Top 20 Twice Songs

First of all, I'm very sorry that I didn't post last week. The thing was, I had my post for last week 95% done on Saturday and was all ready to post it, but my Internet went out Saturday morning and wasn't fixed until Tuesday night. I will post what I wrote for last week at some point, but I have a schedule planned for the rest of this summer and I'd like to stick to it, thank you very much. I'll save that post for when I don't have any better ideas. That being said, today is my best friend's birthday! She's written stuff for my blog a few times; most recently, she wrote the segment on Inception for my "MOVIE TALK: Why 2010 is Such a Fascinating Year for Movies (Part One)" a few weeks ago. We have a lot of the same interests and beliefs, and we've texted each other pretty much every day this quarantine period. Our topics of conversation range from admiring the TV shows we like to airing our grievances about people who have done us wrong to expressing horror at the state of the world in 2020. One of our favored topics is the kpop girl group Twice.

Top row, left to right: Jeongyeon, Sana, Tzuyu, Dahyun, Mina
Bottom row, left to right: Nayeon, Chaeyoung, Momo, Jihyo

I've already talked about Twice more than a few times on my blog. For those who are unfamiliar, Twice are a South Korean girl group who were created on the survival show Sixteen by JYP Entertainment. There are nine members of the group, all of whom I love for various reasons, named Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu. Twice has been called “The Nation’s Girl Group” in South Korea due to their incredible success. They have sold nine million albums in South Korea and Japan, won the Mnet Asian Music Award (or MAMA, basically the Asian version of the Grammys) for Song of the Year in 2016, 2017, and 2018 (for “Cheer Up,” “Signal,” and “What is Love?” respectively), were honored as a Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism in South Korea, and have inspired a passionate fanbase, known as Once. 

The thing about Twice is that I didn’t love them right away. I knew my best friend was a fan and I had heard songs like “Dance the Night Away” and “TT” and liked them, but their cutesy style was cloying to listen to for multiple songs in a row. However, once they matured up their sound in 2019, I became a full-fledged Once. I loved the edgier style they had, and the songs they were coming out with were incredibly appealing to me. I went back and listened to some of their old songs and watched some videos, and I really liked those too. I also learned a lot more about the members’ personalities and I fell in love with their dynamic as a group. Although I like other kpop acts like Blackpink, Red Velvet, Mamamoo, and BTS, Twice are by far my favorite group. With the other groups, I love a lot of their music, but I really don’t know much about their personalities. However, it’s different with Twice. I’ve never met them in person, I probably never will, and I haven’t even seen every single video they’ve ever released. It's a testament to Twice's bond as a group and bond with their fans that I still feel like I know all nine of them like they're my friends.

I’m not gonna say that everyone in the world will like Twice. Bubblegum pop music like this has its fans, but I understand why someone would think it’s annoyingly chipper. But it works for me. And to pay tribute to a group I love so much, as well as to celebrate the friend who got me into them, I’m going to count down my top twenty favorite songs from them. I cannot emphasize the “favorite” enough: this is not based on any sort of objective criteria, like sales, YouTube views, or awards. Frankly, I think judging music objectively is stupid. Life’s too short for us to live in bubbles and act like there’s a metric of objectivity to the things we consume. This is based on the songs I like most, and there’s nothing you can do about it! And with that, I just want to state that when I talk about stuff I love or hate, I am never trying to change anyone’s opinion. This blog is just a way for me to talk about the things I like, and I like Twice. 

One last thing before we begin: I love self-promotion, so here are my two reviews of Twice's Feel Special and More & More mini-albums. A few of the songs from those two albums will be appearing on this list!

REVIEW: Feel Special EP by Twice
REVIEW: More & More by Twice

Now let's get started!

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20. “Touchdown” (Page Two)
I didn't realize it until recently, but this song is sort of like Twice's version of a High School Musical song. It reminds me of "Get'cha Head in the Game" and "I Don't Dance," specifically. I love High School Musical and literally made a list of my favorite songs from it last month (link here!), so the fact that "Touchdown" reminds me of those childhood favorites definitely makes it stand out. The song is fun and flirty lyrically, but is still a powerful dance number. The band geek in me absolutely loves the brass sections. The bridge is also really great, with Nayeon and Jihyo sounding fierce and confident. 

19. “Say You Love Me” (Yes or Yes)

With most of these songs, I can explain why I like them, but with this one, I really can't. It just has that je ne sais quoi for me. It's cute and upbeat like many of Twice's signature hits, but not tooth-rottingly sweet like some of their singles tend to be. Honestly, the song it most reminds me of is "Domino" by Jessie J, as they both have a similar-sounding guitar part. This song has a very catchy chorus, with the "you got something I want, I got something you need" part being a major earworm. In kpop, groups typically release a single (known as the title track), then release an album or EP/mini-album along with the single, and the songs that aren't the title track are called b-sides. In this case, "Yes or Yes" was the title track, and while it is more upbeat and feels more like a title track, I think "Say You Love Me" could also be a solid title track.

18. “Feel Special” (Feel Special)

The "Feel Special" era was the first I really experienced as a Once, so it's always going to have a special place in my heart. Despite the fact that Mina was missing from much of the promotional events due to her anxiety, it was still a great era for the group. The b-sides on the Feel Special album were amazing (we'll look at a few of them throughout this list) and the aesthetic of the era was so high-fashion and luxurious. But in kpop, a good era wouldn't be a good era without a killer title track, and "Feel Special" is one of their best. For most kpop girl groups, there are two kinds of concepts or themes that groups generally follow; a cute concept, like most of Twice's singles up until 2019, or a girl crush concept, which is edgier and more badass, like most of Blackpink's work. But the thing I like about "Feel Special" is that it doesn't try to do either. The song is about that special person who makes the girls feel like a million dollars, and I really like how the song can either be about a lover or a close friend. I also like how, despite the fact that none of the girls wrote on it, the lyrics still feel personal to Twice and their experiences. Mina's verse ("I just wanted to hide, didn't wanna face the world") in particular really resonates, considering that she left Twice's 2019 world tour due to extreme anxiety. Also, if you will, I'd just like to obsess over how perfect the outfits in the "Feel Special" video and promotional photos are. 

That dress Sana is wearing (third one from the right) is what I wear in my dreams. I know it's not a white, traditional dress, but if I had the opportunity, I would get married in that. 

17. “The Best Thing I Ever Did” (The Year of "Yes")

I'm not a huge fan of Christmas music. I mean, I love Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" as much as the next person, but most Christmas songs just bore me. However, I love Twice's "The Best Thing I Ever Did." Other than a few references to December in the lyrics and some jingle bells in the production, there really isn't much that makes this feel like a Christmas song, which is only a good thing. It's not an uptempo track, but it's not quite a ballad either. It's a very sweet song, with the "best thing I ever did" being that they met the one they love. Just like with "Feel Special," the lyrics can be about a guy or about their relationship as a group. The music video definitely supports the latter interpretation, as it sees the members of Twice reflecting on their past adventures as a group and playing in the snow together- while wearing some adorable preppy outfits. 

I'm very much a fan of the preppy vintage Chanel style. 

16. “Girls Like Us” (Fancy You)

It's not too terribly common for the members of kpop groups to write their own music, but the members of Twice actually write the lyrics for some of the b-sides. The group's leader and main vocalist, Jihyo, wrote the lyrics for "Girls Like Us," although British singer Charli XCX had a hand in writing the music for it. The message of this song is about how as girls, we all face our own insecurities, but we need to remember that we're beautiful, smart, and strong. I really love the rap breakdown, in which Chaeyoung reassures us that we're not alone in feeling insecure, but we'll find happiness soon enough. The production of the track features a very catchy and bouncy piano, and the "whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh" in the chorus is addictive. It has a retro style to it with the piano and some whistling in the background, but it still feels modern and fits in with the other b-sides from Fancy You.

15. "Likey" (Twicetagram)

Do you ever have a song where you can totally understand why somebody would hate it, but you still love it? That's me with "Likey." I know that if I played it for certain people in my life, they'd hate it and think it was the most annoying song ever recorded. However, it's always been one of my favorite title tracks from Twice. It's bright, bubbly, and really cute. Sana in particular sounds really cute on the chorus. The song is about trying to get noticed by your crush on Instagram as well as trying to keep a glamorous image on the site. One of the most memorable and catchy parts is when Momo sings about BB cream and lipstick. I also love the rap breakdown. The "Likey" video is one of my personal favorites they've ever done, due to a combination of their outfits being really cute, Dahyun dabbing, and Momo's amazing dance break. The thing I like about "Likey" is that it knows what it is. It’s cute, catchy bubblegum, and it doesn't need to be anything else. Also, allow me to to obsess over Twice's music video fashion once again:

All of these are perfect casual summer looks. I specifically like Jeongyeon's outfit, (second from left), as her outfit has a very "San Francisco in the 1970s" vibe to it. 

14. “Oxygen” (More & More)

Twice's most recent single, "More & More," was fine, but definitely one of their lesser title tracks for me. However, I loved a lot of the b-sides on the mini-album, including "Oxygen." When I first reviewed the mini-album, I gave this song a 9/10. I really liked it, a 9/10 is nothing to sneeze at, but when there were a few 10/10s on the album, it wasn't an absolute favorite. However, it definitely grew on me with repeated listens. While I like a few songs from the album more, "Oxygen" is definitely the one I've replayed the most. For whatever reason, the beat to this song reminds me of the music from Coconut Mall in MarioKart. It strikes a balance of being upbeat yet relaxing. I've always loved the chorus on this song, with the members singing "I really really really really want" in a rapid-fire style. Chaeyoung's bridge is the highlight of the song for me, though. I love how effortlessly she transitions from rapping to singing in her part. 

13. “Sweet Summer Day” (More & More)

Is it safe to say that I knew this song would be on my list within the first ten seconds I heard it? Due to it being the final song on the More & More mini-album, I expected this song to be a more chilled-out, slower song to end the album. But when I heard those drum hits, I was surprised in the best way possible. "Sweet Summer Day" is Twice's attempt at a new jack swing song, a style of R&B hip hop that was most popular from the mid-80s to the mid-90s. Although I haven't really heard many of the original new jack swing songs and artists (Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, and Madonna all released music in the style in the 80s and 90s), I love songs like "Call Me Baby" by EXO and "Finesse" by Bruno Mars and Cardi B, which try to recreate the style for a modern audience. I don't think I ever expected Twice to dip into new jack swing, but the style fits them like a glove and I would love for their next comeback to sound like this. The song was written by Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung and it sounds like a perfect summer day at the beach, complete with seagull sounds. It sucks that I couldn't go to the beach this summer, but this song is a good substitute for that. 

12. “Get Loud” (Feel Special)

Like "Girls Like Us," Jihyo wrote the lyrics to "Get Loud." When I first saw the title to this song, I thought it was going to be a shallow club song, but that's not really the case. This song is actually about overcoming struggles and being fierce. The thing that most stands out to me about "Get Loud" is the powerful percussion. It reminds me of the drums you'd hear at a Brazilian carnival. I've always thought that the songs from Feel Special have a nighttime atmosphere. I'm not really sure how to explain it. This song in particular just feels like the perfect song to listen to when hopping from party to party in a big city. Since Jihyo wrote this song, I guess it makes sense that she stood out to me most in this track, since her repetition of "it might get loud" is the catchiest part of the song for me. 

11. “One in a Million” (Twicecoaster: Lane 1)

As of March 2020, "One in a Million" is Twice's most streamed b-side, garnering over ten million streams. It's a huge fan favorite, as well as a favorite for the group, as their signature catchphrase is "One in a million! We are Twice!" This song is a dedication to their fans and a reminder to love yourself because you're beautiful and perfect just the way you are! The themes of this song could be sappy in the wrong hands, but when Twice does it, it comes off as very heartfelt and sincere. It's easily my favorite Twice ballad for its excellent blend of acoustic guitars and synthesizer production, but mostly because of the girls' vocals. Jeongyeon's high note at the end of the bridge blew me away. 

10. “Trick It” (Feel Special)

My favorite thing about the Feel Special album, other than its cohesion, is how all of the b-sides were written by the girls. This song, "Trick It," was written by Dahyun. Since Dahyun's one of the group's rappers, it makes sense that the song is more hip hop-influenced than the rest of the tracks, but it's still mostly electropop. The production on this song is some of the best I've ever heard on a Twice track. I didn't notice the triangle in the beat until very recently, but I love that. This song feels like a rollercoaster, with the epic, pounding chorus feeling like a giant drop every time. I also loved Dahyun and Chaeyoung's catchy rap flow ("I can tell you all about it!"), the "uh huh, uh huh, uh huh" hook, and Mina's soft, pretty vocals before the chorus. 

9. “Sunset” (Yes or Yes) 

I love "Girls Like Us" and "Get Loud," but as far as I'm concerned, "Sunset" is my favorite song Jihyo's written for Twice. It has a laid-back, 80s feeling to it. The synthesizers are very retro and the melody is classic. I can imagine listening to this song on a cool summer night. While a lot of these songs have an unexplainable "night drive" quality to them, this is more for cruising by the beach in a vintage Chevy Impala- with a sunset in the background, obviously. The girls' vocals are also in top form here. I especially liked Jeongyeon's voice here. Her parts were short, but she sounded amazing on this song. Barring "One in a Million" and "The Best Thing I Ever Did," most of these songs are are uptempo bops, but "Sunset" is a laid-back, relaxed song. It's a nice change of pace. 

8. “Hot” (Fancy You)

One aspect of kpop fandom that can't be overlooked is the concept of biases. Your "bias" in a group is just a fancy way of referring to your favorite member, and although a good fan of any group should love all the members to some extent, it's okay to have a bias. Oftentimes, one of the first questions kpop fans ask each other is "Who's your bias?" For Twice, my bias is the group's main dancer, Momo. Momo is my bias mainly because of her incredible dance skills (the "Crazy in Love" toxic relationship dance with Mina always gives me chills), and her cute, food-obsessed personality, but she's written some great songs to boot. She co-wrote the lyrics to "Hot," a b-side on the Fancy You album. This song is perfect for when you want to feel sexy and confident, with Tzuyu singing "Everything from my head to toes is already perfect" at one point in the song. Sonically, this song feels like driving at 80 miles an hour on a Las Vegas highway. The production in the chorus is impeccable. I also love the intro, which sounds like an acapella-style bass voice, as well as the bridge, where Mina sings "catch me if you can" and just sounds so sensual and alluring. 

7. “Chillax” (Summer Nights)

When Twice released "Dance the Night Away," JYP Entertainment chose to reissue the band's previous album, What is Love?, with a few new songs instead of releasing a new album, with the new reissue being called Summer Nights. One of the three new songs was "Chillax," and although I love "Dance the Night Away" for its summery vibes, I think "Chillax" is even better. I'm normally not a fan of artists using modern slang in their lyrics, but, despite the fact that the song uses the slang in its title, "Chillax" is cute and charming. The tropical production of this song is very youthful and the chorus is irresistible. I love a lot of the little quirky moments throughout this song, such as Chaeyoung going "yeah, boy!" before her verse and the crowd cheering in the second verse. Nayeon really dominates this song, and as much as I'd like to complain about the line distribution being unfair, she does a great job, with her high notes sounding very strong. 

6. “Make Me Go” (More & More) 

Similarly to "Sweet Summer Day," I knew "Make Me Go" would appear on my favorites list as soon as the chorus started. Nayeon wrote the lyrics to this one, and even though I really liked "Rainbow" from Feel Special, which she also wrote, I never imagined that Twice would ever make anything like this. When I reviewed More & More, I said that "Make Me Go" reminded me of Dua Lipa's recent output, specifically the song "Break My Heart." That could not be more of a compliment, as I've been obsessed with every song I've heard from Dua's recent album Future Nostalgia. The chorus is so unexpected for Twice. Most of their choruses are high- the members sing in higher ranges and the production is very treble-heavy. But "Make Me Go" sees the members rap-singing in their lowest registers with that incredible bassline anchoring the song. "Make Me Go" is the most mature, seductive, and funky song the group has ever released, and I'd kill for them to make more songs like it. 

5. “Knock Knock” (Twicecoaster: Lane 2)

In July, I made a list of songs I love by non-American artists because I was (and still am) salty at my country for...everything, pretty much. On that list, I had a whole section of kpop songs, and "Knock Knock" was the Twice song I picked. I said that I didn't really love "Knock Knock" until I watched the Avatar: The Last Airbender finale at the end of June, which is insane, I know. The entire time I watched Aang and his friends fight for the fate of the world and experience some dark, emotional events, my head was just looping "Knock Knock" over and over again for some unknown reason. From there, I realized that I loved the song. It's like I was saying with "Likey": It doesn't try to do anything weird or daring, it's just a cute, almost retro pop song. While I love songs where the artist takes risks and tries something new, there’s something I have to commend about a song that doesn’t do anything crazy and just focuses on being the best it can be. The guitar on this song is really addictive for me, and the chorus is so cute. I think Sana definitely shined the most in this song, as my favorite parts of the song are all her little quirks and moments. Her voice definitely fits Twice’s cuter concepts, and the way she says "someone else!" and the title of the song both make me smile every time. 

4. “Breakthrough” (&Twice)

It's common for kpop groups to release Japanese-language singles in order to break into the Japanese market. Sometimes, they switch the language of a previous song (for example, Twice released Japanese versions of songs like "Cheer Up" and "TT"), and sometimes they'll release a new song entirely. Most of Twice's Japanese originals are forgettable to me, but I loved "Breakthrough" after my first listen. Twice released two Japanese songs on June 12, 2019, representing a dual concept. "Happy Happy" was cute, but it was more in line with what you'd expect from Twice. "Breakthrough," on the other hand, was a fiercer, more mature side of Twice that was a natural progression from their previous Korean single "Fancy." It has razor-sharp synthesizers, a pulsing chorus, and a fierce, smooth atmosphere. The music video is a perfect accompaniment to the song, as it features bright neon lights and the girls in power suits. It's a song I play when I want to feel like a boss. 

3. “Heart Shaker” (Merry & Happy)

One of Twice’s most iconic title tracks is 2018’s “What is Love?” The song won the prestigious Song of the Year award at the 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards and its music video, which saw the members paying homage to famous movies like La La Land and Pulp Fiction, has 415 million views. While the song is iconic, it did feel like a rehash of their previous single “Heart Shaker,” which I’ve always preferred. This is my favorite “cutesy” Twice song ever. There are just so many parts to it that I love. The introduction lets you know exactly what you’re in for: a completely adorable sugar rush. I love Tzuyu’s pre-chorus, with Dahyun and Chaeyoung providing cute interjections (“Love is timing!”). I love how Jihyo’s powerful high note transitions into Momo, Tzuyu, and Chaeyoung singing with the stomp-clap breakdown. I love how every single Once has agreed that Nayeon is singing “Is Sana gay?” in the first line. (She’s actually singing “isanghage,” which is Korean for “wonderfully,” but I’m still going to sing “Is Sana gay?” every time I hear the song.) The instrumental is really good. I specifically like the electric guitar parts towards the end, which make the song stand out from Twice’s other title tracks. The chorus is similar to the one in “What is Love?” but it feels a lot more fleshed out while still being catchy. “Heart Shaker” was actually the song that got my best friend into Twice, and it’s a great first impression, as it tells you what the girls are all about. Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how absolutely adorable the fashion is in this video! While videos like “Feel Special” and “Fancy” feature more extravagant fashion, the outfits in “Heart Shaker” can be recreated by anyone for a cute, casual look. 

Seriously, anyone can pull these off or put their own spin on it. White sweater, denim bottoms, sneakers, you're good to go!

2. “Fancy” (Fancy You)

Although I love all of Twice's title tracks in some way, "Fancy" is without a doubt my favorite. There's just so much about this song that I love that I don't know where to start. This song was very significant to Twice's career, as it signified a new sound for the group. Twice had their signature cutesy bubblegum songs, but many felt it was starting to get old and the songs were blending together. "Fancy" showed a more mature side of them with a darker and sexier production style, while still maintaining the catchy hooks that made Twice so famous. It's still Twice, just a more sophisticated version of them. "Fancy" is packed with so many little moments that delight me every time. I particularly love the way Sana sweetly sings about chocolate ice cream in the prechorus, the way Chaeyoung says "bang bang" in her verse, Jihyo's epic high note before the final chorus, and especially the way Chaeyoung goes "fancy, ooh" at the end of the chorus. (I think that more than any other era, Chaeyoung really got a chance to shine in "Fancy.") The beat is infectious, bright electropop, and the music video is another personal favorite from the group. Let’s geek out over Twice’s music video fashion one last time:

Sorry this isn't a great picture, but it's the best I could find of all of them together. I think Jeongyeon's outfit (farthest right) would probably be the one I'd most want to wear, but Chaeyoung's outfit (fourth from left) was probably my favorite. That green houndstooth set would look terrible on most everyone else, but I couldn't take my eyes off of her in the video. 

The choreography, especially with the signature hand-gesture, is something I often attempt when I'm home alone. They actually put this song on Just Dance, and I (and many other Onces, just read the comments on this video of the dance) were horrified to see that they completely changed the choreography. Anyways, "Fancy" has been the first song on my playlist for a year, so I've heard it hundreds of times, but I still haven't gotten sick of it. What could be better? 

1. “Love Foolish” (Feel Special)

I just need to preface this by saying that I texted my best friend the following in June: "I'm at a grad party for some cousins in (town I will not share). One of my relatives doesn't seem to know what 'Six Feet Apart' means so if I die, just know that I want 'Love Foolish' to be played as they bury my body in the ground." I was joking, obviously, but the fact that I said that at all should really say something about how much I love this damn song. When I read the track listing for Feel Special, I had the highest expectations for "Love Foolish," since it was written by my bias, Momo. I heard part of it in the car when driving with my friend, and it kind of blew my mind. Then I heard the whole song and it blew my mind even more. Production-wise, "Love Foolish" is so experimental and different for Twice. It does use chipmunk vocals, which I normally don't care for, but the way the beat warps the chipmunk vocals is inventive and fun. The song just feels like you could either vogue or strut down the runway while listening to it. Outside of the production, this song is like "Fancy" in how it has so many irresistible moments. Momo's rap is a highlight, especially when she says "naega mani ani," which actually means "Do I know a lot?" but I always sing it as "they got money, unnie." I love the chorus, which is actually kind of similar to the one in "Make Me Go" due to the way they're sung. The way Chaeyoung says "I hate you" especially makes me smile- never have I been so delighted to hear somebody say they hated me. Nayeon’s high note before the final chorus is awesome too. Really, as much as I’m tempted to say “oh, this girl did the best job here,” I can’t. All nine girls sound fantastic on this track. I have eighteen hours and forty-nine minutes of music on my current Spotify playlist, which is a lot of songs, and naturally, I’ve skipped most of them at one point or another, because sometimes, I’m just not in the mood for a certain song. But I’ve had “Love Foolish” on my playlist for close to a year, and I have never skipped it. My favorite pieces of any media are always the ones I can experience over and over again. My favorite movie is Tangled because I’ve seen it hundreds of times and it still holds up. My favorite book is The Outsiders because I enjoy it every time I read it. And my favorite Twice song is “Love Foolish” because it’s the one I am always in the mood to listen to. With a lot of these songs, like “Sweet Summer Day” and “Make Me Go,” I say that I want Twice to make more songs in those styles. However, I don’t want them to make another song like “Love Foolish.” That sounds like a bad thing, I couldn’t mean that as more of a compliment. No matter how hard they could try to recreate the magic, they would never be able to top the lightning-in-a-bottle magic of “Love Foolish” for me.

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That's all I have for this week! Next Sunday, August 23, is the three-year anniversary of when I made this blog, so I will be posting something to celebrate either Saturday or Sunday. See you then!

Stellar

MOVIE TALK: Why 2010 is Such a Fascinating Year for Movies (Part Two)

Recently, I came to the conclusion that 2010 is the most interesting year in film history. Not the best, not the worst, but it's certainly the one that fascinates me the most. I was mostly amused at how 2010 could give us both my number one favorite movie and my number one least favorite movie, but there was a lot more to it than just those things. So I (with the help of my best friend, whose favorite movie also came out in 2010) wrote a blog post about it. Read it here. 

If you'll allow me to pat myself on the back for a minute, I think the stuff I've written on Stellar in Neverland in 2020 has been my best work yet. It's probably because I've been home 24/7 and therefore have a lot of time to dedicate to making my content the best it can be, with the fact that I'm also older and more mature also playing a role. Whatever the reason is, I'm incredibly proud of every single post I've made from this January onward. But even with that, last week's post is easily my personal favorite thing I've ever written. I'm sure somebody could analyze it and find flaws, but it's the one I'm most proud of and the one I had the best time writing. But I realized something about a quarter of the way through the writing of that post: if I was going to talk about everything I found interesting in 2010 cinema, it would have to take two posts. This is Part Two. I'd recommend you read Part One first, just because I'm proud of it, but if you don't feel like it, here's what I covered there, as far as why 2010 was such an interesting year:

1. Tangled, because it's my favorite movie.

2. I had my best friend write a little essay on Inception, because it's her favorite movie.

3. The Last Airbender, because it makes a mockery of what I believe to be the greatest TV show of all time.

4. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, because it's a bizarre coincidence that both my favorite TV series and my favorite book series got terrible live-action adaptations in the same year.

5. Despicable Me, because of how it plagued those damn minions on the masses.

6. Toy Story 3, because it was an epic and emotional conclusion to a series that defined the childhoods of many...even though they made a Toy Story 4. 

7. Alice in Wonderland, because it was the first of the really successful live-action Disney remakes.

8. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, because it's a cult classic that I really wanted to see. 

Now let's quit the rambling and continue with more reasons as to why I find 2010 so interesting. Last week, I talked mostly about individual movies, and while I will be doing that for the first part of today, I'm also talking about general trends for movies in 2010. 

9. Emma Stone, who would go on to win an Oscar and be named the world’s highest-paid actress in 2017, had her breakthrough this year.

Emma Stone first appeared in small TV roles in shows like Malcolm in the Middle before making her film debut in 2007's Superbad. She also found commercial success in 2009's Zombieland, but it wasn't until she scored the lead in 2010's Easy A that she found her true breakthrough. I considered talking about this movie for this post, because I find Stone to be a charismatic and talented actress (and also because I feel like, as an Emma myself, I have to support other Emmas!), but I wasn't sure how I would watch it since it's not Netflix or Amazon Prime. But then I was scrolling through the TV guide and it just so happened to be on Freeform/ABC Family/whatever it's called now. So I watched it and found myself really enjoying it. I'm eighteen years old, so I'm at the prime age for chick flicks, but even then, I was surprised with how clever I found Easy A to be. Loosely (and I mean loosely) based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the film tells the story of Olive Penderghast, a high school student who finds herself reputed as the "school slut." I'm just gonna say right now that I would recommend this movie, but fair warning: there's a lot of sex jokes, so if you're not into that, I wouldn't recommend you watch this. Anyways, Stone plays Olive, and her performance is definitely the best thing about this movie. She's snarky and sassy when she needs to be, and she also nails the moments where she has to be more emotional. The screenplay is also pretty funny. I love how she lies to her best friend about how she's going on a date, just to get out of spending the weekend with her friend's weird hippie parents, and then it cuts to her singing "Pocketful of Sunshine" by Natasha Bedingfield all weekend long. The framing of the movie is also pretty smart, as it's set up as a confessional webcam. Finally, I really liked some of the more feminist messages of the movie. At one point, Olive and her friend Brandon pretend to have sex, because Brandon is gay and wants to stop being bullied for it. When they come out of the room, Brandon gets high-fives and gets treated as a "super-stud boss," while Olive only gets dirty looks and shame. This scene is a great example of the double standards for men and women, how a man is rewarded by society for being sexually active while a woman is shamed. I could go on forever about how harmful these double standards are, so I really respected how the film shows the wrongness of these standards. 

10. Even your average, everyday rom-com could stand out from the pack, not for being particularly good, but for having the most batshit cast list I've ever seen.

The movie in question is Valentine's Day, a movie that got negative critical reviews but raked in $216.5 million. I think it's supposed to be an anthology of a bunch of random romance stories. It's on Netflix right now, so I could have watched it, but honestly, I had no interest in doing so. I saw my mom watch it recently, and she said it wasn't great. Besides, I like some rom-coms, but this one just seemed like total fluff. So why am I mentioning it? Because another thing that made 2010 so fascinating was the fact that a bunch of serious A-listers could come together for a generic rom-com. The cast includes Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Patrick Dempsey, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, Emma Roberts, Julia Roberts, and Taylor Swift. That is quite possibly the most random, but completely star-studded cast I've ever seen. I went on about how Scott Pilgrim vs. the World had a stacked cast, but it was mostly stacked with people who have been in stuff that I care about. Valentine's Day, on the other hand, is filled to the brim with bonafide A-listers, ranging from Oscar winners (Bates, Foxx, Hathaway, and Julia Roberts), Grammy winners (Foxx, Latifah, Swift, and oddly enough, Bradley Cooper has two Grammys for A Star is Born), two famous Jessicas (Alba and Biel), and two stars of That '70s Show (Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher). And they all came together for this thorougly-mediocre-in-every-other-way rom-com. The success of Valentine's Day would lead to two similar movies from the same director, the late Garry Marshall: New Year's Eve in 2011 and Mother's Day in 2016. Personally, I'd want to watch New Year's Eve the most out of any of them, as it features my one true love, Zac Efron. As well as Halle Berry, Robert De Niro, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sarah Paulson, and Ryan Seacrest. And also former mayor of New York/failed presidential candidate/exceedingly wealthy man Mike Bloomberg. Geez, what is this series?

Now we're going to talk about five general trends of movies in 2010. With these, I used the app PicCollage to have fun and make little collages of the movies I was specifically talking about in each section. They're not great, since I mainly focus on writing and have no graphic design skills whatsoever, but I needed a visual, and PicCollage did in a pinch. 

11. The rise of 3D technology

2009's Avatar (which I will be talking about shortly) was a gargantuan success, and part of that was because it was shown in many formats. It was released for traditional 2D viewing, 3D viewing (using numerous 3D formats, such as RealD 3D and IMAX 3D), and even 4D viewing in select South Korean theatres. Due to the massive success of the film, there was a huge increase in 3D movies in 2010. Alice in Wonderland broke Avatar's record for highest opening-weekend for a 3D movie. Certain movies even advertised the fact that they were 3D in the title, such as Jackass 3D, King Kong: 360 3-D, Saw 3D, The Nutcracker in 3D, and Step Up 3D. All animated films saw releases in 3D as well. Some movies (such as the animated films, Tron: Legacy, and Jackass 3D) were shot or rendered natively in 3D, but others had to be converted, for better or for worse. Clash of the Titans, for example, was a huge box-office success, breaking Scary Movie 4's record for the highest Easter weekend debut. However, the film's director, Louis Leterrier, had this to say in 2013 about the movie's 3D conversion:

It was famously rushed and famously horrible. It was absolutely horrible, the 3D. Nothing was working, it was just a gimmick to steal money from the audience. I’m a good boy and I rolled with the punches and everything, but it’s not my movie.

It says a lot that the Razzie Awards' (a parody award show that recognizes the worst films of a given year) special new category for 2010 was "Most Eye-Gouging Misuse of 3-D." The nominees were Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, Clash of the Titans, The Nutcracker in 3D, and Saw 3D, but of course, the winner was my favorite movie to bash on, The Last Airbender. I’ve already criticized it twice before, first in its own dedicated MOVIE TALK, then in Part One of this post, but I can’t help it. Ragging on The Last Airbender is too much fun because I’m constantly noticing new ways the film fails. One of the film’s countless failures is how messily converted its 3D was. In late April 2010, Paramount saw that Avatar and Alice in Wonderland made some good money due to 3D releases and decided “Hey, we want to make money like that too.” The problem is that the film still had to be released by early July, so the 3D was shoehorned in. They also had to cut parts of the story out, including scenes with the fan-favorite Kyoshi Warriors. And it’s not like the 3D effects were anything spectacular. While the original animated series had stellar, vibrant animation, The Last Airbender’s visuals were dull, cheap, and ugly. Oh, The Last Airbender. It’s the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but I love talking about its failures and listening to people talk about its failures.

 

12. It was the first year to have three movies gross over a billion dollars

The highest-grossing films of the year were Toy Story 3 and Alice in Wonderland, both of which I covered extensively in Part One. According to Wikipedia (which, yes, isn't always accurate, but I trust it in this case), Toy Story 3 grossed $1,066,969,703, while Alice in Wonderland grossed $1,025,467,110. There was another movie, however, that grossed over a billion dollars very early into 2010. James Cameron's Avatar was released in the US on December 18, 2009 and shattered box-office records left and right, so much so that there is literally a Wikipedia article titled "List of box office records set by Avatar." On literally the third day of 2010, nineteen days after its release, Avatar became the fastest movie to gross a billion dollars at the time (it has since been surpassed by 2019's Avengers: Endgame, which only took five days to make a billion.) It also was the first movie to gross over $2 billion, totaling at $2.79 billion at the end of its run and becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time for almost a decade, until it was beaten, again, by Avengers: Endgame. While Avatar was the only movie from 2009 to gross a billion dollars, it didn't hit the billion-dollar point until early 2010. Compare that to 2010, which had three movies make a billion. As for the movie Avatar, I've never seen it and don't really have an interest in doing so, but the phenomenon around the movie fascinates me. It just blows my mind how this movie could make so much money, but really hasn't had much staying power in the public. I don't hear people talk about this movie much anymore. My friend Nike and I were actually talking the other day about how there have been four Avatar sequels greenlit, but they've gotten indefinitely delayed. It's just like, how much hype do they think a new Avatar movie will have? The first one came out over a decade ago, and for many people, it's old news now. The only legacy the film has had is in the form of "Papyrus," one of my personal favorite Saturday Night Live bits. It's a faux movie trailer for a psychological drama where Ryan Gosling has a mental breakdown over the fact that the Avatar logo is literally just the Papyrus font. I support the release of Avatar 2, but only if we get "Papyrus 2," where it's a normal SNL show intercut with footage of Ryan Gosling crying himself to sleep over the laziness of the Avatar logo. 

13. Animation had a really good year. 

I just want to say that the image came from We Got This Covered. I didn't make it. Half of the top 10 highest-grossing movies in 2010 were animated: Toy Story 3 was the highest-grossing movie of the entire year, Shrek Forever After was fifth, Tangled was eighth, Despicable Me was ninth, and How to Train Your Dragon was tenth. Outside of the top ten, we also had movies like Megamind, which was one of DreamWorks' lower-grossing animated films this decade, but got decent reviews. In Japan, Studio Ghibli released Arrietty, another critically acclaimed, whimsical anime from a studio that's known for those. (I've still never seen Arrietty or any Ghibli movie, because I suck.) The Zack Snyder-directed Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole also came out, which, despite being criticized for its story and characters, has been named one of the most visually gorgeous animated movies ever by CineFix and SlashFilm, among others. Compare that to 2019, where only three animated movies are in the top ten (The Lion King was second, Frozen II was third, and Toy Story 4 was fourth). All three of those movies were extremely successful (with The Lion King remake being the highest-grossing animated movie in history), but disappointingly, they were all sequels or remakes. I adore animation. It's probably my favorite medium for storytelling, as the possibilities of what can happen in animation are endless. It's just infuriating how this medium can be used to tell any story the mind can think of, but people just want to watch things they've already seen before. Of course, there were fresh, original animated movies in 2019, such as Abominable and Missing Link, but those weren't nearly as successful as the sequels and remakes. 2010 did give us some animated sequels, like Toy Story 3, but most of the biggest animated movies that year told unique stories with characters we had never seen before. (Even though movies like Despicable Me and How to Train Your Dragon would get sequels). I wish that both Hollywood and the general public would give some of the more original animated movies a chance, just like they did in 2010. 

14. Sequels and remakes were very popular, but didn’t oversaturate the market like they would a few years later.

This is sort of a continuation of what I was just saying, but it's something I noticed. Thirty-four movies hit #1 at the box office. Of those thirty-four, thirteen (Iron Man 2, Shrek Forever After, Toy Story 3, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Jackass 3D, Paranormal Activity 2, Saw 3D, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 1, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Tron: Legacy, and Little Fockers) were sequels, while four (Alice in Wonderland, Clash of the Titans, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Karate Kid) were remakes. Exactly half of the number one films were sequels or remakes and half were originals. Let’s compare this to 2019. There were also thirty-four #1 movies in 2019, but twenty-two of those movies were sequels or part of a franchise. That’s 64%! Add in the four #1 movies that were remakes of previously existing movies (three of the four were Disney remakes, of course) and a whopping 76% of all the #1 movies in 2019 were either sequels or series. Looking at the top ten highest-grossing movies of 2019, only one of them (Joker) wasn’t a sequel or remake (technically, it’s not a part of the DC Extended Universe.) For a few years now, I’ve felt like the box office is just cluttered with sequels, franchises, and remakes, which is disappointing. It’s great to see familiar characters and situations, but I also find myself craving originality. 2010 is the perfect middle ground. We had our fair share of sequels and franchises, but we also had new, fresh stories being told. I wish we could go back to this 50/50 ratio between sequels and remakes vs. original stories, but sadly, I don’t think it’ll happen anytime soon. 

15. The explosion of social media was reflected in our movies.

For Empire, Helen O'Hara published an excellent piece detailing trends in 2010 film. This piece was really helpful for coming up with trends, and initially, I was going to crib from her article a lot more, but then I came up with more general trends on my own. I did decide to take inspiration from one of her ideas, which is how social media began to impact our movies more heavily. By the end of 2010, Facebook saw 608 million users, while Twitter gained over 100 million new users by the end of the year. Other popular social media sites like Pinterest, Quora, and the ubiquitous Instagram were launched in 2010 as well. Seeing as social media was blowing up, it makes a lot of sense that it started sinking into our movies. O'Hara specifically names Catfish, a documentary about online relationships that broke the term "catfishing" into the public consciousness, and Going the Distance, a rom-com about a long-distance relationship that makes use of Skype. I also noticed how the aforementioned Easy A uses a live-streaming webcam for its framing. But of course, the most noteworthy film from 2010 that dealt with social media is David Fincher's The Social Network. The Social Network tells the story of Mark Zuckerberg and how he founded Facebook. Zuckerberg has actually said that the film was largely fictitious, saying "And basically the framing is that the whole reason for making Facebook is because I wanted to get girls, or wanted to get into clubs. They [the film's creators] just can't wrap their head around the idea that someone might build something because they like building things.” However, the film received rapturous critical acclaim. It won Best Picture from the National Board of Review, National Society of Film Critics, New York Film Critics Circle, and Los Angeles Film Critics Association, making it only the third film in history to sweep the “Big Four” critics awards. The Social Network has a legacy of inspiring people to start their own companies, specifically regarding social media. Critic Bob Lefsetz said “Watching this movie makes you want to run from the theatre, grab your laptop and build your own empire. You’ve got the ability.” The film has also been named the best of the decade by several sources, including Esquire, Polygon, and even Quentin Tarantino. Writing about the film for Polygon, Clayton Ashley spoke about the film’s legacy saying “But after nearly a decade of watching Facebook “move fast and break things,” including news websites, social video, politics, etc., the movie’s tangible sense of tension can easily be reinterpreted as foreboding for what comes after you make a billion friends.”

MOVIE TALK: Why 2010 is Such a Fascinating Year for Movies (Part One)

Because we're in a global pandemic, I've had plenty of time to think to myself. And one day, I randomly came to the conclusion that 2010 might be the most utterly fascinating year for movies I can think of. It's not the best year for film, not when 1994 gave us The Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, and The Lion King, but the most fascinating as a whole. In this post, I'm going to explain why I think that. I was initially going to have fifteen reasons, but I realized that I had a lot to say for each bullet point, so I split that into two parts. Today, I'm going to be looking at some 2010 movies that personally interest me, while next week, I'll delve into general trends of 2010 cinema. 

Also, before we begin, I just want to clarify that I'm mostly going to be focusing on the big blockbusters and not the critical darlings or indie movies. I don't really know much or care about all the more prestigious, critically acclaimed movies, so those aren't as interesting to me. Now let's start!

1. First and foremost, my favorite movie of all time came out in 2010! 

I guess I could try to give reasons why the 2010 release of Disney's Tangled was objectively significant. It was the 50th Disney animated feature film, a landmark for the studio. Its budget was an estimated $260 million, which, if accurate, makes it the most expensive animated movie ever. It earned $592 million at the box office worldwide and received praise from both critics and audiences. It even got a spinoff cartoon in 2017! But at the end of the day, none of that really matters. The release of Tangled was important because, plain and simple, it’s my favorite movie. On this blog, I've made two lists of my favorite movies, one in 2017 and the other this June. While a lot of opinions changed between those three years, one thing was a constant: Tangled was number one. I actually saw it in theatres a few months after it came out, not expecting much at all. I was eight years old and growing out of the obsessive Disney Princess phase of my younger years. But when I did see it, it blew me away. It's one of those movies where everything comes together perfectly. The characters are great, especially our two leads. Rapunzel is so spirited and lively, and Flynn is the perfect boyish rogue with a heart of gold. Flynn is easily my favorite Disney prince, and while Mulan is my favorite Disney Princess if you go by the official Disney Princess lineup, Rapunzel’s my favorite legitimate princess. Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi both do a stellar job in their voice roles as Rapunzel and Flynn, respectively. Together, Rapunzel and Flynn are my favorite Disney couple and watching them grow together is so enjoyable. The animation is gorgeous, especially with the lantern scene. In Thailand, there is a lantern festival called Yi Peng (video here) that's basically the Tangled lantern scene in real life and I need to attend it before I die. Tangled manages to have all the qualities we love from classic Disney movies, but still have its own distinctive flair. What other Disney movie would have a prince use a frying pan to swordfight a horse? And I know I say this nearly every time I talk about this movie, but "I See The Light" is a gorgeous song that needs to be played at my wedding, whenever/if it happens. It was nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar, but lost to some song from Toy Story 3 that I don't remember at all. I love Toy Story 3 and will actually be talking about it in a minute, but Tangled deserved that Oscar. I've seen many movies, and I still have a lot more that I need to see, but Tangled will always have a special place in my heart as one of, if not my absolute favorite, movies. 

2. So did my best friend’s favorite movie! 

One of 2010’s highest-grossing, most critically acclaimed movies was Inception. The Christopher Nolan-directed film grossed $825 million worldwide (the fourth highest-grossing of the year) and was nominated for eight Oscars, winning four. It also happens to be my best friend’s favorite movie. That was a big factor in my fascination with 2010’s cinema: the fact that both my favorite movie and my best friend’s favorite came out this year. And since she loves this movie so much, I thought I’d have her write a little segment about it. So without further ado, my friend Nike! 

"It comes as a surprise to those close to me that my favorite movie is Inception. After all, I’m not one to watch every Oscar-hopeful as award seasons come around. To me, it is however the best movie—objectively and subjectively—that I have ever seen, and a large part of that is due to the incredible ensemble cast (shout out to Elliot Page) and Leonardo DiCaprio’s role in the film.

Many considered DiCaprio to be one of the world’s best actors even before his first Oscars win—which, in my opinion, was several years too late. I would say that DiCaprio is the best actor in the world right now for a stand-out reason. Of the many skilled and experienced actors we see time after time in films—Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman, for instance—DiCaprio is the only actor who comes to mind whose name washes away at the beginning of the movie and stays that way. All the love for Morgan Freeman, but every time I see him in a movie, I can’t help but think “Oh my God, there’s Morgan Freeman in this movie!” DiCaprio becomes his characters due to the combination of his incredible acting skills and the perfect casting in each movie he features in. There’s a reason we can see him as Gatsby in The Great Gatsby or Cobb in Inception, and that’s because each character he plays falls into his typecast. DiCaprio melts into Cobb and makes us believe that such a skilled dreamer and thief in corporate espionage does in fact exist. Leonardo DiCaprio who? We only know Cobb.

Besides the immersive acting, Inception also features riveting action sequences alongside a thought-provoking plot that has stuck with me personally ever since my first viewing years ago. The most important aspect of an action movie is its pacing, which neither the plot nor—critically—the action slows down in this instance. Oftentimes in this genre, the action scenes and shoot-outs carry on for too long or stagnate. Inception suffers from neither. Every burst of energy moves the story along, never occurring just to get the audience's heartbeat racing. Importantly, these scenes are always fresh and new with the mind-twisting visuals and effects used throughout the movie to create each dreamscape.

My favorite theme and topic that this movie makes me consider is the importance of reality. I have pondered the final scenes of this film hundreds of times. The top spinning at the cut to the credits is a powerful statement that reminds me of a philosophy of truth. This philosophy is that the condition of having lies or truths told to oneself is irrelevant if the subject doesn’t know. It doesn’t matter whether Cobb actually returned to the waking world or if he is deep within limbo. It is all the same to Cobb, as he is happy. Reality as a concept often takes the form of what society as a whole perceives, but Inception reminds its audience of the importance of an individual’s reality.

All in all, this is the movie that I recommend to everyone. If you like movies, you will like Inception. Much like a dream, there are layers to it; you will find a layer to this film that you will hold onto for years."

Thanks to Nike for writing that amazing reflection on a film that, according to review aggregation blog CriticsTop10, appeared on 273 different film critics' "Best Movies of 2010" list and topped 55 of those lists. I haven't seen it, but it's clearly an amazing movie. Now it's time to talk about something on the opposite side of the spectrum.

3. 2010 wasn’t content with just giving us some all-time favorites: it also gave us my least favorite movie of all time.

On July 1, 2010, Paramount Pictures released The Last Airbender under their division Nickelodeon Movies. The film, a live-action adaptation of the much-beloved Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender, was written, directed, and produced by M. Night Shyamalan of The Sixth Sense fame. Although the film made $319 million worldwide, it was derided by critics and fans, and it has since garnered a reputation as one of the worst movies ever made, receiving nine Razzie nominations and winning five. Now, I've already written a 3,365-word rant (yes, I counted) on why The Last Airbender is exactly as bad as everyone says it is (link here!), so I planned on keeping this short. But since I wrote that, I've watched the outstanding original series, which I hadn't really done in years, and I've noticed even more ways M. Night Shyamalan's adaptation failed. So here we go.

1. In the show, firebenders are able to produce fire out of thin air, but in the movie, they are only able to control pre-existing fire. To add salt to the wound, Iroh makes his own fire in the climax of the film and the characters are like, "He's making fire out of nothing!" as if it's supposed to be something groundbreaking. Um, hello, that's what firebenders are supposed to do! Shyamalan actually said that he made this choice to prevent the Fire Nation from being overpowered, which is also missing the point. They're supposed to be the most powerful! How else do you think they were able to maintain a century of imperialism and wipe out the entire Air Nomad population?

2. Sokka's romance with Princess Yue is even worse than I initially thought it was. I joked about how in the movie, they just look at each other, smile, and then Katara says in a voiceover that "My brother and the princess were friends right away." And that's already pretty dumb, but there's so much to their romance that wasn't in the movie. Sokka does fall in love with Princess Yue right when he sees her, but she doesn't notice him immediately, and he spends a good amount of time flirting with her in his charming Sokka way. She then tells him that she does like him, but can't be with him because she's in an arranged engagement for the good of her people. None of this happened in the movie. However the actress who played Yue in the film, Seychelle Gabriel, would go on to voice the character Asami Sato in the ATLA sequel series, The Legend of Korra. I'm watching Korra right now and Asami is my favorite character (she's so badass and cool and pretty and AHHHH), so she can be forgiven for appearing for this movie. 

3. Another problem with the scenes in the Northern Water Tribe is the absence of Katara's conflict with Master Pakku. In the show, Aang, Katara, and Sokka go to the Northern Water Tribe so Aang can learn waterbending with a true master of the art, which turns out to be Master Pakku. Katara is also a waterbender, and although she's pretty good at that point, she wants to learn from the master to get better. However, Master Pakku refuses to teach her, stating that the only suitable role for women is that of a healer.  She confronts Pakku and demonstrates her skills, proving that she's more than worthy of learning from a master. Of course, none of this is in the movie, even though it added so much to her character. Katara is motherly and caring, but she's also a total badass and one of the best waterbenders in the world. She always fights for what she believes in and won't tolerate any sexist bullshit. But again, none of this is in the movie, because she barely has any character traits to speak of. The film spends so much time on exposition that it forgets to develop its characters, even though the show's biggest strength (out of the thousands of things it does right) is its magnificent character development. 

4. Zuko's scar is way, way too hard to see:

Because making the live-action actors actually look like the animated characters is too much for Mr. Shyamalan.

Zuko is my personal favorite character in the show (although I love every single one of them, to be fair) because of how well-done both his backstory and character development are, which is represented by the scar. He's the Prince of the Fire Nation and his father is the Fire Lord Ozai, the most powerful/worst man in the world. When he was thirteen, he spoke out of turn at a war meeting, so he was forced to battle his father in an Agni Kai (a traditional Fire Nation duel). He lost the battle, was banished from the Fire Nation, and became permanently scarred on his face. His scar is his defining physical trait, but you can barely see it in the movie. They also messed up Zuko's alter ego, The Blue Spirit, and made the mask look really stupid and cheap. At least Dev Patel, who played Zuko in the movie, has actually apologized, saying "I'm sorry about this film. It was a little bit shit, wasn't it?" He said that he was a big fan of the cartoon growing up and he regrets appearing in the movie, so he can also be forgiven for it.

5. I complained about how they changed the pronunciation, and I complained about the whitewashing, casting white actors as characters who are from Asian and Inuit inspired cultures. But I failed to mention that the reason why the names were pronounced is because Shyamalan wanted to make it more accurate to Asian pronunciations. He told Wired, "For me, the whole point of making the adaptation was to ground it deeper in reality. So I pronounced the names as Asians would. It’s just impossible to pronounce Aang the way it is used in the series. It’s incorrect! I can’t do it. So I just pronounced it correctly." The show is a fantasy, and it's stupid to act like it isn't. It's a fictional story, it's not real life, and those are their names. You can’t just throw away all the established elements of the story to fit them to your liking. What if I was making a new Star Wars movie, but I decided “Hmm, I don’t like the name ‘Darth Vader.’ I’m gonna name him Francis”? See, that would be ridiculous. That’s basically what Shyamalan did. But even more than that, you can't say you're trying to make it more "Asian-accurate" with the pronunciations, then cast white people as the heroes! 

In conclusion: I've never used this word on this blog uncensored, but I need to say: Fuck The Last Airbender. That is all. 

4. In fact, ruining my favorite fictional properties was kind of a thing in 2010. 

Rick Riordan first released The Lightning Thief, the first installment of his bestselling Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, in 2005. The books are about what would happen if the Greek gods were able to have demigod children in the modern day. Percy Jackson, for example, has a human mother, but his father is Poseidon, the Greek god of the seas. I haven't read the books since middle school, but if I were to pick a favorite series of all time, I'd probably pick PJO, in addition to its spinoff series The Heroes of Olympus. I like comparing it to Avatar: The Last Airbender in my head. Both series just have everything: well-rounded, unique characters, kick-ass action, a fantastic blend of serious moments and lighter comic relief, incredible worldbuilding, a plot that cleverly alludes to various mythologies while still being its own thing, and even some pretty solid romance. On top of that, both series initially came out in 2005 and got atrocious live-action film adaptations in 2010! Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is nowhere near the monstrosity that The Last Airbender is. A lot of the casting choices were good (disregarding the fact that he's supposed to be twelve in the books, Logan Lerman really was the perfect Percy, and it's a shame he's too old to play him in the Disney+ Percy Jackson series that's supposed to be coming), and unlike The Last Airbender, I can see somebody enjoying it if they have no experience with the source material. But that's the thing: I have read the books, and this movie makes so many ridiculous changes that desecrate on the story I loved so much. The basic plot of the book is that Percy, Annabeth Chase (daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom), and Grover Underwood (a satyr) have to find Zeus's stolen lightning bolt, but the film adds in this weird sidequest where they have to look for Persephone's pearls so they can get information about the lightning bolt. They also made many changes to the characters that didn't need to be changed. Percy lacked his sass and sense of humor, Annabeth was more arrogant, and Grover was too confident compared to his book counterpart. The movie also forgot important characters, like Clarisse, the daughter of the war god Ares, and Mr. D/Dionysus, the god of wine who runs Camp Half-Blood. (There's also the frivolous-but-still-infuriating fact that Annabeth is a brunette in the movie, despite Rick Riordan stating countless times in the book that she is blonde.) But as much as the fans hated the movies, nobody seems to hate them more than Uncle Rick himself. He tweeted, "Well, to you guys, it's a couple hours entertainment. To me, it's my life's work going through a meat grinder when I pleaded with them not to do it." However, he also said, "I still have not seen the movies, and don't plan on ever doing so. I judge them from having read the scripts, because I care most about the story. I certainly have nothing against the very talented actors. Not their fault. I'm just sorry they got dragged into that mess." I think that's a good summation of the movie's failures. The cast did a good job with what they were given, but what they were given was terrible. 

5. Capitalism was born in 2010.

Animation had a really good year in 2010. I've already mentioned my personal favorite animated movie from 2010 and I'll continue to write about some of the many successful, influential, and acclaimed animated films from this year, especially in Part Two. In 2007, Chris Meledandri left his post as President of 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios and founded a new film and animation studio, called Illumination. In 2010, Illumination released their first movie, Despicable Me. The film starred The Office's Steve Carell as Gru, a supervillain with the DIABOLICAL PLAN to steal the moon, only to have his plans thwarted after becoming a makeshift father to three little girls, named Margo, Edith, and Agnes. But of course, none of Gru's antics are the reason why we remember the film. Nope, we remember it for those damn minions. Minions are yellow Tic Tac-shaped...things...that wear overalls and speak in unintelligible tongues, except for when they start screaming about bananas. They're the official mascots of Illumination and have been described as a corporate icon for the studio's parent company, Universal. After Universal merged with Comcast in 2016, the New York Times even referred to the minions as "the company’s Mickey Mouse." Minions are goddamn everywhere. Obviously, my heading of "Capitalism was born in 2010" is a lie, because capitalism has existed for hundreds of years, but when I think of capitalism, those idiotic yellow Mike and Ikes are the first thing to pop in my head. If there is a product out there, you can bet there's a minion-themed version of it. To quote Jetta Rae on Medium, 

You can start your day with Minion cereal, smoke from your Minions vaporizer on the way to work, RVSP to your friend’s Minion-themed wedding and come home to find a Minion safeguarding the books you bought from Amazon. That book will make for a welcome respite from a social media feed replete with Minion tattoos, Minion makeup tutorials, hand-painted Minion bra and panty sets. You might find yourself popping off a desperate Minion pun to your friends, like a burst of suffocated steam — you’re really one in a Minion — in the tired and tepid hope that crying Minion will liberate you from this headlock.

It's easy to see why minions are so popular. They're easily recognizable and people find them cute and funny. But that doesn't make their presence any less infuriating. Kids love them, obviously, but nobody loves them more than Facebook moms, who regularly post embarrassing memes about them. The popularity of the minions resulted in two sequels to Despicable Me, 2013's Despicable Me 2 and 2017's Despicable Me 3,  but more importantly, these hellspawns got their own movie, 2015's Minions, which grossed $1.1 billion dollars and is the highest-grossing non-Disney animated film in history. (I actually contributed to that, as I saw it at a drive-in theatre with my friends in middle school. I'm deeply sorry.) As a film, Despicable Me got decently positive reviews, but the impact its yellow capitalistic fiends had on the world cannot be denied. 

6. 2010 saw the end of an era. 

In 1995, Pixar Animation Studios released Toy Story, a buddy comedy about the secret lives of toys. It was the first entirely computer-animated feature film, and a landmark for film as a whole. Although the computer animation itself looks dated by today's standards, it was truly groundbreaking for the time and the film received acclaim from both critics and audiences. Naturally, with the film being so successful, it inspired a sequel, Toy Story 2, in 1999. The sequel was originally supposed to be direct-to-video, but Disney demanded it get a theatrical release, which proved to be just as successful, and in many cases, better than the original. (I personally think it's better, Jessie's "When She Loved Me" song breaks my heart every damn time.) However, after a decade, Pixar released what would be the end to the trilogy, Toy Story 3, in 2010. Toy Story 3 was the highest-grossing movie of the year and was the highest-grossing animated movie ever at the time (it has since become the seventh highest-grossing). It was also the third animated movie, after 1991's Beauty and the Beast and 2009's Up, to receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination. Although I've long said that my favorite Toy Story movie was the second one, I honestly think the third one has always been my favorite. I saw it in theatres with my family, and those memories still hold a special place in my heart. My parents and I still make fun of my brother for crying when the toys were in the incinerator. I really think Toy Story 3 was the perfect note for the trilogy to end on. It has everything you want from a Toy Story movie: both the old and new characters are likable (special mention to Lotso, who is probably my favorite Pixar villain), the humor is spot-on, the plot has many twists and turns, and above all else, it's a gut punch of emotion. Even the most uptight of adults cry at that ending. However, although most agreed that Toy Story 3 was the best way to say goodbye to Woody, Buzz, and the gang, they still made a Toy Story 4 last year. And against all odds, it not only warranted its existence, but proved to be on par with the insane highs of the first three films. The third one is still my favorite, though,and will always have a special place in my heart. 

7. And the beginning of another.

2010's Alice in Wonderland wasn't the first live-action Disney remake. Technically, 1994's Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, 1996's 101 Dalmatians, and the latter's 2000 sequel 102 Dalmatians predated it. But if Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland remake hadn't made a billion dollars, it's likely that our theatres wouldn't be cluttered with all the mediocre Disney remakes we see today. Since 2010, there have been eleven(!) live-action remakes, with sixteen(!!) set to be released at some point. Many people will tell you that the live-action remakes are soulless cash-grabs. They only exist because people think "Hey, I remember that movie from my childhood! Now it has super realistic CGI and a bunch of famous people! It's gonna be great!" And when I say "many people," I absolutely count myself as one of those "many people." I think that live-action Disney remakes are thoroughly useless, and I see no reason to watch them over the animated versions. They forget the qualities that made the originals so memorable. For example, I haven't seen the Aladdin or The Lion King remakes, but both of those seem to have really dull color palettes, which is a disgrace considering that their animated counterparts were so vibrant. They also like to add a bunch of frivolous garbage that doesn't need to be there. My favorite example of this is the Beauty and the Beast remake, which bafflingly insists on adding this backstory on Belle's mom dying of the plague. The original was already as perfect as a Disney movie could be, why the hell was this needed? I admit that I have fallen victim to the appeal of Disney's live-action remakes, and it's all because of the damn casts. When The Lion King was announced, I remember Nike and I were freaking out because of how stacked the cast was: Seth Rogen as Pumbaa, John Oliver as Zazu, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, Keegan-Michael Key as one of the hyenas, James Earl Jones reprising his role as Mufasa, and most of all, Donald Glover as Simba and freaking Beyoncé as Nala! The idea of a Childish Gambino/Beyoncé cover of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" was simply too exciting for me to handle. I had fully planned on going to see it with my friends, but our schedules didn't align, so it didn't happen. Then the reviews for the film came out and were pretty mixed, so I was glad I didn't see it. However, despite the criticisms it received, the 2019 The Lion King still made $1.6 billion at the box office. And I don't know if it would have ever existed if not for the success of Alice in Wonderland. Alice set the blueprint for the modern Disney live-action remake: famous director, star-studded cast (Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, and Alan Rickman!), overabundance on CGI, and overall mixed reviews from critics (the only Disney remake that seems to have unequivocal acclaim is 2016's The Jungle Book). But it was influential, alright, and it led to all the mediocre remakes we have today. 

8. 2010 had many blockbuster films, but it also saw the release of one of the decade’s biggest cult classics. 

On August 13, 2010, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was released in theatres in the US. The film was directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Baby Driver) and based on the Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. Although the film was a box-office bomb, it received positive reviews from critics and garnered a cult following. I had heard good things about the movie, and I saw it was on Netflix, so I decided to check it out for this post. And yeah, it's really good. It's kind of an acquired taste and it's got a lot of quirky charm to it, but I liked it. The main idea of it is that Scott Pilgrim, a nerdy bass player in a band called Sex Bob-omb, falls in love with a girl named Ramona Flowers and has to defeat her seven evil exes. The first thing that stands out to me is just how stacked this cast is. Michael Cera is perfectly adorkable as Scott, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead nails her role as the manic pixie dream girl Ramona. There are two Marvel Cinematic Universe actors, with Chris Evans playing one of Ramona's evil exes and Brie Larson playing one of Scott's exes. Anna Kendrick from Pitch Perfect plays Scott's younger sister Stacey, Aubrey Plaza from Parks and Recreation does the same perfect deadpan snarky stuff she does on Parks and Rec (I haven't gotten too far into Parks and Rec, but I like it, and Plaza's character, April, is probably my favorite), and of course, the eternal Avatar: The Last Airbender nerd in me has to note that Mae Whitman, the voice of Katara, did a great job as another one of Ramona's evil exes. I really loved the visual style of the film, which is heavily inspired by both video games and comic books. I loved the special effects, especially at the Battle of the Bands scene, and the fight scenes were endearingly ridiculous. To quote Entertainment Weekly's excellent oral history of the film, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is "a superhero film, martial-arts epic, coming-of-age comedy, rock musical, exercise in magical realism, and love letter to vintage videogames." It's one of the most singular films I've seen, and I'm glad I saw it. Despite its initial failure, people did start appreciating it over time, with Evans himself saying in the aforementioned oral history, "The Marvel fan base is rabid, but the Scott Pilgrim fandom is just as dedicated and loyal as any fandom I’ve ever seen." It deserves its reputation as a cult classic. 

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That's all I have for Part One. Next week, we're gonna talk about a few more 2010 movies I find interesting and then talk about some trends from the year. I can't wait to write it!

Stellar