It has come to my attention that the year 2017 has almost hit its mid-point and with that in mind, I figured I’d recap what has happened movie wise this year so far. This post is inspired by the popular Mid-Year Book Freak Out tag that I’ve seen around in the book community but since I’m still all about being a movie blogger at heart, I decided to turn it into a Midyear Movie Madness instead. So this is a post that will recap the last 6 months of 2017 in terms of movies, and to make things more interesting, I’m only sticking to movies I saw in the theater!
There are a few spoilers ahead, you’ve been warned.
SO FAR THE BEST:
LOGAN
There is no surprise here, Logan and Hugh Jackman is everything 2017 (and a very cool lady in Poland) needed. It would be easy to mention it in every good category here because it is not just the best movie I saw, it was also the biggest surprise, it was the biggest everything really. It’s also the only movie I’ve seen twice this year, and yes, both times in the theater and there are only a few movies I can say that about. And even though I say “so far”, I can hardly see any other movie surpassing Logan in terms of brilliance this year. One could only hope that when the award season comes around, people have not forgotten our Wolverine.
Read my review here.
SO FAR THE WORST:
SNATCHED
The face Goldie Hawn makes in this image above was me during the entire movie… I was appalled for so many reasons, I laughed almost out of disgust a few times and that was it for this awful comedy. I gave it no coffee cups, and I only managed to give it 0,5 stars on Letterboxd – that 0,5 seemed too much for it frankly. In comparison, I gave the Fifty Shades Darker movie 1 star, and it actually was worth that star because it was accidentally funnier than Snatched was intentionally trying to be. No performance stood out, nothing about it made sense, and it was just bad from start to finish.
Read my review here.
BEST TRAILER:
THOR: RAGNAROK
On a whim I decided to include my favourite trailer of this first half of 2017 and I must admit, the choice was not hard. Hands down the biggest surprise and the best teaser trailer so far is Thor: Ragnarok! The reason is simple! I had no anticipation or expectations for Thor, and it’s the only Marvel superhero story line I haven’t really cared for – I can’t even recall Thor 2… so I mean, this teaser trailer literally blew my mind and made me love Thor! There’s a tiny chance that part of the reason I now love Thor is his new haircut but there’s also a really big chance that it’s exactly the reason.
FAVOURITE SEQUEL:
SPLIT
So yes, I saw Split in the theater in the end of January and yes, I loved it. The movie is a hit and miss to some but I loved James McAvoy’s performance(s) and in terms of it being a sequel (to Unbreakable), it was brilliant. To keep something under the wraps, to keep it hidden and to reveal it as a sequel to one of my all time favourite superhero movies, was definitely one of the highlights of the past 6 months. Also, I do love when a movie takes place in limited settings.
Read my review here.
A FRANCHISE I’M TIRED OF:
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
Honestly, this could have been easily something I could have answered with Fast and Furious but as it turns out, Jason Statham not only saved that baby but he also saved the franchise in my opinion. That being said, nobody can save Johnny Depp anymore. Honestly, I do love that Bloom and Knightley are returning to the series (I skipped the fourth one, by the way), but honestly, it’s time to put this one away for good. I might say the same for Transformers if I ever hated myself enough to watch them.
Review coming soon.
EXPECTATIONS SET AND MET:
GET OUT
It’s hard to set yourself up for expectations and then see them met by a really good movie. Get Out was all anyone could talk about during the first half of this year, and I gladly went along with the hype. I was expecting a lot and thankfully, Get Out delivered. The movie was one of those horror movies I’m not afraid to watch, which is rare occurrence. It’s also a very socially smart and driven movie that will leave you wondering how awful it must be for the minorities out there in the world. But hopefully not as awful as Get Out proposes.
Review might be coming soon.
THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT:
KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD
Now, this is the place were I could name every other comedy I’ve seen this past 6 months, but I’m gonna stick with something that still bothers me: Guy Ritchie’s career. Many of you know Snatch. is my favourite movie ever made and it still saddens me that Man From Uncle isn’t getting a sequel (maybe, maybe someday, maybe, please) but other than that, Ritchie hasn’t delivered his flare in years. King Arthur has its moments, and I actually liked a few things in there, but overall, it lacks the magic I miss from Ritchie and I wish he went back to his British ways – small, yet hard hitting, dark comedy with Jason Statham, please!
Review coming soon.
THE BEST SURPRISE:
WONDER WOMAN
Now, it could be argued that I shouldn’t have been surprised after the positive reviews hit the Internet but honestly, I was still fucking surprised! Not gonna lie, I was setting myself up to disappointment even after I heard it was good, just because I was so afraid it wouldn’t meet my expectations. But it did, Wonder Woman was great and it was great because it delivered what it was supposed to deliver in terms of meaning. It means a lot to women, and being a woman, it means a lot to me. It also means a lot because I realised with this movie that Chris Pine is my favourite Chris.
Read my review here.
HELL OF A TEAR-JERKER:
LOGAN
Well, it was bound to happen at some point, me mentioning Logan again but honestly, can you blame me? I saw this movie twice! Two times I had to cry, two times I had to feel my heart being ripped out of my chest and now, I have opportunities to see Logan again and I’m sitting here and thinking, no. I can’t cry again because I know I will and it hurts too much. It still hurts so so much.
Read my review here.
MISSED THE HYPE COMPLETELY:
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BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
I didn’t get it. Like, sure, I think it looked like a pretty movie and it felt like a pretty movie, but I didn’t get it. I also didn’t like Dan Stevens as the Beast, with or without that CGI, he looked out of place for me and I just, I didn’t get it! So with it making so much money and being everyone’s favourite and being so great, I’m sitting here and thinking, I get Frozen-hype but I don’t get the Beauty and the Beast hype. To drive home the point of me missing the point, I actually forgot to log this movie into my Letterboxd account – I remembered to do it because of this post.. 3 months later.
Review most likely not happening.
MISSED OPPORTUNITY:
Actually, I thought about taking this out but then I thought, no, because this is actually really great. You see, I don’t have any movies I wished I saw in the theater this year (so far) because I saw everything I wanted to see and a lot of something I regret seeing. But then again, I think that’s pretty great! I do think I maybe had wanted to see Life on the big screen but even Jake Gyllenhaal didn’t manage to drag me into the cinema. So yes, I have no missed opportunities so far this year and I’m pleased with that!
ANTICIPATION STATION:
There are a lot of movies I still want to see this year. Some movies I will probably see didn’t even make this list because I’m not sure I want to see them yet. But these I will see in the cinema with 100% certainty. These are in no particular order nor are they in an order of release.
METTEL RAY 
You watched King Arthur? it got such lousy reviews I didn’t so interesting to get the take of a blogger who did. Had a good feeling about Wonderwoman when I saw the cast and the director so wasn’t as taken by surprise. Loved Unbreakable so should check out Split.
I did watch it.. and I actually thought it wasn’t that bad as the reviews made it seem like. But it was still too weak to be okay. I guess many were expecting Wonder Woman to be good, but after the disaster of the epic Suicide Squad, I felt like I needed to have low expectations.
Ahh! I have only seen Wonder Woman and Split from this list haha! I need to catch up on my movie watching! I also really want to see Baby Driver, Kingsman, Spiderman, Dunkirk & Thor! I’m also pretty excited about Valerian! I hope it isn’t a flop 😦
I have a feeling Valerian is a flop… like, DeHaan and Delavigne look like brother and sister and that is already freaking me out because they are supposed to love interests!? That’s just.. weird. 😀
I’ve been super good with watching movies at the theater this year but I need to get my reviewing up to a standard. I’m so behind. 😦
I defintiely have the same feeling that it may be a flop, but I just want it to be good so badly! I loved the trailer! And now that I think about it, they totally look like siblings haha!
It’s always so hard to keep up with reviewing, and then after a certain amount of time has passed I forget so many details that I wonder if I should even bother posting a review anymore 😛
I’m sorry but now you’re forced to see them as brother and sister … you’ll never get that thought out of your head. 😀
Same! I have that same problem but sometimes, the more time passes, the better you understand how goof the movie was. For instance, I remember a lot about Get Out while I’ve almost forgotten Beauty and the Beast.
LOL yeah it’s just going to feel weird watching them as love interests now haha!
That’s very true! Some movies are just way more memorable than others! Especially over time!
The hype for Beauty and the Beast is unreal! I was disappointed with it, despite all the tweaks they did to ‘revamp’ the animated movie.
Also, I think I’m the lone person who hasn’t seen Wonder Woman yet so definitely skipped that part of the post 😦
I’m glad to hear everyone is not on board with Beauty and the Beast – it was just awful in so many ways.
And no worries I don’t think I spoiled anything there (just Logan and Pirates got spoilers).. but don’t read the review! 😀
Oh yey a reference to me 😀 Yeah I have this sneaky feeling that nothing will beat Logan. The other movie with Hugh looks…well let’s just say not very threatening to Logan’s #1 status. The Beguiled is promising but it doesn’t seem to be getting raves. I’m seeing Baby Driver on Friday but I was never into Edgar Wright and the only movie of his I consider to be really great is Shaun of the Dead. Blade Runner 2049 is Vileneuve and for me he is so very hit or miss. There’s m,other! but it is led by Lawrence so really, there is no chance I’ll love it. I’ve seen Logan 4 times by now and I would see it more often but I’ve fallen into Eddie the Eagle rewatch loop. But I still need to see it in Noir version and listen to Mangold’s commentary.
It’s really hard to talk about Logan without mentioning you. 😀
Baby Driver doesn’t trump Logan, the first half is super strong but it sort of loses some of its momentum in the second half and it makes it less perfect. And who knows what will happen to Blade Runner 2049, Gosling hasn’t had many hits in serious movie departments, (La La Land doesn’t count in my eyes since I haven’t even seen it :D). But I’m not sure if I want to see Logan again soon, I cried twice already and it seems like enough at the moment. Though the Noir version feels like a must!
I straight up agree with everything you said in this post. All of it.
That THOR trailer is f–king amazing. Logan will probably be the best thing of this year. Get Out ruled. Split ruled. Fifty Shades sucked…but in spectacular fashion. Wonder Woman was incredible. Dan Stevens was terrifying as man and beast. And your the entirety of your Anticipation Station. Yes. Yes. And…yes.
Brilliant.
Cheers! That’s a pretty great compliment! Made my day, so thank you, mister! 🙂