2019's Best Screen Animals

Different lists each for our "Year in Review"

We had hoped to put the entire cast of Cats on this list of the big screen's best animal characters but alas... very few of them are worthy to ascend to the Heaviside Layer let alone our year end list of the best big screen animals! This list is dedicated to bunnies as those beady-eyed cuties had a rough year at the movies. They were used solely for unsettling mood, multiplying sybolism and raw meat (gross) in Us and later popped up as an instrument of toxic masculine shaming in Jojo Rabbit. Bunnies deserve better in 2020! Which filmmaker will answer the call and treat them well onscreen?

Without further ado let's talk the screen animals we fell hardest for at the movies this year.  

11 Dumbo (elephant)
Here's the thing. Tim Burton and Screenwriters and (presumably) Disney corporate were so intent on expanding the movie (it's 48 minutes longer than the original Dumbo!) that it keeps pointing to everything but the star mutant attraction. Dumbo is as adorable as his ears are big but he's a supporting player in his own movie. They lost the thread or Dumbo could've topped the list.

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Year in Review: Style Icons of the Big Screen

by Cláudio Alves

As an obsessive list-maker, to write a top ten for The Film Experience's Year in Review was more of a dream come true than a challenge. As we're in festive times, I decided to give myself a gift, by fusing one obsession with another. Cinema, costume design and list-making all consumed my Christmas Eve afternoon in a haze of sartorial glory. Looking back at the movies of 2019, from opulent period pieces to humble contemporary dramas, I went in search of the year's greatest style icons. Not those of real life, obviously, but the ones who graced the silver screen.

In decades to come, we may look at them as we now look at Darth Vader's sinister countenance or Holly Golightly's Givenchy clad figure. Who knows? More than predicting future icon-status, this is a list of personal favorites, though.

Without further ado, let's celebrate 2019's style icons, but first, some honorary mentions…

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What's the Best Song in "Frozen II"?

by Cláudio Alves

Back in 2013, when the first Frozen had just opened and "Let It Go" was on everyone's ear, Disney made an astute decision when it came to its Oscar campaign. Despite the movie having around 10 original songs, only one was submitted for awards consideration. It was, of course, Elsa's world-famous anthem. The decision paid off and the songwriting couple of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez took home their first well-deserved Academy Award.

With Elsa and Anna back in theatres for another musical adventure, Disney is trying to repeat the same scheme. The only problem is that this time around it's not clear what the best song is...

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"Dark Waters" flood in but everything is still "Frozen"

This weekend Frozen II easily stayed up top and will soon vault over Joker which has been out for a month and a half longer in the box office sweepstakes. We share that only so you can marvel at how quickly the royal family of Arendelle is collecting taxes from their subjects (aka everyone on planet Earth). In other news Dark Waters expanded into wide release. Murtada reviewed it for us and let's just say that I think he was very kind (as several reviews have been). It felt like it twice the length of The Irishman with no shaping, rhythm, visual style, or verve -- completely mystified that it's a Todd Haynes film shot by Ed Lachmann and acted by Ruffalo and Hathaway who are both fairly generic in it. What happened?

Weekend Box Office [Estimates] Dec 6th-8th 🔺 = New or Expanding / ★ = Recommended
W I D E	PLATFORM
1 FROZEN II $34.6 (cum. $337.5) REVIEW	1 PARASITE $700k on 333 screens (cum. $19.3) PODCAST, CLASS, BONG ★
2 KNIVES OUT $16 (cum. $57.9) REVIEW, WHODUNNITS?, ANA DE ARMAS ★	2 JOJO RABBIT $562k on 579 screens (cum. $19.2) CAPSULE, PODCAST
3  FORD V FERRARI  $6.5 (cum. $91.1)  REVIEW, PODCAST ★	3 🔺  HONEY BOY $452k on 460 screens (cum. $2.1)  REVIEW, PODCAST ★
4 QUEEN & SLIM $6.5 (cum. $26.8)	4 🔺  WAVES $421k on 570 screens (cum. $1.0) REVIEW, 2ND OPINION ★
5 A BEAUTIFUL DAY...  $5.2 (cum. $43.1) CAPSULE, PODCAST, TOM HANKS ★	5 NO SAFE SPACES $292k on 200 screens (cum. $749k)
5 🔺 DARK WATERS $4.1 (cum. $5.2) REVIEW	6 🔺 PANIPAT $282k on 172 screens *new*

WHAT DID YOU SEE THIS WEEKEND? 

It's a very tight race for this year's Annie Awards

by Nathaniel R

Oops. So much was happening this week we completely neglected the Annie nominations. The ceremony will be held on January 25th. There's no clear frontrunner this year with Missing Link and Frozen 2 tied for the most nominations. Their nearest competitors are not far behind. In other words Klaus, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World , I Lost My Body, and Toy Story 4 were also clearly well liked enough to win big. That's 6 features and when it comes time for the Oscar nominations there can be only 5. We can't discount the possibility that another non-American film besides I Lost My Body might prove a darkhouse spoiler with the Academy's animation branch which has proven open to international films (for nominations if not wins) and isn't always keen on blockbuster sequels.  We should also keep a close eye on Japan's International Feature Oscar submission Weathering With You which got some love here at the Annies, too.

The complete list of nominations and a few comments after the jump...

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