{"id":323,"date":"2017-12-19T22:57:59","date_gmt":"2017-12-20T05:57:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.grassmonk.net\/blog\/?p=323"},"modified":"2018-12-31T01:30:48","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T08:30:48","slug":"my-favorite-and-not-movies-of-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grassmonk.net\/blog\/2017\/12\/19\/my-favorite-and-not-movies-of-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"My favorite (and not) movies of 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here follows a list of my favorite movies of 2017 (and 2016, where I just got to seeing them in 2017).\u00a0 The order is as arbitrary as an arbitrary thing.<\/p>\n

– My Favorites –<\/h3>\n

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2014, I said of the first Guardians of the Galaxy<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n

I was really, really surprised by how much I liked this movie. I wasn\u2019t expecting much, but man was it just great.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Based on how much I liked the first, I had high hopes for the second installment.\u00a0 I took my sons and we all had a great time.\u00a0 They’ve gotten into collecting themed soda cups from the theater, and this year we got some for Guardians<\/em>, Spider-Man: Homecoming<\/em>, and Star Wars<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As for the movie itself, the only thing I didn’t like was some of Drax’s jokes dragging on a bit much.\u00a0 I liked that the story was more personal for Peter (while of course presenting some larger universal threat, but that wasn’t the focus).\u00a0 The opening sequence was a blast to watch.\u00a0 And along with Thor: Ragnarok<\/em>, my youngest son has found some Marvel movies he doesn’t actually “hate.”<\/p>\n

The LEGO Batman Movie<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our family went to see this on my birthday.\u00a0 It’s definitely a silly take on Batman, but I just loved it so much.<\/p>\n

Logan<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was skeptical about Logan<\/em>.\u00a0 I’ve more or less enjoyed all the X-Men<\/em> films to date–even the less-than-stellar ones like The Last Stand<\/em> and X-Men Origins: Wolverine<\/em>.\u00a0 I love Hugh Jackman as Wolverine (and just in general, really).\u00a0 The same goes for Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier (and Jean-Luc Picard, and also just in general, really).\u00a0 The worry I had going in was the R rating.\u00a0 Since all of the franchise entries to date (not counting Deadpool<\/em>) have been PG-13, I was leery of the movie being more violent and cussy for the sake of being violent and cussy.\u00a0 It was a bit much for me in a few scenes, but I really liked it overall, and it’s one of my favorite X-Men<\/em> films along with the original, X2<\/em>, and Days of Future Past<\/em>.\u00a0 It’s also one of the few R-rated movies that I could justify to myself as owning on DVD\/Blu-ray (because I’m weird about that).<\/p>\n

Spider-Man: Homecoming<\/strong><\/p>\n

After the kind of lame (but still Spider-Man<\/em>, so I am more forgiving) The Amazing Spider-Man 2<\/em>, this was a welcome Spider-Man<\/em> movie.\u00a0 My biggest gripe with it was that Tony Stark was in it too much, and he wasn’t really in it that much.\u00a0 Tom Holland made for a good Peter\/Spidey, Michael Keaton was an enjoyable villain, and it was kind of nice to not really have an MJ or Harry or Gwen Stacy, but not really miss that they were missing, you know?<\/p>\n

Thor: Ragnarok<\/strong><\/p>\n

The last two Thor<\/em> movies have both been labeled as “Other movies I enjoyed,” and Ragnarok<\/em> is the first to be in my favorites.\u00a0 The comedic moments sometimes undercut the seriousness of a scene too much for my taste, but I really have no other complaints.\u00a0 Well, I was kind of bummed Sif didn’t make an an appearance, too.\u00a0 The Thor\/insert character<\/em> dynamics were all great: Thor\/Hulk, Thor\/Loki, Thor\/Banner, Thor\/Valkyrie.\u00a0 Just a lot of fun.<\/p>\n

Wonder Woman<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last year, I said:<\/a><\/p>\n

Wonder Woman looks good though. Please be good, Wonder Woman!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

AND IT WAS.<\/p>\n

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the last movie of 2017 that I expect to see, which is why I’m posting this in December, rather than January as per usual.\u00a0 (Also, I’m pretending like I’m not a slacker for once.)\u00a0 (Also, watch me have to update this in January anyway, even if it’s to say Ha! I didn’t update this in January.)<\/p>\n

Going in, I thought the only things I knew about The Last Jedi<\/em> were what I had seen in the trailer.\u00a0 Afterward, I watched the trailer, didn’t recognize it, and realized that I think I had actually only seen the teaser trailer.\u00a0 I had heard it was getting positive reviews, but I didn’t read any till after I saw it.\u00a0 I really wanted to go in as blind as possible.\u00a0 I’m glad I did, and I really liked it overall.\u00a0 I have also since read that it’s quite divisive among audiences–I expect especially among fans–and I can see why.\u00a0 I’ve read a few lists of why people didn’t like it.\u00a0 I agree with some of their reasoning.\u00a0 I still really liked it overall.\u00a0 There were several times I was surprised at the narrative, and that is just awesome.\u00a0 A few things were a bit off for me, and not that anyone will read this and have it matter, but (minor?) spoilers follow for the rest of this bit:<\/p>\n