My Movie Blacklist

Disney released three remakes of their classic animated works in 2019, but I flat-out refused to watch any of them. I am so sick of these live-action remakes of their animated classics that I've decided to bestow upon them the worst fate possible: I'm putting all Disney remakes as of 2018 on my own personal blacklist, meaning I will not see them, I will not review them and I will not talk about them. I was inspired to do this by ERod (AKA the Blockbuster Buster) when he made a very similar decision regarding the DCEU.
You see, I've had enough of Disney using their classic catalogue as a means to make a quick buck. They clearly don't care how special the original is to anyone, and to them, there's no such thing as "leave well enough alone"; they will continuously exploit the audience's nostalgia and take advantage of familiar titles, just for the sake of making money. And most of the time, it's painfully obvious how much they don't care: they don't even tell the story in a new way, preferring instead to just rehash the original almost note for note.
This all started with 101 Dalmatians in 1996. It sucked. Then there was Alice in Wonderland in 2010, which I haven't seen, but I've heard it's a hot mess. Then, starting with Maleficent in 2014 is when the floodgates really opened. I hate both 2015's Cinderella and 2017's Beauty and the Beast with a fiery passion. Even 2018's A Wrinkle in Time is a theatrical remake of a Disney TV movie. In fact, of the Disney remakes I've seen so far, there are only two that I enjoyed: The Jungle Book 2016 is pretty good, but mostly from a visual effects standpoint – the story itself is far more cynical and nowhere near as enjoyable as the original – and Pete's Dragon (also 2016) is a legitimate improvement on a movie that, at least in my view, is not very good. Even when I was a kid, I thought the original Pete's Dragon was corny and pandering.
Now, you might think that the best way for me to express my displeasure with these movies would be to write scathing reviews. No. The purpose of a movie is to be seen and experienced by people. When you go to see a movie, you're supporting it by giving it money. When you review a movie, no matter how bad it is, you're drawing people's attention to it – you're promoting it. So the best way you can hurt a movie's chances of success is to completely ignore it. That's what happened with Jem and the Holograms: people saw the trailer, decided "no thanks", stayed away from it, and the movie bombed.
Now, just to make something perfectly clear, I'm not trying to boycott these movies or insist that you follow my example. If you still want to see the upcoming Disney remakes, go right ahead. But I for one refuse to support this stretch of creative bankruptcy any longer.

So you might be wondering, aside from all the upcoming Disney remakes, what else is on my blacklist? The answer is: only three other sets of movies.

Firstly, Pokémon. Yeah, sorry, but I just do not care about this franchise. I never have. Even as a child, I wasn't interested. My roommates once showed me the first couple of episodes of the show, and it didn't grab me. The closest I've come to watching the movies is former Channel Awesome producer Suede's crossover reviews, and even then, I can barely follow what's going on. I never got into Pokémon; I haven't watched the show or the movies or played any of the games, and I don't intend to start now. Sorry, guys, but this is one franchise you'll never see me mention.

Secondly, the DCEU. This is the big franchise that ERod also blacklisted, and… yeah, I think he has a point. I decided to give it a chance as far as Justice League, because that movie would supposedly be the Avengers of the DCEU, the payoff after four movies of build-up. Well, having watched that far, I officially declared this franchise to be a train wreck! I didn't like any of those first five movies, so I made up my mind to withdraw my support from that point on. I don't care how many assurances I hear that the following movies get better; as far as I'm concerned, the damage is done. I won't watch Aquaman, Shazam!, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman 1984 or whatever else follows. I simply no longer want to watch these versions of the classic DC characters. I'll never voluntarily see or have an opinion on any of the movies after Justice League, but since I have seen those first five, they're still fair game; I'll definitely comment on them if need be. Also, I'll still continue to watch the DC animated movies, because they usually present the characters in a far more appealing and respectful light. The same goes for video games, particularly Injustice and the Batman: Arkham series. I'm fully on board with the characters there, but their live-action counterparts in the DCEU are dead to me.

And the final item on my blacklist is all future Michael Bay movies. Now, anyone who knows me is fully aware that Michael Bay is by far my most hated director; I've made no secret of my utmost disdain for his work. Not once has he ever directed a movie that I've rated higher than 3/10. So, you might be wondering, why have I continued to watch his movies up until now? Well, believe it or not, I have gone into each one with an open mind. I don't want to always think the worst of him; I'd love to be surprised. I'd like nothing better than to be proved wrong, to be able to proudly say, "Well, guys, it's happened! Michael Bay actually made a decent movie!" Well, I'm done with giving him that chance! His last few movies have crushed any semblance of hope I once had. Transformers 5 seemed like it was deliberately trying to be as annoying as possible, and with Pain & Gain and 13 Hours, he had a chance to make legitimate, better movies free from the brainless blockbuster sensibilities. If he couldn't even get those right, then I officially give up all hope. So, as of now, my philosophy is: "Just say no to Michael Bay!"