Avengers/The Lion King

Best Achievement in Visual Effects - Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones, Elliot Newman

The Lion King is next in the line of Disney animated films remaking themselves into live action features.  The dialogue is almost exactly identical as the original with young Simba being outplayed by his treacherous Uncle Scar.  Simba's father is accidentally killed in a stampede and Simba runs off into the Savannah where he meets Timon and Pumbaa who teach him a problem free philosophy, Hakuna Matata.  Of course, as with all of these remakes, there is an outstanding voice over cast and at least one new song.  When the Pride Lands fall into the depths of despair due to mismanagement by Scar and his minyan army the hyenas, Simba returns to reclaim his birthright and restore order to the land.  

I've enjoyed most of these updated installments and the visual effects are stunning (spoiler alert, those aren't real lions talking to each other), but if you've seen the animated film, you're good.

Best Achievement in Visual Effects - Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken, Daniel Sudick

Avengers: End Game is the incredibly satisfying conclusion to the Avengers franchise (I mean, perhaps I should say "conclusion," this franchise is hardly at the end of shaking its moneymaker, I assure you.). When we left off the last film, half of the universe had been snapped into oblivion thanks to Thanos who believed that he is the adult doing the right thing to restore order to the world.  And that means lots of our heroes are scarred at the unbelievable amount of loss they experienced when so many of their compatriots vanished.  When the team discovers a way to reset the world, the Avengers assemble once again to restore order, and to finally defeat Thanos and his evil intentions.

Now THIS is a movie you should see (make sure to see Avengers: Infinity War first, of course!). What a pleasure.  What an exciting ride and what a great arc for our many heroes.  Three characters seem to be definitively laid to rest (literally and metaphorically), but this film shows why nobody beats Marvel at the superhero game.  I loved it.