Thanks for coming back for my 4th annual year-end best of list. You get a lot of these types of lists at this time of year, and mine is probably not like any other, based on my unique interests that aren’t always cultural artistry, but just things that I think are darned good. And we’re off!
Best Movie of 2017 – There were some very fun super hero movies this year, and my regular readers know those are what I usually see on the silver screen. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 was a good flick, but didn’t quite live up to its predecessor; part of that was the music selection wasn’t nearly as good. Spider-Man: Homecoming surprised me; I was concerned it would not portray the web-slinger in a true-to-form way, but the fun and zaniness of Spider-Man came through.
Wonder Woman was the best of the DC films so far. It mixed history and science fiction and mythology quite nicely. Thor: Ragnarok also had some really good mythological elements. Plus, it showcased a great team-up between Thor and the Hulk. Altogether, these four films rank highly in the ever-growing genre of super hero movies.
However, not surprisingly to most of you, I’m going to place Star Wars: The Last Jedi at the top of the movies I saw this year. I’ve had great conversations with different people who have seen it, and not everybody feels as I do that it’s a very good movie. I’m still not sure where I will rank it alongside the others, but I might have a better feel after a second viewing. I won’t spoil anything, just in case you haven’t seen it yet, but there is so much to digest in this movie! It pays homage to the past while going in very unexpected directions as well.
Best Book of 2017 – I actually spent a lot of time this past year reading various comic book collections and catching up on back issues on my Marvel app. But when I wasn’t reading the four-color masterpieces of the past, I was trying to check out books new and old that had received copious amounts of praise.
I actually just finished a really exciting Star Wars book (Really? you’re thinking. Yes, really; Star Wars does sometimes consume my life!) called From a Certain Point of View. It had 40 short stories related to the characters from the original 1977 movie. From how Obi-Wan felt as he was battling Darth Vader to the barkeeper in the cantina to the strange creature in the trash compactor, there are a lot of entertaining and enlightening stories in this collection.
I spent part of my summer reading popular young adult fiction in order to prepare to give recommendations to my students. I finally read 13 Reasons Why, upon which a highly-rated Netflix series was based. From a literary standpoint, the book was very well written and gripping; it was difficult to put down. From a human standpoint, though, it was more difficult to reconcile its portrayal of teenage suicide. I know many people don’t like the ideas in the book, and I’m still conflicted. The fact remains that it was a good piece of writing, but I’ve made sure to have conversations with students when they want to read it.
My favorite book of this past year was one I read way back in February. Seinfeldia, by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, is a fabulous look at one of the most popular sit-coms of all time, Seinfeld. If you enjoyed that show half as much as I did, you will love this book. There is so much background on how the show came to be, the evolution of the humor, and plenty about the fans of the show. It was a great read and took what could have been some dry material and turned it into a page-turner.
Best TV Show of 2017 – Last year I settled on a miniseries about a manned mission to Mars. It was so well done in a short amount of time that it outdid shows that put out 22 or so episodes a year. This year was similar. The best shows I watched had short runs instead of trying to drag out plotlines for an extended period.
The FX show Legion was based in the X-Men universe, but I have a feeling that the schizophrenic main character would work even for those who are not comic book fans. The show was a deep dive into the mind of a confused young man and was less about powers than about humanity.
Amazon Prime premiered a short run of The Tick this year. It was a funny, irreverent look at a super hero who takes his job way too seriously and the crazy, stereotypical world around him. I’m looking forward to more episodes beyond the limited run provided, but only if the quality stays as high.
Once again I’ve got a ton of shows waiting for my judgement on my DVR, and I hope to get a bit caught up over Christmas break. Still, when I look for a winner, I have no further to look than another event rather than an entire series. My readers know I enjoy the super hero shows on the CW Network, and they pulled off an amazing crossover in November called “Crisis on Earth-X.” Four shows mixed and matched all their characters to show a stunning visual cavalcade with a story that left fans wanting even more. Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow did a masterful job of telling a story that wasn’t just fluff, but actually moved plotlines along in all four shows. There was laughter and tears, marriage and death, action and adventure. It was simply astounding!
There you go! Another year is in the books! May you have a great 2018 and have the opportunity to look back at the good things you were able to enjoy in 2017.
Word of the Week: This week’s word is breviloquence, which means speaking concisely, as in, “The reader wished the columnist would show more breviloquence about things she didn’t care about.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!