Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

At Incluvie, we provide movie reviews and ratings through a lens of representation. When the world lost Chadwick Boseman on August 28, 2020, we all saw the enormous and powerful impact of representation in film. The announcement of his untimely death on Twitter was the most liked tweet as of August 2020 [Source]. Why? Because Boseman was not only a Black superhero leading a Black cast in one of the most successful films in history; but his successes paved the way for more, long-overdue diversity in Hollywood.

As the industry posts tributes to their friend and colleague, we can only remember him through the grace and integrity he left on screen. Boseman was necessary to the film industry; we needed him. Every systematically oppressed person needed him, and his strong, well-rounded characters. Boseman was more than an extremely talented actor — he was the embodiment of representation’s effect. The writers of Incluvie wanted to do our best to pay a small tribute to his image on screen. Let’s review some of his roles and his impact.

There is no such thing as watching too many movies. I know that since my family and I have enacted social distancing, the amount of movies we’ve watched has skyrocketed. And if there can be a silver lining in the messiness and ugliness of the situation we’re all in right now, it’s that we have an opportunity to watch a lot of the movies that we’ve been meaning to watch and re-watch a lot of the movies that we’ve been meaning to re-watch. I know the other day I was looking through my Blu-ray collection and picked out the 1933 King Kong, a movie I’ve owned for about a year but never watched. It’s one of those movies I always said to myself, “Not now, I’ll watch it another time.” But because we’re stuck indoors with nothing to do, I finally said, “Screw it, it’s time to watch King Kong!” And I loved it!

With the popularity of my previous list (you can check it out here), I wanted to recommend another 19 movies for people to check out across Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, and Hulu. So here you are; go watch some movies! You can’t really go wrong with any of them.

1 | Apocalypse Now (1979) | Amazon Prime

Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola

If you were to talk about a science fiction movie that changed Hollywood forever, most people would assume you’re talking about Star Wars (1977) — and rightfully so. Star Wars did change everything (and The Empire Strikes Back just celebrated its 40th anniversary). However, there is another science fiction film that also changed Hollywood forever… nine years earlier. That movie was Planet of the Apes (1968).

In today’s movie culture, it’s easy to overlook the groundbreaking brilliance of the original Planet of the Apes, as we’re faced with the equally groundbreaking new trilogy. Rise, Dawn, and War for the Planet of the Apes changed the game with its use of motion capture technology and its photorealistic visual effects. The new trilogy made huge advancements in CG animation, and have their place in cinematic history.

The original Planet of the Apes, however, completely redefined how movies were made and the place special effects makeup has in the industry. Making Apes: The Artists Who Changed Film, a documentary directed by William Conlin, tells the story of the makeup artists who brought Planet of the Apes to life. It made its debut at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in 2019, but became available to stream on Amazon Prime this year.

Making Apes begins by looking back at the history of makeup effects in Hollywood, which was revolutionized by Jack Pierce, the person behind Frankenstein (1931) and The Wolf Man (1941). However, after World War II, the production of movies changed, and elaborate makeup effects found themselves more prominently in B-movies. As it is put in the film, the quality of makeup effects increased as the quality of the movies they were in decreased.

Author: Nathanael Molnár, originally published [4/26/2020]

It was Friday, April 26th, 2019. I was sitting in the AMC Dolby Theater, my friends on either side of me. Everyone in the theater was buzzing, excited. A couple of people walked in with light-up arc reactors pinned to their chests. The lights came down, and the iconic Marvel Studios theme blasted through the theater. The audience cheered; everyone was giddy and ready for what we had all been patiently waiting for since May 2nd, 2008. Avengers: Endgame, the fulfillment of the promise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It’s strange to think that Endgame came out a full year ago. I’ve been a fan of the MCU from the very beginning. As a life-long comic book fan, following the unfolding and the blossoming of this entire cinematic universe has been truly magical. It’s something that I’m still surprised we get to see and enjoy. I believe the MCU redefined the comic book movie genre. Comic book movies existed before the MCU and were successful before it. However, under the meticulous leadership of Kevin Feige, the MCU gave us something radically different (current list of all MCU films 2021).

It brought to life the long-form storytelling of comic books, the character arcs that span years, and the meshing of different worlds. In the medium of film, the MCU captured the feeling of reading comic books spanning decades, following characters in their own stories, and then following them into their larger team-ups. Sure, there were the X-Men movies that revitalized the genre when Batman & Robin had essentially killed it. Spider-Man brought whimsy back into the genre, and Batman Begins established realism. It was the MCU that brought consistent continuity, long-form story arcs, and a balance of bombastic spectacle action and genuine character growth and development.

As successful as the MCU became, as popular as The Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy or Black Panther became, the entirety of this 22 movie experiment hinged on its conclusion. If the MCU didn’t deliver a satisfying conclusion to what this entire thing had been building towards, everyone would have walked away disappointed. Sure, we would still revere the individual films we loved, but the MCU as a whole would have far less significance if Endgame had dropped the ball. On April 26th, 2019, Endgame not only did not drop the ball, but it delivered for fans so much that it went on to become the highest grossing movie of all time!

There are so many interwoven stories, themes, character arcs, timelines, and dimensions! In order to keep track of the MCU films and figure out what to watch when, here’s a list of those that have come out – 29 as of now — as well as what's coming up in the next few years. Included are related articles and Incluvie score (and a fun 1.5 minute TikTok).

First is the release order of the MCU films. This is the way Marvel intended the audience to take in the characters and story arcs. After the release list is Incluvie’s own note and style on how to watch!

1. Iron Man (2008)

2. The Incredible Hulk (2008)