We’re finally at the TOP 10 movies on my complete movie list for 2017. Expect to see some Marvel flicks, the farewell movies of two popular characters and more.
Before we start the TOP 10, here is a movie that I saw after starting this long, way past due list and what its rankings would have been:
49. Brawl in Cell Block 99
Alright on to the MAIN EVENT…..
10. War for the Planet of the Apes
- The humans were annoying
- #TEAMAPES
- OG Caesar (Andy Serkis) is one of my favorite movie characters of all time
- Caesar killed more people and apes in the first half of this movie than the previous two movies combined
- I like how the speechless gene was passed to the Colonel (Woody Harrelson) but I wanted him to go out differently. I wanted something more epic
- A showdown between him and Caesar would have been dope
- A good villain like him deserves a better sendoff
- Killed Caesar in a very respectful way. R.I.P. Caesar
- Steve Zahn’s Bad Ape was a scene stealer
- If war is in the title, I expect more war…or more fighting
- The amount of actual “war” was a letdown
- the movie’s overall greatness lessened the blow though
- It’s great that this surprisingly great trilogy stayed so consistent. Actually, it got better with each movie so that’s even more of a reason to commend this franchise
- To Sum it Up: Great way to end the Caesar trilogy of this new ‘Planet of the Apes’ series
9. Get Out 
- Rod (Lil Rel Howery) was good at being the movies intentional comedy relief
- Plenty of laughs came from all the racial stuff in the movie
- The violent ending evoked happiness for my inner racist self
- Slow buildup but still interesting
- The ending felt too short compared to the buildup but still good
- Daniel Kaluuya definitely made a name for himself as the films lead but I still think an athlete should have been cast as the lead. We would have made the movies mystery reveal even better
- The movie’s greatness increases upon multiple viewings because you can then see the slick ways the movie hid what it is actually about in plain sight
- When you think about the very real racial aspects touched on, this could be the scariest movie of the year
- To Sum it Up: A great movie with a great use of satire to basically remind us that black culture is always taken by white people. Simple as that
8. Logan
- Started out on a violent note to instantly break us in to the R rating
- Dafne Keen did a great job as Laura especially since she didn’t speak through a majority of the movie
- The villains died too easy at the end, in my opinion, even though I know two of them aren’t all big and strong
- Action packed throughout with great sequences that didn’t need big set pieces….until the end
- The end battle didn’t match the level of the scenes that came before
- Xavier (Patrick Stewart) saying the “F” word all those times still was weird to me but it’s good to finally see a R rated Wolverine movie
- The intense level of violence this time around was needed
- I don’t know if I’ll be able to look at ‘The Wolverine’, a movie I enjoy, the same
- The ending assured us that it’s an end of an era and that’s sad to see but I figured it would end that way
- To Sum it Up: Great send off for the best and most iconic X-Men character we’ve seen on the big screen to date
7. The Lego Batman Movie
- Some of the jokes don’t line up with the storyline
- Wish it would have referenced back to ‘The Lego Movie’ because this Batman isn’t exactly the same from that movie
- Didn’t laugh as hard as I expected but I definitely giggled a bunch
- Still cool to see how Lego logic is used especially at the end to save the day
- Great voice acting
- Funny Batman jokes that riffed on the properties past
- To Sum it Up: Entertaining movie from start to finish with fun Lego action and constant laughs
6. John Wick: Chapter 2
- The opening fight scene is filled with great and funny car violence
- But why did John (Keanu Reeves) go back for his car when he just ends up destroying it
- For somebody with the profession John has, too many people know where he lives. So of course bad stuff is going to keep happening to him there if that is the case
- The underground/tunnel shootout scene was dope. Played out like a video game
- The pencil scene was violently lovely
- A hilarious (at least to me) nonchalant, quick shootout took place between John and Cassian (Common)
- The shooting choreography was still on the same high level as ‘John Wick’ but I feel like the fighting choreography in this sequel showed some noticeable improvement
- The improvements are the reason why I give this one the edge over its predecessor
- To Sum it Up: GREAT action movie and it’s going to be hard for anyone to try to convince me that this isn’t the best action movie of 2017
5. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
For my thoughts on this great movie, listen to this episode of the Leo B. Gyllenhaal Podcast:
Leo B. Gyllenhaal Podcast – Top 10 Movies of 2017! (Episode 84)
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- Great and funny dancing opening credit sequence with Baby Groot (Vin Diesel)
- Introduces us perfectly to the funny, “aww look at him” character
- I also liked how the action scene played out in the background and how it was shot. That gave us more detail on how Baby Groot would be throughout the rest of the movie
- The elaborate color palate kept the eyes entertained
- In the middle, things started to drag compared to the rest of the movie, but you enjoy watching such fun characters that it isn’t so bad
- Wish there was more memorable action scenes
- Baby Groot was the standout even though it felt like he wasn’t used as much as everyone else
- The rest of the cast was great too and enjoyable again
- Funny throughout but while Vol. 1 seemed like the humor felt natural, this one felt somewhat forced
- Quill (Chris Pratt) and Ego (Kurt Russell) fighting looks like something out of ‘Man of Steel’
- The soundtrack is used like another character again and again it enhances things but still, the one for Vol. 1 was better
- Nice execution of the family/father theme
- Touching ending
- To Sum it Up: I hate to say it again but it’s not as good as Vol. 1 but it’s still a great movie; for the eyes and the mind
3. Spider-Man: Homecoming
- The MCU timeline immediately has me scratching my head with that “8 Years Later” tag at the beginning after the Battle of New York aftermath scene
- The Michelle (Zendaya) reveal of her nickname being MJ was kind of a reach.
- They tried to make a compromise with the audience by not having her name be Mary Jane but her nickname be MJ. I’m fine with just Michelle
- I hope and assume her role will be bigger in the next one
- Michael Keaton’s vulture was a solid and layered villain
- I like the twist of him being Liz’s (Laura Harrier) dad even though I wasn’t that surprised since I read about something like that being a possibility before the movie came out. Stupid spoilers that I purposely look up!
- That twist made Peter’s (Tom Holland) choice to go after him in the last act even harder and that conflict was better for the movie
- I also liked that he wasn’t an unstoppable villain because it wouldn’t be as believable that Peter was able to stop him
- I like the twist of him being Liz’s (Laura Harrier) dad even though I wasn’t that surprised since I read about something like that being a possibility before the movie came out. Stupid spoilers that I purposely look up!
- Even though this wasn’t an origin story, I liked that Spider-Man was a flawed hero
- He really acted like a young kid who had his powers and cool suit thrusted upon him
- Ned (Jacob Batalon) was one of the standouts since he was asked to bring nothing but laughs
- Holland embodied what I think a young Peter Parker should ultimately be
- I’m sorry I ever doubted his casting
- The action was better in previous Spider-Man movies but it made sense to make it over-the-top for this 15 year old who is new to the action world
- Sony gets little credit from me for this movie being as amazing as it is. This is all Marvel’s doing
- To Sum it Up: ANOTHER great addition to the MCU. Fun and entertaining at the highest level is how you describe this just like most MCU movies. Can’t wait to see how they decide to grow this version of Spider-Man
2. Thor: Ragnarok 
For my thoughts on this great movie, listen to this episode of the Leo B. Gyllenhaal Podcast:
Leo B. Gyllenhaal Podcast – Top 10 Movies of 2017! (Episode 84)
1. mother!
For my thoughts on this great movie, listen to this episode of the Leo B. Gyllenhaal Podcast:
Leo B. Gyllenhaal Podcast – Top 10 Movies of 2017! (Episode 84)
Previous: My 2017 Complete Movie List: #20 – #11
(Photo Credit: Merrick Morton, AP; David Sims – https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/12/get-out-hypnosis-scene-sunken-place/547409/; Michael Walsh – https://nerdist.com/breaking-down-everything-from-thor-ragnarok/)
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