Time For A Look Back At The "Best Movies of 2017"

It's the end of the year, and time to take a look back at the best of the best.

I reviewed over 160 movies this year, and more than 20 of those received a B+ or higher final score. There were another 10 or so with a solid B that were very entertaining as well, so overall, it was a pretty good year for movies.

Documentaries gave me an additional 8 movies with a B+ or higher score.

My two favorites from that genre both dealt with music:

The Beatles: Eight Days A Week-The Touring Years (2016) Ron Howard's behind the scenes look at the birth of BeatleMania and the effect it had on the world.

Live-Aid: Against All Odds (2011) A sweeping look back at Live Aid and how they managed to pull off a show that experts said couldn't be done.


On the Animation front, only 4 serious contenders to the throne this year, and not a Disney/Pixar among them:

The LEGO Batman Movie, Storks, Trolls, and Boss Baby were all surprising hits in our house this year.

Now it's time to get to the Top 10 movies of 2017:

10) Hell Or High Water -

First, it's a heist film, so immediately I'm interested. Second, it's got Jeff Bridges doing a turn as a high octane Marshal that reminded me a lot of his character in R.I.P.D. Now, as I'm one of only 37 or so people that actually enjoyed that film, I was already hooked. :) A really engaging film and one of the first to land on the Best of the Year list and a year later, it's still standing.

9) Gifted -

A bearded Chris Evans on the Best of the Year and it's not 2018 for Avengers: Infinity War? That's right. Take one of the best feel-good movies of the year as Evans plays the guardian of his gifted niece who may be better off being raised by someone more qualified. Or perhaps love matters most of all when it comes to raising kids, no matter how smart they are.

8) Sing Street -

Because there's always room on a best of the year list for a musical. Especially a good one that takes place in the 80s. Luckily for me, I stumbled onto this one, and fell in love with it. And don't worry, even if you're not a fan of musicals, this one is done in such a way as to feel normal. The majority of the songs take place because the band is performing for a music video or practicing together. Very natural. :)

7) Hacksaw Ridge -

Perhaps someday Hollywood and the fans will be willing to forgive Mel Gibson for some drunken outbursts from nearly a decade ago. But apparently most aren't that willing yet. Maybe the real monsters that were uncovered in 2017 will help speed up the rehabilitation of Gibson's career. Either way, for those that are willing and able to move along, Gibson served up an emotionally charged true story from World War II that was a must see for the year.

6) The Big Sick -

One of the last great films of the year, is also based on a true story. Again, I missed that little subheading when I saw small images of the movie, so I was floored to find out it really happened that way at the end of the movie. You've been warned. Be ready to laugh, and bring along some Kleenex...you know...just in case you're human.

5) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 -

Whoa.
I know what you're thinking.
Don't the Marvel Studios films belong at the top of the list? Absolutely, and I'm sure we'll find something from the company there in just a second. But when you've got 3 great movies released in one year, something's gotta give. And no, it's not because it's too funny. One of the dumbest complaints I've heard about this, or any other movie this year.
 "Gosh darn it, I laughed too much during that film! Horrible!"
No, this one slides a bit down the list because it didn't have the Star Wars "wow, you've never seen anything like this" factor that the first one had. In fact, adding in the emotional father storyline, Vol. 2 then becomes The Empire Strikes Back. It's arguably better than the first one, but for me, Yondu's fate seals this one as not being quite the "must see repeat viewing" that the first one offered. Not because it's not good, it's because I'm tired of crying every time I watch it.
:)

4) Hidden Figures -

Speaking of space... how about another true story about the human computers employed by NASA to get our manned rockets into space! There's a lot of drama, action and social fury woven between the 3 tales that are interwoven into the race to get an American into space and to the moon before the Russians can do it. True stories often make the best stories for the movies.

3) The Founder - 

Case in point. :)
Look no further than this tale of Ray Kroc, the man who created McDonalds. Or... the man who stole McDonalds and created an evil empire. Or both. At the same time. Because this really is the story of the American way unfolding and you'll both love and hate Kroc, often at the same time within just one scene as he unleashes a form of entrepreneurial spirit the world had never seen before. Michael Keaton is brilliant in the role.

2) Spider-Man: Homecoming -

Speaking of Michael Keaton... how great was he as The Vulture? And thankfully, for once, Marvel Studios doesn't kill the villain! Meanwhile, they also put out the best version of Spider-Man since... Captain America: Civil War. Whatever happened before that at Sony, can just stay at Sony. Now that Spidey is an actual part of the MCU, things are looking up.

1) Thor: Ragnarok -

Yesssss!
Go on, smile Chris Hemsworth! You guys deserve it. Not only was Thor: Ragnarok the best of the Thor Trilogy, it was the best film of 2017 and one of the best efforts Marvel Studios has put out yet. And that's like picking your favorite children. Again, I brush off anyone whose biggest complaint was this was "too funny". Thor's a god. He should be cocky and arrogant and a bit brash. The dude fights, and wins, all the time. At worst, Marvel can't make a movie with their version of Hercules anymore, because, he is basically this version of Thor. :) The movie was so much fun, and really, most everyone should have walked out of the theater looking exactly like Thor does in this shot; grinning ear to ear.

That's it for this year.

See you next year when Avengers:  Infinity War, Black Panther, and Ant-Man & The Wasp jockey to be in the Top 10 with 7 other movies. :)

The Best Television Shows of 2017

Here they are, the 10 shows that I enjoyed the most throughout 2017. Even those that are on the networks, I found once they moved over to Netflix to stream. 

So without further ado, here's the shows that made 2017 great...

Honorable Mention: 

Raising Hope: The Complete Series 

Raising Hope had sharp writing and a stellar ensemble cast. There were a few episodes that didn't click, but for the most part, every single episode was a winner. The entire series was streaming on Netflix earlier this year, but alas has departed at this point. As with most dysfunctional families that have hit the airwaves over the years, it was the underlying love for one another that was the key ingredient that kept audiences wanting to come back.

10) The Man in the High Castle: Season 2 

Back for a 2nd season on Amazon, this look back at an America that has lost WWII and is now under occupied German and Japanese control continues to steam ahead. With visions of what should have been, things are heating up as the Germans and Japanese are no longer trusting each other. It will be interesting to see how it all explodes next season!

9) Sneaky Pete: Season 1 

A series I assumed would be a 1 and done, Sneaky Pete starts slowly, builds, and then suddenly it's finishing up so quickly and you realize you don't want it to be over. Then they hit you with a killer cliffhanger, and that's when you realize how, and why, it needs to be back for at least one more round!

8) American Gods: Season 1

From Starz, American Gods brings us a bloody, violent conflict between the old gods that were brought to American shores by immigrants and the new gods of 21st Century America. Anything with Ian McShane in it is almost guaranteed to be good.

7) The Good Place: Season 1

The rare network show that I found on Netflix by chance. This tale of life after death is very witty and has a fun cast. Strong finish to the season threw the whole concept up into the air, so it will be interesting to see how they retool it for the 2nd and subsequent seasons. I'm sure some people know already, and I hope to find out next year. :)

6) The Defenders

Take the 4 Netflix Marvel franchises, mix together and fix the one issue they all had: too many episodes. You wind up with the crisp, 8 episodes that for me, are the highlight of what they've put out. Sadly, reading the internet, it appears the Defenders was also the least watched of all the shows to this point. My guess, and it's supported by comments I've seen far and wide...

I'm not watching that until I finish the other series I'm behind or haven't started yet.

Pfft.

There really isn't much in this one that's a spoiler for any series except Daredevil Season 2.
My advice: don't wait, move right along to this one.

5) The Great British Baking Show 

Leave it to PBS and the British to give you a cut-throat reality series where the contestants are nice, the judges are likable, fair and give you honest criticisms instead of just being mean. Seems like just the opposite of all the other reality shows, and maybe that's why this one is so refreshing and good!

4) GLOW: Season 1

You don't have to be a fan of wrestling or the actual GLOW series from the 80s to appreciate this one. I think if you are, then your enjoyment is even greater for what this series managed to pull off. So don't let the subject matter of this show put you off. It's the drama of what the ladies (and men) go through behind the scenes that drives this show.

3) American Vandal: Season 1

A note for note parody of the true crime shows that are on ever network, including Netflix's own Making a Murderer, American Vandal takes a silly idea and runs with it...and it works! Each episode ends with a new revelation of the case, and makes you want to click 'next episode' to find out what happens! One of the few shows on the list where I truly went the binge route and finished in 2-3 days.

2) Stranger Things: Season 2 

A return trip to Hawkins Indiana just in time for Halloween was pretty much the highlight of a great year of television. The Halloween inspired episodes played at just the right time of year, and fan momentum and expectations for the series were getting stronger from the end of last season to now. With new characters and a little more for Will to do this time around, there was pretty much something for everyone to enjoy this season. So enjoy it while you can, the kids are growing up, and we probably have 4 or fewer seasons of this show to look forward to.

1) Psych: The Movie

As with all television shows, they all ultimately come to an end whether the audience wanted them to or not. The best you can hope for is to go out on top, with the audience clamoring to have you come back, posting petitions for Netflix, Amazon or anyone to pick it up and continue. Or you can dare to hope that a reunion movie could happen somewhere down the road. And for Psych-os everywhere, that's just what we got as the year came to a close. A return to...San Francisco and it picked up in real time years after the series ended. Everyone was back in what the creators are hoping for the first of 6 potential Psych reunion movies. My fingers are crossed that the ratings were good enough, and this might become an annual holiday event.


So that's a wrap on the 2017 television season. We'll see if any of these return to the list at the end of next year, or which new shows manage to bump them from the list!

He Sees You When You're Sleeping..."Better Watch Out"

Better Watch Out (2017)

Rated R

Starring Olivia DeJonge, Levi Miller, Ed Oxenbould, Aleks Mikic, Dacre Montgomery, Virginia Madsen, Patrick Warburton

Directed by Chris Peckover

The Story:

Ashley (DeJonge) is coming over to babysit Luke (Miller) while his parents (Madsen & Warburton) go to a Christmas party. Luke has a serious crush on Ashley, and hopes to act on it that evening, but an apparent home invasion may dampen the mood and kill the Christmas spirit.

Sooo...

If you saw the trailer, and thought this is another entry in the horror comedy genre similar to the Netflix Original: The Babysitter and thought perhaps it's too similar of a concept, let me stop you right there.

That trailer gave away entirely too much of The Babysitter.

Better Watch Out played bait and switch, promising one movie, and delivering something much different.

While there were some amusing aspects and funny moments, Better Watch Out foregoes much of the comedy for a darker thriller that while you see much of what's coming, it's definitely not what was advertised.

Still, a fairly engaging film that keeps you guessing and second-guessing throughout until it's over, and then you still wonder if it's truly over.

For horror fans that like their Christmas horror soaked in blood, you will likely be disappointed as much of the violence is implied. Personally, that often works to the advantage for a film as the mind can often depict something so horrible, no special effects artist can even come close.

This likely won't become an annual Christmas tradition, but it might get added to the list of Halloween horror films. :)

Final Grade:  C+ / B-

Can Love Conquer All? "The Big Sick"

The Big Sick (2017)

Rated R

Starring Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Anupam Kher, Zenobia Shroff

Directed by Michael Showalter

The Story:

Kumail (Nanjiani) is a stand up comedian. He meets Emily (Kazan) one night after his performance. The two hit it off, and the next thing you know, they are seemingly in love. But life and conflicting cultural expectations interfere, and soon Emily is in a coma with a mysterious ailment, and Kumail realizes he may lose the one thing in life he's always wanted, before he even realized that's what he needed.

Well, let me start by saying that I wasn't paying attention to the poster for this film or its tag line: An Awkward True Story.

So when it got to the end of the film, like a sucker punch of emotion, the ending brought home how sweet and sincere this film really is.

An Amazon Studios original film, while I watched it on disc through Netflix, it is now finally available to stream on Amazon for those with Prime membership.

Kumail's trials aren't isolated to his relationship with Emily either.

He also has to deal with Emily's parents (Hunter & Romano) who are initially not that impressed that he's even at the hospital when they arrive, but her perseveres in his devotion to Emily and his willingness to accept not being in his comfort zone around her parents.

Then there is dealing with his own family (Kher & Shroff) at home and their desire for him to marry within his culture.

A wonderful cast, a beautiful story, and Kumail more than easily carries the majority of the film on his shoulders.

Highly recommended if you haven't seen it already.

Final Grade: A-

The Wait For Iiiiiiiiiiiiiittttt....Is Over..."Psych: The Movie"

Psych: The Movie (2017)

TV-PG

Starring James Roday, Dule Hill, Maggie Lawson, Corbin Bernsen, Kirsten Nelson, Timothy Omundson, Zachary Levi, Kurt Fuller, Jazmyn Simon

Directed by Steve Franks

The Story:

It's been 3 years since audiences have been able to see what's been going on in the Psych office. They've moved from Santa Barbara to San Francisco. As Christmas is drawing near in San Francisco, it appears that someone is out for revenge against Juliet (Lawson) for crimes she has allegedly committed on the force. It's up to Shawn and Gus (Roday & Hill) to put their thinking caps on and see if they can outsmart the bad guy and save the day. 

As always, I try and remain as spoiler-free as I can, especially for new movies and shows that not everyone may have watched yet.

It boils down to this: if you were a Psych-o, you've been waiting for this moment for 3 years.

The show picks up right where it should. Life has happened, but thankfully, nothing major has happened to any of the characters...okay, maybe Woody (Fuller)... but we are brought up to speed as each character is reintroduced onscreen.

Plus, like many Christmas movies that aren't Christmas movies, except they ARE Christmas movies (Die Hard, Gremlins, etc), this one takes place during the holidays so you have an extra excuse to watch it, along with the 3 Christmas themed episodes every holiday season.

The only downside to the movie, not enough Lassiter (Omundson). That's where real-life stepped in as he suffered a stroke just before filming began, but thankfully he's doing well and was able to be in the film, albeit briefly.

Better news though, the creators have said they have a rough idea for 6 movies, if USA Network and the fans want to see them.

Hopefully the ratings and interest were there, and the next reunion won't be so far away.

While it did air last night on USA Network, it is now available through Amazon, VUDU or iTunes for $ 4.99 for digital streaming.

I bought my copy last night after the movie ended.

Now I can cancel my Sling TV subscription again, at least until Psych: The Movie: The Sequel

Final Grade: A

A Step Up In The Prequel Game... "Alien: Covenant"

Alien: Covenant (2017)

Rated R

Starring Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demian Bichir, Carmen Ejogo,

Directed by Ridley Scott

The Story:

It's been over a decade since the Prometheus mission failed miserably. Now, as the colony ship Covenant is heading towards its destination, a strange SOS lures it to a habitable planet. Ah, but what the crew doesn't realize is that the android David (Fassbender) has been up to all sorts of shenanigans in the meantime.

So basically Covenant goes all in with what Prometheus only teased audiences with: the Aliens.

If you're going to be the prequel for one of the greatest science fiction movie of all time, you have to eventually show us the little face-huggers.

Prometheus hinted at it, but mostly beat around the bushes about what story they were trying to tell.

Now, we're putting it straight into the title, and finding out that androids are directly responsible for the misery inflicted by these evil critters.

Fassbender gets to play dual roles as androids who are both good and evil, as one by one, the crew of the Covenant fall prey to David's dreams of godhood.

Still, it's enjoyable as the series comes ever closer to going full circle, and Scott apparently has plans for a few more of these.

Much like the Terminator series, anything after the first 2 has never lived up to the originals, but at least they're trying to create an overall narrative and salvage what they can go forward.

Final Grade: C+

Paul Blart: Mall Bad@$$... "Security"

Security (2017)

Rated R

Starring Antonio Banderas, Ben Kingsley, Liam McIntyre, Cung Le, Katherine de la Rocha, Chad Lindberg, Jiro Wang, Gabriella Wright

Directed by Alain Desrochers

The Story:

Veteran Eddie Deacon (Banderas) is down on his luck and unable to find work that was commensurate to his pay grade in the military. Desperate, he tells the unemployment office that he'll take anything. As luck has it, he can start tonight as a security guard at a local mall. Meanwhile, in a US Marshal motorcade, a star witness is heading to trial when it is ambushed, and the witness heads to the local mall for help. It's going to be a long night.

Ha! Then I find a copy of the poster, and they use the same tag line!! :)

So, in a sense it's Die Hard meets Paul Blart, with much more action and a lot less humor in this direct to DVD action thriller.

Deacon's military training kicks in as he goes about protecting the witness as well as trying to use his co-workers to defend the mall and the witness while not getting any of them killed in the process.

Meanswhile, Ben Kingsley sits outside twirling his villainous moustache and threatening to tear down the mall brick by brick.

No, it's not going to reinvent the genre, but all the same, the movie remains watchable throughout.

Security is currently streaming on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: C+

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year... "The Turkeys of the Year: 2017"

The Turkey of the Year Awards: 2017 Edition

As I sit down to prepare to look back at the movies I've reviewed since last Thanksgiving which I absolutely disliked, I am pleased that only 21 movies received low enough marks (D+ to F-) to be in the running for Turkey of the Year!

Now this list is going to contain some movies that were both popular and critically acclaimed and in some cases garnered (or still might garner) award recoc

However for me, they did absolutely nothing.

I found myself bored with most of the films on this year's list.

For me, that's the biggest crime a piece of entertainment can be, and that's boring.

Naturally, your mileage may vary! :)

As usual, I'll try and stick to the "big name, big budget " films and ignore some of the lesser known, but still just as awful films from this last year.

Meet The Blacks, I'm looking at you. Though to be fair, they did like and retweeted (twice!) my review of the film. : )

Let the games begin!

X-Men: Apocalypse -

Only the strong will survive. That's a great tag line for a film. Little did I know, they meant that was for the audience to endure the latest film in the X-Men franchise. To be quite honest, I'm not one that is passionately yearning for Marvel to regain the rights to the X-Men. Until they began the reboot with First Class, it's really a franchise that I only mildly enjoyed in the first place. Everything they had worked for since that time apparently culminated with Days of Future Past. This returned the muddled cast of thousands that I was quite frankly, bored with from start to finish. Remove the Quicksilver scene, and I have no memory of anything that really happened in this film.

Speaking of X-Men...

 Logan - 

Yep, I am a hater of the critical darling, Logan. Yay! We have an R rating! Let's drop F-bombs and buckets of blood. And let's usher Hugh Jackman off after nearly 2 decades of running around as Wolverine. I know many people loved this one, and have clamored for it to win awards and nominations for Jackman and Stewart. I am not one of those clamoring. If I had to go back and watch any Logan solo outing, I'd pick any of them again before I watched this one.

Yes, even X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

:)

Legend of Tarzan -

It looked visually stunning, but everyone was bored and lost interest with it within the first 20 to 30 minutes, though it felt like we had been watching it for over an hour at that point. I don't know, is it the character? I'm not sure that Tarzan has ever had a decent film made about him yet.

This was no exception.

Hardcore Henry -

I'm not sure if I'm not a fan of 1st person shooter movies, or if I'm not a fan of movies where there is no main character with which the audience can truly sympathize/empathize as you watch them go through the paces. Either way, this was a failed experiment in my eyes. Plus an ending that's telegraphed at the beginning, it just adds up to one big "Game Over".

Manchester By The Sea - 

I told you there would be critical darlings and award winners on the list. This sums up both in one package. I think I let this one play for nearly an hour, and just realized that I really didn't want to spend another minute with Casey Affleck's character. I don't care what kind of emotional roller coaster he's been on. That said, I'm very happy that Amazon and Netflix (and other) studios are getting things made that are being reviewed very well and earning award nominations. So there is that silver lining for this dreary cloud.

Assassins Creed - 

Clearly video game adaptations are placed under intense scrutiny around here. Long, convoluted, and again, boring. The set pieces set in the past looked amazing, but I frankly didn't care about anyone or anything I was watching. Not sure what the actual length of this movie was, but it felt like it dragged on for hours, and that's another cardinal sin for an action movie. Long AND boring? The double kiss of death.

A Monster Calls - 

For proof that I'm a heartless monster, I give you this tale about a monster who comes to visit a boy during the most traumatic time in his life to tell him stories. Meanwhile his mom is dying of cancer. By the middle of the first story within the story, I was dying of boredom and clicked it off.

Beauty and the Beast -

How dare I!?!

All this movie did was make me cringe often, and yearn to be watching the far superior animated version. I've given Disney a pass on their live action remakes before, usually for being bland and not offering anything better than what they have already given us in animated form. This, however, was more than I was willing to forgive. I suppose it starts with the lead, Emma Watson, who reminds me of the woefully miscast Kristen Stewart as Snow White, the fairest of them all in the Huntsman films. I know, it's shameful to judge a book by its cover or an actress by her looks, but when the line of the song states "it's no wonder that her name means Beauty..." eh... not feeling it. Or when her acting skills in a poignant moment raise an eyebrow or a chuckle instead of sympathy... yeah... you're doing it wrong.

Sausage Party - 

Did it get funnier after the first 20 minutes? Because that's really all I bothered with, then walked away. These movies often remind me of the "just because you can doesn't mean you should" axiom. Add to that the negative press of the animators not getting paid/credit for their effort, and that just added insult to injury on this one.

Snatched - 

I think I've made it abundantly clear that I'm never going to buy into the Amy Schurmer experiment. She's better in support of a movie than in trying to carry it. I've tried, but I don't get her appeal. Then the dreadful misuse of Goldie Hawn, and really the entire supporting cast of this film, that was just disappointment from the word go on this one.


And that's it.

A special shout-out to Johnny Depp for NOT being on this list for the first time in a long time!

We'll see if 2018 is as kind, I do have a Pirates of the Caribbean movie review on the horizon.. ;)

Time to reset the clock to zero and begin looking for next year's turkeys, and as always, hoping I honestly don't find any.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

Missed Opportunities... "Baywatch"

Baywatch (2017)

Rated R

Starring Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Priyanka Chopra, Alexandra Daddario, Kelly Rohrbach, Jon Bass, Ilfenesh Hadera

Directed by Seth Gordon

The Story:

Lt. Mitch Buchannon (Johnson) leads his elite Baywatch squad to protect Emerald Bay from any and all dangers. This summer will be most trying though as they are training 3 rookies to join the team at the same time a dangerous synthetic drug keeps washing up onshore. When the police seem unwilling or unable to handle it, it's up to the lifeguards to save the day.

As with many of the relaunched "used to be a TV show, let's turn it into a movie!" ideas, Hollywood seems to never know what to do with these properties.

Quick, throw the f-bomb every 2 minutes to make sure we get an R rating!

Joke after joke, either situational or dialogue. Some of them will work, some won't!

Are they homages to what came before or parodies of the same material?

It seems like nobody knows for sure, or they keep changing their minds every 5 pages of script.

Here too is the downfall of Baywatch.

There are moments when it's a fun action comedy, then it tries to get too serious.

There are moments when it's madcap zaniness, R rated raunch-com.

It's just whirling around in a blender, and you're never entirely sure what's going to pour out onto the screen next.

It seems that going forward, if these movies are going to be made, pick a tone and stick to it.

The cast does everything they can, and then some, to make the material work.

Efron and Johnson have these parts down to where they can simply go on autopilot and it works, but they need a stronger, more consistent script to make us actually care to see it.

Thankfully it wasn't a huge waste of time like I feared, but if you saw the trailer, you pretty much saw the movie.


 Final Grade: C

Latino Heat! "How To Be A Latin Lover"

How To Be A Latin Lover (2017)

Rated PG-13

Starring Eugenio Derbez, Salma Hayek, Raphael Alejandro, Rob Lowe, Kristen Bell, Rob Riggle, Raquel Welch,

Directed by Ken Marino

The Story:

Maximo (Derbez) has been living the high life as he basically has enjoyed a carefree lifestyle as the boy toy of a rich widow. But when she dumps him for a younger model, suddenly Maximo has to start all over, and at a much older age. Hoping to crash with his sister (Hayek) and his nephew (Alejandro), Maximo's attempts at adjusting to normal life while finding his next rich conquest lead him on one wild ride after the next.

Eugenio Derbez is two for two with me on films that I've seen him starring in. While this one is not quite as heartwarming and endearing as Instructions Not Included, this one is zany and a lot of fun, and yet with just the right amount of heart as several of Maximo's relationships play out over the course of the film.

Surrounded with an excellent ensemble cast that make Maximo's life increasingly more complicated as all he wants to do is mooch off of someone, but circumstances dictate another fate for everything he plans to do.

Along the way, he slowly mends fences with his beloved sister, and helps to bring much needed happiness and stability to her life. Hayek plays off Derbez perfectly creating a great family dynamic.

Ken Marino steps behind the camera for his first feature, and does a great job. It's a little bit of a rough start, but once it gets going, the story builds and it turned out to be one of favorite films for the whole family this year.

Final Grade: B+

The Day That Music Changed The World. "Live Aid - Against All Odds"

Live Aid: Against All Odds (2011) 

Not Rated

Starring Bod Geldof, Midge Ure,

Produced by the BBC

The Story:

After the success of Do They Know It's Christmas, Bob Geldof decided that Band Aid should try something even more impressive. Live benefit concerts in July 1985, both in England and America and other locations round the world, and beam it to everyone else via satellite. It had never been done before, and most skeptics said it couldn't be done, period. But with some hard work, elbow grease, and outright lies, the greatest concert in music history did indeed happen.

This is their story.

This amazing documentary is available in 2 parts on YouTube. Each part is 90 minutes.

It keeps you grabbed from the minute you start watching until it's over.

Then you wish for a few more parts to the documentary.

So unless you were lucky enough to catch this on the BBC a few years back, you've likely never seen it.

The documentary does a great job of getting just about anyone and everyone who had something to do with Live Aid for the documentary, and they still manage to squeeze in enough of the performances to really bring back the memories.

So brazen was Geldof to get people to appear, he listed them as performing, oftentimes without even checking with those acts to see if they were willing and able to play.

Then he would lie to each band and say "well, they're in, so why aren't you?" and vice versa.

It's an incredible amount of chutzpah on Geldof's part, and it's an event that will never be duplicated again.

Then there was the American side of things where so many artists were pulling out because the American promoter was a giant POS that everyone hated. :)

Pair that with hosts that have an absolute disdain for the musicians that will be appearing, and it was a recipe for disaster.

Or at least if they do, it will probably roll off a lot smoother than this one did.

So go behind the scenes and see how they pulled this concert off and all the headaches and heartbreaking moments that went into the greatest concert of them all.

Final Grade: A

Verily Tis Time To See "Thor: Ragnarok"

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Rated PG-13

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Hopkins,

Directed by Taika Waititi

The Story:

Ragnarok, the prophesied end of Asgard is at hand. Hela (Blanchett), the Goddess of Death seeks to destroy all that remains of Asgard and take her place on the throne. The only one who has any hope of stopping her is Thor (Hemsworth), and he's going to have to travel across the entire cosmos to get their in time. 

You've seen the trailer, and if that didn't get you psyched to go see this one, then there's not much I can write to convince you.

Waititi delivers the best of the 3 Thor sagas on the silver screen, and yes there's a lot of humor in it...

But I don't think at any point is the humor too distracting, or not in character for any of the characters.

Hemsworth has always been fun in the role of Thor, and they finally tapped into that and let the God of Thunder be the humorous, full of bravado son of Odin that makes the character shine.

He's complemented with the return of Hiddleston as Loki, and once more the brothers find themselves allied and at odds, sometimes both in the same scene.

Many more surprises, returns and losses for this final film from Marvel in 2017.

Is it their best of the year or best ever?

That will be debatable and vary from person to person.

I'm leaning at still giving that edge for this year to Spider-Man: Homecoming, but that may just be because after 5 attempts, I felt they finally got it right.

With Thor, they never really got it wrong, so much as they didn't deliver on everything that it could be.

So go, see the movie and have a good time.

Laugh it up, because things are about to get a lot darker next year with the arrival of Infinity War.

Final Grade: A

But Wait...There's More! "Beyond Stranger Things"

Beyond Stranger Things (2017)

Starring Jim Rash

The Story:

Now that you've finished Stranger Things 2, and don't dare watch an episode of this without finishing the entire season because...

SPOILERS!!!!

Jim Rash sits down with most of the cast and Shawn Levy and the Duffer Brothers to talk about what went into making the show and how they made some of their decisions.

And how some of those decisions made themselves, and created a snowball effect on the overall series.

I guess The Walking Dead has a similar program that airs weekly, and I'm not sure if any other shows have it, but this was a fun, breezy, yet informative 22 minutes where Rash moderates a table full of the cast and get their insights into what happened and what might still happen in the future.

7 episodes total, and my favorites were the ones with Levy and the Duffers on the panel as they help lend more behind-the-scenes knowledge to what they were thinking when certain things happened this season.

If you like these kinds of shows, you're going to really enjoy this one.

If you're not sure, give the first episode a try (it will pop up automatically to start at the end of Episode 9 of Stranger Things 2) and see what you think.

Final Grade: A-

Check Those References Carefully..."The Babysitter"

The Babysitter (2017)

TV-MA

Starring Judah Lewis, Samara Weaving, Robbie Amell, Hana Mae Lee, Bella Thorne, Andrew Bachelor, Emily Alyn Lind, Leslie Bibb, Ken Marino

Directed by McG

The Story:

Cole (Lewis) is 12, and he's the only kid his age who still has a babysitter. He doesn't really mind when his mom and dad (Bibb & Marino) leave though, because his babysitter, Bee (Weaving) is hot! However, when he finally decides to break curfew and spy on what his sitter does when he's supposed to be asleep, he learns that Bee is not the sweeetheart he was led to believe!

A Netflix original released in time for the holiday season, it's a worthy addition to the horror-comedy genre.

If you've managed to somehow miss this one so far, my recommendation is to avoid the trailer as it's a little spoiler-ific.

Or, if you don't have 90 minutes to spare, watch the trailer and you'll see a lot of the fun condensed into 2 minutes.

The cast is a lot of fun, and the script lets them poke fun at the genre while still never letting go of the fact that this is supposed to be a scary movie.

Amell does such a great job as Max that you almost aren't rooting for him to get killed as the movie goes along. :)

Fun stuff, and I'll be back next year for another round!

Final Grade: B

Those Kids Are Growing Up So Fast..."Stranger Things 2"

Stranger Things 2 (2017)

TV-14

Starring David Harbour, Winona Ryder, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Matthew Modine, Paul Reiser, Sean Astin

Created by Matt & Ross Duffer

The Story:

Nearly a year has passed since the events from Stranger Things. However, there's a new Doctor (Reiser) in charge at the Department of Energy, and he's doing everything in his power to help Will (Schnapp) with his episodes that are still tormenting him from being in the Upside Down.

Welcome back to Hawkins Indiana, population a couple million binging on their favorite kids from the 80s! :)

So if you are like the millions that fell in love with Stranger Things last year, and watched as it became a pop-culture phenomenon in the year in between seasons, your wait is finally over.

If you're one that thinks Stranger Things is overrated and being pushed down our throats...

You're dead to me.

:)

The Duffer Brothers are back, and they will fill in the gaps with what has happened in the year we've been away, and with some other flashbacks, they'll take us back even farther.

A whole slew of new characters will be introduced, and Will Byers will graduate from plot device in Season One to Plot Device with a little more to do in Season 2. ;)

The dynamics between the two seasons is really evident, and they don't try and forcefully recreate the magic of season one. This is another year, and the characters have grown and changed, and will continue to do so for as long as the series runs.

That's a good thing.

So there you go.

No spoilers in there, but I'm pretty sure if you watched Season One, you are likely already finished with Season Two and came to the same conclusion:

Really? We have to wait another year for the next season?!?!

: )

Final Grade: A

Who's Your Daddy? "Little Evil"

Little Evil (2017)

TV-MA

Starring Adam Scott, Evangeline Lilly, Owen Atlas, Sally Field, Clancy Brown,

Written and Directed by Eli Craig

The Story:

Gary (Scott) has married the woman (Lilly) of his dreams. However she comes with a little bit of baggage in the form of her son, Lucas (Atlas). Gary's trying to warm up to the kid, but he seems a little cold and indifferent to Gary. That may because his real dad is...you know... Satan.

This horror comedy from Netflix starts off with a great scene, and then has to backtrack to get to that scene again.

The problem is, it takes almost too long to get back to it.

The movie waffles on whether it wants to be horror or if it should be comedy.

The two genres wrestle with one another for screen time instead of being a product of natural storytelling.

Adam Scott suffered a similar fate with last year's Krampus where the story couldn't quite figure out what it wanted to be either.

It's a fine line to balance, but this is brought to us by the man who gave us Tucker & Dale vs. Evil which is possibly the greatest horror comedy of all time.

The movie does pick back up in the last act and makes a satisfying end to the film.

It's still worth your time, especially this time of  year, but I hoped for a bit more with this one, and it just didn't quite click like I would have hoped.

Final Grade: C+

What The Fork!?! "The Good Place"

The Good Place (2016)

TV-PG

Starring Kristen Bell, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, D'arcy Carden, Manny Jacinto, Ted Danson

Created by Michael Schur

The Story:

Eleanor (Bell) wakes up at Michael's (Danson) office. Turns out she's dead, but the good news, is she gets to go to 'The Good Place'. And they only take the best of the best. However, apparently there's been a bit of a clerical error, and this Eleanor has taken the place of the Eleanor that was supposed to be here! She's hoping that by learning to be good from her chosen 'soul mate', Chidi (Harper) she can learn to be good enough to stay before someone uncovers the truth.

When you have Netflix and Amazon Prime, it's hard to miss not having cable television. Eventually, any show will come to DVD and I could try it that way.

Or, they'll stream on one service or another, and I might run into them.

And considering that the majority of the content is original, I really don't have to rely on the networks to supply me with any entertainment anymore.

But that's not to say they aren't trying, or that I'm not appreciative of their efforts.

Scrolling through Netflix, and see a picture of Bell and Danson, you get intrigued enough to read a little snippet of what the show's about.

Try the first episode, and you're hooked! :)

So it goes with The Good Place, a denominational free look at what could transpire after passing over to the other side, and being lucky enough to not go to The Bad Place.

Eleanor is bringing bad things to the Good Place because of the mistake, and she's working really hard to be a nice person. But man, there's certain things and people in her afterlife that are just messing things up royally for her.

But she persistently tries, and sometimes learns what it takes to be a good person after all, even if it's quite by accident.

Each episode ends with a cliffhanger, but thankfully at 13 episodes, they are paced quite nicely and you don't feel rushed or bored.

The set-up for season 2 was well played and really bold for a new show to throw at the audience with the hope of sticking around.

While everyone else is watching NBC right now to keep up, I'll wait a year, and catch it next summer and hopefully find out what happened.

Definitely worth the time.

Final Grade: B+

"The Wall" Comes Crumbling Down...

The Wall (2017)

Rated R

Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, John Cena, Laith Nakli

Directed by Doug Liman

The Story:

Sniper Matthews (Cena) and his spotter Isaac (Taylor-Johnson) go to inspect a location that needed assistance. It seems everyone has been killed. When Matthews finally goes for a closer inspection, he is shot, and it's up to Isaac to try and get him to safety. However he's pinned down by a very accurate sniper (Nakli) and is forced to take refuge behind...

wait for it...

The Wall.

Doug Liman presents a stripped down war thriller with 3 characters, 2 that you see and one that's a voice of the bad guy.

He does an effective job of keeping the tension as much as he can, given the confinement that he places on the storyline.

It works to some extent, but doesn't allow the story to really get going like he's previously done with the Bourne franchise or the excellent Edge of Tomorrow.

Most of the film is cat and mouse wordplay between Isaac and the enemy sniper, and decisions that Isaac makes often reveal just how dire the situation really is.

I would have given this one a higher grade, but I really hated the ending of the film, so I'll be kind and just go with a

Final Grade: C

Get Me To The Church On Time... "Naked"

Naked (2017)

TV-14

Starring Marlon Wayans, Regina Hall, Dennis Haysbert,

Directed by Michael Tiddes

The Story:

Rob (Wayans) is set to marry Megan (Hall). One small problem, on the day of his wedding, he wakes up naked in an elevator with no clue how he got there. He's got to race time to get to the altar in time to get married. Too bad he's not going to make it.  The good news, he's going to wake up again in the elevator and have another shot at it, until he gets it right.

So if you've seen Groundhog Day before, you pretty much know what to expect from this movie.

If you've never seen Groundhog Day, well shame on you, you should definitely go watch it.

I happen to be a big fan of Groundhog Day, and the line of movies that have followed in those same footsteps to bring you the same story, over and over again, of someone trying to figure out what they need to do in the cosmic scheme of things to unlock their day from replaying for the rest of eternity.

Naked follows the formula just fine, the initial trial is just getting Rob back into clothes so he can try and get across town and get married.

Each time he gets ever closer to his bride but repeatedly comes up short.

Along the way he's going to learn some things about himself and his new family that will help to shape and change him into being a better person.

Wayans does a fine job carrying the movie on his shoulders. His character isn't flawed as much as he's immature at the beginning and has to do some growing up to discover what it is he truly wants out of life.

Pretty fun from start to finish, and another enjoyable Netflix Original.

Final Grade: C+