Why So Blu?

Gregg’s Fantastic Film Round-Up of 2017

Without question, this is my favorite article to write for Why So Blu. All of us WSB staffers start keeping track of the films we see from the moment January arrives. As the year progresses, we delete, we add and we rearrange our lists until late December arrives when it’s time to finally see what’s behind the curtain. Now for the inundated, these lists are not reflections of the most artistic films of the year. Each one is a reflection of that writer’s personal favorites from that year. Don’t flip out in the comments section if you were to see something like Rambo higher than The Sound of Music. Again, favorites, people. We’re not giving out Oscar nominations here (though some of the films we discuss are very Oscar-worthy). Anyway, it’s time to pull back that curtain.

Before I release those awesomely enjoyable films on my list, it’s time to unveil the absolute stinkers, the duds and the fun vacuums.  Yes, ladies and gents, these are the three worst films I saw this year.  For what it’s worth, I’m sure the latest installment of the Transformers franchise would have made this list as would the allegedly demented film Mother, but I passed on both of those.  Instead of seeing movies I knew would be terrible, I was ambushed by this following trio which suffered from supreme suckage:

 

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The Worst of 2017

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#3 – Live By Night

Ben Affleck was great in The Accountant.  He was not great in this.  Neither was the director (that was Ben).  Or the writer (that was Ben too).  Hey, we all have bad days at the office.  In short, the film was about a handful of yankee gangsters during the prohibition era who attempt to establish a base of operations in Sarasota, Florida.    It had a few moments that woke me from my sleep, but then I succumbed to a slumber induced by Live By Night as I drifted back into a darkness of boredom.  Wait a second.  It turns out I was awake for most of the movie.  Ugh.

 

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#2 – The Circle

Pretend that Google and Apple had a baby and it’s inherently evil.  Starring Emma Watson, Tom Hanks and John Boyega, we follow the rise of Circle employee Mae (Emma Watson) as she convinces her parents to be monitored online by gawkers all around the world.  Hanks’ character is a dirt bag and Boyega’s time in the movie is non-impactful.  Lastly, Emma Watson is a good actress but you’d never know it from this film.  ZZZZZZzzzzz.

 

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#1 – Underworld: Blood Wars

I used to adore this franchise.  Now I just say I like the first three films.  Blood Wars marks the fifth film in the series and it is by far and away the most awful.  Yes, Kate Beckinsale still looks exceptional and fulfills the role of Selene well.  However, the tragedy here is whoever commandeered this story decided not to include Scott Speedman’s character Michael (Selene’s love and vamp/wolf hybrid).  The pace was painfully numbing, the plot was an abomination and the writing was so lackluster that I could’ve put together something better than that.  Put a stake in the heart of Underworld, Len Wiseman.  This series has been ruined.

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Biggest Disappointment

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A lot of times I list a movie in this slot that wasn’t all that bad, it was just one I had a lot of hope for and it fell short.  This year, I list a movie that I had both high hopes for and it was pretty bad.  While I absolutely loved Batman v Superman and Wonder Woman, Zack Snyder’s Justice League was lacking in several areas.  I felt disconnected from the characters.  Cyborg was blah.  Batman was blah.  Wonder Woman was missing the panache she had in her own film.  My favorite super hero, Aquaman, wasn’t all that enthralling either.  It was old hat.  Come join us…no I can’t…okay here I am.  A major problem with this film is how DC and Warner Bros. handled things.  Marvel’s formula of introducing each star player with their own film before releasing a team film is the right way to do things.  If it wasn’t for Ezra Miller’s entertaining portrayal as Barry Allen/The Flash, this movie would have been a total bust for me.  DC can’t seem to get their villains right either as Steppenwolf was forgettable at best.

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The One That Got Away

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It’s no easy task to try and fit all these film in during the year, and that doesn’t include all the films we do see that don’t make the list, good or bad.  There is always that one movie that I end up missing each year and this year was no exception.  For 2017, it was Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour.  Late showtimes combined with a late release in the year just made it too hard to get into the theater to see this one in time.  Would it have made the list?  Well, it is Gary Oldman and period of history I am absolutely fascinated by so that was highly likely.  Ah well, it can still make my 2018 Blu-ray list.  Time will tell.

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The Best of 2017

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#10 – Brigsby Bear

This small independent film starred in and co-written by Kyle Mooney (Zoolander No. 2) and featuring Mark Hamill, tells a tale of man-child James Pope who was sheltered his entire life and is now forced to adapt to normal everyday social behavior.  Grasping to a tv show hero that never existed, Pope finds his new family and human interaction difficult, to say the least.  The movie is speckled with humor and drama with a little feel-goodness to boot.

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#9 – The Girl with All the Gifts

I feel like I’ve been promoting this film all year, and rightly so.  Don’t think you’ve seen every zombie film until you’ve come across this one.  Mindless flesh-eaters?  Not necessarily.  Director Colm McCarthy (Peaky Blinders) gives us a very deep breath of fresh air with this new spin in the world of the undead.  Probably the biggest surprise, other than the fact that McCarthy proves the genre is not exhausted after all, is the film’s brilliant ending.

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#8 – War For the Planet of the Apes

If you’re looking for a feel-good movie, this isn’t it.  However, if you’re looking for a movie that doesn’t shy away from intensity and heart-wrenching moments, this drama is one outstanding conclusion to a stellar trilogy of films.  Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings) brings us yet another fantastic performance on screen as Caesar opposite a very dastardly villain portrayed by Woody Harrelson.  The movie is full of teeth-clenching moments and outstanding CGI that looks too convincing to make me automatically refer to it as CGI.

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#7 – Wonder Woman

Oh wow.  Just…wow.  Gal Gadot gives the most popular female super hero her due in this absolutely fun film that shines in a small grouping of DC character films that have struggled in the realm of critic reviews. There is nothing about her performance I would change and the chemistry between her and Chris Pine is grin-inducing.  The main villain and the supporting good guys raise some questions, but the movie still provides more than enough enjoyment to go around.

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#6 – Hidden Figures

I am sure there are a lot of stories in American history that have unfortunately gone untold.  Thankfully, Hidden Figures was brought to movie theaters at the beginning of 2017.  Delivering the accounts of three African American women who were pivotal parts of NASA’s space program, the film also features an all-star cast.  Granted, it does take its Hollywood liberties in the form of a few fictional supporting characters, but by and large was a good telling of what Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson contributed to our nation’s space program.

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#5 – Thor: Ragnarok

The third and final installment in the Thor franchise was easily the best one.  Chris Hemsworth takes up Moljnor again with troublesome brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and reluctant ally Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo).  Cate Blanchett gives us a wonderfully hateful villain as Hela while past Thor supporting characters make appearances throughout.  Marvel newcomer Tessa Thompson adds even more flavor to a film that is bursting at the seems with humor and action.  As always, stay after the credits.

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#4 – Alien: Covenant

Ridley Scott brings us the sixth film of the Alien franchise and the second in the prequel trilogy that started with Prometheus.  I can’t say enough good things about this movie, especially considering my apprehension after not being all that over the moon with its predecessor.  Michael Fassbender is wicked good in his dual roles while comedic actor Danny McBride surprises in a serious role.  Katherine Waterston leads the way for most of the film and does so impressively while audiences get a Cliff Notes-history on the biology of Xenomorphs. All I can say is I’m amped for the impending follow-up.

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#3 – Logan

This is the best movie that the character Wolverine has been in.  Period.  Logan is so dramatically better than the other two Wolverine films (and better than the X-Men films to be honest, even the great First Class) that I feel even more short-changed by the first two films in this series, but I digress.  Taking a page (or two or three) from the Old Man Logan graphic novel, Logan brings a satisfying conclusion to one of the most popular Marvel characters on the planet.  Hugh Jackman brings this character to life better than anyone else could have while Patrick Stewart, Stephen Merchant and Dafne Keen do an outstanding job in their supporting roles.  Few movies deserve my applause when the credits roll.  This is one of them.

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#2 – Gifted

I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking for when I sat down to first watch this movie.  What I discovered when the one hour and forty-one minute runtime concluded was an absolutely beautiful film about family and doing the right thing.  Have you ever known someone to live vicariously (and unfairly) through their kids or grandkids?  Yeah, there’s a great deal of that in Gifted that’s all brought to life from some very talented acting courtesy of Chris Evans, Octavia Spencer, Lindsay Duncan, Jenny Slate and newbie actress McKenna Grace who effectively steals the show.  Gifted has a tendency to pull at your heartstrings while concluding with a great sense of fulfillment.  This sat at my #1 spot for most of the year, then December happened…

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#1 – Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Rian Johnson, I bow down to thee.  In his first attempt at directing a Star Wars film, Johnson brings us up to speed on the state of the Resistance’s struggle against the heinous First Order while at the same time bringing a curmudgeon Luke Skywalker back to audiences.  I’ve made no secret that The Force Awakens is my least favorite Star Wars film after giving us spoon-fed, rehashed material that severely lacked creativity.  Johnson upped the ante and raised the bar with his installment as we experience what is arguably (isn’t everything in Star Wars arguable?) the most complex story with some outstanding battles both in space and at the ground level.  We see greater roles played by Luke and Leia, the introduction of Rose and her subdued Patton-like line near the end, not to mention some new characters and a tip of the hat to some old ones.

The state of Luke made perfect sense even though some fans were looking for him to come out Force-crushing baddies left and right.  His character was flawed, and therefore a believable one, even in this fantastical universe that is quite fictitious.  His behavior in the film is at first unexpected but then gloriously resolved by the film’s closure.  Sure there are some time gaps in the movie as well as Rey’s progression without the detailed training Luke received in The Empire Strikes Back, but unless you want a four-hour movie, it’s virtually impossible to cover everything that every viewer wants out of the story.  It’s been a long time since I was this over the moon (that’s no moon…again!) at an initial viewing of a Star Wars film (circa 2005).

I can’t wrap this discussion without mentioning what is one of the greatest Star Wars moments I’ve ever witnessed in the story; the self-sacrifice of Vice Admiral Holdo.  The moment, its complete silence, multiple angle half-second shots and black & white imagery defined the word ‘epic’.  It took the brilliant ram-a-Star-Destroyer scene from Rogue One and put it on steroids.  It was just one jaw-dropping scene in a film with several.

If nothing else, you can certainly tell The Last Jedi was written and directed by a legit Star Wars fanboy.  Someone who grew up with an imagination fueled by George Lucas’ creation who carried the torch and told the story in his own words.  I’ve given a few movies two viewings in the theater this past year.  Only one got a hat trick-worth of theater visits and that was The Last Jedi. From its crimson-stylized movie poster to the film’s ending, Star Wars: The Last Jedi gave us a creative tale that was so magnificently told.