2017 Watch List
by Jlshall | created - 05 Jan 2017 | updated - 14 Dec 2017 | PublicAnnotated list of movies I watched for the first time in 2017
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1. Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Passed | 108 min | Film-Noir, Thriller
A teenage girl, overjoyed when her favorite uncle comes to visit the family in their quiet California town, slowly begins to suspect that he is in fact the "Merry Widow" killer sought by the authorities.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Macdonald Carey, Henry Travers
Votes: 70,529
Good movie, but the music almost drove me nuts. I've actually seen the ending of this one several times, but never saw the whole film until now. Joseph Cotten in a film always makes it sound like Orson Welles should be showing up at any moment.
2. The Collector (1967)
Not Rated | 86 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A womanizing art dealer and a painter find the serenity of their Riviera vacation disturbed by a third guest, a vivacious bohemian woman known for her long list of male conquests.
Director: Éric Rohmer | Stars: Patrick Bauchau, Haydée Politoff, Daniel Pommereulle, Alain Jouffroy
Votes: 9,794
This was fairly early in Rohmer's career, but the style was already recognizable. Not my favorite of his films, but very watchable. Lots of lovely Riviera locations. And Patrick Bauchau and Haydée Politoff were both incredibly cute.
3. Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
PG-13 | 138 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
As a new threat to the galaxy rises, Rey, a desert scavenger, and Finn, an ex-stormtrooper, must join Han Solo and Chewbacca to search for the one hope of restoring peace.
Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson
Votes: 974,175 | Gross: $936.66M
What can I say? It's Star Wars. If you're a fan of the series, this is a pretty good episode. I loved the first two movies and then lost interest. Had to see this one because it brought back all those original cast members. I enjoyed it, but I'm not anxious to see yet another installment any time soon.
4. The Lady in the Van (2015)
PG-13 | 104 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
A man forms an unexpected bond with a transient woman living in her van that's parked in his driveway.
Director: Nicholas Hytner | Stars: Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Jim Broadbent, Clare Hammond
Votes: 32,003 | Gross: $10.02M
I started to say "lovely film," but lovely isn't really a good adjective for this one. Sometimes hard to watch, but full of absolutely riveting performances, especially (of course) Dame Maggie's. She's brilliant as always, but so is the rest of the cast. Alan Bennett is so adept at combining the totally mundane with the truly bizarre — and The Lady in the Van is a beautiful example of that.
5. Apartment 143 (2011)
R | 80 min | Horror, Thriller
A team of parapsychologists try to figure out a strange phenomenon occurring in an apartment building.
Director: Carles Torrens | Stars: Kai Lennox, Gia Mantegna, Michael O'Keefe, Fiona Glascott
Votes: 11,767 | Gross: $0.00M
This one had a lot of potential and started out well, but degenerated into cinematic cliches pretty quickly. Not exactly sure what we're supposed to make of the ending. It was actually more of a whodunnit with the mystery surrounding the death of the mother. Never really scary, but at least it was better than all those Paranormal Activity sequels.
6. Hail, Caesar! (2016)
PG-13 | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
A Hollywood fixer in the 1950s works to keep the studio's stars in line.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes
Votes: 143,216 | Gross: $30.50M
The Coen Brothers' slightly screwy (well maybe more than slightly) paean to the movie industry's "Silver Screen" era. I thought this was a real hoot, but then I'm a big fan of the golden/silver ages of Hollywood. Also love just about all the Coen work I've seen — one of my favorite movie moments of all time is John Goodman's entrance (coming up out of the ground like a tulip) in "Raising Arizona." I loved all the performances, especially Clooney's goofy leading man and Alden Ehrenreich's wonderful Cooper-esque cowboy. Oh, and I was amazed to find that Scarlett Johansson can actually ACT — she should do that more often.
7. Miles Ahead (2015)
R | 100 min | Biography, Drama, Music
An exploration of the life and music of Miles Davis.
Director: Don Cheadle | Stars: Don Cheadle, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Ewan McGregor, Michael Stuhlbarg
Votes: 10,566 | Gross: $2.61M
I had the same reaction to this film that so many have had — GREAT music, terrible movie. Ordinarily, I love Don Cheadle in everything, and he certainly looks a lot like Miles. But there just wasn't much here for him to work with. Definitely a wasted opportunity. And what the heck was Ewan McGregor doing in this film?
8. Genius (2016)
PG-13 | 104 min | Biography, Drama
A chronicle of Max Perkins's time as the book editor at Scribner, where he oversaw works by Thomas Wolfe, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and others.
Director: Michael Grandage | Stars: Colin Firth, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Laura Linney
Votes: 21,373 | Gross: $1.36M
Pretty standard bio-pic fare. Mostly boring IMHO. I guess this is why they don't make many movie about editors. Max Perkins really did have a very interesting life. Just not terribly cinematic.
9. Chicago (2002)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Crime, Musical
Two death-row murderesses develop a fierce rivalry while competing for publicity, celebrity, and a sleazy lawyer's attention.
Director: Rob Marshall | Stars: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Taye Diggs
Votes: 243,474 | Gross: $170.69M
So much fun! Who knew Richard Gere was such an amazing song-and-dance man? Catherine Zeta-Jones is a little more full-bodied than she should be, but makes a very energetic Velma. And Renee Zellweger is adorable as Roxie (of course). The only thing that could make this movie any more enjoyable would be if it starred Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera. But you can see them together on You-tube.
10. The Terror (1963)
TV-PG | 81 min | Horror, Thriller
A young French soldier cut off from his unit is beguiled by a mysterious woman, whom he learns is the wife of the local Baron - and that she seemingly died twenty years earlier.
Directors: Roger Corman, Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Hale, Monte Hellman, Jack Hill, Dennis Jakob, Jack Nicholson | Stars: Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight, Dick Miller
Votes: 8,489
Another movie I've seen bits of over the years, but just recently watched in its entirety. This truly is one of the worst movies ever made, so bad it's good. I kept having trouble figuring out exactly what was supposed to be going on, but finally realized that the actors seemed to be having the same problem. But if you can accept Jack Nicholson as a French soldier and don't mind the confusing plot (or lack thereof), this one could be sort of entertaining. Just don't expect any actual terror.
11. The Monster That Challenged the World (1957)
Approved | 84 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
"The Monster That Challenged the World" is a 1957 horror / science fiction movie of when horde of prehistoric mollusk monsters enter the canal system of the California's Imperial Valley and terrorize the populace.
Director: Arnold Laven | Stars: Tim Holt, Audrey Dalton, Hans Conried, Barbara Darrow
Votes: 3,161
I liked the monster in this one -- looked a little like a really nasty Muppet. Pretty good "big bug" flick, with everyone (even, surprisingly, Tim Holt) turning in fairly creditable performances. And wasn't Barbara Darrow lovely!
12. The Deadly Mantis (1957)
Approved | 79 min | Family, Horror, Sci-Fi
A giant prehistoric praying mantis, recently freed from the Arctic ice, voraciously preys on American military at the DEW Line and works its way south.
Director: Nathan Juran | Stars: Craig Stevens, William Hopper, Alix Talton, Donald Randolph
Votes: 4,102
Same ol' same ol'. Nothing very memorable here.
13. The Black Scorpion (1957)
Approved | 88 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Volcanic activity frees giant scorpions from the earth who wreak havoc in the rural countryside and eventually threaten Mexico City.
Director: Edward Ludwig | Stars: Richard Denning, Mara Corday, Carlos Rivas, Mario Navarro
Votes: 3,411
Scorpions scare me. So a movie about giant scorpions scares me. Especially giant scorpions with FACES and TEETH! Even if the special effects ARE a little hokey. A mostly pretty entertaining Big Bug flick.
14. Irrational Man (2015)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A tormented philosophy professor finds a will to live when he commits an existential act.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Parker Posey, Joe Stapleton
Votes: 67,117 | Gross: $4.03M
Maybe I should just give up on Woody, at least until he gets over his Emma Stone infatuation. Something about the girl just makes me want to be somewhere else. There were some interesting ideas in this one, but they got lost in the overall silliness. Joaquin Phoenix is a fine actor, but he's out of his depth as a philosophy professor, "tormented" or otherwise. But Parker Posey was a bright spot. Please, Woody -- no more deep-thought experiments.
15. The Return of Doctor X (1939)
Passed | 62 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A hotshot reporter and a young doctor team up to investigate a series of grisly murders and a mysterious sample of synthetic blood.
Director: Vincent Sherman | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Rosemary Lane, Wayne Morris, Dennis Morgan
Votes: 2,559
Bogie doing a turn as a sort of suave Frankenstein's monster, with a little bit of Dracula thrown in. Some very nice performances in this surprisingly good thriller.
16. The Killer Shrews (1959)
Approved | 69 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
On an isolated island, a small group of people are terrorized by giant voracious shrews in the midst of a hurricane.
Director: Ray Kellogg | Stars: James Best, Ingrid Goude, Ken Curtis, Gordon McLendon
Votes: 5,656 | Gross: $1.00M
Gordon McLendon made movies? Who knew? I had seen bits of this one in the past -- usually in shows about the worst movies ever made -- but had never actually watched it before. And guess what? Turns out those "worst movie" ratings were spot on. I'm giving it three stars primarily because of that wonderful escape scene with the survivors duck-walking underneath their improvised oil barrel armor. That was almost worth sitting through the rest of the mess. Almost.
17. Inferno (I) (2016)
PG-13 | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
When Robert Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia, he teams up with Dr. Sienna Brooks and they race across Europe together against the clock to foil a deadly global plot.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, Irrfan Khan, Ben Foster
Votes: 189,813 | Gross: $34.34M
Professor Robert Langdon saves the world (yet again!). Non-stop action and several thrilling plot twists. Is anyone who they say they are or seem to be? This one keeps you guessing right up to the end. I always enjoy the Langdon books and movies, and this latest installment was definitely entertaining (even the hubby said it was enjoyable). But if I hadn't read the book, I'm not sure I would have been able to figure out just what was going on in this one. Still fun, though.
18. Alias Nick Beal (1949)
Approved | 93 min | Drama, Fantasy, Film-Noir
A district attorney rises to political success and the governorship but loses his sense of morality once he starts associating with the shadowy and perhaps diabolical Nick Beal.
Director: John Farrow | Stars: Ray Milland, Audrey Totter, Thomas Mitchell, George Macready
Votes: 1,276
Faust done noir. As I've said before, Ray Milland could not turn in a poor performance. And his presence saves this fairly standard good-versus-evil tale from mediocrity. He makes a very convincing and attractive (and well-dressed) tempter.
19. The Curse of King Tut's Tomb (1980 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 98 min | Adventure, Horror, Mystery
After an archeological expedition discovers the tomb of the Egyptian king Tutankhamen, many of the scientists, engineers and workmen begin mysteriously dying off.
Director: Philip Leacock | Stars: Eva Marie Saint, Robin Ellis, Raymond Burr, Harry Andrews
Votes: 386
Ancient curse? What ancient curse? And people start dropping like flies. Yada, yada, yada. Not much new here. And it had such a great cast -- they all really needed better agents.
20. Passengers (I) (2016)
PG-13 | 116 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
A malfunction in a sleeping pod on a spacecraft traveling to a distant colony planet wakes one passenger 90 years early.
Director: Morten Tyldum | Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne
Votes: 447,948 | Gross: $100.01M
Enjoyable sci-fi tale with some solid acting and amazing sets and cinematography. Lots of suspense and enough action to keep me engaged, without the special effects becoming the main attraction. My one major complaint is that Jennifer Lawrence looked way too movie star-ish to be a space traveler -- she must have had hair and makeup people stashed somewhere on the ship. But that's just nit-picking. This one was definitely worth seeing and deserved much better treatment from all those professional movie reviewers.
21. Crack-Up (1946)
Approved | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Art curator George Steele experiences a train wreck...which may not have actually happened. Is he cracking up, or the victim of a wicked plot?
Director: Irving Reis | Stars: Pat O'Brien, Claire Trevor, Herbert Marshall, Ray Collins
Votes: 1,627
I had trouble sticking with this one. Kept drifting off and having to go back and watch the bits I'd missed. Not a good sign. Pat O'Brien is woefully miscast in this noir-ish psychological crime drama. I kept thinking how much more interesting this would have been with Ray Milland in the lead, or even Herbert Marshall, who plays a supporting role. Claire Trevor is a bright spot, and her costumes (by Renié) are more intriguing than most of the rest of the film.
22. Iris (IX) (2014)
PG-13 | 79 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A documentary about fashion icon Iris Apfel, the 93-year-old style maven who has had an out-sized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades, from legendary late 88-year-old documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles.
Director: Albert Maysles | Stars: Iris Apfel, Harold Koda, Dries Van Noten, Inez Bailey
Votes: 4,615 | Gross: $1.31M
23. The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
PG | 104 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A cooler-than-ever Bruce Wayne must deal with the usual suspects as they plan to rule Gotham City, while discovering that he has accidentally adopted a teenage orphan who wishes to become his sidekick.
Director: Chris McKay | Stars: Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes
Votes: 172,670 | Gross: $175.75M
This was so funny!!! I watched this one on a plane flight, just to take my mind off the constant fear of plummeting to earth or being blown to bits. Wasn't prepared to like it so much. Definitely my favorite Batman movie.
24. My Cousin Rachel (2017)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A young Englishman plots revenge against his late cousin's mysterious, beautiful wife, believing her responsible for his death. But his feelings become complicated as he finds himself falling under the beguiling spell of her charms.
Director: Roger Michell | Stars: Rachel Weisz, Sam Claflin, Holliday Grainger, Iain Glen
Votes: 20,957 | Gross: $2.68M
Screen version of Daphne Du Maurier's novel. Loved the book. Loved the 1952 film with Richard Burton and Olivia De Havilland. Take my advice: skip this one, watch the older one. Much better movie.
25. The First Monday in May (2016)
PG-13 | 90 min | Documentary
Follows the creation of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's most attended fashion exhibition in history, "China: Through The Looking Glass," an exploration of Chinese-inspired Western fashions by Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton.
Director: Andrew Rossi | Stars: Anna Wintour, Andrew Bolton, John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld
Votes: 1,946 | Gross: $0.53M
I was hoping this would be as intriguing as "The September Issue," the 2009 film about the annual Vogue magazine fashion tome. (It wasn't.) Don't know why I should equate the two -- I guess because they both include Anna Wintour. This one was interesting too, and I enjoyed seeing all the behind-the-scenes museum activity. But in the end, the whole thing was about such inconsequential events and individuals that, if I hadn't been watching it inflight to Hawaii, I'd really regret wasting the time on it.
26. The Girl on the Train (2016)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A divorcee becomes entangled in a missing persons investigation that promises to send shockwaves throughout her life.
Director: Tate Taylor | Stars: Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Theroux
Votes: 199,485 | Gross: $75.40M
I'm not really sure why so many people seem to have loved this movie. It was an OK psychological thriller, with some Hitchcock-ish touches here and there. Maybe if I'd read the book first, I'd have enjoyed it more. But without knowing anything about the story beforehand, I had trouble just figuring out who was who. Why did all the women look so much alike? Was that a plot device in the book? Or just a look the director liked a lot? Actually, all the men looked pretty much alike too. Hmmm. Maybe I'm just getting too old for contemporary films.
27. The Relic (1997)
R | 110 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A homicide detective and an anthropologist try to destroy a South American lizard-like god, who's on a people eating rampage in a Chicago museum.
Director: Peter Hyams | Stars: Penelope Ann Miller, Tom Sizemore, Linda Hunt, James Whitmore
Votes: 30,206 | Gross: $33.96M
This was a very decent monster movie. Probably a little more gore than was really necessary, but special effects people gotta have something to do, right? It definitely kept me on edge, and reminded me a lot of the 1950s sci-fi B-movies with giant creatures invading cities, stomping on buildings and gobbling up fleeing citizens. In this one, my main complaint was that the monster was doing his gobbling in almost absolute darkness which sometimes made it a little hard to figure out exactly what sort of mayhem was taking pace. But with all the heads being ripped off, maybe that darkness was a blessing.
28. Café Society (2016)
PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In the 1930s, a Bronx native moves to Hollywood and falls in love with a young woman who is seeing a married man.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carell, Blake Lively
Votes: 81,334 | Gross: $11.10M
Woody's best work since "Midnight in Paris" and a huge relief after the almost unwatchable "Irrational Man." Kristen Stewart is another of those androgynous child-woman characters Woody is so hung up on, but at least she seemed less irritating than Emma Stone. She's very wooden and generally expressionless, but that fit the part pretty well. And Jesse Eisenberg slips right into the Woody Allen role, without it feeling like he's doing an impression of the Woodman. This one was very entertaining.
29. Queen of the Desert (2015)
PG-13 | 128 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A chronicle of Gertrude Bell's life, a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, and political attaché for the British Empire at the dawn of the twentieth century.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Robert Pattinson, Damian Lewis
Votes: 12,586
I had doubts going into this, since Nicole Kidman is not one of my favorite actresses and I'd read that she was in virtually every scene. She was not terrible, but I do think the movie would have been better with someone else in the lead. Kidman is very wooden, too old for the early part of the story, too stiff for the rest. And she's taller than just about everyone else in the film. You'd think they could have put some of the other actors on a box or something. Still, the desert was absolutely gorgeous and was, after all, the real star of the show.
30. The Watcher in the Woods (2017 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 87 min | Horror
Mrs. Aylwood is a distraught mother since her daughter, Karen, vanished in the Welsh countryside 30 years ago. When the Carstairs family move into the Aylwood manor for the summer., strange... See full summary »
Director: Melissa Joan Hart | Stars: Anjelica Huston, Tallulah Evans, Nicholas Galitzine, Dixie Egerickx
Votes: 763
Remake of a cult classic from 1980. Lots of problems here (and lots of "borrowings"), although the atmosphere was nice. Reminded me of those PBS After School Specials I used to watch sometimes, back in the '90s. Melissa Joan Hart's first time directing a feature-length film, I believe. Room for improvement, but shows potential. How did she rope Anjelica Huston into this project?
31. The Wizard of Lies (2017 TV Movie)
TV-MA | 133 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The fall of Bernie Madoff, whose Ponzi scheme robbed $65 billion from unsuspecting victims; the largest fraud in U.S. history.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Alessandro Nivola, Nathan Darrow
Votes: 28,685
One of the scariest non-horror movies I've ever seen. Good lesson, though: If you've got an adviser handling your financial doings, make sure they SHOW you the money!
32. Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)
PG | 96 min | Horror
In 1972 London - a century after his final battle with Professor Van Helsing - Count Dracula is resurrected by occultist Johnny Alucard, and goes after his archenemy's descendants.
Director: Alan Gibson | Stars: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Stephanie Beacham, Christopher Neame
Votes: 7,448
Wow! Who knew vampires were so groovy? Not much of interest here. Peter Cushing turns in a decent performance, as always. But by 1972 Christopher Lee was 50 years old and had been playing Count Dracula for at least 15 years. It's a little disturbing to see the Count aging, since he's supposed to be immortal. One of Stephanie Beacham's earliest films, and she was lovely to watch. (And so were her breasts.)
33. Dead Silence (2007)
R | 89 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
After his wife meets a grisly end, Jamie Ashen returns to his hometown of Ravens Fair to find answers. His investigation leads him to the ghost of a ventriloquist named Mary Shaw who seems to have ties to his entire family tree
Director: James Wan | Stars: Ryan Kwanten, Amber Valletta, Donnie Wahlberg, Michael Fairman
Votes: 101,905 | Gross: $16.81M
34. The Return (2005)
PG-13 | 85 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Joanna Mills, a traveling business woman, begins having nightmares of a murder that occurred 15 years ago. Soon she is drawn to an old farmhouse, where the murder took place.
Director: Asif Kapadia | Stars: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Sam Shepard, Peter O'Brien, Adam Scott
Votes: 12,361 | Gross: $7.75M
35. Bridge of Spies (2015)
PG-13 | 142 min | Drama, History, Thriller
During the Cold War, an American lawyer is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American U2 spy plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda, Amy Ryan
Votes: 327,886 | Gross: $72.31M
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