By Joel Soto

It has been a tradition at The Hilltop Star to have a review of the best ten movies of the year. Unfortunately, this year’s movie season ended in March, just as some great movies were getting ready to drop.

However, here are the top five movies from 2020, and some hope that 2021 will make up for the lack of real entertainment at the movies (at least on the big screen).

First Disney had a few movies that were going to be released in March just as the world went inside. The first selection was released the week before the lockdown took effect, essentially costing Disney millions of dollars. But don’t worry, they can afford it. After all, they own Star Wars and Marvel.

Onward
Onward tells the tale of elf brothers who go on a quest to spend one full day with their father. The older brother Ian, remembers his father as a child, but the younger son Barley, has no memory and craves that fatherly connection. There is magic too. The quest of course goes off the rails and their mother comes after them, but the heartwarming ending is worth the watch. This movie only made 141 million dollars, not because it is bad, but because it was released at just the precise moment when no one was allowed to go watch a movie.

Mulan
The second Disney movie is a remake of the classic animated film, Mulan. Before you get your singing voice ready this is NOT a musical. Also if you are a fan of Eddie Murphy’s character MuShu, you will be disappointed as well. He isn’t in this movie. However, what is left is the story of Hua Mulan who secretly joins the Chinese army to save the life of her father who cannot physically fight. It seems like people either love it or hate it. Those who hate this flick, were probably expecting to sing along with the colorful characters. Those who love it, see this movie for what it is, an action adventure movie, that demonstrates that a woman has a lot to offer, even in the military. COVID hurt this film too, making only 70 million.

Bad Boys for Life
A long running buddy cop series, Bad Boys links the action and comic talents of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence together for another time. They bring the bad guys to justice, making us laugh as they do it. It is hard to believe that this movie series spans twenty-five years, the first installment coming out in 1995. This may be one of the only movies to actually make money in 2020, grossing 426 million, mainly because it was released in January before we all stopped seeing new movies. If you are looking for an action movie that will also make you laugh, this is it.

Love and Monsters
Released after the pandemic shutdown, Love and Monsters is the most unique of the films on this list. Need a movie that satisfies both a love story and an action flick. After seven years of living underground (it only feels like seven years for us in the lock-down) with the rest of the human race’s survivors, Joel Dawson reconnects with his sweetheart over an emergency radio. She is only eighty miles away in a coastal colony. The adventure of Dawson’s quest to get back to the girl of his dreams makes this quite the adventure flick. A low budget of thirty million dollars means that even though this movie was not released in the theaters, it still might just make a few dollars.

Birds of Prey
The only super hero movie to make the list is Birds of Prey. How odd that in a year after The Avengers finished their massive movie black hole, (and I know that Avengers is Marvel and that Birds of Prey is in the DC universe) that 2020 would see no movies come out. Margot Robbie plays Harley Quinn, and everyone is after her because she broke up with the Joker. It seems like every thug in Gotham City. She gets some girl power together when she adds Huntress, Black Canary and Renee Montoya to her gang. Though not as good as the examples from DC, like Wonder Woman, Robbie’s performance is entertaining, and that is what it is all about.

There are five of the best movies of the sad, sad year of 2020. We may not have many to talk about this year, but stay tuned for the top ten movies to watch in 2021. You can always finish off 2020 with the rental of one of these, all available to rent, and some of them for free with premium streaming services. Enjoy the break and have a wonderful time, NOT at the movies.