What We Learned This Week: September 21-October 4

Posted on October 2, 2020 by everymoviehasalesson.

LESSON #1: THE WORLD CAN USE A DOSE OF BORAT RIGHT NOW— The rumors were always present that a Borat sequel was in the works from Sacha Baron Cohen. After a few months of secret shooting during the pandemic, Borat: Gift of Pornographic Monkey to Vice Premiere Mikhael Pence to Make Benefit Recently Diminished Nation of Kazakhstan will be unleashed to the world via Amazon Prime just in time for Election Day. Yes, you read that right. Expect the Vice President to be made an easy mark. In this election year, the world is ready for this kind of scathing laughter and cringe comedy. Bring it on.

LESSON #2: WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE EVEN THE BEST ARTISTS NEED PAYCHECKS— Barry Jenkins has quickly gained legendary auteur status with his Oscar-winning Moonlight and equally vibrant follow-up If Beale Street Could Talk. Word broke Tuesday with a headline that looked out of We Got This Covered or The Onion if it didn’t say Deadline above it. Jenkins has been tabbed by Disney to helm a follow-up to the CGI-reimagining of The Lion King. Before you dust off your The Lion King 1½ and The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride DVD collectors items, word is this will be a new direction and even a prequel highlighting a young Mufasa. Begrudge him or shake your head all you want, but I say this all the time in this column space: This is a business first and art exposition second. That happens the second you put a price tag on anything. Dozens of indie-level directors have done this in our recent history (David Lowery, Ava DuVernay, Colin Trevorrow, Gareth Edwards) and even more have done it for decades (Nolan, Spielberg, Scorsese). It’s “one for them and two for you.” It becomes about, 1) the effort you put in the big one, and 2) what that paycheck allows you to do next. Take DuVernay. She flipped that A Wrinkle in Time money into When They See Us, an upcoming Colin Kaepernick bio series on Netflix, infused money into her ARRAY distribution company for black artists, and helped launch the Evolve Entertainment Fund to promote inclusion. That’s not the worst aftermath and use of taking the big money. Let’s see what Jenkins can do both with the project and the cache.

LESSON #3: AWARDS SEASON STARTS NOW– Film lovers, it’s October and, even during a reduced year of overall releases, the season of golden harvest is upon us. Oscar season! The virtual and drive-in versions of the usual top-notch film festivals are highlighting some early contenders to watch for. The early buzz leader is Nomadland from celebrated director Chloe Zhao (another indie darling like Jenkins who took the Disney/MCU money with The Eternals). The Frances McDormand starrer won the People’s Choice award at the Toronto International Film Festival, the top prize of the Venice Film Festival, and is slotted as the centerpiece of the New York International Film Festival. Close on its tail are the rave reviews for Regina King’s One Night in Miami. Keep an eye on the upcoming Netflix debut of Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 for another potential frontrunner. Folks, after months of random cast offs and C-level films landing on VOD and streaming sites, the top shelf stuff is coming. Now, the new diversity measures for the Oscars are a whole other (and wonderful) thing. We’ll save that for another WWLTW.

DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based and Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic writing on his website Every Movie Has a Lesson. His movie review work is also published on 25YL (25 Years Later) and also on Medium.com for the MovieTime Guru publication. As an educator by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical. He is a proud director and one of the founders of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle and a member of the nationally-recognized Online Film Critics Society. As a contributor here on Feelin’ Film now for over two years, he’s going to expand those lessons to current movie news and trends while chipping in with guest spots and co-hosting duties, including the previous “Connecting with Classics” podcasts. Find “Every Movie Has a Lesson” on Facebook, Twitter, and Medium to follow his work. (#141)

Aaron’s Top 100 Movies (2020 Edition)

Posted on July 22, 2020 by Aaron White.

Recently I made a major change to how I rate films, doing away with half-stars altogether in favor of a simplified system with only 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 stars as an option. My hope is that by taking away the additional complication of half-stars, I will be able to more accurately rate films on the first go-around. It’s no secret that I struggle with hype and I often find myself using half-stars only to scale ratings back when the end of the year rolls around and I take another look at them. Additionally, and more importantly, I’ve come to thoroughly embrace the conversations that we have about film online in places like our Feelin’ Film Discussion Group and in person at work. What I desire is for the words in my written reviews, on my podcast, or spoken in conversation to tell you more about my feelings for a film than the number assigned to it. To that end, simplifying my ratings means if you want to understand what distinguishes films in a certain group (say my 4-star rating) from each other, you’ll have to actually read what I have to say or… gasp… ask me about them.

With this change came a mass re-rating project, and after completing that and noticing that I am 2.5 years removed from my last Top 100 list, this was the perfect opportunity to give it an update. As always is the case, gray hairs emerged during this painful process as I tried to distinguish between beloved films. As always, my list is ever-changing, but this serves as a current reflection of my personal cinematic taste – a snapshot view of the cinephile that I am at this moment in time. I hope that as you read through this list you might be able to learn a little about who I am as a person by seeing what type of stories I love the most.

Note: For the purposes of this list, any film with an asterisk (*) after it represents its series or trilogy and is only used in cases where all films of the series are rated as 5-star. The arrows and numbers after each title them are just a fun little addition that shows a film’s movement since the last edition of this list. You can see the previous editions here:

2017 Top 100
2018 Top 100

This is my list. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

#1	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring *	—	—
#2	The Princess Bride	↑	3
#3	It’s a Wonderful Life	↓	1
#4	Top Gun	↑	11
#5	Before Sunrise *	↑	4
#6	Casablanca	↓	3
#7	La La Land	—	—
#8	12 Angry Men	↓	4
#9	The Last of the Mohicans	↑	7
#10	Interstellar	↓	4
#11	Die Hard	↑	46
#12	The Lion King	↑	40
#13	Jaws	↓	5
#14	The Dark Knight	↑	7
#15	Jurassic Park	↑	2
#16	Toy Story *	↓	2
#17	Your Name.	↑	41
#18	Raiders of the Lost Ark	↑	1
#19	The Prestige	↓	8
#20	Beauty and the Beast	↑	44
#21	Star Wars	↑	7
#22	The Shawshank Redemption	↑	19
#23	Sleeping Beauty	↑	15
#24	Black Hawk Down	↑	46
#25	Full Metal Jacket	↓	13
#26	The Sound of Music	↑	10
#27	Memento	↑	40
#28	Lawrence of Arabia	↑	9
#29	Titanic	NEW	NEW
#30	National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation	↑	36
#31	The Wizard of Oz	↓	11
#32	Children of Men	↑	27
#33	Kill Bill *	NEW	NEW
#34	Singin’ in the Rain	↓	11
#35	Groundhog Day	↑	42
#36	Back to the Future	↑	25
#37	The Departed	↑	56
#38	Gladiator	↑	13
#39	Mary Poppins	↓	21
#40	The Social Network	—	—
#41	The Nightmare Before Christmas	↓	9
#42	Scream	↑	1
#43	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl	NEW	NEW
#44	Hell or High Water	↑	36
#45	Terminator 2: Judgment Day	NEW	NEW
#46	My Neighbor Totoro	↓	1
#47	Fast Five	NEW	NEW
#48	The Incredibles	↑	28
#49	Lost in Translation	NEW	NEW
#50	Gone Girl	NEW	NEW
#51	Blade Runner 2049 *	↓	41
#52	Forrest Gump	NEW	NEW
#53	Tombstone	↓	3
#54	Fight Club	↓	20
#55	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	NEW	NEW
#56	Happy Gilmore	NEW	NEW
#57	The Fault in Our Stars	NEW	NEW
#58	The Rock	NEW	NEW
#59	The Bridge on the River Kwai	↓	15
#60	Se7en	↑	31
#61	Armageddon	NEW	NEW
#62	Young Guns	NEW	NEW
#63	Avengers: Infinity War	NEW	NEW
#64	The Great Gatsby	NEW	NEW
#65	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade	NEW	NEW
#66	Alien	↓	53
#67	Kubo and the Two Strings	NEW	NEW
#68	WALL*E	NEW	NEW
#69	Ex Machina	↑	3
#70	Scott Pilgrim vs. the World	↓	35
#71	The Avengers	NEW	NEW
#72	The Cabin in the Woods	↑	12
#73	Pitch Perfect	NEW	NEW
#74	The Hunt for Red October	NEW	NEW
#75	Inception	↓	48
#76	Creed	NEW	NEW
#77	Wreck-it Ralph	NEW	NEW
#78	Reservoir Dogs	↑	10
#79	Little Women	NEW	NEW
#80	How To Train Your Dragon	NEW	NEW
#81	Almost Famous	↓	51
#82	Friday Night Lights	NEW	NEW
#83	TRON: Legacy	NEW	NEW
#84	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	NEW	NEW
#85	Crazy, Stupid, Love	NEW	NEW
#86	Gravity	NEW	NEW
#87	Les Misérables	NEW	NEW
#88	Hamilton	NEW	NEW
#89	Con Air	NEW	NEW
#90	The Empire Strikes Back	↓	44
#91	10 Cloverfield Lane	NEW	NEW
#92	Reality Bites	↓	23
#93	Rashomon	↓	60
#94	Vertigo	↓	70
#95	Moon	↓	10
#96	Rocky	NEW	NEW
#97	First Man	NEW	NEW
#98	Passengers	NEW	NEW
#99	Whiplash	↓	21
#100	A Star is Born (2018)	NEW	NEW

It’s not unlikely for films to enter/leave/re-enter this list, but any film that has dropped out at one point and come back on is still designated as “NEW” just to keep things simple.

Link to list on Letterboxd

Like it? Hate it? Think I’m crazy? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Aaron White is a Seattle-based film critic and co-creator/co-host of the Feelin’ Film Podcast. He is also a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society. He writes reviews with a focus on the emotional experience he has with a film. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter to be notified when new content is posted.

What We Learned This Week: July 14-20

Posted on July 20, 2019 by everymoviehasalesson.

LESSON #1: WE NEED TO REMEMBER TO THANK THE SPACE AGE FOR THE SCIENCE FICTION WE ENJOY TODAY— I’ll lead with the recommendations instead of end with them this week. July 20th marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, causing many of us to nostalgically appreciate the wonder of that monumental history. It was actualized science fiction that has only gone on the inspire even more since. We owe those pioneers a little thank you every time we watch a space movie made after 1969. First, educate yourself with the sharp documentary chronicle Apollo 11 from earlier this year. After that, go dreamy with more movies made before and after 1969 that gaze upon or point towards our celestial neighbor. These lists from Vox and DVD.com are perfect.

LESSON #2: YOUR BUZZ REFILL COMES THIS WEEKEND— Speaking of this third weekend of July, San Diego hosts its annual Comic-Con. Expect some outstanding trailers like the ones that have already dropped for Top Gun: Maverick, Cats, and It: Chapter 2. Disney/Marvel returns to Hall H after a year of radio silence to sell the post-Infinity War dire straits. Be ready for a windfall of announcements in many directions between Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the quickly-approaching trilogy caper Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, new previews and details on the Disney+ service, and likely a whole bunch more. Expect ballsy surprises and the other studios (WB and more) trying to resume their own chase of Mouse House.

LESSON #3: THE MOVIE OF THE SUMMER THAT WILL MAINTAIN A 100% ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE ISN’T RUN BY DISNEY— You all know I’ve seen the vitriol possible when something big and popular gets criticized. Folks, you can keep all the supposed and righteous universal love due for Avengers: Endgame, Toy Story 4, and The Lion King. The most endearing and impenetrable movie this summer is going to be The Farewell. Whoever writes that excellent movie a negative review (and it wasn’t me this time) is going to have more explaining to do than some “douche nozzle” from Chicago who gave a low grade to Buzz and Woody. Lulu Wang’s bracing dramedy of love and loss within family circles is the movie that deserves a three-digit crown of vine-ripened internet fruit.

LESSON #4: HAVING THE RIGHT DOESN’T MAKE YOU RIGHT— Somebody needs to offer their superior publicist and image consultant services to Scarlett Johansson. A year ago, she wisely backed out of playing a transgender character after pushback and course correction from the studio. It didn’t sink in. Scarlett doubled-down recently in an interview saying “As an actor I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal because that is my job and the requirements of my job.” Yes and no, Ms. Johansson and it might be as easy as swapping “should” with “could” instead. A hard maybe is all she, or any star, should get. We have reached a societal marketplace in entertainment where the strives for fair representation matter and a big star isn’t getting it. It’s ugly when this news has to follow and sour good news like Lashana Lynch gaining a callsign title for Bond 25.

LESSON #5: ONE MORE TIME, WITH FEELING, IT’S TIME FOR CONSUMERS TO BE REFLECTIVE AND FAIR— This final lesson of the week is a callback to a January “Soapbox Special” edition of “What We Learned This Week” and it goes back even deeper. The person of interest (or elephant in the room) that brings this one back is Kevin Spacey. News broke this week that the felony sexual assault charges against the Academy Award-winning actor were dropped this week after some nefarious measures with evidence came to light from the accuser’s side. We all know “not guilty” in the court of public opinion is different than the same label in the court of law. More wrongs or truths may still hover, but Kevin Spacey has a clearer name than he did last week. That said, I bring back the bullet points of that Soapbox lesson and ask that those be applied to Spacey:

1) What’s the proper waiting period between allegations and actual guilt? MY ANSWER REMAINS: When it gets its day in court and no less that that. The gavel has sounded the man is free to go. That’s the judgment that matters.

2) What amount of contrition or correction is necessary in order for people to continue their careers? MY ANSWER REMAINS: That’s up to each case and each consumer, but the amount can’t be zero. Spacey has made statements of contrition and, other than an odd YouTube video which probably went a little overboard, he has stayed respectfully away from spotlights.

3) What are these people allowed to do with their rest of their careers? MY ANSWER REMAINS: Anything they want or anything a boss wants to hire to run their business. Simply put, Kevin Spacey, for the moment, is clear and deserves a chance to be a professional again. He comes with risk, certainly, but I’ve never been a boycott list-maker (that’s a whole other “Soapbox” from days past) and I will welcome seeing him work again. Kevin will be an interesting reclamation case to follow in the coming years.

What We Learned This Week: July 7-13

Posted on July 12, 2019 by everymoviehasalesson.

LESSON #1: DECORUM AND CIVILITY HAVE SLIPPED AT THE COMMUNAL THEATRE EXPERIENCE— I think every single one of us has more than one story of a crappy theater patron that we’ve had to share a movie with. I bet, combined, we’re seen it all across any and all possible loud, messy, and disrespectful behavior. I ran into a sharp column from Rebel Without a Pause Button blogger Robert Salusbury on this topic entitled “Cinema Slobs.” Reading it (nice media inserts, by the way) makes me wonder not just the extent, which we all know is too much, but the causes of how there is more of this that what many of us remember from past generations. It can’t all be cell phones. A spoiled culture of entitlement, born from increased costs and a negative shift of personal discipline and accountability, has to be in there somewhere. Am I right? Don’t be one of the people we all hate when you go to the movie. Be cool and a good neighbor.

LESSON #2: SONY ISN’T STUPID AND DISNEY IS OVERCONFIDENT— With the same fervor as rooting for the chaos of NBA free agency, I got a kick out of hearing that Marvel could love its MCU rights to the Sony-controlled Spider-Man character if Spider-Man: Far From Home does not crack $1 billion of global box office. I mean, go figure that this is even a risk, but it’s going to be closer than you think. Spider-Man: Homecoming fell far short of a billion at about $880 million, so Disney is gambling on big growth. This makes me laugh for two reasons. The first is the shared horror we all have knowing Sony would f–k up this character for a third time without Marvel’s champion support. The second is how Disney might be shooting its own foot with this necessary milestone by putting The Lion King in theaters right in Spider-Man’s wake in third week. That’s careless hubris right there.

LESSON #3: THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A REMAKE AND A REIMAGINING— Speaking of The Lion King, folks, I know I wrote about 1100 words on the movie, but I honestly don’t know what to truly tell you about The Lion King. Disney calls these reimaginings, but, to me, that term means updates, modifications, and new infusions. Jon Favreau’s has that on the outside with the stunning photo-real animation, but that’s it. There is an awful lot of shot-for-shot replication after that, which feels more remake than reimagining. Granted, if that’s the goal, then mission accomplished because the music is there and the nostalgia is there to make a zillion dollars. Creatively, I still think it’s a shame and a missed opportunity to evolve more than the exterior.

LESSON #4: IT PAYS TO BE AN AVENGER— Here’s one more thing on Disney money. We’ve seen Robert Downey, Jr. score fat paydays for being Tony Stark, but, goddamn, was Avenger: Endgame a golden parachute. The top dog got $20 million up front, which is lucrative and more than the $15 million given to Chris Evans, Scarlet Johansson, and Chris Hemsworth. For RDJ, it’s the 8% back-end deal that fills his vault with another $55 million. That’s a handsome jump from the $500K paycheck from the first Iron Man movie. Studs and studettes, back-end deals are where it’s at (“that’s what she said”) and they’ve been a part of the business for a long time. Jack Nicholson’s Batman deal from 30 years ago scored like RDJ did. Even Bradley Cooper doing just a voice took a 1% deal and walks away from Avengers: Endgame with $7 million.

LESSON #5: NETFLIX MIGHT BE GETTING SMARTER— Frequent WWLTW readers and followers have seen in this column the many instances where Netflix really throws money around (click on the tag and you’ll see). Well, I think the teenager finally maxed out mommy and daddy’s credit card and have learned to live and spend a little leaner. Reports say the streaming giant will be more “cautious” with budgets after dropping nine figures on projects like Ben Affleck’s Triple Frontier and Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman. Welcome to big studio problems, Netflix. It’s the paychecks they’re writing to talent, not the production costs. Unlike an MCU film, they aren’t getting ticket sales. As renewable and reliable as the monthly subscription rake can provide, Netflix will always have a growth cap. Heaven forbid, they lose customers.

LESSON #6: REEVALUATING THE POLITICS OF A MOVIE IS ALMOST ALWAYS PROBLEMATIC— In my short 39 years in this world, I am fully educated and aware that some movies are not going to age well and that, matching my own website of Every Movie Has a Lesson, I believe every movie has a bias or political root of some size. Zero is impossible. To me, each movie becomes a time capsule for the era in which is was made (double if it’s a period piece), slant and all. I get the feeling IndieWire’s Eric Kohn doesn’t see things the same way. For Forrest Gump’s 25th anniversary, the journalist wrote a takedown article heaping a whole lot of conjecture and reaching political blame. I don’t know about you, but I can’t go there. Forrest Gump was always neutral to me because it’s steep realistic fiction. Aging is aging. I get that some movies will fit and fall with the times, but it’s not worth burning things to the ground.

LESSON #7: GUILLERMO DEL TORO HAS GOOD TASTE— For the finishing recommendation slot, enjoy this list of The Shape of Water Oscar winner’s 25 favorite films. It’s an outstanding balance of cinema history and modern cornerstones. Build that Letterboxd checklist from this and begin a little journey of appreciation and education.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Lion King (2019)

Posted on July 11, 2019 by Aaron White.

This remake of my favorite animated film of all-time was coming up against some very high expectations, and despite being only my third favorite version (behind the original and theater musical), it is nonetheless an outstanding telling of this story in its own spectacular way.

Aaron White is a Seattle-based film critic and co-creator/co-host of the Feelin’ Film Podcast. He is also a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society. He writes reviews with a focus on the emotional experience he has with a film. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter to be notified when new content is posted.

FF+ Little, Mary Magdalene, The Perfect Date, Trailer Talk, and Disney + Details

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Aaron White.

We are joined by Erynne Hundley for this week’s enormous FF+ episode that features three spoiler-free reviews of films releasing this weekend, two conversations about new trailers, and one reveal and discussion of Disney’s new streaming service details and the wealth of content it will offer.

New For You

Little – 0:02:04

Mary Magdalene – 0:11:38

The Perfect Date – 0:28:44

Trailer Talk

Weathering with You – 0:41:23

The Lion King – 0:47:08

In the News

Disney+ Details – 0:57:12

Follow & Subscribe

Erynnne Hundley

Aaron
- Twitter
- Facebook
Patrick
- Twitter
- Facebook

Feelin’ Film

Join the Facebook Discussion Group

Download This Episode

Music: City Sunshine – Kevin MacLeod

Support us on Patreon & get awesome rewards:

or you can support us through Paypal as well. Select the link below and make your one-time or recurring contribution.

Rate/Review us on iTunes and on your podcast app of choice! It helps bring us exposure so that we can get more people involved in the conversation. Thank you!

Aaron’s Top 100 Movies (2018 Edition)

Posted on March 23, 2018 by Aaron White.

In 2017, I created my first ever Top 100 Movies list. Many gray hairs formed, I’m sure, as I sat trying to distinguish between beloved films. It’s been almost a year since that list was published and I’ve now seen quite a few more classic films that managed to find their way into my heart and onto this list. As is the case for most folks, my list is ever changing, but this serves as a current reflection of my personal cinematic taste – a snapshot view of the cinephile that I am at this moment in time. My hope is that through this list you might be able to learn a little about who I am as a person by seeing what type of stories I love most.

Note: For the purposes of this list, any film with an asterisk (*) after it represents its series or trilogy. The arrows and number after them specify a film’s movement since the last edition of this list, in this case 2017.

This is my list. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

#1	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring *	—	—
#2	It’s a Wonderful Life	↑	1
#3	Casablanca	↑	31
#4	12 Angry Men	↑	1
#5	The Princess Bride	↑	1
#6	Interstellar	↑	3
#7	La La Land	↓	5
#8	Jaws	↓	4
#9	Before Sunrise *	↑	1
#10	Blade Runner *	↑	1
#11	The Prestige	↓	4
#12	Full Metal Jacket	NEW	NEW
#13	Alien	↓	5
#14	Toy Story *	NEW	NEW
#15	Top Gun	↓	1
#16	The Last of the Mohicans	↑	1
#17	Jurassic Park	↓	4
#18	Mary Poppins	↑	60
#19	Raiders of the Lost Ark	↑	14
#20	The Wizard of Oz	↑	20
#21	The Dark Knight	↓	1
#22	2001: A Space Odyssey	↑	7
#23	Singin’ in the Rain	↓	8
#24	Vertigo	↑	6
#25	Scott Pilgrim vs. the World	↓	6
#26	Citizen Kane	↑	18
#27	Inception	—	—
#28	Star Wars	↑	44
#29	Rear Window	NEW	NEW
#30	Almost Famous	↑	2
#31	The Silence of the Lambs	↑	55
#32	The Nightmare Before Christmas	↑	6
#33	Rashomon	↑	36
#34	Fight Club	↑	36
#35	Gone with the Wind	↓	4
#36	The Sound of Music	↑	25
#37	Lawrence of Arabia	NEW	NEW
#38	Sleeping Beauty	NEW	NEW
#39	The Exorcist	↓	27
#40	The Social Network	↑	1
#41	The Shawshank Redemption	↓	18
#42	All About Eve	NEW	NEW
#43	Scream	↑	19
#44	The Bridge on the River Kwai	↑	9
#45	My Neighbor Totoro	↓	9
#46	The Empire Strikes Back	↑	11
#47	Unforgiven	↑	9
#48	The Godfather	↑	37
#49	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington	↑	26
#50	Tombstone	↓	13
#51	Gladiator	↑	14
#52	The Lion King	↓	11
#53	The Thin Red Line	NEW	NEW
#54	The Iron Giant	↓	9
#55	Seven Samurai	↓	12
#56	McCabe & Mrs. Miller	NEW	NEW
#57	Die Hard	↓	26
#58	Your Name.	↑	42
#59	Children of Men	↓	38
#60	Aliens	↓	24
#61	Back to the Future	↓	19
#62	Network	NEW	NEW
#63	Apocalypse Now	↑	19
#64	Beauty and the Beast	↑	23
#65	Monty Python and the Holy Grail	↓	18
#66	National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation	NEW	NEW
#67	Memento	↓	9
#68	The Right Stuff	↑	3
#69	Reality Bites	NEW	NEW
#70	Black Hawk Down	NEW	NEW
#71	The Blair Witch Project	↓	25
#72	Ex Machina	↑	16
#73	Dead Poets Society	NEW	NEW
#74	3:10 to Yuma	↑	3
#75	The NeverEnding Story	↑	20
#76	The Incredibles	↓	25
#77	Les Miserables	NEW	NEW
#78	Whiplash	↓	28
#79	Groundhog Day	↓	3
#80	Hell or High Water	↓	13
#81	Into the Wild	↓	21
#82	One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest	↓	34
#83	Warrior	NEW	NEW
#84	The Cabin in the Woods	↓	59
#85	Moon	↓	1
#86	Drive	↓	59
#87	The Red Shoes	NEW	NEW
#88	Reservoir Dogs	↓	34
#89	War For the Planet of the Apes	NEW	NEW
#90	The Shining	↓	10
#91	Se7en	NEW	NEW
#92	The Wailing	↓	13
#93	The Departed	↓	41
#94	The Exorcism of Emily Rose	↓	2
#95	Fargo	↓	12
#96	Stalker	NEW	NEW
#97	Pacific Rim	↓	42
#98	Arrival	NEW	NEW
#99	Silence	↓	1
#100	The Perks of Being a Wallflower	NEW	NEW

Dropped Out: Armageddon, Batman Begins, Dr. Strangelove, Equilibrium, Finding Nemo, Forrest Gump, Gravity, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Inside Llewyn Davis, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, No Country For Old Men, Pan’s Labyrinth, Platoon, Psycho, Pulp Fiction, Serenity, Short Term 12, The Breakfast Club, The Place Beyond the Pines, True Grit (2010), Young Frankenstein

Link to list on Letterboxd

Like it? Hate it? Think I’m crazy? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Aaron White is a Seattle-based film critic and co-creator/co-host of the Feelin’ Film Podcast. He is also a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society. He writes reviews with a focus on how his expectations influenced his experience. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter to be notified when new content is posted.

Minisode 22: The Lion King

Posted on May 25, 2017 by Aaron White.

We are excited to talk about one of Disney’s most timeless tales for May’s Donor Pick episode. Featuring perhaps the best soundtrack of any animated feature film and a surprisingly tragic story, The Lion King brings out our emotions like none other. We dive into its themes of family and manipulation, as well as discuss its fantastic cast of characters. And maybe, just maybe we’ll sing.

Intro/Outro Music – “Air Hockey Saloon” by Chris Zabriskie

Support us on Patreon & get awesome rewards:

or you can support us through Paypal as well. Select the link below and make your one-time or recurring contribution.

Rate/Review us on iTunes and on your podcast app of choice! It helps bring us exposure so that we can get more people involved in the conversation. Thank you!

Aaron’s Top 100 Movies (2017 Edition)

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Aaron White.

I’ve always wanted to expand my favorite films list to 100 and my birthday seemed like the perfect time for doing so. With that, I present my list. It is ever changing. This list is a current reflection of my personal cinematic taste – what speaks to me emotionally, and those films that are just too so entertaining that all evaluation of their technical quality doesn’t even matter. I’ve labored over this for quite some time and it was not an easy task, but I feel confident that the results are accurate. For today.

(For the purposes of this list, LotR: The Fellowship of the Ring and Before Sunrise represent their respective trilogy.)

This is my list. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
La La Land
It’s a Wonderful Life
Jaws
12 Angry Men
The Princess Bride
The Prestige
Alien
Interstellar
Before Sunrise
Blade Runner
The Exorcist
Jurassic Park
Top Gun
Singin’ in the Rain
Inside Llewyn Davis
The Last of the Mohicans
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
The Dark Knight
Children of Men
Young Frankenstein
The Shawshank Redemption
Aliens
The Cabin in the Woods
Die Hard
Inception
Drive
2001: A Space Odyssey
Vertigo
Gone with the Wind
Almost Famous
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Casablanca
Short Term 12
My Neighbor Totoro
Tombstone
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Social Network
The Wizard of Oz
The Lion King
Back to the Future
Seven Samurai
Citizen Kane
The Iron Giant
The Blair Witch Project
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Armageddon
Whiplash
The Incredibles
The Departed
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Reservoir Dogs
Pacific Rim
Unforgiven
The Empire Strikes Back
Memento
Forrest Gump
Into the Wild
The Sound of Music
Scream
Gravity
Pan’s Labyrinth
Gladiator
Batman Begins
Hell or High Water
Pulp Fiction
Rashomon
Fight Club
The Right Stuff
Star Wars
Finding Nemo
Serenity
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Groundhog Day
3:10 to Yuma
Mary Poppins
The Wailing
The Shining
True Grit (2010)
Apocalypse Now
Fargo
Moon
The Godfather
The Silence of the Lambs
Beauty and the Beast
Ex Machina
No Country for Old Men
The Breakfast Club
The Place Beyond the Pines
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Platoon
Equilibrium
The NeverEnding Story
Kill Bill: Vol. 1
Psycho (1960)
Silence
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Your Name.

Like it? Hate it? Think I’m crazy? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Link to list on Letterboxd

What We Learned This Week: March 26-April 1

Posted on March 31, 2017 by everymoviehasalesson.

LESSON #1: BRETT RATNER IS FULL OF SUGAR-HONEY-ICED-TEA— Formerly prolific film director Brett Ratner, who’s been cleaning it up as a producer of Ratpac Entertainment, stepped out late last week to pontificate to Entertainment Weekly that “the worst thing that we have in today’s movie culture is Rotten Tomatoes” and added “I think it’s the destruction of our business.” You can read his full thoughts, but I don’t buy his logic. Rotten Tomatoes is too big and combines too many diverse critics for a film to be held down. If you want better RT scores, make better movies. It’s that easy. Brett is full of it and, if you’ve seen his films, as I have, you probably already knew that.

LESSON #2: WARNER BROS. IS GOING ALL-IN WITH POTENTIAL COURSE CORRECTION ON THE DC EXTENDED UNIVERSE— Pack your bags when you’re done with “Justice League,” Zach Snyder. New talent is coming. Warner Bros. already poached James Wan of “The Conjuring/Insidious/Saw” fame for “Aquaman” two years ago and last month Chris McKay of “The LEGO Batman Movie” was tabbed to direct a solo “Nightwing” movie, joining “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” helmer Matt Reeves jumping on “The Batman.” This week, news broke Thursday that “Avengers” and “Firefly” mastermind Joss Whedon has crossed party lines to direct a standalone “Batgirl” movie for Warner Bros. Now that is the coup of coups and a perfect director to deliver a legitimate female superhero film. When “Kingsman” and “X-Men: First Class” director Matthew Vaughn puts ink to paper for “Man of Steel 2,” the shift from Total Snyder will be complete and it looks outstanding.

LESSON #3: IF YOU THINK THE “BEAUTY AND THE BEAST” RE-IMAGINING IS HUGE, JUST WAIT FOR “THE LION KING” ONE IN A FEW YEARS— Unlike the opinions of many skeptical haters, “Beauty and the Beast” destined to be a smash. Bill Condon was a different class of director and the casting was incredible before the cameras ever rolled. Sure enough, it has raked over $750 million worldwide in just two weeks and should cross the $1 billion mark with ease before it’s run is done. Watch “The Lion King” do even better in a few years. Jon Favreau nailed “The Jungle Book,” “The Lion King” has an ever larger following than “Beauty and the Beast,” and the rumors of potentially casting Beyonce as Nala to join Donald Glover’s Simba and a returning James Earl Jones as Mufasa would be colossal. Place that bet right now that “The Lion King” will make even more money.

LESSON #4: WATCH FEWER TRAILERS THAN YOU THINK YOU NEED— A conga line of trailers for 2017 wannabe blockbusters arrived in the last two weeks and, I, for one, wish I didn’t see a single one of them. Trailers these days are showing too much. Between “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “Justice League” to “War for the Planet of the Apes” and “Alien: Covenant” and more, I felt like I was inundated with too many clues and potential spoilers. Frankly, I’m beginning to avoid trailers altogether and have been recommending others to do the same. Why? Ask yourself this cardinal question: Do you really need to be convinced from any footage to see some of these slam-dunk-must-see films? Because I don’t. These no-doubters are getting my money regardless on resume and presence alone. Avoid the easy and rote trailers and let yourself be surprised. Even though I know this isn’t going to happen, I hope Disney doesn’t show a single second of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” They don’t need to and, in a roundabout way, not releasing a trailer would be such a huge and unprecedented “less is more” statement proving that you can sell a movie on reputation alone. A boy can dream.

DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based film critic writing on his website Every Movie Has a Lesson. He is also one of the founders and the current President of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle. As an elementary educator by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical. As a contributor here on Feelin’ Film, he’s going to expand those lessons to current movie news and trends. Find “Every Movie Has a Lesson” on Facebook, Twitter, Medium, and Creators Media.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: