2016: you're half over and this is all you've got?
Actually, 2016 hasn't been a terrible year for movies. In fact, it's been pretty good. There are just somany movies coming out, on so many platforms, both theatrical and otherwise (with a number of high-profile titles still to be released from streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon Studios), that it's hard to keep up (especially considering how much excellent television is out there). Watching everything, across streaming platforms and art house and mainstream cinemas, is an epic task indeed and taking the collective temperature of movie going is a challenge.
Deadpool
Who saw this coming, huh? A second-string Marvel character, who was elevated to cult status, and given a movie whose teensy budget couldn't stop it from doing considerably better than the latest "X-Men" movie (of which it is ostensibly a spin-off) and the endlessly hyped "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice." Nuts. But it's easy to see the appeal in "Deadpool:" it's minuscule budget meant that it could never go too over-the-top in terms of empty spectacle and extraneous characters.
Watching it again, it's almost shocking how lean it is -- there are basically two action set pieces and a bunch of flashbacks. But it works. Largely because of its self-aware, smart-ass vibe (courtesy of Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick's fourth-wall-breaking screenplay and the utter commitment of star Ryan Reynolds) and the casual inventiveness that former animator and David Fincher protégé Tim Miller brought to the film's blood-soaked action sequences. It did feel like a breath of fresh air in the overcrowded superhero market. Sure, it would have been nice to see more characters and bigger set pieces. But that's what the sequel is for.
10 Cloverfield Lane
For a long time, people didn't even know what "10 Cloverfield Lane" was. For a long time it was just a self-contained thriller about a young woman (a winning Mary Elizabeth Winstead) trapped in a bunker with a survivalist (John Goodman) called "The Cellar." But when the trailer was revealed, in the wake of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," it carried with it the ominous distinction of the word "Cloverfield," last seen in J.J. Abrams's found-footage monster movie.
So what was the connection to the first movie? Was it a direct sequel? Spin-off?Something? As it turns out, there wasn't much that linked the movies, if anything, beyond the title. But it also didn't really matter. "10 Cloverfield Lane" is a wonderfully assured directorial debut from Dan Trachtenberg, working from a twisty script co-written by "Whiplash" wunderkind Damien Chazelle, that manages to surprise, excite, and engage.
A Bigger Splash
What a hoot. "I Am Love" director Luca Guadagnino reteams with Tilda Swinton for a sweaty, sexy, campy, all-around-delightful romp in the Italian countryside. That's where Swinton's aging rock goddess (suffering from some kind of throat infection) is staying with her young boy toy (Matthias Schoenaerts), when Swinton's ex-flame (an electric Ralph Fiennes) comes to visit with his nubile daughter (Dakota Johnson).
Part of the fun of "A Bigger Splash" is just watching these actors play (frequently while naked or nearly-naked). The tragic-comic thriller elements act as wonderful embroidery, but it's really Guadagnino's keen observation of the characters and its accompanying decadence that make it such an unapologetic blast.
Captain America: Civil War
At least in terms of scope and number of characters, "Captain America: Civil War" was the biggest movie yet in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And for many it was also the best. In this outing, Captain America (Chris Evans), has to untangle a global conspiracy and also separate his feelings on a piece of legislature that would severely limit his actions (and the actions of the Avengers) from his friendship with Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.)
On top of that there are the introduction of several new characters to the MCU, including Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland). Yet, somehow, the movie never feels overstuffed or unwieldy (criticisms that were leveled against last year's "Avengers: Age of Ultron" fairly regularly), and ends not on the precipice of some kind of world ending but instead on a highly emotional showdown between two friends, who each have their own point of view.
Eddie the Eagle
For some reason, audiences slept on this raucous, sort-of-true story about lousy Olympic skier Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards (Taron Egerton). "Eddie the Eagle" was a zippy, heartwarming sports movie that featured a terrific Hugh Jackman performance, exciting action sequences, and an authentically lo-fi '80s score (by Matthew Margeson). It's the rare movie that makes you feel good without making you feel bad about it making you feel good.
Everybody Wants Some
It isn't a surprise that director Richard Linklater would follow up his exhausting, decades-in-the-making masterpiece "Boyhood" with a good-hearted lark (shrewdly marketed as the "spiritual sequel" to his high school-set classic "Dazed and Confused"). It also isn't a surprise that the resulting film, "Everybody Wants Some!!," might be just as good.
Set in the first week before college classes begin in the fall of 1980, Linklater follows a group of goofy baseball-playing freshman, as they bungle relationships and get kicked out of disco parties. It's virtually plot-less and all about just hanging around with these characters (at times oafish, always lovable) as they take their first bumbling steps towards adulthood. As with "Boyhood," Linklater really pays attention to time and place, giving amazing cultural and emotional specificity to this moment in time, both historically and in these characters' lives. Linklater makes masterpieces seem effortless; even with larks like this he manages to imbibe them with something profound.
Finding Dory
While not the out-and-out triumph of "Finding Nemo," "Finding Dory" is a sweet, inclusive animated fable about finding your place in the world (and overcoming the impossible to do so). Returning director Andrew Stanton stages the movie ingeniously, painting Dory (Ellen DeGeneres, in fine form once again) and her aquatic confederates (some new, some familiar) into wonderfully restrictive corners and then watching as they flop, swim, dive, and dash out of them. It's the best kind of sequel -- one that expands the world of the original without making the earlier film feel smaller by comparison -- and another dazzling Disney-Pixar triumph.
Green Room
A freak accident took the life of Anton Yelchin this year, but it will do nothing to dampen his legacy, especially after performances as bold and energetic as the one he gives in "Green Room." In the film he plays a punk rocker whose desperate poverty brings him to a neo-Nazi club in the Pacific Northwest. From there things go from bad ... to worse. Many have complained about the sheer level of violence in "Blue Ruin" director Jeremy Saulnier's latest film. And it's true -- this movie is violent; this is totally the stuff of exploitation drive-in double features. But it's also super clever, beautifully shot, and the suspense set pieces that Saulnier stages with the confidence and poise of a true master of the genre will leave you breathless.
Actually, 2016 hasn't been a terrible year for movies. In fact, it's been pretty good. There are just somany movies coming out, on so many platforms, both theatrical and otherwise (with a number of high-profile titles still to be released from streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon Studios), that it's hard to keep up (especially considering how much excellent television is out there). Watching everything, across streaming platforms and art house and mainstream cinemas, is an epic task indeed and taking the collective temperature of movie going is a challenge.
Deadpool
Who saw this coming, huh? A second-string Marvel character, who was elevated to cult status, and given a movie whose teensy budget couldn't stop it from doing considerably better than the latest "X-Men" movie (of which it is ostensibly a spin-off) and the endlessly hyped "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice." Nuts. But it's easy to see the appeal in "Deadpool:" it's minuscule budget meant that it could never go too over-the-top in terms of empty spectacle and extraneous characters.
Watching it again, it's almost shocking how lean it is -- there are basically two action set pieces and a bunch of flashbacks. But it works. Largely because of its self-aware, smart-ass vibe (courtesy of Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick's fourth-wall-breaking screenplay and the utter commitment of star Ryan Reynolds) and the casual inventiveness that former animator and David Fincher protégé Tim Miller brought to the film's blood-soaked action sequences. It did feel like a breath of fresh air in the overcrowded superhero market. Sure, it would have been nice to see more characters and bigger set pieces. But that's what the sequel is for.
10 Cloverfield Lane
For a long time, people didn't even know what "10 Cloverfield Lane" was. For a long time it was just a self-contained thriller about a young woman (a winning Mary Elizabeth Winstead) trapped in a bunker with a survivalist (John Goodman) called "The Cellar." But when the trailer was revealed, in the wake of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," it carried with it the ominous distinction of the word "Cloverfield," last seen in J.J. Abrams's found-footage monster movie.
So what was the connection to the first movie? Was it a direct sequel? Spin-off?Something? As it turns out, there wasn't much that linked the movies, if anything, beyond the title. But it also didn't really matter. "10 Cloverfield Lane" is a wonderfully assured directorial debut from Dan Trachtenberg, working from a twisty script co-written by "Whiplash" wunderkind Damien Chazelle, that manages to surprise, excite, and engage.
A Bigger Splash
What a hoot. "I Am Love" director Luca Guadagnino reteams with Tilda Swinton for a sweaty, sexy, campy, all-around-delightful romp in the Italian countryside. That's where Swinton's aging rock goddess (suffering from some kind of throat infection) is staying with her young boy toy (Matthias Schoenaerts), when Swinton's ex-flame (an electric Ralph Fiennes) comes to visit with his nubile daughter (Dakota Johnson).
Part of the fun of "A Bigger Splash" is just watching these actors play (frequently while naked or nearly-naked). The tragic-comic thriller elements act as wonderful embroidery, but it's really Guadagnino's keen observation of the characters and its accompanying decadence that make it such an unapologetic blast.
Captain America: Civil War
At least in terms of scope and number of characters, "Captain America: Civil War" was the biggest movie yet in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And for many it was also the best. In this outing, Captain America (Chris Evans), has to untangle a global conspiracy and also separate his feelings on a piece of legislature that would severely limit his actions (and the actions of the Avengers) from his friendship with Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.)
On top of that there are the introduction of several new characters to the MCU, including Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland). Yet, somehow, the movie never feels overstuffed or unwieldy (criticisms that were leveled against last year's "Avengers: Age of Ultron" fairly regularly), and ends not on the precipice of some kind of world ending but instead on a highly emotional showdown between two friends, who each have their own point of view.
Eddie the Eagle
For some reason, audiences slept on this raucous, sort-of-true story about lousy Olympic skier Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards (Taron Egerton). "Eddie the Eagle" was a zippy, heartwarming sports movie that featured a terrific Hugh Jackman performance, exciting action sequences, and an authentically lo-fi '80s score (by Matthew Margeson). It's the rare movie that makes you feel good without making you feel bad about it making you feel good.
Everybody Wants Some
It isn't a surprise that director Richard Linklater would follow up his exhausting, decades-in-the-making masterpiece "Boyhood" with a good-hearted lark (shrewdly marketed as the "spiritual sequel" to his high school-set classic "Dazed and Confused"). It also isn't a surprise that the resulting film, "Everybody Wants Some!!," might be just as good.
Set in the first week before college classes begin in the fall of 1980, Linklater follows a group of goofy baseball-playing freshman, as they bungle relationships and get kicked out of disco parties. It's virtually plot-less and all about just hanging around with these characters (at times oafish, always lovable) as they take their first bumbling steps towards adulthood. As with "Boyhood," Linklater really pays attention to time and place, giving amazing cultural and emotional specificity to this moment in time, both historically and in these characters' lives. Linklater makes masterpieces seem effortless; even with larks like this he manages to imbibe them with something profound.
Finding Dory
While not the out-and-out triumph of "Finding Nemo," "Finding Dory" is a sweet, inclusive animated fable about finding your place in the world (and overcoming the impossible to do so). Returning director Andrew Stanton stages the movie ingeniously, painting Dory (Ellen DeGeneres, in fine form once again) and her aquatic confederates (some new, some familiar) into wonderfully restrictive corners and then watching as they flop, swim, dive, and dash out of them. It's the best kind of sequel -- one that expands the world of the original without making the earlier film feel smaller by comparison -- and another dazzling Disney-Pixar triumph.
Green Room
A freak accident took the life of Anton Yelchin this year, but it will do nothing to dampen his legacy, especially after performances as bold and energetic as the one he gives in "Green Room." In the film he plays a punk rocker whose desperate poverty brings him to a neo-Nazi club in the Pacific Northwest. From there things go from bad ... to worse. Many have complained about the sheer level of violence in "Blue Ruin" director Jeremy Saulnier's latest film. And it's true -- this movie is violent; this is totally the stuff of exploitation drive-in double features. But it's also super clever, beautifully shot, and the suspense set pieces that Saulnier stages with the confidence and poise of a true master of the genre will leave you breathless.
This is the type of movie that, if you watch it at home, you'll probably find yourself pacing around the room because you're so damn anxious. Throw in Patrick Stewartas a chilling Nazi mastermind, and you've got, well, the stuff of exploitation drive-in double features.
Knight of Cups
Something odd has happened in the years since Terrence Malick emerged from his self-imposed exile: people have started to take him for granted. Case in point: the muted response to "Knight of Cups," his loosest, most freewheeling, film yet. Christian Bale plays a screenwriter (or something–it's never entirely clear) pinballing around modern day Hollywood, looking back on a series of doomed relationships and ahead to one that might not be so fraught.
Big name actors careen in and out of frame (Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto); most don't speak, outside of ethereal voiceovers and Bale barely says a word. But it's just as evocative as any of Malick's earlier masterpieces, even if you have to work harder for it. He seems like a filmmaker who, as he gets older, is less concerned in traditional narrative frameworks (it's telling that his next film will be a cosmic IMAX documentary about the creation of the universe) but more and more concerned with characters and, essentially, what makes them human.
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising
While there was much written about the disappointing returns of this summer's bumper crop of studio-approved sequels, there was tragically little emphasis given to this year's most subversive studio comedy. "Neighbors 2" felt like a rebuke not only to the unchecked chauvinist hedonism of the first, equally brilliant (but for different reasons) film and pretty much every dudes-party-in-college-movie since "Animal House," but also as a sharp course correction to the earlier films in the career of co-creator and star Seth Rogen. (He admitted as much in interviews given around the time of the film's release.)
In this very silly sequel, Rogen and his wife (played once again by Rose Byrne) are expecting their second child and trying to sell their house, to move to a bigger place outside of town. Of course, all of this is thrown into jeopardy when a female sorority (led by Chloe Grace Moretz), attempting to operate outside of the constrictive guidelines of Greek society, open up shop next door. They just want to be able to party like the dudes. And thus begins a nearly feature-length dialogue about sexism, feminism, and the tragic double standard that plagues women in college just as much as women in film. And even without reading into the political subtext, "Neighbors 2" is an epic howler.
Even if the film didn't make as much money as the original, this will go down as one of the greatest, most progressive comedy sequels of all time.
The Invitation
Director Karyn Kusama, after making a splash with her indie drama "Girlfight," made a series of impressive big budget genre films that never got the respect (or the box office bounty) that they deserved (yes, we are putting both "Aeon Flux" and "Jennifer’s Body" squarely in the "underrated" category).
With "The Invitation," she returned to her independent film roots, for a tale of a house party that becomes increasingly sinister. The movie unfolds like a chamber drama: Will (Tom Hardy lookalike Logan Marshall-Green) returns to the home that he once shared with Eden (Tammy Blanchard) and where, we slowly learn, a tragedy occurred involving his young son. While at this get-together, he’s slowly involved in an attempt by his ex and her new beau (Michiel Huisman from "Game of Thrones") to involve him in a feel-good cult. And from there, things get weirder.
Kusama sets the stage well, even though it occasionally feels like there are far too many characters to properly get a hold of, and nails the self-improvement vibe of Los Angeles in a way that never feels cartoony or over-the-top. And when the weirdness starts to creep it, it never feels like it's abutting the tone of the first part of the movie.
"The Invitation" is occasionally limited by its budget constraints, but it’s nice, after fighting indifference in the mainstream, to see Kusama regain credibility in the space where she made her name in the first place.
The Nice Guys
What if a big Hollywood studio put out a wickedly smart, insanely funny period detective movie from one of the creators of the genre, during the franchise-clogged summer movie season and nobody showed up? Well, this actually happened, just a few months ago, when Warner Bros. decided to open Shane Black's gleefully twisted "The Nice Guys" against "Neighbors 2." In a case of mutually assured destruction, neither of them made money, even though they were both totally fabulous. But "The Nice Guys" has the edge; it feels like something special that people will be talking about for years to come.
Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe are a perfect pair of mismatched screwballs who uncover a murderous conspiracy during the porn-obsessed, smog-filled Hollywood of the 1970s. While the film sometimes borders on being too bleak and sometimes feels like Black's messiest script since whatever he contributed to "Lethal Weapon 2" was, but it's hard not to argue with the genuine awesomeness of pretty much everything about "The Nice Guys." It's the kind of movie that people say Hollywood doesn't make anymore. As it turns out, Hollywood does make movies like this, it's just that nobody wants to go.
The Shallows
In a summer full of bloated, unsatisfying blockbusters, one of the biggest (and most welcome) surprises was "The Shallows," a modestly budgeted but enormously entertaining (wo)man vs. shark thriller. There isn't much to "The Shallows," at least not on the surface (pun very much intended); it's about a young woman (played by Blake Lively) who is terrorized by a giant shark while swimming off of a "secret beach" in Mexico.
But what could have been another B-movie more suited for SyFy Channel than cinema, is elevated, thanks to Lively's graceful performance and a script that turns her battle with the shark into something altogether more existential and emotional. All praise goes to director Jaume Collet-Serra, a genre movie auteur, who stages the action beautifully. Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water...
The Witch
Yes, "The Witch," the astounding feature film debut of writer-director Robert Eggers, is one of the scariest films of all time. Let's just get that out of the way now. The story of a puritan family, banished from their village and forced to live out near the woods (due to some unseen transgression), is totally terrifying. A young child goes missing, which is blamed on an evil witch in the woods, but soon suspicion spreads to other members of the family and, one by one, they're torn apart. It is chilling, gorgeously photographed with natural light and no-nonsense camerawork, with the actors reciting heavily researched, period-accurate dialogue. (A title card at the end says that everything was taken from journals and other historical documents from that time.)
But if "The Witch" was just a slavishly recreated, tonally perfect historical horror film, it might be enough to make it onto the list, but wouldn't elevate it to year's best status. What does that is the undercurrent, underneath the witches grinding a baby to a fleshy paste and a possibly demonic black goat named Black Phillip, of female empowerment. Because, at the heart of "The Witch," is the story of the family's young daughter, Thomasin (a peerless Anya Taylor-Joy), learning to grow up and accept her inner strength; it's the most bone-chilling coming-of-age story you'll ever see.
Eggers has suddenly become one of the most exciting filmmakers working today, and the success of "The Witch" proves that audiences aren't interested in cheap remakes of horror staples or bloodless, brainless mainstream fare. "The Witch" is challenging, provocative, brilliant, and haunting. That's why people went to see it.
Source : moviefone
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