Ranking the Live-Action Disney Remakes

I’m going to start this post off with a quick disclaimer. If you’re someone who is by no means a fan of Disney’s recent trend of producing live-action remakes of their animated classics, you’re not going to get much out of this post since it will be a generally positive take on these films. Yes, since 2010, Disney’s live-action output has primarily been focused on live-action re-imaginings of some of their most iconic animated films. However, while these films have been quite successful at the box-office, they’ve been far more polarizing in terms of their overall reception. While general audiences seem to be fairly receptive towards these new spins on Disney classics, there are a sizable number of folks who have been highly critical of this trend for the exact same reason that folks would take issue with any remake in general. Why would anyone even bother remaking something that’s been regarded by many as an undisputed classic? And yet, as someone who recognizes that the original animated films will always be there regardless of how these new films turn out (which is why I’m thankful for the advent of Disney+, which prominently features both incarnations of the films that have recently gotten the live-action treatment), these recent remakes have never bothered me in the slightest. In fact, I’ve recently started to detest the use of the adjective ‘unnecessary’ when it comes to reviews because I feel that it’s become one of the most overused words in critical vernacular, especially since you could easily apply it to any film that comes out and not just the ones that are remakes/sequels/reboots. In other words, while many of these films are re-imagining some of my favorite Disney films of all-time, I try not to let my affinity for the originals overly cloud my judgment towards the remakes because I personally feel that doing so would be largely unfair to them. And so, with that in mind and in honor of the latest Disney remake Mulan’s impending ‘Premier Access’ release on Disney+, today I’m ranking these live-action remakes from ‘least favorite’ to ‘favorite’. While their placement on this list will primarily stem from overall preference, I will also factor in their efforts to present a new spin on their classic stories.

Before we begin, though, I just need to lay out the ground rules for this list. For starters, I won’t be including the two sequels that were spawned from these recent remakes, 2016’s Alice Through the Looking Glass and 2019’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. The reason for this is quite simple; from a subjective standpoint, they’re not ‘remakes’ anymore. Instead, they’re just ‘sequels’ to the remakes. However, I will briefly address them when I go over their predecessors. Also, for this list, I’m only going to be focusing on the remakes that have been released since 2010 since this is when this current trend first began to take shape. Because of this, there are two films from the ’90s that won’t be appearing on this list even though they are technically the first big Disney remakes. The first is the original live-action remake of The Jungle Book (that’s right, Jon Favreau’s version wasn’t the first time that a live-action adaptation of Disney’s Jungle Book was made) which was directed by Stephen Sommers and released in 1994. Admittedly, I haven’t seen it at the time that I’m writing this, but I’ll probably do some kind of post on both it and a different Disney-produced Jungle Book film from the ’90s, 1998’s The Jungle Book: Mowgli’s Story, in the future, perhaps when the sequel to Favreau’s Jungle Book comes out. The other big remake that won’t be included here is the 1996 adaptation of 101 Dalmatians, but again, that’s because I’m saving my thoughts on that film and its 2000 sequel, 102 Dalmatians, for a different occasion; in this case, the upcoming spin-off Cruella that will hit theaters next May. Lastly, while it does technically count as a ‘live-action remake’ and can genuinely be considered as a part of this recent subgenre, I’m also not going to include the 2016 remake of Pete’s Dragon since it’s a remake of a live-action film rather than an animated one. Yes, for this list, I’m mainly focusing on the live-action remakes of animated Disney films, and while two of them are technically more like ‘sequels’ than ‘remakes’, I believe that they still count here given that they are primarily based on their animated counterparts. And so, without further ado, I present my current rankings of the live-action Disney remakes that have been released since 2010.   

10. ALICE IN WONDERLAND

We start things off with the first big live-action reimagining of a Disney classic from this modern era, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. This is the first of the two films that I mentioned earlier that are more like ‘sequels’ rather than ‘remakes’ as it follows a teenaged Alice returning to the world of Wonderland (referred to in-universe as ‘Underland’). Like the original animated film, Burton ultimately went with a combination of elements from both the original Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland novel and its sequel, Through the Looking Glass, rather than just being a direct adaptation of the source material. And right off the bat, the best thing that I can say about this film is that it’s another prime example of why Burton is one of the greatest visual directors in the industry. While the film’s visuals do feel a bit excessive at times due to the scenes in Underland being almost entirely green-screen based, they’re still very much the best part of the film as they wonderfully capture the eccentric nature of the Wonderland setting through the equally eccentric style of Tim Burton. Because of this, it’s easy to see why this film won Oscars for both its production and costume design and how its production designer would go on to direct his own live-action Disney remake a few years later. That said, though, there are a few instances where Burton’s style arguably goes a bit too far for a film that’s primarily geared towards younger audiences. In other words, moments where creatures get their eyes poked out and a scene where Alice crosses a moat filled with the heads of the Queen of Hearts’ victims do make you wonder how the film was able to get away with its PG rating. But despite this and an often-uneven plot (which, yes, is saying something for an Alice in Wonderland film), the film still manages to be another solid outing from Burton, especially thanks to its cast. Helena Bonham Carter is an absolute standout as the figuratively and literally big-headed tyrant the Red Queen and the film sports an impressively stacked voice cast with big names like Stephen Fry and Alan Rickman.

Thus, while it wasn’t exactly a runaway hit with critics, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland was a smash hit financially as it managed to gross over $1 billion worldwide. This has mainly been attributed to the general lack of competition that it faced upon its release in the Spring of 2010 and the boost that came from 3-D ticket sales since this was right when the 3-D format was experiencing its peak resurgence. Because of this, a sequel was eventually made in 2016, Alice Through the Looking Glass, under the direction of James Bobin, who was fresh off the 2011 Muppets film and its 2014 sequel, Muppets Most Wanted (Burton was still heavily involved as a producer). Like its predecessor, though, it didn’t do too well with critics, and unlike its predecessor, it was a rather notorious underperformer at the box-office. But while we’re not going to spend too much time comparing these two films, I will say that there are two things that the sequel does better than the original. First off, it boasts a brighter visual style that is still a lot of CGI overload, to be fair, but is all-around more pleasant to look at. It also means that there aren’t really any moments that push its PG rating like Burton’s film did. The other key advantage is that since the first film was primarily focused on Alice finding the confidence to help her Underland friends stop the Red Queen, she is a far more confident lead in Through the Looking Glass, which is well-reflected by Mia Wasikowska’s excellent performance in the role. And so, with all this in mind, while the live-action Alice in Wonderland films are far from being my favorites when it comes to Disney’s recent live-action output, I don’t necessarily ‘dislike’ them, either. They may be far from perfect, but as much as they do have their incredibly vocal critics (especially those who love taking these films to task for not being the most faithful adaptations of their source material), there’s no denying that they also have their fair share of fans.    

9. LADY AND THE TRAMP

The most recent film on our list, Lady and the Tramp was one of the many exclusive titles that debuted on Disney+ the day of its launch, and I won’t lie, it was, in fact, the first ‘Disney+ Original’ that I watched. While most of the attention that day was directed towards the pilot episode of The Mandalorian, I was genuinely looking forward to the live-action remake of one of Disney Animation’s most underrated projects. To be clear, I’m not saying that the original Lady and the Tramp is a forgotten entry in the Disney canon, but you could also argue that it often gets overshadowed by the other Disney films of the decade such as Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. Nevertheless, it’s a charming love story that was nicely translated into a live-action film by director Charlie Bean. Now admittedly, there aren’t many deviations from the original film, with the biggest changes consisting of minor things such as giving the dog-catcher a more prominent villain role and changing the song sung by Aunt Sarah’s pair of troublemaking cats in light of the original’s often-accused case of racist stereotyping. But even though this does make this version of Lady and the Tramp one of the more straight-forward installments of the recent Disney remakes, that’s not such a bad thing in this instance. Whereas almost all the other remakes are big-budget, CGI-heavy flicks, the Lady and the Tramp remake is refreshingly simple in its approach since the original film was more of a light-hearted romp with the period setting of a classic 1900’s Midwestern town. It also helps that the filmmakers utilized actual dogs to help bring the characters to life even though it goes without saying that CGI was used for the process of making them talk. All in all, this is just an incredibly cute and harmless film that does a nice job in recapturing the charm of its source material’s timeless romance.   

8. DUMBO

In 2019, Tim Burton took on his second major live-action Disney remake with Dumbo. Admittedly, the story of a lovable circus elephant who uses his big ears to fly may have seemed like an odd choice for Burton to direct, but at the same time, it did fit his usual M.O. of stories about misfit characters. Thus, while Burton’s Dumbo doesn’t feature his traditional gothic style, its visuals are still very much on point throughout as they do a wonderful job of capturing the bright and majestic visual aesthetic of the circuses of yesteryear. The film also has the benefit of having greater opportunities for new material when compared to some of the other remakes on this list since the original Dumbo is one of Disney’s more simpler-plotted affairs, especially due to its short 64-minute runtime. As such, all the key moments from the original such as Dumbo’s mother being put into captivity after causing a ruckus and the moment where Dumbo first publicly showcases his flying ability during a clown act are covered in just the first forty minutes. After that, a new subplot occurs when a greedy theme park entrepreneur purchases Dumbo for use in his circus while the members of Dumbo’s original circus troupe work to free his mom from her captivity at the entrepreneur’s amusement park. The remake also focuses more on the story’s human characters, namely WWI veteran Holt Farrier and his two kids Milly and Joe, who take the place of Timothy Q. Mouse from the original as Dumbo’s primary allies since this film doesn’t feature any talking animals. However, the new material that’s added in ends up feeling just as simplistic as the original film’s plot which, to be fair, was reportedly the point according to screenwriter Ehren Kruger. Ultimately, though, Dumbo still works quite well as a good-natured family film with a solid cast headlined by Burton regulars such as Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito and some fun nods to the original, including the infamous pink elephants.

7. MALEFICENT

Since Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is technically more of a sequel than a remake, one could argue that 2014’s Maleficent is where this current crop of live-action Disney remakes truly got started. Under the direction of Alice in Wonderland’s production designer Robert Stromberg, the film serves as a live-action reimagining of Disney Animation’s 1959 outing Sleeping Beauty that, as the title suggests, mainly focuses on the story’s iconic villainess, Maleficent. However, instead of just having her be the main antagonist, the film turns her into more of an anti-hero whose actions against Princess Aurora and her family were the result of her getting revenge against Aurora’s father, her former love interest, for stealing her fairy wings. And while she does curse Aurora to fall into an eternal slumber on her 16^th birthday, she ends up developing a motherly connection to her to the point where she’s ultimately the one who saves her from the curse. As you might have guessed, those who prefer Maleficent’s traditionally villainous persona weren’t too pleased with this interpretation of the character, but overall, I think that it’s a uniquely fascinating take on Maleficent and the mother-daughter relationship that forms between her and Aurora is genuinely sweet. But, of course, the biggest highlight of the film is Angelina Jolie in the title role as she perfectly encapsulates the look and persona of the ‘Mistress of All Evil’… even if that designation doesn’t necessarily apply to this version of the character. Thus, Maleficent turned out to be a big hit with audiences upon its release in the summer of 2014, ultimately grossing over $758 million worldwide. This effectively paved the way for a sequel in 2019, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, which was generally on par with its predecessor in terms of quality while also expanding upon its fantasy world, namely by introducing more members of Maleficent’s race, the Dark Feys. Really, the only major disappointment with the sequel was that there were fewer scenes between Maleficent and Aurora. Nevertheless, the Maleficent films are a solid duology of fantasy flicks that pride themselves on being female-driven stories.

6. THE LION KING

Now I’ll be the first to admit that Jon Favreau’s CGI-based remake of The Lion King (which admittedly makes this one a bit questionable to include on this list since it’s not really live-action but arguably still counts based on its status as a remake) is quite arguably the most straight-forward remake of this bunch when it comes to retelling the original film’s story. Apart from some minor additions like an earlier introduction for adult Nala and a rivalry between her and Shenzi the hyena, this is the exact same story as the 1994 film with the exact same story beats. In other words, the biggest difference between the two films is that Favreau’s version is CGI whereas the original was traditionally animated. But while this has made the new Lion King one of the most controversial installments yet of the recent Disney remakes, I’d argue that it still manages to be a solid enough film. Like Favreau’s other big remake, The Jungle Book, much of this is due to the utterly impressive visual effects that do such an incredible job in maintaining their photorealistic nature. And while this does mean that the film lacks the more extravagant moments of the original (i.e. there’s no scene of Timon distracting hyenas by donning a grass skirt and dancing the hula (although there is a brilliant substitute bit for that part)), the attention to detail is truly spot on. Plus, I’d argue that the film still manages to hit the right emotional beats from Mufasa’s death to the moment where Simba speaks with the spirit of his father. And so, if anything, I’d say that at the very least, the new Lion King succeeds as a demonstration of how far CGI has truly come in the past few years. Obviously, I’m not saying that it’s ‘better’ than the 1994 film, but with phenomenal visuals and a great voice cast that includes the likes of Donald Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Billy Eichner, Seth Rogen, and the Queen Bey herself, Beyonce, it’s also quite far from being completely worthless. And yes, this is all coming from someone who lists the original Lion King as his favorite Disney animated film of all-time, but as I’ve made it clear already, just because it’s my favorite doesn’t mean that I was going to hold that against this new film. Still, I will admit that the fact that it is largely note-for-note the same as its traditionally animated counterpart does keep me from putting it any higher on this list.

5. CHRISTOPHER ROBIN

Christopher Robin is the other film on this list that’s more of a sequel rather than a remake as it revolves around a grown-up Christopher Robin being reunited with Winnie the Pooh and the rest of the Hundred Acre Wood gang. But, of course, it still counts on this list since it utilizes much of the iconography from Disney’s interpretation of Winnie the Pooh, and since Winnie the Pooh was such a significant part of my childhood, this was easily one of my most anticipated films of 2018. At the end of the day, I’m happy to report that it did not disappoint. Christopher Robin is an incredibly poignant story about the tragedy that is the loss of childhood innocence through the harsh but sadly natural process of growing up. But while this ordeal ends up being an incredibly rough one for Christopher Robin (e.g. losing his father at a young age, enduring the horrors of World War II, etc.), it is what also makes his eventual reconciliation with his friends and family incredibly cathartic. Ewan McGregor does a fantastic job in the title role and when it comes to his Hundred Acre Wood friends, it was only appropriate that they bring back Jim Cummings, the voice of Pooh and Tigger for many a generation (mine included), for his iconic roles. Now admittedly, many have noted that Christopher Robin sports a rather bleak tone, which is true if focusing solely on the first half of the film before Christopher Robin regains his childhood innocence. After that, the film takes on a more light-hearted tone and the scenes where Pooh and company get into all sorts of adventures in London are purely delightful. And really, that perfectly sums up the film in general. It’s a truly delightful family flick that’s fully bolstered by the ever-enduring charm of its timeless characters to be another great Winnie the Pooh story.  

4. ALADDIN

As I’ve mentioned plenty of times before, director Guy Ritchie’s live-action remake of Aladdin ended up being quite a noteworthy success story even though, before its release, it was quite possibly the most scrutinized installment yet of these equally scrutinized remakes. Simply put, it was almost as if this film could never catch a break as it caught flak for various reasons ranging from certain casting choices to the infamous first reveal of Will Smith’s Genie in his traditional blue form. But when it finally came out, it managed to earn over $1 billion worldwide while also doing decently enough with critics, many of whom felt that it turned out to be much better than they initially anticipated. And if you ask me, that means that this film deserves a lot of credit for managing to avoid being the disaster that many predicted it would be. Now as far as being a remake of its animated counterpart, Aladdin is in the same boat as Lady and the Tramp and The Lion King by not making a lot of radical changes to the original story of a good-natured thief who tries to woo the Princess of Agrabah with the help of a wisecracking Genie. Despite this, however, one great change that it does make is letting Princess Jasmine play a far more proactive role in the story. With no disrespect to her animated counterpart, this is the best incarnation of the character to date, especially thanks to Naomi Scott doing a phenomenal job in the role. Meanwhile, Mena Massoud shines in what is surely going to be his breakout role as Aladdin while Will Smith, despite all the pressure that stemmed from having to follow in the footsteps of Robin Williams’ iconic rendition of the Genie in the original animated film, successfully delivers his own, unique take on the character. Ultimately, the only thing that holds this film back is its mediocre interpretation of Jafar, which is primarily due to this version’s more grounded take on the character. But at the end of the day, the live-action Aladdin ends up being a lot of fun, and while it may have seemed like a weird choice to have it done by a director who’s known more for making gritty crime dramas, Guy Ritchie does a highly respectable job when it comes to maintaining the original’s great atmosphere and unforgettable musical numbers.  

3. THE JUNGLE BOOK

Out of all these films, Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book is arguably the best example of a live-action Disney remake that isn’t fully tied to its animated counterpart. While it’s still very much the story of a young boy named Mowgli who is raised by wolves in the jungles of India and pursued by the sinister tiger Shere Kahn, it’s ultimately a combination of the 1967 animated film and Rudyard Kipling’s original novel. In other words, it only features three of the songs from the animated film (“Bare Necessities”, “I Wanna Be Like You”, and “Trust in Me”) and places greater emphasis on the dramatic parts of the story such as Mowgli’s history with Shere Kahn, who killed his human father, and the dangerous power of ‘Man’s Red Flower’, fire. Favreau does an excellent job of balancing these two aspects of the story, resulting in some excellent emotional moments (e.g. when Mowgli first leaves for the man-village and says goodbye to his adoptive wolf mother Raksha) while also featuring plenty of great homages to the original. But, of course, the most notable aspect of this film is its extensive use of CGI to bring both its animals and its jungle landscapes to life. And because Favreau’s VFX team did such an outstanding job with the visuals (which ended up netting them the Oscar that year for Best Visual Effects), sometimes it’s easy to forget that Neel Sethi, who plays Mowgli, is literally the only ‘real’ thing on-screen 95% of the time. All this and a top-notch voice cast that includes big names like Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, and Lupita Nyong’o helps make this adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s classic story a full-blown visual masterpiece. And as I noted back in the intro, Favreau and screenwriter Justin Marks are currently prepping a sequel that, according to Marks, could potentially incorporate some of the unused elements from the animated film’s original screenplay by Bill Peet that was ultimately rejected by Walt Disney himself for being too dark.

2. CINDERELLA

No matter how much these live-action Disney remakes get ragged on by their biggest critics, there will always be the select few that were genuinely well-received, and the one that started it all for this group was Kenneth Branagh’s 2015 remake of Cinderella. Unlike both Alice in Wonderland and Maleficent, which received mixed reviews upon their release, Cinderella fared quite well with critics and became the first of these remakes to secure a ‘Fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. And just like Christopher Robin, this was another one of my most anticipated films back when it was coming out due to the original Cinderella being one of my all-time favorite Disney films growing up. All in all, Branagh’s remake does a wonderful job of bringing this classic story to life. Sure, it’s another case where the remake is predominately faithful to its animated counterpart without many significant changes, but in this instance, the changes that it does make are some of the best to come from any of these recent remakes. Easily the best example of this is how it expands upon the relationship between Cinderella and Prince Charming, namely by having them meet before the ball, which also allows the latter to be a more fleshed-out character compared to his animated counterpart. And while Cinderella continues to get a lot of flak nowadays for allegedly being ‘too passive’ of a protagonist, I still stand by what I’ve been saying these past few years in that her unshakably optimistic nature in the face of all the crap she’s put through makes her a far better heroine than she’s often given credit for. Sure enough, this is well-reflected in the live-action remake, especially thanks to Lily James’ outstanding turn in the role. The same goes for Richard Madden as the superior version of Prince Charming, Cate Blanchett as the unforgettably sinister Lady Tremaine, and Helena Bonham Carter in a scene-stealing turn as Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother. And so, with a phenomenal cast, gorgeous production design, and all-around excellent direction from Kenneth Branagh, the live-action Cinderella is one of the most uplifting films to have come out in recent years.

1. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

To be perfectly blunt, folks, I have the feeling that this film’s placement at the top spot on this list is going to garner some controversy given its usual reception. Let me put it this way; when it first came out, it did relatively well with critics. It currently boasts a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a decently solid score for a film to have on that site, and it also grossed over $1 billion worldwide, effectively making it the second-highest-grossing film of 2017 behind only Star Wars: The Last Jedi. In other words, it was, at the very least, clearly a big hit with audiences. However, I think it’s safe to say that this was the film that fully intensified the utter contempt that the ‘Disney remake’ critics have towards this trend, especially due to the legendary reputation of the film that this remake was adapted from. Before 2017, all the live-action Disney remakes were based on older animated films such as Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella. As such, one could argue that the overall expectations for them weren’t as intense given how long it has been since their releases. Beauty and the Beast, on the other hand, was the most recent Disney animated feature to get the live-action treatment at that point and it also happens to be one of the studio’s most beloved outings. It is, after all, the first animated film that was ever nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, a distinction that only two other films have achieved since then. As such, this remake clearly faced stricter expectations because of how much the original has meant to my generation, and the same can also be said for the remakes of Aladdin and The Lion King that would come out later and would end up garnering far more polarizing reactions from critics. Thus, despite what I just said about the film maintaining a solid rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I wouldn’t be surprised if many of those who gave it a ‘Fresh’ review aren’t as positive about it nowadays. And yet, I’m not afraid to admit that I still love this film.

Yes, this is yet another instance of a remake that doesn’t make a lot of changes to the original’s story, but overall, I was genuinely fine with the updates that they did make. This includes, among other things, Belle being an inventor just like her father (played excellently by Kevin Kline in a uniquely more subdued take on ‘crazy old Maurice’) and her discovery as to why he has been overly protective of her all these years after her mom died from the Plague. I also loved all the new songs that were made for this remake, especially the Beast’s new solo, ‘Evermore’. And while I’m well aware that much of the criticisms towards this film have been directed towards Emma Watson in the lead role of Belle, namely due to her singing, I still think that she does a fantastic job in the role if we’re talking about all the other things that have made Belle one of the most popular Disney princesses. She’s then backed by a phenomenal supporting cast that includes Dan Stevens as the Beast, Luke Evans and Josh Gad as the scene-stealing duo of Gaston and LeFou (so much so that they’re going to get their own Disney+ series) and the likes of Ewan McGregor, Emma Thompson, and Ian McKellen as the Beast’s servants. In short, I will fully admit that there’s probably quite a bit of bias behind my decision to place this film at the #1 spot on this list. I saw it twice in theaters, with the first time being in IMAX at the film’s ‘Fan Event’ screening on my birthday. I also bought the soundtrack on iTunes not long afterward and loved the film so much that my mom asked one of her co-workers to pick it up on Blu-Ray and ship it to us so we could get the special Best Buy Steelbook*. In other words, I know that I’m probably in the minority when it comes to liking this film, which has certainly faced tons of scrutiny over the ‘necessity’ of its existence and has often been negatively compared to its animated counterpart. And yet, as this entire list has hopefully established by now, I don’t really care about any of that stuff, even if this is another case like The Lion King since the original Beauty and the Beast is one of my Top 5 favorite Disney films. Ultimately, though, that doesn’t prevent the live-action Beauty and the Beast from legitimately being one of my favorite films of the 2010s.

*(By the time that I was fully intent on getting the Steelbook, it wasn’t available at any of the Best Buy stores that were near our home in Rhode Island, hence why we needed to have my mom’s co-worker pick it up for us in Wisconsin where he’s from. As our way of saying thanks, we then proceeded to get him his own Steelbook copy of the film. In other words, as a friendly piece of advice for all you Blu-Ray enthusiasts out there, if you’re ever interested in getting a film’s Steelbook release, be sure to pre-order it in advance because it could very well go out of stock as soon as it hits the shelves, especially if it’s for a highly popular film like one of the MCU films or, say, a billion-dollar grossing remake of a Disney classic…)

And that concludes my rankings list of all the major live-action Disney remakes that have been released since 2010. Thanks for following along and be sure to be on the lookout for my review of the next big live-action Disney remake, Mulan, not too long after the film makes its Disney+ debut on September 4^th.

TOP 12 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2019: #9-7

Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s annual end-of-the-year list in which I’m counting down my Top 12 Favorite Films of 2019. This is Part 2 of 4 and today we’ll be covering films #9-7. For those of you who are just joining us that might have missed out on Part 1, where I listed my 6 Honorable Mentions and films #12-10, just head to the link that’s provided below. Let’s not waste any more time and get back to the list…

PART 1

Today’s post starts off on a controversial note as our Number 9 pick is one of the many recent live-action remakes of a Disney animated classic. In fact, I’d say that this one has arguably become the new focal point when it comes to the debate over the necessity of this current trend of Disney’s live-action output. Nevertheless, I still found it to be just as enjoyable as its animated counterpart, which is saying a lot in this instance given that the latter is my personal favorite Disney animated film of all-time.

9. THE LION KING

I really don’t need to explain why Disney’s recent line of live-action remakes have been a considerable source of contention within the film fan community because the situation basically speaks for itself. Simply put, many have questioned why Disney would even bother to do live-action adaptations of some of their most beloved animated films, especially since many of the recent ones have attempted to remake films from the Disney Renaissance era AKA the films that folks of my generation are undoubtedly the most attached to. This includes 1994’s The Lion King, which ended up being Disney Animation’s highest-grossing film for two decades until that record was overtaken by Frozen in 2013. And yet, ironically, since director Jon Favreau’s remake is technically still an animated film since the characters and environments are CGI, its $1.6 billion performance at the box-office officially puts the story of Simba, the king of Pride Rock, back on top as the highest-grossing animated film of all-time. However, this film has probably been the most polarizing of the recent Disney remakes to date, especially due to how Favreau ultimately retells this classic story. Say what you will about these recent remakes, but at the very least, they have made a few key narrative changes that help keep them from being a carbon copy of their animated counterparts, whether it’s by giving Prince Charming more scenes with Cinderella or turning Maleficent into a tragic anti-hero. This was also very much the case with Favreau’s previous Disney remake, 2016’s The Jungle Book, where he combined elements from both the animated film and Rudyard Kipling’s original novel to craft its plot. The Lion King, on the other hand, basically maintains the exact same plot as the original film, from the infamous wildebeest stampede that leads to the death of Mufasa to the final clash between Simba and his nefarious uncle Scar atop Pride Rock while the entire kingdom burns around them.   

The only major narrative changes that I can think of primarily revolve around Nala, who’s introduced as an adult at a much earlier point in the film instead of when she attacks Timon and Pumbaa. She also has a minor rivalry with Shenzi the hyena that culminates in one final brawl between them at the end. Aside from that, a few non-dialogue sequences from the original are also extended, including the scene where a tuft of Simba’s mane (disclaimer: in the original, it was a collection of dust and pollen that he’d laid down in) makes its way to Rafiki, promptly informing him that Simba is still alive. Despite this, however, Favreau does do a nice job of properly maintaining the emotional depth of the original film. This includes, of course, Mufasa’s death, which still hits hard even if, based on what I’ve come across online, some found it to be rather goofy in its execution. Another thing that people tend to bring up about this film is that because it goes for a more realistic atmosphere from a visual perspective, it doesn’t feature a lot of the most iconic images from the original, including the scene where Timon distracts some hyenas by dancing the hula. Overall, though, this doesn’t bother me that much and the film does make up for its lack of a grass skirt wearing meerkat with a brilliant reference to ‘Be Our Guest’ from Beauty and the Beast. It also helps that the film has an excellent voice cast to portray these classic characters. James Earl Jones slips back into the role of Mufasa with ease and Chiwetel Ejiofor is a wonderful successor to Jeremy Irons as Scar. Donald Glover provides a nice earnestness as adult Simba and while she doesn’t factor into the film as much as you may think given who’s voicing her, Beyoncé does a solid job in the role of adult Nala. But, of course, the biggest scene-stealers are Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa, whose brilliant ad-libbed humor makes them worthy successors to Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella.

I also loved the new takes on the original film’s classic soundtrack of songs written by Elton John and Tim Rice. That said, though, I’m aware that the remake’s soundtrack has been one of its most polarizing elements to the point where even Elton John thought it was underwhelming. Overall, though, most of the new renditions of these classic songs turn out solidly. ‘Circle of Life’ is still an unforgettable opening number, especially since it retains the iconic opening Zulu vocals from Lebo M. ‘I Just Can’t Wait to Be King’ is just as toe-tapping as ever and I love the little instrumental beat that’s added in before the “Everybody Look Left/Everybody Look Right” lyric. ‘Be Prepared’? Okay, I’ll admit that this version is the one disappointment of this soundtrack, namely because it’s basically just a single verse that’s mostly spoken. I mean, it is worth noting that, before the film’s release, it was rumored that there was a chance that the song wasn’t going to be included. But while it ultimately made it into the film, one of the most iconic villain songs to come from a Disney film ends up feeling like an afterthought. Thankfully, ‘Hakuna Matata’ is still an all-time classic with some fun alterations like Timon not censoring Pumbaa’s use of the word ‘farted’ during his solo or the fourth wall jokes that the duo make regarding how much time has passed (“Yeah, you’ve grown 400 pounds since we started…”). And sure, Seth Rogen’s admittedly not the best singer, but Billy Eichner, JD McCrary (who voices young Simba), and Donald Glover do make up for this. Finally, some excellent duet work between Donald Glover and Beyoncé results in a lovely rendition of the classic romantic melody that is ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’. As for the two new additions to the soundtrack, there’s ‘Spirit’, a powerful solo from Beyoncé (Because come on, why wouldn’t you give Queen Bey her own song?) that plays when Simba finally decides to return home to Pride Rock, and ‘Never Too Late’, a fun and upbeat track from Elton John that’s played during the credits.

Given that the original Lion King is my favorite Disney animated film of all-time, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of you figured that this would be the one Disney remake that I’d be against. Even I’ll admit that as much as I try not to let expectations impact my thoughts on a film given how that’s never a good thing (just wait until we get to #3 on this list), the fact that The Lion King means so much to me did have a considerable impact on how I viewed the remake. Ultimately, though, I did enjoy this new version of it just as much as I did the original. Does this mean that I think it’s the better version of The Lion King? No, no I don’t. At the same time, though, I’m not going to hold that against this film since I feel that it’s great in its own unique way, which also applies to my views on the other recent Disney remakes. As I’ve said before, it’s truly not that big of a deal that they exist because, at the end of the day, it’s not like they’re going to replace their animated counterparts. That’s why I’m thankful for the advent of Disney+, which has prominently featured both versions of the various films that have been remade these past few years. Now sure, as far as these remakes are concerned, The Lion King is probably the most straight-forward of the bunch since its biggest change is its visual style rather than doing anything to update the story. And yet, if we were to look at this new Lion King through the lens of it being a visual effects demonstration, it’s a full-blown success in that regard since the same visual wizardry that brought Favreau’s version of The Jungle Book to life is once again on full display here. In other words, it’s truly saying something about how authentically real this film looks when its only ‘real’ shot is the very first shot of the African landscape before the start of ‘Circle of Life’. In other words, this is easily one of the best-looking films of 2019.

2017 was the very first year that a horror film managed to earn a spot on my Top 12 Favorite Films of the Year list, and while it only managed to make the #12 spot that year, I still credit that film as the one responsible for giving me the opportunity to start getting more invested in the genre. And while this isn’t meant to imply that I found it to be ‘better’ than its predecessor, its sequel does manage to land at a higher spot on this year’s list.

8. IT: CHAPTER TWO

When it comes to the 1990 miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s It, many felt that its weakest moments were the ones that involved the adult incarnations of the story’s main protagonists, the Losers’ Club. Thankfully, that is not the case with director Andy Muschietti’s big-screen adaptation of the story as the scene in this film where the Losers’ Club reunites for the first time in 27 years far surpasses anything that we got from the adults in the miniseries. And, of course, this is all thanks to how impeccably cast this film is. While it could’ve been easy to just go with an all-star cast for this beloved group, Muschietti instead opts for actors who are perfect counterparts to the young leads from the first film. Sure, there are some big stars like Jessica Chastain, who was the clear front-runner to play Beverly Marsh, and James McAvoy, who’s outstanding as Bill Denbrough, but then you have guys like Isaiah Mustafa, who thoroughly proves that he’s more than just ‘the Old Spice Guy’ with his phenomenal turn as Mike Hanlon. In short, everyone is perfectly cast in their respective roles, and when it comes to the biggest standouts, that honor goes to the duo of Bill Hader and James Ransone as Richie Tozier and Eddie Kaspbrak. Ransone is quite arguably the most pitch-perfect casting of the whole film when compared to his younger counterpart from Part 1, Jack Dylan Grazer, but Hader shines the most as Richie, who serves as both the film’s primary source of comic relief and the catalyst behind one of its most devastating moments. However, we still get plenty of scenes with the younger versions of the Losers’ Club, and while some CGI work had to be done to de-age them to look like they did in the first film, it isn’t really that noticeable unless you seriously try to look for it.

Despite this, however, there is one major aspect of It: Chapter Two that has been a key source of contention amongst both critics and audiences… its runtime. It: Chapter Two is the very definition of a ‘massive’ film, clocking in at nearly three hours long. And while I don’t feel that there were any major parts of the film that ‘dragged’, I do see why this may be an issue for others. This especially applies to the middle part of the film, which ends up maintaining a very specific formula where almost every member of the Losers’ Club reflects back to a moment from their childhood where they dealt with Pennywise on their own before having a new run-in with Pennywise as adults. The final battle with the infamous dancing clown is another sequence that goes on for a while and the Native American ritual known as the Ritual of Chüd that the Losers’ Club uses to defeat him can sometimes feel a tad bit convoluted. And yet, while I admittedly haven’t read a lot of the original novel (I’m a few chapters in on Audible, and as I’m sure many of you already know, Stephen King books can be quite long), I’m aware that a lot of these issues were also apparent there as well. Thus, I think Muschietti and the writers do deserve credit for at least trying to streamline some of the most complicated aspects of this story, particularly the Ritual of Chüd (Seriously, from what I’ve heard, it’s even weirder in the book). Ultimately, though, the main reason why this film’s hefty runtime doesn’t bother me too much is that, at the end of the day, we’re still following the same terrific and fully endearing group of protagonists that we were introduced to in the first film. And because of this, the best aspect of It: Chapter Two is how it dutifully retains its predecessor’s strong emotional poignancy.

Simply put, there are a lot of powerful emotional moments in this film; in fact, I’d dare say that It: Chapter Two even manages to surpass its predecessor when it comes to this aspect of the story. There’s the struggle that Bill goes through to overcome the guilt that he feels over his brother Georgie’s death since it’s revealed that he wasn’t sick on that fateful rainy day like he had claimed. This guilt is then further compounded by his ultimately failed efforts to save a young boy named Dean from the same tragic fate. But when he’s finally confronted with this dilemma by a vision of his younger self during the group’s final encounter with Pennywise, he overcomes it by affirming to himself that this one decision of his did not cause his brother’s death. Stanley Uris’ suicide is another devastating moment and its impact is felt throughout the whole film. When Richie nearly leaves town, he’s ultimately convinced to stick around when he drives by Stan’s church and remembers the speech that Stan gave at his bar mitzvah about the struggles of growing up and how everyone has memories that they wish they can forget. This is a particularly beautiful sequence as Stan’s monologue is paired with scenes of the young incarnations of the Losers’ Club at some of their lowest points. And then there’s the final sequence in the film where Bill opens a letter that Stan had written to the group before his death. In the letter, he admits that he was simply too scared to face Pennywise again and knew that the group wouldn’t stand a chance against him if they weren’t all together. Now… this may create a complicated situation for some since it can be argued that this sequence is trying to ‘rationalize’ Stan’s suicide. Thus, if you’re one of those folks who has an issue with this scene because of that, I don’t blame you because I fully recognize why. At the very least, some of the other messages that Stan puts in his letter (e.g. being proud of who you are and never letting go of those you love) are quite touching. These words are then coupled with scenes of the Losers’ Club living their best lives, including Ben and Beverly in a loving relationship and Mike, the only member of the group who stayed in Derry, finally leaving for the first time in his life.

But when it comes to the most devastating moment in this film, that would have to be everything that revolves around the death of Eddie. While the Losers’ Club does defeat Pennywise once and for all, Eddie gets impaled by Pennywise’s spider-like final form and ultimately succumbs to his wounds. This death is already tragic on its own merits given all the strong character development that our heroes have gotten in these films, but the real kicker is how Richie reacts to it. This effectively ties back to a moment earlier in the film when Richie was confronted by Pennywise, who proceeded to boast that he knew Richie’s “dirty, little secret”. And with Eddie’s death, we finally understand what that secret was; Richie was in love with Eddie. Because of this, it’s practically impossible not to shed a tear during the scene where the other members of the Losers’ Club console the normally loud-mouthed, wisecracking Richie or his final scene where he finishes writing the letters that he had carved onto a bridge back when he was a kid, ‘R+E’. As I’ve said numerous times in the past, I feel that one of the most important elements to a great horror film is giving us main characters that we truly care about, and these two It films have been some of the best examples of that in recent years. Thus, while I totally get why some people feel that It: Chapter Two wasn’t necessarily as good as its immediate predecessor, I’d still argue that it serves as a perfect bookend to this timeless story of love, friendship… and a killer clown. And because of this, I can now safely say that the amazing duology that is director Andy Muschietti’s adaptation of Stephen King’s It is now, collectively, my new favorite horror film of all-time.

While this isn’t the first time that I’ve talked about a superhero film on this year’s list given that Captain Marvel was one of my Honorable Mentions, Number 7 is the first of the genre’s 2019 slate to make it into the Top 12. The film in question is the latest installment of the DC Extended Universe and one that I personally hope will end up serving as a template for how future DC films should be made going forward.

7. SHAZAM

It goes without saying that the DC Extended Universe’s road to replicating the ongoing success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been rocky, to say the least. One could say that this is due to how they tried to rush the process of setting up its cinematic universe so that they can do a Justice League film despite having little to no time to set up its characters. Others might pin it all on the frequent creative conflicts behind-the-scenes that often led to several films being neutered in the editing room against the filmmaker’s will. But if you ask me, the biggest reason why the early DCEU films didn’t turn out as good as they could’ve been is because the franchise fell victim to believing the ongoing stigma against the MCU that views their films as being nothing more than family-oriented comedies. Thus, the early DCEU films tried way too hard to be the complete opposite of that, and while I don’t have a problem with ‘dark and gritty’ superhero stories, these films were arguably more focused on cool visuals and having their characters partake in cool action sequences rather than giving them proper character development. I mean, as much as people like to rag on the MCU films for their extensive use of humor, they still go above and beyond when it comes to developing their characters so that we’re able to fully connect with them. Let’s put it this way… imagine if Marvel decided to make the first Avengers right after doing Iron Man 2, effectively skipping over Thor and Captain America’s first solo films in favor of them making their official franchise debut in the highly anticipated team-up outing. That’s exactly what happened with 2017’s Justice League, and as much as the DCEU fandom wants to harp on the fact that the film that we got wasn’t director Zack Snyder’s intended version of it, I’d argue that the bigger issue was that it ultimately served as a prime example of how Warner Bros. and DC shouldn’t have rushed it out into theaters.

Thankfully, though, it seems like the DCEU is starting to get its act together when it comes to realizing that a good story and strong characters should always come first when it comes to this genre. Case in point, 2017’s Wonder Woman and 2018’s Aquaman provided their respective protagonists with the strong character development that they sorely needed after initially debuting in films where they were a small part of a much larger story. This then brings us to the DCEU’s latest (and quite frankly, best) installment, Shazam. On the surface, some may view this as DC’s attempt at trying to do an MCU-style superhero film, and to be fair, it’s easy to see why. Aside from some surprisingly dark moments that feel like they came straight from a horror film (which does make sense given that’s what director David F. Sandberg is primarily known for), this is easily the franchise’s most light-hearted installment to date. And sure enough, it’s full of excellent comedic moments, from the wacky antics of an easily scared mall Santa to the various attempts at giving the main protagonist a cool superhero name (“His name is Thundercrack!” (“That sounds like a butt thing…”)). However, when I say that Shazam is the closest that the DCEU has ever gotten to making an MCU film, I don’t just mean that in the sense that it’s a light-hearted comedy that’s the superhero equivalent of the 1988 classic Big. Instead, it’s because the film does what every good MCU film does; namely, it takes its time to properly develop its main protagonist, Billy Batson, and give him a solid, emotional character arc.

As the film begins, he’s solely focused on trying to find his mom, who he was separated from at a young age. Thus, even after he ends up getting placed in the care of foster parents Rosa and Victor Vazquez, he makes little effort to connect with his new foster siblings. And while his transformation into a superhero with ‘bullet immunity’ and other various superpowers does lead to him bonding with his disabled foster brother Freddy Freeman, who’s a huge superhero enthusiast, even that goes awry when he starts using his powers for selfish reasons. Eventually, he does manage to reunite with his mom… resulting in the most devastating moment of the entire film when he learns that when they got separated, she intentionally abandoned him because she felt that someone else can take much better care of him than she ever could. But if there is a silver lining to this whole ordeal, it’s that it ultimately compels Billy to reunite with his ‘real family’, his foster siblings. The arc that Billy goes through in this film is very much on par with some of the most emotional character arcs that we’ve seen from the MCU, and as Billy, Asher Angel excellently handles all the character’s big emotional moments. But, of course, the role of Billy Batson is a character that requires two actors to play it, and Zachary Levi is also outstanding as Billy's superhero alter-ego Shazam. Whereas Angel does the heavy lifting for the character’s emotional arc, Levi handles the bulk of the film’s comedic material and utterly nails the role of a kid in an adult superhero’s body. It also helps that both Angel and Levi have an excellent screen partner in Jack Dylan Grazer as superhero fanboy Freddy Freeman, who’s easily one of the best sidekicks to ever come from this genre. His extensive knowledge of superheroes works in numerous ways as it contributes to plenty of the film’s best humorous moments while also doing its part to keep Billy grounded when the fame and glory start to get to his head.

This then brings us to Billy and Freddy’s foster siblings; college-bound Mary (Grace Fulton), introvert Pedro (Jovan Armand), gamer Eugene (Ian Chen), and the ever-adorable Darla (Faithe Herman). Now admittedly, the film doesn’t spend too much time with them apart from Darla, who’s initially the only one aside from Freddy to know about Billy’s new powers, and Mary given that she’s the de facto den mother of the group. But if you want to talk about one of the most satisfying payoffs to ever come from a superhero film, then just look at this film’s finale, where Billy finally understands the advice of the grand wizard Shazam and transfers his powers to his foster siblings, turning them into superheroes as well. This, in turn, really helps the film’s finale (set at a winter carnival) stand out against the obviously much grander-scaled finales that have come from this genre. Plus, almost every one of Billy’s foster siblings (save for Mary (played as an adult by Michelle Borth), whose notable superhero scenes were reportedly cut for time) gets their chance to shine here, especially Meagan Good as adult Darla since she utterly nails the role of a 9-year old girl in a grown-up’s body. It also helps that our heroes have a great villain to face in Mark Strong’s Dr. Sivana, who serves as a terrific foil to Billy. His whole backstory revolves around the fact that, for most of his life, he was mercilessly bullied by his older brother and belittled by his father, both of whom regarded him as a loser. And while there was an instance where he was approached by the wizard Shazam to be considered as his next champion, he was ultimately rejected when he was tempted by a group of monstrous creatures known as the Seven Deadly Sins, who he later unleashes as an adult. However, the Seven Deadly Sins just end up being a group of indistinguishable CGI monsters; in other words, they’re the film’s only real weak link. Nevertheless, Sivana is easily one of the DCEU’s greatest villains to date and it’ll be interesting to see what comes of the potential alliance between him and an alien caterpillar known as Mister Mind that confronts him in the film’s mid-credits scene.

(And yes, there is a villain from the Shazam franchise that is a telepathic caterpillar from another planet. Need I remind you that this is the same genre that has given us a sentient tree creature and a hot-headed weapons-toting raccoon?)

But, of course, there has also been much anticipation regarding the eventual debut of Shazam’s most famous adversary from the comics, Black Adam. For years now, Dwayne Johnson has been slated to play the character and was long rumored to appear in this film. However, it was ultimately decided not to include Black Adam in favor of him making his official debut in his own solo film in 2021. And while I know that some people were disappointed by this, it was probably for the best since Johnson’s reportedly intense commitment to the role might’ve been a bit too much for a film of this nature (and yes, I say that despite the previously mentioned sequences in this film that are the very definition of nightmare fuel). However, it’s practically a given at this point that Billy Batson will eventually face off against the grand wizard Shazam’s former champion sometime soon; until then, we can all relish in the greatness of his feature film debut, which is currently my favorite installment of the DC Extended Universe. Now granted, I fully recognize that one could find a lot of bias in that sentiment given my affinity for the MCU and how it could be argued that Shazam is the DCEU’s attempt at trying to do a film in the style of the MCU. But like I’ve said numerous times in the past, MCU films are much more than the ‘silly comedies’ that certain audiences regard them as… and when I say ‘certain audiences’, I find that this usually means the hardcore faction of the DCEU fandom that is still loyal to Zack Snyder and his unrealized plans for the franchise. As I’ve also pointed out in the past, hardcore DCEU fans have easily been one of the most toxic fandoms in recent memory to the point where even when the franchise has a genuine critical/commercial hit on its hands, they still inexplicably end up finding something to complain about. They continue to accuse anyone who dares to say something critical about the DCEU films of being ‘paid by Disney’, never give Patty Jenkins the full credit that she deserves for her work on Wonder Woman, and yes, have not shut up about the Justice League fiasco and the mythical ‘Snyder Cut’  for the past two years.

Now as some of you might remember, I did give positive reviews for both of Zack Snyder’s first two DCEU films, Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, when they first came out. But when it came to Justice League, I was amongst the many who found it to be the only disappointing release from what was otherwise one of the superhero film genre’s greatest years to date. And since then, I’ll admit that this has had an impact on my views of the early DCEU films and I’m not as positive towards them now as I am for the likes of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Shazam, and Birds of Prey. Simply put, the Zack Snyder era of the DCEU is over, and as much as the DCEU fandom will try to argue otherwise, it’s much better off because of it. While Snyder may be one of the best visual directors in the industry, story and character development has never been his strong suit, and that was very much apparent in his DCEU films. By comparison, a film like Shazam doesn’t try to go all out with the visuals and instead does what every good superhero film should do by telling a strong, character-driven story that elicits phenomenal emotional depth. It just so happens that this is also one of the funniest installments of a genre that has given us an endless array of classic comedic moments over the years. Thus, in conclusion, I hope that one day the DCEU fandom realizes that there is honestly nothing wrong with the idea of incorporating comedy into a superhero film.   

And that concludes Part 2 of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Top 12 Favorite Films of 2019. Thanks for following along and be sure to check back in tomorrow for Part 3 as we kick off the second half of this list with films #6-4.

Favorite Films of Summer 2019 - As Voted By You!

While this isn’t the fifth installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s annual End of Summer Fan Poll, it has officially been five years since I started doing this event back in 2014. Aside from it being a unique little project to do for this site, one of the main reasons why I do this every year is because it provides a positive outlook on the various films that came out during the summer, which isn’t always easy to come by online. Now with that said, I’m well aware that this summer was a rather rough one from a financial perspective for several films, especially if they weren’t a superhero film or Disney release. Ultimately, though, this poll is intended to combat the increasingly negative attitudes of modern film fandom (which, believe me, are only getting worse…) by showing love to any film that gets a vote in it regardless of its overall quality. And I must say… this was one hell of a year for this little Fan Poll of ours. Thanks to your contributions, we managed to set a record when it comes to responses with 89 (!) votes going to 17 different films, a tally that far surpasses the previous record of 60 votes that was set by the 2017 edition of this poll. Thus, as always, I want to express nothing but thanks to everyone who voted and those who helped spread the poll around. And now, with all that out of the way, it’s time to delve into this year’s big winners. Without further ado, these are the most popular films from the Summer of 2019 as voted by you lovely folks, the readers…

THE FOLLOWING 4 FILMS EARNED ONE VOTE APIECE

POKEMON: DETECTIVE PIKACHU

After years and years of disastrous adaptations that have left many fans disappointed, the genre of live-action films based on video games finally experienced its first genuine success story this year with Pokémon: Detective Pikachu. And as I’ve said plenty of times before, it managed to do so by simply being a solidly faithful adaptation of its source material, which isn’t always something that films from this genre tend to do. Now, of course, just like the various animated Pokémon films that have come out over the years, this film is still primarily geared towards fans of the franchise thanks in large part to the numerous references that it makes to practically every facet of the Pokémon universe. However, those who aren’t as familiar with the series will still find this to a very enjoyable film since it maintains a strong emotional hook throughout via main protagonist Tim Goodman’s quest to discover what happened to his missing father. It also helps that the film is headlined by the excellent lead duo of Justice Smith in the role of Tim and Ryan Reynolds as the voice of the titular ‘Detective Pikachu’, as their excellent camaraderie manages to make up for the generally predictable nature of the film’s mystery plot. And because of this, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu is well-worth the distinction of being the first truly great live-action film based on a video game. Plus, if the other live-action Pokémon films that are currently in development end up being just as solid as Detective Pikachu (including an adaptation of Pokémon Red/Blue and a Mewtwo film), then a promising new film franchise has been born.       

THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2

In 2016, Illumination released the first installment of their next big attempt at a major IP after Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets. Upon its release, the film was a massive hit at the box-office as it grossed over $875 million worldwide, effectively paving the way for a sequel in 2019. Like the first film, Secret Life of Pets 2 follows a bunch of pets and the various escapades that they get into when their owners aren’t around, primarily focusing on a Jack Russell Terrier named Max as he attempts to adjust to the newest addition to his owner Katie’s family, her infant son Liam. Most of the main cast from the first film returned to reprise their respective roles save for Max, with Patton Oswalt taking over the role from Louis C.K. for… obvious reasons. Meanwhile, newcomers to the cast included Tiffany Haddish as a Shih Tzu named Daisy and Harrison Ford as a sheepdog named Rooster. But despite these new additions and the same generally decent reviews as its predecessor, Secret Life of Pets 2 surprisingly underperformed at the box-office, only grossing over $425 million worldwide. Granted, it wasn’t necessarily a flop since it had a modest budget of $80 million, but it was still less than half of what the first film managed to pull off. One could say that this was simply a case of diminishing returns, especially for a series that isn’t exactly as popular as other animated franchises including Illumination’s own Despicable Me franchise. Still, for what it’s worth, based on what I’ve witnessed since I started working at the Universal Orlando Resort (where we regularly sell Secret Life of Pets merchandise), it does seem like younger audiences are still very enthusiastic about these films.

YESTERDAY

Amidst all this summer’s superhero epics and animated flicks, one little romantic comedy managed to pull off a genuinely solid run at the box-office. The film in question is Yesterday, the latest film from director Danny Boyle that was written by Richard Curtis, who directed the 2003 holiday cult classic Love Actually, and based around the iconic music of the most legendary band of all-time, the Beatles. In the film, newcomer Himesh Patel plays a struggling musician named Jack who finds himself in a peculiar situation after he ends up in a bicycle accident during a mysterious worldwide blackout. When Jack recovers from his injuries, he quickly discovers that he is the only one on Earth who knows who the Beatles are. Thus, he starts to take credit for their songs, effectively allowing him to get signed to a lucrative record deal; at the same time, though, he quickly finds himself having to deal with the pressures of stardom, which begin to take a toll on his relationship with his childhood friend/love interest Ellie (Lily James). Upon its release, Yesterday did generally well with critics, who found the film to be very charming but lamented the fact that it didn’t quite live up to the full potential of its premise. Nevertheless, the film did quite well for itself financially as it maintained a consistent spot in the domestic Top 10 for several weeks on its way to grossing over $134 million worldwide. In other words, audiences found this film to be a highly enjoyable crowd-pleaser that effectively utilized the iconic works of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison.   

GOOD BOYS

In 2007, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg had their big breakout hit as a writing duo with the coming-of-age comedy Superbad, effectively paving the way for them becoming two of the most prominent writers/producers of R-rated comedies in recent years. And while they only produced their latest endeavor, Good Boys, it still very much feels like the kind of films that they’re known for. Good Boys serves as the directorial debut of Gene Stupnitsky, who spent several years writing multiple episodes of The Office with his writing partner Lee Eisenberg. In the film, Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams and Brady Noon star as a trio of best friends in the sixth grade who are hoping to learn how to kiss in time for their first middle-school party. Their efforts to do so end up leading them on a wild journey that sees them getting into all sorts of hi-jinx, including trying to recover a valuable drone from their neighbors and accidentally coming into possession of drugs, among other things. After making its debut at this year’s SXSW Film Festival back in March, Good Boys officially hit theaters in the middle of August to generally solid reviews. Critics felt that the film was a solid comedic romp that, while perhaps a bit too raunchy at times, still managed to have a good heart to it. The film has also done quite well at the box-office having currently grossed over $91 million worldwide on a $20 million budget. In fact, its $21 million opening weekend proved to be quite a big deal as it became the first R-rated comedy since The Boss back in 2016 to open at #1 domestically, thus making it another big win for producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and their production company Point Grey Pictures.

5 FILMS EARNED TWO VOTES

THE INTRUDER

One interesting thing to note about The Intruder is that it originally wasn’t meant to be a summer release as it was initially set to come out on April 26^th. However, since a certain blockbuster ended up following the same route as its immediate predecessor from the year before by coming out a week earlier than its initial release date (and yes, like last year, that doesn’t disqualify it from this poll), that presented a bit of a complication. After all, it’s practically common knowledge at this point that you don’t try to compete against films from that franchise during their opening weekends. Thus, The Intruder was moved a week back to take the now open May 3^rd slot, and while that other blockbuster ultimately retained its spot at #1 that weekend, it managed to place second with an $11 million opening weekend on route to a respectable $36.5 million worldwide gross, which was quite good for a film whose budget was under $10 million. However, the film itself, which follows a couple played by Michael Ealy and Meagan Good who find themselves terrorized by the previous owner of their new house, didn’t fare as well with critics. Simply put, most found the plot to be mediocre and, at worst, laughably absurd. If anything, though, many agreed that the best part of the film was Dennis Quaid’s delightfully over-the-top performance as the crazy ex-homeowner. Thus, while critics may have found The Intruder to be one of the prime examples of a forgettable summer release, the fact that it got two votes here means that some people out there found it to be a decent little popcorn flick. 

   

A DOG’S JOURNEY

(Huh, look at that, two Dennis Quaid films in a row…)

Back in January 2017, a film adaptation of author W. Bruce Cameron’s 2010 novel A Dog’s Purpose was released in theaters. Like the book, the film focused on a dog named Bailey (voiced by Josh Gad) who embarked on a fascinating journey where he kept being reincarnated as other dogs while still maintaining the memories of his past lives and his former owners. While the film did about as well as you’d expect from a January release when it came to critics, it did manage to gross over $205 million worldwide despite nearly getting derailed by an animal abuse controversy that, thankfully for the sake of the animals, was ultimately proven to be fabricated. This, of course, then led to the development of a sequel based on Cameron’s 2012 follow-up, A Dog’s Journey. Once again, Josh Gad stars as the voice of Bailey as he continues his adventures across various lives while also focusing on his efforts to look after his original owner’s granddaughter. Dennis Quaid also returns as Bailey’s original owner Ethan, though there was a notable change in director. Instead of veteran filmmaker Lasse Hallstrom, directorial duties went to Gail Mancuso, a long-time TV director who’s worked on the likes of Friends, 30 Rock, and Modern Family. Upon its release, A Dog’s Journey fared a little better with critics this time around with several agreeing that, at the very least, it was a touching little pet drama despite being overly sentimental. And while it didn’t do as well at the box-office compared to its predecessor (although it did do well in China, who’s been touted as the key reason behind the first film’s international success), it still did around $64 million. It was also the second of three major films this year that were based around dogs in which audiences could listen to their inner thoughts. The first was an adaptation of a different W. Bruce Cameron novel, A Dog’s Way Home, which came out in January. The second was a different book-to-film adaptation, The Art of Racing in the Rain, which came out a few months after A Dog’s Journey in August.

BOOKSMART

Currently being touted as one of the best films of the year, Booksmart served as the directorial debut of actress Olivia Wilde and is clearly on its way to becoming the latest coming-of-age comedy classic. The film stars Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein as best friends Amy and Molly, who are about to graduate from high school. However, when they realize that they probably spent way too much time being Grade-A students instead of having fun like the rest of their classmates, the two decide to finally partake in one night of unabashed partying. As noted earlier, this film proved to be quite a big deal after it debuted at SXSW. Critics deemed it as an absolute comedic riot with excellent performances from Dever and Feldstein in the lead roles and a break-out turn by Billie Lourd as Amy and Molly’s unpredictable classmate Gigi. However, upon its theatrical release in May, the conversation then began to shift into how it wasn’t exactly a hit at the box-office. To be clear, it genuinely did okay for itself on a modest $6 million budget, ultimately grossing around $26 million. However, many industry experts felt that the film was considerably undermined by the fact that it didn’t opt for a limited release before it expanded into a wide release a la 2017’s Best Picture nominee Lady Bird. Instead, it went straight for the wide release during a time of multiple big-name blockbusters, including two that ended up doing at least $1 billion. And yet, for what it’s worth, Booksmart is still one of the best-reviewed films of 2019 and will most likely get some major attention during this year’s awards season.  

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME

So… our boy Spidey has been in quite a major pickle recently, hasn’t he? I won’t get into specifics here, but in case you haven’t heard, the deal between Marvel Studios and Sony that allowed Spider-Man to join the MCU has officially stalled. This means that, until further notice, all future Spider-Man films will be made solely by Sony and, unfortunately, everyone’s favorite web-slinger will not be appearing in a future MCU film anytime soon. However, like I said before, that’s the most that I’ll say about this predicament, for now, other than the fact that I’m just hoping Disney and Sony will eventually work something out. If anything, Spider-Man: Far From Home isn’t a bad one to end on when it comes to Spider-Man’s tenure in the MCU (though, hopefully not in a permanent sense) since it’s easily one of the best Spider-Man films to date. As the first MCU film to come out after Avengers: Endgame, it perfectly serves its purpose as an epilogue to the Infinity Saga’s grand finale by showing how Peter must now overcome the trauma and guilt that he feels after Tony Stark’s death. What follows is yet another case of a superior MCU sequel with greater action sequences and a tighter script (yes, I’ve seen all the jokes about how Tony Stark trusted his top-of-the-line A.I. system to a high-school student… it isn’t that big of an issue, internet…). It also boasts one of the MCU’s best villains to date in Jake Gyllenhaal’s Quentin Beck AKA Mysterio. Sure, anyone who knows Mysterio’s role in the comics saw this coming a mile away, but the film manages to work around this by giving him a solid new backstory as a disgruntled former Stark Industries employee. It also helps that Jake Gyllenhaal proves to be one of the most pitch-perfect casting choices in the history of the superhero film genre as the slightly disturbed illusionist, and because of all this, Spider-Man: Far From Home has legitimately become one of my Top 5 favorite MCU films to date.

HOBBS AND SHAW

Many agree that the introduction of Dwayne Johnson as the hard-boiled Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs in 2011’s Fast Five was a key factor behind the Fast and Furious franchise’s unexpected resurgence. And now, eight years after his debut, Hobbs has taken on the honor of headlining the franchise’s first big spin-off alongside Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw, who also became a breakout character for the franchise after starting out as its then-newest villain before rather controversially transitioning into being more of an anti-hero. Together and under the direction of veteran stuntman turned filmmaker David Leitch, Hobbs and Shaw prove to be the best mismatched duo since the days of Martin Riggs and Roger Murtagh from the Lethal Weapon series. Sure, just like the other recent Fast and Furious films, Hobbs and Shaw isn’t afraid to bask in the franchise’s increasingly ludicrous plots to the point where it’s practically a superhero film at this point given that the main antagonist is a genetically enhanced super-soldier. But for fans of the franchise, this film does continue to maintain everything that they love about it from the solid action sequences to the incredibly cheesy but still entertaining comedic banter. And as to be expected, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham headline the project excellently while being backed by an equally terrific female lead in Vanessa Kirby’s Hattie Shaw AKA Deckard’s sister. In short, while it’s unclear at the moment how Johnson and Statham’s commitment to this spin-off will affect next year’s Fast and Furious 9 (especially after the scandalous feud between Johnson and Vin Diesel during the production of Fate of the Furious), Hobbs and Shaw is another highly entertaining installment from this all-out beast of a franchise.

THESE NEXT 2 FILMS EARNED FOUR VOTES

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 – PARABELLUM

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum was notably the first installment from the John Wick franchise to see a summer release since the first John Wick came out in the fall of 2014 while 2017’s John Wick: Chapter 2 hit theaters in February of that year. As such, it’s easy to see why it did so well in this year’s poll given how John Wick is easily one of the best action franchises around. Every installment of the series is a finely tuned action-thriller with phenomenal direction from Chad Stahelski (who, like his uncredited co-director on the first John Wick, David Leitch, is also a veteran stuntman turned filmmaker) and an outstanding turn from everyone’s favorite ‘breathtaking’ action star Keanu Reeves in the title role. And while a lot of action films these days tend to rely on shaky-cam and quick cuts, the John Wick films instead opt for well-shot and excellently choreographed action sequences that are made even better by the fact that Reeves and his co-stars do almost all their own stunts. As for Chapter 3 – Parabellum, it’s yet another excellent installment of a franchise that has impressively managed to craft a seamless narrative throughout its films where each subsequent installment is directly instigated by the events of its immediate predecessor. And while this one is perhaps a bit too overlong for what is arguably one of the franchise’s simpler plotlines, it’s still an absolute blast to watch and, as you might have guessed, ends on a note that perfectly sets up a fourth film that’s slated for a May 2021 release. Thus, I think it’s safe to assume that if Chapter 4 ends up being just as excellent as the first three films, it’s going to fare quite nicely in the 2021 iteration of our annual poll.  

LATE NIGHT

Late Night serves as the feature-length screenwriting debut of Mindy Kaling, who has already amassed a sizable resume as a screenwriter having written several episodes of The Office (which she, of course, also starred in as Kelly Kapoor) and creating her hit show The Mindy Project. In Late Night, she stars as Molly, the newest addition to the writing staff of longtime talk show host Katherine Newbury (played by Emma Thompson). When Katherine learns that she’s potentially getting replaced due to her show’s declining ratings, she starts relying more on Molly’s input (especially since she’s her only female writer) to figure out a way to appeal to a wider audience. When Late Night premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back in January, it quickly became one of the most talked-about releases from this year’s festival slate. It also made Sundance history from a financial standpoint when its U.S. distribution rights were acquired by Amazon Studios for a record-setting $13 million. It ultimately saw a wide release in June, where it did about the same as Booksmart at the box-office with a worldwide gross of around $19.9 million. Just like Booksmart, it wasn’t necessarily a bad outcome for a film with a low budget that was under $10 million, but some did consider its overall performance to be underwhelming given how much money Amazon put up for its distribution rights. Critically, though, the film was very well-received, with many touting it for its sharply written script and an excellent cast. All this certainly helped it become the best performing film in this year’s poll that wasn’t a blockbuster.

In the past, I’ve mentioned that my original hope for this annual poll was to have a ranked list of the most popular films. Ultimately, though, I realized that this would be a rather difficult thing to come by since multiple films can end up having the same number of votes. I did manage to have a Top 5 in 2017, however, and lo and behold, the same situation happened again this year. Thus, without further ado, here are your Top 5 Favorite Films from the Summer of 2019…

TIED FOR FIFTH PLACE WITH SEVEN VOTES EACH

ALADDIN

To reiterate what I said a few months back in my annual Midyear Recap, I do consider it a genuinely impressive feat that the live-action remake of Aladdin managed to gross over $1 billion worldwide. Obviously, it was going to do well at the box-office regardless given how well Disney’s other live-action remakes have done these past few years, but at the same time, this was quite arguably the most scrutinized of the bunch to date, especially after the first reveal of Will Smith in Genie’s traditional blue form. And while critics were ultimately mixed on the film when it came out, it clearly did well enough with audiences to prove that, at the very least, it managed to win over some of its biggest critics. It’s also worth noting that the film’s impressively consistent run at the box-office was partially due to some of the various critical/commercial underperformers that came out the first few weeks after its release. Ultimately, though, the key thing to take from this film is that it’s just another example of why these live-action Disney remakes aren’t as big of a deal as some people are making them out to be online. Instead of trying to ‘replace’ the films that they’re based on, they simply serve as enjoyable companion pieces to their classic animated counterparts, and that is very much the case with Aladdin. Obviously, its biggest hurdle was trying to respectfully follow in the footsteps of Robin Williams’ iconic turn as the Genie from the original film, which it manages to pull off thanks to an excellent turn from Will Smith in the role, who’s then backed by equally charismatic performances by Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott as Aladdin and Jasmine. Scott, especially, is a major standout thanks to the great new characterization for Jasmine that allows her to have a far more proactive role in the story. Because of all this, Aladdin was a very fun time to be had at the cinema and a solid new take on Disney’s 1992 animated classic. However, as we’ll soon find out, a different Disney remake basically ended up stealing its thunder.

TOY STORY 4

Like Aladdin, there was quite a bit of skepticism surrounding Toy Story 4, although in this case, it was more to do with people feeling that the series had already reached its appropriate conclusion with Toy Story 3 back in 2010. However, Pixar ultimately managed to prove why Toy Story continues to be their studio’s premier franchise as Toy Story 4 is yet another one of their masterpieces. Just like the previous 3 films, Toy Story 4 boasts an excellent script with strong themes that, in this instance, primarily focus on coming to terms with one’s purpose in life. In doing so, the film continues to maintain the franchise’s strong emotional poignancy (right down to an ending that will surely hit hard for Toy Story fans) while still providing them with another fun adventure with its lovable cast of characters. Admittedly, it probably could’ve given the long-time supporting characters of the franchise more to do (which I presume was partially due to the passing of Don Rickles (Mr. Potato Head) in 2017), but great new characters like Tony Hale’s Forky and Keanu Reeves’ Duke Caboom do make up for this, for the most part. Plus, you also have the very welcome return of Bo Peep after she was absent from the third film in what is easily her most substantial role to date in these films. In short, Toy Story 4 is certainly another example of how the internet tends to scrutinize Pixar sequels a lot more than their other films to the point where Pixar even had to announce that this will be their last sequel for a while. And yet, if there’s anything else that this film proves, it’s that they’ve never once faltered when it comes to Toy Story, which is quite arguably the best animated franchise around.

IN FOURTH PLACE, WITH 8 VOTES

ROCKETMAN

To go off something that I mentioned in my review for this film, it’s rather funny to note all the similarities between Rocketman and last year’s Best Picture nominee Bohemian Rhapsody. Both are musical biopics about legendary British musicians who are also gay men, both were directed by Dexter Fletcher in some capacity (partially for Bohemian Rhapsody, fully for Rocketman), and both feature John Reid as a character as portrayed by a Game of Thrones star. Things start to differ, however, in terms of their overall reception. While Bohemian Rhapsody wasn’t necessarily panned by critics, it did get a lot of flak over its portrayal of Freddie Mercury, although that didn’t stop it from surprisingly managing to gross over $900 million worldwide. By comparison, Rocketman didn’t reach those same financial heights (only amassing $193 million worldwide) but was far better received, and even as someone who did like Bohemian Rhapsody, it’s easy to see why. While it does occasionally abide by the typical tropes of the musical biopic genre, Fletcher imbues the musical numbers with a fantastical visual style that very much captures the spirit of Elton John’s music. And it’s all headlined by a phenomenal lead performance by Taron Egerton in the title role as he perfectly personifies John’s eccentric persona while also effectively conveying the emotional struggles that he goes through when it comes to the relationships that he has with his friends and family. Thus, whereas other musical biopics tend to get dinged for feeling more like the CliffNotes version of their subjects’ lives, Rocketman avoids all that to become one of the genre’s most openly honest outings.

WITH 11 VOTES, THIRD PLACE GOES TO…

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD

As I hinted at in my intro post for this year’s poll, I figured that Quentin Tarantino’s latest film would do quite well here. Simply put, Tarantino films are practically guaranteed to be a hit with both critics and audiences, and sure enough, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has been touted as one of this year’s biggest Oscar candidates… which effectively makes this all awkward for me since I’m one of the rare people who found it to be quite underwhelming. Like I said in my review for this film, its biggest issue is that it’s incredibly unfocused in terms of its story. The main plot of an aging TV star hoping to stay relevant in an ever-changing industry does, at least, feel like a Tarantino-type plot and perfectly conveys his intent of celebrating the Golden Age of Hollywood. However, it’s the inclusion of Charles Manson and his infamous cult that ends up making it all problematic since their role in the story feels like an afterthought. It also doesn’t help that the film barely gives any screen-time to the Manson family’s most well-known victim Sharon Tate despite an incredibly dedicated performance by Margot Robbie in the role. And because of this, the film’s big ending that’s set on the night of Tate’s murder but ends up pulling the same trick as Inglourious Basterds by changing history and having the main characters kill the Manson subordinates who partook in that night’s murders ultimately feels cheap. It’s sad, really, because the film still has all the hallmarks of a classic Tarantino film while featuring a solid ensemble cast headlined by the great duo of Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt. Ultimately, though, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood simply lacks the bite of other Tarantino films.  

THIS YEAR’S RUNNER-UP, WITH 15 VOTES

THE LION KING

I have the feeling that this particular result will be heavily controversial for various reasons ranging from the fact that this is another Disney remake we’re talking about to how it managed to outdo an original film like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood when it comes to votes. In other words, Jon Favreau’s photorealistic remake of The Lion King has easily proven to be one of the most controversial Disney remakes yet due to how it ultimately ‘remakes’ its source material. For the most part, the biggest changes that this version makes stem from the shift from traditional animation to CGI as the story is almost entirely the same as the original animated film save for some minor cosmetic changes. As such, this inevitably brings up the usual argument that critics of Disney’s live-action remakes (even though this one technically isn’t live-action save for the opening shot) have in that they never capture the same spirit of their animated predecessors. Still, for what it’s worth, it could be argued that this new Lion King does deserves some credit for not attempting to make any radical changes to the story while still managing to hit all its big emotional moments in an effective manner. Plus, it genuinely is one of the best-looking films of the year thanks to the same top-quality visual effects that headlined Favreau’s remake of The Jungle Book while also boasting a fun cast highlighted by the scene-stealing duo of Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa. In short, I recognize that I may be heavily biased in this situation since the original Lion King is my favorite Disney animated film of all-time, but I quite enjoyed this new take on it simply because I knew that it wasn’t going to replace the original.

AND FINALLY, THIS YEAR’S CHAMPION INSTANTLY BROKE LAST YEAR’S RECORD SET BY BLACKKKLANSMAN WITH 19 VOTES OVERALL. IT WAS ALSO THE CLEAR FRONT-RUNNER THIS YEAR, EFFECTIVELY GIVING ITS FRANCHISE ITS FIRST UNDISPUTED CHAMPION IN OUR ANNUAL POLL. YES, FOLKS, I’M SURE YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT FILM THIS IS…

AVENGERS: ENDGAME

I mean, was there ever any doubt? Not only is Avengers: Endgame easily the biggest MCU film to date, but it also ended up making history when it dethroned James Cameron’s Avatar to officially become the highest-grossing film of all-time, and if you ask me, it was well-deserving of this honor. I know that I say this all the time when it comes to MCU films, but it goes without saying that Endgame is yet another example of how this franchise has managed to achieve a perfect blend of amazing action sequences, sharp humor, and powerful character moments steeped in emotional poignancy. And as the finale to what Marvel Studios has now designated as ‘the Infinity Saga’, Endgame brilliantly sets the stage for future MCU films while also effectively tying up many of the franchise’s longest-running plotlines and providing cathartic finales for many of the characters that started it all. In other words, Avengers: Endgame is literally the very definition of everything that has made Marvel Studios the undisputed champion of the superhero film genre, and because of this, it more than deserves some attention at the Oscars this year including, hopefully, a Best Picture nomination. Yeah, I know that it probably won’t win since, apparently, some Academy members don’t respect ‘money-grabs’, but if Black Panther can win a couple Oscars at last year’s ceremony, why not Endgame? And while there may be a bizarre collection of fans out there who act like it isn’t that great (I’ll elaborate on these ‘stans’ some other time), Endgame truly is a landmark entry in the superhero genre.

This concludes the 2019 edition of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s annual End of Summer Fan Poll. Once again, a very special thanks to everyone who participated in this year’s event, and for those who didn’t get the chance to partake in it, feel free to sound off in the comments below with your favorite films from this past Summer.