So 2017 is finally finished, having given us some great stuff, some middling stuff,
and well...the other stuff.
But today we’re gonna talk about the great stuff!
Today I’m counting down my 10 favorite movies from the past year.
Now, little warning upfront, there are some films I haven’t seen form this year.
Mainly the Oscar films, cuz all of those don’t come out for a while where I live.
So movies like Ladybird, Shape of Water, Disaster Artist, Call Me By Your Name, The Post, haven’t
seen them.
When I have I’ll make a video on all of them, but that won’t be until late February,
so I wanted to talk about the other movies of the year now at new years and all.
There are also just other movies that might’ve made my list that I just didn’t get the
chance to see yet, like Coco, Logan Lucky, Wonder, Kong: Skull Island, Jumanji, and It
Comes At Night.
But besides all that, I think I did pretty well.
So, enough introduction, let’s get into the list.
10) American Made.
It was a tough choice for my number 10 cuz there were a few that I’m bummed couldn't
make the main list, but in the end I’m going with American Made.
I feel like no one really talked about this movie at all, which I find strange cuz I thought
it was pretty great.
In a time where Tom Cruise movies are a little….hit or miss, this was one of his best in a while.
It’s very fast paced and has an interesting almost Wolf of Wall Street-like style that
makes it very entertaining to watch, and really I can say I was never bored while watching
it.
It’s about an interesting real-life subject matter and whether it handles it accurately,
it handled it in a way that made it very engaging.
Don’t think a ton of people have seen this one, so I’d recommend you check it out.
9) The Lego Batman Movie.
Now I’ve only seen this movie once and a couple of people have told me that it doesn’t
hold up at all on the second watch, but I’m sorry, that first watchthorouh was just so
much fun for me.
This is the most I’ve laughed in an animated film in a while.
Sure it’s very heavy with the references and easter eggs and all that and maybe that’s
not for everyone, but hey, this is subjective and I thought it was funny as hell.
Plus some people checked out by the time all of these different characters showed up and
all that cuz it was too silly, but I enjoyed how crazy and meta it got.
So….yeah, as a Batman fan and a fan of funny movies, this is the best animated film of
the year for me….keeping in mind I haven’t seen Coco.
8) Dunkirk.
This is one of those Oscar-type movies that I acutally ahve see at this point.
I mean at this point, Christopher Nolan has a pretty bulletproof track record, for me
at least, and this was another impressive entry into his filmography.
This is different from the sort of stuff he’s done before, and I really enjoyed it.
Or enjoyed isn’t really the word, it’s a harrowing experience, but I think it’s
a great film.
Visually it’s stunning, the performances are great, it’s extremely tense and extremely
effective at conveying the horror and terror of this scenario.
A lot of people drowning and almost drowning in this movie, let me tell you.
It’s also easily the loudest film I’ve ever seen.
Don’t know if that’s a positive or negative, just feel like it should be pointed out.
Some people didn’t like how the story was told in a different way than what you might
expect and the fact that you don’t really get a lot of info about the characters save
for two or three, but I was fine with that.
For me this film was more to show the experience of this specific part of a war and how people
tried to survive and it did that brilliantly.
So yeah, it’s gonna make my list.
7) Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Now yeah, I know this is a somewhat controversial pick for the list.
I’m ready for the 50 comments that say, Last Jedi above Dunkirk!?
Dislike, unsubscribe!
If you hated the Last Jedi that’s fine, if you loved the Last Jedi, that’s also
fine.
It’s weird that I even have to say that.
I was one of the people who loved the Last Jedi, so number 7.
I was thoroughly entertained through and through by the film, I thought it was more creative
than the last, the action was awesome, there were some really great character moments,
and while the story wasn’t....you know, perfect, I still found it really interesting.
A well made Star Wars film that was a ton of fun, that’s pretty much all I want out
of these as a pretty causal fan of the series.
6) John Wick Chapter 2.
One of the reasons I love these John Wick movies is that they’re pretty much exactly
the type of movies that I always wanted to make when I was younger.
Just you know considerably more violent than I imagined as an 8 year old.
Straight ahead, super entertaining revenge action films.
And while the first is great, the second one stepped things up in a huge way.
Besides the action, Keanu Reeves is perfect as this character, his….style of acting
absolutely fits this kind of action hero, the world is interesting, and the story is
simple but it totally works for a kind of throwback to older action films.
In terms of the action though, it’s insane.
You can tell these movies are made by former stunt people, the action’s mostly practical,
it’s shot so you can see it, it’s brutal, it’s just spectacular.
These movies have the premise of classic older action movies and the best action of today.
It’s a great combo and I can't’ wait for the third entry.
5) Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Yes, the only MCU movie to make my top 10 this year.
Which is not saying the other films are bad at all, it’s just a testament to how great
this year has been just overall.
This is my favorite Spider-Man film to date, and I really enjoyed, you know some of these.
It does everything a Spider-Man film should do, and it strikes the perfect balance of
Spider-Man action type stuff and Peter Parker high school type stuff.
This one movie made me relate to and care more about this version of Peter Parker than
two Andrew Garfield movies could and I’m sorry to say even three Tobey Maguire movies
could.
I like those movies, but I feel this just did this character perfectly, and especially
for the modern times, this feels like a realistic high school with a realistic high schooler
from today.
This also has maybe the best MCU villain to date, some really cool action, and some hilarious
moments.
This might be the funniest MCU movie of the year, which is tough when compared to Ragnarok
and a Guardians film.
Probably the biggest surprise of the year for me, I left his film totally satisfied.
4) Blade Runner 2049.
It really sucks that this didn’t do better at the box office, because this movie was
so fantastic.
I mean, I expected a film this amazing from Denis Villeneuve at this point, and once again
he delivered.
Visually this may be the most gorgeous movie I’ve ever seen, pretty much every shot in
this film is worthy of being printed off and framed.
Beautiful movies can still be really bad though but this film also has excellent performances
even from certain….not super enthusiastic actors, a great soundtrack and a complicated
but fascinating story.
Also, the world building in this film is some of the best in any film ever, all the tech
and buildings and all this stuff, it feels like a real world.
It helps if you’ve seen the first, but I don’t think it’s really a necessity.
Plus you don’t at all feel the really long runtime.
So, if you’re one of the many people apparently who didn’t see this in the cinema, definitely
watch this at some point and on the biggest screen you can get.
3) Logan.
This is one of the films I’ve talked about the most this year so you might be sick of
hearing about it.
So hey I’ll keep this brief but there is a reason I and everyone have talked about
this so much.
Honestly I think this should get nominated for a bunch of Oscars.
It almost definitely won’t cuz for some reason the Academy hates these kinds of movies,
but best picture, best actor, best supporting actor, this deserves it.
Couldn’t ask for a more perfect way for this character to go out, this is an almost
flawless movie with great action and an interesting story with lots of emotional moments and a
darker look at these characters, and that’s the last I’ll say about it….Hugh Jackman
I love you.
2) Get Out.
I always love going into the cinema expecting...well you know a pretty good film and leaving having
seen something phenomenal.
And that's exactly how I felt with Get Out.
This goes beyond just being a scary horror film, which it definitely is.
But on top of that it’s very funny in parts, really clever with the storytelling and subtle
foreshadowing, and a great commentary on race.
My favorite kind of horror stuff is less of the jumpscare-y stuff and more just stuff
that gets more and more horrifying the more you think about it and this was a perfect
example of that.
Plus I love stories where slowly throughout you can tell that something is wrong but you’re
not quite sure what and it keeps building and building until this horrific reveal and
it was just perfectly executed here.
Also, one of my least favorite parts of horror films is when characters act like idiots for
no reason or don’t do anything logical, and in this film there’s none of that, everything
that I could hope would happen happens.
Basically, for me, this is the perfect psychological horror film, and I absolutely loved it.
So before I get to my number 1 choice, here are some other movies that could’ve made
my list, but hey there are only 10 slots.
It.
A well made horror movie with likeable characters and some genuine scares.
Fate of the Furious.
So stupid that it’s pretty fun to watch.
Nothing exceptional though.
The Big Sick.
A very funny and heartfelt romantic comedy that leaves you with a smile on your face,
very nearly made my list.
Split.
Solid thriller with one of the best performances of the entire year at the center.
Guardians 2.
Doesn’t live up to the first, but is still very funny and pretty creative.
Wonder Woman.
Come for the action, stay for the great characters.
Leave cuz the finale’s not that great.
Thor: Ragnarok.
Super funny with a great world and really good new characters, feels a bit fluffy though
in terms of emotion or story.
And Murder on the Orient Express.
A very enjoyable mystery film with great performances, specifically from the man himself Kenneth
Branagh as Poirot, the surprises aren’t that surprising and it slows down a little
too much in the middle, but overall I had a very good time with it and I would totally
recommend it.
And my favorite movie of the year is….Baby Driver.
Yeah, no surprise there, but no movie’s been as big of a deal the entire year for
me at least that Baby Driver was.
I was insanely excited for this based on the trailers and the director, like to the point
where I’d watched the trailer probably more than any other trailer ever, and it somehow
still exceeded my expectations.
I honestly thought that was going to be impossible.
Edgar Wright movies strike the perfect balance of being incredibly well made and still really
entertaining.
Pretty much everything in this is so well done but it’s never pretentious or boring
or calling attention to how clever it is, it’s still entertaining and funny and exciting
the entire time.
I love this movie because of how fun it is to watch and the story and characters and
action and all that, but I also love it because I just really respect when people put a ton
of effort into something.
And especially into tiny things that most people who see the film will never even notice.
I really appreciate that, and there are tons of those things to spot in here.
I’ve seen this film maybe 10 times and I still find new stuff in it each watch.
Beyond that though, yeah, it’s an incredibly enjoyable stylish heist action comedy with
great performances and an amazing soundtrack.
It’s definitely my favorite film of the year and one of my favorite movies of all
time.
It’s an original film too, which is just the cherry on top.
My parents have so many original movies to talk about from when they were growing up,
so I just think it’s really cool when in the current state of Hollywood we get those
kinds of films that I can talk about some day that aren’t just rehashes or a redos
of something that came before.
Glad to see it get as much mainstream attention as it’s been getting, it couldn’t deserve
it more.
Ok, so now as I do every time at the end of the year, just a little wrap up of how the
year was for my channel and what to expect next year and a few little announcements and
all that.
So if you were just here for the top 10, it is done, you are free to go.
But for those who care, stick around.
So 2017 has probably been my favorite year of doing YouTube so far.
Now just one last thing, I never really do shoutouts for people, not because I'm trying
to be mean but it’s just once you give one person a shout out you have to give everyone
a shoutout and soon it’s just a whole video of shoutouts, so that’s why I don’t do
it.
But today I
just wanna point
you in
the direction of a certain channel.
My friend Jana has a YouTube channel, it’s called Jana Stipac, there’s a link down
below, where she does fun little artsy vlog type videos, and she puts a lot of effort
into them and she really likes doing it, and it would mean a lot to me if you go over to
her channel and check it out and maybe subscribe.
She didn’t ask me to do this, I’m just doing this because I know how much she puts
into her videos and I genuinely think they’re great, so link down below, go ahead and check
that out.
Alright, so, thank you all so much for a great 2017, hoping to step things up even more in
2018, and I’ll see you in the new year.