Category: Film

Best Movies of 2016 (So Far)

It feels like at this time every year, everyone is always discussing how disappointing it’s been for film, though this year is the first time it really feels like it.

That’s not to say there hasn’t been any good movies. On the contrary, the high points this year have been exceptionally high. But I’ve seen a lot that’s ranged from just ‘ok’ to flat out awful. Despite a really interesting premise, Lights Out proved to be extremely disappointing, while I’m still not sure we needed to wait all this time for Finding Dory when we had something as special as Zootopia. I did enjoy Deadpool, though it wasn’t a film I walked out of the theater loving. Though I prefer it a thousand times over whatever Batman Vs Superman or Suicide Squad were going for, and The Neon Demon challenges those films for the title of Worst Movie of the Year.

Still, this was the same year that brought us gifts like The Witch, Love & Friendship and The Meddler, so I suppose I can’t be too mad.

So, let’s get to it. My favorite films of the year (so far).

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Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling Fall In Love In Stunning Trailer For “La La Land”

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La La Land may be months away from its official US premiere, but it’s making a pretty strong case to be considered a frontrunner for every Best Cinematography award there is. Seriously, in just a little over a minute, the trailer offers up more gorgeous imagery than most films released this year have during their entire duration.

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“Suicide Squad” Review: Is It As Bad As You’ve Heard?

The reception to Suicide Squad has been pretty unrelenting; since the official premiere earlier this week, it seems every single critic has come out of the woodwork with their own takedown of the film. A lot of the reviews I’ve read have said that the film is somehow even worse than Batman Vs. Superman and the ill-fated Fantastic Four reboot, which is a pretty big claim considering how awful those movies were. Now, fans of the film have written an online petition to shut down Rotten Tomatoes over the bad reviews, clearly not regarding that Rotten Tomatoes simply aggregates these reviews, and has no part in writing them.

As someone who is pretty disconnected from superhero movies altogether (except Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, the original Spiderman films and the very first Iron Man), I didn’t really have much of a personal stake in this fight. I had a feeling that Suicide Squad wasn’t going to be the best film of the year from the moment it was announced the film was undergoing reshoots following the disastrous release of Batman Vs. Superman, and the unbearable press tour that followed Jared Leto taking the role of The Joker. Nevertheless, I couldn’t believe that there was a film worse than Batman Vs. Superman, and so I decided to see the film for myself.

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“Ghostbusters” Is Very Good, Sorry (Not Sorry) Haters

When Paul Feig announced his all female led Ghostbusters reboot the last thing I imagined the film would receive was backlash. Then again, I forgot that the internet is filled with sexist fan boys living in their parents’ basement with absolutely nothing better to do than organize campaigns to lower a film’s IMDB score (all before even seeing the movie mind you) so I guess I shouldn’t have been too shocked. The mere thought that four women would fill the roles originally inhabited by men in the 80’s classic was enough to send these nerds into a whirlwind of chaos. That’s sad huh?

“Controversy” aside, Feig and his Ghostbusters (returning vets Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy and newcomers Kate Mckinnon and Leslie Jones) aren’t out to duplicate the original film. On the contrary, they use the familiar premise as a templet; Feig has provided his group of actresses their wackiest and zaniest playground yet, and while the hi-jinks aren’t as laugh out loud funny as previous efforts like The Heat or Bridesmaids, they still make for some of the most entertaining moments in film this year.

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Nicolas Winding Refn Can’t Get Out Of His Own Way: “The Neon Demon” Review

“I believe there’s a 16-year old girl in every man,” Nicolas Winding Refn told Entertainment Weekly of his latest film, The Neon Demon. The auteur also said he was inspired by The Valley of the Dolls, the beauty of his wife, the work he had done on some advertising campaigns and the vision of a 16 year old girl coming to Los Angeles.

Reading through Refn’s interview after watching The Neon Demon, it’s as if his inner 16 year old and hodgepodge of visions leapt straight from the auteur’s subconscious and onto the screen. There’s beauty in every frame of the film, whether we’re staring at Elle Fanning’s face, the gorgeous clothes and makeup or some abstract shot filled with lurid lighting. There’s also horror, gratuitous violence, sex, blood and cannibalism. While it all sounds exciting and looks great, none of it makes much sense by the time the credits start to roll.

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2016 Best Actress Hopefuls Include Viola Davis & Rosamund Pike

Trust me, I know we’re all still recovering from last year’s dreadful slate of Academy Award winners/nominees (I’m of course not talking about Mad Max Fury Road winning several trophies, but of course another crop of all white acting nominees and the inclusion of films like JOY and The Revenant). That being said, any news on the Best Actress category, in my opinion, is worth discussing. Especially when it concerns Viola Davis.

That’s right. The beloved actress could not only score her third career nomination (and the second in this particular category) but maybe even her first win.

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“Batman Vs. Superman” Is Just As Bad As You’ve Heard

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I finally caught up with Batman Vs. Superman late last night, days after its premiere and a tidal wave of bad press and reviews. Even some of the biggest die hard comic book fans have lambasted the film. It’s hard to keep an open, unbiased mind when there’s been such a strong reaction to something like this, but I gave it my best shot.

The nicest thing I can say about Batman Vs. Superman is that it’s a movie.

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“10 Cloverfield Lane” Review

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Going into 10 Cloverfield Lane I didn’t really know anything about it. I had seen vague, quick trailers on TV but had not really paid them any attention. Within the last month or so, however, I noticed the ads picked up and soon it was harder not to pay attention. Suddenly my interest was piqued. I noticed John Goodman’s involvement, and after a quick search online I found out Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Romona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World) was the lead. But I still didn’t know what it was about, and I liked that.

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10 Films That Could Be Nominated At Next Year’s Oscars

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Though it’s only been a week since Spotlight walked away as our Best Picture winner, several films have already been making a head start on the next Oscar race.

And what’s great about this news, is that we’re already seeing a bunch of films that could potentially leave us with a more diverse slate of nominees than the last two years have. Best Supporting Actress winner Lupita Nyong’o, David Oyelowo, Nate Parker, Ang Lee, Amma Asante and several others all have high-profile projects coming out later this year. And while that doesn’t fix the problem of diversity within Hollywood, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

Here’s a list of films that could find themselves Oscar nominees come next year. 

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