I go back and forth on Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman. I think it’s one of those rare cases where the casting works, even though the actor isn’t that good, if that makes sense?

It also... how do I say this? For all that NYC is nominally the setting for most of Marvel’s films, there are a number of things that are fairly common to see in the real-world NYC that were just basically nonexistent in the MCU, and upper middle class interracial families most definitely numbered among them.

And leans into Keaton’s best ability as an actor; when he’s saying one thing but you can see the wheels are turning inside his head.

I actually think it was one of the better translations of Xavier from the comic to the screen. If you only know Prof X from cartoons and movies, I can understand that, but comic book Prof X....he’s not a good guy. He’s basically Magneto. That’s the whole point.

When he opens the front door was a genuine “Oh, shit!” moment for me.

The car ride with him slowly figuring out Peter is Spider-Man—and Peter realizing he’s realizing—all with Liz not knowing what she’s giving away, is the best scene in the movie.

“Nevermind that it completely misunderstand Xavier as a character even with neuro-degenerative disease.”

No, let’s not nevermind that - explain? 

“Keaton is fantastic and the twist genuinely surprised me.”

Yeah, it was the best kind of twist were it was genuinely surprising, but also you immediately thought “of course!  Why the fuck didn’t I realize this would happen!” 

“I literally still argue with a friend who says Logan was a bad movie.”

Your friend is dumb and his parents (and children, if he has any) should be ashamed to know him.

I agree - if you’d told me beforehand that a goddamn Wolverine movie would have me weeping the ugly tears by the end I wouldn’t have believed you in a million years, but guess what happened.

Yeah, 2018 is a tricky choice. Infinity War was the most ambitious & by far the most surprising. Spider-Verse was the most creative & the most fun. Black Panther, though, had the most accolades, by far the biggest cultural impact, and the 2nd-biggest financial impact (but we all knew nothing would top IW’s box…

I can’t imagine he won’t talk about IW at length in the other releases section, but Black Panther was (is?) such a phenomenon.

I was hoping for Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse.

About superhero movies in 2017:

Like, Logan is a violent, angry superhero film with lots of blood, in which innocents are slaughtered for being good Samaritans, where heroes have to make impossible, dark choices and also, actually, for-real die ... and none of it’s a slog or a grimdark chore to watch. Zack Snyder’s basic template CAN be sound, but…

Ares, the epic Greek god of war, as a middle-aged British man with a silly 1910s mustache

What a fantastic year. I haven’t seen WW, but Logan, Thor:Ragnorak, and Spider-Man:Homecoming remain among the best comic book movies of all time.

Wonder Woman was great, but I am still disappointed the third act turned into a weird superhero pastiche with a mustache-twirling villain and Steve Trevor’s First Avenger moment.

Counter-counter argument. I loved the Masters of the Universe movie as a kid, and wouldn’t trade it in for a good movie under any circumstance. There’s nothing wrong with a child enjoying a bad movie. :)

Ahhh, the George Lucas “I was making this movie for KIDS” defense.