Best and Worst of 2017
Originally published December 2017It's the end of yet another year. Upon reflecting on the year that it's been, it's become more difficult for me to exclusively separate this website from the events of the real world. For instance, this site focuses a lot on video games, and 2017 has been a fantastic year for video games. Some are saying it may be one of the best years when it comes to how many great video games have been released. I have only been able to dabble in a handful of those games, but I have had a great time with the ones that have been released this year, while still paying a great amount of attention to those that have been out for years. However, to say that 2017 has been a good year, outside of simply video game releases, is a much different story. There have been horrific tragedies, disappointingly massive scandals, and further political division in society that makes me a bit nervous about the future. A lot of these events of 2017 have sparked/renewed my interest in staying informed about current events and history so that I may better understand the world. As a result, I've spent a lot less time thinking about movies and playing games, so my focus on the list this year is a little different from what it was last year. I've included games and movies that were released before 2017 in the best and worst that I've experienced this year. I've also added a new Podcast section, as this has been a year that I've sought out material to listen to besides just music.
Best and Worst Movies I Watched in 2017
I watched a lot of movies this year, having spent a significant amount of time on a plane over the course of a few months. Some stood out and some faded into the background. Unlike last year, when there were movies that actively made me angry with how bad they were, the bad films this year still had something to offer. There will be one conscious omission here, however. Shin Godzilla, while a movie that I actively disliked, is not a bad movie. I actually had a worse time watching it than some of the bad movies on this list, but I think that's more my bias than a sign of its quality.
Best
Logan (2016) | Reviewed
Image: 20th Century Fox
The first superhero movie I've seen in a long time that tried to do something truly different, interesting, and emotional without being sentimental, Logan is a flawed masterpiece, as far as I'm concerned. It has a few rough patches in the middle where the storytelling gets a bit lazy, and if you've never liked Wolverine's gruff and angry attitude, he may not win you over here as he is far more pissed off and violent than before. However, I think Logan manages to focus on the characters in a way that most other superhero movies can't or don't and it genuinely pulled me into the drama of the story.
Honorable Mentions
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) | Reviewed
Image: Disney Lucasfilm
I was reluctant to like this movie. I don't care much about Star Wars anymore and I'm far more reluctant to care about new Star Wars movies when I look at the trailers with my pessimistic glasses on. In fact, I'm better off not watching trailers because this movie proved that there were a bunch of scenes that were either changed or deleted in the final movie, despite being in the trailer. It also proved that they can make a Star Wars movie that doesn't feel like it's retreading familiar stories, characters, and themes. They can make a movie in the Star Wars universe that doesn't feel like Star Wars in a good way. I was impressed by Rogue One and I can only hope that the filmmakers' desires to make interesting and innovative new movies are carried over to other films, going forward.
John Wick Chapter 2 (2017) | Reviewed
Image: Lionsgate
John Wick was my favorite movie I watched last year for a number of different reasons. It had some great action scenes that were well-shot and exciting. It has some witty dialogue that used subtle world-building and storytelling techniques. It was a self-assured movie that knew its tone and style and utilized it to the best of its abilities. John Wick Chapter 2 follows suit to a T. It lacks the initial surprise of the first movie's charm, so it ups the ante with some bigger action scenes. The the underground, assassin culture is still being examined and expanded here with some interesting additions to the social hierarchy of criminals. Chapter 2 is just shy of being as good as the first due to some minor gripes with moments in the movie and in how it's so much like the first movie. Certain shots copy a bit too much of the style and look of the first film. They can get away with it in this sequel, but if there's another, they're going to have to make something much different to keep us charmed.
Mulholland Drive (2001)
Image: Universal Pictures
David Lynch is responsible for some of the best weird movies I've ever seen. Known for the popular show, Twin Peaks, and for films like Eraserhead and Blue Velvet, Lynch has a pretty distinct style that is definitely not for everyone. Except Mulholland Drive. Mulholland Drive is still very Lynchian, but I argue that it is probably one of his more coherent stories and definitely one of his best. The acting is great, the pacing is great, and Lynch's storytelling techniques are in full form. It's weird, sure, but by the end, it all feels like it had a purpose. This is a movie I think I could watch over and over and still find something new and interesting.
Worst
Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010)
Despite having heard of this movie in conversations around the worst movies ever made, I'd never actually seen it until this year. In all honesty, I still haven't seen the raw original version of the movie, only the RiffTrax Live version of it. I'm usually a fan of seeing a movie as it was originally intended to be seen before watching it with commentary, but Birdemic is nearly unwatchable and I probably would have turned it off if not for the funny commentary over it. While movies like Miami Connection manage to hold your attention with their badness, Birdemic is terrible because it is so boringly bad for long stretches of time. Then computer-generated birds that must have been designed in the 1980s show up and the movie "improves". I do not recommend watching it without some funny people around, without some drinks, or without Rifftrax.
Dishonorable Mentions
Suicide Squad (2016) | Reviewed (Technically)
Image: Warner Bros.
Suicide Squad is a mess. It's not as bad as the general public would lead you to believe as though it were an unwatchable wreck. It was a wreck, yes, but a very watchable one. It was a motion tragedy with how rudimentary and formulaic it was. Loaded with clichés, awkward pacing, awkward dialogue, superficial characterization, and stale pop-culture references, Suicide Squad is a great movie to watch with a drink in hand because you will certainly roll your eyes and laugh at how absurdly bad it can be.
Anthropoid (2016) | Reviewed
Image: Icon Film Distribution
Anthropoid is not a bad movie in the same way as the previous films. It's got a budget. It's got a story based on true events. It's got some good actors. It's got some gritty subjects and tones to address. Yet, it doesn't really accomplish anything meaningful in its lengthy run-time. Anthropoid is not the same type of bad movie as the others mentioned because it's not entertaining. It's a bad movie because it tries to tell a compelling story about real people in a terrible situation and fails to do so in a meaningful way. There are so many other more interesting and emotionally enthralling films about WWII and the people affected by the war, Anthropoid is simply not worth your time.
Best and Worst Video Games I Played in 2017
This list will be a bit short because when it comes down to it, I spent most of my video game time playing only a handful of video games and a lot of them were from previous years, including HITMAN, Civilization V, Rogue Legacy, and Spelunky. There were, however, some other games that I managed to play in 2017 that I had not tried before and I wanted to give them the spotlight here, rather than just attributing the award to the game I spent most time playing.
Best
Doom (2016) | Reviewed
Image: Id/Bethesda
I'd been meaning to play Doom when it first came out. Then it went on sale and I bought it, meaning to play it. Then I had a brief vacation and meant to play it. Finally, I listened to the Doom soundtrack earlier this year and that was enough to motivate me to finally install it. Once I started, I couldn't stop. I barely touched the multiplayer and the snap-map features of that game; I wish that I could just take them out so it didn't need to occupy 80+ GB of space on my computer and I could keep Doom installed all the time. The single-player experience was so good, I played a fair amount of it over again. Brilliantly designed maps, a surprisingly interesting story, an adrenaline-pumping soundtrack, and a satisfying combat system make Doom the best first-person shooter I have played in years.
Honorable Mentions
Super Mario Odyssey (2017)
Image: Nintendo
Super Mario Odyssey is a fun, joyous experience in a platforming video game that I haven't experienced in a long time. It looks great. It has fantastic music. The pacing at which you can complete a level is extremely satisfying. Secrets, one of the biggest and best things about games like Super Mario World and Spelunky, are everywhere. I have to pace myself when playing Odyssey so I don't complete it too quickly, and that's a good sign.
Horizon: Zero Dawn (2017) | Reviewed
Image: Sony
There are a lot of things I don't like about Horizon: Zero Dawn, but it's also a lot of fun. It's a shining example of how you can make a fun game that allows you to play as a hunter-gatherer in the wilderness, amidst all the first-person shooters out there. The fact that it is so far in the future that the world is overrun with robotic dinosaurs and saber-tooth tigers adds a lot of future-tech quirks to the paleolithic gameplay to keep things interesting. It still ends up being a big open-world, sandbox game, but it has a lot of smart design choices to keep it from getting tedious too quickly like so many other similar games out there.
Injustice 2 (2017) | Reviewed
Image: Warner Bros
If you asked me which game I spent the most time with this year, it would be Civilization V, but Injustice 2 would be right behind it. I don't think there has been another fighting game in which I have spent so many hours in the practice mode, online, or in single-player challenge modes learning different characters. Tekken 5 was probably the last fighting game I played where I learned how to use more than 8 characters on the roster. Injustice 2 gave me a lot of reasons to keep coming back and has reinvigorated my love of the fighting game genre. In a lot of ways, I'd prefer NetherRealm leave Mortal Kombat behind in favor of this franchise, but that's only if it doesn't get any further bastardized in a loot box gambling ring.
Worst
Injustice 2 (2017) | Reviewed
Image: Warner Bros
You might be wondering why this is also in the worst category for the year. For all the fun I had this year with Injustice 2, it was also an aggressively irritating experience due to some design choices with which I wholeheartedly disagree. I went pretty easy on my criticisms of the game when I reviewed it, but since then, my negative opinions have festered a bit. The slightest delay in an online connection can ruin your controls and the match. The user interface has changed multiple times to accommodate loot box woes, but it still is a pain in the ass to navigate and manage your inventory of garbage gear. Buggy issues with getting DLC characters to download and work add to the frustration. I like this game a lot, but it was also a pretty frustrating experience.
Music Choices for 2017
Amazon Prime has gotten a lot better in the past couple of years when it comes to the artists available for streaming. While I still have my own personal digital collection, I spend a lot of time listening to tracks on Prime at work to help me pass the time or think clearly as I work. For this list, I'd like to just list out a variety of the artists I've listened to that might be worth checking out. Since I always have trouble expressing opinions about music in a meaningful way, here are my picks for the year of albums I listened to this year that stuck out to me, with some quick bullet points of why I liked them.
Cryptopsy
Album of Choice: None so Vile (2008)
Genre: Metal
Super fast drum beats
Brutal Vocals
Astoundingly coherent guitars, despite the speed of the songs
Two-cents review: Grotesquely villainous
Dustin O'Halloran
Album of Choice: Piano Solos Vol 2 (2004)
Genre: Classical
Gentle and peaceful
Feels familiar with some subtle influences from other classical artists
Two-cents review: Quietly melancholic
Gridlink
Album of Choice: Longhena (2014)
Genre: Metal
A great opening track to set the tone
Fast beats and short songs; don't wear out their welcome
Loud, vicious, and did I mention fast?
Two-cents review: Blisteringly Groovy
Megadrive
Album of Choice: Hardwired V1.4 (2015)
Genre: Electronica
Ominous and dark tones blanket the fun frenzy of electronica beeps and boops
Some great remixes of other tracks featured on the album
Two-cents review: Deviant Digistruction
Mick Gordon
Album of Choice: Doom Soundtrack (2016)
Genre: Metal
(Gordon's other work on Amazon is quite different from the Doom soundtrack)
A fast and fun mix of sounds that mimic Nine Inch Nails, djent, and industrial metal
The perfect soundtrack to a great game that's all about movement and violence
Two-cents review: Violent Power
Ryuichi Sakamoto
Album of Choice: Casa (2002)
Genre: Jazz
(His albums all vary in tone and style significantly, i.e. Love is the Devil is an industrial horror collection that belongs in a Silent Hill game)
Soothing vocals
Calming piano & cello harmony
Feels like being in a 60's cafe in a tropical paradise
Two-cents review: Romantically Lugubrious
TWRP
Album of Choice: Guardians of the Zone (2016)
Genre: Funk
That funky bass is super funky
Daft Punk influences with robo-vocals help sell the songs
Fun and silly lyrics to help improve one's mood
Two-cents review: Sans-Pants Dance
See you next year!
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