Dan's 2017 Movie Power Ranking

I've been ranking all the movies I watch in a year for a while now. The first few years I simply waited until the end of the year and then ranked everything from worst to best. Then last year I did something different and picked my 5 favorite films from each month, giving me a total of 60 for the year. Then at the end of the year I cut 10 movies from the list and proceeded to go ahead and rank the top 50.

This year I will again attempt to do something different.

Let me admit something first: I am a lazy bastard. As I write this I am already behind on 3 blog entries I have to write (video game reviews for Wind Waker, Dirge of Cerberus, and Walking Dead: Michonne). So making something MORE labor intensive is not my goal here. I want to make things easier on myself.

So instead of doing a one by one ranking of my favorite movies this year, I have decided to do an all in one "Power Ranking". I will update this ranking once a month. In it, I will list every movie I have watched in the year. At the top will be the best movies overall. At the bottom will be the worst. I will only write a few sentence explanation as to why the movie is where it is.

Things may change as the year goes on. A movie that appeared above a different movie one month could be below it the next month. My opinions change over time. A movie I enjoyed in January could drop towards the bottom by the end of the year if I find that it is not memorable in the long run.

As usual, the Power Ranking will be based on how much I enjoyed my experience watching the movie rather than its overall merit. So while I may love Star Wars: The Force Awakens, you will find that it ranks relatively low on the Power Ranking because I was on my phone playing games and not paying attention to the film the whole time it was on. 

Trust me, this will all make sense as we get started. So let's do that. 

14 movies watched in January. Here is how they rank, as of now:

#1:

Classic movie. I saw it for the first time ever this month and I thought it was super funny. I was in shock that I made it to nearly 35 years of age without seeing this film before. So many great characters and iconic moments that I didn't even realize were iconic moments. I was a huge fan. I want to see the second one but I have heard it sucks.

#2

I watched all 3 of the newest Star Trek films this month and this one, the original, was by far the best. I love the way it looks and the sound of the film. It's all very sleek and shiny while at the same time paying homage to the original series. Great characters, great story line, great special effects. I found it to be a very engaging movie.

#3

I had relatively low expectations for this, but I found that I enjoyed it more than the original Finding Nemo. I like the film's faster pace. The animals don't feel as limited as to what they can do in the "human" world as they did in the first. And that makes for a much more fun movie. 

#4

This is about a family that lives by themselves out in the Pacific Northwest. The matriarch of the clan has committed suicide, and now the family must come out and rejoin civilized folk for the funeral. I always have enjoyed "fish out of water" type movies, and this one falls into that category. The movie has a humorous tone but also deals with many personal and emotional issues as well. It will have you laughing one moment and crying the next.

#5

This is a nice, up close look at the life of Leonard Nimoy. Not only does it deal with the rise to fame of the Spock character, but it touches on Nimoy's personal life as well. I didn't know much about him coming into this documentary, but now I feel so much more enriched and happy for the man and for the (mostly) wonderful ride he had through life.

#6

I found this to be pretty entertaining when I watched it. I worry for the movie though because while I know I enjoyed it at the time, I think that I am going to forget about it quickly and it won't be able to sustain its high-ish ranking.

#7

I had just finished season 2 of Daredevil, and I wanted to see a different take on the character of the Punisher, so I watched this. Some of the acting choices here are a little goofy. I just can't take John Travolta seriously in his role here. But overall, although the film can be a little cheesy in parts I enjoyed it. It is fun and has some nice little plot twists. Just don't expect too much from the film.

#8

One of the rare instances where I enjoyed a sequel more than the original film. I found this to be much more entertaining than House of 1000 Corpses. I love the way the film looks, how it was filmed. I really love the music. The characters are great, the action is tense. Not much meat to the story, though.

#9

I tried to watch all the old Star Wars movies at the end of 2016, but I didn't have time to watch Return of the Jedi. So instead it falls into my 2017 ranking. I enjoyed the film but (you have probably heard this a lot if you follow this blog) I have seen it far too many times to me to really truly enjoy watching it anymore. It has lost a lot of the magic and fun it used to have for me.

#10

The second best of the new Star Trek films. But there is a huge drop off from the first. I like how the movie tells an original tale instead of rehashing an old idea like Into Darkness did. But the original tale isn't that interesting to me. There is too much action and it is a bit cheesy at times. Idris Elba was wasted on such a generic villain. It failed to hold my attention the way a good Star Trek film should.

#11

I enjoyed the creepy tone of the film. There are some disturbing moments here, and I love to be disturbed. But overall I found that things were just a little too over the top for me. The bad guys acted too silly and they got annoying after a while. And a lot of what happened in the film made no sense whatsoever. I found this only mildly enjoyable.

#12

I've never been a huge fan of this movie, especially after how much I loved the first new Star Trek film. I like how they try to give the Wrath of Kahn a shout out. But instead of coming across as a cool and unique spin on the story, this movie comes across as a wannabe. It's an okay movie, I guess. But it could have been a lot better.

#13

I actually do like this movie a lot more than some of the other films above it. But as I alluded to in the opener, I spent too much time on my phone playing games while watching this. The film quickly became background fodder that I hardly paid any attention to. Maybe if I watch it again (before episode VIII comes out) it will jump in my rankings. But for now I can't in good conscience rank it any higher considering I barely watched it.

#14

This generally isn't the type of movie I would watch, but I had heard it was good so I gave it a try. It's a decent film, I guess. It just had an extremely tough time holding my attention. My mind kept wandering and I started to do other things while watching this. Good for kids. But for me, meh. It didn't even make me cry either.

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So that is everything I have watched in January! Stay tuned at the end of February when I will update this ranking with everything I watched in that month as well. Will Caddyshack maintain its hold on #1, or will it be unseated?



EDIT from March: I am just going to do a traditional ranking at  the end of the year. This is too ambitious!


Watched so far in February:
It Follows
Ex Machina
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Cannibal Holocaust
Don't Breathe
The Godfather
The Hills Have Eyes
Teen Wolf
Westworld
Suicide Squad
The Girl on the Train
Arrival