Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters is a new Japanese CG anime kaiju film.  It was produced by Toho Animation and was animated by Polygon Pictures. It is the 32nd feature film in the Godzilla franchise and the first animated take on Godzilla. It was co-directed by Kōbun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita, with a screenplay by Gen Urobuchi. It was recently released worldwide via Netflix.

Oscar nominations were announced this morning, and everybody and their mother is bound to have a hot take of some kind, so why not me (my mom could care less, though)? There’s bound to be a lot of huffing and puffing out there.

Steven Spielberg is a director who normally operates in two types of modes; alternating projects between big blockbusters and serious filmmaking with awards in mind. His latest, The Post, makes no qualms about what kind of film it wants to be, landing firmly with both feet in the latter camp. Spielberg has never been shy about making films with a message, but they rarely have been so deliberate in their intent to speak to the relevant news of the present.

Last year, I listed my 50 Most Anticipated Movies of 2017. I’m scaling back this year and keeping it to 20, whittled down from a list that started with 70 titles that caught my eye. 

Finishing our countdown of our favorite movies of 2017!

OnScreen Film Critic Ken Jones counts down his top films of 2017. 

Musicals are not my favorite genre of film, in fact, they may be my least favorite.  Having said that, I have been trying to make an effort to see some of the classics and approach them with an open mind.  Similarly, I was not a fan of the western genre for a long time either, but have come to appreciate the genre quite a bit.  My exposure to movie musicals is very limited.  I remember having to watch Fiddler on the Roof in music class in 4th grade as well as West Side Story at some point in elementary school.  I either did not pay attention or I forgot much of it (though I do vividly remember “If I were a rich man…!” from Fiddler).  

Guillermo del Toro is a fascinating director. When he is not doing big budget spectacle like Pacific Rim or Hellboy, he is making poignantly beautiful films like The Devil’s Backbone, and Pan’s Labyrinth. The Shape of Water is his latest film and it is very much in the vein of Pan’s Labyrinth as a Beauty and the Beast type of modern fable.

There are three types of movies that suck me in no matter what the concept is:

1)     Any movie starring Jean Claude Van Damme.

2)     Haunted House movies (as long as they are not laughably bad).

3)     Time travel movies (especially starring Jean Claude Van Damme).