talk about that... So this here blog will be a meandering spiel about stuff I watched.

Comic stuff first of all because I'm a big geek and there was plenty of it. This year we had Thor Ragnarok, Guardians 2, Spider-Man Homecoming, Wonder woman, Justice League, Logan and even Lego Batman. Safe to say that Justice League was the worst film I went to the cinema for this year. Less offensively bad than BvS or Suicide Squad but it was dull as dishwater, made feck all sense as a sequel to BvS, gave us Henry Cavills CGI top lip and turned Batman in to a completely useless comedy sidekick. Flip me. Don't call me a Marvel fan boy just yet, I happened to really like Wonder Woman... It's not perfect and the final act is rubbish but Gal Gadot is superb and both she and the film in general just ooze an endearing charm all over the place. Oh and it has that No Man's Land scene which is probably the most memorable from any film this year.

Marvel stuff next! I was all really good... Thor Ragnarok took cues from Guardians and dished up colourful sci-fi and jokes aplenty to give the god of thunder his best film yet and many peoples favourite Marvel film. It's not mine admittedly, I seem to be the only person who thought there were too many jokes and not enough actual threat or melodrama. Unlike Guardians which for me had a better balance. On first viewing I was a bit disappointed but only really because the predecessor might just be my favourite film ever. The second entry has a little bit of overindulgence in some areas but for the most part its still flipping great. Spider-Man was a confident and lovely reboot with a geeky, fast talking, actual teenage Spidey/Peter.

Logan was a different beast altogether, ditching many genre tropes and taking our grizzled hero on a road trip with an aging, swearing Xavier. These two have been so good for so long, through great and terrible films and this was a brilliantly heartfelt exit for them. Oh there was some violence too and then that new kid who managed to steal the show from the experienced pro's on multiple occasions. What a film.




Non comic stuff.... Loads I haven't seen. Way to many. So don't berate my favourites and reply with 'but you haven't seen this yet...'




La La Land. You've all seen it. I loved it, you probably hated it. I can't remember a film with as much praise being so disliked by fricking everyone I meet. Maybe the hype affected it, who knows. I adore Emma Stone in this, I love that divisive ending and I came out of the cinema humming the music with a smile on my face as my wife told me to shut up.

The Big Sick. Only just saw it last week but oh my, that was a lovely film. Took me a little while to open up to it but by the end I was lauding it. It's a great character piece about one man and two sets of parents. His own happen to be Pakistani and want a traditional arranged marriage for him but he falls for a white American girl. You could probably write the rest of that story in a clichéd romantic way, but this film really isn't that. It surprised me, amused me and  it made my eyes water a little bit. Twice.

This blogs really long now, oh dear. Quick bits: War for the Planet of the Apes was epic, an actual brilliant third film. Blade Runner was good but a bit too slow and kind of forgettable for me. Star Wars was a fun popcorn munching action drama. Dunkirk was tense and brilliantly directed. Lego Batman was the funniest film I saw this year. Girls Trip was the least funny comedy I've watched in perhaps ever. Kingman 2 was a riot, tons of fun with that. Baby Driver was really nifty and it's gimmick of action scenes matching music is a joy to see/hear. Mother! was the weirdest mind fuck of a film. Never bored but found it completely baffling. Read up on it after, thought about it for days. I can't say it was good, but it was an experience... 

Right, my actual favourite film of the year. I think. Definitely on first viewing anyway but that opinion could change on repeat viewings. Get Out. I went in knowing of the surrounding buzz but at the time I really didn't know much about it. I was blooming mesmerized the whole way through. It uses racism, jokes, horror movie jump scares and some deliberately confusing weirdness to produce a work of genius. I really liked this film.

TV stuff!! Then you can go back to reading tweets or doing anything more respectful of your attention span. The Good Place is nice. I pretty much like everything about it but yet I'm a fan that doesn't find it that funny. It puts on a smile on face though so job done. The Handmaids Tale. Lets be honest, I'm only chucking TV in here so I can splurge my praise for this show on your screen. It is majestic TV. Grim and hard to stomach for much of it but that what makes the other moments so powerful. The way this show takes the tiniest of victories for its lead character and has you cheering inside.. Amazing. The soundtrack choices and the facial expressions of Elizabeth Moss are all it takes. She is perfect in this role, it is a faultless performance. The direction of each episode and the design of the world, all brilliant. I still rave about that one scene shot in the back of a van, when the doors open... Just watch it.

Still with me? I'm talked out. If I've left stuff out it's because I found it average (Punisher, Trainspotting 2) or I haven't seen it yet (Moonlight, Hidden Figures). There isn't enough time in the world and there's always something new. Here's to not watching all the new stuff in the New Year! Sure as long as we see Avengers it'll be grand.