For the past few years, I have started my annual process of determining my top games by looking back at my list from the previous year. In 2018, I even came up with a top movies list so I’m excited to review that list through a similar lens so here is what I thought about my top ten a year ago, as well as how my thoughts may have shifted in the year since.
10. Incredibles 2
What I said then: “Putting Elastigirl front and center and making Mr. Incredible a stay-at-home dad struggling with being the homebody when he’d rather be the one in the spotlight was a nice way to make it feel like a more modern tale.”
What I think now: The Pixar magic is still at play here. The current era of sequels (Finding Dory, Cars 3, Incredibles 2, and Toy Story 4) aren’t exactly necessary but they still manage to explore their classic characters in an engaging light that I’ll watch over most other animated films any day.
9. Bohemian Rhapsody
What I said then: “I thought Rami Malek’s performance as Freddie Mercury was fantastic, easily making a decent, by-the-numbers biopic better as a result.”
What I think now: That said, I don’t know if I would have voted for him to win the Oscar since a good chunk of his performance is lip-syncing to Freddie Mercury’s performance. But I threw on the film at least once this year to enjoy the music of Queen.
8. Hearts Beat Loud
What I said then: “A wonderful coming of age story…mixed with a touching story about fatherhood.”
What I think now: I just rewatched this a couple weeks ago on Hulu and still find it incredibly sweet and touching with a great soundtrack.
7. A Quiet Place
What I said then: “The sound design and lack thereof in the film is absolutely brilliant and makes every little creak and gasp that much more intense.”
What I think now: I’m writing this blurb the day that the trailer for the sequel went live and it looks like they’re heading into The Last of Us “humans are the real monsters” territory. I still don’t need a sequel but I’ll try and brave the tension again and support interesting filmmaking.
6. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
What I said then: “…this is just such a fun and sweet romantic comedy that I’m overwhelmed by its cuteness.”
What I think now: I’ll probably watch it a couple more times in the lead up to the upcoming sequel. It’s still a nice film for me to throw on in the background when I need to do some cleaning or something.
5. Ready Player One
What I said then: “…all I could think about was all of the friends I’ve made in the last few years over the internet and the way many of those friendships have flourished and turned into real-life friendships and some of the closest ones I’ve got.”
What I think now: The movie definitely still has its problems but I also launched a new website with a handful of internet friends this year so I can still appreciate the above sentiment as well.
4. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
What I said then: “Fred Rogers was an incredible, gentle soul and the world could use a lot more of us living in his spirit.”
What I think now: After watching this year’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, I revisited this documentary and think the two serve as excellent companion pieces to one another. I give the documentary the edge, but Tom Hanks delivers a wonderfully charming rendition of Mr. Rogers as well.
3. Avengers: Infinity War
What I said then: “It’s been eight months and I’m still impressed by how effectively the Russo Brothers and Marvel managed to bring 10 years of history and 18 other movies together to this super-packed film…I can’t wait to see how the story is resolved in this year’s Avengers: Endgame.”
What I think now: They landed the damn plane. In a year where we saw so many attempts to end franchises with varying degrees of success (or failure), Infinity War teed up the final chapters and Endgame nailed the landing.
2. Black Panther
What I said then: “A lot of praise has been placed on Michael B. Jordan’s portrayal of sympathetic villain Erik Killmonger and it’s certainly well-earned, but I think the praise he received came from a somewhat flashier character compared to Chadwick Boseman’s much more subtle and powerful portrayal of the titular character.”
What I think now: Black Panther is real good, you guys. Like, real real good.
1. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
What I said then: “Every frame is filled with such love and reverence for the source material that I have continued to find new little bits here and there in every screening, while still enjoying so many of the little moments and details I’ve loved since day one.”
What I think now: I recently got to share my extended thoughts on the film on That Wannabe Film Class. If you don’t have two and a half hours to listen to our praise for the film, the short version is that my love for the movie continues to grow and it’s definitely up there as one of my all-time favorites.
