2017 A Year End Review
The year of 2017 marked our fifth year anniversary and it has brought a lot of amazing changes to TheLifeStyleElite.com (including the return of our “Travel Series“) Join us as we take a look back at 2017 the highs and lows of an incredible year.
The Best of 2017
Digital Magazine Improvements
The year has brought some amazing changes to our digital magazine from the return of our Travel Series, the expansion of our Gaming Division to our five year anniversary. To help celebrate our fifth year in business we launched a completely new design at the beginning of the year, (as we are sure you noticed), and our long-time favorite travel series made its triumphant return. Which took us back to both our personal favorites London and Paris, while taking us to Greece for the first time.
The Best Films of 2017
Though there were a lot of film releases this year few actually made our 2017 best of list, and unlike our previous “Year End Reviews” this year our Best of Films list will be shorter as our list only consists of films we reviewed before their respective theatrical premiere dates. Based on our rules and the fact we reviewed fewer films this year our list will be shorter than normal.
6. Baby Driver
Stylish and a flair for the theatrics, Baby Driver, and director Edgar Wright truly bring something new to the genre. This fast pace GTA style heist film is enhanced by the films soundtrack and the chaos of the characters. The getaway driver Baby’s love of a woman causes trouble and ultimately causes him to change his life.
5. Spider-man: Homecoming
The third iteration in a long line of Spider-Man reboots, Spider-Man: Homecoming is the truest depiction of the quirky teenage superhero. Offering the personal problems he faces being a young superhero to detailing with day to day life as a high school freshman. The Tony Stark surrogate father role is genius, offer the young genius in his own right a guide to being a superhero while also at times being a stern parent. This of course coupled with the know it all teenager makes an interesting story and a take on the character many of us have been waiting for.
9. Logan
A unique take arguably the most popular of the X-Men, Logan burrows heavily from the “Old man Logan” story arc with a dying Logan. This humanizes the superhero by essentially taking away what makes him, him his healing abilities. The story follows an old Logan who has to make ends meet by driving a limo in Las Vegas. In the post-Deadpool, Fox’ Marvel properties have become better with the hopes of being on par with Marvel Studios cinematic universe. Logan not only a great step in the right direction for the X-Men franchise but a great way to end the character’s run as well.
7. Thor: Ragnarok
Although we did we enjoy Thor: The Darkworld, Thor’s third outing is impressive relaying more on the absurdity of Thor as a comic book character and implementing actor Chris Hemsworth’s comedic abilities. This timing fits perfectly with the fresh buddy cop take Marvel Studios has on the both he and The Hulk. Using elements from the Planet Hulk comic book while introducing an evil villain, Hela, that rivals Loki’s fan fair while being a force that brings an end to the world as they know it.
2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Back in 2014 we were privy to a seventeen-minute advanced screening of what would become a massive hit for Marvel. With Vol. 2 we were wondering how they could top the first installment while also sharing the growth of the characters. Albeit only a year has passed since the events of the first film, it seems the team has had success as highly sought after hero’s for hire. Much like with Winter Soldier, this sequel expands the world of the characters well introducing new fleshed out characters that not only add to the story, but create an emotional connection with the new and old characters. Let’s not forget Yondu, the characters redemption only is enough to have this film make our list.
1. John Wick: Chapter 2
One of the unique action films to ever grace the screen returned and unlike most sequels, it did not disappoint. John Wick: Chapter 2 picks up where the first film left off, and finally answered one of the questions that we all had at the end of the first film. What about his car? This, of course, is answered in the first thirty minutes with an action-packed literal grand theft auto in the way that only John Wick can. The epic battles through the film alone are worth seeing, but u like most action movies out today while there is no action on screen the film still captivating. New villains, a new outlandish revenge plot, John Wick is firmly our number one pick for 2017.
Honorable Mention
As we were extremely busy this year preparing for and traveling in celebration of our five year anniversary there were a few films we did not see in theaters before the films official release date.
5. McLaren
A unique look into the life of the founder of the McLaren luxury sports car, Bruce McLaren. This documentary takes a deep look into the passion that drove Bruce not only to become a celebrated race car driver but his obsession with pioneering a better performing professional race cars culminating into his own luxury car manufacturer.
4. Wonder Woman
To date Warner Brothers/DC Comics only criticality acclaimed film, and for good reason. Gone were the epic visuals with paper thin, and replaced with character development and plot. This was a great step in the right direction for the DCU that unfortunately did not carry over to Justice League.
3. Wind River
In our humble opinion was a sleeper hit that capped off the summer. A film with a simple premise and a big payoff, Wind River, is a true thriller with a plot twist you will never see coming. Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen’s will they won’t relationship plays into the murder mystery quiet will. Where Snowman fails Wind River succeeds.
2. Lucky Logan
Possible the one film Adam Driver starred in that everyone loved, Logan Lucky is chalked full of talented actors. The film centers around a heist were in the group plot to steal everything from NASCAR race. Daniel Craig has been known most notably for his work on the Bond Films gives a convincing (albeit strange) south accent in the role of explosive expert Joe Bang.
1. Get Out
A first glance it came across to many of use as a pretty basic horror film, but it does take long for you to become hooked. It’s honestly a phycological horror film, Get Out is an impressive mix of aforementioned phycological thriller and a horror film, with a twist of comedy. From the moment it starts to the final seconds this will not only keep you guessing, but have you contemplating every scene, while dissecting each character’s dialogue wonder how you could not have seen the twist ending comings Get Out is by far one of the best films of 2017 that sadly we were unable to review in theaters.
Television
Though our travels kept us busy this year, television was one thing we could easily keep up on. (thanks to the ability to binge watch) Here are our ten best television shows of 2017.
10. White Gold
Originally airing in the U.K., White Gold made its way to Netflix midway through the year, offering a Jordan Belfort like home improvement salesman whom’s schemes get him involved with the criminal underworld, bring his marriage to the breaking point and the end of his career.
9. Stranger Things: Season 2
After seeing the first season of Stranger Things we all liked it and like most of the viewing audience were highly anticipating the shows return. From many of us who remember the 80’s nostalgia references were deeply invested. In October the series returned offering more references from the (original) Ghost Busters and The Goonies references, not to mention Goonies star himself, Sean Astin. The episodes when Eleven left the bubble of Hawking, the story gets a little odd, overall this show had very interesting plot twists and that made it a worthy entry in on our ” 2017 Best of List.”
8.The Deuce
The Deuce is a very interesting show, to say the least, based on the real-life twin brothers that had a hand in bringing the adult film industry to the forefront. The series starts slow but picks up when the New York Mafias become involved. Though the series is shorter than expected it is definitely worth watching.
7. The Punisher
Though originally introduced in the second season of Daredevil, Frank Castle
6. Vice Principals
5. Godless
4. Ozark
3. The Young Pope
One of the more interesting television shows we reviewed all year. Centering around a new pope, and the political side of the Roman Catholic Church. We see Lenny pit against the old guard, corruption, potential scandal and more.
2. Narcos
After the end of the second season of Narcos, we had a sneaky suspicion the series was not over, and after of theories were confirmed
1. Peaky Blinders (Series 4)
If you read our review you knew we loved
Console Games
As our Gaming Division has grown more over the year we tested more console games and streaming longer than ever before. A
2. Tekken 7
Tekken has been an all-time favorite of many of our gaming division and by far one of the greatest fighting games possible.
1. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands
Ghost Recon Wildlands was our hands best our pick for Best Console Game of the year, and if any of you have seen our Livestream of our testers testing the Beta and reviewing the full version you can see how good they became and how fun it can be. This was also the longest console game we ever reviewed taking over seven months to completely review. By no small part of the shire massive game and the add-ons.
The Worst of 2017
With the good inevitably comes the bad, and though our travels took us far and wide we, unfortunately, we have come across quite a few things that make this list.
The Worst Films of 2017
Last year the film to be released seemed to be very promising but as we quickly for saw this was not the case. Albeit, we have been very busy this year we did review a few movies that truly disappointed us, and though they may have been entertaining at times we ultimately deemed them overall unwatchable on a repeat viewing. Thus making it an awful movie and making our “Worst Films” list for 2017.
3. Ghost in The Shell
Though it was visually stunning and we enjoyed our twelve-minute advanced screen, but when the action is absent the movie’s length is painfully obvious. The characters are stale and underdeveloped. We rewatched the famous anime in perpetration before reviewing the movie and actually remembered seeing a few shot for shot remakes in the screening. But we had to keep in mind the director stated that the plot would be different from anything seen in the Manga or anime. This, of course, had us very interested. As the movie opened we were immediately treated to the footage from our twelve-minute screening, and we couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. Unfortunately, after this, it became progressively worse, when there is no action on screen it is incredibly boring.
2. Atomic Blonde
As we mentioned in our review, we did truly enjoy the fight scenes in the movie, after all the director was one part of the team that brought us last year’s, John Wick, this, unfortunately, did not translate into the plot. When the action was not taking place, we found the pacing grueling and at times cringe-worthy. Though we thoroughly enjoyed James McAvoy’s performance and the protagonist Lorraine Broughton(played by Charlize Theron) is amazing during the fight scenes, but outside of the action sequences it is just boring. Given it takes place days before the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Wall dividing Soviet controlled, and Allied-controlled Germany. What could’ve been an amazing action spy thriller ended up being a very boring 2-hour lackluster movie save the action scenes.
1. The Snowman
disHonorable Mention
As previously mentioned due to our travels this summer we were not able to review many films, but that’s not to say we did not get around to watch most of them. Sadly with the good comes the bad. Here are our disHonorable mentions movies we did not review but did not enjoy.
3. Baywatch
2. The Foreigner
1. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Television
2. The Defenders
1. Iron Fist
Iron Fist makes our list with
Console Games
With great console games, there will be even worse console games. After countless hours of
3. Assassin’s Creed: Origins
2. Call of Duty: WWII
1. For Honor
After reviewing the Beta earlier in the year we were disappointed by the repetitiveness of the games. A pure button mashing mess of moves that seemed slow and lackluster, and though one of our testers did play a finished version of the game during an Xbox free play weekend we can conclude that it was an overall disappointment.
Biggest Disappointment of 2017
This year has had a lot of good films and a few bad movies, but even with that, there has been one of our biggest disappointments of the year, Justice League.
What should have been a home run for Warner Brothers
Product of The Year
Originally announced in 2016 but not available until early this year, this product was one of the most useful for us during our Trave Series in Greece. Though our initial model had issues with the controller, this has proven a great tool for any amateur/ professional filmmaker.
Gentleman of The Year
For the second year in a row, Olivier Rousteing tops our list as “Gentleman of Year.” Why Olivier? He style and classic yet modern take on style
Photographer of The Year
Instagram Artist of The Year
As many of us here at TheLifeStyleElite.com are artists we are huge fans of art. (This can be seen with how often we go to museums and our frequent visits to The Louvre.) We follow several artists on our Instagram account, but this year we can firmly say our pick has impressed us a great deal throughout the entire year.
Cuong Nguyen
Cuong’s renaissance painter’s style looks like his work belongs in halls of The Louvre, whether the medium is charcoal, pencil or oil paint his work is something truly to behold. and not a bad
Style We Can’t Live Without in 2017
Fashion House of The Year
Women of 2017 We Had A Crush On
Like every year 2017 had several women that caught our attention. To be selected for our list we look at a variety attributes from their content across all social networks, the body of work, and personality. Though there were thousands of women voted on by our staff this year, these are the top ten that made our list.
10. Kari Cassandra
Kari caught our attention earlier on in 2017, at first glance we were drawn in by her gorgeous blue eyes but here fun personality kept us coming back and liking her pictures. Kari is definitely someone to watch in the coming years.
9. Jennifer Auada
Brazilian model, Jennifer Auada, first caught our eye with this summer
8. Megan Mitchell
This gorgeous style blogger,
7. Kara Jane
6. Marina Laswick
5. Cindy Mello
4. Dannonk Collardmua
Charleston-based makeup artist/fashion blogger, Dannonk is the 2017 heavily fashion influenced woman of our dreams.
3. Gal Gadot
Gal Gadot has had an incredible year, from her starring role in a self-titled solo superhero film, Wonder Woman was truly the crown gem in the DCU. Her performance and overall joyful personality made her a shoo-in for our list.
2. Charly Jordan
Charly’s notable position on our list is no coincidence, she is one of the most unique women we have ever come across. The first thing that caught our attention was her beautiful eyes and gorgeous smile, but it is by far her unique mole that gives her a 21st century Cindy Crawford appeal. Her Instagram account is a tapestry of gorgeous shots and exotic locations that both impress and rival our own travel exploits.
1. Katja Zwara
Hailing from Poland, London-based model, Katja Zwara, first got our attention early on in January, her absolutely gorgeous eyes, and heart-stopping smile brought us back again and again to her Instagram profile. Her personal style and interesting Instagram feed have made of few of us here fall for her. (even our elusive Founder & Ceo who never casts his vote…Voted for Katja!!)
In conclusion
2017 has been an interesting year for us and with 2018 only hours away we can promise as we do every year that we will continue to grow and offer more content than ever before. With more content coming from our “Gaming Division” more live stream matches in which we will we will be taking on you, our readers in even more console games, more contests giveaways, content from our “Travel Series“
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