Our Top 10 Films of 2017

This is The Brain, and you're listening to the

GeekCast Radio Network. Yes! Holy, here we go

again! You know what the difference is between

you and me? I make this look good. Cinema Geeks.

I am one of your Cinema Geeks optimists solo

and joining me for today's special record is

Hard Candy Mandy. Order. Movie revolve, Dan.

How's it going? It is going well. Anticipating

this record and also with us is Mr. Fridley Sant.

Hello. I'm in this one. You are in this one and

today we are continuing our look back last week

we did our 2017 movie awards and like we told

you guys last week this week we're counting them

down our top 10 films of 2017 it has finally

arrived we're finally Closing the book on 2017

and we're going out with a bang I know this is

a record that we look forward to and Record that

we spent a lot of time cramming for and trying

to Find a way to watch more and more movies even

ones that are somewhat hard to find Amanda we'll

start with you here and just kind of some quick

talk before we get into the actual list How was

the year overall for you and how was coming up

with this list was it easy? Did you have some?

Choices that you had to make some tough ones

any regrets as far as movies you didn't get to

see that you thought might have ranked high for

you No, I think that we managed to get in all

the ones that I really wanted to see and I think

the hardest part was Ranking the comic book movies

really picking which ones are gonna be at the

top which ones are gonna make it in to the top

ten here and deciding I guess my top ten was

It's always hard Always there's a few that I

definitely knew that I wanted on here But filling

in the gaps was hard and repositioning and all

that good stuff Yeah, we definitely we try to

catch most of the movies throughout the year

I think Amanda death by far saw more movies than

than I did this year I think I was around 110

I think Amanda probably was closer to 120 or

so I think the biggest two regrets for me was

the Florida project and call me by your name

we did not get to see either one of those two

but Other than that I saw most of what I wanted

to check off as far as catching it before here

Dan You probably saw more movies from Thanksgiving

until today than Amanda and I saw all year, I

think. So what was the last two months process

for you like and was it a big blur or can you

keep everything straight? Well, I ended up watching

like 106, 107 movies all year. Honestly, probably

70 % of that was, you know, November, December,

beginning of January. I think the benefit of

it was being able to watch a lot of movies after

a lot of the hype a lot of the conversation was

already over so you can kind of go in a way fresh

because it's like it's kind of we're on to the

next thing um so that was interesting and i was

able to i think avoid like i looked at my list

movies i've seen and i like only three of them

were movies that i i regretted regretted watching

and maybe out of maybe 10 more were ones I would

say are objectively not good films. So it's been

a really good year for me. I've avoided a lot

of like movies that seemed like I had no interest

in or different like there are some movies in

my most anticipated I still haven't watched but

like The Circle for example but I just it's been

so widely panned I'm like do I want to waste

the time? So it's been beneficial. It's like

let everyone else like sort it all out and then

I can kind of pick up the good stuff. Nice nice

and do you have any regrets as well? as far as

a film you did not get to before this? The biggest

one would be Phantom Thread. I didn't get a chance

to see it, but I will be seeing it. I go to the

best picture showcase every year, which we just

got tickets for today. So I'll be seeing it then.

So I didn't want to spend money twice on the

same movie. That's the one time a year where

I regret that we don't live closer, because I

would for sure go with you to that big picture

showcase. So it always sounds like a lot of fun.

Matt? Question for you, not how many movies did

you see in 2017, but how many trips to the theater

have you had for 2017 films? Oh, that's not fair.

Uh... 16? 15 or 16 at least. Nice. And how many

total movies? 11 or 12? 12? 12. Alright, so that

means at least four or five extra watches there.

Were they all Star Wars The Last Jedi or was

there any other movie over the course of the

year that you went and saw without naming it

that you saw twice? No, no, just the last Jedi.

Okay. Alright, I think we'll get right into it.

I don't have anything else besides the two regrets

I wanted to get out there. We can talk as we

kind of start unveiling our list if there's any

themes or anything that kind of stuck out to

you as kind of like a thing for 2017 films and

then we'll kind of wrap it up as to how we feel

like the year was overall towards the end after

we give our honorable mention. So let's start

with you Matt. What is your number ten? All right,

so I struggle with my number 10 because I figured

I could do something I could be diplomatic But

I then I decided I didn't do that. So my number

10 is of Larry in the city of a thousand planets

It's got some problems with it, right? Like it's

it's there's stuff that needs to be fleshed out

that needed more time But it needed to not be

longer Like I enjoyed it overall and that's why

it's my number 10 because I think my number 11

and 12 I didn't enjoy enough Interesting. I'm

interested to see which ones those are I think

you're right Valerian had a lot of good ideas

and like we talked about in the movie awards

some some decent things going on with some of

the visuals and some of the the individual scenes

I think there was some issues kind of overall

with some of the how they tied it together, but

I Wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might

have the potential to be because we were talking

about Jupiter ascending and stuff like that early

on in the year And I don't think it got to that

level so Amanda, what do you have at your number

ten? I never know what is gonna be on a list

whatsoever, so this is always a fun thing for

me. I have it all blocked off too, so you can't

see my list here. Okay, my number ten, and I

just moved all these around. She just spent like

the last hour like reshuffling her entire list.

My number ten is Three Billboards Outside of

Missouri. I think this is one of the movies that,

I think a theme on my list here is movies that

really super affected me. And then movies I had

fun with. There's no in between here. And this

is one of the movies that really affected me.

And seeing the previews, I was excited to see

Frances McDormand? Is that her name? Yes. I really

think that she was top notch in this. And her

attitude and her demeanor throughout this whole

movie was great. And I really got a lot out of

it. Alright, Three Billboards. It's one of the

more polarizing films I think of the year. There

was either people that loved it or people that

really didn't like it. And I think the performances

and some of the dialogue is what kind of won

it over for me. So I'm glad to see that one.

your list I will go ahead with my number 10 next

and I this was the hardest spot for me on the

list usually I say like you know oh seven through

ten was hard or five through ten was hard it

was really ten through twelve that was hard and

since only one of them ends up actually being

on this list that's probably the the spot I'm

agonized about the most and just kind of With

how it stuck with me even though it's only been

a short time since I've seen it I just think

there's a lot of stuff to unpack here and I think

with multiple viewings I don't want to do that

thing where like there's a movie that's almost

like an instant classic you're gonna be like

one of the most remembered movies of the year

that you don't rank really high when it came

because it was just too early you didn't have

enough time to digest it and then like five or

ten years later you're like how did I not have

that in my top ten so I'm trying not to make

that mistake here I'm going with the Phantom

Thread for number ten. I just think that there

is a lot of different things as far as Amanda's

not giving me a good look. When it comes to relationships,

when it comes to the give or take, when it comes

to who's in control, who's not in control, or

the compromises you're willing to make for a

relationship, I don't want to speak too much

on it because I really need a second viewing

to fully maybe understand it or get... my bearings

on what I actually think it's saying as a film,

but the performances are great. Daniel Day -Lewis

is always on the top of his game, and even though

I'm not a die -hard PTA fan, I haven't liked

everything he's done, I think there's enough

here to warrant it being in a top ten. I know

it's not making a lot of people's list because

of the time period that it came out, as far as

right towards the end of the year, and even those

people that did see it don't have it super high,

but I'm willing to trust that on second few and

it's gonna even... Be more worthy of this so

i'm giving it my number 10 spot amanda do you

want to disagree? Yeah, dude, like you liked

it enough to put in your top 10 Are you just

like so blinded by the fact that danny j lewis

was in a fucking movie this year? No, I really

think there's a lot there as far as I think what

got it for me the most and maybe it's fitting

For our time in our life right now is we're engaged

and planning a wedding and whatnot And i'm not

saying that this is in any way related to our

relationship, but it does do a lot where it's

talking about an individual who is very independent,

very stubborn, very used to being on his own

and doing his own thing and being consumed by

his job and his passion and that type of thing,

and completely against the idea of compromising

for anybody and how she's able to without getting

into any specific details, kind of challenge

that and challenge his ability to make room for

somebody else in his life. So I think there's

some stuff there to unpack. Well, you're welcome.

For dragging you away from this computer every

once in a while. Exactly. All right, Dan, what's

your number 10? Interesting, I was curious what

it would be regarding that. I think that's one

thing about doing, since we don't do movie reviews

typically of films throughout the year, I have

like no idea what's gonna be on your list. And

I'm actually curious if we're gonna have any

crossover on all four of our lists. I'm thinking

there'll be maybe one movie, maybe. We'll see.

But for my number 10, I talked about how sometimes

it's nice to be able to watch everything when

all the dust has settled. And what I find unique,

like what I try to do in December, January, was

look for films where I feel like there was nothing,

no one talking about and see why that is. And

I'll leave one day. this movie that I came across

it was on Amazon for like five dollars to buy

and it was kind of weird and you know trailer

looked intriguing and it had decent reviews online

but I heard really no one talking about it but

I went in with like zero expectations and ended

up really being pleasantly surprised and that

movie's Lane 1974 and I'll be honest I think

for a lot of people if they watch it it'll probably

be a three -star movie or maybe not see what

I see in it or not enjoy it as much and I think

it's the act of discovery can be often a big

impact on your overall enjoyment of film. And

that happened with this. And it's a very simple

low budget story, but it's actually quite beautiful

considering how low budget it is. It's just a

story about this girl growing up in the 1970s

and she lives with her brothers and sisters and

their mom on this hippie commune. And it's kind

of, she's a neglectful mother and what you see

is her kind of detaching more and more through

her mom. But what I find really impressive was

the cinematography, which right from the start

was rather effective and also the use of food

in that aesthetic. It ended up like one of the

most emotionally gratifying scenes of the year

for me became a moment of someone eating a bowl

of cereal and that was because of this film.

So it's not maybe the most semantically weighted

film in the world, but I thought it was just...

effective and hit the sensibilities of what I

enjoy the most. So Slain's 1974 is directed by

a first time director who actually took like

a very long time to make it, but I think it was,

you know, I think it's something that deserves

more attention. Again, don't go in with future

expectations because it's on my top 10, but I

think most people would at least walk away happy.

Interesting, we'll have to check that one out

for sure. I have not seen it on your list and

seen a couple things from you on either Letterboxd

or Twitter, but I hadn't had a chance to actually

check it out yet because that's the only time

I had heard of it. Matt, what do you have at

your number nine? My number nine is Pirates of

the Caribbean, Dead Men Tell No Tales. The Pirates

of the Caribbean are pretty much the only pirate

movies that we get ever, and they're definitely

the only ones that make money. So like I go and

see them I kind of like how they've gone into

this meta like we don't even care We know what

we are like fixture cuz like like the first one

or two or maybe even three were like like just

like serious pirate movies and then by like four

and five and six they're just like we're jack

sparrow does dumb stuff movies and somehow i

i like all of those equally like they're all

so much fun i don't think this one's anywhere

near the the top of the list best one but i also

don't think it's the worst one either and i you

know i like that they have uh cameos from from

classic characters in it um i like that it simultaneously

feels like a final movie but there's still room

if they decide they're gonna make more in the

future like they sometimes say they will sometimes

say they won't like it's fun like that's what

i want i want fun this was my number 16 i was

super excited for this because i do love those

films too mad i think they are really fun and

even though it's become uh how dumb can we make

Jack Sparrow look like there's still some really

awesome moments and the action is always great

and the visuals are really amazing I do think

it was a step in the right direction after the

last film because I didn't like the one before

that as much I think that was the least My of

my if I was ranking it would be at the bottom

So I think this took a step back in the right

direction made it a little bit more like it had

some sensibilities or some connection to those

first three and You know some of the cameos were

cool and some of the things that they kind of

explained from a from a backstory We're good

I think it's a fun time if you and if you just

want to have some fun and you're a fan of that

franchise I think this would be a good addition

to it for you Amanda number nine Trouble figuring

out how to rank this one because I did like it

a lot, but I feel like It ended up in a good

spot here and at my number nine. I've got Wonder

Woman All right. Um, I have that higher So you

cannot talk about that one yet. We forgot to

mention that to the listeners, but any time a

film comes up that somebody has higher, we're

going to table it until that comes up in the

higher spot. So Amanda does not get to talk about

that yet. So I will go on to my number nine,

which I'm also not going to be able to talk about.

So I'll just say it and then we'll skip ahead.

So my number nine is Logan, and I know somebody's

going to have that higher. So we will wait on

that one. Dan, what do you have for your number

nine? I'll just say you're correct, sir, as it's

on my list as well. It's my number six, but my

number nine is the film Nocturama by Bernard

Bonello. I can barely say my own name, so I don't

know why I didn't say that name. But it's a French

film centered on this group of kind of disenfranchised

or kind of teens that... spend the first half

of the film kind of planting actual bombs across

the city of Paris. And then the second half,

they kind of are in a holdout in this mall. And

it's just, I think what it really works is like

what... made it really effective is right in

the first half what you see is this really methodically

placed edit well edited movie where you have

this group of individuals where every moment

it's so precise and they're putting this all

this together you don't really know what's going

on but just something seems off but in the second

half it really slows down and you it i think

he really dives deeper into the ideology that

drove them to this place and and often I think

is a reflection of what happens in which the

remorse or just the reflection that can occur

when someone would go after those type of actions

as well as kind of a negative criticism of the

materialistic culture that's been built around

them. And I think it's both kind of going after

the millennial youth as well as the culture that

helped craft the world that they now live in.

It's fascinating with really strong young performances

and the last 15 minutes, 10 minutes are some

of the most chilling filmmaking I've seen all

year. It leaves enough up to the imagination,

but it says a lot, I think. Even being a French

film, certainly a lot of what it's going after

is very universal and it's really, I think, well

done. It is methodically paced. And I know for

a lot of people that reviews that I've read,

they aren't as high as the second half because

they feel like it kind of loses itself. But I

felt that was intentional. And I think it allowed

you to kind of seep into the holes of the things

that they actually believe. But yeah, I was actually

really blown away with it. And I could see it

be a movie I enjoyed more and more if I do ever

revisit it. So Nocturama is my number nine. Was

that one that you caught up on a disc, or was

that a streaming service of some sort? That is

now available on Netflix, so if you want to check

it out, it is there. Alright, Matt, what do you

have at your number 8? My number 8 is King Arthur

Legend of the Sword. He's looking at me. I'm

looking at Amanda to see if she's going to stop

you or not. It's my number 12. I looked at my

microphone, which was looking at Amanda. There

were some other things that super affected me

as much as I enjoyed King Arthur and really liked

a lot about the story and the cinematography

and I love Guy Ritchie and I loved all the players

here and the visuals. I loved everything about

it. There were just some other things that super

affected me. So you said it was number 12 on

your list? Number 12. Alright Matt, go ahead

and say your piece. I think this is the only

movie I've ever gone to the theater and watched

by myself. Like, I could not get anyone in my

life interested or free. Like, and I went and

saw it by myself and enjoyed it quite a bit.

Like, we do not get fantasy movies that aren't

Narnia or Lord of the Rings or some other, you

know, type. And this is arguably a franchise,

right? You know, you never get just a straight

-up nothing, I guess. But this doesn't have,

like, the big... Like, it's not attached to any

big property, I don't think. It doesn't have

the draw that a Lord of the Rings movie would

have. And they definitely did not do the classic

Arthurian legend. They took it in their own way

that was really, really cool. And I like that

they stepped outside of the box. I wish it had

made enough money that we might have gotten either

in this world or just another fantasy movie ever

again. But it was not to be. I think a lot of

people... appreciated a lot of the Guy Ritchie

aspects or some of the choices that were made

with this one and I think it surprised some people

that thought it was really gonna be like one

of the worst films of the year and I see a lot

of people who kind of put it in up there higher

than was expected at towards the beginning of

the year for sure. Amanda? What is higher on

your list? What's number eight? My number eight

is the Juicest League. The Juicest League? So

much juice. The juice. So you had said you had

Wonder Woman at number nine? Yes. And now you're

coming out swinging with Justice League. I'm

waiting forever for this movie and I loved the

matchup that we got. I think that this really

geared me up for the Aquaman movie, like I wasn't

already, but it gave me what I was kind of looking

for when we got Batman versus Superman and we

got these little snippets. I'm glad we finally

got to bring the team together and get a look

at their dynamic. I had fun with it. I'm glad

you enjoyed it. I mean the villain, let's be

honest, the villain was shit, alright? But I

liked it better than the bad guy in Wonder Woman.

I thought they were pretty similar. But... I

had more fun with Justice League. It wasn't as

sad as Wonder Woman, so I just kinda kicked it.

I just was like, you know what? I'm gonna put

it just a notch above. Just a notch above. Anybody

have any other thoughts on Justice League before

we move on? I actually, I ended up liking Justice

League more than I thought I would. It's weird,

cause you know, being directed by both Zanac

Snyder and Josh Whedon. I think there was, you

could see elements of Snyder here and there.

Overall, I think you kind of got like a melding

of the two but I think there are certain moments

where it's like there's definitely Jack Snyder

like the the one act and sequence where Superman

awakes I'll just say for people haven't seen

it But I think it's a like a good it's a good

turn in the right direction for DC Like I thought

Henry Cavill was really finally becoming Superman

in a way that is fitting of a character. So I

I hope they see that and are able to continue

with the right way to go going forward. I like

the side of Superman that we saw in that scene

you're talking about. You haven't seen that type

of Superman before. Those emotions that he was

crossing his face even. It was freaky. Alright,

so Justice League at your number 8 for my number

8. I wasn't sure if I was going to relate to

this one or not because I wasn't a huge fan of

his last outing, but I think just the artistry

behind it, the choices that are just so clear.

I'll just tell you that it's probably my number

2, so you're probably going to have to wait on

that. Is this Shape of Water? It is, so I will

wait on that. Alright. Go ahead, Dan. Your number

8. My number 8, I know... You guys have seen

this, so I don't know if you'll be in your top

10, but number eight though is Good Time? Nothing?

Okay. I'll keep it going. Directed by the Safdie

Brothers and starring Robert Pattinson, who I

think we, you know, he's done really good performances

previously, The Rover, even in Lost City of Z,

but in good time. He gave, I think, one of the

best performances of the year for me. And again,

I love movies that all take place within one

day. And this kind of is just like the night

where everything could go wrong. And he's a really

vile character in a lot of ways. He really is.

He does horrific things. But I was just fascinated

by it, just in the way it... It unfolded like

it was you know, it's one thing you say like

I have no idea what's gonna happen next But this

one literally I'd like you it's just like the

the map of events that happen is is so Oddly

paced but in a good way for me. I thought it

also looks great and I don't know I I understand

why a lot of people have issues with it because

I think more on the morals of it are or icky

and it can make you feel bad because there's

there's not much hope in it, but I wish I just

thought it was like I said, like fascinating

in that way, like a car crash where it's intentional

and you still, you know, it's, I don't know.

It's like a, basically what, I think they call

those destruction derbies if you want, but I

don't know. But again, I just, I just, a lot

of it was because of Pattinson and just, just

like the energy he brought to the role. And it,

I don't know. There are moments in this I think

I won't forget, especially like, The fun house

sequence and the use of a spray bottle always

going to look at people differently now because

of that It's my number eight. It's good time.

Yeah, this is in my 20 to 30 range. I think I

had it like 28 ish I I appreciate the most out

of this film is is the realism that you get is

the It reminds me of something like Blue Ruin

or whatever, where you get somebody who's in

the situation and they are acting like a normal

human being would. I mean, not that he's necessarily

normal, he is a little bit twisted and his moral

compass is not quite pointing in the right direction,

but he doesn't develop all of a sudden into this

Jason Bourne character or this superhero that

all of a sudden has this special skill set that's

going to get him out of this situation. So I

appreciated that as you're watching this, it's

like he's making mistakes. that a normal human

being would make. He has a plan, but he's also

in a heightened sense of tension and drama, so

he's not going to think 100 % clearly all the

time. He makes one of the biggest mistakes I

think I've seen in a movie in 2017 as far as

a specific choice that he makes that doesn't

turn out being the right choice. But I liked

that aspect about it. I liked how it just felt

like we were watching a normal person. That's

slightly off, but then put in a situation of

kind of how he's going to react from this and

how he's going to try to achieve the goal that

he has for the film. So I appreciated this one

quite a bit. That's why it's in my top 30. Amanda,

what did you think of Good Time? I think Robert

Pattinson's performance was great. I mean, he's

come a long way from Harry Potter and Twilight.

I think he is doing a lot more films that take

the hard work, he's gotta put the effort in,

and it shows. This movie, I just, um, man, I'm

just stumbling over myself here. It was hard

to watch, and the decisions that he was making,

and it was just like a struggle, like I felt

like I was struggling to get through the movie,

like he was struggling to get through the night.

Okay, fair enough. Matt, that brings us back

to you for your number seven. Um, this is where

I have Wonder Woman. Alright. I don't have Wonder

Woman on my top ten. I don't either, so go right

ahead. Okay, Amanda, you wanna go first? I don't

even know what to say anymore. Geez Louise, I

liked the visuals here. I liked getting more

of Diana. I believed her abilities so much more

in this movie than in Superman vs. Batman or

Batman vs. Superman, whatever that order is.

And I loved seeing where she came from. I loved

seeing Themyscira and Liked the the band of brothers

that she kind of happened into I liked the camaraderie

and It didn't have some heart. I mean it had

some faults, but it had heart and it had some

cool moments Yeah, I think I really like this

like I think it's the best DC movie we've gotten

like maybe ever definitely in the current wave,

but maybe ever Like and I think they did such

a good job with all of the the tertiary characters

like the ancillary guys like Like I think one

of my biggest problems with rogue one was that

I didn't get enough from everyone and I feel

like this did that what was essentially a Very

similar movie but did it like a little bit better

with all those side characters Like I really

enjoyed how they came together what they did

and then the sacrifices they made I will totally

agree with what Amanda said on Justice League

that the the main villain of this movie was probably

its weakest point like they didn't do a great

job with that But I mean even marble who nearly

knocks out of the park every time I'm struggles

having a great villain every time so I think

DC's on the right track I think this might have

been their best year, and I think that I look

forward to their future I liked Wonder Woman

a lot. I think what kept me from elevating it

higher in the list of films that I watched this

year was just really that final act. I did not

care for the bad guy in Wonder Woman and kind

of the CGI fest that happens in that final fight

scene. But I think there are some great moments,

especially in the first two thirds with the No

Man's Land scene and some stuff like that. So

I think it definitely was a step in the right

direction for the current wave of DC and definitely

the best thing I've seen from that universe and

from DC in general since the Dark Knight trilogy.

So I think I had Wonder Woman somewhere in my

30s, but if it wasn't for that last act, I think

I'd have it higher. Amanda? Well, I'm gonna keep

the comic book stuff rolling here with Mind No.

7, and that's a movie I had a super good time

with, and that's Thor, Ragnarok. I have that

higher. I have superhero movies really high because

that's all I saw Fair enough. We'll hold off

on Thor a little bit here and I'm not gonna talk

about I haven't talked about any film since my

number 10 and I'm not going to hear either because

I made a mistake and Amanda you've already talked

about it I just didn't stop you in time. So my

number 7 is three billboards outside of in Missouri

for all the reasons you said and I just love

the dialogue from it and I loved the performances

there and I just think there's more there than

people are some people are giving it credit for

I think there's some stuff there to to digest

and think about that isn't as quite as self -explanatory

or there's more to meet the eye I guess for some

of the characters and their decisions but I just

kind of I'd liked obviously for instance Norman's

getting the credit that she deserves for it because

she definitely carries that film but I also think

What should I call it? The guy that was in everything

this year. Woody Harrelson was fantastic as well.

I was like, I wanted to say Matthew McConaughey.

I'm like, that's not the right name. But Woody

Harrelson was also great in this. So three billboards

outside of Missouri. I was a fan. It's my number

seven. Dan, what do you have at number seven?

My number seven is coming from a director that

I think I need to go back and watch one of his

movies because two of his films from this past

decade have made my top tens. A few years ago

it was a film called Like Father Like Son and

the director is Hirokasa Kurita. Again, I don't

know why I'm even attempting these names and

I apologize, but the film is after the storm

and Like Father Like Son was a small story. It

was basically a sotaru situation where a family

got the wrong s - sun at birth and they found

out years later and it was it was it sounded

like a bad sitcom but it ended up actually being

a really effective film that kind of got into

that the classic nature versus neutral way but

in a really interesting and complex way that

also seeped into culture especially the Japanese

culture I should mention is a Japanese film and

After the Storm is similar it's very based in

family and I think that's one thing the director

does well at utilizing kind of really not very

large and over the top family dynamics, but really

kind of down to earth and just lets us be with

these characters. The premise of After the Storm

is basically this father is just trying to reconnect

with his son and the strange wife who has now

kind of gone off and is seeing another man. And

he also has this interesting relationship with

his mother. and she's trying to get them kind

of all back together, and they end up having

this reunited night together in her grandmother's

apartment as Monsoon is coming in. It's just

legitimately you're just in this apartment as

they're kind of communicating with one another

for a good 40 minutes of the movie, but it's

just really effective dialogue and strong characters.

And I like movies that let you just be with characters

and let their kind of... relationships unfold

in a natural way. And it's never trying to be,

I think, something profound. And I think there's

actually a specific conversation where they kind

of laugh at that notion, but it ends up being

in that way. So it's, and it's kind of, there's

all these little pieces too, like the father

is a former writer who is now working for a private

detective because he can't find a job, he has

also gambling problems, and it goes back to his

father. So it's, I don't know, I just was. It's

not a movie I think that will blow anyone away

because it's not really trying to, but for what

I like about movies, it fits right in and I just

really enjoyed it. So, After the Storm is my

number seven. Alright, sounds good. Another one

I need to add to the list of things to watch.

Matt, what do you have at your number six? My

number six is Logan. Is that really that high?

That is also my number six. Hey! Slightly higher?

Okay. We'll hold off on that until it comes up

on Amanda's list then. And that would be the

first film that's going to appear on all four

of our lists as well. Amanda, what do you have

at number six then? I have John Wick Chapter

Two. Everything I Love About Movies. Can I talk

about it? Ass Kickery. Sweet Ass Guns. Cool Suits.

Blood. Keanu. Explosions. This was a tough one

for me because of how much earlier in the year

we saw it and I almost watched it, I almost put

it on last night just to like refresh my memory

and try to make sure I'm not discounting it just

because it's been so long because I thought it

was definitely picked up with the steam that

the first one gave us and kind of gave I think

a lot of people are saying this but it gave it

just enough of what we wanted but it didn't do

the sequel thing where it just tries to be the

exact same thing or it tries to elevate it in

a weird way that kind of throws it off it was

just the right amount of the similarities between

number one it's in my like top 30 35 somewhere

in that range just because i need to rewatch

it but amanda besides having all those different

things what did you feel like in comparison to

john wick and and did it leave you obviously

anticipating the next installment see i don't

know i mean the way it left off i was like really

do we need to you know drag this out more but

everything that i liked about the first john

wick In the second John wick and the one thing

I didn't like from the first John wick is not

in the second John wick So it was perfect for

me. You forgot one other thing when you were

just sighting off the different ingredients to

it more Ian McShane I Love that guy. I mean,

that's you All right, so John wick to at your

number six I will go into my number six, which

may be one that's not on anybody else's list.

I don't know. It's a recent watch, so hopefully

I'm not giving it some recency bias, but I really

just thought that there was a lot to love about

this film, and I'm going with Goodbye Christopher

Robin at my number six. It's not on my list.

All right. But obviously this is a story of...

A. Milne who I always think I'm saying that name

wrong who was the author of Winnie the Pooh and

kind of how he came about writing that story

and kind of the effects that that story had on

his life and his family etc because obviously

Christopher Robin was his son and that's who

that character is based off of and it kind of

just kind of follows that journey and that discovery

aspect of that. I thought this film was edited

in a very unique and fun to watch way. They do

a lot of stuff with Panning the camera from one

side to another and all of a sudden you're in

a different place or a different time frame or

different stuff They kind of play a lot with

flashbacks and forwards and stuff like that so

I had a clever way of kind of keeping on your

toes and Really paying attention to the details

and kind of as it seamlessly went from one thing

to another and it kind of interwove all these

different aspects of the story and into one and

I just think it also kind of is an interesting

thematic movie when it comes to Guess somewhat

similar to what I was talking about in Phantom

Thread, but a little bit in a completely different

way I guess but how you have someone that is

so wrapped up in their work and in their artistic

achievements and how that can have an effect

on what else is going on in their life and family

etc and and the sacrifices you you make in some

of that stuff and kind of how you can get swept

up in a process like that and lose sight of what

you were doing in the first place and kind of

what's important. So I thought... You mean allowing

your child to stand in a bear enclosure next

to a wild animal to take a picture? That was

one of the questionable fatherly decisions he

made, yes. I think it would bother me the most

is it's such like a heartwarming um story from

everybody's child, well not everybody, from most

people's childhood and Winnie the Pooh is such

a symbol of like purity and hope and home and

goodness that seeing how it destroyed this little

boy's life really was hard to watch. And seeing

how his parents were... Especially like his mother

was not a good mom was absolutely ridiculous.

Not a good mom I think I'm a sucker too for these

types of stories kind of like similar like saving

mr. Banks and some of those things where you

can't get a Another look inside of the creative

process behind a piece of work or piece of art

that we're all familiar with like I kind of a

sucker to kind of see those types of things so

it was right up my alley so goodbye Christopher

Robin is my number six let's take a Quick break

then we've said a lot. We've kind of jumped around

a little bit. Let's regroup We're gonna take

a quick break and then we'll be back with our

top five films of 2017 coming up right after

the break. We'll return after these messages.

Hey guys, it's Dr. Masolo and Hard Candy Mandy,

and we just wanted to let you guys know about

another podcast out there that we both think

you would all enjoy. It's one of both of our

favorite shows to listen to, and it's none other

than the True Bromance podcast. True Bromance

is a movie podcast hosted by longtime friends

Hiro and Barry, and if you like to smile, laugh,

and just be genuinely entertained while listening

to movie talk, then this is definitely the right

show for you. Each week, the guys break down

a recently released movie, and not only do they

tie in the movie that week to the beers that

they are drinking during the show, but they also

tie it into a real fun top and bottom five list

associated with that movie. It's a blast hearing

both sides of these lists, and it definitely

makes them unique amongst all other movie review

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all of you guys to go check out their show. Just

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if you listen via iTunes, do us a favor and leave

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Hello everyone, this is JD from the in session

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We also give top three lists. Okay. Yeah. Thanks

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today and hear me verbally beat JD like a Cherokee

drum. No, no, no, no, no. That's not how this

works, sir. On the Simplistic Reviews podcast,

we talk movies. We talk TV. We talk. Hello Julie,

what the heck are you doing? Trying to make our

spot sound more exciting by adding explosions

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you could have got the

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they probably won't Hey Chad, Pinky here of Pinky

and the Brain. The smarter one. You don't mind

saying so. I - Alright, thanks for sticking with

us flying right along here in our top films of

2017 list. We're at our top five. So we've revealed

ten through six. Now it's time for five through

one, starting again with Matt. What's your number

five? My number five is Guardians of the Galaxy

2. Put it on hold, sir. These two are just checking

each other, left and right. I like it. Amanda,

what do you have at number five? Number five

for me is Logan. So now we can talk about Logan?

Do we need to talk about Logan? I don't know

if we need to talk about Logan. That's the sequel.

Do we need to talk about Logan? I think we talked

a lot about Logan when it came out, but this

was one movie that... There's always a few movies

that I watch early in the year that by the end

of the year I'm totally blown away that that

movie was the year I'm in. This movie I feel

like was so long ago. Like I feel like it was

last year. It was. But it was. When I was doing

this list I was struggling about where to put

it because it was such a powerful movie and we've

been waiting to get unadulterated logan in his

element and it was perfect matt you want to go

next on logan i mean like it was surprisingly

good like wolverine doesn't get me excited this

movie was amazing and it kept me from beginning

to end dan were you surprised that logan got

some love from the academy uh yeah i was i was

surprised i got a writing nons for adaptive screenplay

a little bit Considering like there's not been

many comic book films in general. I think like

a ghost world and something else were the only

comic book movies ever To be nominated. So that

was cool to see I mean, I think for many I was

hoping like Patrick Stewart would get a nomination

because I legit think he deserves it but I would

you know, it it's interesting seeing what main

goal was able to do with this and and you kind

of have to think Deadpool because that allowed

him to get an R rating and because of that arraying

they had a smaller budget and gave him more creative

freedom and I think they utilized that really

effectively you know they really you know, with

the old man Logan story that they based it on.

It's nothing like that, but, and I think that's

kind of the smarter move. I think it actually

ends up being much better than that story because

it becomes a lot more personal rather than this

crazy universe that it ends up being placed into.

But I love the relationships in here as a Hugh

Jackman fan. It's the fact that these, you know,

he's been playing Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart

have been playing these characters for 17 years,

which is insane. I think about like other franchises

that did not even come close. Christopher Reeves

is great in Superman by the fourth film, it was

just plain awful, but here they're kind of going

out on top. Obviously, huge Western influences

from Shane to Unforgiven, and I can't help that

final image of the, I'll just say the gravesite,

like that. removing that cross, it was like,

wow, that to me was just like not an unexpected

moment in an unexpected film that I think capped

off really nicely. So it's, yeah, I think arguably

in the conversation as one of the greatest superhero

films of all time. Yeah, I think so for sure.

It's also one of those films like that you sometimes

get those films that are like on your. Top list

like halfway through the year that don't make

it towards the end. This is a film for a lot

of people I think that has been on their top

ten for the almost entirety of 2017 so definitely

had that staying power no matter how far removed

we were from it people You know still look back

and remembered what an experience it was and

I agree with you Dan I think it's one of the

easily you know in that conversation for top

three top four top five Comic book films of all

time if not, you know in the top one or two spots

so Obviously universal love for Logan from this

panel. You're not gonna get too many people disagreeing

with that. Amanda, that was technically your

number five though, correct? Yes. Alright, so

my number five, I don't think this will come

as a surprise from anybody who's been paying

attention to anything I've said over the last,

I don't know, three or four months because I've

been trying to champion this film as much as

possible. I think it just, for some reason, worked

for me. It is a little bit sugary and has maybe

too clean of an ending for a lot of people, but

I loved Brigsby Bear, so I had to elevate it

this high on my list, so it is my number five.

Another interesting performance from Mark I just

thought the humor worked. I thought some of the

I don't know if you want to really call it fish

out of water but some of that kind of aspect

worked and I don't know why it works so well

for me I've only seen it the one time but I had

a lot of fun I laughed a lot and I thought there

was some interesting You know dramatic beats

to it as well. So I'm a big fan of Brigsby Bear

So it's my number five. This just dropped out

of my yeah well that is well as i was in your

top ten no i just dropped out of my top ten like

an hour ago it's my number thirteen and i surprisingly

like this movie i thought i was going to be shit

total shit and i had a lot of fun with it interesting

yeah to me it's probably the surprise movie of

this year because it went in not knowing much

and i think it's one of those films the less

you know the better for sure and it's i don't

know unlike anything i've seen So I think that's

what, yeah, some of the unique aspect that kind

of just like, you know, people that say that

there's nothing original in Hollywood are just

not looking, maybe not in Hollywood, but, you

know, in cinema are not looking hard enough because

this is just one example of a lot of stuff that's

been mentioned already or that might be mentioned,

you know, in our honorable mentions still to

come that are very original and unique concepts.

So, Dan, what's your number five? Yeah, yeah,

the earnestness of it just I think was super

unexpected I think it kind of went in thinking,

you know, it's from people that were in SNL It's

gonna be this, you know a comedic film, but it

ended up being quite earnest, which was unexpected

My number five is my favorite animated film of

the year and it's the red turtle, you know, we've

been doing the Hayao Miyazaki Retrospective and

obviously that's related to the old Ghibli which

produced this film, but it's not the same people

as their French division. And it does have an

interesting take with that, because it does feel

like a combination of those two styles. When

I think about it, like the thing I think about

the most with the Red Turtle is the perspective

that you're in watching it. And you're always

really far back. Like it's, you're really becoming

this ultimate observer as you see this man, like,

try to stay alive in this island he's come through.

a strand on after a shipwreck and just Again,

I think it's movie that let you know the better

just something's happened involving a turtle

and as a big piece of the film was the fact that

there's not much dialogue and I honestly didn't

really even notice it it like it's not even something

like if someone asked me after the movie like

Oh was there dialogue in that movie like yeah,

there was but no there actually wasn't there's

some grunts and stuff in here and there but it's

just It's just so well told visually that it's

never really comes up And it just becomes this

really interesting take on family and What can

happen I'm trying not to try not to spoil it

I'll just say it goes in unexpected directions

and certainly has a lot like a lot of my films

oddly enough has themes that certainly deal with

family and it also has a fantastic score as well

so I know for some it's like a 2016 movie but

for I think it didn't really come available to

the U .S. audience until this year so it's actually

a really strong year for animation I think despite

because you have this and other other animated

films that may come up but yeah so if you're

a fan of Studio Ghibli or in or even not a fan

because I know some people that were who don't

like anime or anything like that. It is very

much its own type of style, so. And this one's

on either Hulu or Amazon currently, right? One

of the two? It's streaming through Starz, actually.

Oh, Starz. That's how I was able to watch it.

All right. Matt, that brings it back to you for

your number four. My number four is Spider -Man

Homecoming. You're good to go. Really? That's...

Wow. Number 22, bro. Wow, in Justice League,

wow, okay. Like, I loved this movie, like, I

- I was 100 % against the reboot. I loved Andrew

Garfield. I loved what they had done. I was so

happy they had finally done Gwen Stacy justice

in a movie form. I was absolutely against rebooting

it. And I don't know that I could have been more

wrong. Like, what we got was amazing. I love

that it's a part of the Marvel universe. But

also, like, it's We have this thing where there's

these giant galactic battles and people coming

into New York through space portals, but also

it could still feel like the friendly neighborhood

Spider -Man. They managed to capture Spider -Man

like perfectly. I really loved this and I can't

wait for the myriad of sequels that they're going

to just crap out. I think it's just a sign, too,

of what a good year it was for comic book films

in general, because there were so many that people

could have ranked high. We've already heard a

few of them, obviously, with Logan, Wonder Woman,

and the likes. So, I mean, it's just a loaded

year for comic book films, and a lot of them

are good. Spider -man easily has like we talked

about last week a couple of the best moments

of the year as far as tense or jaw -dropping

moments with the Answering of the door and the

car ride etc So I think there's a lot to love

about spider -man for me It just kind of got

knocked down a little bit because of some of

the other superhero films I had slightly above

it Amanda thoughts on spider -man. Yeah, I don't

Disagree that it was a great spider -man movie

and Tom Holland was amazing as spider -man had

some awesome moments I just It just didn't wow

me so I didn't have it higher up Okay, Dan any

thoughts on spider -man? Yeah, I like that I

still you know I think it's again similar to

Justice League a step in the right direction

because I Was on a huge fan of the last meeting

spider -man I like what Tom Holland's bringing

to it obviously huge John Hughes influences,

and I think what we saw this year and I you know,

with Guardians and with this is that, you know,

people talk about Marvel having issues with those

villains, which they do, but I thought both of

those films actually had two of the better villains,

and they're based upon the performances and the

characters. And that car scene, like, you know,

this hugely budgeted, all the special effects,

and one of the most tense scenes is just a car

drive to a homecoming, which I thought was pretty

impressive, so. Yeah, I think good point too

with the villains. I think both that and Guardians

definitely took a right direction as far as the

villains, and I don't think you can complain

too much about either one of them. Amanda, what

is your number four? So, up until An hour ago,

of course, as I mentioned several times now,

I guess, this movie was at my number two, and

now it is at my number four. So, kind of pains

me to say this, but The Mountain Between Us is

my number four. Nothing? Nothing. Oh man, this

movie took me on a ride. I went on this journey

with them. You feel their struggle. You hold

your breath in anticipation of, you know, every

time something goes awry and their struggle to

survive. And the relationship that they built

was so amazing, and the way that they handled...

the relationship that they built was superb.

I love that the doggy, spoiler alert, does not

die. It survives, gets to a good home, and what

I mentioned in our awards was one of the best

moments that I've had in the theater, and that

is the ending to this movie. It cut off at the

precise second that it needed to, and I super

appreciated that. Yeah, I was glad you liked

that one so much. I think it is a good film worth

worth watching especially if you like Kind of

that scenario, you know with the plane crash

and how are they gonna survive type situation?

And Idris Elba was always fun to watch so I didn't

think I would It's gonna like it as much as I

did, for sure. Good to hear. Mine number four,

no surprise again if you've been a fan or listener

of the Cinema Geeks over the years, you know

I'm a big fan of this franchise, and I think

it was a good, hopefully, cap -off to the trilogy.

I know they're talking about maybe doing another

one, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

But for mine number four, I have War for the

Planet of the Apes. I just love... You gotta

wait and see if anyone else has it on their list.

Nobody has it. Nobody has it on their top four.

What? But uh, I love Caesar I love what they've

done with him over the course of the three films

I love how different each of the three films

is it's kind of showing a different aspect of

the story that they're telling overall I think

there's a lot of interesting scenes. I know some

people kind of our split on this one some people

think this is the best of the three some people

thought this was a let down but i was entertained

throughout and i'm looking forward to re -watching

this one a couple times and seeing exactly how

it goes i want to watch them all together since

i didn't get to at our theater event that they

didn't show the first one to but i thought too

that helped in the process the fact that we had

just we were in the theater watching the second

one and then it immediately went into the third

one with just a tiny little intermission so i

was in the right mindset for it and i just had

a lot of fun throughout it was my number one

most anticipated film of the year right behind

the last jedi and neither one of those films

disappointed me so that makes 2017 a win for

me so war for planet of the h for me is my number

four yeah it was actually my most anticipated

film of the year as well and i i ended up really

liking it too i still think i like the second

one more but still quite strong it's my number

22 of the year and i that's so obviously it's

always good when your anticipated film does not

disappoint you um and which is the same with

Number my number four, which is also was one

of my top five most anticipated movies and that's

dunkirk and christopher nolan doing his war epic

It's pausing to make sure anyone else I'll say

All right. I figured uh, yeah I know for some

people like there's the lack of characterization

can can kind of drive you away because you're

Legitimately not really getting to know much

more about these people than what's occurring

But I think that like in a way added to the urgency.

It's like when you're you know, you're you have

to kind of learn by seeing or when you're doing

a project and like everyone else and you just

kind of have to follow along and look for cues

of what's you know what's occurring and I think

that I think heightened the experience for me

the the editing is so strong and especially when

everything comes together and how it utilizes

time and the performances even though many of

the characters are not super fleshed out I think

that was fine it to me just made it seem like

wow there's There's like lack of the lack of

hope there in a way as it all comes together

and it just made it think that more important

to me oddly enough, but I you know, I know it's

like I Find myself enjoying Interstellar more

and more as I watched it. But for me, I think

that Dunkirk is Arguably maybe Christopher Nolan's

best film. It's gorgeous to look at as well.

And yes, I can watch those Spitfires every day.

They're just incredible machines but it's it's

it's in the conversation for me like as one of

the best war movies in the last 20 years and

it's interesting that this was the year of Dunkirk

movies oddly enough and maybe it's because like

I I find myself I don't know much about that

event just being able to see the scope of it

here And it gets a little sanctimonious here

near the end, but I felt like it earned that,

especially just the gliding sequence. But yeah,

so that's my number four. I think I missed out

on an award that I could have done last week

that I'm thinking about now and that would be

like the award for the film that is most likely

to rise up over time higher on your list and

I think Dunkirk might be running for me for that

because for some reason I just didn't really

connect with it the first time. I recognized

the artistry there and then the expertise from

Nolan as far as a filmmaker. The awards are showing

a lot of the editing and sound and different

stuff is superb. I just think I need to watch

this again and I think over time it's going to

rise up on my list and give me whatever I felt

I was missing that first time. I don't know if

it's necessarily a lack of the connection I had

to the characters. I just didn't feel like I

got the emotional wallop that I was expecting

and so maybe it was more of an issue of expectations

on what I was going to see and I think I just

need to watch it a few more times and it'll rise

up for me but I think a lot of people are in

agreement that it's definitely one of the best

films and I've heard a lot of people I'm touting

it too as one of Nolan's if not his best work

up to date. So that takes us to all of our number

threes Matt, what do you got? Thor three Thor

Ragnarok Which was my number seven. So you're

going to talk about it now. Did I miss that?

No. Oh wait. No, I stopped you. I'm doing good

at cutting people off Yeah, well, yeah Like,

I love this movie. Like, I've said this every

time it comes up, the third movie in any Marvel

Cinematic Universe franchise is the best one.

Like, I thought Cat 3 was the best. I thought

Iron Man 3 was the best. Like, you gotta know

I'm super stoked for Infinity War. Thor 3 was

the best Thor movie. And like, I think it's increase

was the biggest one, because I think Thor 1 and

2 were kind of weak compared to the other movies

in this. this franchise and like I just I love

everything I like I love how they changed it

up like they were just like now that's it we're

flipping a table we're going new directions like

we're getting we're getting rid of Odin we're

getting rid of just all of this Thor mythology

like Idris Ilba is a resistance fighter now like

it's just so good like I like I loved how much

it turned itself on the head without just being

like was still following some reverence and stuff

for the original source material both the comic

books and the Norse mythology because like Search

is a thing and they just brought in another Norse

god and just added them in it was great like

the things that they did with this movie I cannot

complain Yeah, I agree. I mean, I like the first

couple of Thor movies, but this one definitely

kicked it up a notch, and it was amazing in the

visuals. The color was great. I think the new

characters that were brought in were super cool,

like Valkyrie loved her, and I liked where it

left off, too. I liked where it's leading us.

I think the biggest thing for me from watching

Thor was the colors. The colors were really poppin'

and the way they used some of those different

colors. really worked well from a visual standpoint.

I just have a problem separating Wonder Woman,

Thor, and Guardians for me. It's like they're

all on that same level, so it was hard for me

to decide which one I liked more than the others.

You know, one maybe made me laugh the most, but

one maybe visually was the best, and one maybe

had the best fight sequences. I don't know. It's

a mixture of those three for me to try to sort

out. Dan, any thoughts on Thor? Yeah, I mean,

so last year was like the 100th year of Jack

Kirby, and it was interesting just seeing, you

know, influences all over that screen. And a

lot of people kind of pointed to like the 80s

and like, oh, it's so influenced by that. But

much of those like those character designs are

right from his his drawings and things that I

would never thought would actually make it onto

the big screen just because of how of how, you

know, out of this world they look like they just

were like hell's helmet, like just the world

in which the way they had Asgard and pretty much

everything was. It was also probably the funniest

movie of the year for me. I probably laughed

at that film more so than any other movie in

2017. All right, Amanda, what do you have it

here? Number three. Oh, this movie I'm considering

to be a 2017 film and we just watched it today.

It's Hostiles. I was really anticipating this

film. And it took me to places I really didn't

know was going to take me. I knew it was going

to be an emotional journey. I knew there was

going to be some differences in culture that

you're going to be seeing. But I didn't expect

to see a change in Christian Bale's character

the way I did. And I didn't expect the strength

from Rosamund Pike that I saw in this. And it's

such a powerful movie. Because you're seeing

this injustice and you know that this is something

we never made right. This is just a piece of

history of them trying to do something to make

it right. It's crazy to see where we've come

and knowing that we still haven't all the way

made it okay I think one of the best things that

this film is able to do and Scott Cooper as the

director might be responsible for it but is is

how well they show both sides of the situation

and how well they show what's going on in this

time period and what the ramifications are what

happened before that from both the the Native

American side as well as you know, the white

American side, I guess you can call it, but from

both sides as far as what happens before and

what's happening at the time, and I think they

do a real good job of not... Not necessarily

telling you what you should think, but just showing

you what's going on from both aspects. The only

reason this one's not higher is because I need

more time to think about it. We just got out

of the theater from it a few hours ago. I currently

have it at my number 17, but that could rise

if I had a little bit more time to kind of dissect

it in my mind a little bit. But I definitely

think it's worth watching. Hopefully this doesn't

get lost on everybody because it kind of came

out of that no man's land between when everybody's

finishing their 2017 and when they're turning

- ahead to 2018 it's kind of like silence a few

years ago where a lot of people just never got

to see it so I agree I think hostiles is definitely

worth watching hostiles hostiles alright for

my number three I'm gonna go with I guess what

I would argue is also Dan in competition for

one of the funniest films of the year maybe it's

my favorite romantic comedy possibly in the last

decade I don't know the romantic comedies have

been Basically non -existent for me and I think

this one was a nice fresh a breath of fresh air

I'm going with the big sick at my number three

I just think we talked about this a little bit

last week I think Dan with one of your awards

or whatever but the moments from both Ray Romano

as well as I'm gonna butcher his name so I'm

not even gonna say it but the main star here

I think are both funny, but at the same time

poignant and Meaningful, and I think there's

a lot to get out of this and if you have not

seen the big sick, please search it out It's

funny. It's Touching and it's worth a watch a

hundred percent I liked it a lot more than I

thought it was in my top ten until just a couple

hours ago But now it's down to my number 21.

I moved it around and shuffled it That's quite

the drop in a couple hours. Yeah Dan any comments

on big sick or go ahead and give your number

three Yeah, I like big sick a lot like I was

hurtful not to put in my top ten like my honestly

my seven through 17 18 or kind of interchangeable

like it like they were all really close to one

another but yeah, like I'm huge Kimmel not Johnny

fan I Yeah, that's cuz I you know, I've called

him for some time and so Again, you know, I knew

much of the story going in but still it was really

effective and I thought I was really impressed

with Now Gianni's like acting skills like I know

he's a funny comedian, but I think he showed

something A little a little deeper and showed

that he can actually be a dramatic actor as well

I've mentioned that like Reem Armando was my

spirit animal in that movie and some of it and

some of his quotes on society especially how

the internet works, so Yeah, I think it like

you said, it's probably you know it Again, a

good romantic comedy, which is odd, and I was

kind of hoping it would get a Best Picture nomination.

Glad I got at least a nomination for screenplay,

but still, it was well done. All right, what's

your number three, Dan? My number three is Personal

Shopper. Nice. Yes, it's... It's hard to, I feel

like every time I describe this movie, I do a

horrible job of it because it's an oddity of

a film. It's part somewhat horror film, part

personal drama, part suspense mystery. It all

works because I think one big component, and

that's Kristen Stewart, and never in my life

did I, you know, 10 years ago would I think that

my top 10 would have two films in it by the stars

of Twilight, but here we are. There, you know,

it shows you that, like, you can't. judge an

actor sometimes by one film. Sometimes when you

have a good director behind you or you put the

effort in, you have a great performance. And

Krisha Stewart has been putting in really good

performances as of late. And honestly, she might

be my favorite performer of 2017. And it specifically

goes with a moment that comes out is the train

sequence. And it's just a text message sequence

that has been. Largely talked about but it was

one of the most suspenseful moments and it was

because of much of the fear she was able to display

Made it made it that and you know, it could be

somewhat silly, but it works because she's so

committed to the role So it's I don't know it's

it's I go in expecting to like it nearly as much

as I did and I was just amazed by just the amount

of genres and ideas they were able to fit into

it, so It was actually my number one for some

time until I watched some other films But but

yeah, it's my number three. Yeah, this was in

my top ten for a good portion of the year I enjoyed

it way more than I thought I was going to For

all the reasons that you said in kind of reshuffling

and some of the movies I watched over, you know

the end of November December and this first part

of January it fell down to my number 18, but

I Definitely was big on this film and I think

it's a worthy Entrant to anybody's top ten for

sure Matt There's only two spots left. What are

you going to go with as your number two? My number

two was Murder on the Orient Express. Excellent.

Didn't expect anyone to say anything there. I

mentioned in the previous episode, I really enjoyed

this movie. I don't usually get into murder mysteries,

but this one really got me and I kind of want

to explore that genre more. I will explore that

with you any time that you want. Yeah, like next

time we get together, bro. I love murder murder

murder I just uh I'm sure I've got a million

of them in this house. I just haven't gone to

I like I it's rare that a film gets me excited

for a genre like Usually it'll get me excited

for a sequel or a side story But this one really

got me hooked on a genre So like that mean I

don't need to say any more like that's what it

did it for me Had a lot of fun with this one

too. It's in my top 50 I think it's like right

at number 40 possibly, but I agree I think it's

a genre that we don't get enough films in and

I think this was fun I would be actually interested

in seeing more Films made out or adapted from

from the author as well and see more of it. Like

you said you have all the books and different

stuff and there's been other adaptations maybe

you know whether it's TV series or movies but

I'd like to see some more big screen you know

modern adaptations of that and I think the Guy

Ritchie or like we got with that one with Kenneth

Branagh are good people that could could tackle

some of that stuff. Amanda what did you have

at your number two? I a little bit of a theme

here in my two and three. My number two is Wind

River. This is another movie that super affected

me and I'm like 1 16th or something like that

Cherokee like my great grandma. Don't get yourself

in trouble. My great grandma lived on a reservation

like it was a big part of like growing up my

grandma was you know really involved with learning

about the culture and appreciating the culture

so I've always had a really high level of appreciation

for the Native American culture and so seeing

what their lives are like today in this film

and seeing a little glimpse of what life on the

reservation can be like in that area was really

affecting and the story itself was was hard to

watch but there is a pretty satisfying payoff

in this and I think that the depiction of grief

in this movie is is so powerful that I'm like

trying not to cry right now about it because

it's it's really upsetting and really affecting

and I had to put these two films towards the

top because of how much I was affected by the

film and I didn't really know what to expect

from this but in it it's you're in it and this

the the struggle that the victims in this go

through is so hard and it's so telling to their

strength and their strength as a culture and

what they can get through. Yeah, and the text

that's put on the screen towards the end is really

kind of jaw -dropping as well. I was super anticipating

this one based on Taylor Sheridan's involvement

who gave us Heller High Water and was involved

obviously in the writing with Sicario, so two

films that were on a lot of people's top ten,

so I was definitely anticipating this one and

it did not disappoint. I didn't have to pump

the brakes on you because it's my number two

as well, so I guess we're having it at the same

spot. I think Gil Birmingham is being overlooked.

I think he deserves more credit. I think he should

Honestly, I would put him as a supporting actor

of the year because I think it's that good of

a performance from him and the emotion that he's

able to show in both times of silence and in

times of dialogue. I think it's an injustice

that he's not getting talked about more for his

work and I think obviously him and Taylor Sheridan

work well together as well. But I think Wind

River just has a lot of good things going for

it and again, like you said, pairing it with

Hostiles. topic and a subject that needs the

right attention and not the wrong attention that

maybe some politicians are trying to throw that

way so Wind River is my number two as well so

I'm in a complete agreement with you Amanda.

Weird we get a crossover or the same number anyways.

Yeah Dan any thoughts on Wind River and what

is your number two? I yeah like yeah I enjoy

it a lot it's actually my number 14 and you know

Jerry Marino was fantastic and that Shootout

sequence. I'll just say is like wow that was

just a huge standout like that moment was just

incredible and it was a big build -up I think

it's maybe of the sicario hell or high water

or one run river It's probably I don't know where

I would put it I think I'd like hell or high

water the most but it was still really well told

and Especially like the ending looks like well,

that's kind of hitching it with a ton of bricks

in the worst way possible. So My number two is

one that's already come up a long time ago by

you, Kevin, and it's The Shape of Water. Gilmore

del Toro's adult fairytale that I know people

tend to complain that it's a very simple story.

And yeah, maybe it is, but I think narratively,

sure, it's not a huge surprise or anything of

that nature. But I think visually, in the visual

language, it is utterly complex. film is a visual

medium. Also, I think there are elements of it

that go beyond just that story of falling in

love with a Fitch fan and how odd that might

be. It still utterly works and it looks gorgeous.

It also has maybe what I would call the villain

of the year with Michael Shannon. white man in

power who's sexually frustrated, has a weird

relationship with his hands, and tends to mistreat

women. I don't know who else you can relate that

to, but for some reason, his performance worked

really well. It could be a little tropey here

and there, but I just found it beautiful. performances

all around from Richard Jenkins to Olivia Spencer

to you know Sally Hawkins who I think is getting

all the right getting the attention she rightfully

deserves was phenomenal and just the you know

the idea of the the unheard and and the power

that they can heat up that they can wield and

you know I think it's an important message for

sure and I don't know like I didn't go in Super

expecting to love it because I think like I think

you mentioned Kevin that uh, you know, I I haven't

seen Guillermo de Toro's last movie Crimson Peak

but some of his other horror films haven't been

the hugest fan of not really much into like the

munch of the monster films that he based a lot

of this off of but I Just felt I just kind of

fell for it Also, my favorite score of the year.

I know it's probably gonna win the Oscar but

it was just added to the kind of magical atmosphere

of it all so Maybe you want to say something

first before I jump in? This was like my most

anticipated film I feel like We drove an hour

away to go see this I was really excited one

of my favorite directors I knew I was gonna like

the style knew I was gonna like the look of the

film it Harkened a lot to Hellboy I felt like

but like a classier Hellboy if that makes sense

and I thought that the creature looked amazing

and I thought that the players in it were great

and I loved that they used like accurate sign

language in this, it wasn't like some, you know,

awful, um, slap together stuff and I just had

a huge problem with the relationship, like I

felt that they could have become friends and

this bond was there but I just didn't get the

romantic sexual relationship I didn't buy that

part it was just it didn't work for me that way

because I didn't feel that build up like I felt

a friendship building but I didn't feel like

they couldn't even really communicate you know

what I mean like he knew like three words and

it wasn't like I don't know looking into his

face his dead eyes you know what I mean like

it's not like she was like Don't know how she

read into that or she's just they were both lonely

or how they connected or what but I just didn't

buy the romantic sexual partnership, but Everything

else about the film I bought into Dan did you

want to respond to that before I jump in yeah,

I can understand that I think we're it like that

that love became evident to me is the scene in

which she's fighting with Richard Jenkins over

the fact that they need to do something. And

just the utter emotion that she's displaying

there, I think it showed it was a connection

that was a deep love, and maybe it wasn't a physical

love per se, but I think that's why it worked.

I guess, yes, it does kind of... somewhat come

out of nowhere and I can understand that criticism

but I guess that's where I felt like that's what

was the the the piece of it that worked for me

was the uh how they were able to kind of deepen

that connection in a way that it that you you

saw that it became like a need in a way like

just and how she became such and like it wanted

for the first time and how much that impacted

her. I think that sequence of her fighting with

Jenkins about why they needed to do something,

that's what kind of allowed a lot of those moments

that it goes for some things that ended up being

quite effective. But I get why that may not work

for some people. Yeah, see, I bought 100 % the

connection between the two as far as, you know,

their lot in life and then their lack of voice

and their, you know, being ignored aspect. So

I bought the connection. So whether it became

sexual or not for me, No, I'm talking about in

what he was going on right now as far as he didn't

have a say in what was happening to him Kind

of the outsider the the passed away so much more

animalistic You know what it means? So I couldn't

buy a romantic relationship when he did show

a lot of this animalistic nature and not so much

something that could connect with a human Right

and what I'm saying is I buy the connection they

have from a relationship standpoint So the whether

it was romantic or sexual for me didn't really

play a part in and my thoughts overall for the

film like I can still buy how they could connect

as just individuals in a similar position that

could relate to each other and have sympathy

for each and empathy for each other. So that's

where that part kind of laid for me. But for

me going back to some of the other things like

Whether there's tropes or not or whether is kind

of unimportant to me because it's handled by

a master craft when it comes to the art. So even

if some of it was tropey or some of it was stuff

that you've seen before it was seen in a different

way and I think it was handled so perfectly in

this case for Guillermo del Toro. I think this

is probably one of if not his best films and

I was surprised by Richard Jenkins. You know

everybody was talking about Sally Hawkins and

so I was expecting something from her but I was

not expecting such a phenomenal performance by

Richard Jenkins. Jenkins not that I don't think

he's a good actor but I just hadn't heard as

much about his performance going into the film

so I was really pleased by that and I just think

from a static standpoint that there's so much

to enjoy from this that's why it was in my top

10 as well at number eight so in agreement I

think there's a lot to to love about the shape

of water let's go to everybody's number one it's

that time already we're flying through we're

at everybody's number one Matt there's some anticipation

what do you got at number one Number one obviously

has to be Ghost in the Shell. I'm a big fan of

anime. I like robot I mean, it's Star Wars and

it's gonna be Star Wars as long as Star Wars

happens Whatever the Star Wars is is my favorite

movie because Star Wars is my favorite thing

Like I just not it's gonna be like one of the

most depressing segments of a show we've ever

done Oh, or it's going to be like holy crap.

Somebody finally did it. They made something

better But that's not gonna happen Mean I saw

this movie today for the fourth time And if I

had a slightly more slightly less chaotic work

schedule, I probably would have saw it six or

seven times Like I love this movie. I like it

more every time I see it when I first saw it

I wanted to place it as my number four or three

out of all like 12 Star Wars movies but I think

now it's it's number two or number one like I

love this movie. I love talking about it. I don't

want to say debating, but I spent on Tuesday,

I think it was Tuesday, I found out a supervisor

wasn't a fan and he and I just had a conversation

for 45 minutes about things they didn't like,

things they did like and how I can internalize

it and like things that they didn't like. I enjoy

this movie. I enjoy the culture. Although some

people are definitely problems and I'm going

to keep going. I'm going to see. My plan right

now is to see solo five times that first weekend

because I have three days off while it's released.

So if you need any information or you need ammunition

on how to defend different things about Last

Jedi, or if you have a problem with any aspect

of Last Jedi and you need to be corrected in

any way shape or form, just seek out Matt on

Twitter. At me. Alright, so Last Jedi love therefore,

I have Last Jedi at number 12 actually, so I

don't have it. Far from my top ten as well. I

just have not had the chance to see it a second

time yet, so Brutal that's my problem. I guess

with that. I don't know how to feel about that.

I thought that was a shoe -in for your number

one. I don't know what my number one is. Nobody

knows what my number one is. I hope you do! Amanda,

we're about to find out what your number one

is, so go for it. So you can't figure it out?

It's something we've already skipped. Oh, we

did? Yes. There's been so much skipping. I don't

know who's gone where. What do you got at number

one? Guardians Guardians number one volume two.

I had the most fun with this movie in the theater.

I loved all the colors I think that one of the

deaths in this was so powerful and I did not

expect that from a comic book movie of this You

know this nature and I think that it really like

it geared me up for more in this Universe I guess

I love the color. I loved the new characters

that we brought in. I think that the CG and that

type of work was really well done. And the only

thing I wanted was more of the team together.

That's it. Alright, so Guardians. That means

we haven't talked about Guardians yet, huh? We

were waiting for it. You don't even have this

in your top 10, sir? No, no. I don't even know

what you're doing with your life anymore. 21

for me. It was the funniest, it was the most

enjoyment I probably had at theater and the biggest

laugh that I had at the theater. I just, I don't

know, I got a, there were so many comic book

films. Caught up in the stupid ass Phantom Thread

and shit. Mary Poppins, y 'all. I enjoyed Guardians.

I have it ahead of Thor and ahead of Wonder Woman.

Logan kind of rose a little bit ahead of it for

me, so I didn't quite get Guardians into my top

ten. I don't have to explain myself to you. I'm

mad. Mad, talk about Guardians. I loved it. I'm

so happy we got more of Nebula She was one of

the the hidden gems I guess of the first one

sorry at least the character I wanted so much

more after that first one I love the angle they

took of this like competing sisters And it's

gonna make Thanos that much more interesting

in the next movie like I really enjoyed what

they did with ego That was a hard ask Tim to

write a movie with ego as like a villain and

do it. Well, they did it Well, like guardians

was great. It was my number five link and I definitely

deserve either I think if they would have been

more together as a group during the whole time

instead of segmented like happened I think maybe

it would have rose a little bit All right, let's

just move to my number one then Dan unless you

had a comment on guardians No, I like I think

the thing that held it back for me is that some

of some of the big humor moments didn't work

as well like the laser face and some of the jokes

like with Drax like the the nipples jokes just

kind of right it made it a little bit less for

me compared to someone else but I love the relationship

between like Star Lord and ego and how that developed

and I already mentioned how I thought it you

go there really strong villain who I think it

gets overlooked as being a really strong villain

because of the way the narrative lays out but

yeah I enjoyed I probably enjoyed the first one

a little bit more in but it was I think I think

I've said it before that I think the best year

for comic book or superhero movies ever just

in the variety and the strength and you know

even Justice League was good so I think in my

opinion maybe not but and I think part of that

was Guardians and I have a solid argument Baby

Groot Baby Groot's good Either rock it or good.

A lot of good aspects to it that add up to a

fun ride for sure. It's definitely entertaining.

I wouldn't buy it if anybody said it wasn't an

entertaining ride. My number one the whole year

was Wind River until this last month and I figured

you know Wind River was at my number one spot

and there was something that was going to be

coming out you know towards award season that

would bump it with the number of great movies

that are usually released in November and December

and I saw most of those films but none of them

bumped Wind River out of that spot instead a

random movie that we just happened to watch bumped

Wind River out of its spot and my number one

is from Todd Haynes and that would be Wonderstruck.

I just really enjoyed the heck out of this film.

I think there's a lot of cool things to be said

from characters that can't speak to each other.

I'm gonna say it wrong, Melissa Simmons and Oakes

Fegley from Pete's Dragon, mainly playing the

two of the main roles here. And I just think

that there's a lot to love here from... Not just

I guess in a way a coming -of -age film but in

another way just kind of coming to terms with

things like coming to terms with What your place

is in the world? Who you know, there's a lot

of movies that have tackled kind of what your

heritage or what your parents mean to you as

far as where you belong in the world and kind

of how that shapes you as a character and I think

this tackles that a lot. I think there was some

creative genius here as far as some of the ways

that they edited the scenes together and some

of the visual aspects and a lot of creativity

that you had to come up with with the fact that

you're dealing with two individuals that are

both deaf for different reasons or can't hear

for different reasons and I just... fell in love

with every aspect of this film. I've only seen

it once so I do need to rewatch it and kind of

tackle with it a little bit more and maybe there

would be something that would come up and take

the number one spot from me but I just thought

that it was the one that made me think the most

about about just a lot of different aspects of

life and then just your place in life and kind

of how that all comes through, especially from

the lens of through a child's eyes, I guess.

So I really liked Wonderstruck, so that is my

number one. Amanda, you saw that with me, and

I don't think you're quite as high, maybe? No,

I mean, me of all people can appreciate sign

language and the Deaf culture and the different,

you know, I don't want to say aspects, but the

different levels that people find themselves

in the culture, depending on when they became

deaf in their life, how they became deaf, and

also the struggle that deaf children have. It's

extremely hard, especially during one of the

time periods we see here where deafness was definitely

something that they viewed as something to be

fixed. I think that's just one layer of it, and

then you also have this whole journey that he's

going on to try to find out who his father is,

and he's trying to meet him, and then put together

in his mind what happened with his family while

he was... Well, you friggin' interrupted me.

I was trying to say that I couldn't connect to

that journey. I didn't connect to it for whatever

reason. It just wasn't as strong with me. Okay.

Fair enough. Dan, have you seen Wonderstruck?

I have, I recently saw it when it became available

on Amazon. And yeah, I liked it a lot. It's in

like my 30s right now. It was, again, a gorgeous

film. And I wasn't actually, I haven't seen Carol,

which is probably sacrilegious, but haven't had

the opportunity to catch it yet. But I love that,

you know, it's, again, I've said editing a lot

this episode, but I felt like the interweaving

of those two stories and how it connects, I thought

was rather effective. You know just as someone

who I really do love silent films and how much

of that is a part of when I struck was really

effective to me and uh just the art design too

of the way he was able to recreate like the 70s

of New York like that that world like that was

hugely impressive because it it uh you know it

just reminded me of movies that came out of that

time and in in the the kind of way of that time

compared to like the the 30s uh was uh well told

but yeah it's it's a quiet little strong film.

So I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as you did.

Yeah, Dan, that means there's only one film left

to reveal and that would be your number one.

I know it's one of two films, but I'm not quite

sure which one it is. So why don't you reveal

it now? My number one is The Florida Project,

Sean Baker's skin film, but he kind of broke

out with Tangerine. I don't believe everyone

talks about it because it was shot on iPhone.

But The Florida Project is just the story about

kind of a girl and her mother living in temporary

housing or really just a hotel motels in Florida

and to me like again like I like movies just

allow us to be with characters and that's exactly

what Florida Project does it's perhaps the best

use of real -life location I've ever seen just

from the in the fact that it's you have these

people living in squalor so close to that just

the ultimate like children paradise of Disneyland

not too far away and And then the actual look

of the movie is gorgeous. His use of nonprofessional

actors, or at least amateur actors, Sean Baker's

is amazing. I was kind of really disappointed

it didn't get a Best Picture nomination, just

because I think more people need to see it. And

I hear a lot of people talk about movies like

Lady Bird and being able to relate to it, and

that's why it had a huge impact on them. And

I was never in a situation that... like that

was depicted here, but I can work with and work

with many people within this situation. So I

was highly able to relate with it on that way

and felt it's a type of story that needs to be

told. I've heard people say like, I'd rather

see a documentary about this world. And I think

that's unfair that we see people who reside in

a certain type of lifestyle and we assume that

they can't have stories told about them either.

That the only way that we can hear those stories

is through the real life versions of it. And

I think Baker was able to really the personal

and effective story within one that never really

is you never really know where it's going because

you're just kind of seeing these people survive

and and it will in the foe who was brilliantly

cast because he plays a character that he so

often doesn't. He's often the most like surreal

aspect of a movie. He's super over the top. And

here he just plays a normal guy. And considering

the fact he's around people we've never seen

before, you could stand out like a sore thumb,

but he never does. He just becomes this like

caretaker that you just root for him. And I thought

he was gonna be this like... evil man that is

yelling at the kids all the time, but he ends

up being this really kind soul in a really horrific,

horrific world. And just the child performances

are really strong. And Sean Baker knows how to

showcase how children react to tragedy in a way

that you wouldn't expect. Like my wife's a teacher

and she watches with me. And she would say if

there's one theme of all my films is that they're

all depressing, which is Sadly, sadly somewhat

the case, but like mentioned that it's the behavior

that's depicted in this is very much a realistic

depiction of the way you have kids react in a

world that's full of chaos, even if they're not

behaving in that way. And it could be so easy

to kind of sugarcoat the world they live in or

overdramatize it or make them out to... be victims

and he finds a really great middle ground where

it's you know he's not he's not blaming them

he's but he's also not forgiving them or giving

them an easy pass um you see you see people make

decisions they shouldn't in the ramifications

i have it but they all come from i think a some

twisted place of love um but it's yeah i i the

more i think about this movie the more it stayed

with me the more i love it it's like some of

my films are kind of close to one another but

so for the projects for me by far my favorite

film of the year and like her to me is a film

of the decade and the Florida Project right now

is probably right underneath that for me. So

yeah, it's a remarkable movie that I think hit

me more than anything at all. I grew up myself,

I grew up in a trailer park as a kid and I can

see... You know, it was a much, much better situation

than these people were living in, but much of

the way that the environment is and the community

interacts, I saw similar aspects of it. And I,

you know, I try not to use related, relatability

never usually impacts my viewing of a movie all

that much, but for this it did. And maybe that's

why for some of the other films that many people

love it, it didn't have that like ladybird. I

liked a lot. It's in my top 20, but it's not

near where my top 10, but yeah. That's why our

project's my number one. Alright so that's everybody's

top ten but I know we were jumping around and

skipping things and holding off on talking them

so let's go ahead and go around the horn and

give the rundown of your ten through one just

so everybody has that straight and then we'll

do another round where we kind of talk about

the films that just missed your list. So Matt

what was your ten through one? Alright. My list

is as such, Valerian, Pirates of the Caribbean,

King Arthur, Wonder Woman, Logan, Guardians of

the Galaxy, Spider -Man, Thor, Murder on the

Orient Express, and The Last Jedi. Amanda, what

about you? Ten through one. I have three billboards

outside Ebbing, Missouri, Wonder Woman, Justice

League, Thor, Ragnarok, John Wick Chapter 2,

Logan, The Mountain Between Us, Hostiles, Wind

River, and Guardians Vol. 2. Alright, for my

ten through one it was Phantom Thread, Logan,

The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside

of Heavy Missouri, Goodbye Christopher Robin,

Brigsby Bear, War for Planet of the Apes, The

Big Sick, Wind River, and Wonderstruck. Damn.

My number 10 is Lane 1974, number 9 is Nocturama,

number 8 is Good Time, 7 After the Storm, Logan

is number 6, The Red Turtle number 5, Dunkirk

4, Personal Shopper 3, The Shape of Water number

2, and The Florida Power Truck is my number 1.

Alright, Matt, I know there was a couple films

that didn't quite make your list. What were they?

Ghost in the Shell and Justice League. Alright,

so just because there wasn't enough spots or

because you genuinely didn't like those two films?

Like I didn't hate any of the films I saw this

year. I really wanted to put Justice League as

number 10 as like a show of good faith, but I

just I didn't enjoy it as much as Valerian. I

will say that you could definitely feel that

the two directors and that Joss Whedon was definitely

more to my taste. Fair enough. Amanda, honorable

mentions, you want to just give us your 2311?

covered a few of these, so I'll just shout out

to Baby Driver, It, Mudbound, Gifted, Get Out,

and a Netflix movie, What Happened on Monday.

Alright, fair enough. My 11 through 20 would

be Lady Bird, Star Wars Last Jedi, Get Out, It

Comes at Night, Blade Runner 2049, I, Tanya,

Hostiles, Personal Shopper, Detroit, and Boys

in the Trees. Dan what did you have for your

honorable mentions? I'm in love by the 11 to

20 or get outs Columbus the big sick one river

the marriage stories, which is Much better than

I ever anticipated which almost made top ten

it really I was going back and forth with that

the killing of sacred deer Star Wars the last

Jedi ladybird I Tonya and the leveling is number

20 Alright, just one more chance to kind of close

the book on 2017. We talked about it a little

bit, but let's try to summarize how the year

was for movies for us. I know one thing that

kind of came out during the countdown was that

it was a good year for comic book films. I would

argue that it was a good year for blockbusters

in general, especially compared to maybe a couple

years previous where we've had a lot of dugs

that were coming out for the blockbusters, but

you had four or five comic book films that easily

were effective for a lot of people. You had War

for the Planet of the Apes, if you considered

Dunkirk a blockbuster, you had that. You had,

obviously, The Last Jedi. Quite a few things

when it came to some of the big budget films.

Beauty and the Beast early on in the year was

well received. So, Dan, was this a rebound as

far as the mainstream blockbuster fare of 2017?

I think so. I think, like I mentioned, I thought

comic book movies were pretty strong this year.

I think the one glaring... Hole this year had

was like there's not a lot of great comedies

or wasn't really like Specifically just like

yeah, we talked about the big sick But I'm like

more just comedy like all -out comedy is not

ones that are no drama or anything of that nature

I think that's probably the biggest Hole this

year had but yeah, I mean we talked about the

apes films even some of the earlier earlier I

mean like even the fast and furious which was

fun enough I mean, obviously there were some

really awful movies and some disappointments

here and there But, yeah, I thought it was a

pretty strong year. I forgot one of the disappointments

when we were listing them off last week in our

episode. I forgot to list the snowman as one

of the bigger disappointments as well. Amanda,

I... maybe this is just me because I'm not as

in tune with the genres but I felt like when

it came to horror films and maybe some of those

like suspense or thriller type genres that there

was a lot more to offer this year than we've

gotten in some of the past years with a lot of

the things that you've seen over the course even

some of the ones that probably you've seen that

I haven't seen but you know get out it comes

at night and then there was a bunch of other

ones that were more kind of maybe on the thriller

aspect but did you feel like it was a good year

for those types of genres? Yeah, I think there

was some innovative stuff like get out and it

comes at night Annabelle creation was actually

really really good that scared the shit out of

me What did? So the new insidious just came out

What else? Oh, a cure for wellness. I think that

was High on the creep factor and something that

you knew going into it was gonna be Scary and

freaky. I think that as much as the turn Disgusted

me. I think that it up until then was a solid

Thriller horror movie where you're trying to

figure out, you know, what is the malevolence

here? So I think there was some pretty good stuff

But I'm definitely looking forward to the new

NCS that just came out and and things that are

coming out this year What about you for just

the year overall? How was your 2017 you thought

we said we saw probably you personally probably

saw at least 120 films was it an enjoyable ride

throughout the year? Did you have more that you

liked and then vice versa and how did you feel

was the year overall? I think that, um, yet again,

Del Toro kind of gave me something that was beautiful,

but the story disappointed me, so that was kind

of on the rough end, but I had a lot of surprises

here, but I think the ones that surprised me

that I liked really heavily affected me, and

it's stuff that you can't just... you're changed

by, definitely. I think that's something that

happened this year, was things that... move me

yeah there was a lot of heavy topics that were

tackled by quite a few films whether it came

to like we talked about being outsiders or being

outcasts and kind of trying to find a voice there

was a lot of I guess racial sensitive films that

came out that were kind of exploring different

aspects of that even that we saw from some of

our top 10 films with like three billboards or

people were mentioning like get out I had Detroit

in my top 20 so there was a lot of that going

on so a lot of maybe there was Rachel stuff and

three billboards? Are you serious? Yeah, the

cop was racist as hell. Oh Are you missing one

of the bigger characters in that film? But so

there was a lot of stuff that was like maybe

timely from a political standpoint or from a

Social standpoint as far as issues that we have

going on in the world Dan, what do you feel like

was the overall takeaway from 2017 and how the

year shaped up overall? I don't like one thing

2017 hand was certainly a lot of really strong

female centric movies like And I know sometimes

when we like, in past years, when I try to do

like best performances and the amount of female

performances has been limited just because there

haven't been that many films that were led by

females. But this year was, I think, you know,

I mentioned Itania, Lady Bird, some other, you

know, The Shape of Water. there's been, I think,

a good increase now, which is important. Even

now, you know, Greta Gerwig being a director

nominee is hugely important. So hopefully we

get more to that. You know, Wonder Woman, of

course. So I think that's a big improvement.

And then just diversity in general and movies

like Get Out, you know, that's obviously one

example, but hopefully it leads to more. You

know, we're getting Black Panther in 2018. So

I think I think it's like 2017 might be like.

with the back upon hopefully as like a stepping

stone year where a lot of those barriers that

were unjustly up for many years finally started

to come down and the The results of it show that

movies are better because of it, so hopefully

we get more of that moving forward. Dan, another

question that I wanted to bounce off you first

here, because I know you do a lot of streaming

as well, but where do you think we are in the

landscape as far as films that are coming out

on Amazon, on Netflix, or other streaming services?

Because before we had very few of them, or if

they did, they were... not looked upon with a

lot of attention. They didn't get a lot of attention

when it came to awards or just in general. Are

we turning the corner yet with that and with

how some of those streaming services are starting

to treat the films with the pushes to get them

in theaters for a little while or where do you

think we are in the landscape when it comes to

streaming versus theater visits? I think it's

slowly turning the corner. I mean, I was surprised.

by the amount of some nominees that uh mudbound

got like it it seemed like it for like many of

the other work shows for oscar nominees i should

specify um so i think it's turning the corner

i think there were a lot of strong uh like netflix

i thought had a really good year um they had

a lot of good movies where i talked about you

know uh Some of them are already with the marriage

stories. There was I don't feel at home this

world anymore I mean honestly I've already saw

one of my most anticipated 2018 movies because

it was already available on Netflix You know

shortly after being released from Sundance So

I think Netflix is making some some good decisions

when it comes to films they have but I think

the the other piece will be one can Netflix market

that market them because They seem to really

stink at that. Um, and uh, but I think something

like um, Manchester by the sea was which was

produced by amazon was a big Reason behind that

now we're seeing that more not we know big sick

is another amazon movie Your number one wonderstruck

was produced by amazon So it's it's becoming

I think more and more the key. I don't hopefully

soon We'll finally see like a netflix movie worthy

of and nominated for best picture. Um, but it

still seems like there's a like much more, like

I still think that the Big Six should have been

nominated for Best Picture, but it didn't, I

don't know if being, I don't think having Amazon

with it had any baggage because Amazon actually

does release all their films in the theater,

unlike Netflix, but I think it's, you know, 10

years from now, I think it's gonna be more the

norm than more the abnormality. Right. Matt,

how did 2017 shape up for you in comparison to

previous years that you've been doing lists and

podcasts, you know, 2016 -15? How did 2017 shape

up for you? Well, I didn't see nearly as many

movies as the previous three or four years. So,

like, I feel like I can't even really talk. I

think that the superhero movies were the best

we've had. Well, I guess, I mean, yeah, like

I enjoyed it all. The superhero movies were better

than the previous... selections the Star Wars

movie was the best that we've had since Disney

took over like I Like I didn't see enough I know

that they're like my list of Wanted I want to

see list is larger than my list of actually seen

But what I did see I enjoyed and so I'm gonna

try to do better next year Yeah, I think I'll

echo that and along with what Dan said, too.

I think it was an enjoyable year. I think there's

a lot of films that you could recommend to people.

It's one of those things where even if you don't

have something that really stood out as like

a blow -you -away type thing, which maybe you

didn't, but I think there's easily, you know,

30, 40, maybe even 50 films for people that you

would rate highly or recommend to people. So,

and Matt, interesting that you talked about,

you know, that list of things that you wanted

to see versus what you got to see because that

will coincide with one of our two episodes coming

down. the pike here because next time we will

be talking about our box office but after that

we will be going into our most anticipated films

of 2018 and a quick look at maybe one of the

some of the 2017 most anticipated and how that

worked out for us overall so those are the two

episodes that are coming up next so if you want

to get the lowdown on what to keep your eyes

open for in 2018 definitely check out our next

two episodes but this kind of closes the book

for 2017 if you want to continue the conversation

with any of the films that we've been talking

about or ask people questions about some of the

films they had on their top 10. You can do that

by tweeting directly to us. Amanda, how would

someone ask you a question on Twitter? You can

hit me up at hardcandymandieyesnowice. Matt,

if they want to question your Star Wars expertise,

what do they got to do? I'm at fridleycent, at

me bro. Alright, Dan, what's your Twitter? I

am at Movie Revolt. And mine is at Optimus Solo.

Or if you just want to give us a question in

general, you can tweet the whole show that's

at Cinema Geekcast. You can also go to the website

geekcastradio .com and keep up to date with all

the things going on there. They have their 2017

awards that are coming up on the website as well

as some announcements on what to expect overall

at the network in 2018. So definitely keep an

eye open for those things as well. So next week

we make our box office predictions. Amanda, you

ready? No! Matt, you ready? Uh -uh. Dan, ready?

Sure. Now I'm gonna lose. So that will be fun.

We might even have a different twist to add to

that that you guys haven't seen from us before,

so keep on the lookout for that. But until then,

that does it for this week. Tune in next time

for another chance to listen to The Simba Geeks.