BEST & WORST MOVIES OF 2017 (Top 10 List)

by Le Anne Lindsay, Editor

I see approx 130 movies in the movie theater a year. For which I’m grateful. And, as I still consider myself a proud story-aholic, I’m hoping to at least match that number for 2018.

But out of all those, I’ve narrowed down my favorites, almost favorites, ones I still really want to see, and those I’m glad I saw so I could put something in the “worst”category.

I revealed the majority of the below list during my radio segment (12/26/2017) on WWDB-Talk860 THAT’S SHOW BIZ with CHUCK DARROW, however, we ran short on time, and I didn’t finish.
So, I made a little voice-over video for Tinsel & Tine’s Youtube channel to chat a little about my movie going experience during this past year…

However, the quick breakdown of films (most linked to its review) is listed below with a bonus of Best & Worst Meals.

Middle of the Road Movies

These are the ones that had great appeal for me, but not quite good enough to be in the Best of category:

• Ghost in the Shell (3/31) – Dir. Rupert Sanders. Starring Scarlett Johansson.
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (5/5) Dir. James Gunn.
• All Eyez on Me (6/16) Dir. Benny Boom. The Tupac Biopic.
• Kingman: Golden Circle (9/22) Dir. Matthew Vaughn. Sequel British Parody Spy Comedy.
• Battle of the Sexes (9/29) Dirs. Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris. Emma Stone & Steve Carell.
•  I, Tonya (10/22) – Dir. Craig Gillespie starring Margo Robbie.
  

  Under-rated Movies

  These are movies I feel most people didn’t even know came out this year:

• A United Kingdom (2/17) Dir. Amma Asante (writer/dir Belle with Gugu Mbatha-raw).
• Free Fire (4/21) – Dir. Ben Wheatley. Black Comedy Shoot em up.
• Chuck (5/12) Dir. Philippe Falardeau about the real life Rocky Balboa, Chuck Wepner.
• The Hero (6/23) – Dir. Brett Haley. Starring Sam Elliott.

What I Missed and Still Want to See

These are the one where I either missed the press screening or we didn’t have one, and I haven’t yet gotten around to streaming:

• Split (1/20) Dir. M. Night Shymalan. Starring James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy.
• The Founder (1/20) Dir. John Lee Hancock (The Blindside) starring Michael Keaton.
• A Cure for Wellness (2/17) Dir. Gore Verbinski. Psychological thriller.
• Paris Can Wait (5/26) Dir. Eleanor Coppola (wife of Francis Ford & mother of Sofia).
• Detroit (8/4) Dir. Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty).
• A Ghost Story (7/21) Dir. David Lowery. Stars Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara.
• Ingrid Goes West (8/11) Dir. Matt Spicer. Starring Aubrey Plaza & Elizabeth Olsen.

Movies I Missed Intentionally

• Chips (3/24) Dir. Dax Shepard
• Baywatch (5/26) Dir. Seth Gordon
• IT (9/10) Dir. Andrés Muschietti
• Dunkirk (7/21) Dir. Christopher Nolan
• Thank you For Your Service (10/27) Dir. Jason Hall
• Last Flag Flying Dir. Richard Linklater

There were a lot of animated movies offered this year, but not many with both kids and adult appeal:

• Boss Baby (3/31) Dir. Tom McGrath
• COCO (11/22) Dir. Lee Unkrich

Worst Movies 2017

Worst is a very negative term, really, all movies have value, whether or not they are your cup of tea. It’s just some really don’t quite hit that magic, like these for me:

• The Space Between Us (Feb 3) Dir. Peter Chelsom. About the earth boy raised on Mars.
• Table 19 (3/3) Dir. Jeffery Blitz. Starring Anna Kendricks.
• The Lost City of Z (4/21) Dir. James Gray. About Amazon explorer Percy Fawcett.
• King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (5/12) Dir. Guy Ritchie.
• Tulip Fever (8/25) Dir. Justin Chadwick. Period Romance.
• Valarian: City of a Thousand Planets Dir. Luc Besson. Scifi adventure.
• mother! (9/15) Dir. Darren Aronofsky. Staring Jennifer Lawrence & Javier Bardem.
• Blade Runner 2049 (10/6) Dir. Denis Villeneuve Starring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford.
• Wonderstruck (10/27) Dir. Todd Haynes. Quest film.

Interrupting the Tinsel for a moment with a little Tine…

Worst Meal of 2017

DO NOT go to this so called PERKINS (115 City Ave, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004). The Perkins Franchise needs to inspect the whole place and make them take their name off the sign. It’s a Perkins like the equivalent of saying your apartment has a 24 hour doorman, when really all you have is a homeless man holding the door for you in hopes of getting spare change.

The ceiling is open in some sections, falling down in other areas. The seats in the booth are completely concave. I had something almost resembling meatloaf, tasteless mashed potatoes, and the corn was mixed with some awful, burnt, greasy substance that completely coated my tongue. The salad consisted of not much more than lettuce, but it was served in this very tiny bowl, so you couldn’t mix it or cut it, making it awkward to try to eat. Perkins is supposed to have Free WiFi, but I couldn’t connect, so I asked the manager about it and she said they turned it off because people were “not using it properly”. I’m not sure I even know what that means. On top of it all, they have these big, ugly black and white signs in the window promoting different specials. I went in for the early bird special that was supposed to be $7.99 all inclusive. I got charged $11.99, when I pointed it out to my waitress, she flat out told me she knew but didn’t know how to ring up the special price. So she was just gonna charge me more and hoped I didn’t notice! Stay away!

And now drum roll….

BEST Movies 2017

I had 20 on the list and decided to narrow it down to my top 15:

• Logan (3/3) Dir. James Mangold. Hugh Jackman’s swan song playing the Wolverine.
• Get Out (2/24) Dir. Jordan Peele – parody, horror, social commentary
• The Shack (3/3) Dir. Stuart Hazeldine. Christian themed movie based on a NYT Bestseller
• Beauty & the Beast (3/17) Dir. Bill Condon. Starring Dan Smith & Emma Watson
• Colossal (4/14) Dir. Nacho Vigalondo. Starring Anne Hathaway & Jason Sudeikis
• Patti Cake$ (7/7) Dir. Geremy Jasper. Starring Danielle Macdonald. Great soundtrack.
• Baby Driver (6/28) Dir. Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dean, The World’s End) Starring Ansel Elgort. Great soundtrack.
• War for the Planet of the Apes (7/14) Dir. Matt Reeves. Final chapter trilogy
• The Big Sick (7/7) Dir. Michael Show Walter. Written by Pakistan-born comedian Kumail Nanjiani.
• Girls Trip (7/21) Dir. Malcolm D. Lee (The Best Man, Barbershop: The Next Cut) Most successful comedy of the year.
• Brigsby Bear (8/11) Dir. Dave McCary. Written by SNL’s Kyle Mooney’s. So original!
• Step (8/11) Dir. Amanda Lipitz documentary empowering young black girls.
• Professor Marston & the Wonder Women (10/13) Dir. Angela Robinson. Polyamorous Wonder Woman origin story.
• Lady Bird (11/17) Dir. Greta Gerwig. Starring Saoirse Ronan. Mother/Daughter relationship.
• The Shape of Water (12/15) Dir. Guillermo del Toro. Starring Sally Hawkins & Doug Jones. It’s such an elegant fairy-tale. This is my top pick for best movie of 2017!

Favorite Film Festival Pick – Most Beautiful Island Dir. Ana Asensio. Slow burn thriller.

Ending the Tinsel with a little Tine…

BEST Meal of 2017

 

A new restaurant app contacted me this spring called Renzell and asked me if I would feature them on Tinsel & Tine in exchange for a dining experience for me and a guest and 4 winners chosen from Tinsel & Tine Subscribers.  More often than not, you get promised so much more than you actually receive from these PR people. However, surprisingly not this time.  We had a really fabulous 5 course meal at Aldine (1901 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19103) and it turned out to be my 2nd most visited foodie post of 2017.

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 The New Year often ushers in big changes like a move to a new city, such as moving to Charlotee NC. If you’re planning a move, and want a cost-effective and stress-free moving experience check out Bellhops, located in 15+ cities.

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