Perspective: 2017 in Review

Other Years in Review.

This was not my most productive year of film criticism. As always there are several reasons; I had a busy and artistically active middle of the year, for one. I barely caught any movies during that period, let alone had the stamina to write about them.

Beyond that, though, there were many times throughout the year when I struggled to find purpose in my writing. In a year of cultural upheaval, sending out rarefied opinions about art into the void felt especially inessential. Trying to confront one’s privilege involves listening, and it’s hard to listen while speaking. There were even moments in which I questioned my motivations and considered putting this project to bed.

Yet for all that, I continue to receive lovely encouragement from folks in my life that would be wrong to dismiss. So I have ended up spending a lot of time considering the role of the critic. What is film criticism beyond building up or tearing down the art we consume?

All this crystallized in the cultural impact of the new Star Wars movie. The vehement backlash smacked of outrage for all the wrong reasons, making clear an important truth. If we spend all our time listening, the most misguided voices will always be the loudest. Futile or not, criticism is an opportunity for action in at least one key sense: it provides a platform for discourse. And when criticism is well done, that discourse sets healthy terms like rigorous argumentation and a baseline of empathy.

Perspective is crucial to explore, and it cannot be boiled down to “well this is what I think and you can’t tell me I’m wrong!” I hope that this platform will be generative, not destructive, and only ever combative for the right reasons. It may feel indulgent to air my thoughts for all to see, but it’s a way to actively engage with the art I care about. I will try to keep improving and learning with each passing year.

Anyway, here are some stats:

This year Post-Credit Coda featured a total of 42 blog posts, including 39 movie reviews, 23 reviews of 2017 films, 1 top ten list, and 2 Oscars posts.

Of the 39 movie reviews, the average score was a 7.3 out of 10.

The highest score was a perfect 10, the first since 2015, for Alien.

The lowest score, a measly 2, belongs to Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.

The breakdown is as follows:

Score - Number of Movies with that Score

10 - 1
9/9.5 - 10
8/8.5 - 8
7/7.5 - 8
6/6.5 - 6
5/5.5 - 2
4/4.5 - 1
3/3.5 - 2
2/2.5 - 1
1/1.5 - 0
0/0.5 - 0

The total number of hits for this year: 90,115. The total number of hits for each 2017 post adds up to 13,166.

Of the 42 eligible posts, the average number of hits per post was 313.

The highest number of hits: Resident Evil: The Final Chapter with 749.

The lowest number of hits*: Justice League with 95. (hahaha)

*not posted in the past day

I'll see you next year.