Well we’re now halfway through our list of the best movies of 2020, so lets continue with the final countdown from ten to one.
10 – Dark Waters
A surprisingly gripping and thought-provoking movie starring Mark Ruffalo as Bob Bilott, a corporate defence attorney, who takes on an environmental lawsuit against one of the biggest chemical companies, Dupont, to exposes a lengthy history of pollution. This Cineworld Unlimited Screening was another one of those films that would have me glued to the seat.
9 – Onward
The magical world of Disney and Pixar brought us a wonderfully magical story in a faraway land, not only was this so much fun to watch it also was very emotional in place. Adding to the fun of seeing Onward on the big screen was that I saw it in 4DX with RealD 3D as well which gave it all the real world trimmings.
8 – 1917
The film that took the one-shot technique and expended it to a cinematic experience, this fantastic film set in the trenches of the first world war was such a fantastic film to see, the cinematography is stunning and the cast perfectly selected. Adding to the experience was seeing it in 4DX with its subtle usage, such as the seats vibrating as almost as if you were in the back of the truck with the troops to feeling the explosions.
7 – TENET
TENET is one of those films that really had people talking, from the controversy that some scenes had issues with the sound so people couldn’t hear what the actors were saying to the news that the film was released at the wrong time due to Lockdown. I went with some friends to see TENET in IMAX and we didn’t have any issues with the sound, but then again the sound mix was designed for the IMAX sound system!
6 – Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back
When the cinemas started to reopen after Lockdown we were given the opportunities to re-visit some of those classic movies from yesteryear and there were many people that were seeing them on the big screen for the first time. The Empire Strikes Back was one of those movies, sadly not the original edit that I saw when the film was first released, but still a fun experience to relive.
5 – Flash Gordon
I’ve always been a fan of Flash Gordon, but missed the chance of seeing on the big screen the first time around, so it was great to see the 4K restoration on the big screen for it’s 40th anniversary, very strange to see the film come up with a warning before it started though “This film has outdated attitudes, language and cultural depictions which may cause offence today“.
Another anniversary screening on the big screen and this time it was for the 35th of Back to the Future, this is one of my all time favourite franchises and to see the film back on the big screen again was such a delight, lots of film and it still has that cinematic appeal.
3 – Military Wives
Back to February now for this one, another early screening thanks to Cineworld as the film wouldn’t be released until March, this superb British made comedy-drama was based on the true story of the Military Wives and it was full of laughs and tears.
2 – Parasite
This was a movie I was dying to see and at first it seemed that our local Cineworld wouldn’t be showing Parasite, but then I saw it advertised and popped along with my radio co-host to check it out, wow what a movie. Parasite well deserved its four Oscars and is still one of my top foreign language films to watch.
1- AKIRA
For my top film I have to go with the restored version of the Manga classic AKIRA, this fantastic animated movie was remastered and released in a new IMAX print and wow was it stunning. Not only did AKIRA look amazing on the huge IMAX screen at Cineworld in Broughton, but the sound mix was stunning, you could hear so much more sound detail in the IMAX sound system as it pumped out the smallest of sound with crystal clear quality to the big booms and bass sounds that rumbled through the seats.
So there you have it folks, that’s my look back at this year and some of my top films that I went to see at the cinema, I really can’t wait for the cinemas to open back up in 2021, let’s just hope that we can all start enjoying films how they should be seen.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
