Captain America: Civil War 8/10
This movie was an event. If you were there, you would remember how crazy it was that the Avengers were fighting with themselves. People were taking sides on who would win, and it was a blast. And to add to it, a story where everything makes sense and is captivating. From Black Panther and Spider-Man being introduced in the series, to all of this happening because of the events of Age of Ultron, which shows that being a hero has direct consequences, adding a level of realism that we didn’t know we needed. This movie is a testament to how good pre-2020s Marvel movies were, and I love it for it.
La La Land 8/10
The winner of Best Picture in 2017 at the Oscars! After the incredible “Whiplash,” two years earlier, writer and director Damien Chazelle returned with another project to show off his music skills. This time, a musical. It follows a pianist and an actress trying to make their mark in Hollywood while slowly falling in love. Normally, I don’t like musicals, but this is one of the few exceptions, as the tunes are great and the dancing is fantastic. The cinematography is incredible as it switches from realist shots to classic musical shots with crazy whip pans. Overall, deserved that Oscar win and your attention.
Moonlight 8.5/10
The winner of Best Picture at the Oscars in 2017! This was the first movie solely produced by A24, who were known up to that point as the company that gave a spotlight to movies that would have been only known to cinephiles. Movies like “Ex-Machine,” “The Lobster,” and “Swiss Army Man” helped establish not just A24’s style, but also grow as a more well-known company. Directed by Berry Jenkins in his first movie, it follows a boy through adulthood as he goes on a journey to find himself through his life. This movie is beautifully shot with excellent lighting, and all the acting performances are top-notch, with Mahershala Ali as a standout. It makes sense that this is the movie that helped make A24 well-known because this is an all-around good movie and definitely deserved that Oscar win.
Kubo and the Two Strings 9/10
Born from our local stop-motion animation company, Laika, “Kubo” is easily the best work they have produced. Beautifully animated at times, it doesn’t even feel like it’s using stop motion animation. And the fight scenes? They are some of the best, not just in animation, but of all time. Everything is clean and bright. And the amounts of foreshadowing, too. If you rewatch these movies with the knowledge of the first watch, you will see so many things that you’ve never seen before. It’s amazing. I feel like the amount of effort that was put into this movie, only to lose to “Zootopia,” is kind of crazy. I mean, Zootopia is not a bad film, but it’s just a standard Disney film. It’s like you putting in the effort to get a scholarship, but it goes to one of the rich kids who doesn’t really need it. Anyways, pet peeve aside, this is a movie you should watch for sure.
The Founder 10/10
Ok, hear me out. You might be wondering, “Why is this movie a 10 out of 10? It’s just a movie about McDonald’s. Well, yeah, but everything in this movie is just that good! The story, the acting, the set design, the music, and so on. And it’s not even that experimental or unique, it’s literally a movie about McDonald’s! But it was so well done that it’s one of my favorite movies. Period. Michael Keaton killed it at his transformation from the desperate milkshake mixer salesman to the greedy businessman who steals everything from the McDonald brothers. If you haven’t seen it, please do so, it’s soooo good.
Honorable Mentions:
- “Rogue One”: A Star Wars Movie: Honestly, not a bad spinoff.
- “Your Name”: Amazing animations and story.
- “Split”: Spooky and great acting from James McAvoy.
- “Hacksaw Ridge”: Good retelling and dramatization of the real story.
- “Deadpool”: One of the funniest superhero movies.
