Hamilton

#119 at the time of writing.

Wow, I did not expect to see a recording of a Broadway stage show in IMDb's list of the Top 250 films. It wasn't even released in cinemas*! It's a testament to how groundbreaking and impressive Lin-Manuel Miranda's theatrical feat is, reimagining the story of one of America's founding fathers as a hip-hop musical that's like nothing you've ever seen.

I didn't know what to expect when I first went to see this play in London's West End, and I was blown away by the density of verbal gymnastics - it's the best two-hour rap you'll ever hear. As soon as we got home, we bought the soundtrack and played in on loop for weeks, memorising several of the songs. So many great lines! From this to Moana to Encanto - Lin-Manuel sure knows how to pen a bop. (Give him an Oscar so he can be an EGOT already.)

In particular, I really appreciate the positive portrayal of immigrants - an important message in our current world where jingoistic nationalism is having such an ascendancy.

My favourite Hamilton thing? This video of Lin-Manuel performing the opening song six years before he finished the musical, for Barack and Michelle Obama at the White House. Genius at work. Inspirational.

* I have to say, I don't like the straight-to-streaming trend - I love going to the cinema, and if cinemas keeps getting bypassed they'll end up only showing big action blockbusters. I was especially cross about Turning Red going straight to streaming. Stop it, Disney!

Zootropolis (or Zootopia if you prefer...)

#236 at the time of writing.

Yeah, outside of America this got a different name, possibly because of trademark conflicts with a Danish zoo, although Disney are not forthcoming with their reasons. Anyway, whatever you wanna call it, I loved it.

I have a soft spot for Walt Disney Animation Studios features, with Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph being my latest faves (and now Moana, of course - delightful!), and this one is wonderful. It's a joke-packed buddy cop film starring a rabbit and a fox, set in a stunningly detailed mammalian city (full of easter eggs), with none other than Shakira rocking the soundtrack. And yeah, Judy Hops is sexy. C'mon, it's not the first rabbit that has roused the blood - Jessica Rabbit got the eyes popping too...

The storyline is thoroughly right-on in a way that feels all the more urgent for having been released in the shitty year that was 2016. (And, interestingly, in a way that Moana avoided, being unabashedly a fantasy rather than a morality tale.)

The story fundamentally changed in the development process*. Originally it was Nick Wilde's story (the fox), and secondary character Judy Hops was a seasoned and cynical cop. It must have been tortuous to work through that and get to this much better sounding version.

*The comments on that article are hilarious.