Some films go down easy. They become personal favorites based on fond memories of entertaining first viewings shared with friends and family. One revisits them with nostalgia or pauses from… Continue reading "Favorite Film Series: In Cold Blood (Brooks, 1967)"
Editor’s Note: In 2017, a popular meme on Facebook asked respondents to list their favorite films for each year of their lives. While I didn’t make a list at that… Continue reading "Favorite Film Series: A Man for All Seasons (Zinnemann, 1966)"
My favorite films of 2016 depicted a lot of suffering. The characters in them faced that suffering with courage, determination, compassion, and introspection.
News of the mass murder of forty-nine people at a gay nightclub in Orlando spread through social and mainstream media last month, prompting a now familiar pattern of shock, anger, denial, and accusations.
The ten finalists are: About Elly, The Assassin, Brooklyn, Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem, Inside Out, The Look of Silence; Love & Mercy, Spotlight, Stations of the Cross, and Timbuktu.
This is not a top ten of 2015 list; it is a list of older movies that I watched for the first time this year.
I love movies. These are the ones I loved the most last year...
At the start of 2015 I set out to watch 120 films and I met my goal. I’m at 135 and still have an opportunity to watch a few more before the College Football Playoff interferes. Without screeners and lots of time, I saw only a few dozen new releases. In fact, many of my favorite films of the year were not released in 2015 at all. So as I recap my highs and lows for the year, I remind everyone who complains about the current state of Hollywood that there is an ever growing storehouse of great films that are worth watching for the first time in 2016.
Nothing makes me feel better than the truth, and in their own ways, all five films that I chose are refreshingly honest.
I initially planned to balance my selection among different types of films, but then I realized the films that really help me feel better in dark times are offbeat comedies and tragic cautionary tales.
