91st Academy Awards - Results + Recap Post

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS – FIRST MAN

BEST EDITING – BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

BEST COSTUME DESIGN – BLACK PANTHER

BEST MAKEUP/HAIRSTYLING – VICE

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – ROMA

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – BLACK PANTHER

BEST SOUND EDITING AND BEST SOUND MIXING – BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – SHALLOW (A STAR IS BORN)

BEST SCORE – BLACK PANTHER

BEST ANIMATED SHORT – BAO

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT – SKIN

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT – PERIOD. END OF SENTENCE

BEST DOCUMENTARY – FREE SOLO

BEST FOREIGN FILM – ROMA (From Mexico)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE – SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY – BLACKKKLANSMAN

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – GREEN BOOK

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – REGINA KING (IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – MAHERSHALA ALI (GREEN BOOK)

BEST ACTRESS – OLIVIA COLMAN (THE FAVOURITE)

BEST ACTOR – RAMI MALEK (BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY)

BEST DIRECTOR – ALFONSO CUARON (ROMA)

BEST PICTURE – GREEN BOOK

THOUGHTS ON THE SHOW

Well, there was certainly quite a lot of controversy surrounding this year’s Academy Awards, which ended up being the first ceremony since the 61^st Academy Awards in 1989 to not have a host. Originally, Kevin Hart was set to host, but he ended up backing out as a way of apologizing for a collection of homophobic tweets that he had posted in 2010 and 2011. Thus, after a month of trying to find a replacement, the Academy ultimately decided to go without a host this year. But because of this, there was some speculation about how this would affect the ceremony. As noted earlier, the last Oscars ceremony without a host was in 1989… and yet, it has commonly been regarded as one of the worst Oscars of all-time. Thankfully, this wasn’t the case with this year’s Oscars as the lack of a host surprisingly helped to keep the ceremony running smoothly. There weren’t any major skits, like Ellen DeGeneres ordering pizza for the crowd or Jimmy Kimmel announcing a contest where the one with the shortest acceptance speech would also win a free jet ski. Instead, it was just the award presenters and the performances of the Best Original Song nominees, and while I’m usually okay with Oscar skits and montages, I will also admit that not having any of them this year was probably for the best. If anything, it did help deal with one of the most common criticisms of the Oscars as this year’s ceremony ultimately clocked in at a run-time of three hours and twenty-two minutes, effectively making it the shortest ceremony since the 84^th Academy Awards. Plus, this ended up being a better way of condensing the Oscars than the various ways in which the Academy had planned on accomplishing this.

Yes, folks, the big controversies surrounding this year’s event mainly stemmed from the various ways in which the Academy attempted to keep it from going on too long. First, there was the announcement that only two of the nominees for Best Original Song would be performed, which is undoubtedly a bizarre idea for a show that wasn’t even going to have a host. Ultimately, though, after some backlash, this decision was reversed and four of the nominated songs were performed, with the only exception being ‘All the Stars’ from Black Panther supposedly due to scheduling conflicts with its lead performer, Kendrick Lamar. Things only proceeded to get more complicated, however, when the Academy announced that it was planning on cutting four awards from the main broadcast; Cinematography, Live-Action Short, Editing, and Makeup/Hairstyling. Instead of being presented during the show itself, they would’ve only been shown during commercial breaks. As you might have guessed, this incurred an even greater backlash from the film industry, but just like the plan for the Best Original Song nominees, this idea was thankfully nixed. And don’t even get me started on how mad people got at the proposed new category that would’ve honored ‘popular films’ like Black Panther. Ultimately, though, I do feel that this exemplifies something that I’ve been saying for a while now about how we really shouldn’t be taking shows like the Oscars THIS seriously. To be clear, I’m not defending any of the proposed changes that the Academy had tried to put into motion as I’m very much glad that they didn’t cut out any of the awards or musical performances. However, I do think that these proposed ideas were partially spawned from the Academy being immensely pressured into trying to address some of the common criticisms that the internet tends to have about the Oscars without having any of the time that was necessary to come up with a plan that made sense.

 

As I’ve said plenty of times before (and will surely have to say again in the years to come), this is just one award show. It is not meant to be the ‘end all, be all’ when it comes to what qualifies as the best of the world of film in any given year. The same can be said about other award shows because they’re just as subjective as film itself. Outside of some rare ties, only one film, actor/actress, director, or technical aspect wins in their respective categories; and yet, that doesn’t mean that whatever wins is automatically the ‘best’ of that year. That’s why I don’t get worked up over snubs anymore because it really isn’t that big of a slight against the film or performance in question as the internet always makes it out to be. All of this certainly applies to this year’s Oscars results, which saw Green Book take home Best Picture despite all the controversy that it’s been embroiled in over its alleged historical inaccuracy and ties to the ‘white savior narrative’ trope. Bohemian Rhapsody, which ended up winning the most Oscars of the night with 4, has also proven to be highly controversial due to it not being that well-received by critics, its apparent downplaying of Freddie Mercury’s LGBT lifestyle, and all the baggage of its director Bryan Singer’s various sexual assault allegations in the era of #MeToo. At the very least, there were some historical victories during this year’s ceremonies; for example, Ruth Carter and Hannah Beachler became the first African-Americans to win Oscars in Costume Design and Production Design, respectively, for their work on Black Panther. Thus, it could be said that the current state of the Oscars is just like the current state of the film industry in the wake of the Weinstein scandals. There’s clearly still a lot of progress to be made when it comes to a fully diversified industry, but at the very least, some progress has occurred.

And now we turn to the biggest highlights of this year’s ceremony. Unlike previous years, however, I’m not really going to categorize these moments as ‘best’ or ‘worst’.

OPENING PERFORMANCE BY QUEEN AND ADAM LAMBERT

This year’s ceremony kicked off with a musical performance by Queen and Adam Lambert, the latter of whom has been one of Queen’s primary collaborators since 2011 and had a small cameo as a truck driver in Bohemian Rhapsody. Together, they performed ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are the Champions’ to the highly enthusiastic Oscars crowd as best exemplified by a reaction shot of a high-spirited Javier Bardem. There was even a nice little tribute to Freddie Mercury when his image appeared on the screen at the end. All in all, it was a nice way to start off a show that wasn’t going to have a main host. Even with that in mind, though…

MAYA RUDOLPH, TINA FEY, AND AMY POEHLER’S ‘OPENING MONOLOGUE’

The first official presenters of the night were Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler, and while Fey and Poehler have had plenty of experience as award show hosts having hosted three Golden Globe ceremonies, the trio quickly reassured the audience that they were not the hosts. They also noted that there wouldn’t be a ‘Best Popular Film’ category, no awards were going to be presented during commercials, and that Mexico wasn’t going to pay for the wall. Still, the strong comedic chemistry amongst the three proved that they certainly could’ve proven to be good hosts. In fact, there were a few other instances of dynamic presenter duos that showed promising potential as hosts, including the duo of Awkwafina and John Mulaney, who presented the Oscars for Best Animated Short and Best Documentary Short, and Creed co-stars Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson, who presented the Oscar for Best Original Score. But as I noted before, the lack of a host didn’t end up being that big of a loss in the long run. Thus, it’s ultimately up to the Academy to decide whether to have hosts or not for future ceremonies.     

MELISSA MCCARTHY, BRIAN TYREE HENRY, AND THEIR EXTRAVAGANT ATTIRE

Melissa McCarthy and Brian Tyree Henry presented the Oscar for Best Costume Design and did so in the most appropriate manner possible by wearing elaborate costumes that featured elements from all 5 nominees. Henry sported Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger hairdo from Black Panther and Emily Blunt’s hat from Mary Poppins Returns while McCarthy sported a wig that mirrored the reveal of Queen Elizabeth I’s thinning hairline from Mary Queen of Scots, a hat from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and a dress that was covered with bunnies a la The Favourite. And as ridiculous as these two get-ups looked, the two managed to play it all completely straight-faced.

KEEGAN-MICHAEL KEY AS MARY POPPINS

To introduce Bette Midler’s performance of ‘The Place Where Lost Things Go’ from Mary Poppins Returns, Keegan-Michael Key had his own Mary Poppins moment by floating down from the rafters via umbrella. Need I say more about how awesome this moment is?  

WAYNE, GARTH, AND BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ the song saw a major resurgence in popularity in 1992 thanks to the comedy Wayne’s World, where main protagonists Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) and Garth Algar (Dana Carvey) rocked out to the classic Queen tune in their car. Myers would then go on to appear in this year’s Bohemian Rhapsody biopic, which included a scene where he directly references Wayne’s World by arguing that the song would not be one that “teenagers can crank up the volume in their car and bang their heads to”. And while I will openly admit that it is one of the most undeniably blatant uses of an in-joke in recent memory, it’s still a memorable moment from the film for better or worse. The Oscars then proceeded to pay tribute to the classic scene from Wayne’s World by having Myers and Carvey come out together to introduce Bohemian Rhapsody as one of this year’s Best Picture nominees. Sure, it was mostly just a reunion for these two SNL alumni, but I do get a kick out of film-related reunions like this.    

MARVEL WINS SOME OSCARS

Now admittedly, this is more about the Oscars results than moments from the show itself, but I was quite glad to see that Black Panther managed to get some love at this year’s ceremony. It was the first superhero film to get nominated for Best Picture, and while it ultimately didn’t win that one, it did end up winning for Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, and Best Original Score. I was especially glad to see it win some awards after reading one of Hollywood Reporter’s ‘Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot’ articles that revealed some of the Academy’s voters’ picks in an anonymous fashion. One of the voters explicitly noted that he didn’t vote for Avengers: Infinity War for Best Visual Effects because “like a lot of people in the Academy, [he] doesn’t respect money-grabs”. And while this comment was primarily directed towards Avengers, he also described Black Panther as “a Marvel comic book movie” that’s “not much better than any of the others”. Reading this legitimately made me worried that Black Panther was going to get ignored just because it was from the genre that, for the past few years, has been the subject of mockery from those who take issue with its domination of the current pop cultural zeitgeist. Thankfully, though, that was not the case. Plus, Black Panther wasn’t the only Marvel film to win big that night as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse won Best Animated Feature. Simply put, it was a big night for Marvel Studios and the MCU, which was then perfectly topped off with the late Stan Lee being honored during the annual ‘In Memoriam’ section.

LADY GAGA AND BRADLEY COOPER’S PERFORMANCE OF ‘SHALLOW’

Thanks to the Academy reversing their decision to cut out most of the performances of the Best Original Song nominees, we got to witness another excellent round of musical performances. Jennifer Hudson performed “I’ll Fight” from the documentary RBG, Bette Midler made a special appearance performing “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from Mary Poppins Returns, and David Rawlings and Gillian Welch performed “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. But for many people, the biggest highlight of them all when it came to the musical performances was seeing Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga perform “Shallow”, which would ultimately end up winning the Oscar that night, from A Star is Born. And it was certainly an unforgettable moment with a notably different spin to it compared to the other Best Original Song nominees because no one came out to introduce it. Instead, Cooper and Gaga simply walked onto the stage to perform their film’s signature tune with the same emotional intensity that helped to make A Star is Born one of the biggest hits of the year.

SAMUEL L. JACKSON AND SPIKE LEE ARE BEST BUDS

Samuel L. Jackson has had a long career in the film industry, and one of his most frequent collaborators has been Spike Lee thanks to appearances in films like Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever, and Chi-Raq. And when Jackson and Brie Larson came out to announce the winners of the Best Original and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscars, Jackson immediately reminded everyone of his friendship with the veteran filmmaker. For starters, Jackson informed Lee that his hometown team, the Knicks, had won that night, officially breaking their 18-game losing streak at Madison Square Garden. And when Lee and his BlacKkKlansman co-writers ended up winning the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, Jackson couldn’t contain his excitement for the results, culminating in Lee bear-hugging Jackson when the former got up onstage.

And lastly…

GREAT SPEECHES

As is the case with any Oscars ceremony, there were some great speeches from the winners. Some of the most notable speeches include…

*Spike Lee encouraging everyone to be “on the right side of history” and “do the right thing” (“You know I had to get that in there!”) for the 2020 Presidential Election.

*Rami Malek talking about his identity as the son of immigrants and how it led to him connecting with Freddie Mercury, who was also an immigrant. There was also a sweet shout-out to his Bohemian Rhapsody co-star/girlfriend Lucy Boynton.

*Bao director Domee Shi (AKA the first female director of a Pixar short) encouraging girls “who hide behind their sketchbooks” to not “be afraid to tell your story to the world”.

*Black Panther costume designer Ruth Carter paying tribute to Spike Lee, who helped her get her start in the film industry. “Marvel may have created the first black superhero, but through costume design, we turned him into an African king.”

*Black Panther production designer Hannah Beachler arguably had the most emotional speech of the night as she thanked director Ryan Coogler, who she’s worked with on all his films, for helping make her “a better designer, a better story-teller, and a better person”. She also thanked Marvel for “supporting their vision” and concluded with the following; “I did my best and my best is good enough.”

*After winning the Oscar for Best Original Song, Lady Gaga thanked Bradley Cooper for believing in her and her fellow songwriters Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, and Andrew Wyatt, further stating that there wasn’t “a single person on the planet that could have sung this song with [her] but [him]”. Gaga then proceeded to encourage viewers to fight for their dreams and keep going no matter “how many times you get rejected or you fall down or get beaten up”.

*But for many, the best speech of the night came courtesy of Olivia Colman when she won Best Actress for her role in The Favourite. During her speech, she fangirled over fellow nominees Glenn Close and Lady Gaga, joked about the possibility that her kids weren’t watching by saying that “this is not going to happen again”, and reminisced about her time spent as a cleaner where she often pretended to give this exact speech. She also promised to snog anyone that she forgot to thank during the speech.

And that concludes this recap of the 91^st annual Academy Awards. Thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in the comments below with your own thoughts on the show. Did you think that it worked better without a host? And do you agree with me about what I said about how we really shouldn’t take award shows like this too seriously?    

Favorite Films of Summer 2018 - As Voted by You!

If you were to ask me why I started Rhode Island Movie Corner’s annual End of Summer poll, where I ask you folks, the readers, to vote for your favorite summer film of the year, my answer would be that it allows me to celebrate one of the most underappreciated aspects of film, and that is its subjectivity. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; film is a subjective medium. Contrary to what some may claim, there is no such thing as a ‘perfect’ film or a ‘correct’ opinion on a film. Sure, there’ll be films that get tons of praise worldwide (or criticism, depending on the film) but there’ll always be someone who doesn’t quite see what everyone else is getting at. And that’s perfectly okay, because in an age where a lot of film fandoms are unfortunately starting to become incredibly hostile (looking at you, Star Wars: The Last Jedi haters/DCEU fanboys), it’s pivotal to remember how vastly different everyone’s mindset is when it comes to the content that they enjoy. With all that said, it is finally time to go over the films that you folks selected in the 5^th annual installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s End of Summer Fan Vote (which admittedly went on a week longer than anticipated but I’d rather not get into the details about that right now…). This year, there were 44 votes that were given to 16 different films. As always, I want to thank everyone who participated in the poll this year, and I invite you all to join me in looking at the eclectic variety of films that earned your votes. From the big superhero blockbusters to acclaimed indie darlings, these are your favorite films from the summer of 2018.

THE FOLLOWING 8 FILMS RECEIVED 1 VOTE EACH

DEADPOOL 2

Deadpool 2 is undoubtedly one of those superhero film sequels that is quite debatable when it comes to comparing its quality to its predecessor. For some, director David Leitch’s sequel takes a lot more chances narratively compared to the 2016 smash hit Deadpool, which was arguably a bit restrained due to it being an untested commodity in a time when R-rated superhero films weren’t quite a lucrative thing just yet. For others, the film somewhat suffers from an inconsistent tone, frequently shifting between the typical raunchy comedic affairs that we got from the first film and an incredibly dramatic emotional arc for the titular Merc with a Mouth. As for me, I lean more towards the former camp. Yes, I’ll agree that the film can be quite erratic sometimes with its tonal shifts, which is mainly brought on by a rather questionable case of the controversial comic book trope known as ‘fridging’, but at the same time, it does somehow manage to give this film more of an emotional drive compared to its predecessor. And at the end of the day, Deadpool 2 did take more risks compared to the first film which, as I’d like to reiterate once again, I did genuinely like. It’s just that I feel that the sequel does a better job at being what the first film was trying to accomplish by being a full-on satire of the superhero genre that doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to poking fun at everything from the X-Men franchise to the MCU to the DC Universe. And it’s all buoyed by a terrific ensemble cast that’s headlined by Ryan Reynolds continuing to be pitch-perfect as the title character, Josh Brolin successfully managing to differentiate the role of time-traveling soldier Cable from his other big superhero film role of 2018 (more on that later…), and Zazie Beetz completely stealing the show as the ‘lucky’ mercenary Domino. Because of this, I’m pleased to say that I did enjoy Deadpool 2 more than I did the first film. It’s still not necessarily one of my all-time favorites from the superhero genre, but it’s certainly one of its most entertaining installments to date.  

BOOK CLUB

On the surface, Book Club may seem like your average romantic comedy. However, this one does have a bit of an edge to it given one specific aspect of its plot. Starring a quartet of screen legends (Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen), the film focuses on four women who have held a monthly book club for three decades. When they decide to go with the infamous Fifty Shades of Grey as their latest read, they find themselves compelled to explore some of their deepest desires. And that’s all that I can say about this film, really, as it’s not necessarily the kind of film that I go to see in the theater. To be perfectly frank, it seemed like the fact that it revolves around its main characters reading a controversial novel like Fifty Shades of Grey was the most noteworthy thing about it. But from the looks of it, it seemed like audiences enjoyed this one just fine, mainly thanks to its dynamic group of lead actresses. And they weren’t the only big names in this film, as Book Club also features several other screen veterans like Craig T. Nelson (AKA Mr. Incredible for you young folks), Don Johnson, and Andy Garcia just to name a few. Upon its release, the film did generally well at the box-office. On its opening weekend, it finished third behind Deadpool 2 and [film to appear later in this list]. And critics seemed to like the film okay, stating that while it was a rather ‘by-the-numbers’ romantic comedy, the film’s ensemble cast managed to make it work, for the most part.

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY

It’s genuinely quite sad that Solo: A Star Wars Story didn’t do so well at the box-office. Granted, it did gross nearly $400 million worldwide, but it also sported quite a hefty budget, meaning that it didn’t necessarily ‘break even’. Plus, that gross ultimately pales in comparison to the last three Star Wars films, which all made at least a billion. Now I know that some have said that it was primarily due to Solo getting released just a few months after The Last Jedi, but that didn’t stop Marvel Studios from having two $1 billion-grossing films this year that come out just two months apart from each other now, did it? I know that it’s probably not the main reason why Solo underperformed, but I’m confident that part of the reason why was due to the intensely irate fanboys who were upset about The Last Jedi not conforming to their expectations and took their anger out on Solo by ‘boycotting’ it. Thus, an extremely nasty rift has arisen these past few months that has turned parts of the Star Wars fandom into, well to quote Ben Kenobi from A New Hope, ‘a wretched hive of scum and villainy’. Of course, the whole controversy surrounding the film’s production being upended by the firing of directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller probably played a part as well, but like I said in my review of the film, this thankfully didn’t harm the film that much. To his credit, Ron Howard came in and did a nice job of, from what I assume, emulating what Lord and Miller were going for in making a light-hearted space western. This results in a film that isn’t the best Star Wars film to date, but one that still boasts all the great aspects of the franchise, especially since its recent big-screen revival. And despite all the heavy expectations that were thrust upon him, Alden Ehrenreich does a nice job following in the footsteps of Harrison Ford as the beloved Han Solo in his younger years. In short, I’m still an unabashed defender of this film despite everything that’s happened since The Last Jedi. And believe me, quite a lot of nasty things have happened in the Star Wars fandom ever since that film came out. Contrary to what the haters are saying, though, none of those problems were Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy, Rian Johnson, or J.J. Abrams’ doing.   

ADRIFT

Adrift, the latest outing from director Baltasar Kormákur (2 Guns, Everest), tells the story of Tami Oldham (Shailene Woodley) and her fiancé Richard Sharp (Sam Claflin). In 1983, the two accepted a job offer to deliver a luxury yacht to a customer in San Diego. However, in the process of their 4,000-mile trip from Tahiti to California, they ended up getting caught in Hurricane Raymond. This caused severe damages to their boat and Tami getting separated from Richard, forcing her to survive on her own to make it back to dry land. Now despite everything that I just noted in that synopsis, the trailers for this film indicated one major deviation from real-life events. As seen in the trailers, Tami seemingly rescues Richard, who has suffered several serious injuries, and the two then work together to survive. However, in real life, Richard was never seen again after they were hit by the storm. At the very least, though, from what I’ve read, the film does acknowledge what really happened with a twist ending that shows that Tami was suffering from the one thing that Richard warned her about when it came to extended periods of sailing, hallucinations. And ultimately, while Adrift wasn’t exactly a big hit at the box-office, it did do decently with critics. While some felt that the plot was a bit too predictable, Shailene Woodley (who also happens to be one of the film’s producers) got rave reviews for her performance as Tami Oldham, effectively continuing the hot streak that she’s been on recently after her Emmy-nominated turn in the hit HBO series Big Little Lies.     

INCREDIBLES 2

At the time that I’m writing this, Incredibles 2 has recently set several big records. With a worldwide gross of over $1.142 billion, it is the highest-grossing Pixar film to date and the third Pixar film to join the billion-dollar club after 2010’s Toy Story 3 and 2016’s Finding Dory. It’s also the highest-grossing animated film ever domestically with over $602 million that was kicked off by a $182 million+ weekend, another animated film record. Clearly, the hype for this long-awaited follow-up to Pixar’s 2004 masterpiece The Incredibles was palpable, and for the most part, it seemed like fans were generally satisfied with the sequel. Granted, there have been a few critics who have argued that the film is a bit too derivative of the first film, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it a ‘rehash’. Whereas the first film explored topics such as dealing with a mid-life crisis and the fear of infidelity, the second film sees Mr. Incredible forced to become a stay-at-home dad while Elastigirl is out doing all the superhero work, which ends up being another example of the duo’s strong martial dynamic. Plus, writer/director Brad Bird does manage to maintain The Incredibles’ unique identity in the wake of all the big superhero films that have come out since the first film by continuing to focus more on the family dynamic of the main protagonists than all the superhero action that they partake in. And yet, Incredibles 2 does boast some amazing superhero action with animation that does an even better job than the first film when it comes to capturing that classic comic book aesthetic. Because of all this, Incredibles 2 is easily one of the most satisfying follow-ups in recent memory, resulting in another masterpiece from Pixar and a well-deserved win for Brad Bird after the fiasco surrounding Tomorrowland.  

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3: SUMMER VACATION

For the past few years, Sony Animation’s most prominent franchise has been the Hotel Transylvania series. It all started with the franchise’s 2012 feature film debut, which was directed by animation legend Genndy Tartakovsky, the creator of hit shows like Dexter’s Laboratory and Samurai Jack. The film followed the infamous Count Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) as he tries to protect his daughter Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez) from the dangers of the human world by building a hotel exclusively for his monster brethren. Things get complicated, however, when a human explorer named Jonathan (voiced by Andy Samberg) arrives at the hotel and, to make matters even worse for Dracula, falls in love with Mavis. While critics weren’t exactly positive towards it, it was a big hit with audiences and is often touted as both a delightfully zany addition to the genre of family-friendly horror films and one of Sandler’s better outings in recent years. This success with audiences continued with the 2015 sequel, Hotel Transylvania 2, and again this year with Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation which, as the title suggests, sees Dracula and his friends and family go on vacation via a cruise. Along the way, old Drac even manages to find a new love interest in the ship’s captain, Ericka (voiced by Kathryn Hahn); however, as Mavis soon finds out, her father’s new date may have some sinister intentions. Now I’ll admit that I haven’t seen either this or the second film. I’ve only seen the first Hotel Transylvania, and even then, that was a long time ago. But from what I remember, it was an enjoyably madcap animated film with a nice lead performance from Sandler as Dracula. And from what I’ve heard, while Hotel Transylvania 2 apparently wasn’t ‘smooth sailing’ for Tartakovsky due to some creative conflicts that he had with Sandler, it seems like the third film didn’t have as much as a problematic production by comparison. This is, after all, the first entry in the series where Tartakovsky himself is a credited writer. And while most critics seemed to view it as being ‘more of the same’, it was once again a bit hit with audiences.   

CRAZY RICH ASIANS

Calling Crazy Rich Asians one of the biggest hits of this summer would be a massive understatement. Ever since it came out a few weeks back, it’s been a massive critical and commercial success that has been touted especially for its cultural significance. For those unaware, this adaptation of author Kevin Kwan’s 2013 novel of the same name is the first major Hollywood production since 1993’s The Joy Luck Club to feature a cast that is predominately made up of Chinese actors and actresses. Granted, there has been some controversy from an international perspective over the film’s authenticity of representing the ethnic diversity of its Singapore setting, but that hasn’t stopped the film from being regarded as a major game-changer for the film industry by highlighting such an underrepresented minority. As for the film itself, which focuses on a woman who learns that her boyfriend is a member of one of the richest families in Singapore, critics have praised it for being an effective romantic comedy that’s made even better by an ensemble cast that features Constance Wu, Michelle Yeoh, and Ocean’s 8 breakout star Awkwafina, just to name a few. As such, at the time that I’m writing this, Crazy Rich Asians still stands at the top of the U.S. box-office, having suffered only minimal box-office drops three weeks into its run. Plus, a sequel based on Kwan’s 2015 book sequel China Rich Girlfriend is already in the works, undeniably making this a well-deserved success story for all involved. This, of course, includes director Jon M. Chu who, prior to what is now the highest-rated film of his career, was known primarily for his work on a few Justin Bieber documentaries, sequels to G.I. Joe and Now You See Me, and the infamous film adaptation of Jem and the Holograms. Just goes to show how you shouldn’t judge directors solely by their lesser films.    

A QUIET PLACE

Ok, I’m stretching things quite a bit here by including A Quiet Place, which ended up getting mentioned in the ‘write-in’ section, because it’s technically not a ‘summer release’. It came out the first week of April, and while many have argued that the ‘summer film season’ isn’t quite limited to the period of May through August anymore, that still doesn’t necessarily qualify A Quiet Place as a ‘summer film’. Heck, another film that will be appearing later in this post shouldn’t count either given that it was released at the tail-end of April. But in that case, it was meant to be the first big summer release either way and had been pushed back from its original release date, the first weekend of May, just because it was already finished by that point so that one gets a pass. But to its credit, A Quiet Place did manage to maintain a spot in the U.S. box office’s Top 10 list during the entire month of May. Thus, that is the only reason why I decided to include it. Yes, A Quiet Place AKA John Krasinski’s most successful outing to date as a director. I’ve already discussed this film plenty of times these past few months so I won’t repeat myself too much here. Simply put, there’s a good reason why this was touted as being another great horror film in what is arguably a new Renaissance period for the horror genre thanks to other films like Get Out and the 2017 adaptation of Stephen King’s It. While this story about a family trying to hide from a group of aliens who can only detect their prey via sounds certainly has its frightening moments, it’s ultimately more about a family just trying to survive and, more importantly, the parents’ efforts to protect their kids in this frightening world. And just a few weeks back, a sequel was set for a 2020 release with Krasinski still involved, though there hasn’t been any confirmation yet that he’ll be returning as its director.  

THE FOLLOWING 4 FILMS EARNED 2 VOTES EACH

HEREDITARY

Hereditary served as the directorial debut of filmmaker Ari Aster, who had previously directed a bunch of short films including the highly controversial 2011 short, The Strange Thing About the Johnsons. As for this film, it focuses on a family who find themselves dealing with all sorts of bizarre supernatural occurrences following the passing of the matriarch’s mother. And upon its release, the film was a massive hit with critics, many of whom called it one of the scariest horror films in years. Admittedly I have not seen it, but from what I’ve read about it, I can see why many are touting it as one of the most disturbing horror films in recent memory up there with classics like The Exorcist and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. It also did quite well at the box-office, earning over $79 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film for its distributor, A24. Granted, it also seems like this is one of those films that has been a lot more polarizing amongst audiences who may not exactly have been prepared for the kind of film that they were about to watch. But one of the most common things that it seems like most people are agreeing on, regardless of their thoughts on the film, is the phenomenal performance from Toni Collette in the lead role of Annie. Her work on the film has been so well-received that many are hoping that she gets an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. We’ll see in the next few months if that happens but, regardless, Hereditary has undeniably been one of the most talked about horror films in recent memory. And because of this, the hype is already in place for Aster’s next film, Midsommar, which is set to come out in 2019, once again under the A24 banner. 

WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR

Won’t You Be My Neighbor (which happens to be the first documentary to appear in one of these posts since the 2014 Roger Ebert documentary Life Itself (not to be confused with the upcoming drama of the same name from This is Us creator Dan Fogelman)) explores the backstory of one of the most beloved faces in the history of television, Fred Rogers. From 1968 to 2001, Rogers hosted his own TV show, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, and was widely praised for how he treated his audience, never talking down to children and helping them understand the serious subjects that he addressed on the show, like divorce, racism, and even war. Sure enough, this documentary (named after the iconic final line of the show’s equally iconic theme song) addresses everything that Rogers managed to accomplish with his show, which was noted as being the antithesis of what children’s programming was like at the time. As the trailer points out, what started as a low-budget series hosted by an ‘unlikely star’ now stands as one of the most definitive programs of all-time. And while it has been quite some time since I’ve watched any episodes of it, I certainly remember watching Mister Rogers all the time when I was growing up. However, despite this, I’ll admit that I haven’t gotten around to seeing this documentary yet. But that hasn’t stopped it from being one of the most critically acclaimed documentaries in recent years. With a near-perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes and a worldwide gross of $22 million, making it the highest-grossing biographical documentary of all-time, it’s clear that Won’t You Be My Neighbor is succeeding in giving audiences all sorts of nostalgic emotions.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT

In the 2015 installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s annual End of Summer poll, Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation, the fifth installment of the steadily improving Mission Impossible film series, earned one vote, showing how the series has come a long way ever since Mission Impossible III director J.J. Abrams became involved with the series as one of its producers. Under the direction of frequent Tom Cruise collaborator Christopher McQuarrie, Rogue Nation featured some of the sharpest action sequences that the series has seen to date, which was effectively matched with a solid story that honored the original Mission Impossible TV series by introducing the villainous group known as ‘the Syndicate’. But who would’ve thought that McQuarrie would have been able to top even that with his second entry in the franchise, Mission Impossible – Fallout? Well, that’s exactly what he did, as Fallout features even greater action sequences and an even tighter screenplay. This screenplay even manages to give Tom Cruise’s character Ethan Hunt some of the best character development that he’s ever gotten from this franchise while doing a better job than Rogue Nation when it comes to balancing the roles of his teammates in the plot a la 2011’s Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol. It all concludes with one of the most intense finales in recent film history, making it easy to see why some have referred to this film as the Mad Max: Fury Road of 2018. And while I’ll admit that I’m part of the crowd that preferred Ghost Protocol over Rogue Nation, I won’t lie when I say that Mission Impossible – Fallout now takes the mantle of being the best installment to date of this legendary franchise.

CHRISTOPHER ROBIN

When the first trailer hit for this live-action take on the classic Winnie the Pooh franchise, fans were utterly delighted to hear that Jim Cummings would be returning to voice the beloved bear ‘of very little brain’. And while it was initially reported that a different actor was to voice Cummings’ other major Pooh role, Tigger, the second trailer reassured audiences that Cummings would indeed be portraying the energetic bouncing tiger. This was one of the many reasons why Christopher Robin proved to be heavily anticipated for many people, and although the film didn’t necessarily get ‘great’ reviews from critics, it still did generally well critically. Like I noted in my review, some critics were rather iffy on some of the film’s grimmer moments. But while there are a few dreary moments in the film, it’s not like this applies to the whole film. Ultimately, these sequences help to show how Christopher Robin has become so detached from his past in this emotionally poignant story about the dangers of growing up too fast. But once Christopher Robin (played excellently by Ewan McGregor) regains his childhood spirit, that’s when the film truly shines as it provides us with everything that we’ve come to love from the Winnie the Pooh franchise. And the transition from animation to live-action did not result in these beloved characters losing any of the traits that have made them the icons that they still are today. Because of this, Christopher Robin is another delightful addition to Disney’s new line of live-action adaptations of their classic works (even though this isn’t technically a ‘remake’ like the others) and a neat new way of introducing these timeless characters to a new generation.

IN THIRD PLACE, WITH FOUR VOTES

MAMMA MIA: HERE WE GO AGAIN

In 2008, Universal and Tom Hanks’ production company Playtone released an adaptation of the hit musical, Mamma Mia. The musical, which first premiered in London in 1999 before making its debut on Broadway in 2001, focuses on a young woman named Sophie who attempts to figure out the identity of her father by inviting three potential suitors to her wedding. It was also notable for being a jukebox musical featuring music from the legendary Swedish pop band ABBA, who are responsible for classic hits like ‘Dancing Queen’ and the titular song that the musical is named after. The film adaptation was a sizable commercial hit upon its release, to the point where it ended up being the fifth highest-grossing film of the year. Critics, however, were a bit more mixed on it, with the most common criticism being the vocal performances of certain cast members (e.g. Pierce Brosnan, who ended up ‘winning’ a Razzie Award because of his infamously panned singing). Nevertheless, one decade later, its fans were treated to a sequel, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, which follows Sophie’s attempts to reopen her mother Donna’s hotel in the wake of her passing. Yes, to the surprise of many, Meryl Streep played a smaller role in the sequel, which also served as a prequel by focusing on her younger self (now played by Lily James) and exploring how she first came to the island of Kalokairi and her encounters with Sophie’s three potential fathers. And as another surprising development, the sequel managed to do quite well with critics. From what I’ve read, while some still felt that it wasn’t necessarily one of the ‘best’ musicals ever made, it seems like critics found this one to be a lot more enjoyable compared to its predecessor, with Lily James, especially, getting rave reviews for her turn as the younger self of Meryl Streep’s character. Thus, to shamelessly reference the classic ABBA song, it seems like fans of the original Mamma Mia were utterly delighted by this unabashedly endearing crowd-pleaser of a sequel where, from the looks of it, everyone in the cast was ‘having the time of their lives’.     

IN THE RUNNER UP SPOT, WE HAVE A TIE WITH TWO FILMS EARNING SIX VOTES EACH

SORRY TO BOTHER YOU

Practically from the moment when its first trailer was released, Sorry to Bother You, the directorial debut of famed hip-hop artist Boots Riley, was one of the most hyped films of the year. As you might have guessed, all that hype was what ultimately convinced me to go see the film. And overall, I will say that I can see why it is one of the most talked about films of the year. Sorry to Bother You is very much its own film. It’s a dark comedy that’s smoothly mixed with sociopolitical drama; a story about an African-American man who gets ahead in life with his ‘white voice’ that delves into themes like the fear of selling out and critiques on corporate America. This all comes together nicely thanks to Riley’s confident direction, an equally game ensemble cast that includes everyone from Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson to Armie Hammer and Steven Yeun, and solidly consistent humor. But at the same time, though, I wouldn’t necessarily call this one of the ‘best films of the year’. Now don’t get me wrong, Sorry to Bother You is a good film, and unlike, say, Darren Aronofsky’s mother, when the film starts to get into the most surreal parts of its plot, these moments are elaborated upon and aren’t just put in there randomly as a source of shock value. However, the film does also suffer a bit from some erratic pacing by the end of it, even though this is where those weird moments occur. Ultimately, though, Sorry to Bother You does show that Boots Riley has great potential as a filmmaker.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

As is always the case with these End of Summer polls, MCU films are always major front-runners (though there were surprisingly no votes for Ant-Man and the Wasp… that’s a shame…). And in the case of Avengers: Infinity War, it’s easy to see why this has been one of the most successful MCU films to date. But really, I don’t need to go into this film that much right now because I’ve already done so plenty of times these past few months and will do so again by year’s end (wink wink). That is because Avengers: Infinity War is genuinely one of those films that leaves such a big impact on you after watching it. It has one of the greatest villains in superhero film history thanks to Josh Brolin’s outstanding turn as the imposing Mad Titan, Thanos. It’s a practically perfect representation of everything that’s great about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from its legendary ensemble cast to its visually stunning action sequences. And, of course, it all culminates in one of the most jaw-dropping endings that the genre has ever seen. Simply put, the main antagonist wins, and he does so in what is easily one of the most emotionally charged installments of a franchise that has always been known for its strong emotional depth. Because of all this, I can safely say that Avengers: Infinity War is now my personal favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe film to date. After ten whole years of build-up through both solo films and Avengers films, Infinity War sets up the stage for the satisfying culmination of one of the most rewarding cinematic experiences in recent years. And considering what Joe and Anthony Russo gave us in this film, I am 100% confident that they’ll surely be sending one hell of an epic finale our way in next year’s fourth Avengers film.  

NOW INFINITY WAR WAS THE BIG FRONT-RUNNER FOR THE FIRST FEW DAYS THAT THIS POLL WAS ACTIVE. HOWEVER, IT WAS QUICKLY OUTPACED, MAKING THIS ONE OF THOSE INSTANCES OF A YEAR WITH AN UNCHALLENGED CHAMPION. THUS, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, THE MOST POPULAR FILM OF THE SUMMER OF 2018, ACCORDING TO RIMC VOTERS, WITH AN EVENT RECORD 12 VOTES…

BLACKKKLANSMAN

Spike Lee has always been one of the most prominent filmmakers in the industry, having delivered unforgettable works like 1989’s Do the Right Thing and his 1992 biopic on activist Malcolm X. And this year, he directed a film that has become one of the most critically-acclaimed outings of his career, BlacKkKlansman. The film tells the true story of Ron Stallworth (played by John David Washington, the son of Denzel Washington), who became the first African-American police officer in the city of Colorado Springs and led an infiltration operation on the KKK in 1979. During this time, he posed as a white man in phone conversations with KKK leader David Duke (Taylor Grace) and sent a white police officer (Adam Driver) in his place whenever he had to meet Klan members face to face. Lee uses this story to create a film that many have regarded as a sharp commentary on the current political climate by focusing on a unique moment in U.S. history. Political themes have always been the most noteworthy aspect of Lee’s filmography, and Lee himself is a very political person (even when he gets a tad bit too controversial). And in a time where the rhetoric of the KKK is, unfortunately, starting to creep back into the mainstream, this very much makes BlacKkKlansman culturally relevant. As such, it's easy to see why it ended up taking the top spot in this year’s poll.

And that concludes Rhode Island Movie Corner’s 5^th annual End of Summer Fan Vote. Once again, I’d like to thank everyone who voted this year. If by some chance you were unable to participate in the vote, just sound off in the comments below with your favorite film from the summer of 2018.