What I Watched: 2017

After I stopped writing my yearly “Best Of” articles in 2014, I still wanted to update my friends on what I watched and give some comments and recommendations. First I did so on Google Plus, but those posts are unfortunately lost to the void. Since 2017 I’ve been giving quarterly updates on Facebook. This article is the first in a series gathering those posts by year. I didn’t change the language, nor did I adjust the recommendations with insights I gained after the fact. The only modifications I’ve made are corrections of grammar mistakes, and the additions of some markup and images.

As always, you can find the entire list of all the movies, series and documentaries I’ve seen here.

For 2017 I also wrote a more elaborate article, back in January 2018, partially based on these quarterly updates.

2017 Q1

For the first quarter of 2017, this is the list:

• Agent Carter (2015, Season 2)
• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013, Season 3)
• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016, Ultimate Edition)
• Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (2016, Season 1)
• Doctor Strange (2016)
• Frontier (2016, Season 1)
• La La Land (2016)
• Life Itself (2014)
• Logan (2017)
• Machete Kills (2013)
• Narcos (2015, Season 2)
• Rogue One (2016)
• Rush (2013)
• The 100 (2014, Season 1)
• The Age of Adaline (2015)
• The Birth of Saké (2015)
• Vikings (2013, Season 2)

Random observations

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• That’s a lot of superheroics! And I haven’t even watched Iron Fist yet.
• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s third season was better than the previous one, but it lacks the punch of its siblings on Netflix.
• Logan was a very good and unusual superhero movie. The superheroics are actually the least interesting part about it!
• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is about as boring and broken as everybody reported. Its saving grace was Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, so I’m looking forward to her own movie.
• La La Land deserves most of accolades, as far as I’m concerned, but to be honest, I’ll watch everything with Emma Stone (and Ryan Gosling) in it.
• The Age of Adaline was delightful nonsense. Well-crafted, expertly delivered, and affecting.
• The 100: surprisingly good. Don’t be deceived by its first episode, which is pretty abysmal. The acting rapidly improves afterwards, as does the plotting.

2017 Q2

Another 3 months, another list of all the movies / TV series / documentaries I’ve watched. I took the liberty of prolonging the 3 months with a few weeks to make sure I could celebrate having 1500 entries on the list. (Whoooo!)

In the last 3 months I watched:

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• Abstract: The Art of Design (2017, Season 1)
• Alien: Covenant (2017)
• Baby Driver (2017)
• Ex Machina (2014)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
• Hail, Caesar! (2016)
• House of Cards (2013, Season 2)
• Iron Fist (2017, Season 1)
• Jurassic World (2015)
• Saving Banksy (2017)
• The Get Down (2016, Season 2)
• Vikings (2013, Season 3)

Without a doubt my winner here is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, although Abstract gets a firm recommendation as well, as does Baby Driver, Edgar Wright’s latest flick and number 1500 on my list.

2017 Q3

Updating my movielist.php with the stuff I’ve watched during Q3 of 2017:

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• Double Indemnity (1944)
• Foo Fighters: Back and Forth (2011)
• Game of Thrones (2011, Season 7)
• Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
• Narcos (2015, Season 3)
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
• Suits (2011, Season 5)
• The Defenders (2017, Season 1)
• The Shallows (2016)
• Wonder Woman (2017)

Awards

• Clear Winner: Wonder Woman (yes, it’s about as good as the media told you)
• Still Eminently Watchable after 73 (!) Years: Double Indemnity
• What a Mess (But What a Glorious Mess Indeed): Game of Thrones, Season 7
• Go See This if You Like Watching Blake Lively Getting Hurt: The Shallows

2017 Q4

What I watched during Q4 of 2017 (in alphabetical order):

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• American Gods (2017, Season 1)
• Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
• Bright (2017)
• Her (2013)
• Ip Man 2 (2010)
• Match Point (2005)
• Point Break (1991)
• Lucía y el sexo (2001)
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
• Stranger Things (2016, Season 2)
• The Fate of the Furious (2017)
• The Good Place (2016, Season 1)
• Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Awards

• Better Than Expected: American Gods
• Really Good (But Ultimately Not As Good As The Original): Blade Runner 2049 (but then again, how could it be)
• Best Movie and “OMG Goosebumps! Scene”: Thor: Ragnarok