Dear readers, hey! Once more it’s time

For me to spread my voice in rhyme.

To look back on twelve months on screen —

The good, the bad, the in-between!

It’s been a year of angst and dread

And voices screaming in my head

(Forgive me for my lack of grace;

I’m still stressed from “A Quiet Place”).

But let’s have cheer — come, raise a glass

And bowls of fresh-popped popcorn pass.

Let’s celebrate, with meter’d glee

The films beloved by you and me.

Did any thrill more than “Black Panther”?

(Oh, don’t ask me; I’ve got no anther.)

Or hold a better bag of tricks

Than Cruise’s stunts in “M:I 6”?

Was there a more enchanting sight

Than Mary Poppins on a kite?

Or Paddington, in merry chase?

Or light on Saoirse Ronan’s face?

In “Star Is Born” Gaga did shine;

Glenn Close’s “Wife”? In short, divine.

Those “Widows” found that crime did pay

And “Spider-Man” went anime.

Christian Bale transformed in “Vice”

(Hey, was that Cheney? Best look twice.)

In “The Meg” a vast shark swam;

“Tag” was lame, but had Jon Hamm.

“Avengers” rumbled, “Deadpool” swore,

“Jurassic World” ground out one more.

“Fantastic Beasts” went on too long

And — “Mamma Mia!” — there was song.

In costuming, who didn’t savor

Blake Lively’s suits in “Simple Favor”?

Those vintage “Colette” frocks were great

And oh, the gowns of “Ocean’s 8”!

“Suspiria”? Too much, by half.

“Rampage”? Well, it made me laugh.

And, cause for happy serenades:

We’ve seen the last of “Fifty Shades”!

But in the old year’s final stroll

I think of films that warmed my soul

(Like “Roma,” with its soft-gray skies)

And hope you found some films to prize.

Perhaps ’19 won’t be too shabby:

It brings a big-screen “Downton Abbey”!

Just one last rhyme, and then I’m done:

Happy New Year, everyone!

Author’s note: With apologies and respect to Roger Angell, whose annual “Greetings, Friends!” poems in The New Yorker inspired my own annual tradition of verse.

_____

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