2019 Films: Miscellaneous Data

By
Eric D. Snider
-
2019review

Miscellaneous

2019 Films: Miscellaneous Data

December 31, 2019

Based on my own research. Films included only if they played theatrically. Corrections and additions are welcome (@ me). For comparison’s sake, here are the 2018 and 2017 editions.

Total wide releases (600+ theaters):

  • 146

Sequels, prequels, remakes, reboots, and franchises:

  • 40

Based on a true story (BOATS):

  • 19

Based on novels:

  • 16

Based on comic books or comic strips:

  • 6

Based on TV shows:

Based on toys:

Based on plays:

Based on games:

Wholly original, not based on anything:

  • 56

Documentaries:

  • 2

Animated:

  • 15

Wide releases with colons in their titles:

  • 18

Wide releases directed by women:

  • 21, including two co-directed by men

Longest wide release title:

Shortest wide release title:

Longest wide release:

Shortest wide release:

  • Penguins (77 minutes)

Movies about real events that show pictures or film of the real people at the end:

Movies whose titles are never referenced or explained in the movie itself:

Movies that make a specific song pop into your head when you hear the title:

Movies that start with a young woman waking up outdoors:

Movies about sinister Hungarians:

Movies set in the past about Germans who will get in a lot of trouble if anyone finds what they have stashed in the hidden rooms of their houses:

Movies in which a two-tape VHS copy of The Right Stuff is visible on someone’s shelf:

  • Captain Marvel; Us

Movies whose first image is an extended shot of a TV surrounded by videotapes or DVDs, the titles of which hint at the movie’s themes:

Superhero movies with Djimon Hounsou in a supporting role in which the protagonist’s superhero name is never spoken but if it were spoken it would be “Captain Marvel”:

Movies in which Captain Marvel appears but is not mentioned by name:

  • Captain Marvel; Avengers: Endgame

Movies in which Captain Marvel is mentioned by name but does not appear:

Movies about people trying to bring back dead family members:

Movies that are remakes of foreign films, remade by the same guy who made it the first time:

  • Cold Pursuit; Gloria Bell

Movies in which someone in modern times pulls King Arthur’s sword Excalibur from a stone:

Movies written by Tina Gordon Chism that take a fantasy premise from an earlier comedy, reverse it, and also make it about black women:

Movies in which a selfish career-minded woman changes her tune after an encounter with a tween girl:

Movies in which Rebel Wilson’s F-words are drowned out by a horn to preserve the movie’s PG-13 rating:

  • Isn’t It Romantic; The Hustle

Movies in which a woman pretends to be blind to distract or hustle someone:

  • Happy Death Day 2U; The Hustle

Movies set largely in New York City whose plots revolve around dead dogs:

Movies with scenes set in Grand Central Station:

Movies in which secret groups use old-fashioned technology, including carrier pigeons, to avoid detection:

Movies about lonely middle-aged women who use trickery to befriend young people and become dangerously obsessed with them:

  • Greta; Ma

Movies in which a main character, a black man, is staunchly opposed to guns but ends up being required to use one (and is good at it):

  • The Intruder; Shaft

Movies in patriarchally named franchises in which someone awkwardly asserts that the title organization should be given a more inclusive name:

Movies in which an English person gets a phone call from a celebrity (appearing as himself) who wants to help with their career, but they hang up because they think it’s a prank:

  • Fighting with My Family; Yesterday

Movies in which there are villains who can make themselves look like anyone:

  • Captain Marvel; Men in Black: International; Avengers: Endgame; Spider-Man: Far from Home; Dark Phoenix

Movies in which the new occupants of a house are annoyed by a former resident’s constant returning to do minor repair, and in which racial tensions are a theme:

Movies in which the villain intentionally hits a jogger with his or her vehicle:

  • Ma; The Intruder

Movies in which Brad Pitt deals with painful memories while on an antenna-fixing mission:

Feline movies:

Elton John-based musicals:

  • The Lion King; Rocketman

Movies narrated by dogs:

Movies about pets:

  • The Secret Life of Pets 2; Pet Sematary; A Dog’s Way Home; A Dog’s Journey; Arctic Dogs; The Art of Racing in the Rain; How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World; Cats (questionable)

Movies that sound like they’re about pets but aren’t:

Movies loosely inspired by Hamlet:

Movies released on Aug. 9 and based on pre-existing kids’ properties in which someone runs face-first into a spider web and frantically hollers, “Get it off! Get it off me!”:

Movies in which people must solve puzzles to escape from deadly rooms:

Movies in which teen girls are living in the jungle with parents who are exploring Mesoamerican ruins:

Sci-fi police procedurals in which cops use time travel to solve murders:

  • Don’t Let Go; Synchronic; In the Shadow of the Moon

Movies in which a man sings a Stephen Sondheim song:

  • Joker (“Send in the Clowns,” Wall Street bro on the subway, one of the few recorded instances of a Sondheim song being used as a taunt); Marriage Story (“Being Alive,” Adam Driver at the piano bar); Knives Out (“Losing My Mind,” Daniel Craig to himself while waiting in the car).

Movies with an emphatic hatred of hippies:

Zombie movies in which Bill Murray appears:

Movies in which Scarlett Johansson lovingly ties someone’s shoe:

  • Jojo Rabbit; Marriage Story

Movies whose titles trip us up:

  • Knives Out and Knives and Skin and Knife + Heart
  • The Hustle and Hustlers
  • We Die Young and Too Late to Die Young
  • A Dog’s Journey and A Dog’s Way Home. How are these not the same movie??

Movies whose titles are just a woman’s first name:

Movies whose titles are just a man’s full name:

  • Richard Jewell; Brian Banks; John Wick Chapter 3 — Parabellum

Men’s last names:

Royal movies:

  • The King; The Lion King; The Kid Who Would Be King; King of Thieves; The King’s Letters; Kingdom; The Kingmaker; Long Live the King; Queen & Slim; Queen of Hearts; The Miracle of the Little Prince; Cinderella and the Secret Prince; Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Little movies:

  • Little; Little Joe; Little Monsters; Little Women; Little Woods; The Biggest Little Farm

Long movies:

  • Long Shot; Long Lost; Long Day’s Journey into Night; Long Live the King

Good movies:

  • Good Boys; Good Girls Get High; The Good Liar

Dead movies:

  • The Dead Don’t Die; One Cut of the Dead; Chain of Death; The Death & Life of John F. Donovan; The Death of Dick Long; Happy Death Day 2U; An Affair to Die For; Every Time I Die; We Die Young; Too Late to Die Young

Documentaries that start with the subject asking Alexa about themselves:

  • Ask Dr. Ruth; The Amazing Johnathan Documentary (via @thefilmcynic)

— Crooked Marquee

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