This is a very silly kids Batman film that has enough jokes for adults to keep you laughing but is pretty damn cheesy.
Category: 2017
John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017, Chad Stahelski)
I didn’t like John Wick as much as most people did, though I found it entertaining, and so you’ll no doubt be surprised that I didn’t like Chapter 2 as much as most people did, or as much as I enjoyed the first one.
Screen Sounds (2017) by The Joe Policastro Trio
The third album by the Joe Policastro trio focuses on movie and TV themes (with one exception) and is, in some ways, even more fun than their second record. Certainly, it’s even more diverse. This time the material is just as varied, if not even more so. I’m particularly delighted by the presence of the …
Economism: Bad Economics and the Rise of Inequality (2017) by James Kwak
I agree with a lot of the author says but I’m not sure I like the way he says it. In fact, this feels a little bit like a book I would write, albeit with better sources – a rant about the spread of an idea from someone who is does not have a background …
Norm Macdonald: Hitler’s Dog, Gossip and Trickery (2017, Liz Plonka)
This is a pretty amusing but otherwise very standard standup special from someone who has long been one of my favourite standup comedians. (If I can be said to have favourites because I’m definitely a sketch comedy person.)
Wind River (2017, Taylor Sheridan)
This is a mostly excellent crime mystery/thriller set in rural Wyoming. (Is there any other kind of Wyoming?) It’s a pretty good film and the quibbles I have are mostly representation ones.
Fortitude (2015)
So this is a hard show to review for me because we watched the first season a few years ago, we watched the second season maybe at the beginning of the pandemic and we just watched the abbreviated final season this week. My memory of both the first and second season has faded and it’s …
Oceanarium (2017) by Deluge Grander
Literally 4 years ago (seriously) the leader of this group sent me a message and asked if I would review this album based on a partial release. I suck and so it’s taken me 4 years to get to it. (In my limited defense, my podcast was still running so I basically listened to nothing …
The Dawn Wall (2017, Josh Lowell, Peter Mortimer)
This is a pretty good documentary which I might have liked even more had I not stupidly already watched Free Solo first. I would strongly recommend that, if you’ve seen neither and you want to watch both, you watch The Dawn Wall first and Free Solo second. For one, that’s the chronological order of the …
The Leftovers (2014)
This is a well-made show with at least one fatal flaw. (And possibly two. I didn’t get that far.) Recommended as ideal for watching during the pandemic we found quite the opposite: that the pandemic actually made the whole thing seem far less believable than it might have seemed when it first aired.
Canadian Whisky, Second Edition: The New Portable Expert (2017) by Davin de Kergommeaux
I’m Canadian but I know every little about Canadian whisky. For most of my adult life I’ve definitely conflated “rye” and “Canadian” and only knew that some whiskies were Canadian through osmosis. Aside from a period of drinking “CC & G” as my go-to cocktail and another period of always having Wiser’s at home (usually …
La caméra de Claire (2017, Sang-soo Hong)
This is an extraordinarily slight film rendered sophisticated in the eyes of some by its unconventional narrative structure and the presence of Isabelle Huppert. Ever watch a critically acclaimed film where you wonder if the critics and you watched the same film? Well, it’s one of those.
The Dark Tower (2017, Nikolaj Arcel)
I know nothing about the source material but this is one of those films which feels like things went wrong from the very beginning. Apparently a huge part of the problem is that it is a fairly normal length movie adapted from a novel series that is over 4,000 pages long. So no wonder.
I, Tonya (2017, Craig Gillespie)
This is a very funny faux documentary about Tonya Harding’s skating career and her relationship with her ex-husband. The cast is excellent as is the sense of time and place. And though some minor dramatic license is taken this is entirely by design, which is worth thinking about giving the uproar this film caused.
Escape Room (2017, Will Wernick)
This is a stupid horror movie that is reasonably enjoyable for most of its run but which is utterly ruined by the ridiculous characterizations and its nonsensical ending. SPOILERS! By the way, this is not to be confused with the 2019 Escape Room.
Icarus (2017, Bryan Fogel)
This is a maddening, over-stylized, over-thought, over-long documentary about a story that I paid basically zero attention to at the time, but which deserves a great feature-length documentary. This Oscar-winning documentary is not that film. SPOILER ALERT
Happy Death Day (2017, Christopher Landon)
This is an enjoyable horror comedy that is just a titch too devoted to its inspiration. If you don’t know the premise and don’t know the inspiration, naming it will ruin the conceit for you so SPOILERS.
BoJack Horseman (2014)
There’s something about animation that gives TV shows (and some movies) a freedom of tone which is not accessible to live action movies and TV. Something about animated characters lets us humans be more accepting of tonal shifts and sight gags. At least I think so. I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered another show more …
The Post (2017, Steven Spielberg)
This is an engaging newspaper film that wants to be a classic but is held back both by its poetic license and its directors worst instincts. Still, I mostly enjoyed it.
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017, Jon Watts)
I hate reboots. There are perhaps few things I hate more than reboots than reboots of reboots. And yet, I must admit, this one works. And it works way better than expected. This film is, for me, one of the top 3 MCU movies. It might be the best, actually. Very minor spoilers if you …
Justice League (2017, Zack Snyder)
Oh hey, it’s Dumb Avengers.
The Enigma of Reason (2017) by Hugo Mercier, Dan Sperber
I liked it so much, I bought the book!
Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite (2017) by Jake Bernstein
I think tax avoidance/evasion is the second most important issue of our time. So I wanted to be able to recommend this book highly. Alas, I can’t unequivocally recommend it, though I would say it’s worth reading if you are unaware, as I am, of a better book on the subject. (I’m sure it’s out …
Far From Over (2017) by ViJay Iyer Sextet
This is my second Vijay Iyer record, the other one I’ve heard was a trio record which was obviously not as full band as this one. That makes him one of the 21st century jazz artists I’m actually paying attention to, because my popular music podcast has me ignoring jazz basically altogether at the moment.
Alias Grace (2017, Mary Harron)
This is a Canadian mini series with great pedigree, a Margaret Atwood novel adapted by Sarah Polley and directed by Mary Harron. I’m not sure Canadian television gets much more prestigious than this. (Also, Paul Gross is in it. But of course he is.) Those are some weighty expectations which, fortunately, I was not really …
Riley’s Best Films of the 2010s
I am an avid movie watcher. I have seen something like 5,000 movies in my life as well as countless hours of movie-quality TV. But my pace has slowed somewhat in the last decade, as life has gotten in the way. Moreover, because I see so few movies in theatres outside of my annual TIFF …
Logan Lucky (2017, Steven Soderbergh)
This is a very enjoyable heist comedy full of quirky performances and fun cameos. It’s a pretty silly film – some have called it a “hill billy” or “red neck” Ocean’s Eleven and the film itself calls it “Ocean’s 7-11” – but it’s pretty funny and manages to also be enjoyable as a heist movie, …
Blade Runner 20149 (2017, Denis Villeneuve)
I’ve seen the original Blade Runner 2 or 3 times over 10 years ago but I’ve yet to be completely sold on it. Before I watched, multiple people (critics, friends) told me it was one of the best movies ever made. I liked it more the second or third viewing, but I’ve never come around …
Anna and the Apocalypse (2017, John McPhail)
This movie is a Christmas, Zombie Musical. Yes, you read that right, three genres in one.