The year is over and we're already moving on to 2018, but before we begin to forget about the year that was, a few of us here at Atomic Geekdom decided to live in the past for this article. Here's our choices for the best of 2017 in Film, TV, Books, Music, and more!
JENNY ROBINSON
MOVIES:
The Shape of Water
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Wonder Woman
Logan
I had the hardest time picking my favorite top 5 in the movie genre this year. There are so many I want to add to this list and kept bouncing them around. Baby Driver held my #1 spot for most of the year with Logan a close second. Now that we are at the end of the year, The Shape of Water wins. It is everything I love about Del Toro. It’s classical, beautiful, dark, romantic, tragic, etc. I can’t stop thinking about it. Baby Driver was a gift that delivered a function packed movie with an amazing integrated sound track. Blade Runner 2049 scored a high spot for the simple fact that also beautifully made, I loved the old pace of the film and a story that felt predicable proved me wrong. Some honorable mentions I would note IT, Get Out, Thor: Ragnarok and The Last Jedi, all for great concept and writing.
TELEVISION:
American Gods
Punisher
Black Mirror S3
Stranger Things 2
Peaky Blinders S4
Hands down, American Gods takes #1. WOW! Now keep in mind I am a huge fan of Neil Gaiman’s book but Starz created a perfect gem in my honest opinion. It was also very refreshing to have Netflix's The Punisher. It is such a dark, violent yet emotionally honest series. Some honorable mentions would be The Walking Dead S7. I loved the fact that had some key comic book elements (Maggie is starting to feel like book Maggie and Jeffery Dean Morgan IS Negan) but they also got tracked with the great “All Out War” storyline that pulled me away from it a bit. I would say the same went with Game of Thrones. I loved both series but the flaws I saw in my opinion bumped them from my top 5 (although they would stand strong on a top 10).
BOOKS/GRAPHIC NOVELS/COMICS:
Dogs of War /Joe Ledger Book 9 - Jonathan Maberry
Artemis - Andy Weir
The Walking Dead - Here’s Negan - Robert Kirkman
Tales of Falling and Flying - Ben Loory
The Walking Dead Whisper Wars - Robert Kirkman
Now don’t get me wrong, I ready a TON of great books this year, but the ones note above are just ones that were released in 2017. Of course, Joe Ledger gets my #1 spot. Every book has a new scary twist of “I think this could actually happen” and I keep me fingers crossed Echo Team really truly is real (Silly? Maybe.). You can get my full review of Artemis if you check out our awesome interview with Andy Weir as well. Other books that would have been added if they were actually released this year would have been the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Ruthfuss, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North and The Passenger by Lisa Lutz. Each book was very different from each other but all with intriguing characters.
MUSIC:
Beck - Colors
The National - Sleep Well Beasts
Father John Misty - Pure Comedy
Wolf Parade - Cry Cry Cry
Dude York - Sincerely
This was an off year for me with music. My tastes leaned more toward older relics. I spent a lot of the year listening to old Nina Simone, Waylon Jennings and The Rolling Stones, yet the albums noted stood out and find themselves on repeat within a shuffle while I struggle through traffic on the 405 each night. AND can I just say… Beck is amazing. Some honorable mentions, Fleet Foxes “Crack Up” which I know will continue to capture and grow on me, New Evil’s “A Witch Shall Be Born” which has some pretty awesome “modern meets 80’s punk pop” jams and Alt-J’s “Relaxer” because their tunes act as mental therapy.
JUSTIN POMERVILLE
MOVIES:
Blade of the Immortal
Shape of Water
It
Get Out
Wonder Woman
Trying to pick this years films wasn't to hard, as most have been amazing. It really came down to Blade of the Immortal vs Shape of Water for the top spots. I went with Blade of the Immortal for mainly it being a foreign samurai film that had an amazing story, aesthetically pleasing, and despite the run time being almost 3 hours, didn't actually feel like it was dragging. It reminded me of many anime films I have watched, but still felt like it's own rich story (despite it being a manga first). It's a sleeper hit that really needs that praise. Nothing to take away from Shape of Water, as it too was a great original story, visually spectacular, and made me think of the Creature From The Black Lagoon (which to me is the best Universal Monster film).
TELEVISION:
The Punisher
American Gods
Stranger Things 2
American Vandal
Glow
As you can see, the majority of the shows I enjoyed were mainly Netflix exclusives. With their streaming service dominating in many ways, it's really hard to not be sucked into their brand, especially with the amount of freedom they have with their shows. The Punisher topped them all for me because they took a pretty two dimensional Marvel vigilante character, and flushed him out to be a huge stand out in the Marvel Netflix line of shows. It didn't feel rushed and I couldn't find a single episode that felt like a filler. It kept my attention the entire time.
MUSIC:
Outlive- Demon Hunter
Manic Revelations- Pokey Lafarge
No Grave But The Sea- Alestorm
Emperor of Sand- Mastodon
The Blood of Gods- Gwar
I usually stick to my roots of metal and hard rock and if Demon Hunter puts out a new album, unless they take a huge misstep, they will be in the top five. I enjoy them too much with their mash of hard hitting thrasher hits, to then switch up to a more melodic rock tone. As you can see, the majority of my list is of the metal/rock variety, except for Pokey Lafarge, who blew me away with his new album. With his blend of blue grass, big band, and New Orleans swing, he finds a way to transport you back to a simpler time in music, but still sounding in today's music scene.
BOOKS/GRAPHIC NOVELS/COMICS:
I Hate Fairyland Vol. 3: Good Girl
Shirtless Bearfighter
Kill Or Be Killed Vol. 1
Godshaper
Batman/Flash: The Button
I'm not going to lie, I'm a huge Marvel comics fan, however of their newly re-numbering system, re-doing new comic lines, making extensive new comic lines to older characters (Deadpool has 5 different comics going at the moment), and their need to have event crossover events every four months, it's hard to keep up with what is going on. Except for Moon Knight, which is getting a mention because it's a great series. So, I've been more on the indie circuit reading the more off-beat, strange series that Image has to offer. Mainly the always impressive I Hate Fairyland series. As long as they are still pumping comics out, I will always make them my number one pick because of how outrageous they are. Much like Shirtless Bearfighter, because why not have naked guy raised by bears who fights the toilet paper industry?
Johnny Wellens
MOVIES:
This has been a great year for film! For all genres there were many successes and few failures. Normally each year I create two lists of best movies: Comic Book/Superhero and Everything Else. This year I did not have to do that for what I believe to be the best movie of the year. Oh you know what I’m talking about, you know I’m talking about that Logan! Wow, what an exceptional film. It was vicious, horrifying and beautiful all at once. Jackman and Stewart had been playing these characters for 17 years and it was heartbreaking to see not only the end of their tenures but the end for their characters. And while Deadpool proved that an R-rated superhero film could work, Logan proved that an R-rated superhero film doesn’t have to be a comedy to work.
Honorable Mentions:
Thor: Ragnarok
Coco
Dunkirk
Wonder Woman
War for the Planet of the Apes
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Oh and Pirates 5! ...bwahahahah! Just kidding, that movie sucked.
TELEVISION:
TV shows also had themselves a great year. I like to pick a favorite returning show and a favorite new premiere. My favorite returning show is a no-brainer for me, it’s Better Call Saul. If you’re not watching Better Call Saul, please get on board. If you watched Breaking Bad but you don’t watch Better Call Saul...shame on you. You should know better. My favorite premiere of a new show is a bit tougher because there were a lot of great shows that premiered this year. But the one I raved about the most and have even rewatched is The Punisher. I loved just about everything we were introduced to and Bernthal has cemented himself as THE Punisher in my eyes.
Honorable Mentions:
Rick and Morty (Pickle Rick! Am I right guys? Blow up McDonalds! Amirite?! Ugh, the fandom for R&M is toxic, be better people this year.)
American Gods
Game of Thrones
The Last Man on Earth
Runaways
The Good Place
Stranger Things
BoJack Horseman
MUSIC:
I don’t have as much to say on music as it’s rare that I get albums anymore, there are few artists I appreciate enough to get their stuff and most of them didn’t release anything this year. But one thing I can say I listened to a ton of this year is Hi-Finesse, they’re a group that creates music for movie trailers and other various products. Check out their website and you’ll get an idea of what they do and how good it is. The majority of what I listen to these days is orchestral music so I’m not as “in touch” with traditional artists as I used to be.
BOOKS/GRAPHIC NOVELS/COMICS:
This hasn’t been the greatest year for me for comics. I’ve fallen out of love with Marvel almost completely. Astonishing Ant-Man’s run ended in 2016 and that was practically the only thing I read on a regular basis by Marvel. Here’s hoping 2018 sees the return of some of my favorite characters so I can get back on that Marvel train. For DC I had a pretty great year though! My boy Wally West returned in Rebirth and I have loved reading Titans. By the way, our show Just 2 Pals interviewed the artist for Titans (Brett Booth) if you want to check that out! I also have been reading Injustice 2, Action Comics and Deathstroke. Additionally, I read the first two issues of Doomsday Clock and REALLY enjoyed them.
VIDEO GAMES:
Injustice 2. Best game of the year in my opinion. I’m not very good at it, I lose fairly often online and I have some gripes about the cast. But overall it’s been my favorite game both to play and watch. Their tournaments are very hype! I also just finished playing South Park: The Fractured But Whole. What a game! So much fun! Other than those I replayed a lot of my favorite games this year on the PS4 which I will list below:
The Last of Us
Final Fantasy 9
Final Fantasy 10
The Batman Arkham Series
Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2
Dave Clark
MOVIES:
It
Wonder Woman
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Get Out
This was a great year for movies. There was so many outstanding films released that making a list of my favorites was tough. It and Get Out were outstanding horror films proved how important good horror is to the cinematic world. Guardians 2, while not as good as the first was so much fun to see in the theaters. Wonder Woman was easily the best DC film in recent history, but also transcended the genre as just and outstanding film. Finally, The Last Jedi made my list because even though people hated it and they enjoy to say it's not a real Star Wars film, Rian Johnson took chances that no person had done with the Star Wars mythology. He took risks and while some didn't work, others made it very unpredictable. It has its flaws but I enjoyed this movie and have seen it three times already. I cannot wait for Johnson's new trilogy of films to begin to take shape!
TELEVISION:
Stranger Things 2
Black Mirror S4
Agents of SHIELD S4
The Gifted
Runaways
Stranger Things was the best thing to happen to me, entertainment-wise. The first season captured the 80's movies I loved with such care and respect while throwing some humor at it as well. The second season not only progressed the story but also amplified the Duffer Brothers homage to the 80's films they loved so much. I cannot express the love I have for this show in words, I can rewatch it without getting tired of it and I can listen to both the score and musical soundtracks and be fully immersed in the world of Stranger Things. I'm a child of the 80's and this show spoke to me in ways I can't even describe as noted by how bad this paragraph is written! I also enjoyed the debuts of The Gifted and Runaways quite a bit. The Gifted is a great series based in the world of the X-Men while Runaways did a great job of adapting the amazing source material into a wonderful new series. What can be said about Black Mirror that hasn't already been said? Nothing. I love it and need more of it now!
MUSIC:
Linkin Park: One More Light
Stranger Things (Soundtrack)
Foo Fighters: Concrete and Gold
Paramore: After Laughter
Story of the Year: Wolves
This was a tough year for musically. The lead singer of the both Soundgarden and Linkin Park took their own lives. Chester Bennington was a hero of mine. I admired his singing style and since day one, I've been an enormous Linkin Park fan. I was disappointed that they went a little more pop in style with their newest album One More Light, but I enjoyed it upon first listen. After hearing of Chester's passing in July, I haven't stopped listening to One More Light and it has taken on a completely new meaning. Each song has depth and emotion that I didn't hear before. I was also lucky enough to travel to L.A. to see the band pay tribute to their friend at the Hollywood Bowl. I said goodbye to a man who inspired me to learn guitar and lead a band myself in the early 2000's. It's still hard to hear his music and not get sad but also hopeful for my future.
BOOKS/GRAPHIC NOVELS/COMICS:
Artemis - Andy Weir
Batman: The War of Jokes and Riddles - Tom King
Doomsday Clock - Geoff Johns
Ahsoka - E.K. Johnston
Titans: The Lazarus Contract - Christopher Priest, Benjamin Percy, Dan Abnett
While we did begin our Atomic Geekdom Book Club this year, I have to admit I did not read as many books as I would've liked in 2017. I've made a Goodreads challenge to myself to finish 20 books in 2018 (new books, not re-reads). I'm already 2 books into it and I'm excited to get back to my reading ways. This list of mine is in no specific order but reading Andy Weir's follow-up to his huge hit The Martian was extremely awesome. Artemis was a great book and getting to talk to Weir about the process of writing it made it even more interesting. 2017 saw the return of Gambit to the X-Men books, but I didn't include them on my list, however, I'm hoping 2018 with the new Rogue & Gambit mini-series beginning, it'll be on the list next year.
That's just our opinions on the best of the year. Let us know your thoughts and what made your lists! Sound off in the comments below or hit us up on Twitter or Facebook to discuss! Happy New Year and let's make 2018 the best year yet!