It's been over a week since I watched my last film for 2017, and it's time for the yearly wrap-up post, where I try to make sense out of a year that, on many levels, made no sense at all. Seriously, in terms of the news can you remember a worse (or funnier, but in that dark hopeless sense of funny) year in human history? OK, maybe back when there were plagues and stuff there was a darker year - but my point is, you've got to go WAY far back to find the level of dread and angst that got tossed around. But let's get to the movie breakdown, because that's going to circle back to the dread and angst thing eventually.
I got the Entertainment Weekly Annual "Best of" issue, and I'm sure that every other magazine and newspaper will be counting down the top films of the year, but those Top 10 lists and mine just don't seem to have a lot in common. Of the Top 10 films listed in EW, I'd only seen one of them, and that was "Wonder Woman". I haven't seen "Dunkirk", "Get Out", "Call Me By My Name", "The Shape of Water", "Foxtrot", "Hostiles", "Lady Bird" or "Molly's Game", and I'm OK with all that. I've got a different agenda, and it's (mostly) catching up with the classic films that I've missed, whether they're from the 1930's or the 1990's or even last year.
That's not to say I didn't go to out to the movies this year, I did - I saw almost a dozen films in current release, but nearly all were superhero, sci-fi or animated franchise films. That's just what I'm about, and I think there's so much product coming out of Hollywood these days that you really have to pick and choose what will bring you out to the theater, especially with the price of popcorn being what it is these days. But for my top-rated films of the year, we have a tie between "Thor: Ragnarok" and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", both scored a "9" on my very un-scientific scale. Tied for second with scores of "8" were "Logan", "Justice League" and "Star Wars: The Last Jedi". Hmm, all new releases that were seen by me on the big-screen. It's possible that going out and having the big-screen experience is skewing the rating system - but it's in favor of the films I'm most likely to like anyway.
(My WORST film of the year, by the way, was "Norm of the North", which barely scored a "1".)
Even though I stayed current on big-screen sci-fi and superheroes, the bad news is that the size of my watchlist increased this year, and I think that's the first time this has happened. I started the year with 145 films on the list, and now here at the end of 2017, it's nearly 160. There are two culprits here, Netflix and Academy screeners. I gained access to Netflix this year, my wife set up an account for me, and it helped me see a number of films that just weren't available on premium cable - like "Lovelace", "Into the Wild" and a bunch of animated films like "Sing" and "Zootopia". That was all great news for my linking, but not great news for progress where the size of the list is concerned. In addition to the nearly 160-film watchlist, I now have a second list of films on Netflix and Academy screeners that's almost 80 films. But it's too discouraging to think of my watchlist going from 145 to 240, so I'm trying not to think about it. I finally got the number of Academy screeners I want to borrow from my boss down to under 10, and now a flood of new screeners came in over the last couple of weeks. Another great resource, but discouraging in terms of volume.
But let's at least try to break down Movie Year 9 by category:
1) Superhero films stood out, of course, beginning with "Suicide Squad" in January, then I caught up with last year's "Doctor Strange" and this year's "Logan", followed by "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "Wonder Woman" and "The Lego Batman Movie" in June, and "Spider-Man: Homecoming" in July (don't they know that Homecoming happens in the fall?) and finally November brought the one-two punch of "Thor: Ragnarok" and "Justice League". Sure, they're all formula films, most of them fall right in line with the common plot line of "put the team together and defeat the evil power". But they all made a ton of money, so they must be doing something right. I guess I also have to count the film "Midnight Special" in the superhero category, since it featured a kid with mutant powers, much like an X-Man.
2) Following right behind was the sci-fi category, of course. Knowing that "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" was coming in December sort of set the whole tone for the year, which I'd dedicated to Carrie Fisher - so in a way the whole year's chain was setting up for her final appearance. While "The Last Jedi" may have just missed being my top film for the year, it was still light-years ahead of the other sci-fi films I watched, like "Chappie", "Ex Machina", "The Zero Theorem", "Passengers", "Gods of Egypt" and "Blade Runner 2049".
Aliens came around again, in films like "Arrival", "The 5th Wave", and "Independence Day: Resurgence". "Arrival" was the best of that bunch, though I think I need to watch it again to fully understand it. Then there were the classic films about aliens arriving, which I mixed in with my horror films - "The Thing from Another World", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956) and "20 Million Miles to Earth". Aliens were always here with evil intent during the 1950's, right? It would have been unthinkable to make a film like "Arrival" back then.
And then we had the sci-fi films about dystopian futures, namely "Mad Max: Fury Road" and the four "Hunger Games" films. I'll get more into the Hunger Games thing with relation to politics, but it seems we all agree that the world will eventually be a place where humans need to fight to survive, either because of dwindling resources, or because it makes for good entertainment. Maybe both.
3) Next up another big big category - animation. Once I realized that the big animated films from the last year or two weren't turning up on cable, I ended up finding a bunch of them on Netflix, and I was off to the races. But first in January I watched "Anomalisa", "Minions", "Mr. Peabody & Sherman", "The Penguins of Madagascar" and "Sausage Party". Then I included "Thumbelina" in February's chain, it wasn't really a romance film but I needed the link. Another mini-wave in May, with "The Boxtrolls", "Ice Age: Collision Course", "The Peanuts Movie" and "Strange Magic" - and then came the Netflix flood in June and July: "Zootopia", "Moana", "The BFG", "The Lego Batman Movie", "Kubo and the Two Strings", "Sing", "The Jungle Book" (2016), "My Life as a Zucchini", "Ernest & Celestine", "The Little Prince", "The Secret Life of Pets", "Finding Dory", "The Good Dinosaur", "Cars 3" and "The Angry Birds Movie". August brought the low point, "Norm of the North", which probably made "Despicable Me 3" look that much better a couple of weeks later. By the time I got to "The Fox and the Hound 2" and "Pocahontas 2: Journey to a New World", I was pretty much just watching those films to make my linking connections. Same goes for "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip", which allowed me to connect two films about porn actors - that was odd. Still, that's 30 animated films in 2017, that was a significant percentage of my line-up. I watched so many kids movies this year (and I don't even have a kid...) that the category is still pretty clear months later. I think there are maybe FOUR animated films on my list right now, which is pretty close to zero.
4) And I can't talk about animation without also discussing fairy tales and children's stories - in addition to "Thumbelina", I watched three versions of "Cinderella" this year: "Ella Enchanted", "Ever After" and "Cinderella" (2015). Then came two films about Peter Pan, the 2003 version and the "Pan" prequel from 2015. Thankfully I made that rule change before the year began, which enables me to link between two films that have the same character, that really does help me make these connections. And finally in November came two films with Snow White, "Snow White and the Huntsman" and "The Huntsman: Winter's War" to kick off my Hemsworth chain. Snow White was really only in the second film for a brief appearance, that's what happens when an actress has an affair with her married director...
Also aimed at kids was my lead-off film for the year, "The Black Stallion Returns". Then in February I got to "The Flintstones" and "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas", and I HOPE those were made for kids, because the prospect of adults enjoying those movies is just too frightening. (I know, the Flintstones and Rubbles are classic couples, but those films really didn't belong in February - again, linking.) And I also finally got to the live-action "101 Dalmatians" and its sequel "102 Dalmatians" - those count as kiddie-lit too, not animation. And then I covered teen fiction by FINALLY getting around to "The Hunger Games" - man, I avoided those about as long as I could, but with a bunch of other Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth films on my list, the linking was practically shouting at me that it was time.
5) And that leads me to politics, because everything about President Snow in "The Hunger Games" just made me think about Donald Trump. A dictatorial older man famous for producing a reality TV show where the contestants are eliminated one by one, and his main opposition is a female president-in-exile, who's not good at giving speeches - I'm not the only one who sees the connection, right? But there were a LOT of films that reminded me about Trump, and part of that is probably just the zeitgeist we're all soaking in. I finally got around to watching "1984", based on a book that shot to the top of the best-seller list again after Trump's election, since it's all about a government replacing the headlines with "fake news". "Tapeheads" was about an older man running for office with two useless sons, trying to get back his embarrassing sex tape - so that was about Trump, even though it was released in 1988 - as was the 1992 film "Bob Roberts", about a corrupt right-wing politician willing to say or do anything to get elected, while a reporter kept trying to point out the scandals in his past, that was uncannily about Trump, too. Heck, even the original "Dracula" was about Trump, the way I saw it. Of course, there are differences - one's an evil blood-sucker who molests women without consent, and the other one is a vampire.
I did set out this year to try and cover politics more thoroughly, and this included the documentary "Trumped: Inside the Greatest Political Upset of All Time", and also three docs from Michael Moore: "Weiner", "Sicko" and "Where to Invade Next". But also on topic of politics was "Our Brand Is Crisis", "Truth", "Nashville", a few films about economics like "The Big Short" and then a bunch of films about Russia and Communism, like "Reds", "Pawn Sacrifice", and "Trumbo".
And along with politics this year came political assassinations, again and again. This topic first popped up in "The Parallax View", followed shortly after by "Assassins" and "American Ultra", "Jackie" and "Bobby" (TWO films about Kennedy assassinations), "The Crying Game", "Vantage Point", and even "Nashville". Plus there were hitmen in "Ghost Dog", "The Nice Guys" and "The Accountant" and the terrorism at the Boston Marathon in "Patriots Day", and finally a terrorist plot in "Inferno".
6) On the larger scale, war and international conflict, which pops up every year for sure, was depicted in "Free State of Jones" (post-Civil War), "Unbroken" (World War II), "We Were Soldiers" (Vietnam), "The Year of Living Dangerously" (Indonesia), "Seven Years in Tibet" and more comically in "Start the Revolution Without Me" (French Revolution) and "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" (Afghanistan).
Government agents and spies were also seen in "The Conversation", "The Specialist", "The Ipcress File" and its two sequels, "Body of Lies", "MI-5", "Eagle Eye", "Snowden", "Jason Bourne", "Criminal", "Bridge of Spies", and more comically in "Ishtar", "The Brothers Grimsby", "Keeping Up With the Joneses", and "You Don't Mess With the Zohan". Then there were the cyber-crimes seen in "Black Hat", "Paranoia", "Now You See Me 2" and "Runner Runner".
7) Crime came back in a strong way this year, everything from murder on down to robbery. Let's start the break-down with "Kalifornia", "Mr. Brooks" and "Untraceable" (serial killers) and then organized crime, as seen in "Black Mass" (Whitey Bulger), "Legend" (the Kray twins), and "Live By Night" (Prohibition bootlegging). Then there was "Night Moves" (smuggling/kidnapping), "The Nice Guys" (arson/murder/kidnapping), "Stolen" (kidnapping), and "Money Monster" (hostage situation). Let's not forget "Triple 9" (bank heist/cop killing), "Winter's Bone" (drug-dealing and murder) and the comedies "Irrational Man (murder of a corrupt judge) and "The Late Show" (detective solving murder).
Then there were thefts and heists, as seen in "Drugstore Cowboy" (robbing drugstores), "The Art of the Steal" (art theft & forgery), "Masterminds" (armored car heist), "You're Never Too Young" (diamond theft) and no less than four films about con artists: "Focus", "Now You See Me 2" (magic-based heists), "Matchstick Men", and "I Love You Philip Morris". And all those heists needed a good get-away driver, as seen in "Drive".
That leads me to the vehicular crime in "The Bonfire of the Vanities" (hit-and-run), and then we've got "Regarding Henry" (man shot during a robbery). More criminal activities were seen in "Nightcrawler" (tampering with/causing crime scenes), "Hesher" (arson/destruction of property), "Demolition" (destruction of property), "Out of the Furnace" (illegal gambling/fighting), "Keanu" (drugs, gangs, cat-napping), "The 'Burbs" (spying on neighbors, breaking and entering), "Hot Pursuit" (something about protecting the widow of a drug boss, but come on, that plot was a real mess), and "Equus" (blinding horses, but did we ever find out why?)
Special shout-out to Ben Affleck who balanced his appearance as crimefighter Batman with four appearances as criminals in "The Accountant" (hit-man), "Live by Night" (bootlegging), "Boiler Room" (stock-market fraud) and "Runner Runner" (cyber-gambling)
7) Another big category this year was movies about performers - nearly every Fred Astaire film (see full list below) was about him being a famous singer or dancer, either going on holiday or putting on a Broadway show. (most of them also seemed to feature a case of mistaken identity, but that's beside the point)
Other films that seem to fit in here include - "Café Society" (nightclub performers), "Idlewild" (jazz clubs), "Hail, Caesar!" (film directors & actors), "Factory Girl" and "I Shot Andy Warhol", "Danny Collins" (aging pop singer), "Don't Think Twice" (improv comics), "Sandy Wexler" (talent agent), "Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie" (supposedly about two filmmakers), "Hamlet 2" (school play director & performers), "Miles Ahead" (jazz musician Miles Davis), "La La Land" (jazz pianist & actress), "Cecil B. Demented" (anarchist filmmakers), "Lovelace" (porn actress), "Wonderland" (porn actor), "Jimi: All Is By My Side" (Jimi Hendrix), "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping" (boy-band/pop star), "Bright Lights" (mother-daughter Hollywood actresses), "Sweet Liberty" (author/filmmakers), and "Rules Don't Apply" (Howard Hughes and his stable of actresses)
8) Which leads me into films about romances and relationships: There were two basic kinds of romance movies this year, and most of them fell into February by design, but the concept of romance also spread to the other months as well, that's just the way it breaks down. The first kind was the classic romance film - let's just take all of the Fred Astaire films as a given, since most of them had some kind of romance plot, along with the singing and dancing. The other classics this year were mostly a mix of Debbie Reynolds, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin films: "How Sweet It Is!", "The Mating Game", "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", "The Tender Trap", "High Society", "Pal Joey", "Some Came Running", "Marriage on the Rocks", "Who Was That Lady?" and "Bells Are Ringing". These always seemed inclined to end with either a party scene, a brawl, or a brawl during a party. Other classic romance films featured Michael Caine in "Alfie" and Liz Taylor and Richard Burton in "Cleopatra" and "The Taming of the Shrew", and we'll be seeing more of them in February 2018 too.
For the more modern romance films, it seems that the theme this year was "Everything goes wrong". There were a number of films where, despite the characters' best efforts, falling in love or staying in love was extremely difficult due to many failures or slapstick accidents, all in the name of comedy (supposedly). Of course, it's not supposed to be easy, but neither is it supposed to be this difficult. These difficulties occurred in "Sleeping With Other People", "How to Be Single", "The Other Woman", "The Sweetest Thing", "What Happens in Vegas", "Just Married", "Riding in Cars with Boys", "Music and Lyrics", "The Rewrite", "What Women Want", "Dr. T & The Women", "Bride Wars", and also the January films "The Anniversary Party" and "By the Sea", May's "Mystic Pizza" and "Don Jon" and the August films "Town & Country" and "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates".
And even though it's a classic film from the 1970's, "Two For the Road" with Audrey Hepburn also fits here, since it shows three European trips where everything went wrong.
9) And after Valentine's Day was over, I managed to find films for several other holidays - "Finian's Rainbow" (for St. Patrick's Day), "The Robe", "The Passion of the Christ", "Risen" (3 films for Easter), "Mother's Day", "Free State of Jones" (for Independence Day), "Labor Day" (for, umm, Labor Day). And for Back to School time, I watched - "Hamlet 2", "Orange County", "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising". Sorry, Christmas movies, better luck next year - it's not my fault that "Bad Santa 2" and "Office Christmas Party" didn't air in time to be worked into the chain.
10), Oh, yeah, the other month-long holiday season, Halloween/Horror - It took a couple years, but I finally watched those early German expressionist "horror" films, namely "Faust", "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and "Nosferatu". That led thematically into the first "Dracula" film from 1931, then I followed that with a couple from the 1970's, and the best of the Hammer Studios "Frankenstein" films. Of course, Turner Classic Movies and I were working at cross purposes, because at the same time they picked Dracula as their star of the month, so they were running all the Universal Dracula sequels, and all the Hammer Studios Dracula films. Do you see why I get so discouraged with my lack of progress?
The rest of my October horror chain was devoted to the classic alien invasion films (mentioned above) and then the classic "creature" films - "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and its sequel, plus "Them!" (giant ants), "Tarantula" (giant spider), "The Deadly Mantis" (giant mantis) and 2 Godzilla films, the earliest and the most recent. Bryan Cranston was my lead-out, and Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were my lead-in with their comedy "Scared Stiff".
11) Another special category, which came about due to my new access to Netflix: Documentaries about filmmaking, Comic-Cons and other geek stuff: "Elstree 1976" and "I Am Your Father" (Star Wars), "For the Love of Spock" (Star Trek), "Jodorowsky's Dune", "Back in Time" (Back to the Future), "Ghostheads" (Ghostbusters), "Room 237" (The Shining), "Fanarchy" and "Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made", "Comic Book: The Movie" and "Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope", and "Drew: The Man Behind the Poster" (about Drew Struzan's poster art, but at the end of the film, he appears at San Diego Comic-Con)
12) That still leaves sports, which was a really mixed bag this year - we had "Creed" (boxing), "Concussion" (football), "Eddie the Eagle" (ski-jumping), "Race" (Olympics, Jesse Owens), "Unbroken" (also Olympics), "Wild" (hiking),"Pawn Sacrifice" (chess), "Rush" (auto racing), and let's throw "Premium Rush" in here too (cycling). Nothing really dominated, except that the Olympics popped up three times, the Summer Games twice and the Winter Games once.
13) And the last main category: Westerns - it's a stroke of good fortune that I was able to knock off "The Ridiculous 6", "The Magnificent Seven", and "The Hateful Eight" in the same year. Plus I got around to "The Revenant", "Forsaken", and "McCabe & Mrs. Miller".
Oddly, most of the other films seemed to break down in pairs. But this makes a kind of sense, because I'm usually putting two films together on DVDs and I'm always looking for the connective tissue. This year I watched "Criminal" and "Self/Less" (two Ryan Reynolds films where one person's soul/memories went in another person's body), "Burnt" and "Chef" (two films about high-end chefs suffering from creative burn-out and job/relationship problems), "Wild" and "Into the Wild" (two films about people dropping out of society to go hiking/living in the wild), "Moonlight Mile" and "Demolition" (two films where Jake Gyllenhall plays a young man grieving over a dead wife), "Carol" and "I Love You Philip Morris" (two films where married people get involved in gay romance), "Still Alice" and "Concussion" (two films about brain damage), "The Intern" and "Joy" (women succeeding in the corporate world), "Dirty Grandpa" and "Bad Grandpa", and if I'm stretching things, "Lion" and "Australia" (two films where Nicole Kidman adopts native orphaned children). Wait, I almost forgot about "The 33" and "Deepwater Horizon" (two films about mining/drilling accidents) also "Room" and "10 Cloverfield Lane" (two films about people held in a confined space) and then there was "The Do-Over" and "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" (two films where Adam Sandler fakes his own death).
Then there are the films that pissed me off this year, by not following a linear narrative structure: "Two for the Road", "Unbroken", "Premium Rush", "Snowden", "Jackie", "Vantage Point", "Free State of Jones", "The Little Prince", "Into the Wild", "Steve Jobs", "Miles Ahead", "Arrival", "Lovelace", "Wonderland", and "Sully". (I probably missed a few, too, but no time to double-check...) Enough with the fractured time-lines and excessive time-jumping, Hollywood.
And the following films stand accused of excessive Flashbackery: "Ishtar", "American Ultra", "Just Married", "Riding in Cars With Boys", "Wild", "The Age of Adeline", "Lion", "In the Heart of the Sea", "Ghost Dog: the Way of the Samurai", "Sandy Wexler", "Pawn Sacrifice", "The Accountant" and "Inferno". The only film that gets a pass for flashbacks is "The Hateful Eight", because Tarantino knows what the hell he's doing. OK, I'm going to give a pass to "Manchester By the Sea" too, because it used the technique the right way, too.
And a special shout-out to my home state of Massachusetts, which showed up this year in "Black Mass", "In the Heart of the Sea", "Manchester By the Sea", "Patriots Day", "Spotlight", "Labor Day",
Now, the even harder part, counting up who had the inside track this year. Actually, it's easy now because I started keeping track about two months ago, now I just have to compile it all before the New Year's ball drops. The winner was never really in question, because I specifically set out to watch as many of his films as possible this year. (And I've 5 more on tap for 2018). Beyond that, any actor who appeared in several animated films (voice-overs count) or those geek-themed documentaries (archive footage counts, too) had the inside track. Heck, anyone who was in "The Hunger Games" made the list, because that was four appearances right there. It also helped to be a character actor (they work a LOT) or to be the creator of a very famous comic-book company who likes making cameos in movies with his characters.
And this year's winner, with 14 appearances, is:
Fred Astaire - "The Band Wagon", "The Gay Divorcee", "Roberta", "Top Hat", "Follow the Fleet", "Swing Time", "Shall We Dance", "Carefree", "Broadway Melody of 1940", "Second Chorus", "Three Little Words", "The Barkleys of Broadway", "Finian's Rainbow", "Funny Face"
In second place, with 10 appearances:
Harrison Ford - "The Conversation", "The
Age of Adaline", "Regarding Henry", "Elstree 1976", "Comic-Con Episode
IV: A Fan's Hope", "Fanarchy", "Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan
Film Ever Made", "Drew: The Man Behind the Poster", "Paranoia", "Blade
Runner 2049"
And third place, riding Fred Astaire's coat-tails, with 8 appearances:
Ginger Rogers - "The Gay Divorcee", "Roberta", "Top Hat", "Follow the Fleet", "Swing Time", "Shall We Dance", "Carefree", "The Barkleys of Broadway".
7 Appearances:
Woody Harrelson - "Now You See Me 2", "Triple 9", "Out of the Furnace", 4 "Hunger Games" films
Chris Hemsworth - "Doctor Strange", "Blackhat", "In the Heart of the Sea", "Snow White and The Huntsman", "The Huntsman: Winter's War", "Rush", "Thor: Ragnarok"
Jennifer Lawrence - "Joy", 4 "Hunger Games" films, "Winter's Bone", "Passengers"
Debbie Reynolds - "The Intern", "How Sweet It Is!", "The Mating Game", "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", "The Tender Trap", "Three Little Words", "Bright Lights"
J.K. Simmons - "The Rewrite", "Zootopia", "Patriots Day", "Labor Day", "La La Land", "Justice League", "The Accountant"
Frank Sinatra - "What Women Want", "The Tender Trap", "High Society", "Pal Joey", "Some Came Running", "Marriage On the Rocks", "Blade Runner 2049"
Kristen Stewart - "Still Alice", "American Ultra", "The Flintstones in
Viva Rock Vegas", "Café Society", "Into the Wild", "Snow White and the
Huntsman", "The Huntsman: Winter's War"
Michael Stuhlbarg - "Doctor Strange", "Body of Lies", "Steve Jobs", "Pawn Sacrifice", "Miles Ahead", "Arrival", "Trumbo"
Donald Sutherland - "Billion Dollar Brain", "Forsaken", "Start the Revolution Without Me", 4 "Hunger Games" films
6 Appearances:
Ben Affleck - "Suicide Squad", "Justice League", "The Accountant", "Live By Night", "Boiler Room", "Runner Runner"
Warren Beatty - "Reds", "Ishtar", "The Parallax View", "Rules Don't Apply", "Town & Country", "McCabe & Mrs. Miller"
Michael Caine - "Alfie", "Sweet Liberty", "The Ipcress File", "Funeral in Berlin", "Billion Dollar Brain", "Now You See Me 2"
Steve Coogan - "Minions", "Ella Enchanted", "The Secret Life of Pets", "Hamlet 2", "Despicable Me 3", "Rules Don't Apply"
Jim Cummings - "Minions", "Sing", "The Secret Life of Pets", "Comic Book: the Movie", "The Fox and the Hound 2", "Pocahontas 2: Journey to a New World"
J.D. Evermore - "Wild", "Stolen", "I Love You Philip Morris", "Deepwater Horizon", "Trumbo", "Live By Night"
Griff Furst - "Focus", "Self/Less", "I Love You Phillip Morris", "The Founder", "Trumbo", "The Magnificent Seven"
Zach Galifianakis - "What Happens in Vegas", "The Lego Batman Movie", "Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie", "Masterminds", "Keeping Up With the Joneses", "Into the Wild"
Liam Hemsworth - "Independence Day: Resurgence", "Paranoia", 4 "Hunger Games" films
Scarlett Johansson - "Hail, Caesar!", "Don Jon", "Sing", "The Jungle Book", "Chef", "Thor: Ragnarok"
Stan Lee - "Doctor Strange", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "Spider-Man: Homecoming", "Comic Book: The Movie", "Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope", "Thor: Ragnarok"
Dean Martin - "Some Came Running", "Marriage on the Rocks", "Who Was That Lady?", "Bells Are Ringing", "You're Never Too Young", "Scared Stiff"
Julianne Moore - "Assassins", "Still Alice", "Don Jon", "Eagle Eye", 2 "Hunger Games" films
Nick Offerman - "Ice Age: Collision Course", "Sing", "Danny Collins", "My Life as a Zucchini", "Ernest & Celestine", "The Founder"
Wayne Pére - "American Ultra", "The Big Short", "Midnight Special", "Free State of Jones", "Spider-Man: Homecoming", "Trumbo"
Billy Slaughter - "Focus", "American Ultra", "The Big Short", "Midnight Special", "Trumbo", "The Magnificent Seven"
Jason Sudeikis - "Sleeping With Other People", "What Happens in Vegas", "Race", "Mother's Day", "The Angry Birds Movie", "Masterminds"
David Thewlis - "Anomalisa", "Seven Years in Tibet", "Legend", "Wonder Woman", "The Zero Theorem", "Justice League"
Stanley Tucci - "Mr. Peabody & Sherman", "Spotlight", 4 "Hunger Games" films
Forest Whitaker - "Out of the Furnace", "The Crying Game", "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai", "Vantage Point", "Ernest & Celestine", "Arrival"
5 Appearances:
Sean Bridgers - "Midnight Special", "Room", "Free State of Jones", "Trumbo", "The Magnificent Seven"
Albert Brooks - "Concussion", "The Little Prince", "The Secret Life of Pets", "Finding Dory", "Drive"
Marcus Lyle Brown - "The Big Short", "Hot Pursuit", "Stolen", "Self/Less", "I Love You Phillip Morris"
Hannibal Buress - "Spider-Man: Homecoming", "The Secret Life of Pets", "The Angry Birds Movie", "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising", "The Nice Guys"
Richard Burton - "Cleopatra", "1984", "The Taming of the Shrew", "The Robe", "Equus"
Sam Claflin - "Snow White and the Huntsman", "The Huntsman: Winter's War", 3 "Hunger Games" films
Joe Chrest - "Focus", "I Love You Philip Morris", "Deepwater Horizon", "Free State of Jones", "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2"
Billy Eichner - "The Penguins of Madagascar", "Sleeping With Other People", "What Happens in Vegas", "The Angry Birds Movie", "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising"
Carrie Fisher - "Elstree 1976", "Wonderland", "Bright Lights", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi", "The 'Burbs"
Will Forte - "My Life as a Zucchini", "Keanu", "The Ridiculous 6", "Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
Gal Gadot - "Triple 9", "Wonder Woman", "Criminal", "Keeping Up With the Joneses", "Justice League"
Jeff Goldblum - "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie", "Nashville", "Thor: Ragnarok", "Independence Day: Resurgence"
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - "Don Jon", "Premium Rush", "Snowden", "Hesher", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
Ryan Gosling - "The Big Short", "Drive", "The Nice Guys", "La La Land", "Blade Runner 2049"
Bill Hader - "Sausage Party", "The BFG", "Finding Dory", "The Angry Birds Movie", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
Tom Hanks - "The Bonfire of the Vanities", "The 'Burbs", "Bridge of Spies", "Sully", "Inferno"
Garrett Hines - "The Big Short", "Stolen", "Midnight Special", "Deepwater Horizon", "Trumbo"
Hugh Jackman - "Australia", "Eddie the Eagle", "Chappie", "Logan", "Pan"
David Jensen - "Focus", "Hot Pursuit", "Midnight Special", "I Love You Phillip Morris", "Free State of Jones"
Richard T. Jones - "Concussion", "Hot Pursuit", "Moonlight Mile", "Vantage Point", "Godzilla" (2014)
Toby Jones - "Ever After: A Cinderella Story", "Snow White and the Huntsman", 3 "Hunger Games" films
Tom Kemp - "Café Society", "Black Mass", "Demolition", "Manchester By the Sea", "Irrational Man"
Leslie Mann - "Mr. Peabody & Sherman", "How to Be Single", "The Other Woman", "I Love You Philip Morris", "Orange County"
Jason Mantzoukas - "Sausage Party", "Dirty Grandpa", "Sleeping With Other People", "How to Be Single", "The Lego Batman Movie""I
Holt McCallany - "Concussion", "Blackhat", "Vantage Point", "Justice League", "Sully"
Tim McInnerny - "101 Dalmatians", "102 Dalmatians", "Eddie the Eagle", "MI-5", "Race"
Zoe Saldana - "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "Out of the Furnace", "Vantage Point", "For the Love of Spock", "Live By Night"
Adam Sandler - "The Do-Over", "Spanglish", "You Don't Mess With the Zohan", "The Ridiculous 6", "Sandy Wexler"
Peter Sarsgaard - "Black Mass", "Jackie", "Pawn Sacrifice", "The Magnificent Seven", "Lovelace"
Sylvester Stallone - "The Specialist", "Creed", "Assassins", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope"
Sigourney Weaver - "Chappie", "Vantage Point", "Finding Dory", "Ghostheads", "The Year of Living Dangerously"
Jeffrey Wright - "Ernest & Celestine", "The Good Dinosaur", 3 "Hunger Games" films
4 Appearances -
Jan Arvan - "Some Came Running", "Bells Are Ringing", "The Robe", "20 Million Miles to Earth"
Lucille Ball - "Roberta", "Top Hat", "Follow the Fleet", "Trumbo"
Elizabeth Banks - 4 "Hunger Games" films
Cate Blanchett - "Cinderella", "Truth", "Carol", "Thor: Ragnarok"
Eric Blore - "The Gay Divorcee", "Top Hat", "Swing Time", "Shall We Dance"
Steve Carell - "Minions", "The Big Short", "Café Society", "Despicable Me 3"
Bradley Cooper - "Joy", "Burnt", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "10 Cloverfield Lane"
Benedict Cumberbatch - "The Penguins of Madagascar", "Black Mass", "Doctor Strange", "Thor: Ragnarok"
Peter Cushing - "The Curse of Frankenstein", "The Revenge of Frankenstein", "Frankenstein Created Woman", "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed"
Matt Damon - "Mystic Pizza", "The Zero Theorem", "Jason Bourne", "Thor: Ragnarok"
Laura Dern - "Dr. T & The Women", "Wild", 'The Founder", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
Adam Devine - "The Intern", "Ice Age: Collision Course", "The Lego Batman Movie", "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates"
James DuMont - "Midnight Special", "Deepwater Horizon", "Patriots Day", "Trumbo"
Jesse Eisenberg - "American Ultra", "Now You See Me 2", "Café Society", "Justice League"
Idris Elba - "Zootopia", "The Jungle Book", "Finding Dory", "Thor: Ragnarok"
John Eyez - "Focus", "Stolen", "Triple 9", "I Love You Phillip Morris"
James Franco - "Sausage Party", "Tristan + Isolde", "The Little Prince", "Lovelace"
Domnhall Gleeson - "The Revenant", "Unbroken", "Ex Machina", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
John Goodman - "The Flintstones", "10 Cloverfield Lane", "Patriots Day", "Trumbo"
Douglas M. Griffin - "10 Cloverfield Lane", "Self/Less", "I Love You Philip Morris", "Deepwater Horizon"
Jess Harnell - "Minions", "Mr. Peabody & Sherman", "Norm of the North", "Comic Book: the Movie"
Anne Hathaway - "The Intern", "Bride Wars", "Ella Enchanted", "Don Jon"
Kate Hudson - "Dr. T & the Women", "Bride Wars", "Mother's Day", "Deepwater Horizon"
Helen Hunt - "What Women Want", "Dr. T & the Women", "Bobby", "Bob Roberts"
William Hurt - "Race", "Vantage Point", "Mr. Brooks", "Into the Wild"
Josh Hutcherson - 4 "Hunger Games" films
Oscar Isaac - "Body of Lies", "Ex Machina", "Drive", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
Allison Janney - "Minions", "Mr. Peabody & Sherman", "The Rewrite", "Finding Dory"
Michael Keaton - "Minions", "The Founder", "Spider-Man: Homecoming", "Spotlight"
Ben Kingsley - "The Boxtrolls", "Self/Less", "The Jungle Book", "Room 237"
Harry Jay Knowles - "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope", "Fanarchy", "Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan
Film Ever Made", "Drew: The Man Behind the Poster"
Stephen Kunken - "Still Alice", "Café Society", "Jason Bourne", "Bridge of Spies"
Maurice LaMarche - "The Boxtrolls", "Zootopia", "Comic Book: the Movie", "Ghostheads"
John Leguizamo - "American Ultra", "Regarding Henry", "Ice Age: Collision Course", "Chef"
John Carroll Lynch - "Hot Pursuit", "Hesher", "Jackie", "The Founder"
Anthony Mackie - "Our Brand Is Crisis", "Eagle Eye", "Triple 9", "Runner Runner"
Paula Malcomson - 4 "Hunger Games" films
David Maldonado - "Deepwater Horizon", "Free State of Jones", "The 5th Wave", "Trumbo"
Jena Malone - "Into the Wild", 3 "Hunger Games" films
Rooney Mara - "Carol", "Lion", "Pan", "Kubo and the Two Strings"
Margo Martindale - "The Hollars", "28 Days", "Mother's Day", "Cars 3"
Erica McDermott - "Joy", "Black Mass", "Manchester by the Sea", "Patriots Day"
Kevin Nealon - "You Don't Mess With the Zohan", "Sandy Wexler", "Cecil B. Demented", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
Brad Pitt - "Seven Years in Tibet", "Kalifornia", "By the Sea", "The Big Short"
Parker Posey - "The Anniversary Party", "The Sweetest Thing", "Café Society", "Irrational Man"
Chris Pratt - "Bride Wars", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "Passengers", "The Magnificent Seven"
John Ratzenberger - "Reds", "Finding Dory", "The Good Dinosaur", "Cars 3"
Margot Robbie - "Focus", "Suicide Squad", "The Big Short", "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot"
Seth Rogen - "Sausage Party", "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope", "Steve Jobs", "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising"
Stephen Root - "Finding Dory", "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates", "The Fox and the Hound 2", "Trumbo"
Kurt Russell - "The Hateful Eight", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "The Art of the Steal", "Deepwater Horizon"
Rob Schneider - "You Don't Mess With the Zohan", "The Ridiculous 6", "Sandy Wexler", "Norm of the North"
Liev Schreiber - "Creed", "The 5th Wave", "Spotlight", "Pawn Sacrifice"
Willow Shields - 4 "Hunger Games" films
Jenny Slate - "Zootopia", "The Lego Batman Movie", "The Secret Life of Pets", "Despicable Me 3"
Patrick St. Esprit - "Truth", "We Were Soldiers", "Independence Day: Resurgence", "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"
Nick Swardson - "The Do-Over", "You Don't Mess With the Zohan", "The Ridiculous 6", "Sandy Wexler"
Channing Tatum - "The Hateful Eight", "Hail, Caesar!", "Don Jon", "The Lego Batman Movie"
Elizabeth Taylor - "The Flintstones", "Cleopatra", "The Taming of the Shrew, "Bright Lights"
Charlize Theron - "Mad Max: Fury Road", "Kubo and the Two Strings", "Snow White and the Huntsman", "The Huntsman: Winter's War"
Marisa Tomei - "The Big Short", "The Rewrite", "What Women Want", "Spider-Man: Homecoming"
Alan Tudyk - "28 Days", "Zootopia", "Moana", "Trumbo"
Gary Weeks - "Self/Less", "Spider-Man: Homecoming", "The Nice Guys", "Sully"
Mary Elizabeth Winstead - "10 Cloverfield Lane", 'The Hollars", "Factory Girl", "Bobby"
And (God help me, this was really a lot of work) 3 Appearances -
J.J. Abrams - "Regarding Henry", "Comic Book: The Movie", "For the Love of Spock"
Scott Adkins - "Doctor Strange", "The Brothers Grimsby", "Criminal"
Casey Affleck - "Triple 9", "Manchester by the Sea", "Out of the Furnace"
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje - "Suicide Squad", "Concussion", "Trumbo"
Alan Alda - "What Women Want", "Sweet Liberty", "Bridge of Spies"
Mahershala Ali - "Free State of Jones", 2 "Hunger Games" films
Bruce Altman - "Bride Wars", "Regarding Henry", "Matchstick Men"
Paul Anderson - "In the Heart of the Sea", "Legend", "The Revenant"
Christina Applegate - "The Sweetest Thing", "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip", "Wonderland"
Alec Baldwin - "Concussion", "Still Alice", "Rules Don't Apply"
Ike Barinholtz - "Suicide Squad", "The Angry Birds Movie", "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising"
Drew Barrymore - "Riding in Cars With Boys", "Music and Lyrics", "Ever After: A Cinderella Story"
Michael Beattie - "Minions", "The Secret Life of Pets", "Despicable Me 3"
Lake Bell - "Mr. Peabody & Sherman", "What Happens in Vegas", "The Secret Life of Pets"
Annette Bening - "Regarding Henry", "Danny Collins", "Rules Don't Apply"
Haley Bennett - "Music and Lyrics", "Rules Don't Apply", "The Magnificent Seven"
Mike Birbiglia - "Hot Pursuit", "Don't Think Twice", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
Jeremy Bulloch - "Comic Book: The Movie", "Elstree 1976", "I Am Your Father"
Sandra Bullock - "Minions", "28 Days", "Our Brand Is Crisis"
Nicolas Cage - "Stolen", "Matchstick Men", "Snowden"
Bill Camp - "Midnight Special", "Black Mass", "Jason Bourne"
Bobby Cannavale - "Chef", "Danny Collins", "Lovelace"
Mariah Carey - "The Lego Batman Movie", "You Don't Mess With the Zohan", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
Gwendoline Christie - "The Zero Theorem", "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
Julie Christie - "Reds", "McCabe & Mrs. Miller", "Nashville"
Jemaine Clement - "Moana", "The BFG", "The Lego Batman Movie"
Lynn Cohen - "I Shot Andy Warhol", "Eagle Eye", "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"
Lily Cole - "The Zero Theorem", "Snow White and the Huntsman", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
Charles Coleman - "The Gay Divorcee", "Shall We Dance", "Carefree"
Chris Cooper - "Demolition", "Cars 3", "Live By Night"
Steve Coulter - "Mr. Brooks", "The Founder", "The Hunger Games"
Bryan Cranston - "Trumbo", "Godzilla", "Drive"
Lavell Crawford - "American Ultra", "The Ridiculous 6", "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates"
Billy Crudup - "Jackie", "Spotlight", "Justice League"
Alan Cumming - "The Anniversary Party", "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas", "Strange Magic"
John Daly - "Bride Wars", "Hail, Caesar!", "Masterminds"
William Daniels - "Reds", "The Parallax View", "Two for the Road"
Stef Dawson - 3 "Hunger Games" films
Robert De Niro - "The Intern", "Joy", "Dirty Grandpa"
Cameron Diaz - "The Other Woman", "The Sweetest Thing", "What Happens in Vegas"
Guy Doleman - "The Ipcress File", "Funeral in Berlin", "Billion Dollar Brain"
Vincent D'Onofrio - "Mystic Pizza", "Room 237", "The Magnificent Seven"
Natalie Dormer - "Rush", 2 "Hunger Games" films
Robert Downey, Jr. - "Chef", "Spider-Man: Homecoming", "The Nice Guys"
Shelley Duvall - "McCabe & Mrs. Miller", "Room 237", "Nashville"
Zac Efron - "Dirty Grandpa", "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising", "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates"
Taron Egerton - "Legend", "Eddie the Eagle", "Sing"
Giancarlo Esposito - "Money Monster", "The Jungle Book", "Bob Roberts"
Elle Fanning - "The Boxtrolls", "Trumbo", "Live By Night"
John Farley - "You Don't Mess with the Zohan", "The Ridiculous 6", "Sandy Wexler"
Jon Favreau - "The Jungle Book", "Chef", "Spider-Man: Homecoming"
Ralph Fiennes - "Hail, Caesar!", "The Lego Batman Movie", "Kubo and the Two Strings"
Peter Firth - "Risen", "Equus", "MI-5"
Wilbur Fitzgerald - "The Founder", "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire", "Sully"
Nick Frost - "The Boxtrolls", "Snow White and the Huntsman", "The Huntsman: Winter's War"
Allen Garfield - "The Black Stallion Returns", "The Conversation", "Nashville"
Brad Garrett - "Music and Lyrics", "Finding Dory", "Pocahontas 2: Journey to a New World"
Mel Gibson - "What Women Want", "The Year of Living Dangerously", "We Were Soldiers"
Everett Glass - "Pal Joey", "The Thing From Another World", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"
Heather Graham - "Drugstore Cowboy", "Bobby", "Norm of the North"
Beth Grant - "Matchstick Men", "Jackie", "Factory Girl"
Seth Green - "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "The Lego Batman Movie", "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope"
Clark Gregg - "We Were Soldiers", "Labor Day", "Live By Night"
Melanie Griffith - "Night Moves", "The Bonfire of the Vanities", "Cecil B. Demented"
Luis Guzman - "Keanu", "The Do-Over", "Sandy Wexler"
Jake Gyllenhaal - "Nightcrawler", "Moonlight Mile", "Demolition"
Gene Hackman - "The Conversation", "Reds", "Night Moves"
Tony Hale - "American Ultra", "The Angry Birds Movie", "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip"
Mark Hamill - "Comic Book: The Movie", "Elstree 1976", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
Jon Hamm - "Minions", "Keeping Up with the Joneses", "We Were Soldiers"
Tom Hardy - "Legend", "Mad Max: Fury Road", "The Revenant"
Desmond Harrington - "Riding in Cars with Boys", "We Were Soldiers", "Boiler Room"
Lucas Hedges - "The Zero Theorem", "Manchester By the Sea", "Labor Day"
Audrey Hepburn - "Funny Face", "Two For the Road", "Trumbo"
Jonah Hill - "Sausage Party", "Hail, Caesar!", "The Lego Batman Movie",
Dustin Hoffman - "Ishtar", "Moonlight Mile", "Chef"
Anders Holm - "Sausage Party", "The Intern", "How to Be Single"
Philip Seymour Hoffman - 3 "Hunger Games" films
Edward Everett Horton - "The Gay Divorcee", "Top Hat", "Shall We Dance"
John Hurt - "1984", "Thumbelina", "Jackie"
Thomas Jane - "The Sweetest Thing", "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope", "Drew: The Man Behind the Poster"
Kristen Johnston - "Music and Lyrics", "Bride Wars", "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas"
Diane Keaton - "Reds", "Finding Dory", "Town & Country"
Tom Kemp - "Café Society", "Black Mass", "Manchester by the Sea"
Catherine Keener - "Into the Wild", "Bad Grandpa", "Hamlet 2"
Anna Kendrick - "The Hollars", "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates", "The Accountant"
Tom Kenny - "The Boxtrolls", "Sing", "Comic Book: The Movie"
Keegan-Michael Key - "The Angry Birds Movie", "Keanu", "Don't Think Twice"
Nicole Kidman - "Lion", "Australia", "Room 237"
David Krumholtz - "Sausage Party", "Hail, Caesar!", "Bobby"
Stephen Kunken - "Still Alice", "Café Society", "Jason Bourne"
Ashton Kutcher - "What Happens in Vegas", "Just Married", "Bobby"
Sandra Ellis Lafferty - "Self/Less", "The Hunger Games", "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"
Diane Lane - "Untraceable", "Trumbo", "Justice League"
Jennifer Jason Leigh - "The Hateful Eight", "The Anniversary Party", "Anomalisa"
Jay Leno - "The Flintstones", "Weiner", "Sandy Wexler"
Jerry Lewis - "Trumbo", "You're Never Too Young", "Scared Stiff"
Jon Lovitz - "Mother's Day", "The Ridiculous 6", "Sandy Wexler"
Dolph Lundgren - "Hail, Caesar!", "Jodorowsky's Dune", "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope"
William H. Macy - "Room", "Bobby", "Ernest & Celestine"
John Magaro - "The Big Short", "Carol", "Unbroken"
Aasif Mandvi - "Music and Lyrics", "Mother's Day", "Premium Rush"
Kenneth Mars - "The Parallax View", "Night Moves", "Thumbelina"
Eleanor Matsuura - "MI-5", "Wonder Woman", "Justice League"
Rachel McAdams - "Doctor Strange", "Spotlight", "The Little Prince"
Matthew McConnaughey - "Kubo and the Two Strings", "Sing", "Free State of Jones"
Kate McKinnon - "Finding Dory", "The Angry Birds Movie", "Masterminds"
Scoot McNairy - "Our Brand Is Crisis", "Bobby", "Wonderland"
Fred Melamed - "Ishtar", "Hail, Caesar!", "Passengers"
Kate Micucci - "The Lego Batman Movie", "Don't Think Twice", "Sandy Wexler"
Sienna Miller - "Burnt", "Factory Girl", "Live By Night"
Maika Monroe - "The 5th Wave", "Labor Day", "Independence Day: Resurgence"
Demi Moore - "Forsaken", "Bobby", "Mr. Brooks"
Michael Murphy - "McCabe & Mrs. Miller", "Nashville", "The Year of Living Dangerously"
Thomas Francis Murphy - "Focus", "Self/Less", "Free State of Jones"
Laraine Newman - "The Flintstones", "Sing", "The Boxtrolls"
Leonard Nimoy - "For the Love of Spock", "Fanarchy", "Them!"
Andy Nyman - "Minions", "Despicable Me 3", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
Mike O'Malley - "Concussion", "28 Days", "Sully"
Nestor Paiva - "Creature from the Black Lagoon", "Revenge of the Creature", "Tarantula"
Michael Papajohn - "American Ultra", "Nightcrawler", "Live By Night"
Simon Pegg - "The Boxtrolls", "Ice Age: Collision Course", "For the Love of Spock"
Joe Pingue - "The Art of the Steal", "Room", "Drive"
George Plimpton - "Reds", "The Bonfire of the Vanities", "Factory Girl"
Richard Portnow - "Café Society", "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai", "Trumbo"
David Prowse - "Comic Book: The Movie", "Elstree 1976", "I Am Your Father"
John C. Reilly - "The Anniversary Party", "Sing", "Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie"
Ryan Reynolds - "Logan", "Criminal", "Self/Less"
Eric Roberts - "The Specialist", "Lovelace", "Cecil B. Demented"
Julia Roberts - "Mother's Day", "Mystic Pizza", "Money Monster"
Terence Rosemore - "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "Triple 9", "The Nice Guys"
Maya Rudolph - "Strange Magic", "The Angry Birds Movie", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
Mark Ruffalo - "Now You See Me 2", "Spotlight", "Thor: Ragnarok"
Jackie Sandler - "The Do-Over", "The Ridiculous 6", "Sandy Wexler"
Jared Sandler - "The Do-Over", "The Ridiculous 6", "Sandy Wexler"
Rodrigo Santoro - "The 33", "Focus", "I Love You Phillip Morris"
Paul Scheer - "Bride Wars", "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
Michael Shannon - "Midnight Special", "Premium Rush", "Cecil B. Demented"
Martin Sheen - "Bobby", "Rules Don't Apply", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
Mark Rhino Smith - "Creed", "Criminal", "Zootopia"
Will Smith - "Focus", "Suicide Squad", "Concussion"
David Spade - "The Do-Over", "The Ridiculous 6", "Sandy Wexler"
Bruce Spence - "Australia", "Peter Pan", "Gods of Egypt"
Steven Spielberg - "Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made", "Drew: The Man Behind the Poster", "Back in Time"
Joe Stapleton - "Manchester by the Sea", "Spotlight", "Irrational Man"
Fisher Stevens - "Hail, Caesar!", "Bob Roberts", "Bright Lights"
Emma Stone - "La La Land", "Irrational Man", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
Sharon Stone - "The Specialist", "Bobby", "Lovelace"
Peter Stormare - "The Penguins of Madagascar", "Strange Magic", "The Zero Theorem"
Mark Strong - Tristan + Isolde", "Body of Lies", "The Brothers Grimsby"
Kay Sutton - "Roberta", "Follow the Fleet", "Carefree"
Tilda Swinton - "Doctor Strange", "Hail, Caesar!", "The Zero Theorem"
George Takei - "Kubo and the Two Strings", "You Don't Mess With the Zohan", "For the Love of Spock"
Fred Tatasciore - "The Boxtrolls", "The Angry Birds Movie", "The Huntsman: Winter's War"
Billy Bob Thornton - "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot", "Our Brand Is Crisis", "Eagle Eye"
Lily Tomlin - "Nashville", "The Late Show", "Orange County"
Donald Trump - "Snowden", "Weiner", "Trumped: Inside the Greatest Political Upset of All Time"
Herb Vigran - "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", "Bells Are Ringing", "The Band Wagon"
Alicia Vikander - "Ex Machina", "Burnt", "Jason Bourne"
Dominic West - "28 Days", "Money Monster", "Finding Dory"
Kristen Wiig - "Sausage Party", "Masterminds", "Despicable Me 3"
C.J. Wilson - "The Intern", "Demolition", "Manchester By the Sea"
Kate Winslet - "Triple 9", "Steve Jobs", "Labor Day"
Reese Witherspoon - "Wild", "Hot Pursuit", "Sing"
Finn Wittrock - "The Big Short", "Unbroken", "La La Land"
Robin Wright - "Wonder Woman", "Blade Runner 2049", "Justice League"
James Woods - "Night Moves", "The Specialist", "Riding in Cars With Boys"
Keenan Wynn - "Three Little Words", "Finian's Rainbow", "Nashville"
"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Sandy Wexler", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping", "Tapeheads"
Steve Zahn - "Riding in Cars With Boys", "The Good Dinosaur", "The Ridiculous 6"
Now, as writing this wrap-up has stretched from New Year's Eve Eve to New Year's Eve itself, I've got to really wrap things up. I still have to give out my 2018 preview, pick someone to dedicate Year 10 to, and explain how I picked the start of the 2018 chain. Let me get two of those out of the way here - what's on tap for 2018, and where is it going to start?
As I mentioned above, I've got about 160 films on the main Watchlist right now, with another 75 or 80 on the list of films to add, which are available on Netflix or Academy screeners. The only way to keep the linking going was to isolate the romance films for February, and comb the cast lists of those films, looking for connections. The best I could do was to assemble them into two main chains, so then I had early February and late February chains, with an unavoidable break in the middle. Any romance film that didn't fit into one of these chains was (temporarily, at least) consigned to the "unlinkables" section. I also rescued a few films from the "unlinkables" section of the list, but creating any chain by following SOME links inevitably means that I have to avoid others, so that also added a few films to the unlinkables section, it couldn't be avoided.
I've got the film "Once", and I really want to get to it, but it only links to ONE other film on my list, so I'm calling it a "One-linkable". I could start the romance chain with it on February 1, but that still creates a break between Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, so that doesn't really solve the problem, it just moves it. But accepting a break in the middle of February allowed me to determine what film would land on February 1, and from there I could reverse-link back to the start of January. The first 14 or 15 links came very easy, because I dipped into the Netflix list as needed. Then over the Christmas break, while I was up late in a hotel room in Massachusetts, I sat down with some scrap paper and a calendar and scrolled through some IMDB cast lists, and slowly but surely worked my way back to January 1. It's not perfect, a chain never is, but it's a plan that gets me from Jan. 1 to about March 25 with only one break and one other indirect link. For Year 10, that's probably the best I can do.
I knew I'd found the right film to start 2018 with when I realized it was also a One-linkable, so putting it there makes sense - it can't fit anywhere else during the year without causing a break in the chain. So when I found this One-linkable that was 31 links away from the start of the romance chain - yeah, that's it. As a bonus, I also found a way to get to the classic Sherlock Holmes films in March, I've got a good lead-in and lead-out for them now, and I think I can get to Easter-themed films in just about a week from there. (Remember, I now allow linking by character as well as actor, so if I've got three films with, say, King Arthur in them, I can put those together even if they don't share any actors.)
Other coming highlights for January include the recent remake of "Going in Style", "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", "Alice Through the Looking Glass" on Netflix, "A Monster Calls" and "Split".
So Goodbye 2017, please PLEASE let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, and I'll be back tomorrow with the start of Movie Year 10.
