Another year for movies has gone. If there's anything I can say about this year for movies is that this has probably been the most  polarizing year we've had. With films such as Bright, mother! and Star Wars: The Last Jedi dividing audiences and critics, as well as audiences themselves, the artform of filmmaking is growing more and more subjective, nearly as hotheaded as the political arena. I myself have some opinions that polarize from other popular opinions, which I'll go through in this list of my favorites and least favorites of the year. Bear in mind, I haven't seen all the films this year, so you won't see The Emoji Movie in my worst list, and this is purely subjective. That is, I'm using this time to take off my critic's cap and judge each movie purely by how much I personally enjoyed it.

If you want to see what I pick for the objectively best of the year, you'll have to wait until it gets closer to Oscar Sunday, I'll post my own little awards show when it gets close. So for now, here's what stood out for me in the cinema this year! To make sure we end on a high note...

Today, I want to talk about something that has seriously angered me about the film industry, one that I’m sure most everyone else is furious about as well: the obsession with sequels, remakes, and reboots.

I recently saw news about plans to make a sixth Terminator movie. Like others, my reaction was, “What? Seriously? Why? Nobody is asking for this!” Now, I never saw any Terminator films past the second one (which is one of my top 20 favorite movies of all time) but I heard near-unanimously awful things about them. I’m not being prejudiced, it’s just that there has been a pattern where I disliked a sequel that was made just because the first was successful. I did not enjoy any of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, the second and third Men in Black, Monsters University, the third and fourth Shrek movies, and the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Each of these left a very dissatisfied feeling for me because of a lack of care as to why the original was great to start with.

I’ve heard the reactions: “Your opinion on movies is very mean,” “Dang, Trevor! Vicious like always!” “Have you ever given a movie above a B?” “I loved this movie. You have bad taste in movies.” Especially over Twitter and Amazon, people despised my critiquing style:

​So now, I want to take some time to defend myself if you think I’m too harsh in my assessments.

Click here to read my grading and review on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

My last trip to Walt Disney World was with my uncle in October 2016. Now naturally, whenever you’re at one of the Disney parks, Pirates of the Caribbean is one of those classical rides you simply have to go on every visit. As we were waiting in the outside portion of the waiting queue, we sure enough heard the famous Hans Zimmer score blaring at the entrance. I then made a snide remark to my uncle saying, “today’s generation of kids will never know the ride came first.”

​Well, turns out it applies not just to kids born after 2003, even those around my age completely believe the movie came first. Heck, my roommate, a nineteen-year-old, learned the truth recently, and in high school I had a big debate about it with one of classmates. Although I personally have very fond memories of going on the ride when I was really little, even having a 90’s Disney sing-along VHS featuring “Yo Ho a Pirate’s Life for Me.” So when I heard they were making a movie off of it, I immediately thought, “what?” Now, Disney had not long before then made a movie off another one of their attractions, The Country Bears, which I saw as nothing but another one of those “come and go” types of movies. The same went to Eddie Murphy’s celebrity vehicle based off The Haunted Mansion. So my reaction to a movie based off Pirates of the Caribbean did not grasp me much.

“That’s LA. They worship everything and they value nothing.“ Ironic how La La Land embraces exactly what it criticizes.

Damien Chazelle’s passion project has become perhaps the most definitive Hollywood movie in ages, expressing the very best of what moviegoing could possibly offer, as made for a new generation of artists and dreamers. Everybody has fallen in love with its atmosphere and music, from the critics to the Academy of Motion Pictures to the general public. I admittedly am one of those fans who adore La La Land‘s charm and musical score, although I still have to admit, underneath the dream-colored frosting, there lies a dangerous agenda by the cast and crew.
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Just a disclaimer before I go through the list, there will be spoilers. So if you have not yet seen La La Land, please stop reading now.

​Click here to read my original review.

Everybody has their own criteria that leads them to a conclusion as to what they thought of a certain movie, and for the most part, it would be as simple as, "I enjoyed it," or, "It was a pretty fun time," or, "I was so bored watching it!" In fact, this is how a lot of critics think when they give their consent about the movie they’re assigned to review. Instinct becomes their most reliable factor, usually playing it as, "I can’t find anything I disliked about it, so I give it four stars," or, "I disliked it, but there were a couple of things I liked, so I give it one star." It basically becomes a purely subjective sport where everybody plays their own set of cards as to what makes a good movie or a bad movie. Armond White has the reputation of being the worst movie critic, bashing on widely praised films like The Social Network but praising widely panned films like the Transformers series. Whereas Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert were considered throughout the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s to be the top authorities on a film’s quality. Then there’s the internet, where no one can express their opinion on a movie without receiving 50 death threats.
 
What I want to change is the way people look at movie as not just entertainment, but art that expresses the historical values and issues in society. To do that, we need to take off our nostalgia goggles and look at a movie for what it is. Therefore, I took the liberty of putting this chart together that helps me to assess a film while I’m watching it, critiquing it from an objective standpoint that concerns its moral values.

We all know that the Man of Steel has remained perhaps the most famous superhero the world has ever known. But why is it that people across all generations feel such a drawing to a man in red tights? Why do people still want to flock right back to him even after his numerous cinematic failures? Why is his cape red?

If you have 15 minutes to spare, I would love for you to check out an essay I have written around a year ago while I was at Arizona State University. The class was called, "Signs of Aliens," and it was about surveying the way aliens are depicted in film. Superman was the focus of my final essay for the course, and it discussed the parallels between Kal-El and the popular cinematic label, "the alien messiah." I find myself to be awfully proud of how the essay turned out, as it got me an A+ in the course. I hope that you find this a valuable read, and I'll be seeing you at the premiere of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice!
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Image Sources:
False God- ScreenRant
Batman in Armor- ScreenRant
Clark Kent Drowning- BreitBart
​Baby Superman- ListLand
Superman Returns- Meridian Magazine
The Man of Steel- The Shiznit

Well, this is the week. The week where an entirely new generation of science fiction fans can build upon this ever growing universe that has continued to inspire all ages and backgrounds. Such people have come to take imaginative trips on the U.S.S. Enterprise and wish others to live long and prosper.

Oops, wrong franchise.
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But surely you are all pumped for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, and seeing how the world of this galaxy far, far away will grow through the imagination of J.J. Abrams. Like everyone else, I am ever so hopeful that Abrams does not mess this saga up with political talks about trade federations, Hayden Christensen talking about sand, awkward love stories, or *shudders* gungans. So what exactly should we hope for? Rather, a better question to ask is: what made Star Wars a success in the first place that this new saga must exploit?