If the director is the most important crew member on set, in most cases the cinematographer is the second-most important.

A skilled director of photography can turn a mediocre movie suddenly into a critical darling or a good movie into an Oscar contender. But unlike directors, who can have a breakout indie and suddenly get snatched up to do the next Hollywood blockbuster, cinematographers are in it for the long game.

Many have to work a decade or two on independent films, shorts, TV shows, and commercials before scoring a studio feature. And even at that point you still have to compete for work with the legends in the field like Emmanuel Lubezi, Robert Richardson, and Roger Deakins to land a job. 

Here are 11 cinematographers who are beginning to make their mark in Hollywood — including the visionaries behind "Moonlight" and "The Last Jedi."

SEE ALSO: "Superfly" director on how making music videos for Drake and Rihanna taught him how to thrive in the Hollywood studio system

Mike Gioulakis (“It Follows,” “Split”)

Gioulakis has found success in the thriller genre with the indie darling “It Follows” and M. Night Shyamalan’s latest hit, “Split,” being the standouts. For both, Gioulakis’ use of natural light and shadows to amp up the spookiness is a very useful tool.

James Laxton (“Moonlight”)

Jumping around from low-budget indies to a few Kevin Smith movies (“Tusk” and “Yoga Hosers”), Laxton reteamed with Barry Jenkins (he shot Jenkins’ debut feature “Medicine for Melancholy”) to make “Moonlight” — and the rest his history. The beautiful exterior shots of Miami are one of the reasons the movie went on to win an Oscar.

Jody Lee Lipes (“Manchester by the Sea,” “Martha Marcy May Marlene”)

In the early 2000s, Lipes was the guy at NYU everyone wanted to shoot their short films, and since he’s been in high demand on the professional level. From shooting episodes of “Girls” to lensing “Trainwreck,” he’s worked on every budget level. His standouts, though, have been his beautiful shooting of tough stories like Sean Durkin’s “Martha Marcy May Marlene” in 2011 and Kenneth Lonergan’s 2016 Oscar-winning movie, “Manchester by the Sea.”

"Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" may have thrown some new dinosaurs into the mix, including genetic hybrids that could never have existed in reality. But the film doesn't neglect the classics, like T. rex and giant sauropods. 

To get into the spirit of the film, we here at Business Insider wanted to know what it would feel like, size-wise, to stand next to one of these dinos. So we created this graphic, which includes some of the dinosaurs that appear in the film.

*Note that all of the numbers in this graphic, which are taken from a series of dinosaur sizes provided on this Wikipedia page, are measurements based on scientific excavation and analysis and don't necessarily resemble some of the scientifically inaccurate dinosaurs that appear in the film, such as the Velociraptor.

SEE ALSO: Each year the government asks 10 simple questions to test the public's knowledge of science. Can you correctly answer them all?

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Any great horror movie will leave both fans and film critics unsettled and with a fresh and lasting impression. 

Critics frequently gravitate toward horror films that produce what they deem to be noteworthy innovations on the well-established tropes of the genre.

The Rotten Tomatoes' list we compiled here from the site's most critically heralded horror movies includes all acclaimed films that feature a "horror" tag. This resulted in a list that spans traditional horror films, horror-comedies, and outright horror parodies.

The list ranks the movies by an adjusted critical score that Rotten Tomatoes derived from a weighted formula to account for the variation in number of reviews for each film. 

The list includes classic horror-thrillers like "Silence of the Lambs" and "Psycho," along with recent titles like the Oscar-winning "Get Out" and the acclaimed 2015 film "It Follows."

Here are the 100 best horror-related movies of all time, according to critics:

SEE ALSO: Rapper XXXTentacion fights his own corpse in a new video for his No. 1 single 'SAD!' released after he was fatally shot

100. "Willow Creek" (2014)

Critic score: 86%

Audience score: 33%

What critics said: "A found-footage horror cheapie that turns out to be its creator's warmest, most satisfying work."— The Village Voice

99. "Split" (2017)

Critic score: 76%

Audience score: 78%

What critics said: "A rare, straight-up horror film from Shyamalan, Split is a thrilling reminder of what a technical master he can be."— RogerEbert.com

98. "Santa Sangre" (1989)

Critic score: 85%

Audience score: 87%

What critics said: "Visionary and haunting, 'Santa Sangre' is a mixture of blood poetry and gobbledygook that keeps springing astonishingly to life." — Rolling Stone

• Benicio Del Toro's hitman character Alejandro in "Sicario: Day of the Soldado" gets in quite the jam at the end of the movie. 
• You may have left the theater after seeing the movie with a big question. 
• We talked to the movie's director, Stefano Sollima, about how realistic the most shocking moment of the movie is.

Warning: Major spoiler below if you haven't seen "Sicario: Day of the Soldado."

If you saw "Sicario: Day of the Soldado," you may have left the movie theater with one major question: "How the heck did Benicio Del Toro survive that gun shot to the face?"

We certainly thought the same thing. 

In the sequel to the critically acclaimed thriller about the drug battle on the US/Mexico border, we are taken deeper and learn that it's now more profitable to smuggle people across the border than drugs.

Toward the end of the movie, Alejandro (Del Toro) and Isabel (Isabela Moner) try to get back into the US by paying a gang that sneaks illegal immigrants cross the border. However, one of the gang members spots Alejandro and realizes he works with the American authorities. This leads to one of the movie's most dramatic moments, as Alejandro is tied up, has his face covered, and is brought out to a secluded location to be executed. 

After a little back and forth on who will do the deed, the young gang member who originally spotted Alejandro takes the gun and shoots him in the face. The audience thinks Alejandro is definitely dead. However, a few scenes later, we come back to Alejandro the morning after, and suddenly he's moving.

With blood pouring from his face, he gets himself untied and takes off the cover over his face to reveal that the gunshot had gone into one cheek and out the other side. He's in some serious pain but not dead.

Is this just movie magic, or could this have really happened?

"Soldado" director Stefano Sollima said they put a lot of research into finding out if it was possible to survive that. 

"I approached that scene realistically," Sollima told Business Insider, noting that it's shot exactly how screenwriter Taylor Sheridan ("Sicario,""Hell or High Water") wrote it. "We used a caliber of gun where it's possible that you are going to survive. Then we did an analysis of what can happen. We discussed with consultants and it was really important to be sure that the camera angle showed where exactly he was shot. You can survive if you're really lucky." 

Turns out even for the most skilled sicario sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. 

"Sicario: Day of the Soldado" is currently playing in theaters.

SEE ALSO: "Sicario" sequel director says not having Emily Blunt led to a movie with no morals

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NOW WATCH: Why the World Cup soccer ball looks so different

There's a lot to choose from on Netflix these days. But honestly, it's not all great.

Even with all the TV series, cartoons, and movies (some original and some from studio libraries), it can sometimes be hard to find something you can sit all the way through. We're here to help.

With July here, there's a new crop of titles on the streaming giant. Here are eight movies we think won't disappoint you:

• "Interview With the Vampire" (available July 1)
• "Jurassic Park" (July 1)
• "Menace II Society" (July 1)
• "The Princess Diaries" (July 1)
• "Spanglish" (July 1)
• "Blue Valentine" (July 5)
• "Gone Baby Gone" (July 12)
• "Her" (July 29)

SEE ALSO: The 100 best horror movies of all time, according to critics

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NOW WATCH: Why the World Cup soccer ball looks so different

• On Monday, Helios and Matheson Analytics, the majority owner of MoviePass, filed a shelf registration to allow it to raise more money to help keep MoviePass afloat.
• The company hopes to raise up to $1.2 billion in equity and debt.

MoviePass' majority owner, Helios and Matheson Analytics (HMNY), filed a shelf registration on Monday in the hopes of keeping the company running for the next few years. 

According to the SEC filing, HMNY wants to raise up to $1.2 billion by offering institutional investors equity and debt.   

HMNY CEO Ted Farnsworth told The Hollywood Reporter the money raised would be also be used to make more acquisitions, and he told the trade he's already in negotiations on a few. Farnsworth also said MoviePass would have 5 million subscribers by the end of the year, and would generate $600 million in annual revenue.

But increased revenue has also meant increased losses for HMNY.

In June, HMNY said in an SEC filing that MoviePass' monthly losses soared to $40 million in May due to rapid increases in subscriber growth. The company also said it expected its cash deficit to reach $45 million in June. That's up from nearly $23 million per month in the first quarter of this year.

That explains the need for extra money — to the tune of $1.2 billion. Though HMNY is not required to use all the shelf registration, HMNY noted in the June filing that it would "require a significant amount of additional capital for MoviePass" that could potentially exceed $1.2 billion.

The shelf registration comes at a time when Wall Street doesn't have a lot of confidence in HMNY and its ability to be sustainable in the long term. 

As of Monday morning, HMNY was trading at $0.26 per share, on the heels of the unpopular news recently that MoviePass will begin to implement "high demand" charges on popular titles beginning this month (essentially surge pricing), and AMC Theatres introducing its own subscription plan.

SEE ALSO: 8 movies coming to Netflix in July that are worth watching

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NOW WATCH: Why the World Cup soccer ball looks so different

• MoviePass uses its social media accounts to spread memes and positive tweets about its service.
• But if you dig into the comments, you'll mostly see complaints about customer service.
• The difference shows the limits of brands trying to appeal to customers with web culture. If a company has underlying problems, people notice.
• MoviePass has pledged to hire more customer service representatives.

MoviePass is, for the most part, a beloved brand. For $9.95 a month, it lets people see a different movie in theaters every day.

But it also has some problems. Few independent analysts think its parent company can survive without an enormous infusion of funding, and some of its executives had legally dubious experiences with previous companies. There are also constant complaints about customer service, which can be difficult to reach even as MoviePass's subscriber base continues to grow.

All of these complaints come together in an unexpected place: MoviePass's Instagram page.

MoviePass uses its social media presence to share positive memes about itself, usually in the form of its signature red card photoshopped into classic movie scenes or screenshots of funny tweets. There's nothing unusual about a brand posting memes in a bid to appeal to young people and create a community around its service.

But if you look at the comments, something else is going on entirely. Most of the comments are of Moviepass users complaining about customer service and trying to get someone to help them.

The same thing is happening on Twitter, where MoviePass presents the same "hip" image.

And often the memes — whether on social media or through their merchandise line— fall flat.

The reaction to MoviePass's memes shows the limits of brands trying to act cool on social media. It can work if the people running the account have the right fluency in web culture. Wendy's and Moon Pies, for better or worse, have popular social media accounts that engender goodwill on social media.

But they can also overreach, like when Wendy's tweeted (and then deleted) an illustration of Pepe the frog, seen by many as an anti-Semitic hate symbol, dressed as the brand's mascot. Or when Netflix, which also has an admired social media presence, tweeted statistics about people watching "A Christmas Prince" that some people found creepy and invasive.

In MoviePass's case, there's a sharp dissonance between how people see the brand and how it presents itself and how people actually use the service.

While it's true that MoviePass offers a somewhat exclusive social status and community for its subscriber base — they get to see unlimited movies, other people don't — it's also a community that deals with a frustrating lack of communication from customer service representatives. The company has an F rating from the Better Business Bureau, mostly because of its lack of customer support. Posting Photoshopped movie stills can feel like a gloss over that.

Some MoviePass members may also simply see social media as the best way to get in touch with the service. Social media is a two-way street, after all, and representatives may respond more quickly on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook than the in-app customer service chat tool.

MoviePass is promising customer service improvements, in any case. During a Reddit AMA in June, CEO Mitch Lowe said he wants to grow the customer support staff by 50% this week, but it remains to be seen if he'll meet that goal.

Meanwhile, MoviePass is also hiring a social media coordinator— possibly with the mandate of making better memes.

A representative for MoviePass didn't immediately respond to INSIDER's request for comment.

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NOW WATCH: Why Rolex watches are so expensive

One of the scariest and most disturbing movies of the year centers around an artist, played by Toni Collette, who makes miniature models while dark things start happening all around her. While there's plenty of stuff in "Hereditary" which will make you uncomfortable, these models play a big role in the creep factor. We spoke with Steve Newburn, the owner of Applied Arts FX Studio in Canada, to find out what was involved in making these tiny, detailed works of art. Following is a transcript of the video.

Narrator:"Hereditary"" has been called, "The Scariest Movie of the Year"

Mom? - I don't like this. Dad, I don't like this. - What's Happening? - Peter! 

Narrator: And one reason for that is these creepy model houses.

Steve Newburn: In this movie, the models almost became a character in the movie in a sense.

Narrator: Steve Newburn is the owner of Applied Arts FX Studio in Canada. He's done visual effects for "The Dark Knight Rises" and "Inception."

Newburn: My team and I, we built all the prosthetics and models for "Hereditary."

Narrator: If you haven't seen it yet, turn back now, because there's some possible spoilers ahead.

Miniature models are used all the time in movies. Filmed in a way to make them look like a life-sized object.

Newburn: Usually with miniature work, the intent is not to see it. It's intended to duplicate a real thing.

Narrator: But in "Hereditary", the miniatures were actually part of the story. Toni Collette's character creates the models in preparation for a gallery. Steve and his crew were tasked with making about 15 of them to match the life-sized film sets.

Newburn: We had a thousand pieces at one point and really didn't know exactly how they went together.

Narrator: The whole process took quite a bit of time to complete.

Newburn: Ten weeks with a crew of about half a dozen people.

Narrator: The buildings included a funeral home, a preschool, a hospice and an accident scene. The largest of the models was a copy of the family home. And its exteriors were modeled after a real house.

Newburn: Yeah, I went down in 6-8 weeks before they started filming and just kind of surveyed the house. Took several hundred photos, a bunch of measurements, that sort of thing.

Narrator: He worked with the director to nail down all the details.

Newburn: Flooring, they'd sent us samples, wallpaper, they would send up samples. All that stuff would be taken and scaled down to the appropriate scale.

Narrator: The house was built in nine separate pieces. 

Newburn: We built the entire thing as a giant puzzle where you could remove sections of it to shoot from that location.

Narrator: The models that didn't need to resemble the set, were built using generic images online as a guide. Like the preschool. All of the furniture was either handmade or 3D printed depending on the complexity.

Newburn: If they were a wood finish, odds are we actually made them out of wood. If they were something that was metal or super detailed, 3D printed quite often.

Narrator: They had multiple in-house 3D printers working simultaneously, while outsourcing some of the work. They also had to create some creepy looking figurines of the characters.

Newburn: The people were, they were all 3D printed. Some of them were sculpted. Toni Collette for example, we took that from a digital scan of Toni we did in New York. The grandmother was a scan of somebody else.

Narrator: The car used in the most disturbing scene in the movie also had to look just like the one in the film.

Newburn: The car we modeled and 3D printed. It was a Volvo, I believe it was a V70. It's the exact model car they used in the movie.

Narrator: Some of the models were finished and then taken apart to make them look like they were in progress. 

Newburn: There was a lot of pieces of furniture, for example, that we made that we just like, let's leave that out on the side and it's on a shelf somewhere. She hasn't quite finished it. That kind of thing.

Narrator: Another important set piece was a house sinking into the ground. It was made with card foam and covered in real dirt and soil.

Newburn: Supposed to be showcasing time passing. And like, these things have been sinking into the ground like quicksand kind of thing. And as they get further down, they're also a lot more deteriorated.

Narrator: After all the hard work, many of the models were ultimately destroyed by Toni Collette's character as she starts breaking down.

Don't you ever raise your voice at me! I am your mother!

Newburn: They were all built to be smashed.

Narrator: Steve says that they actually filmed the scene for smashing the models, which ended up being cut from the film.

Newburn: Some of the ones that were actually intended to be break-away and come apart and get squished were built out of basswood and balsa wood. Other ones that weren't intended to be smashed where MDF, which is a high-density fiber, like cardboard kind of wood.

Narrator: But Steve says watching his masterpieces get destroyed is all just part of the job.

Newburn: It's kind of run of the mill for the miniature side of things. Most of the time when you're building a miniature, it's for the purpose of it being blown up, or smashed, or destroyed in some respect. It's actually the thing you kind of look forward to.

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• "Ant-Man and the Wasp" director Peyton Reed said a major challenge with this movie was that it follows "Avengers: Infinity War."
• Reed said it wasn't until the very end of making the movie that they decided how they would address the ending of "Infinity War."
• The director also revealed that his movie features the largest set ever made for a Marvel movie.

Before "Ant-Man and the Wasp," director Peyton Reed had never made a sequel before. So, obviously, he had some nerves going into the project. But how was it making a movie that's the first MCU release following the shocking events of "Avengers: Infinity War?"

"Everything was harder," Reed said.

"Ant-Man and the Wasp" (opening in theaters on Friday), Reed's sequel to the 2015 hit "Ant-Man," follows the adventures of Scott Lang, an ex-con trying to provide for his family while also being a superhero on the side thanks to a suit that makes him micro-small or extremely large.

The sequel, like the first movie, is light and fun but with a little drama kicked in as Lang's mentor, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and his daughter Hope — aka Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) — are desperately trying to get Hope's mom (Michelle Pfeiffer) out of the Quantum Realm.

But the movie also had to tie in the events of "Captain American: Civil War" (Lang is suffering the consequences of participating in the superhero showdown from that movie) and"Infinity War." So yes, we can see why everything was harder this time around.

Business Insider chatted with Reed about those challenges, how the movie has the biggest practical set ever created for a Marvel movie, and the drive to make a standalone movie despite being in the MCU. 

Jason Guerrasio: Were there comedic bits or elements that you couldn't fit in the first movie that found their way into this one?

Peyton Reed: Actually, the bulk of it is stuff that we came up for this movie because we're weirdly a sequel not only to "Ant-Man" but "Captain America: Civil War," because we couldn't ignore what happened with Scott Lang in "Civil War," and it provided us with this organic jumping off point. So, really, the bulk of it — the shrinking and growing stuff — was for this movie.
 
Guerrasio: Is doing this in some way like doing TV because the MCU is so popular you can reference another movie that isn't even in the franchise you're in, and the audience understands?

Reed: In that regard I suppose it is. But we also definitely want to make it its own viewing experience that makes sense if you haven't seen the first "Ant-Man" or any of the other MCU movies. Obviously, it's enriched if you've seen all the movies, but I don't think we approach it like TV. Obviously there's no writers' room, but if anything I think there's a real desire on my behalf and Marvel's to make this a standalone adventure that's really about the Pym/Van Dyne family and Scott Lang. 

Guerrasio: But then there's "Infinity War" that you have to address.

Reed: For a long time in the writing of this thing we really didn't know where we were going to go, or wanted to fall, in terms of the timeline with "Infinity War." We knew that we were going to reference stuff that happened in "Civil War," but it was fairly late in the writing that we decided how we were going to introduce the events of "Infinity War."

There were versions early on where we put these little things in the background, these little Easter eggs to hint that in the world at large "Infinity War" is going on during this movie, but then we finally landed on what we inevitably did to address it. And that was very late in the game of writing. Doing that allowed us to tell this standalone story and then put our little twist to connect "Infinity War."

Guerrasio: When I watched it, especially in the beginning, I'm almost on high alert that something has to happen that makes us realize the events of "Infinity War" are happening as this movie is going on. 

Reed: As we were shooting it and certainly when we started screening it after "Infinity War" came out, it was this idea are you looking for clues and trying to figure out how it fits into that timeline? Then when it doesn't do that people submit to the story and the characters. They truly forget about it. And so what we do at the end gives it more impact. That was really fun. 

Guerrasio: But there is at least one moment in the movie where you have some fun with the audience. You keep one character off screen long enough to make you think, "Did the Thanos snap just happen?"

Reed: Yeah. It just happened organically. It's so funny, coming after "Infinity War" definitely, like it or not, changes the context of our movie. And we always knew that would be the case. So it was really fun to kind of play with those expectations. 

Guerrasio: Was there any part of the filmmaking that came easier this time around than the first movie?

Reed: As a whole it was probably harder than the first movie. What did come easily was obviously having a rapport with the actors and knowing those characters. It really did help how we wanted to grow the characters. I have never directed a sequel before and my only guideline was as a moviegoer and what I personally like and don't like in sequels. 

One of the things I love in sequels is when they don't start directly right where the first one ended. I like when some time passes into the second one, the characters that you know from the first movie have progressed and the audience has to play a little bit a catch up to what's going on. And once we factored in the ramifications of Scott's actions in "Civil War," the idea that he would be in house arrest [due to his involvement in "Civil War"], that really gave us a lot to play with dramatically and comedically. And starting out having Scott estranged from Hank and Hope. That was really fun, everything else was harder. [Laughs] 

Guerrasio: How about on the practical side. Was there anything you guys built that we would assume is CGI but is actually practical?

Reed: The biggest thing is Hank's lab, that interior. Early on while we were prepping, I wanted that set to be a practical set because in a movie where they are shrinking and growing and it takes place in the real world, I wanted as much tactile, real estate on location and on stage. And it turned out that we designed and built what's now the largest set that Marvel has ever built for one of their movies. It has digital extensions, but the bulk of that set is just this incredibly detailed thing. It helps ground the actors.

Guerrasio: Are you shocked you got the okay for that? You would think that kind of thing would be bestowed to an Avengers or Captain America movie. 

Reed: It would be that shocking answer if you were doing a Marvel quiz, "Which is the movie that has the largest set?" I don't think you would ever guess "Ant-Man and the Wasp." But I think because a sizable amount of the movie takes place in that lab I wanted it to feel real. If it all felt digital or fake it really does take the audience out of it.

Guerrasio: Do you feel more of an ownership on this movie compared to the last one, which was originally developed by director Edgar Wright?

Reed: I had way longer development and prep time on this movie, there's no question about that. But I feel absolute ownership over the first movie. And I think for me coming into that movie, I certainly have done movies and TV with incredibly accelerated prep periods. Obviously we used Edgar's and Joe [Cornish]'s original draft, but when [Adam] McKay and [Paul] Rudd came in to do the rewrites around the time I came on the movie, we definitely felt free to change everything we wanted to do. We really added some major stuff, like the Quantum Realm never existed in those original drafts and Janet Van Dyne was never in the original draft. We kept the heist film aspect. But I feel absolute ownership over the first movie. The process on this was much more gratifying just because, okay, we have established that Ant-Man is a hero that people have connected with and now we can hit the ground running, that's really gratifying. But for me they are both my babies.

SEE ALSO: THEN AND NOW: The cast of "Ant-Man and the Wasp" before they were famous

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NOW WATCH: Why the World Cup soccer ball looks so different

Right now, all is well in the movie world.

The summer movie season is hitting on all cylinders and looks to be one of the best in history, while as a whole, 2018 is up 8% in ticket sales (which is huge) and could be looking at over $11 billion in revenue by the time the year ends.

That's assuming the good times at the multiplex keep going in the second half of the year.

With big event movies like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's "Skyscraper" and "Aquaman" yet to come, mixed with more dramatic but equally anticipated titles, like "A Star Is Born" and "Creed II," things are looking positive. 

Here are 39 movies coming out before the end of the year that you shouldn't miss:

SEE ALSO: The 16 best TV shows of 2018 so far

“Skyscraper” - July 13

Dwayne Johnson mixes a little "Die Hard" with "The Towering Inferno" for his next thrill ride. Here he plays a family man who has to save that family from the largest building in the world before the bad guys (and the fire raging) gets to them first. Everything you expect from The Rock is in this one — and more. He's sporting a prosthetic leg this time.

“Eighth Grade” - July 13

It doesn't matter if you're 20 years old or 70 years old, there are some things about growing up that are universal, and comic-turned-director Bo Burnham highlights them warts and all in this beautiful movie. We follow teenager Kayla (Elsie Fisher) as she maneuvers transitioning from middle school to high school. Filled with comedic moments, this is also a heartfelt look at the wonder of growing up and how when you're in your teens everything sucks.

“Blindspotting” - July 20

One of the most talked-about movies at Sundance this year thanks to how it looks at race, Black Lives Matter, and the gentrification of Oakland, this is a movie that's very hard to narrow down in a few sentences. You kind of have to trust us that it's worth your time. 

Movies have a tendency to make everything look more beautiful than it actually is — and locations are no different.

A movie can turn the Eiffel Tower, one of the most-visited attractions on the planet, into a quiet, romantic date spot. In real life, you'd be sharing a romantic rendezvous with thousands of other people.

From the unappetizing shores of  Maya Bay in Thailand, famous for being the untouched beach in "The Beach," to the cheesy tourist traps in Forks, Washington, home of the "Twilight" films, these 10 movie locations are nothing like they are on the big screen.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, is one of the most iconic structures in the world, which is why it has played a part in so many movies, including "Moulin Rouge!."

Paris is a must-see city, and the Eiffel Tower is truly breathtaking.

But that means you won't be the only one trying to appreciate the view.

But it is also one of the most-visited attractions in the world, so expect long lines, vendors hawking selfie sticks, souvenirs, and other touristy tchotchkes, and pick-pockets. 

If you're really committed to going, get ready to cough up almost $30 per person to reach the top.

The town of Forks, Washington, is the moody backdrop for all four of "The Twilight Saga" films.

Legend has it that author Stephenie Meyer had never even been to Forks, she just Googled "rainiest place in the US" and chose the small town due to its heavy rainfall.

With the mania that surrounded the story of Bella, Edward, and Jacob, it's not surprising that "Twihards" immediately flocked to the small town.

What a difference a year makes. This time last summer we were trying to manage through one of the worst movie seasons ever, with disasters like “The Mummy” and “Transformers: The Last Knight.” Now, it’s as though everything Hollywood puts out is a box-office hit.

The movie business is having a very good year.

With early year successes like “Black Panther” and “A Quiet Place” matched with the huge performances by “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Deadpool 2,” and “Incredibles 2,” the 2018 box office is up a healthy 8% from last year, and the summer movie season is up more than 15% compared to last year.

Exhibitor Relations senior box office analyst Jeff Bock said it’s quite simple: This year, the sequels are actually good.

“Cinephiles may not want to hear this, but sequels, spinoffs, and superheroes have been the guiding forces at the box office in 2018,” Bock told Business Insider. “The difference between this year and last, Hollywood is offering up more sequels that audiences actually wanted to see.”

To look back at how we got here, we’ve listed the 5 winners and losers at the box office so far in 2018:

SEE ALSO: The 39 most anticipated movies for the rest of 2018

WINNER: “Black Panther”

We can no longer say February is the bumping ground for lousy movies. “Black Panther” didn’t just shatter box-office records when it did a $202 million opening earlier this year, it proved that audiences want diverse stories told to them on the big screen. The movie has since gone on to be the highest-grossing movie of the year in North America, to date, with $699.8 million domestically. Worldwide the movie has grossed over $1.3 billion.

LOSER: “Solo: A Star Wars Story”

For another other movie, almost $370 million earned worldwide in just over a month in theaters would be a job well done. But not for a “Star Wars” movie. The standalone young Han Solo movie disappointed the critics and fans leading to talk that the public had finally hit “Star Wars” fatigue. This was a major blow for Disney/Lucasfilm, which now has to go lick its wounds and rethink how it wants to go forward with telling the beloved saga. (And how much content audiences can stomach.)

WINNER: “A Quiet Place”

One of the biggest success stories of the year, John Krasinski’s $17 million thriller about monsters that attack anything that makes a sound has become an international hit as it has taken in an astounding $329.8 million, to date. It proves that the horror/thriller genre is still one of the most inventive and worthwhile in the industry.

The US will celebrate its Independence Day from Great Britain on Wednesday. 

America's initial split from the British crown, which was codified in the Declaration of Independence, took a lot of political will and negotiation by the members of the Continental Congress, since many states were not open to the split at first. 

But it was the Continental Army, and the militias that took up arms in support, that would go on to win the war — not to mention a little help from the French Navy.

In honor of their service, here is a list of some of the best military movies to watch on the 4th of July.

Jeremy Bender contributed to an earlier version of this post.

SEE ALSO: The US lost track of $1 billion in weapons, and they might end up in ISIS' hands

"The Patriot" (2000)

"The Patriot" tells the fictional tale of a colonial father who gets swept up in the American Revolution.

Haunted by his exploits during the French and Indian Wars, and initially unwilling to serve, he eventually goes on to form and lead a militia against the British. 

"Top Gun" (1986)

Starring Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer, "Top Gun" follows Cruise as he attends the Top Gun aviation school. An aggressive but extremely competent pilot, Cruise competes throughout his training to become the best pilot in training. The film was selected in 2015 by the Library of Congress for preservation due to its cultural significance.

"The Longest Day" (1962)

"The Longest Day" tells the story of heroism and loss that marked the Allies' successful completion of the Normandy Landings on D-Day during World War II.

The film stands out due to its attention to detail, as it employed many Axis and Allied D-Day participants as advisers for how to depict the D-Day landings in the movie.

We've all had jobs we've hated and celebrities are no exception. But stars tend to feel backlash on the rare occasions they ditch their canned sound bites and offer up their real thoughts on their projects. Any inkling that an actor is less than 100 percent grateful for the opportunity to work in Hollywood is often met with derision, but their trash talk can be refreshing when you realize they hated their movie just as much as you did.

Of course, brutal honesty works better in some cases than others — and sometimes it's better not to say anything at all.

Below are 18 celebrities who bit the hand that fed them:

George Clooney

George Clooney knows "Batman and Robin" is an awful movie and won't try to convince anyone otherwise. The actor has also never tried to hide his motivations for doing it. In 2002, Clooney told the New York Times, "I've been in those 'Pluto Nash' kind of movies — 'Batman and Robin' cost $160 million — and you know they're a waste of money." 

Regardless of how bad the film might have been, playing Batman was a way for the actor to jump-start his movie career. Clooney said he signed onto the movie because he "was trying to not just do TV" at a time, when despite his starring role on "ER," he was still having trouble just getting auditions for movies.

Clooney was just as candid when he spoke to Total Film in 2011:

"With hindsight it's easy to look back at this and go, 'Woah, that was really shit and I was really bad in it,'" he said. "The truth is, my phone rang, and the head of Warner Bros. said 'Come into my office, you are going to play Batman in a Batman film,' and I said, 'Yeah!' I called my friends and they screamed and I screamed and we couldn't believe it!"

Mark Wahlberg

Mark Wahlberg has looked back on a couple of his movies with a sense of regret. The actor, who is a practicing Catholic, told the Chicago Tribune in 2017,"I just always hope that God is a movie fan and also forgiving, because I've made some poor choices in my past." When asked for specifics, Wahlberg said the 1997 movie "Boogie Nights," in which he played porn star Dirk Diggler, "was at the top of his list."

Wahlberg later tried to mitigate the comment by offering a clarification to People.

"I was sitting in front of a couple of thousand kids talking about and trying to encourage them to come back to their faith, and I was just saying that I just hope he has a sense of humor because I maybe made some decisions that may not be OK with him," he said.

The actor also likely includes 2008's "The Happening," which he called a "bad movie" on his list of regrets.

At a 2010 press conference for "The Fighter," he admitted that his co-star Amy Adams "dodged the bullet" when she didn't get the role that would ultimately go to Zooey Deschanel in the M. Night Shyamalan movie about killer trees.

Jim Carrey

Actor and comedian Jim Carrey condemned the "level of violence" in the movie "Kick-Ass 2." The actor spoke out against the film ahead of its release, explaining that he'd had a "change of heart" about the film in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in December 2012.

"I did Kick-Ass 2 a month b4 Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence," Carrey tweeted in June 2013. "My apologies to others involve [sic] with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart."

As the US celebrates Independence Day, you might feel the urge to watch a movie when you're not outside barbecuing.

But which movie is the best to watch?

Business Insider has picked the best movies to watch on 12 major US holidays, from the 4th of July to New Year's Day and Christmas. 

The movies include recent Oscar darling "Lady Bird," war epic "Saving Private Ryan," and the cult-classic "Office Space."

So when these holidays come around, keep these great movies in mind.

Below 12 of the best movies to watch on major US holidays:

SEE ALSO: The 11 best-reviewed movies of 2018 so far

New Year's Eve/Day: "When Harry Met Sally" (1989)

This classic romantic comedy closes with a satisfying, heavily quoted New Year's Eve party, so if you want to end/start your year off right, "When Harry Met Sally" is the perfect film to do so.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: "Selma" (2014)

Ava DuVernay's "Selma" may have been snubbed from some major Oscar categories in 2015, as it missed out on a director nod for DuVernay and acting for David Oyelowo, but it's still the definitive film about MLK, Jr. 

Valentine's Day: "Casablanca" (1942)

There's a plethora of romantic films to choose from that would be perfect on Valentine's Day, so why not go with the original, and arguably best?

• Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen shared a Twitter video on July 4 that appeared to tease a new Trump-themed project.
• The video featured footage of Trump mocking Cohen, with a line of superimposed text that reads, "Sacha graduates soon," followed by an insignia of the defunct Trump University.

Comedian and filmmaker Sacha Baron Cohen took to Twitter on July 4 to tease what appears to be a new project focused on President Trump. 

Cohen shared a video labeled, "A message from your President @realDonaldTrump on Independence Day," which featured footage of Trump mocking Cohen while sitting at a desk, saying the comedian should "go to school" to "learn about being funny" because "you don't know s---." 

The video features superimposed text that reads, regarding Cohen, "He's back as you've never seen him before." It concludes with the line, "Sacha graduates soon," followed by an insignia for Trump's defunct Trump University.

Already anticipating the project, actress and model Pamela Anderson, who appeared in Cohen's 2006 film "Borat," replied to the video saying, "I can’t wait for this ... all in good fun on Sacha's part." 

Cohen and Trump have a history of mocking each other that dates back to the early 2000s. Cohen interviewed Trump on his parody talk show "Da Ali G Show" in 2003. Trump tweeted in 2012, "I never fall for scams. I am the only person who immediately walked out of my 'Ali G' interview." Cohen's absurdist 2016 film "Grimsby" concluded with Trump contracting AIDS in a freak accident. 

SEE ALSO: The 39 most anticipated movies for the rest of 2018

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With the release of its 20th film, "Incredibles 2," last month, Pixar continued a streak of box-office domination that began with the release of its first film, "Toy Story," in 1995.

Though each Pixar film released has made the studio a substantial net profit, not every movie has lived up to the success of some of the company's true blockbusters.

Referencing Box Office Mojo's and The Numbers' sales and production statistics for each film, we've ranked all 20 Pixar movies so far by their global net profit.

We subtracted production budgets from worldwide box-office grosses to estimate which Pixar film has been the most financially successful. (This calculation doesn't take inflation or additional costs like marketing into account, so actual, adjusted net profits would vary, and increase for older films.)

Read on to see which Pixar film came out on top:

SEE ALSO: The 50 best movies of all time, according to critics

20. "The Good Dinosaur" (2015) - $144.7 million

Global box-office gross: $332.2 million

Production budget: $187.5 million

19. "Cars 3" (2017) - $208.9 million

Global box-office gross: $383.9 million

Production budget: $175 million

18. "A Bug's Life" (1998) - $243.2 million

Global box-office gross: $363.2 million

Production budget: $120 million

• Conservative actor James Woods tweeted Wednesday night that his agent Ken Kaplan, "a political liberal," dropped him on July 4 over his political views. 
• Kaplan wrote in an email (that Woods tweeted): "It's the 4th of July and I'm feeling patriotic. I don’t want to represent you anymore. I mean I could go on a rant but you know what I'd say." 
• Woods also tweeted his response to Kaplan's email.

Actor James Woods, an ardent supporter of President Trump, tweeted Wednesday night that his agent, Ken Kaplan, dropped him on July 4 over his political views. 

Woods shared the news of his dismissal with a screenshot of an email from Kaplan, whom Woods called "a political liberal" in his tweet.

Kaplan wrote in an email: "It's the 4th of July and I'm feeling patriotic. I don’t want to represent you anymore. I mean I could go on a rant but you know what I'd say." 

Woods also tweeted his response to Kaplan's email.

"My response," Woods wrote. "'Dear Ken, I don't actually. I was thinking if you're feeling patriotic, you would appreciate free speech and one’s right to think as an individual. Be that as it may, I want to thank you for all your hard work and devotion on my behalf. Be well."

Woods, known for his roles in films like 1983's "Videodrome" and 1995's "Casino," claimed in February that he has been "blacklisted" by Hollywood for his conservative views. 

Kaplan currently represents more than 30 other actors, including Winona Ryder and Kristen Stewart.

Kaplan's agency, Gersh, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

SEE ALSO: 31 celebrities who have publicly supported Donald Trump

Join the conversation about this story »

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• "Ant-Man and the Wasp" is a fun action movie that will put you in a pretty good mood coming out of the movie theater.
• It does refer to what happens at the end of "Avengers: Infinity War," but that's all you're getting out of us.

If you're still trying to get over the shocking ending to "Avengers: Infinity War," then "Ant-Man and the Wasp" (in theaters July 6) is a welcome sight.

As with the first "Ant-Man" movie, the director Peyton Reed ("Bring It On") mixes action and laughs, and this time he delivers one of the most enjoyable moviegoing experiences you'll have this summer.

It's been three years since "Ant-Man" arrived in theaters and proved that the Marvel Cinematic Universe could even make the likes of Paul Rudd an international box-office draw. The origin story of a burglar named Scott Lang (Rudd) who transforms into a micro do-gooder brought in an impressive $519 million worldwide. That's not too shabby for one of the lower-tier Marvel characters.

Since then, Ant-Man has been seen in "Captain America: Civil War," as he joined Team Cap in the movie's big battle sequence between all the Avengers. And the aftermath of that is where we pick things up with Lang in "Ant-Man and the Wasp."

Joining in on the Avengers' infighting during "Civil War" led to Lang being put on house arrest for two years because he broke the Sokovia Accords, and as the "Ant-Man" sequel starts he's just days away from getting his ankle bracelet taken off. Lang has been on the straight and narrow, mainly because since "Civil War," Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the mind behind the Ant-Man shrinking and enlarging tech, along with his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly), have turned their backs on Lang for taking the suit and rushing off with Team Cap.

But, as you'd expect, the two-year blackout finally ends between the three. The big reason for the change of heart is that Lang calls Hank to let him know he just had a dream about Hank's wife, Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer). Janet, the original Wasp, was thought to be lost forever in the quantum realm decades ago on a mission to save the world from nuclear war.

This news from Lang is important to Hank. Since Lang came back from the quantum realm at the end of the first "Ant-Man," which was previously thought to not be possible, Hank and Hope (the new Wasp) have been trying to build a pathway to get his wife back. Hank believes the dream confirms that she is still in the quantum realm waiting to be saved and is sending a message to them.

This kicks the movie into gear as Lang helps Hank and Hope in their quest to get Janet back home. But things get more complicated when Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) shows up and interferes with their building of the pathway, as she wants to use the energy from the quantum realm to heal herself.

What's great about both "Ant-Man" movies is that they give all this exposition with a whole lot of comedy. There's Rudd's gifted talents as a comedian (he's a credited screenwriter on both movies) as well as the comedy of the tech involved in "Ant-Man." When you have the power to shrink or enlarge anything at any moment, that gives you an incredible tool to keep the story from getting stale.

And having Michael Peña isn't a bad thing either.

A gifted character actor for most of his career, jumping from dramas to comedies, in "Ant-Man" he's really found his sweet spot. Playing Scott's buddy Luis, he is the glue to the franchise. Every time he's on-screen the movie gets a jolt. The most memorable moment in this movie is when Luis is given a truth serum by a small-time crook named Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) and provides way more information than Sonny was looking for.

Now you're probably wondering how "Infinity War" plays into all of this. The events of "Ant-Man and the Wasp" are going on at the same time the Avengers are battling Thanos.

All I'll say is be sure to stick around for the end credits to see how the two movies connect.

SEE ALSO: Morgan Spurlock's #MeToo confession crippled "Super Size Me 2," and a main subject of the movie feels abandoned

Join the conversation about this story »

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"Sorry to Bother You," the directorial debut from California rapper Boots Riley, has won over film critics with its surreal, inventive humor and sharp social commentary.

Starring Lakeith Stanfield (FX's "Atlanta") and Tessa Thompson ("Thor: Ragnarok"), Riley's film follows the wild plight of Stanfield's Cassius Green, a black telemarketer in Oakland, California, who achieves immense success at his job only after a colleague instructs him to change his accent to that of a white man. 

"Sorry to Bother You" also stars Terry Crews, Danny Glover, and Armie Hammer, and it features voiceover work from comedians Patton Oswalt and David Cross.

The film has a 96% "fresh" rating on the reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Several critics have placed Riley's movie, which he wrote and directed, in a lineage of great absurdist films from auteurs like Charlie Kaufman, Jordan Peele, and Spike Jonze.

"Sorry to Bother You" opens Friday in select theaters and nationwide on July 27.

Here are a few noteworthy reviews of the film:

SEE ALSO: The 39 most anticipated movies for the rest of 2018

"Rapper Boots Riley scores a knockout directing debut with this no-mercy satire, starring a breakout Lakeith Stanfield, that gets all up in your face about race and the media. Summer has found its real fireworks right here."

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

"Riley has clearly held nothing back and after 25+ years of using his voice and unique point of view in the world of hip-hop, this is as audacious an entry into the world of feature filmmaking as one could possibly make."

Lindsay Bahr, Associated Press

"It works fine as an outrageous comedy, but the perceptive commentary will likely give it staying power. This is the fearless satire that America desperately needs right now."

J.R. Kinnard, Seattle Times