Nostalgia Nugget: Looking Back at 2017

Peering into the future of 2018?

It is time to take a look back at 2017 and a glimpse into 2018. I feel I did a pretty good job providing weekly fresh content on the site. I ended up focusing a bit more on certain themes over the months, and had a lot of fun. I also ran a few series through 2017 and helped shake up the mix a bit.

I started my Goldsmith Award series of Movie Music Musings. These focused on poorly reviewed or received films with great scores. I kicked this off in January with 2016 and ran it to July with 2011. I might pick it up this year, as it was fun to see what films bombed those years and how great some of the music really was.

February I focused on Robotech. It was a lot of fun revisiting and really digging into that series. It was probably the most anime heavy month of the year. I went pretty light with animation in general. I didn’t even get in a MIyzakii movie review in this year, and I had Kiki’s Delivery Service all lined up to watch, but just never got around to it.

Getting Season 11 started.

Instead I ended up focusing a lot of writing on Season 11 of Mystery Science Theater 3000. It is a great time to be a fan of the movie riffing puppet show. We got a new season, we got a live show and people were excited about both. I was doing pretty good reviewing a new episode from season 11 each month… until October when everything went nutty. Still have Season 12 to look forward to in the not too distant future, so I better get my reviews for Season 11 wrapped.

I turned May into a Star Wars focused month again. That was mostly focusing on musings and nostalgia. I delivered a full review of RogueOne out in December. I did see The Last Jedi, but I want another viewing at home before I write that review. It will appear on the blog in 2018 for sure.

Facing the uncertain future.

A big surprise to me was actually writing about current movies in the month of their theatrical release. War for the Planet of the Apes and Blade Runner 2049 both got reviews shortly after I watched them in theaters. Both were excellent science fiction films, and the Apes film in particular felt like a wonderful triumph of a series. I spent three posts gushing about it in many aspects and don’t regret a single word.

While I did miss out on writing about Miyazaki I did manage to write a new 007 review. It had been a while since I revisted the series for the blog, but I finally wrapped up the 1960s films with You Only Live Twice. I also finally got around to writing about one of my favorite directors David Lynch, as I took an in depth look at Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, one if his darkest and most disturbing films. I hope to continue looking at delving a bit deeper into these waters in 2018.

Is it time to move beyond these reboots?

I had to give Star Trek some blog time as well and September was pretty Trek heavy with a deep dive into Insurrection and looking at music and the films from a wider angle. I’m creeping my way through the Star Trek films and need to give Beyond another view before I write about it. I’m not sure how I feel about that film after my first viewing.

I stuck with the horror film focus in October and once again had a lot of fun with the short reviews and some dives into different aspects of the genre. I had a blast writing about Subspecies II in which I delved far deeper into the film than it perhaps deserved.

November is usually reserved for all MST3K all the time, but this year I shook things up a bit by focusing on cheesy 1980s fantasy films. This was so much fun to write and watch, I might do it again next year. I finally got a review of Hawk The Slayer up, something I’ve wanted to do for years.

Game on!

About that time something happened that changed the course for this blog. While doing all this research on Dungeons and Dragons for the Barbarian Age blog post, I discovered that the Role Playing Game was alive and thriving online. The more research I did the more I realized that I missed writing and storytelling from this perspective.

Long story short, I’m actually playing D&D again. The game has changed quite a bit since when I last played in the early 1990s. It focuses a lot more on storytelling and characters – which means you end up writing all this material for the character you are playing. To be honest all that writing is going to eat up the writing time I can spend on the movie blog.

Soon... soon.

So 2018 is probably going to be a lighter year for this blog. I’ll keep posting things each month, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep up the weekly schedule. I’m thinking there will be fewer deep dive reviews. Instead I’ll focus on the shorter reviews and more editorial blog posts that don’t require quite as many screen captures and editing.

That said, I’m going to be writing some new material for my other blog Storytelling in All Its Forms, focusing more on my D&D experience and how that works out. I can say I’m currently playing two different campaigns and I’m really enjoying the experience.

Thank you so much for reading my work in 2017 and commenting. I really appreciate it and all the encouragement you’ve provided this year. If you have any suggestions or films you’d like to have me review, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’ll be happy to give it a try.

Hope you had a great year, and that 2018 is even better.