2019 Movie Rankings: 70 through 61
Day 12 of the 2019 Movie Rankings Countdown is here. Over the course of the next 6 weekdays, leading up to the 92nd edition of The Academy Awards, I will be revealing my rankings for all 185 new movies I watched this year.
RANKINGS SO FAR:
Bottom 15 (171-185)
170-161
160-151
150-141
140-131
130-121
120-111
110-101
100-91
90-81
80-71
This group of 10 movies is loaded with massive blockbuster releases (and Disney movies) that all underperformed to an extent with audiences and critics. Let's waste no time, here are movies 70 through 61...
70) Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (73/100): The movie knows exactly what it is and the audience it is intended for (a younger one), which may be a turn off for some people. Personally, I thought they did more than a fine job with this book-to-movie adaption, especially in the visual effects department. The creatures almost all looked fantastic and creepy as hell, but the dumbing down of the horror to fit its PG-13 rating likely held it back a bit.
69) Aladdin (74/100): I'll say this louder for the people in the back: THIS MOVIE WAS NOT THAT BAD. The new story additions weren't always perfect and the casting of Marwan Kenzari (good actor, wrong role) was a pretty big whiff, but Will Smith as the Genie?
Pretty damn good! No one will top Robin Williams, but for all the complaining there is over Disney not infusing any originality into these re-makes, Will Smith didn't get enough shine for his rendition of the Genie. Honestly, had the Jafar casting not been so terrible, this might have been my favorite Disney live-action remake to date.
68) Terminator: Dark Fate (74/100): This movie is a considerable leap in quality compared to the previous sequels and reboots in this franchise, but I think I am officially done buying into "this is the Terminator you know and love" hype. Despite the fact that the return of old characters and a fresh-ish story are welcomed, it feels as though this franchise has simply run out of steam.
67) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (74/100): *PAUSES FOR 5 MINUTES* Here's the thing, I am a fucking die-hard Star Wars fan. My home office is line top to bottom with my old toys, collectibles, framed posters and more. Yes, I liked 'The Last Jedi'... sue me! I also enjoyed a good chunk of 'The Rise of Skywalker', but when removing the rose-colored glasses and the bias, I just have to say that this movie was a jumbled mess. The excuses about "needing another movie" are tired, they tried to cram too much into the final chapter and service the fans along the way, plain and simple. Not planning this trilogy years ago, or having a common person involved each time (like George Lucas for 'Episode I' through 'Return of the Jedi') ended up being the biggest downfall of this last movie. There are plenty of awesome Star Wars moments that I will enjoy for the rest of my life as a fan, but I'd be a dead-ass liar if I said there weren't plenty of flaws with the construction of the story. (For the record, I liked that this franchise was headed in a non-rehashed new direction and was disappointed they back-pedaled a bit... also, 'The Mandalorian' fucking rules and is everything great about the Star Wars property) *EXHALES*
66) Bombshell (75/100): When it comes to journalism and scandals, I always going to look back at 'Spotlight' from a few years ago. It was an incredibly well-acted movie that pulled no punches and told a really heavy, tough story and was more than watchable (Oscar-winning watchable) in the process. 'Bombshell' is certainly well-acted and a solid movie, but it is bit sensationalized and simply does not go deep enough into telling this story.
It's a very paint-by-numbers movie, and that's disappointing because there is so much to dive into when it comes to this scandal and the chaos and politics of television news (even the sloppy 'The Morning Show' does a better job).
65) Light of My Life (76/100): This is an all-around wild premise and intense movie…
Not talked about at all this year, Casey Affleck's newest movie hits some bumps along the way where my interest waned a bit, but 'Light of My Life' is definitely worth a watch. Affleck and newcomer Anna Pniowsky turn in great performances with a fucking brutal and gripping personal story.
64) Frozen II (76/100): Look, it's a Disney Animated movie. You pair a great voice cast with some decent music, vibrant animation, and a fun story and you're likely to get a pretty decent movie. 'Frozen II' isn't quite as good as the first movie but I was surprised at the balance they found in not overplaying (Olaf) their (Olaf) hand (Olaf) following the bananas-success of its predecessor. The best song in the movie, though?
Described as an "80's Power Ballad," this was the only song that truly stuck out for me as they couldn't recapture the magic of the infamous "Let It Go" from Adele Dazeem.
63) Skin (76/100): A very dark story with the idea of change and redemption built-in, 'Skin' is heavy but deserves a watch for Jamie Bell and Danielle MacDonald alone…
A lot more could have been explored however and, as I said with 'Bombshell', these cultural and political issues need deeper stories for them to work on screen. They can still be good movies, but they won't ever reach the top tier if they don't take the risk of getting there.
62) It Chapter Two (77/100): For sure a step-down from the first movie in this franchise, 'IT Chapter Two' was a very pleasurable experience when it comes to mainstream horror. Bill Hader led a damn good cast consisting of Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Isaiah Mustafa and more, and they were the perfect mirrors of their childhood counterparts. Ultimately, the Stephen King sequel was just a bit too bloated to properly flow as well as the first movie. Was it because of the characters being split up too much? Too many flashbacks? Scaling back in one spot might have helped this movie out a lot.
61) The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (77/100): Capturing lightning in the bottle twice with the mainline movies for this property proved to be a pretty tall task. I think most people who liked the (fantastic) first movie will enjoy the sequel, but let me take the time to remind everyone that it was complete bullshit The Academy didn't nominate this movie for Best Animated Picture back in 2015. Will Ferrell being on screen for five minutes disqualifying the movie was ridiculous.
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Here are the rankings so far in picture form…
Tomorrow with movies 60 through 51 we finally crawl into ratings of 80 and above, boom! While you wait, you can still rate all of the movies released on a scale of 0-100 below. Make sure to subscribe (click here) to Lights Camera Barstool to enjoy our twice-a-week movie podcast…
Give your rating for all 2019 movies:
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