Are they the best? Yeah, sure. And nope. I remember them, which is the important thing. Also: none of these include movies from 2019, because it takes me a year or two to really assess ’em. Although ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD will probably make the list anyway.
Also: I left movies off the list, yes.
- ARRIVAL: Hollywood doesn’t annoy me when it makes crap. It annoys me when they put together a team to make an extremely good science fiction movie that wows the critics and makes money… then dissolves the team. Seriously, why didn’t they go “Hey, that was awesome, here’s another 47 million, go make another one?”
- CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER: Really, the whole MCU. But this was a fun flick that remembered all of those paranoid thrillers from the 1970s and so should you. They even got that guy who starred in THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR! What was his name, again?
- THE DEATH OF STALIN: I was dubious that they could make a comedy about Stalin dying. Or at least one that didn’t also have people getting shot in the head. I am pleased to report that my worries were quite unfounded. Also: pound for pound this movie had the finest, most infuriated, and most spittle-flecked negative reviews by unpleasant people that it was my pleasure to read last decade.
- DUNKIRK: Not a fun movie, but an utterly engrossing one. Harrowing, even. I knew how it ended and I was still on the edge of my seat.
- HIDDEN FIGURES: Dorothy Vaughan was my favorite. Why? Because she had a PLAN. And it WORKED, perfectly, and when it did it brought all of the people working for her along for the ride. No, I’m not going to explain any of that. Watch the damn movie.
- JOHN WICK: And sequels, because they don’t suck. But this one is pretty much perfect as it is. I think the Atlantic summarized it as “Some idiot killed his puppy and now everybody must die.” …Fair.
- PACIFIC RIM: Honest Trailers nailed it: giant robots punching giant aliens in the face. You’re for that, or you’re not. I’m for that.
- TANGLED: I thought it was going to be stupid. And then… “You should know that this is the strangest thing I’ve ever done!” This and THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE are pretty much my jam when it comes to Disney flicks.
- WONDER WOMAN: I don’t care what anybody says, but I could watch Gal Gadot break rifles on her back and beat up Ares in an aerodrome for hours. And she’s gonna beat up Commies in the next one! WONDER WOMAN PUNCHING COMMUNISTS! IS THIS NOT WHAT YOU WANT FROM HOLLYWOOD?
- ZOOTOPIA: “Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh / Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh / Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh / Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh / I messed up tonight / I lost another fight / I still mess up but I’ll just start again / I keep falling down, I keep on hitting the ground / I always get up now to see what’s next / Birds don’t just fly, they fall down and get up / Nobody learns without getting it wrong…” Yup, it’s in your head again now. Sorry not sorry?
I have not seen Arrival or Hidden Figures, but yes, I agree. And Tangled and Zootopia in particular were agreeable surprises that I could watch them again tonight. Maybe I will.
I loved Arrival because it was a sci-fi movie made for people interested in linguistics. I was remembering stuff from college by the end of it, and it was AWESOME.
Zootopia, like Frozen, had another movie inside it due to rewrites and direction changes – it would be interesting to see those teased out by an alternate director’s cut.
I gotta say that I’m real thrilled that the Mouse couldn’t make the original concept of Zootopia work as a fun kid’s flick, frankly.
I have seen (and thoroughly enjoyed) 5 of those. Two more I want to see and just haven’t found occasion to do so. And one I am interested in on the strength of your review.
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And, for the record, Wonder Woman was the movie I enjoyed the least of those I have seen, mostly because it felt like a gender flipped version of Captain America. I am looking forward to watching Gal Godot punch her way through the Soviet Army one commissar at a time, however.
Oh, which one are you interested in now?