04.27.17: This list is now final. While I may in the future see additional films that were released in the awards year of 2016, no more films will be added to this list. (I may add links to reviews of films listed here.)
This ranking includes only new theatrical releases viewed for the awards year of 2016 (for eligibility for the Academy Awards and the Ofcs and Awfj awards); some films released in the UK without Us releases (and so ineligible for those awards this year) may also be included, for my own bookkeeping purposes. Links go to my review. Numbers after each entry are Date First Viewed/NYC Release Date/London Release Date; year is 2016 unless otherwise noted.
worth paying multiplex prices for
[5 stars]
Arrival (10.10/11.11/11.10)
La La Land (10.07/12.09/01.13.17)
A Monster Calls (10.06/12.23/01.01.17)
The Lobster (07.16.15/05.13/10.16.15)
Zootropolis (aka Zootopia) (02.22/03.04/03.25)
A Bigger Splash (10.08.15/05.04/02.12)
Miss Sloane (11.20/11.25/05.12.17)
London Road (06.03.15/09.09/06.12.15)
The Girl with All the Gifts (07.26/02.24.17/09.23)
I, Daniel Blake...
This ranking includes only new theatrical releases viewed for the awards year of 2016 (for eligibility for the Academy Awards and the Ofcs and Awfj awards); some films released in the UK without Us releases (and so ineligible for those awards this year) may also be included, for my own bookkeeping purposes. Links go to my review. Numbers after each entry are Date First Viewed/NYC Release Date/London Release Date; year is 2016 unless otherwise noted.
worth paying multiplex prices for
[5 stars]
Arrival (10.10/11.11/11.10)
La La Land (10.07/12.09/01.13.17)
A Monster Calls (10.06/12.23/01.01.17)
The Lobster (07.16.15/05.13/10.16.15)
Zootropolis (aka Zootopia) (02.22/03.04/03.25)
A Bigger Splash (10.08.15/05.04/02.12)
Miss Sloane (11.20/11.25/05.12.17)
London Road (06.03.15/09.09/06.12.15)
The Girl with All the Gifts (07.26/02.24.17/09.23)
I, Daniel Blake...
- 4/27/2017
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Best And Most Beautiful Things screens Friday January 13th through Sunday January 15th at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood). The movie starts at 7:30 all three evenings.
Entertainment Weekly said of Best And Most Beautiful Things:
“A complete and compassionate portrait of the kind of person society too often ignores. It takes only a few minutes with Michelle to grasp her depth. She’s eloquent and thoughtful, with a quirky sense of humor… the film’s overall effect lets the person — not the condition — be the real story, one that’s worth sharing.”
In 2009 director Garrett Zevgetis googled the word “Beauty.”
He had been working on a number of darker-themed documentaries and was determined to find an uplifting story for a future project. The search returned a poignant Helen Keller quote that led Garrett to Perkins School for the Blind outside Boston, a renowned institution where a...
Entertainment Weekly said of Best And Most Beautiful Things:
“A complete and compassionate portrait of the kind of person society too often ignores. It takes only a few minutes with Michelle to grasp her depth. She’s eloquent and thoughtful, with a quirky sense of humor… the film’s overall effect lets the person — not the condition — be the real story, one that’s worth sharing.”
In 2009 director Garrett Zevgetis googled the word “Beauty.”
He had been working on a number of darker-themed documentaries and was determined to find an uplifting story for a future project. The search returned a poignant Helen Keller quote that led Garrett to Perkins School for the Blind outside Boston, a renowned institution where a...
- 1/9/2017
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Sometimes the most powerful and motivational inspirations aren’t acts that can be visibly witnessed, but instead are emotionally felt. As people transition into adulthood and strive to find independence, they often rely on the deeds of others to help guide them into maturity. But the people who truly persevere are those who seek direction, but […]
The post Best and Most Beautiful Things Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Best and Most Beautiful Things Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 1/8/2017
- by Karen Benardello
- ShockYa
Next month, Netflix offers up a giant selection of films — modern to classic, animated to live action, Oscar winners and indie favorites — and we’ve picked seven that you should watch as soon as they’re available on the streaming service, either for the first time or as part of a nostalgic binge. Enjoy.
1. “Boogie Nights” (available January 1)
Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore and Burt Reynolds star in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1997 comedy about a young man who gets into the California porn industry in the late 1970’s and ‘80s. The film was nominated for three Oscars: Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay.
2. “Braveheart” (available January 1)
Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Director, the Mel Gibson-starring drama follows William Wallace’s revolt against King Edward I of England after his secret bride is executed for assaulting an English soldier who tried to rape her.
1. “Boogie Nights” (available January 1)
Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore and Burt Reynolds star in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1997 comedy about a young man who gets into the California porn industry in the late 1970’s and ‘80s. The film was nominated for three Oscars: Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay.
2. “Braveheart” (available January 1)
Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Director, the Mel Gibson-starring drama follows William Wallace’s revolt against King Edward I of England after his secret bride is executed for assaulting an English soldier who tried to rape her.
- 12/15/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
MaryAnn’s quick take… This lively portrait of a young woman with disabilities and her ordinary hopes and dreams is an explicit, engaging challenge to our ideas of what “normal” is. I’m “biast” (pro): I’m desperate for movies about women
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Michelle Smith is 20 years old and eager for her life to begin. She’d love to find a great job that engages her many interests — like lots of people her age (and older), she is a huge nerd, into animation and doll collecting — and cannot wait to move out of her mom Julie’s house in Bangor, Maine. Many of us will see ourselves in Michelle, whether we’re at the same stage in life or have left that ache to be a grownup behind long ago. And that is true even...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Michelle Smith is 20 years old and eager for her life to begin. She’d love to find a great job that engages her many interests — like lots of people her age (and older), she is a huge nerd, into animation and doll collecting — and cannot wait to move out of her mom Julie’s house in Bangor, Maine. Many of us will see ourselves in Michelle, whether we’re at the same stage in life or have left that ache to be a grownup behind long ago. And that is true even...
- 12/8/2016
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Boston-based filmmaker Garrett Zevgetis’s SXSW-premiering Best and Most Beautiful Things (its title a nod to Helen Keller’s words) is a cinematic portrait of a young woman in Bangor, Maine, a recent high school graduate who is searching for a job to suit her skills. An anime devotee whose rebel fashion sense seems to be influenced by her vast Werecat Sisters doll collection, Michelle Smith also happens to be legally blind and has Asperger’s syndrome. As the doc progresses, though, disabilities fade into the background, upstaged by Michelle’s determination to assert her individuality (including exploring Bdsm) and live her life on […]...
- 12/2/2016
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
And now we’ve arrived at the end of the calendar year. As the final push for year-end viewing continues at a furious pace, some of the last unknown films of 2016 will finally make their way to audiences. To help focus your viewing choices, here is a list of films opening throughout the coming weeks, separated into categories of wide and limited runs. (Synopses are provided by festivals and distributors.)
If you’re interested in what still might be in a theater near you, check out our November Release Guide. For those curious what 2017 might bring, you can also visit our calendar page, which has releases through the beginning of the new year.
Happy watching!
Week of December 2 Wide
Incarnate
Director: Brad Peyton
Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Carice van Houten, Catalina Sandino Moreno, David Mazouz, John Pirruccello, Keir O’Donnell, Matthew Nable
Synopsis: A scientist with the ability to enter the...
If you’re interested in what still might be in a theater near you, check out our November Release Guide. For those curious what 2017 might bring, you can also visit our calendar page, which has releases through the beginning of the new year.
Happy watching!
Week of December 2 Wide
Incarnate
Director: Brad Peyton
Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Carice van Houten, Catalina Sandino Moreno, David Mazouz, John Pirruccello, Keir O’Donnell, Matthew Nable
Synopsis: A scientist with the ability to enter the...
- 12/1/2016
- by Alec McPike and Steve Greene
- Indiewire
Welcome back to the Weekend Warrior, your weekly look at the new movies hitting theaters this weekend, as well as other cool events and things to check out.
This Past Weekend:
It wasn’t a bad Thanksgiving weekend, especially for the Weekend Warrior who pretty much nailed two of his predictions for the weekend! Disney Animation’s Moana indeed at opened at #1 with $55.5 million for the three-day weekend (exactly my prediction), although it ended up with more--$81.1 million--in its first five days. The Brad Pitt-Marion Cotillard spy thriller, Allied (Paramount), directed by Robert Zemeckis, also opened with $18 million, right on track with my prediction. I guess I could take some comfort on being spot on with two of the Thanksgiving releases—like I said last week, that holiday weekend is a bear to predict—but I way overestimated the other two movies as sequelitis indeed hit Billy Bob Thornton...
This Past Weekend:
It wasn’t a bad Thanksgiving weekend, especially for the Weekend Warrior who pretty much nailed two of his predictions for the weekend! Disney Animation’s Moana indeed at opened at #1 with $55.5 million for the three-day weekend (exactly my prediction), although it ended up with more--$81.1 million--in its first five days. The Brad Pitt-Marion Cotillard spy thriller, Allied (Paramount), directed by Robert Zemeckis, also opened with $18 million, right on track with my prediction. I guess I could take some comfort on being spot on with two of the Thanksgiving releases—like I said last week, that holiday weekend is a bear to predict—but I way overestimated the other two movies as sequelitis indeed hit Billy Bob Thornton...
- 11/30/2016
- by Edward Douglas
- LRMonline.com
"I see it as an adventure," says Michelle Smith of Bdsm in The Hollywood Reporter’s exclusive clip of Best and Most Beautiful Things. "It's a very liberating and amazing feeling."
The documentary follows Smith, a precocious young woman in rural Maine who is legally blind and on the autism spectrum and often disappears into quirky obsessions and isolation. With humor and bold curiosity, she chases love and freedom in a surprising sex-positive community on her path to adulthood.
Kevin Bright, the film’s executive producer best known for his work on TV's Friends, was inspired to join the project after teaching...
The documentary follows Smith, a precocious young woman in rural Maine who is legally blind and on the autism spectrum and often disappears into quirky obsessions and isolation. With humor and bold curiosity, she chases love and freedom in a surprising sex-positive community on her path to adulthood.
Kevin Bright, the film’s executive producer best known for his work on TV's Friends, was inspired to join the project after teaching...
- 11/22/2016
- by Ashley Lee
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A total of 145 feature documentaries were submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for consideration for the 89th Academy Awards.
Out of those films the members of the Academy’s documentary branch will select a shortlist of 15 features that will be announced in December, and the five nominations will be announced on January 24.
Read More: Documentary, Now: Three Rock Stars Who Run the Fast-Changing Non-Fiction World
Among the titles included in the list are Ava DuVernay’s “13th,” the Sundance Documentary Grand Jury Prize winner “Weiner” by Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg, Raoul Peck’s Toronto Film Festival Audience Award winner “I Am Not Your Negro,” the visually stunning “Voyage of Time: The Imax Experience” by Terrence Malik and Otto Bell’s “The Eagle Huntress.”
Read More: Oscars 2017: 10 Documentary Shorts Vie for Nominations
This year Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees’ film “Amy” about British singer Amy Winehouse...
Out of those films the members of the Academy’s documentary branch will select a shortlist of 15 features that will be announced in December, and the five nominations will be announced on January 24.
Read More: Documentary, Now: Three Rock Stars Who Run the Fast-Changing Non-Fiction World
Among the titles included in the list are Ava DuVernay’s “13th,” the Sundance Documentary Grand Jury Prize winner “Weiner” by Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg, Raoul Peck’s Toronto Film Festival Audience Award winner “I Am Not Your Negro,” the visually stunning “Voyage of Time: The Imax Experience” by Terrence Malik and Otto Bell’s “The Eagle Huntress.”
Read More: Oscars 2017: 10 Documentary Shorts Vie for Nominations
This year Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees’ film “Amy” about British singer Amy Winehouse...
- 10/29/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.
– Sony Pictures Classics has announced that they have acquired North American rights to Academy Award winner Taylor Hackford’s comedy, “The Comedian.” Written by Art Linson, the film stars Robert De Niro, Leslie Mann, Edie Falco, Harvey Keitel, Danny DeVito, Patti LuPone and Veronica Ferres.
The film follows “an aging comic icon, Jackie (Robert De Niro) [who] has seen better days. Despite his efforts to reinvent himself and his comic genius, the audience only wants to know him as the former television character he once played. Already a strain on his younger brother (Danny DeVito) and his wife (Patti LuPone), Jackie is forced to serve out a sentence doing community service for accosting an audience member. While there,...
– Sony Pictures Classics has announced that they have acquired North American rights to Academy Award winner Taylor Hackford’s comedy, “The Comedian.” Written by Art Linson, the film stars Robert De Niro, Leslie Mann, Edie Falco, Harvey Keitel, Danny DeVito, Patti LuPone and Veronica Ferres.
The film follows “an aging comic icon, Jackie (Robert De Niro) [who] has seen better days. Despite his efforts to reinvent himself and his comic genius, the audience only wants to know him as the former television character he once played. Already a strain on his younger brother (Danny DeVito) and his wife (Patti LuPone), Jackie is forced to serve out a sentence doing community service for accosting an audience member. While there,...
- 10/7/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Plus: Travis Reid named RealD COO; BAFTA sets Vr advisory group
Open Road Films will expand awards hopeful Bleed For This wide on November 18 after it opens in limited release on November 4.
Miles Teller stars as Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Pazienza, a boxer from the East Coast who overcame a near-fatal car crash to return to the ring for a world title bout.
Aaron Eckhart also stars in a performance that has drawn strong notices. Ben Younger wrote and directed, while Martin Scorsese served as one of the executive producers.
The Solution Entertainment Group handles international sales.
BAFTA has appointed members to its virtual reality advisory group to debate and determine the short and long-term impact of the format on the film, TV and games industries. Members are: Dan Ayoub, Frank Azor, Joel Breton, Bradley Crooks, Nonny de la Penna, Clive Downie, Chris Edwards, Garry Edwards, Dan Gregoire, Matt Jeffrey, Simon Jones, [link...
Open Road Films will expand awards hopeful Bleed For This wide on November 18 after it opens in limited release on November 4.
Miles Teller stars as Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Pazienza, a boxer from the East Coast who overcame a near-fatal car crash to return to the ring for a world title bout.
Aaron Eckhart also stars in a performance that has drawn strong notices. Ben Younger wrote and directed, while Martin Scorsese served as one of the executive producers.
The Solution Entertainment Group handles international sales.
BAFTA has appointed members to its virtual reality advisory group to debate and determine the short and long-term impact of the format on the film, TV and games industries. Members are: Dan Ayoub, Frank Azor, Joel Breton, Bradley Crooks, Nonny de la Penna, Clive Downie, Chris Edwards, Garry Edwards, Dan Gregoire, Matt Jeffrey, Simon Jones, [link...
- 10/5/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
First Run Features has picked up rights to Garrett Zevgetis' documentary Best and Most Beautiful Things, a coming-of-age story that celebrates outcasts of the world. First Run is eyeing a December theatrical release for the film, which is produced by Zevgetis, Ariana Garfinkel, Jeff Consiglio and Jordan Salvatoriello. The documentary premiered at SXSW in March and has seen a successful festival run across the country. Best and Most Beautiful Thing follows Michelle, a…...
- 10/4/2016
- Deadline
Indiewire can exclusively announce the first round of films from the Mill Valley Film Festival’s upcoming 39th edition, with a number of high-profile selections from Cannes (“I, Daniel Blake”), Sundance (“Manchester by the Sea”) and Berlin (“Things to Come”) leading the way. Mvff, which runs from October – 16 this year, will also host the premieres of several Bay Area filmmakers’ new works. See the full list below.
Read More: ‘Room’ Declared Audience Award Favorite at 38th Mill Valley Film Festival
“I, Daniel Blake” (Ken Loach)
“Loving” (Jeff Nichols)
“Paterson” and “Gimme Danger” (Jim Jarmusch)
“Neruda” (Pablo Larrain)
“Toni Erdmann” (Maren Ade)
“The Salesman” (Asghar Farhadi)
“The Handmaiden” (Park Chan-wook)
“Elle” (Paul Verhoeven)
“Like Crazy” (Paolo Virzi)
“Manchester by the Sea” (Kenneth Lonergan)
“Christine” (Antonio Campos)
“Maya Angelou and Still I Rise” (Bob Hercules, Rita Coburn Whack)
“Things to Come” (Mia Hansen Løve)
“Fire at Sea”(Giancarlo Rosi)
“Death in Sarajevo...
Read More: ‘Room’ Declared Audience Award Favorite at 38th Mill Valley Film Festival
“I, Daniel Blake” (Ken Loach)
“Loving” (Jeff Nichols)
“Paterson” and “Gimme Danger” (Jim Jarmusch)
“Neruda” (Pablo Larrain)
“Toni Erdmann” (Maren Ade)
“The Salesman” (Asghar Farhadi)
“The Handmaiden” (Park Chan-wook)
“Elle” (Paul Verhoeven)
“Like Crazy” (Paolo Virzi)
“Manchester by the Sea” (Kenneth Lonergan)
“Christine” (Antonio Campos)
“Maya Angelou and Still I Rise” (Bob Hercules, Rita Coburn Whack)
“Things to Come” (Mia Hansen Løve)
“Fire at Sea”(Giancarlo Rosi)
“Death in Sarajevo...
- 8/17/2016
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Top brass at the festival announced on Tuesday several sections of the features line-up for the 23rd edition, set to run from March 11-19, 2016 in Austin, Texas.
SXSW will screen 139 features of which 89 are world premieres, 13 are North American Premieres and 8 are Us premieres selected from 2,456 feature submissions (1,467 Us and 990 international). Fifty-two films hail from debutants.
Narrative Feature Competition selections are: The Arbalest by Adam Pinney; Before The Sun Explodes by Debra Eisenstadt; Claire In Motion by Lisa Robinson and Annie J. Howell; collective:unconscious by collective:unconscious (Lily Baldwin, Frances Bodomo, Daniel Patrick Carbone, Josephine Decker, Lauren Wolkstein); Donald Cried by Kris Avedisian; Hunter Gatherer by Josh Locy; Miss Stevens by Julia Hart; The Other Half by Joey Klein; A Stray by Musa Syeed; and Transpecos by Greg Kwedar.
Documentary Feature Competition entries are: Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America by Matt Ornstein; Alive And Kicking by Susan Glatzer; Best And Most Beautiful Things directed by Garrett Zevgetis; Goodnight...
SXSW will screen 139 features of which 89 are world premieres, 13 are North American Premieres and 8 are Us premieres selected from 2,456 feature submissions (1,467 Us and 990 international). Fifty-two films hail from debutants.
Narrative Feature Competition selections are: The Arbalest by Adam Pinney; Before The Sun Explodes by Debra Eisenstadt; Claire In Motion by Lisa Robinson and Annie J. Howell; collective:unconscious by collective:unconscious (Lily Baldwin, Frances Bodomo, Daniel Patrick Carbone, Josephine Decker, Lauren Wolkstein); Donald Cried by Kris Avedisian; Hunter Gatherer by Josh Locy; Miss Stevens by Julia Hart; The Other Half by Joey Klein; A Stray by Musa Syeed; and Transpecos by Greg Kwedar.
Documentary Feature Competition entries are: Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America by Matt Ornstein; Alive And Kicking by Susan Glatzer; Best And Most Beautiful Things directed by Garrett Zevgetis; Goodnight...
- 2/2/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
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