Since the looking backwards is over now, it is time to start looking forward.  And the year 2018 has many films that I am anticipating.

Now, there will be plenty of other movies I will anticipate before 2018 comes to a close.  For example, I hadn’t heard anything about The Disaster Artist until late in 2017.  I could not have anticipated it in December of 2016.  Just remember that.

So, in no particular order, here are the films I am most anticipating at this point for 2018.

Avengers: Infinity Wars.  I said in no order, but that is not completely true.  There is no film am I looking forward to more than Infinity War.  The Marvel Cinematic Universe trots out its big gun and brings the roster of heroes together to face him.  Cannot wait.

Black Panther. This one is just around the corner.  Ryan Coogler has not missed yet, and this looks to be in the same vein of importance as Wonder Woman was.  So, I hope that Black Panther is as great of a movie as Wonder Woman was.

The Incredibles 2.  LONG overdue.  Pixar is finally bringing us the sequel to one of their great movies in their history.  Every body is returning and it should be awesome.

The New Mutants.  This one looks tremendous as a “horror” movie. I am curious to see how the promotion of this goes since Marvel Studios will be taking these characters back at some time in the future, but what I have seen looks cool so far.

Deadpool 2.  Ryan Reynolds hit gold with the first one.  Can he do it again?  This is another one where the franchise’s future is up in the air as Deadpool is heading into the MCU. How this does might be a way to sway Disney into what to do.

Annihilation.  This is a science fiction story that looks to be fascinating.  I do not know what is really going on, but I loved Ex Machina, and the creator of that is doing this.  Toss in Emily Blunt and Oscar Isaacs and what else do you need?

A Wrinkle in Time.  This is a great book so I am anxious to see how it gets adapted into a movie.  Will Oprah be a distraction?

Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse.  Sony’s animated Spider-man tale was not on my radar until I saw that epic trailer.  Plus, it is starring Miles Morales.  And the spider-Verse?  This could be your sleeper of the year.

Solo: A Star Wars Story.  Young Han Solo has not been something I really wanted.  Still, with all the behind the scenes drama and Ron Howard coming into the production, this one is tweaking my interest.

Ant Man & The Wasp.  This one comes AFTER the Infinity War and who knows what the world will be like at that point.  I also really loved Ant Man and Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily are casting winners for sure.

Wreck It Ralph 2.  The first film was a surprise hit for me, and this is another sequel that took longer than it should have to get to.  It looks like a lot of fun now though.

Here’s hoping that 2018 is a great year in movies!

Here we go.  The list is compiled and the rottenness is combined.  This is the Worst 30 Movies I saw this year.

Again, there are some specifics. First, it had to be movie that I have seen.  There are some stink bombs that I skipped this year (or tried to send the intern to, but couldn’t get that to work out… *wink Chris*)  Anyway, I did not see Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature, Underworld: Blood Wars, Smurfs: Lost Village, The Resurrection of Gavin Stone, Jigsaw, and Tyler Perry’s Boo 2: A Maeda Halloween.  Odds are that these fart knockers might have found their way onto this lost had I gone to them.

Second point, was that the star rating I give to the movies with my typical reviews are thrown out the window here.  They may be used initially to find the films, but then I look back and determine what is worse.

And though there were a lot of great movies this year, there were also a ton of crap as well.  I literally had 7 films that I considered for the #1 spot.  Legitimately, numbers 1-7 could have wound up at number one.  This is also the year where I have had the most films with a star rating under 1 star.  I had nine of them.  That is something else.

Of course, perhaps one of these films is a film that you love or that you really connected with and if that is the case, good for you.  Film is subjective and that is one of the best things about it.  What I hate, someone else might love.  My friend Chris just messaged me that he would have put “It” in his worst five list and I, of course, have it at number 2 of my Best list.  Different opinions are great.

Without further ado… The Top 30 Worst Films of 2017

#30.  A Dog’s Purpose.  I know several people who loved this thing, but I hated it.  It was so manipulative and intentionally attempted to play upon the emotions of the audience.  Yet, we all know from the trailer that the dog will find its way to Dennis Quaid.  Hated the fakeness of the emotion.  Those feelings were not earned by this movie.

#29.  Before I Fall.  Based on a YA Novel, which is a pretty good bet for a film to end up on this list anyway, Before I Fall is like Groundhog’s Day meets Mean Girls.  The list of coincidences for this story to work is ridiculous and just not worth the time.

#28.  Ghost in the Shell.  This is one of those films that I didn’t completely hate at first, but in retrospect, continually slipped the more I thought about it.  Can’t we just get Scarlet Johansson that Black Widow movie and be done with it? I know the fans of these popular properties deserve more than what they have gotten.

#27.  Friend Request.  A horror movie where a stalker chick is befriended on Facebook by a popular girl who felt sorry for her.  Then the stalker began posting horrible stuff to the timeline.  Videos that show violent deaths and such so the popular girl unfriends her.  Stalker kills herself and now it is popular girl’s fault?  Then, stalker girl somehow is haunting her Facebook.  Yeah, I know this sounds stupid.  It is.

#26.  The Shack.  The Shack had potential to be better than what it turned out to be, but it took the wrong turn.  It turned into one of those faith based films that tossed aside a potentially good story for some preaching.

#25.  The Dinner.  Two brothers, one running for governor, meet with their wives for dinner at a fancy restaurant to discuss the problems caused by their children.  It ends with some of the stupidest third act nonsense of the year.

#24.  Inconceivable.  And not the word spoken by Vizzini, either.  Nic Cage is here.  There is a nanny who seems sweet but turns out to want to destroy the family from within.  Nothing new here. And Nic Cage…

#23.  Monster Trucks.  A silly alien movie where said alien winds up inside a monster truck and can use its long tentacles to move that truck really fast.  If you are 12 years old, this one might be for you.  If not, skip it.

#22. Sleepless. Jamie Foxx is a dirty cop.. or is he?  Maybe he is undercover.  Maybe his son gets kidnapped by the villains.  Can you picture what happens?  I’m sure you can.

#21.  Rings.  This one was on the shelf for quite a while.  And Honestly, it should have stayed there.  A sequel to the previous Rings movies, Rings was dull and boring and made people do stupid things.

#20.  Unforgettable.  One of the best comedies of the year.   Problem was… it was not a comedy.  It’s a thriller.  I swear they put this exact movie out every year, just with different actors.  A Fatal Attraction rip off that is good for a laugh.

#19.  King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.  Just a terrible version of the classic legend.  The only parts that seemed to work was the parts director Guy Ritchie included.  Most of this was just rotten as could be.  This could have been so much better.

#18.  Pitch Perfect 3.  At least there is some good music.  Everything in this movie that is not the Bellas or one of the other band in here playing music/singing is completely stupid and forced.  There is a ridiculous action plot in here as well where the Bellas have to jump off an exploding ship.  If that isn’t a metaphor for this movie, then I don;t know what is.

#17.  You Get Me.  A terrible Netflix film starring Bella Thorne.  It is another one of those Fatal Attraction clone films, this time with high school students.  Just terrible.

#16.  Daddy’s Home 2.  The first Daddy’s Home had a third act that I really enjoyed. The first two acts were terrible, but I had hopes that they learned from the mistakes.  The trailers looked good.  Then I saw the movie.  There were no laughs.  There were so many stupid things happening that you could just not stand it.  Not even “Do They Know It’s Christmas Time” can save this turd.

#15.  Flatliners.  This one was DOA.  How do you make a movie about traveling to the other side so damn boring?  This is one of the most unnecessary remakes of the year.  It is not like the original Flatliners was a great movie.  Let’s let this RIP.

#14.  Wish Upon.  This actually had a horror concept that could have worked.  A magical box that grants wishes but each wish has a terrible cost.  Then, they gave this box to a girl who starts making wishes and, despite figuring out that people are dying because she is making these wishes, KEEPS ON MAKING THEM.  She has to be considered one of the most selfish characters of the year.

#13.  The Return of Xander Cage.  I have never seen any of the XXX movies and, after seeing this one, there is no damn way that I want to revisit them.  The worst of Vin Diesel.

#12.  The House.  I am not a Will Farrell fan, but every now and then, he gives me something to enjoy.  This was not one of them.  Parents who cannot afford to send their daughter to the college she wanted to go to, decides to set up an illegal casino in their basement.  Yeah, no problems to be had there.  If only the film was funny.

#11.  Collide.  I did not know this was coming out. I saw it at Cinemark and I had no idea what it was.  Then, after looking I saw that it had Ben Kingsley and Anthony Hopkins in it.  Huh?  Plus, Nicholas Hoult and Felicity Jones. Really?  Why had I not seen one piece of promotional material about this?  I’ll tell you why… it was God awful.

#10.  Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.  God let’s hope so.  Terrible action.  Terrible CGI.  No story.  Here’s hoping that this really is the final chapter.

#9.  Just Getting Started.  It is really sad seeing two great actors, Tommy Lee Jones and Morgan Freeman, just cashing a paycheck and making something like this.  You can tell Tommy Lee Jones doesn’t want to be on the screen.  The story feels like it was written by a middle school student.

#8.  The Emoji Movie.  This is so bad.  Perhaps some kids would like it but adults who take their kids to this should be disgraced because it does nothing but dumb down our children with ridiculous characters, dumb plots and a message that encourages more texting.  As if people need encouragement for that.

#7.  The Bye Bye Man.  we are starting the placement on the list where they could all be interchangeable.  The Bye Bye Man is a horror movie where a creature shows up if you say his name or think his name.  Really?  It was such a laughable plot and it has every horror cliche you could imagine.  I hope we can wish a bye bye to the Bye Bye Man.

#6.  50 Shades Darker.  The sequel to the horrendous 50 Shades of Grey, this one was worse.  There were so many scene of just stupidity, and there was not even that many sexy scenes.  The whole helicopter scene was as anticlimactic as you could possibly get.  I literally was laughing at that.  What do you expect from Twilight Fan Fiction?

#5.  Fist Fight.  I hated this movie so much.  A big reason was that I found it remarkably insulting to the teaching profession.  As a teacher, I kept seeing things that would NEVER happen in any school and we were being asked to accept it as common practice.  This was not only insulting to the teachers, but also to administrators and to the students.  And had it been funny, you might be able to forgive all of that.  Just a complete fail.

#4.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul.  Some of the previous Diary films were watchable.  Then they recast everyone (probably an age thing) and this was just a steaming pile of pig poop (if you saw the film, you would know the reference).  I know they are still writing Diary books, but hopefully this will show them that they do not necessarily need to make a movie about each one.  Please.

#3.  Chips.  Here is another one of those insulting films.  This one insults police officers and anyone who may have enjoyed the original Chips TV show.  About as low brow of humor as you could get, Chips just had zero redeeming qualities.

#2. The Snowman.  How could this movie be boring?  It was.  I picked out the killer the second he walked on the screen.  It was so obvious.  Michael Fassbender played a detective named Harry Hole.  No, I am not kidding.  Why?  Even if that was the source material, couldn’t they have changed it to Barry Hole?  Or how about Hank Hole.  Or make Hole Hale instead.  Did they just want to jokes?  The trailer for this implied that this would be a taut, exciting thriller.  It was not.  One of the biggest disappointments of many years.

#1. Transformers: The Last Knight.  With so many possible number ones, how did I decide on the final choice?  I thought back on which movie I had the worst time in the theater watching.  Transformers started and within 30-45 minutes, it felt like 2 hours.  It started with Merlin cracking horrible jokes, where I actually wondered if I was watching a Monty Python skit (except, you know, not a funny one).  Anthony Hopkins was having a good old time because, you know, he couldn’t give to shits about this.  It dragged on and on and on.  I had taken a bathroom break about 1h45 minutes into it and I was hoping it would be wrapping up soon, and then I realized that Optimus Prime was still just floating around in space.  The film completely wasted Unicron.  Ugh.  This was too long, too stupid and too hard to watch.  Half of the dialogue was indistinguishable.  By the end, I felt like a boxer who had been pummeled for 15 rounds.  It was the worst experience I had in the theater this year, and so, in a year where there were so many possible options for number one, this wins out.

So here we go.  What the whole Year in Review has been building up towards… The EYG Top 30 Best Movies of 2017.

Before we start the countdown, I need to specify some rules.

1.  The list is my personal opinion.  I have no problem with anyone who may disagree with my list.  Film is subjective and that is one of the great things about it.  You may think Movie 43 is the greatest movie ever made, and you have that right.
2. The list does not take into consideration the rating that I gave at the time of the review.  Just because I gave a film a 5 star rating, does not mean it will be above another film with a 4.5 star rating.
3. Some films do better on second viewing while some slip in retrospect.  There have been films that I liked on first viewing that as I reflect upon it, I realize that I did not like it as much a I thought I did.  Call it the Amazing Spider-man 2 effect.
4. And, of course, this is only movies that I have been able to see.  Many films open in limited locations around the US but not in an area where I can see it.  So there will be no Shape of Water, The Post, I, Tanya, Call Me By Your Name, Phantom Thread, Molly’s Game, The Florida Project on my list.

Any way… here is the official EYG List of Top 30 Best Movies of 2017

First up:  Honorable Mentions:  Jim & Andy, Stronger, Okja, The Girl with all the Gifts, Gifted, Disneynature: Born in China, My Scientology Movie

#30.  The Book of Henry.  I wanted to include this on my list because there was so much hatred for this film and I thought it was wonderful.  Great performances.  Emotional story beats and a unexpected twist that surprised me (though it did come out of left field).  I understand those who hated this, but I was not one of them.

#29.  Phoenix Forgotten.  One of the few found footage films this year that was any good at all.  I really enjoyed the story about the mysterious lights that many residents of Phoenix reported seeing.  This was a clever use of history to tell a story.

#28.  Ferdinand.  This one caught me so off guard.  I never thought that I would like this film, let alone make it #28 on my best film list.  There was just something about the movie that grabbed me and engaged me with the characters and the story.

#27.  The Incredible Jessica Jones.  The first of the Netflix series to make the list this year.  Jessica Williams took a star turn in this comedy/drama.  Look to her because her future is bright.

#26.  Detroit.  This was a tough watch and one that I do not need to see again.  However, I was glad that I saw it once.  The evil we can do in name of hatred never fails to sicken me.  This was one of those movies where you cuddle up in a corner and rock after seeing it.  An important film to see at least once.

#25.  3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.  There are some powerful moments here and some great characters who take things way too  far.  Who are we actually rooting for here?  Those lines are blurred dramatically.  Great performances though.

#24.  Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.  Here is another one that I really enjoyed but received its share of hatred from critics.  The criticisms I heard never entered my mind and I thought it was absolutely stunning to look at.

#23.  The Man Who Invented Christmas.  This was another one that I did not think I would like as much as I did.  The story of Charles Dickens and his writing of A Christmas Carol in six weeks to beat a deadline was told in a most original manner and I thoroughly enjoyed myself watch it play out.

#22.  John Wick 2.  A fine sequel to the original, but it was just not up to the line set by the first one.  Keanu Reeves was still great as the character and there were still awesome action scenes.

#21.  Split.  M. Night Shyamalon is back.  James McAvoy gave one of the best performances of his career and made this movie awesome even before the unbelievable and unforeseen twist at the end which made this film more than it was before.  It was great at first and epic afterwards.

#20.  Blade Runner 2049.  The Blade Runner sequel was beautifully created and performed and there was so much to it.  Harrison Ford was amazing here, looking like he cared very much about the film.  Unfortunately, much like the first Blade Runner, this one was not a success at the Box Office.  Maybe this one will become the cult hit like Blade Runner did.  It would deserve it.

#19.  Colossal.  This one sneaked under the radar for a lot of people, but it was a really great monster movie focusing on the quiet moments.  Anne Hathaway returned to prominence with the film and Jason Sudeikis may have given his best performance ever.

#18.  Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.  This is a film that crept up this list consistently, stopping here at #18.  The Rock and Jack Black give fabulous performances playing against type and we get that 1980s feel of action/adventure that we don’t see much any more.  Jumanji was a fun time.

#17.  Gerald’s Game.  The next Netflix film is a dark one.  I suppose that makes sense as it is a Stephen King adaptation.  Handcuffed t the bed is a bad place to be if your husband has had a heart attack, you are in a remote cabin and there is a hungry dog hanging around.  Tense and nerve-wracking, Gerald’s Game is one of Netflix’s best.

#16.  Star Wars: The Last Jedi.  This film has been very divisive among Star Wars fans, but I really loved it.  There were some problems with the story which dropped this down my list, but the best parts of The Last Jedi were some of the best parts of any movie this year.  The third act alone here is beyond anything I expected.

#15.  Mudbound. Here is the best Netflix film of the year.  Such a powerful story of family, survival, racism, love and anger, Mudbound was an epic to watch.  I would have like to have seen this on the big screen instead of on my computer screen.  Great performances and there should be some Oscar nominations for this one.

#14.  Wind River. The fact that this film is #14 should speak to how strong of a year for movies we had.  Jeremy Renner was wonderful in this movie and Elizabeth Olson was a perfect partner for him.  The story was tragic and the cinematography was beautiful.  Wind River is one to see if you missed it.

#13.  Baby Driver.  Another one that did not make the top ten, but could have in another year.  I loved the story of baby and his amazing skill at driving.  I did not love the relationship with Baby and Lily James, but that did not take away from the story for me.  Jamie Foxx was great here too and I loved his end.

#12.  The Lego Batman Movie.  This might be the best Batman movie we have gotten since the Dark Knight.  Who would have thought that. There was question about whether or not the Batman bit in the Lego Movie could carry its own film.  No doubt now. This was funny and awesome.

#11.  Get Out.  A masterpiece as a first film for director Jordan Peele.  This was not the kind of film I thought he would do, but obviously, Peele has plenty of things to say about society and race relations and he can do it in entertaining ways that do not make you feel as if he is preaching to you.  Get Out is one of the best horror films of the year.

#10. Wonder Woman.  A vitally important film, Wonder Woman provides a hero for those young girls to look up to and to aspire to be like.  Patty Jenkins did a fantastic job here, creating the one DCEU film that is loved by all.  Gal Gadot proved she was Diana.  A weaker third act that leaned on CGI too much brought the film down a little for me, but the No Man’s Land sequence is one of the greats.

#9.  Brigsby Bear.  I did not see this one coming either.  I loved this movie of a boy who had been kidnapped as a child but raised as a part of a family. He was hidden away and he watched only the TV show Brigsby Bear, the show his father (Mark Hamill) would make for him.  This was a dark movie, but one with so much heart and warmth that it takes away the darkness.

#8.  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.  This is one that I loved more on second viewing than the first.  I thought the first time that this was great, but I did have some issues.  The second time, my expectations were gone, and I enjoyed this as much as any movie this year.  The Yondu scene is as emotional as you will find.

#7.  The Big Sick.  Kumail Nanjiani tells the true story of how he found his wife Emily in this heart warming tale.  Emily gets terribly sick and Kumail has to wait with her parents at the hospital.  To make it worse, Emily and Kumail had broken up.  This was poignant, funny, and showed us some amazing characters.

#6.  Thor: Ragnarok.  Anyone claiming that Marvel Studios doesn’t take risks can shut up now.  They gave their Thor franchise over to Taika Watiti and he made something that the MCU had never seen before.  This was funny from start to finish and the movie had real stakes.  Thor: Ragnarok is the best of the Thor franchise going away.

#5.  The Disaster Artist.  If you have not seen The Room, you should treat yourself.  This is the story of how The Room, one of the worst movies ever to see the light of day, came to be.  James Franco plays Tommy Wiseau to perfection but they do not just poke fun at Tommy and The Room.  They look at Tommy as a fully fleshed out person with feeling and emotions and it is wonderful.

#4.  Coco.  Pixar is at it again with an emotionally draining tale of Miguel and his desire to follow his dream of being a musician despite his family’s refusal.  His journey takes him to the Land of the Dead where he finds family members from the past to help him follow his heart.  Blubbering at the end of it.  Coco hit the feels more than any film this year (well… except maybe for #1)

#3.  Spider-man: Homecoming.  Spider-man is home in the MCU!  Where he belongs.  He also got one of the great villains of the year in the Vulture, played expertly by Michael Keaton.  Homecoming was full of fun and adventure and Peter Parker in high school.  Tom Holland was tremendous and is on his way to being the best Peter Parker we ever had.

#2.  It.  This almost made it to number one.  I loved the remake of It this year.  This film transcended the horror genre.  it was as much of a coming of age story or a thriller as it was horror, but, make no mistake, there were plenty of frightening moments in it.  The slide show scene alone was as scary as it comes.  The kids of the cast were amazing and really made this feel like an epic movie.  Bill Skarsgard did a great job stepping into the shoes of the iconic Tim Curry.  As I said, I debated making this #1, but I just could not get it past…

#1. Logan.  This was such a perfect way to send Hugh Jackman out as his days as Wolverine are now over.  When the first trailer with the Johnny Cash song came out, it looked so perfect that I was really worried.  FOX has burned us before with good trailers for crappy movies- especially involving Wolverine.  But Logan was a masterpiece from start to finish.  Hugh Jackman was brilliant as the Old Man Logan version of the character who was just trying to survive with his father figure, Charles Xavier.  Logan did not want some girl to be dropped in his lap, but once Laura arrived and showed what she could do, you knew Logan would do the right thing.  And I cried every time at the end of Logan.  I cannot think of a better treatment of this character than what we got.  Logan came out early in the year and, although It came close, nothing could dethrone this as the best movie of 2017.

Coming Next:  The Top 30 WORST movies of 2017

Best Original Song – Movie

#5.  “Rewrite the Stars” –The Greatest Showman, Cast

#4.  “This is Me” –The Greatest Showman, Cast

#3.  “The Captain Underpants Theme” –Captain Underpants, Weird Al Yankovic

#2.  “I’m the (Bat)Man” – The Lego Batman Movie, Will Arnett

#1.  “Remember Me” -Coco, Anthony Gonzalez and Ana Ofelia Murguía

Blubbering in the theater.  This moment in Coco perfectly encapsulated the feeling of the film. It is a beautiful moment with a beautiful song.

TV Song

Fewer choices here of course, but Once Upon a Time did a musical episode that was fantastic.  My favorite song from that episode was performed by Captain Hook called “Revenge is Gonna Be Mine.”

Best Use of Music in a Movie: Baby Driver.  The soundtrack for Baby Driver felt like a character all its own in this movie.  Runners-Up:  Thor: Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Best Use of Music in a TV Show:  Twin Peaks.  Every idode ended at the Roadhouse where you saw big name stars performing music.  It was always a surreal feeling that fit exactly with Twin Peaks.  Runners-Up:  Once Upon a Time, Riverdale

Best Movie Score:  Star Wars: The Last Jedi.  Star Wars always brings epic scores thanks to EYG Hall of Famer John Williams.  Runners-Up:  Blade Runner 2049, Coco, War for the Planet of the Apes

We now present the Strangelove, the award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture.  This award is in honor of EYG Hall of Famer, Peter Sellers.

We will have our Top 10 Best Actors in a Motion Picture.

#10.  Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out).  One of the surprise films gave us a great performance from Kaluuya.  He was the person in the horror movie that we wanted to root for and he was remarkable throughout.  He has been cast in the upcoming Black Panther as well so his career is on the way up.

#9.  Chris Hemsworth (Thor: Ragnarok).  We have seen flashes of his comedic skills, but in 2017, Chris Hemsworth really got to show off his comedic timing and delivery in Thor: Ragnarok, taking a character that he has done for years and really give it a new twist.

#8.  Robert Pattinson (Good Times).  A film that was remarkably dark and Pattinson played an extremely unlikable person.  Still, you found yourself  hoping for the best for the criminal.  Good Times was anything but for Pattinson.

#7.  Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Last Jedi).  Adam Driver is one of the most compelling new characters in the new Star Wars trilogy and each time he comes on screen he becomes more fascinating.  His path to the ultimate villain in Star Wars is clear, but we all know that he still has some questions in his heart.  Could there be redemption in his future?  Or just evil?

#6.  Tom Holland (Spider-man: Homecoming).  We have our new Spider-man.  And he is perfect.  The idea of making Spidey a high school student is not a new one, but casting an actor around the right age is.  No longer do we have 30 year old actors trying to play young.  We have Tom Holland, and he showed us all that he could handle the material.  Whether trapped beneath the rubble or holding his own in a scene with Michael Keaton, Tom Holland has earned the mantle of our Web-head.

#5.  Jeremy Renner (Wind River).  This is most likely the best performance in the career of Jeremy Renner.  Dealing with his own pain, Renner ventured into the snow in search of answers after discovering a dead girl. His understanding was important for the girl’s family and the skills he brought was important to FBI agent Elizabeth Olson.

#4.  Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour).  Gary Oldman has always been known as a chameleon in the sense that he could act a role and you would never know it was him.  He completely becomes Winston Churchill in the Darkest Hour and his performance elevates a fairly average movie.  Oldman should get an Oscar nom for this role.

#3.  Hugh Jackman (Logan).  Hugh Jackman said goodbye to the role that defined him for the past 17 years and he did so brilliantly.   He did so with the Wolverine that we always wanted.  He had so much pain and anguish from a lifetime of battles, but he still had a place in his heart for Charles and for Laura.  The ending of Logan is some of the most emotional moments of the year.  Hugh Jackman was a perfect fit for this story.  The Golden Globes nominated Jackman for the Greatest Showman, but they got the wrong performance.

#2.  James Franco (The Disaster Artist).  Oh, Hi Mark.  Franco does a spot on imitation of Tommy Wiseau, the “creative” force behind the worst movie ever made, The Room.  Franco told the story of the creation of The Room and he completely embodied Wiseau.  But the film was more than just poking fun at an odd man.  It showed the emotions and the heart of Tommy while telling us that our dreams can be reached.  He came close to winning this award, but…

And the 2017 Strangelove Award goes to….

#1.  James McAvoy (Split).  This happened early in the year and everyone is forgetting about what amazing work James McAvoy did in M. Night Shyamalon’s Split.  He played multiple personalities and each one was different.  His acting was frightening as each alter felt like another real person.  McAvoy was amazing and this performance stands above all others.

The Liz is awarded to the best actress in a motion picture for the year.

Top 10 Best Actresses of 2017

#10.  Judi Dench (Victoria & Abdul). This movie really worked because of the skilled actress of Miss Judi Dench.  She showed how the friendship of Abdul brought the monarch back to life for a time.

#9.  Michelle Williams (All the Money in the World).  Williams was wonderful as the desperate mother fighting against her ex-father-in-law’s greed in order to save her son.

#8.  Elizabeth Olson (Wind River) Olson was great in the role opposite Jeremy Renner.  I never once thought that it was Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch.  That shows how talented she truly is.

#7.  Anne Hathaway (Colossal).  A film not too many people saw, but it featured a tremendous performance from Hathaway as a woman who is somehow connected to a monster storming the city of Tokyo.

#6.  Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Last Jedi).  Daisy has effectively placed herself as the main focus of the Star Wars trilogy.  Her scenes with Luke and with Kylo were the best scenes in The Last Jedi and she is anything but last.

#5.  Carey Mulligan (Mudbound).  Carey shows us all of her emotions and her feeling in Mudbound, whether she is pining after her brother-in-law, worried for her children or trying desperately to not lose herself.  It is a beautifully quiet performance.

#4.  Carla Gugino (Gerald’s Game).  Carla carries so much of the plot of this film despite being handcuffed to the bed for most of it.  You feel for her with each decision she makes and you feel the walls closing in as time slips away.  Her performance made this Stephen King adaptation so compelling.

#3.  Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird).  Coming off her star turn in Brooklyn, Ronan heads up this coming of age movie sharing scenes with the powerful Laurie Metcalf.  Ronan is as strong of a young actress as we have today.  Few can do angst like she can.

#2.  Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman). This truly was Wonder Woman’s year and Gal Gadot proved many people wrong.  She completely embodied Princess Diana and brought such a warmth and a heart to the role that you wondered how anyone else could have ever played it.

And the Liz goes to…..

#1.  Frances McDormand (3 Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri).  One of the rawest performances of the year for sure as we followed her through the pain that did not go away.  We watched her seek justice for her murdered daughter that did not seem to come, and we saw her go too far.  She was anything but a likeable person, but you could still relate because the loss was so destructive.

Here are the lists of the Best Supporting Actors and Actresses from movies (that I have seen) in 2017.

Supporting Actor

#15.  Daniel Craig (Logan Lucky)

#14.  Jason Mitchell (Mudbound)

#13.  Jack Black (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle)

#12.  Chris Pine (Wonder Woman)

#11.  Woody Harrelson (War for the Planet of the Apes, 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

#10.  Bill Skarsgard (It)

#9.  Garrett Hedlund (Mudbound)

#8.  Sam Rockwell (3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

#7.  Graham Greene (Wind River)

#6.  Gil Birmingham (Wind River)

#5.  Jamie Foxx (Baby Driver)

#4.  Christopher Plummer (All the Money in the World)

#3.  Michael Keaton (Spider-man: Homecoming )

#2.  Mark Hamill (Star Wars: The Last Jedi)

#1.  Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier (Logan)

Supporting Actress

#10.  Betty Gabriel (Get Out)

#9.  Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)

#8.  Tatiana Mislany (Stronger)

#7.  Holly Hunter (The Big Sick)

#6.  Mary L. Blige (Mudbound)

#5.  Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok)

#4.  Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip)

#3.  Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird)

#2.  Carrie Fisher (Star Wars: The Last Jedi)

#1.  Dafne Keene (Logan)

There were many great directorial work this year, and I have chosen my favorite ten.  Now, there will not be many that correspond with the Golden Globes because, honestly, most of the Golden Globe nominated directors are from films that have been released in small markets and I have been unable to see.  So there will be no Guillermo del Toro for Shape of Water.  There will be no Steven Spielberg for The Post.  No director from I,Tonya or Call Me By Your Name or Phantom Thread or Molly’s Game.  I just have not seen them yet.  Remember that when the Top 30 list comes out as well.

So… of the films that have played in my area…

#10.  Michael Showalter, The Big Sick.

#9.  Andres Muschietti, It

#8.  Edgar Wright, Baby Driver

#7.  Dee Rees, Mudbound

#6.  Denis Villeneuve, Blade Runner 2049

#5. James Franco, The Disaster Artist.

#4.  Jordan Peele, Get Out

#3.  James Mangold, Logan

#2.  Taika Watiti, Thor: Ragnarok

Some interesting choices up here in 10-2.  Taika Watiti almost took this award with the originality and humor from the marvel Studio film.  Denis Villeneuve only continued his strong showing with his work on the Blade Runner sequel.  In fact, Denis is the only director on this list that has appeared on any EYG Director of the Year list before.  Dees Rees is on the list from Mudbound on Netflix.  See Mudbound, it is great.  James Franco also starred in his film, and we may be seeing his name again on a later list.  Edgar Wright gave us great music and a fun film to boot.  Jordon Peele delivered us a horror film with a dose of commentary on the world around us.  After seeing him with Key and Peele for so long, Get Out was not what we expected.

Previous Winners:  A.G. Inarritu (Birdman), Tim McCarthy (Spotlight), Damien Chazelle (La La Land). 

And the winner…

#1.  Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman)

Patty Jenkins delivered us the Wonder Woman movie we all wanted.  She did it within the same Warner Brothers studio that apparently love sticking their noses into super hero films and demanding changes.  Batman v. Superman, Suicide Squad and Justice League all suffered from studio interference one way or another.  Wonder Woman went happily along.  And that comes from its leader, Patty Jenkins, who knew what she wanted and she was able to keep that vision in place.  Then, Patty Jenkins was given a wonderful contract to do Wonder Woman 2.  Much like the lead character blazed a path for young girls to love super heroes, Patty Jenkins continues to lead the way to more females into the director’s chair.  That is long overdue.

Netflix is trying to become a player in the world of movies and they put out several features this year.  Many were not great, but these 10 were the best of them all according to EYG.

#10.  The Discovery.  A scientist has proven an afterlife and a cult has formed.  Stars Robert Redford, Rooney Mara and Jason Siegel.

#9.  Shimmer Lake. The story is told backwards.  We see the end of the story first, and then we see in reverse, eventually making everything make sense.

#8.  Bright.  The latest film from Will Smith is a fantasy/sci-fi film where fantasy creatures live in the world with humans.  Smith is a partner with an Orc (Joel Edgerton)  and has to try to stop the magic wand from falling into the wrong hands.

#7.  To the Bone.  The story deals with the issue of eating disorders as a young girl is sent to a retreat with others with the same disorders to try a new therapy.

#6.  Take Me.  A former P.I. has formed an agency where you can hire him to kidnap you and put you through a kidnapped scenario.  However, he comes across a client that happened to be more than he ever thought he could handle.

#5.  The Babysitter.  Cole wondered what his hot babysitter did when he went to bed.  So he decided to spy on her.  He did not expect what he saw.  The night turns violent and Cole finds himself desperately fighting for his life.

#4.  Okja.  Okja is the story of a girl and her giant pig-like creature.  Raised from birth to make the most tasty jerky, Okra is slated for slaughter.  However, Mija will not allow anything to happen to her giant grey friend.  Starring Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Steven Yeun, Lily Collins, and Jake Gyllenhaal.

#3.  The Incredible Jessica James.  An aspiring playwright in New York City meets a divorced app designer and the pair of them hit it off, despite neither being fully ready to movie on from previous relationships.  This is a very funny movie starring former Daily Show correspondent Jessica Williams.

#2.  Gerard’s Game.  A Stephen King adaptation that sees a woman handcuffed to a bed when her husband has a heart attack and dies.  The epic attempt to survive the situation is filled with added problems such as the hungry dog or the on the loose serial killer.  Oh, and she was hallucinating her husband who tormented her throughout the film.  Gerard’s Game is a tense, taught thriller that was almost my number one Netflix movie.

#1.  Mudbound.  Yes, the film I finished watching about an hour and half ago is the number one film from Netflix in 2017.  Mudbound is well worth the 2 hours and 15 minutes run time.  The story deals with two families, one white and one black, in 1940s Mississippi.  The racial tensions are just one of the variety of themes available in Mudbound.  There are amazing performances from the entire ensemble cast and the look of the film is beautiful.  Director Dee Rees brought the goods in this feature that debuted at Sundance this year.  I almost skipped this film, but I am so glad that I took the time to watch it.  It is a topnotch story with remarkable characters.

I have a list of five documentaries this year and three of them are very exceptional. I did miss the sequel of An Inconvenient Truth this year, so it will not be included on my list.

This is the list of Top 5 Documentaries for 2017.

#5.  The Reagan Show.  This uses news and White House footage to tell the story of Ronald Reagan and his years in the White House.  A man who used the techniques of Hollywood as the 40th president which seems pretty relevant these days.

#4.  78/52.  This is a documentary that focused on the filming of the classic shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.  The scene was composed of 78 setups and 52 cuts, and the result was a piece of cinematic art that changed movies forever.  The break down of the scene and the background around it was fascinating.

#3.  Batman & Bill.  This Hulu documentary tells the true story of the creation of Batman and how much the legendary Bill Finger was involved.  Bob Kane for years was considered the sole creator of Batman, but there was more to the story.  Many of the key components of Batman came from Bill Finger and this was the story of the process to get Bill Finger the credit he so richly deserved.

#2.  Jim & Andy.  In 1999, Jim Carrey made a movie called Man on the Moon, a story about the life of comedian Andy Kaufman.  Jim Carrey decided to go deep into the character and actually become Andy Kaufman.  He acted like Andy 24/7.  However, there was a film crew following him around, filming the act.  This is that documentary.  There is also current day Jim Carrey talking about things he did when he was Andy.  It is a compelling look at an actor and the lengths he would go.

 
#1.  My Scientology Movie.  Louis Theroux  wrote and appeared in this documentary that is casting the “roles” of leading Scientologists from the Church of Scientology.  The way that the Church responds to Theroux and his constant attempts to get interviews with them.  The film was a frightening look at this religion and what it may do to its followers.  It was also an extremely funny documentary that tried its best to poke at the religion and its leaders.  This doc was one of my favorites, not only of the year, but of all time.

The Batman and Robin Awards for Rotteness! 

Named after one of the worst movies to ever disgrace the screen, this is a list of individual awards that “praise” the world of movies that may not have been the most enjoyable.

Worst Movie:  Not ready to reveal this yet.  Check out the upcoming Top 30 Worst Films of 2017.  Honestly, I have not yet made the decision on this as there are around 6-7 films that could legitimately take this spot.

Worst Actor:  Michael Fassbender (The Snowman).  Fassbender is a fantastic actor, but his turn as Harry Hole in The Snowman was the definition of a great actor falling down into the material.  Runner-Up:  Will Farrell (Daddy’s Home 2, The House)

Worst Actress:  Felicity Jones (Collide).  I can hardly remember this movie, but when I checked back over the review, I said how Jones was truly horrid so she gets this spot. Runner-Up: Katherine Heigl (Unforgettable)

Worst SPX:  [TIE]  Justice League & Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.  Two movies where the special effects were terrible.  I hated every scene with Steppenwolf in Justice League while everything looked just horrible in that Resident Evil travesty.  Justice League is an overall better movie, but the SPX were its major weak point for sure.

Worst Sequel:  Transformers: The Last Knight.  I was so bored by this.  It was So long and dull and stupid.  And it did not make its normal haul of cash so maybe the world is finally waking up to this garbage. Runner-Up:  50 Shades Darker

Worst Film I Haven’t Seen:  Tyler Perry’s Boo 2: A Maeda’s Halloween.  I avoided this crapfest and I am not sorry.  Runner-Up:  Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature

Worst Super Hero Movie:  Inhumans in IMAX.  This is a bit of a cheat, since Inhumans is really a TV show, but all of the comic book movies this year were at least good.  Inhumans was released in IMAX theaters and was an epic fail in all ways.

Worst Trailer for an Awesome Movie:  The first Baby Driver trailer.  The first trailer to Baby Driver did not show us how awesome this movie would be.  Subsequent trailers did a better job, but that first one was not good at all.

Best Trailer for a Bad Film:  Daddy’s Home 2.  Considering how bad that movie turned out, it is a miracle that the first trailer was so damn entertaining.  It made everyone think that this was going to be way better than the first one.  To quote our president, “Wrong.”

Best Performance in a Bad Film:  Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.).  Denzel was really great in this snooze of a film.  Roman tried to be some kind of a thriller, but it left out the thrill.  Washington, however, was amazing as the weird and twitchy lawyer.

Most Overrated:  Dunkirk.  This still may be my own fault.  I saw this in IMAX and the sound was so loud that it nearly made me sick.  I counted the minutes until this torture was over.  That may not have been the fault of the movie, but I do not care to try it again.

Favorite “Rotten” Movie:  The Book of Henry.  At 21% on the Tomatometer, the Book of Henry is a terribly reviewed film, but I came out of it loving it.  I thought the performances were great and, despite a weird ending, I truly thought this was way better than any of the critics made it out to be. Runner-Up: Phoenix Forgotten

Worst TV Adaptation:  Chips.  This thing was just a travesty.  I was never a huge fan of the original series, but this film was an insult to it and any other police show ever shown. It made the other TV adaptation of the year, Baywatch, a bad movie in its own right, look like an Oscar winner in comparison.  Runner-Up: Baywatch

Cashing a Paycheck:  Anthony Hopkins (Transformers: The Last Knight).  That is Sir Anthony Hopkins, please.  Hopkins is so bad in this movie that it is desperately clear that he does not care one iota about a performance.  He just is throwing everything at the fan and seeing what they keep. Runner-Up: Tommy Lee Jones (Just Getting Started)

The Tommy Wiseau in the The Room Film So Bad it is Good Award:  Unforgettable.  Unintentional comedy at its finest.  I have heard people say that Unforgettable, starring Rosario Dawson and Katherine Heigl, was the funniest comedy of the year.  Another Fatal Attraction rip off with all the same beats to it.  This was funnier than Chips.

Can We Insult Teachers More Award:  Fist Fight.  As a teacher, I found this ridiculous film one of the worst of the year and totally insulting to the profession of education (as well as administrator and student).

Reboot THIS!:  Flatliners.  Such a terrible film. It takes a passable film from the 80s and makes it into one of the crappiest films of 2017.  Who greenlit this idea?

Come on Netflix, Can’t You Do Better Than This?:  You Got Me.  I don’t remember much about this except it was a Fatal Attraction ripoff with Bella Thorne.  If Netflix wants to be considered in the movie business, this cannot be what they offer.

No, really…the book was better:  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Long Haul.  The Dairy series had been reasonably harmless, at times even entertaining.  And then they put out this load of garbage.

One of the rarer awards we give out in the Year End Awards is the Expendables Award for Acting Excellence.  Given to the members of the cast of the Expendables for a role in a movie where they have done more than just cash a paycheck, where they have actually shown some acting chops.

We have only given three of these out so far in the history of the EYG Year End Awards, with none presented last year.  This year, we give out the fourth total and second individual to this cast member.

In 2015, he won a Best Performance by an Expendable as an Actor in a Motion Picture for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and this year he receives his second Expendable award, this time…

Best Performance by an Expendable as a Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his role as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner 2049.  That is right… it is Harrison Ford.

Harrison Ford did more than just go through the motions in Blade Runner 2049.  He was compelling and dramatic and carried a great deal of the story with him in the second half of the movie.  He was the emotional center of the story and he deserves this award for the performance.

Each year, there are moments that stand out in the Geek community.  Here are the ten that jump to the front from 2017.

#10.  It rescues the summer Box Office.  The summer box office was way down.  With a very few exceptions, there were few major successes during the year.  And August was even worse.  Then, early September, a clown arrived and helped out tremendously. Stephen King’s It made over $123 million during its opening weekend and wound up making just short of $700 million worldwide.  That was remarkable for an R rated horror movie.

#9.  Prince Henry and Meghan Markle get engaged.  When was our last royal wedding?  It has been a while.  What makes this one even more shocking though is the fact that Meghan Markle, an American actress, is of mixed-race.  The couple expressed about having a wedding that was not as lavish as some of the previous royal weddings.

#8.  Disney announces streaming service.  In their next step to control the world, Disney announced this year that they would be starting up their own streaming service in 2019.  At that time, the Mouse planned on removing their content from Netflix and making their own streaming service the exclusive location for their movies and shows to land.  A report indicated that the service would be comparable in price to Netflix.

#7.  And the winner is… not La La Land.  An error at this year’s Oscars telecast ended with presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway receiving a envelop with the Best Actress inside.  The problem?  They were presenting Best Picture.  Beatty opened the envelope, looked confused and everyone thought he was doing a bit.  However, he did not know what to do. So he showed it to Dunaway, who saw La La Land listed (beneath the name of Best Actress winner Emma Stone) and announced them as the winner.  Chaos ensued.  Finally it took La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz holding up the card that said “Moonlight” for people to believe what had happened.  It was the most unbelievable Oscar flub of all time.

#6.  Logan is Rated R.  Following in the footsteps of Deadpool from the year before, FOX released a rated R Logan movie this year that allowed the world a chance to see Wolverine in the way we always wanted to see him.  The film was based around the Old Man Logan storyline and was a beloved film, one of the best of 2017.

#5.  Thor makes more money than Justice League.  And by a considerable amount.  Thor: Ragnarok was released in early November and did remarkably well, opening to around $120 million.  Two weeks later, Justice League, a movie with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash and Cyborg in it, only opened to $94 million.  Then worldwide, Thor: Ragnarok has reached $846 million worldwide while the Justice League is slowly coming to an end somewhere around $650 million.  Almost $200 million more?  Justice League severely under-performed for WB.

#4.  Wonder Woman.  The biggest hit among the recent DC Films has been Wonder Woman and she became the first major female led super hero movie in this age of super hero movies.  Wonder Woman crossed cultural classes and became the icon that she always was meant to be.  The arrival of the film in the beginning of July signaled a change in the world, inspiring many young girls that they can be heroic as well.  The film was received extremely well by both fans and critics and it wound up making over $800 million world wide.

#3 1/2.  She is the new Doctor. I actually just thought of this one and I think it needed to be on this list.  There was an announcement this year of the first ever female Doctor from BBC America series Doctor Who.  Jodie Whittaker was named the next Doctor to replace Peter Capaldi.

 
#3.  Net Neutrality repealed.  In a major news event that many people may have missed, the FCC voted 3-2 to repeal a law put in place by the Obama Administration that prohibited broadband providers from blocking websites or charging for higher-quality service or certain content.  FCC’s Republican chairman, Ajit Pai, led the way in the repeal, however, there have been some who have taken opposition to this ruling.  Several states have banded together as a class action lawsuit, and there have been Congressmen who have decided to look closer at the deregulation.  Perhaps we can still have a free and open internet.

#2.  #MeToo.  This was going to be number one until that little thing happened a few weeks ago.  But the #MeToo movement brought to light the problems of sexual abuse/harassment/misconduct of powerful men and brought the victims forward to have their voices heard.  It started with the complaints against Harvey Weinstein of the Weinstein Company and it grew to include Andy Signore of Screen Junkies, Kevin Spacey, Luis C.K., John Lasseter, Jeremy Piven, Matt Lauer among many others.  It even grabbed Senator Al Franken.  This controversy has only just started.

#1.  Disney buys properties of 21st Century FOX.  In a sweeping deal, Disney has purchased several intellectual properties/rights from FOX.  This includes the rights to X-Men, Deadpool, and the Fantastic Four, essentially reuniting the Marvel characters under the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  The Marvel properties are not the only ones snatched by Disney as they also have the rights to the Simpsons, X-Files, the Alien franchise, a share in Hulu among many others.  FOX kept its news, its sports.  The TV and the movies though went to Disney.  Many Hollywood insiders are understandably concerned over the deal (because of jobs lost and having less studios to pitch ideas/scripts to), but the idea of Dr. Doom or the Silver Surfer back in the MCU overshadows those concerns for many fans.

Every year we have movies that just do not live up to the hopes and expectations of the studios, critics or fans.  For whatever reason, there are always movies competing for the John Carter Memorial Award, the flop of the year.

My industry standards, they consider a movie breaking even if it makes 2 and a half times its production budget.  Most of the films competing for the infamous John Carter Memorial Award do not come anywhere near that.

Previous winners:  John Carter, Alice Through the Looking Glass, The Lone Ranger, A Million Ways to Die in the West, Expendables 3, Jem and the Holograms, Pan, Rock the Casbah.

A movie can be considered in this category, and even win this category, and still be a great movie.  John Carter itself was not the worst movie that year.  Inflated budgets and poor marketing can be part of the reason a film flops.  Other reasons could include poor scheduling, bad word of mouth, bad critical reactions, too much competition, limited appeal, too many risks etc.

There are a bunch of runners-up for 2017.  I had almost given this award to Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets because of its massive budget.  But while it did not make money, the film had more oversea income than I thought it did.  That made me happy, because I liked Valerian.  I also liked Justice League but there is no denying that it was not what Warner Brothers had hoped.  It looks as if it will be finishing its original theatrical run making less money than Dr. Strange, and who would have guessed that?  Blade Runner 2049 was another film that was beautiful and well made only to be shunned by movie goers. Hard to make a $175 million dollar sequel to an original movie that also flopped at the box office only to become a cult classic.  There was Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell which was a failure all around.  The Dark Universe collapsed under the weight of the flop that was The Mummy.  Destroying a planned cinematic universe gave this movie some extra points in flop-i-tude.  Geostorm was one of those really stupid movies that you could have fun with by shutting down your brain, but they spent WAY TOO MUCH MONEY on it.  Then there was Just Getting Started, a horrible film starring Tommy Lee Jones and Morgan Freeman that, apparently, nobody knew was coming out.

However, none of these take the John Carter Memorial Award.  When looking at the numbers, this one is the clear “winner” of this award.  It made $148.7 worldwide on a $175 million dollar budget.  OUCH!  It was a terrible movie too.

The 2017 John Cater Memorial Award goes to….

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

Guy Ritchie had considered making this a six-part movie series.  I am guessing that there will not be much chance of seeing that happen.  Charlie Hunnam starred as Arthur.  The rest of this film was terrible and forgettable.  Audiences around the world rejected the bloated, retelling of a tale no one was demanding for.