…when “Best of 2017” lists start appearing!

One of my favorite topics in that regard are favorite movies of the year nearly past.

Here’s some interesting food for thought:

Esquire Magazine’s 25 Best Movies of 2017

Best Movies of 2017, The New York Times

Rolling Stone Best Movies of 2017

Vulture Best Movies of 2017

Slate Magazine’s 10 Best Movies of 2017

As I find (depressingly) from reading these lists, there are so many films I’ve missed out on… Some I do want to see but there are others where it seems pointless to do so.

For example, I was intrigued with the film Get Out, which made it to many “Best of” lists like those above, yet at this point -darn you, curiosity and internet!- it feels pointless to give up on some of my too precious time (where does it go every day?!) to watch something I kinda/sorta already know everything about.

Dunkirk also made it to plenty of lists but, I have to admit, I’m a little fatigued with war films.  That’s not to say there are plenty of great ones out there and Dunkirk may well rise to their level but, as I said, I’m a little fatigued with that genre.

Then there’s Wonder Woman.  While the movie didn’t make all the lists above, it did appear on several lists and it represents one of the few films on such lists I did catch in theaters and at the time of release.  I liked the film (you can read my review of it here) and would give it a very solid “B” rating, but was it the among the best movies released last year?  To some, it clearly was.  I dunno about that.

Here’s an interesting and somewhat different list, from Esquire magazine:

Esquire’s Best Action Movies of 2017

Now here’s a list that really interests me!

I’m going to spoil things and list the 10 films they feel were the best action films of the year:

1. Dunkirk
2. Wonder Woman
3. Thor: Ragnarock
4. Logan
5. War For The Planet of the Apes
6. Baby Driver
7. John Wick Chapter 2
8. Kong: Skull Island
9. Spider-Man: Homecoming
10. Atomic Blonde

Certainly the films listed above are among the best known action films of this nearly deceased year.  Of the films listed above, I’ve seen four of them (Wonder Woman, Baby Driver, John Wick 2, Kong) and have another two purchased and waiting for me to see them (Logan, Atomic Blonde).

As for the rest, I’ve already stated my opinion on Dunkirk.  Thor: Ragnarock intrigues me but the comparisons of it to Guardians of the Galaxy, a movie I still don’t understand what others found good in it, have really scared me away.  War for the Planet of Apes I’ve heard so many good things about but, like war films, I feel I’ve had my fill with the first -and original!- round of Ape films (yeah, I’m really old).  Similarly, I feel like I’ve had my fill of Spider-Man films and haven’t been interested in seeing another since Sam Raimi’s last iteration.

So, of the films I’ve seen, I liked Wonder Woman the most and thought Kong: Skull Island (you can read my review of that here) was good, if light, entertainment.

I hated John Wick Chapter 2 (here’s my opinion on that) and thought that while brilliantly directed, Baby Driver was a plot-malnourished bust (here’s my opinion on that film).

So I better get to it and see those two films I have.  Once I do, I’ll have seen a whopping six films on that list!

Incredible!