Ever since Club 50 slowed down, I've been looking for some new major project. Working down another big list didn't sound very enjoyable. I've grown to like my relative freedom of movie selection without a list. Ever since a friend challenged me to come up with a top 10 favorite movie list, I've become obsessed with that. A top 100 is something I've been compiling and eventually I hope to release some pieces on that.
That got me thinking more broadly. What are my favorite studios? I have directors, actors, and writers who I trust. Why not the studios that distribute the movies? They all have identities. With the rise of online and digital distribution, the big six studios aren't dominating the discussion anymore. There's plenty of "mini-majors" and just plain small studios distributing films. So, I compiled my big list of movies and Boxofficemojo into studio lists and got to ranking.
Now, to keep things interesting, equal, and timely to this blog in particular, I'm only going back to 2011. That's five years and some change. It marks when I started seeing a lot of movies in theaters and started writing Reactions. Also, I just really liked 2011 for movies. By limiting the years, I can get a better snapshot of my current favorite studios, and the major studios don't have the decades head start they would on an all-time list. In making these selections, I focused on the good, not the bad. It seemed unfair to penalize a studio like Lionsgate for releasing Twilight movies that gave them the financial flexibility to release riskier films like Warrior. Of course, I'm also only rating movies I've seen. That's obvious and fair. After all, a studio can't be my favorite if I ignore its releases.
One final note worth mentioning: Notice that I'm going by distribution not production. Simply put, production is too hard to trace. Several studios are often involved and they don't always create that much. Distribution is much simpler, and I'll argue that distribution feels more curated.
1. Buena Vista (Disney)
Inside Out
Tomorrowland
Marvel's The Avengers
Zootopia
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Frozen
Guardians of the Galaxy
Wreck-It Ralph
War Horse
The story of Disney is simple. They are doing everything right at a high level. The Marvel Machine has had some monster hits. The top tier of those (The Avengers, The Winter Soldier, Guardians) are popcorn delights. The competition between Disney Animation and Pixar means that both are upping their game. So, Frozen and Wreck It Ralph are countered by Inside Out which, in turn is countered by Zootopia. I'm saddened by how quickly forgotten War Horse was. Was it formulaic? Yes. Did I weep at the end? Absolutely. I call that a win. Tomorrowland is a messy little box office bomb that I just keep loving more and more. Oh yeah, and they brought Star Wars back. Not a lot of these hit me on a gut level but that's fine. No studio has as much command over what they are doing as Disney right now.
2. Warner Brothers
Crazy, Stupid, Love.
I went into this knowing what most studios brought to the table. I knew what they had that would keep them in the discussion. That is not the case with the WB. This is an eclectic list that didn't lean on one good year the way that others had to (although 2015 was formidable). Fury Road I loved so much that WB would've found its way on this list regardless of what else they released. The Dark Knight Rises had its flaws but the recent DC efforts have made it look so much better by comparison. Crazy, Stupid Love has cemented itself as one of my favorite romantic comedies. Pacific Rim taps into some of the same energy that makes me love Fury Road. The Lego Movie is an oddball animation hit that was way better than it should've been. The Nice Guys is a groovy LA Noir. Creed fills my appetite for inspirational sports movies. And there's more than this top ten. I just had to cut off somewhere.
3. Universal
Bridesmaids
Neighbors
Pitch Perfect
Pitch Perfect 2
Trainwreck
This Is 40
Rush (2013)
Hail, Caesar!
Fast & Furious 6
It's pretty clear that Universal benefited a lot in my mind from their association with Judd Apatow. This Is 40 and Trainwreck were both directed by him and Bridesmaids and Neighbors have his fingerprints all over them. Bridesmaids in particular is a comedy that just never get tired of watching. The Pitch Perfect movies have no ties to Apatow but reinforce the point that a good comedy is what I'm really looking for. Really, though, About Time. That's it. That movie rewired my brain. There's no way I can gush about it enough.
4. Sony (Tristar/ScreenGems)
21 Jump Street
22 Jump Street
Looper
Sausage Party
The Interview (2014)
The Night Before
Ghostbusters (2016)
Skyfall
Captain Phillips
Just like Universal benefits from Judd Apatow, Sony has Seth Rogen and that crew. Clearly, I love Rogen and Evan Goldberg as writers. This is the End, The Interview, and Sausage Party all make the list. Their movies all feel of a piece while managing to be wildly different. The Jump Street movies aren't directly tied to Rogen/Goldberg, but they are in the same family. Sony benefits from having a lot of good movies. Nothing in the list is a towering achievement. They are just thoroughly enjoyable.
5. Magnolia
V/H/S
Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil
Take This Waltz
God Bless America
Drinking Buddies
Life Partners
Compliance
Tangerine
The Wolfpack
Finally, a non-major studio. Apparently, Magnolia is dialed directly into my taste in movies. With the major studios, I've seen a few dozen movies since 2011 and I'm looking at the best 10 or so. For Magnolia, I've seen substantially fewer films and with a higher hit rate. I'm relatively obsessed with the first two V/H/S movies which are everything you could want from a horror anthology. Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil is a one joke movie that continues to find ways get keep getting laughs out of the idea. Take This Waltz and Drinking Buddies are tragic romances of sorts. God Bless America is just insane and I love it. Compliance is horrifying for how true it is. The Wolfpack is also a crazy true story. Tangerine is a great example of how to do great things on a limited budget. I hope Magnolia is around for a long time.
6. Fox
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Gone Girl
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Deadpool
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Spy
X-Men: First Class
I wasn't sure what to do with Fox. You see, if I was making a list of top 10 movies since 2011, I don't think any of these movies would make the cut. Top 20 isn't even a lock. It's hard to be too critical about a studio that consistently releases B+ movies though. They are doing some great things with the Planet of the Apes movies and the X-Men movies offer a full alternative view of the MCU. It's the fringe "prestige" movies like The Martian and Gone Girl that make Fox sufficiently interesting.
7. A24
Room
Spring Breakers
Under the Skin
The Witch
The Spectacular Now
Obvious Child
Locke
The End of the Tour
I'll admit, I broke with my "objective" calculations on this. A24 is very new. I haven't even seen 10 of their movies. They are the single most interesting studio right now though. The list of movies I've seen lingers with me. Spring Breakers, Under the Skin, and The Witch are all films that have basically haunted me since I saw them [in a good way]. Ex Machina and Room too, although they would still be some of my favorites on many levels without the subtle horror. The Spectacular Now and Obvious Child, and The End of the Tour are great character studies. Locke is a one man show, carried by Tom Hardy. There's a strong argument to put A24 even higher. And they've only been around since 2013.
8. Sony Pictures Classics
Before Midnight
The Raid: Redemption
The Raid 2
Tim's Vermeer
Damsels in Distress
Amour
Midnight in Paris
Blue Jasmine
Foxcatcher
I imagine SPC would rate much higher if I was better versed in foreign cinema. There's an international flavor to most of their movies. Woody Allen has been in love with Europe for a while. The Raid movies and Amour are some of the only non-English movies I've seen lately and I loved them. Before Midnight is one part "great conversations" and one part "gaze at how lovely Greece is". Whiplash doesn't totally fit with the rest of my SPC favorites, but that's hardly a bad thing. I'm still not sure that I understand Damsels in Distress, and I like that about it. I'm glad that Sony puts so much effort into their art house branch.
9. Lionsgate (Summit)
The Cabin in the Woods
The Impossible
You're Next
John Wick
Dredd
The Hunger Games
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Casa De Mi Padre
Sicario
Look, Cabin in the Woods and You're Next are doing some fun things with the horror genre. John Wick and Dredd are exciting shoot-em-ups. Casa De Mi Padre is a lesson in committing to a joke above all else. Sicario amd The Perks of Being a Wallflower are good examples of familiar types of stories. But, Warrior is what keeps Lionsgate in my top ten studios. I love the hell out of that movie. It gets me pumped up no matter how many times I see it.
10. Paramount
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Paranormal Activity 3
Young Adult
Selma
Pain and Gain
Interstellar
10 Cloverfield Lane
Star Trek Beyond
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
A lot of these films took me by surprise. I went into Hugo assuming it was a silly little children's movie that Scorsese made as a lark, and it ended up being my favorite of his movies. Young Adult has an ending that still stings to this day and I love that. I never cared about the Mission Impossible franchise before Ghost Protocol blew me away with some of the best staged action sequences I've seen. Selma is just solid all around. Paranormal Activity 3 is the highest point in that franchise since the first movie. Even Star Trek Beyond, Rogue Nation, and Pain & Gain are pretty fun.
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That's my top ten, however there's a lot of other studios out there putting out good movies. I know there's some smaller ones that would be in my top ten if I sought out more of their movies. Open Road Films is coming on strong with films like Spotlight, Nightcrawler, Dope, and End of Watch. IFC Films releases so many more movie than I can keep up with, although I've managed to catch the likes of Sleeping with Other People, The Babdook, Sleepwalk With Me, and Weekend. Fox Searchlight deserves all the esteem it has with recent films including Brooklyn, 12 Years a Slave, Me & Earl & The Dying Girl, and Birdman. Focus Features (Paranorman, The Theory of Everything, The World's End) and the Weinstein Company (The Imitation Game, Begin Again, Fruitvale Station, The Hateful Eight) are always around. Then there's the studios that didn't last. R.I.P. CBS Films (Inside Llewyn Davis, The To-Do List) and Paramount Vantage (Like Crazy, Jeff Who Lives at Home). All I have to say is anyone who thinks nothing good is getting released in or outside of the major studio system is crazy.
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