are, based on their Main Ideas. If I try to answer that in one post I’ll break everything. So here’s the Definitive List, and I’ll link each title to whichever post I chewed through the whole movie in, talking about its Main Idea and what’s good/bad about it. If anybody wants to know, this is the Reference Post for Disney Analyses.
Top Best
(#1 being the Very Best of all time, #10 being the 10th-Best of all time)
Beauty and the Beast
The Lion King
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Cinderella
Lilo & Stitch
The Little Mermaid
Sleeping Beauty
Aladdin
Frozen
Zootopia
(Disclaimer: I believe Tangled should be on the above list, but haven’t analyzed it yet.)
Top Worst
(#1 being the All-Time Worst, #10 being The Best the Worst Could Do)
Wish
Strange World
Raya and the Last Dragon
Moana 2
Zootopia 2
Frozen II
Winnie the Pooh (2011)
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Encanto
The Black Cauldron
(Note: Disney doesn’t usually make bad animated movies. That trend is new, in the last 10 years. Their worst is still usually better than any other contemporary animated thing coming out at the same time—with those top 3 as an exception. The sequels usually should never have been made in the first place, and therefore they almost wind up on the list by default. But that should tell you how morbidly-impressively bad those top 3 are.)
I’ll update as I go until each title is hyperlinked to a post.
If you want me to zero in more in depth about a particular aspect of a movie—the villain, a type of theme, a specific scene—usually I already have, because I mull each movie over for a long time. For example, I think I made around 8 posts about Wish when it first came out, and when The Little Mermaid Live Action was coming out I sang the original’s praises in like 12 posts, long & short. So just search my profile, I guess, if you’re interested! But this list is for animation and a bird’s-eye analysis of the whole movie, centered around the Main Idea of that movie.
To be on this list, a song must've hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during 2023 or placed on the 2023 Billboard Year End and if it made another year's list, it must've placed higher on this one unless I state otherwise.
The Bottom 10 Worst Sailor Moon Episodes! A new podcast I recorded this weekend with my frequent collaborator on youtube, Kai aka clearandsweet (https://www.youtube.com/@clearandsweet). Thanks for inviting me on the channel again to talk about Sailor Moon!!
I used to write reviews here instead of just Goodreads. I’m hoping to going back to that, but to be honest, I moved last year and don’t have space for my books. This means I stopped taking pictures for the BPCs, so I stopped taking pictures of my recent reads, so posting here felt pointless. I like ranting here, though. Next year, I will attempt to keep that up.
For this year, take an end of the year top worst and best. (And keep in mind these are obviously just my opinions! This list also doesn’t reflect the books I DNF’d because I don’t consider them read personally.)
Top 10 Worst Reads of 2022
10. The Themis Files by Sylvain Neuvel
- So this is a sci-fi trilogy where a girl accidentally discovers a giant mecha hand buried deep underground and grows up to be a scientist and studies/digs up all of these mecha pieces. The first book is genuinely good, but the arguments and plot lines the author decided to take with the rest of the series progressively pissed me off more and more, though. Not a bad series, just ultimately not one I enjoyed.
9. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
- I feel I’m gonna piss a fair amount of people off with this one, but it won’t be the last time in this list. With how popular this book is online I don’t feel the need to explain what the plot here is. The writing of this book was beautiful, definitely, it was the content I couldn’t stand. I’m a fan of angst. This was not angst. This was throwing a shelf’s worth of terrible things into a sack and shaking it up to see what happened. This was actively attempting to make people feel things in a way that felt so over the top and transparent that I found myself hardly caring at all. To me, this reeks of romanticizing queer trauma and just trauma in general. I’m just not here for it. Show me redemption or healing, they’re harder to write anyway since it seemed all Yanagihara cared about was the mechanics behind the story and not the story itself.
8. The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini
- This book is kind of a modern classic and it’s just… I’m not sure how I was supposed to sympathize with the main character. This is the story of Amir and Hassan, two boys in Afghanistan in the 70’s. Hassan’s father works for Amir’s, but the book spends a large amount of time trying to guilt you into feeling bad for Amir, our main character. That’s kind of the whole plot (without spoilers) as I remember it if I’m being honest. The writing was fine and I’ve liked Hosseini’s books in the past, I just disliked the main character so much it kind of ruined everything. I disliked feeling guilty for not liking him. It all kind of got in the way of the message for me.
7. The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
- Hannah’s a bodyguard and Jake’s a down-to-earth movie star who seems to have a stalker problem. I adore the concept, but I think my main problem with this book is that I hyped it up for myself and told myself I’d love it. That and the premise felt like a promise of some kind of danger and by the time anything actually dangerous happened it was so ridiculous I laughed at it. It’s the over-the-top kind of romance I tend to not like, though. I fully admit to skimming the epilogue because I also kind of hate romance novels that do that.
6. We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange
- Sunday Brennan gets into a drunk driving accident and then must swallow her pride and move back to New York where her large Irish Catholic family pretends they don’t need her either. This book is about family secrets, but all I really remember about it is that it did this really bad, gimmicky thing where every chapter ended with the same exact sentence, usually dialogue, that the next chapter began with. When it’s done a couple times to show that we’re in the same scene we just left only in a different perspective, or better yet the two perspectives don’t hear the dialogue the same way, it’s fine. But it was every single chapter. Every one of them. I’m also super picky about domestic drama books like this. Hard pass for me.
5. A History of Wild Places by Shae Earnshaw
- Honestly, I’m not sure how to some this up without spoilers so I’ll just say it’s a cult-y mystery told in multiple time lines. This is the second book I’ve read by Earnshaw and both were promising starts with disappointing developments for me. For me, the book was too predictable to be satisfying and, worse, often it felt like the most boring option was constantly being chosen. The concept was originally very promising, but the closer I got to the end and realized the twist wasn’t going to be fun or interesting, the more reading the book started to feel like a chore.
4. There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins
- Oof. I don’t know how I picked this book up and didn’t expect it to be a teen slasher. I’ll watch a slasher any day of the week (including the movie made from this book), but reading them is kind of boring. You know the tropes, so when they’re followed it’s anticlimactic. I also found some of the character interactions hard to believe, which didn’t help raise my opinion any. I’m just harsh on thrillers and any books involving “small towns.”
3. Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo
- When his BFF Eddie, and definitely not his boyfriend, dies of apparent suicide, Andrew moves into Eddie’s old house with Eddie’s friends to find proof that Eddie’d been killed. There’s also some supernatural stuff and dark academia themes. This is another opinion I feel will make enemies, and it’s one I’ve actually posted here before. I read this book so early in the year that I’ve forgotten most of the specifics about it. What I remember disliking the most, though, was along the same lines as A Little Life. So much felt like it was just there to romanticize queer pain and what was left outside of that was a disappointingly slow mystery that didn’t really surprise or scare me. I think the conversations this book attempted to have were interesting, I just also think it failed to pull it all off. I didn’t believe or feel these characters. I didn’t care for how much it read like Ronan (of The Raven Boys) fanfic. I was consistently annoyed with smart characters avoiding the plot line or making idiotic choices. Also, I’m still traumatized by how obsessed literally everyone was with Eddie, I’m genuinely avoiding books using that name now. All around, absolutely wasn’t for me.
2. Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma
- Romance is not my genre. Romance that is so over-the-top crazy unrealistic is super not my genre. This book follows Kareena and Dr. Dil in a retelling of The Taming of the Shrew. Kareena is supposed to get married before her younger sister and her family is pressuring her, also her dad is selling her childhood home. Dr. Dil hosts a TV show and wants to raise money for his community clinic. I disliked Dr. Dil so, so much and Kareena was so inconsistent. The book felt so unedited and contradictory that I was constantly annoyed with it. The balance between show and tell was nonexistent; you can’t tell me what these characters are and not back it up and expect me to like them or believe them. People’s reactions were crazy over-the-top sometimes and if I have to ask of people actually act like that in real life, I’m already frustrated. I adore The Taming of the Shrew. I could watch 10 Things I Hate About You on repeat. I wanted to love this book so, so badly and was so utterly disappointed in what I got.
And last, but certainly least:
1. Verity by Colleen Hoover
- Verity was one of my most recent reads (I, regrettably, listened to it while icing sugar cookies for Christmas) and it follows Lowen attempting to write the end to a book series she’s never read before by snooping through the original authors memoir manuscripts. Or something. I have never read a Colleen Hoover book before and bought this one through audible years ago because everyone seemed to love it so much. This book has a 4.4 rating on Goodreads. I would just like to know how. Honestly. Talk about unbelievable characters! There were so many unnecessary gratuitous sex scenes in this book and just.. laughable suspense. A lot of the “twists” in this book were so predictable, but I do have a few questions; namely, how the fuck did Jeremy’s milquetoast ass get two women to become so obsessed with him so fast? Also, do people actually think like Lowen does? Holy shit. No really, I have SO many questions and I’m fairly certain none of them are the kind Hoover intended for me to have. I could go on for hours but I’m attempting to avoid spoilers and also it’s a fairly loved book and I don’t want to verge into the territory of yucking someone’s yum or anything, I just genuinely don’t understand. 4.4! Jesus Christ!
Hello, everyone! Well, here we are, a little over two weeks into 2020, the Oscar nominations out, and almost done with our movie coverage for 2019 (though there’s still just a bit to go). It’s...
Overall, 2019 was a great year for cinema. We saw a lot of growth on the indie front and some good old fashioned fun in the larger releases. But with the gold comes the mud, and although I love movies...I didn't love these movies. Here are my picks for the Top 10 Worst Movies of 2019!
2017 Year End Ranked 100-91 (or the Top 10 Worst Hit Songs of 2017)
So, I’m ready to start my first huge endeavor as a music blogger. I’m going to rank the Billboard Year End Hot 100 for 2017, leading up to New Years. The plan is to have 10-20 songs out each day for the next week or so. And I’m writing about all of them.
This post is kind of special, as it also doubles as a worst list for the year. I debated whether to list these from 100-91 or 10 - 1 as worst songs, but I decided to keep with their overall rating to make the list process more cohesive. So the first song on the list is the worst song, the second is the second worst, and so on. So without further ado, my Top 10 worst hit songs of 2017 are under the page break. I might edit in pictures later, or I might not because these garbage songs don’t really deserve it.
100. Look At Me! - XXXTentacion
Honestly, **bleep** this song. I hated this from the moment I heard it and I don't think I've ever wavered from this opinion. The beat is the most obnoxious thing I heard this year and XXXTentacion sounds just as pathetic. Also, the lyrical content is hot garbage. From what I can understand, he's begging this girl, who, by the way, is not single, to pay attention to him. And there's a Corbin Bleu reference? Corbin deserves so so much better than this trash. Stupid references to being mormon because he has so many girls and taking a white girl to Starbucks also make my skin crawl. Not to mention, half the song is just “yeah” or “look at me”. It's a pathetic cry for attention and why the public responded I have no idea. Oh, and XXXTentaction as a person is disgusting as well. Beating a pregnant woman is horrendous and the fact that this monster gained traction on the Hot 100 sickens me. So yeah, XXXTentacion is human garbage hiding behind this musical garbage and I won't let this slide. Worst song of the year, no question.
99. Tunnel Vision - Kodak Black
And here we see our second example of a horrible person using an awful song to hide behind. Kodak Black is trash and the way that he tries to play his crimes in this song just confirms that. Have you ever stopped to wonder why “they” don't want to see you winning? Maybe, it's because you are currently accused of rape, did you ever think of that? So yeah, this is an awful attempt at trying to play off his crimes as systemic racism. And honestly, that's what makes me the most mad about this song. The issues of unfair sentences for black vs. white people is a real problem and one that can and probably should be addressed by the media. But the fact that the main song we got on this topic was by an accused rapist who 100% deserves the jail time he will hopefully receive only invalidates this topic and makes a joke of it to those who haven't really considered it an issue. Also, the song is not much better that Look At Me. It is better though, the chorus is kind of catchy and the beat is ok. Of course, Kodak Black ruins this by being completely incompetent on the verses and just sounding like an autotuned mess in general. So yeah, this sucks and is doing negative things to relieve and resolve the racial tension in today's society.
98. Body Like A Back Road - Sam Hunt
I have a lot of feelings about this song, and none of them are good. I don't even hate Sam Hunt, I've found most of his other music enjoyable and some of it might even have a shot at my best lists in 2014 and 2015 (a low shot, but still). But the fact that THIS is his biggest song and the biggest country song since Cruise (which again, I don't hate), makes me so angry. Where do I even start with this piece of trash? I guess the lyrics are an ok place. And honestly, I see no point to this song other than objectifying whatever woman he is talking about. Like, I don't think we get any content about anything other than how hot this girl is and what Sam Hunt is going to do to and with her. I remember that my sister got mad at Shape of You for objectifying women, but at least Ed Sheeran gives her a character. The woman of reference in this song could be literally anybody and the song wouldn't have to change at all. And the music itself combines the very worst of country and hip-hop. I don't particularly care for either genre, and I hate all of the elements that are used in the song. Especially the gang vocals, which seem particularly out of place in a sex song. But yeah, somehow pop radio decided that this was the pop country hit of the summer. It's by far the most relevant and overplayed song on my worst list too, so there's something.
97. Do Re Mi - Blackbear
I'm so confused why anyone cares about this song. Sam Hunt is a big star in country music, so I see why Body Like A Back Road was a hit, and there was enough controversy around the human garbage that I see why it was relevant, but who even is Blackbear? I googled him and he looks like you'd expect a person who would make this whiny mess of a song. Also, apparently he co-wrote Justin Bieber's Boyfriend, so that's a fun fact of the day. But yeah, this song sucks mostly because it's whiny and pathetic. I never saw the appeal to it at all. It's not a direct rip off of the Sound of Music, but it's the only other song I've heard that uses the note names like this, and so we have this comparison, which of course does it no favors whatsoever. Not to mention I saw Do Re Mi written out this other day and this is what I thought of, not Julie Andrews. So yeah, Blackbear is not only making a stupid, whiny song, but he's also ruining one of my favorite childhood songs. So he deserves to be here.
96. Swang - Rae Sremmurd
I wasn't going to put this on my worst list and then I realized how bad it sounded. This is the first song that is here for actually sounding like trash and nothing else. Swae Lee can't sing in falsetto, and that part alone makes this song bottom 10. And it has no redeeming qualities, so here it lands. Other than that though, I really don't care about it, so that's why it's not much lower.
95. Chained To The Rhythm - Katy Perry
If I'm being honest with myself, I've never really liked Katy Perry as much as some of her early 2010s fellow party anthem pop stars (Ke$ha comes to mind), she's kind of been just there. And this, initially, is another one of those just there songs. I think I put on a playlist at one point, and then quickly got tired of it and promptly forgot about it. The production isn't awful, but definitely doesn't catch my eye either. So why is it on the worst list? The lyrics. Listen, just like with Tunnel Vision, there is a place for a song about how influential pop music can be and how most people use it as escapism, but Katy Perry is not the right person to be delivering this, as she has long been a contributor to the mindless pop herself, and even bought into trends like cheap empowerment songs several times. So this is the least believable thing in the world. And she sounds so smug too. It happens every time she tries to have a message other than party on. Roar and Firework have a similar tone and they sour on me with every listen. Katy just sounds so untouchable here and it does not work for the message she is trying to convey. Also, every other single from this album has been a mess as well. So there's that.
94. Cold - Maroon 5
I can't believe that this song is getting the least hate of any of Maroon 5's singles this year. I guess people truly have stopped caring about this band. I know I have. We'll get to their other songs this year in due time, but this by far the one with the least redeeming qualities. This songs is the most ineffective use of minimalism that I've seen this year. I'm re-listening it now and the production is so bad. It's all drums and bass and none of it sounds the least bit interesting. I shouldn't be surprised that Adam Levine sounds completely checked out as well. The lyrical content of this song is not the worst thing in the world, but it needs some genuine emotion behind it for it to work, and Maroon 5 are the furthest thing from genuine I've heard this year. Oh, and Future is here and also phoning it in. I've never really gotten Future, so his verse just feels completely pointless. I guess my point here was that while Don't Wanna Know was a complete rip-off of the tropical house vibes, and we'll get to that, this song showed that Maroon 5 could do far far worse.
93. Issues - Julia Michaels
I think I just recently realized how flawed this song is. We'll get the obvious things out of the way first: Julia Michaels is not a good singer at all, and a minimalistic song was not a good route for her first single. And it's a shame, because she has real songwriting talent, as seen by some of her work with Selena Gomez. But yeah, she is not doing well on this song. And the beat, while better that Cold, also kind of just plods along. I think a song in this vein can definitely be pulled off, but the artist needs to have vocal talent and charisma, which Michaels doesn't.. The lyrical content is also very immature. I remember listening to this song when it first came out because the lyrics were interesting, but I've since realized that they are just stupid. If you judge me then I'll judge you is such a childish sentiment and the fact that this person seems borderline abusive definitely doesn't help this song. This is just a flawed song about a toxic relationship and nothing about it works.
92. Passionfruit - Drake
Ummm, this one is kind of hard to explain. I think it's probably the most controversial choice for my worst list and I guess I understand why some people can tolerate it. I think it just sounds awful. It's mostly the beat, which sounds like music you hear when you are on hold, and that drives me up the wall. And it's not like Drake is interesting enough to make up for the awful waiting room music instrumentation. Apparently this song is about struggling to keep up a long distance relationship. Honestly, the lyrics are cryptic enough that I might not have figured that out, which is kind of an issue because I want to be focused on them over the beat. So yeah, I just personally can't stand this one.
91. I Don't Want To Live Forever - ZAYN and Taylor Swift
This wasn't originally supposed to be this low, but I moved it down when I realized the potential that it squandered. While I hate everything about 50 Shades Of Grey, I really liked some of the songs on the soundtrack, and so I was excited for the soundtrack to the sequel. But instead of Love Me Like You Do, this was the big hit from the album. And so much of what I said about some of the other songs applies to this. I don't like Zayn to begin with, and after the disaster that was Pillowtalk, I don't know why anyone ever chose him to make this songs. Niall Horan writes better sex songs that Zayn, and that's saying something consider the persona of both former 1D members. But yeah, this is kind of Pillowtalk part 2. The atmosphere is okay, and the lyrical content is fine I guess, but I just can't buy Zayn at all, especially in that falsetto. Taylor sounds okay, but again, if you were going for sexy, this is not the song to put Taylor Swift on. Sure, she can be sexy, but she needs lighter production to pull it off (see Wildest Dreams). Also, there is no chemistry here at all. So yeah, if this was a generic single from a Zayn album, I might not hate it this much, but the fact that it squandered Taylor Swift's potential pulls it down about 25 spots on this list for me. Also, it holds up terribly to overplay, and I (and radio) overplayed it. So yeah, I might regret this in a month or so, but this is bottom 10 for me currently.
