Stuff of 2017 — Part IV: Movies, TV, Netflix Original Series, Youtube Red Original Content Hulu Ori… You get the point
Once I debated going to film school.
I didn’t.
But this year I’ve thought about making some shitty found-footage horror movie and I’ve seen some fantastic movies and television (or streaming content?) series as well.
Let’s talk about those next!
MOVIES
Oh the horror…
Most films are so ungrateful to have be scary, but not these — not anymore.
This year started with an amazing, timely, funny, but mostly horrifying little film called Get Out. Damn this movie lived up to the hype and I thoroughly enjoy how it wasn’t afraid to be an R-rated horror film with both humor and a relatively happy ending.
After Get Out I didn’t really indulge in much new horror this year. But, as the prophecy (aka me seeing a new SAW had been greenlit one morning in 2016) foretold I would have to test myself again. Was I willing to watch another SAW movie? Would I enjoy the movie?
Jigsaw.
I’m a SAW apologist, and while Jigsaw is a flawed movie in many ways it’s definitely (keeping in mind the whole recency bias) the strongest entry in the franchise in a long time, if not the best since the original (which if you see my list of the films ranked, it currently is the best since the original — we’ll see if time keeps it that way).
And I mean, it’s the first SAW film to start with a fucking car chase, so.
There were other horror films I wanted to see — Creep 2, for example — and I did see Alien Covenant which has some horror elements in it but this year I didn’t indulge much in big-screen scares.
But there was some horror to be had — namely the horror of awful, absolutely awful Hollywood adaptations of anime.
Anime Adaptations (Were a Mistake)
Ghost in the Shell started this new trend of doing Hollywood anime adaptations on a terrible, terrible foot. I mean, that’s ignoring that past anime adaptations (Fist of the North Star, Dragonball Evolution) were already trash. The film deals with the whitewashing controversy that plagued its pre-release terribly — in fact the twist is pretty appalling. With that said, Takeshi Kitano does a good job as Aramaki.
But that wasn’t all we were uh “treated” to. Death Note was finally released on Netflix. I was more optimistic for this up until I started actually seeing the trailers they had released. And hell — Willem Dafoe as Ryuk is choice casting. But the film itself is a bastardized take on the source material that at tries to do its own thing while constantly winking at actual fans in a way that comes off as disingenuous.
But it’s also a terribly paced, terribly written, terribly acted trash fire of a film. Though, prior the film’s script destroying his character, I did really like Lakeith Stanfield (who is also in Get Out) and his take on the legendary detective L.
Oh hai James
The first trailer for The Disaster Artist left me super hopeful that this adaptation of the book about the creation of Tommy Wiseau’s masterpiece(?) The Room would be fantastic.
It was. It was a real hollywood movie. It did not tear me apart, Lisa.
Jedi Weren’t Meant to Last
Star Wars far exceeded my expectations by not even trying to meet them. I did not expect a sequel in a major franchise to just completely throw out the playbook and still manage to provide ample fanservice. That’s all I’m gonna say so not to spoil anything.
Who ain’t got friends? That guy who got family.
It was no Furious 7 but Fate of the Furious was a fun ride from start-to-finish even if the turn to “heroism” by a former villain seems a bit too much too soon. #justiceforhan
Cells. Interlinked.
God, Blade Runner 2049 was great. That was a movie. I saw it 2.5 times. It was worth it.
Heroics of a Supreme Nature
There was a really great year for superhero films. Like, even DC knocked one out of the park.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was a weaker entry for Marvel but it was still fun and I hope we get a Zune re-release for the third film.
Spiderman Homecoming made Spiderman not just good again, but FUCKING GREAT. Like I think I prefer it to Spiderman 2.
Thor Ragnarok proved you can have a great Thor movie. And an MCU film that feels bizarre, fresh, and different but still connected.
Wonder Woman was also fantastic. This a big moment, not just because DC did a good job with a DCEU film but because it fucking ravaged the box office and proved that yeah you can have an ultra-successful action film that isn’t lead by a white dude!
And, of course I’d be remiss to mention a film very different than the above — the end of an era. Logan was a brutal, bloodsoaked closing chapter to 17(!!) years of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. It was a fine sendoff.
That also segways nicely into TV/streaming!
I watched the first three seasons of The Flash this year and since S3 ended this year I think it warrants talk. I guess that season wasn’t as well loved as S1 and S2 but, have you considered — Draco Malfoy talking but Jigsaw’s voice coming out of him?
That’s totally a thing that happens. I dunno, I liked season 3.
Things Got Strange(r)
Yo that Eleven episode was terrible but I do love her outfit. ST2 had issues, Max’s brother is terrible and a waste of screentime, Max is underutilized and wasted (but hopefully she joins the party fully in ST3). Also Hopper fucks up a lot I think?
With that said Bob is fantastic and I did really enjoy the continuously stranger things that are happening. ]
Dougie Jones
Early this year I realized I in fact had not finished Twin Peaks, like ever. I think I got to the reveal of who killed Laura Palmer. So I started The Return later in the event series.
Oh my god it was fantastic and a middle-finger to most nostalgia-fueled returning series.
And that episode with The Nine Inch Nails. That was some avant garde shit right there.
Danny Rand
Marvel had a shite year for TV. Agents of SHIELD is still continuing an upward trajectory (with season 4 ending this year and season 5 having just started) but everything else?
Garbage.
Iron Fist was fucking trash.
Inhumans was fucking trash.
The Defenders is mediocre and mostly sucks because of Iron Fist.
The Punisher is something I haven’t finished but am not liking so far, namely that it suffers from pretty shitty writing. (“Stop punishing yourself, Frank.” REALLY?).
#1 Bachelor
The fuck is Neo Yokio. I watched it and still am unsure.
David Fincher
He’s my favorite director and I would like another film from him but Mind Hunter is the most Fincher thing. He directed 4(?) of the 8 episodes and yet every episode feels like it was done by him. It’s unsettling, not what you expect from a show about serial killers and really fucking good. If you want Fincher points of comparison think Zodiac but with hints of Gone Girl (I’m not sure why but I sometimes get some serious GG vibes from the dialog in this series).
But really I love how complicated the characters. Holden starts to notice the trend of serial killing and starts out a hopeful, seemingly great dude. But his success makes him awful.
His partner Tench is a complicated figure, a family man and “old fashioned” (sugarcoating it) but he also seems to be conflicted — wanting to do what’s right for his family but still trying to conform to expectations. He doesn’t want to deal with “therapy” kind of nonsense, he finds his son (who it seems may be autistic?) weird and has home issues because of this AND HAS TO FUCKING TALK TO SERIAL KILLERS AND RAPISTS.
I hope for more time with Carr next season though. I think her character needs more time to shine but she’s already fantastic.
Fuck You Albie
Laura Dern had a hell of a year, huh?
