We are officially halfway through the movie viewing year! This year, I have gotten to see 23 movies released this year, which breaks the record of 12 from last year. I have to say that I have been generally unimpressed with the films released this year. There have only been a few films I would generally consider masterpieces, with a few great films sprinkled in. The second half of the year is usually log-jammed with amazing films vying for awards season consideration, so hopefully the latter portion of the year is more impressive. Just as a note, I've revised some of these ratings as I have sat on each of these films. Some movies tied for ratings, so they were separated by pure enjoy-ability, nuance, or other differentials to prevent any ties. Here are my rankings of this years films.
#24: Midsommar (Unrated)
#23: Miss Bala (4.5/10)
This uninspired remake of the Spanish language film is boring, poorly acted, and overall lame. I have no idea how I ended up seeing this movie. I can only write three sentences because of how much I didn't like it.
#22: Isn't it Romantic? (5.0/10)
A story and concept of living within a romantic comedy is brilliant. However, the hackneyed execution makes for a poor excuse for a film. I guess it would be an okay movie to watch with your significant other on the couch if you want a brainless and silly romantic comedy.
#21: Velvet Buzzsaw (5.0/10)
Dan Gilroy's Netflix art horror romp is an absolute camp fest. The idea for the film is innovative, but the film seems to waste the immense talent of its cast in a messy, overindulgent mess of a film. To its credit, this could easily be a cult favorite in a few years.
#20: Glass (5.5/10)
"Glass would have been a phenomenal film...had it been made 15 years earlier. With the distorted perception of superhero films embedded in everyone's minds, a lack of action is really disheartening and dull. There were times where the film had me engrossed, and then eventually lost me in the lulls of it. Often, I complain about superhero films not having enough heart, drama, and consequence. What I do not need is a whole, genre-lacking film full of it. It is time to finally accept Shyamalan as a sub-par director who had a pretty damn good run years ago. He is pseudo-intellectual who's imagery and twists are no longer interesting. For me, he can no longer rest on those laurels of the late 90s/early 2000s and I'm not sure his next film will be getting my view in the theaters."
Read my full review here.
#19: Triple Frontier (5.75/10)
The first J.C. Chandor film I was honestly disappointed in. Chandor made his mark with the severely underrated A Most Violent Year as an antithesis to The Godfather. His follow up feature is just a bland, boring approach to the war on drugs that deserved nothing more than a Netflix release.
#18: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (6.0/10)
Using a different approach to the serial killer film was an interesting approach. Zac Efron is absolutely convincing and charming as the part of Ted Bundy that the film wants you to believe. The film has smart writing to convince the viewer that maybe, just maybe Bundy was innocent. Without focusing on his horrific crimes till the climax of the film, it is a haunting and intriguing look at Bundy's life.
#17: Aladdin (6.0/10)
"With each live action remake, Disney seems to get less and less inventive the repackaging of each of their animated masterpieces. Perhaps they should stop hiring directors such Guy Ritchie and Tim Burton, who have not made a competent film in over a decade. Aladdin at least kept my interest, but the CGI-laden fest had an incredible amount of poor directorial choices within its bounds."
Read my full review here.
#16: Gloria Bell (6.5/10)
This is really the definition of AARP: The Movie. One of those movies intentionally made for white, 50+ year olds who have a little too much wine with their dinner. That being said, Julianne Moore does not miss a note, and remains one of the most charming and diverse actresses in the game.
#15: Yesterday (6.75/10)
One of the films I was most excited for this year ended up being a major disappointment. Yesterday had such a brilliant premise that was too smart for the actual film. It was just another overly long, overly sentimental film penned by Richard Curtis. Danny Boyle is truly one of the most hit-or-miss directors of this century with this bland dud of a film.
#14: Godzilla: King of the Monsters (6.75/10)
Warner Bros. shared MonsterVerse was off to a rough start with Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island. However, I was surprised with how much I enjoyed this movie, even being the colossal Godzilla fan that I am. Not focusing so much on the human plots, and showing what everyone wanted to see, which is giant monsters fighting made this the best film in the shared universe. Michael Dougherty's direction made me feel the consequence of these monsters. The screenplay at times felt hokey and predictable, but I still found this to be one of the most enjoyable non-Marvel blockbusters I've seen this year.
#13: Pavarotti (7.0/10)
Ron Howard's passion project on the famed tenor Luciano Pavarotti is a serviceable documentary. However it simply glances over some of the more prominent scandals of Pavarotti, painting an almost Wikipedia page like documentary that fails to tell me anything new or exciting. A solid project for sure, but fails to live up to some more recently stunning musical documentaries like George Harrison: Living in the Material World or Amy.
#12: Captain Marvel: (7.0/10)
"Captain Marvel has been described as a 2-hour trailer for Avengers: Endgame. While some of that is true, it still is able to operate as a separate entity with satisfying tie ins to the rest of the MCU. The casual comic book viewer could still enjoy themselves and the die hard viewers are rewarded with wonderful connections to comic lore."
Read my full review here.
#11: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (7.0/10)
Chris Miller and Phil Lord were not at the helm of this animated sequel. However, the movie was a serviceable and favorable sequel filled with humorous pop references. It lacked the gusto and swagger of the first movie without the guiding of Miller and Lord, who remain the smartest team in animation.
#10: Knock Down the House (7.25/10)
Following the campaign of various outsider congressional candidates is no easy task. Yet Rachel Lears's documentary is a fresh look at how money in politics is slowly becoming a null ideal in the mind of Americans. It nearly brought me to tears seeing the bravery many people have to make a change and serve their communities on the national level.
#9: Long Shot (7.5/10)
Charlize Theron uses her comedic chops for the first time in a while. Paired with a more serious Seth Rogen, this out of bounds romantic comedy was one of my biggest surprises of the year, funny, tender, and poignant made Long Shot one of the better romantic comedies of the 2010s.
#8: Shazam! (7.5/10)
"It is a shame that DC films are simply judged by their ability to be cohesive, yet that it where I found myself judging them. Shazam! is the best modern film that DC has produced. It's wit, charm, and heart make it a unique turn on superhero films. It's themes of family and belonging never feel hackneyed throughout the film. However, it is welcome. Here's hoping DC makes more standalone entries such as this in the near future."
"Is Spider-Man Far From Home the most important Marvel movie? Absolutely not. It did little to push the narrative of the MCU at large. However, it worked more as a self-contained film a la Black Pantheror Doctor Strange, which I enjoyed more. The post credits sequence is the most astonishing and brilliant job Marvel has done yet. I refuse to spoil even a second of how relevant and timely the sequences were. Overall, this film was another solid entry with charm, romance, and fun for adults. I would not advise taking children as some sequences were scary. Here's the to future of an MCU Spider-Man!"
Read my full review here.
#6: John Wick 3- Parabellum (8/10)
The latest entry in Keanu Reeves' gun-toting, ultra violent passion project is a lot of fun. Under the direction of formed Matrix coordinator Chad Stahelski, the film can't be more ridiculous than than second film, but is more intimately bizarre and claustrophobic. As far as action films go, the John Wick movies are easily in the top tier.
#5: Us (8/10)
"Overall, Us is more of a conventional horror than the smart thriller of Get Out. Though it can fall into genre tropes, it is generally terrifying while being smart in its own way. The film feels less tight and neat and straightforward than Get Out, but maybe that is good in contrast. Comparing he films almost feels inevitable, as completely unfair as it is. Jordan Peele proves that he is not Hitchcock, he is not Romero, he is not Cronenberg, but he is his own brand of filmmaker, which is entirely welcome. Though it will be a long wait, I believe that Us is an Oscar caliber film grounded in Nyongo's brilliant dual performance. Hopefully high-quality horror films are more recognized for their cinematic worth."
Read my full review here.
#4: Rocketman (8.5/10)
"I'm actually shocked how much I enjoyed Rocketman. It was a fun, emotional, and unconventional musical biopic that let director Dexter Fletcher fly his freak flag very high. I could easily quibble at every fact they missed, every poor moment, and every directorial choice, but I choose to instead give the movie all the praise it deserves. Maybe, just maybe, there is hope for the musical biography."
Read my full review here.
#3 Toy Story 4: (9.0/10)
Toy Story 4 is lowest ranked film in the series on Rotten Tomatoes. I find this amusing since it currently sits at 98 % versus Toy Story 1 and 2's 100% percent and Toy Story 3's 99%. If it truly is the worst entry in the series, it is the best-worst entry ever. I don't think I have ever seen a better fourth entry in any film series ever, and one of the most original, fun, and impassioned sequels ever.
Read my full review here.
#2: Booksmart: (9.5/10)
Had it come out around the time of Superbad, Booksmart would be held in the same high regards. Jammed in between releases of Avengers, John Wick, and Aladdin, the film did not garner nearly as much attention as it should have. Booksmart is a charming story full of laugh out loud moments. We need more true feminist coming of age stories with strong LGBTQ representation. This underrated, independent release will easily remain one of my favorite films of the year when all is said and done.
#1: Avengers: Endgame (10/10)
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Read my full review here.
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