The Top 10 Best Films of 2016

10) Allied
Starring: Brad Pitt & Marion Cotillard
Directed By: Robert Zemeckis
STARS: 3 out of 4

Check out my original review of the film here

9) Moana
Voices Of: Auli'i Cravalho & Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
Directed By: Rob Clements, John Musker, Don Hall, & Chris Williams
STARS: 3 out of 4

Brief Description: Moana was not a film I had on my original list in 2016, but time has been incredibly kind to it thanks to the fabulously catchy songs, mainly written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and the fact that I've had a kid between when the films first aired and it's current principal residency atop of my Netfliz queue. I don't know that the film is an effective critique of previous Disney tropes that it wants to be (especially not compared to a later film on this lost), but it's still a fun movies nonetheless with songs that'll gleefully get stuck on your head for days. And in the era of the #MeToo movement and the fact that we're now being honest about how terrible the former Disney princess movies really are, Moana is a great film that I think will stand the test of time.

Disney Almost Erases Decades of Misogyny with Zootopia. Almost.

Early on in Disney's newest animated feature Zootopia, our hero, a bunny named Judy Hopps, voiced by Gennifer Goodwin, enters the police station in which she'll be working for the first time. She's greeted by a huge (pun intended) cheetah named Clawhauser, voiced by Nate Torrence, who comments on how cute Judy is. Judy responds by saying that only other bunnies can call each other cute, but not other animals. Clawhauser sheepishly apologizes for his ignorance and helps direct Judy to her first ever police briefing.

In a way, Zootopia is an apology for the decades of both overt and latent misogyny its released in the world over the past decades. Whether it's one of their earlier films like Sleeping Beauty or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which taught girls to sit quietly while you wait for a man to save you, or one of their later films like The Little Mermaid which teaches young girls to actively be quiet while you attempt to lure your crush with only your looks, Disney studios does not have a good track record of helping to mold the minds and attitudes of young females. Which is unfortunate considering how instrumental they are in their development.