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 26th. 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 3rd 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.
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