2016 Movie Reviews

All films have a U.S. release date of 2016 and are listed alphabetically with a 1-10 rating and a link to the film's imdb.com webpage. Numbers to star equivalents are listed at the bottom.

Update from this Week (1-16 - 1-22):
Nocturnal Animals: 8/10
Snowden: 7/10
Lion: 5/10
Inferno: 3/10
Moonlight: 3/10




10 Cloverfield Lane: 7/10 - Strong direction and an engaging performance from John Goodman keep this film motoring along, but I can't help but feel that the film's final minutes work in stark contrast to the atmosphere built up throughout.

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi: 6/10 - A compelling story, but Bay's eagerness to find the next moment of action causes him to pass over countless moments that could have been explored further.

A War: 6/10 - A film like this one, which hinges on the events of one scene, tends to put all of its eggs in that one scene's basket. And the pivotal siege scene falls flat on screen, preventing the viewer from feeling enough of the dramatic weight that it should have.

All the Way: 7/10 - Jay Roach has really carved out a role for himself working with HBO on modern political dramas. While I'd say Game Change is his best effort in that area, All the Way certainly works and Brian Cranston delivers a great performance as LBJ.

Allied: 9/10 - Zemeckis, channeling the late Alfred Hitchcock, really nails it here and he's deserving of all the credit. The tension and pacing are spot on, reminding us all of what a suspense film looks like when it's done right.

The Anthropologist: 2/10 - Probably a noble effort, but this is not a measured, well-constructed documentary.

Arrival: 9/10 - Amy Adams shines in the lead role, but this is Villeneuve's film. He crafts a remarkable sci-fi experience centering on first contact with extraterrestrial life.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: 3/10 - What a terrible script. And it's noteworthy to recognize just how far Zack Snyder has fallen from his cinematic climax, The Watchmen (2009).

Being Charlie: 4/10 - Rob Reiner hasn't had very much success as of late and this is no exception. Nick Robinson flashes great potential in the lead role, but he's playing a character that just isn't fleshed out enough to be believable.


The BFG: 3/10 - The movie dies under the weight of the catastrophically boring second act. Perhaps this is a curiosity for those who want to see Spielberg making fart jokes -- there's not much else here.



Blood Father: 5/10 - Just to hear Mel growl a few times is worth the viewing, but this is a hollow film without a note of depth.

Café Society: 7/10 - The foundation of the film draws numerous parallels to much of Allen's other work -- which is not a bad thing -- but this effort feels more hollow, less magical.

Captain America: Civil War: 5/10 - With each new superhero film I grow more tired of viewing them. The first 90 minutes of this film is an absurd exercise in following dozens of characters through several, mostly irrelevant, plotlines.

Captain Fantastic: 7/10 - A quirky, thought-provoking film that can often be hard to digest. It makes no easy choices and the end result feels like a truly unique experience.

The Club: 3/10 - Technical issues hinder director Pablo Larrain's confused examination of a residence for disgraced priests. The bleak color scheme, jarring edits and over-stuffed script leave little to salvage with the rest of the work.

Deadpool: 7/10 - Deadpool had two good things working for it: 1) I'm burnt out on superhero movies and this one is anything but cookie-cutter; and 2) I had just recently watched some truly terrible movies, so anything with a pulse would have entertained me.


Deepwater Horizon: 6/10 - Berg does well to set up the impending disaster, building great tension and keeping the viewer hooked, but the film somewhat falls apart once disaster strikes and the film concludes with a whisper of paint-by-numbers scenarios.



Demolition: 5/10 - The wonderful performance from Jake Gyllenhaal alone isn't enough to suspend viewers disbelief and allow them to forget that they're watching a Hollywood film.


Elle: 3/10 - I really hated this film. Each character is uniquely absurd and unbelievable, so throwing all of them into one movie is an abusive suspension of disbelief. Huppert is good in the lead role, salvaging the film from total disaster.



Elvis and Nixon: 7/10 - This is probably not good filmmaking, but it's fun and light. It shines a sarcastic light on two of the most intriguing men in U.S. history.

Everybody Wants Some!!: 4/10 - I consider Linklater to be among the greatest directors of all-time, in large part because of his three masterpieces in the 'Before' series, but this one just doesn't hit the needed notes to work and falls flat.

Eye in the Sky: 8/10 - A smart, play-like film that focuses on the moral compass of war. I think Hood tips his hand with some overt bias at times, but the film still works and is sure to force viewers to debate right vs. wrong in their own minds.


Fences: 9/10 - I was unfamiliar with August Wilson's play, so the powerhouse performances and the outstanding writing really blew me away. As a director, Denzel does a bare minimum, unfortunately, but as an actor, he hits it out of the park.



Finding Dory: 6/10 - Typical sequel fodder with a plot that doesn't stand up to the original. With that said, I don't think the film fails either, meeting its clear goal of children's entertainment.

Florence Foster Jenkins: 4/10 - Technically sound and Streep, Grant and Helberg all give strong performances, but the film is exceptionally dry and slow.

Free State of Jones: 6/10 - A largely engaging film with strong performances, but Ross wrestles with too many thematic elements and the editing is all over the place.

Gleason: 7/10 - There were some strong parallel's for me to the great 2008 documentary 'Dear Zachary' -- a film that left me utterly devastated. Gleason didn't have quite the same emotional impact on me, but it does accomplish the complex task of taking a viewer deep into the heart of a harrowing disease.

Hacksaw Ridge: 6/10 - Gibson's filmmaking flair is certainly on display, but I felt he missed out on needed development of the protagonist, Desmond T. Doss. We're told he's a religious man, but we never see it; we're simply asked to assume a level of spirituality that will allow the film's final act to resonate.

Hail, Caesar!: 5/10 - A rare misstep from the Coens. Quite simply, the movie isn't nearly as funny as they think it is.

Hell or High Water: 8/10 - This is an action-adventure film with great atmosphere and strong acting performances. It's likely to finish the year on my top 10 films list.

High-Rise: 1/10 - An absolute, unwatchable failure. On the surface, it's a film that revolves around violence, sex and intrigue, but as you watch it unfold, it couldn't be more boring.

How to Be Single: 2/10 - An astonishing waste of man-hours on a film you will actively forget as you watch it.


Inferno: 3/10 - Ron Howard needs to step away from Dan Brown's series. This is embarrassingly poor filmmaking from a man who should know better.



The Infiltrator: 4/10 - I could tell early on that the writing and direction in this film wasn't going to work. It's a watered down, paint-by-numbers approach to filmmaking that leaves the viewer thinking fondly of better films from the genre.

The Invitation: 3/10 - It seems that many have praised this film for the twist that hits the audience in the last scene, but it felt entirely forced to me, further dragging down an already poorly produced film.

Jane Got a Gun: 3/10 - I'm not exactly sure what this wanted to be. It felt as if I was watching a drawn out season finale to a melodramatic Western miniseries.


Jason Bourne: 2/10 - The biggest issue with the Jason Bourne series is they've been using the same plot every film. This time they decided to dispense with the formality of even having a plot.



The Jungle Book: 6/10 - The problem with remaking a good film (the 1967 animated feature) is that you leave yourself little room to impress: what you do well will give viewers nostalgia for their first experience...and what you do poorly will do the same.

Ip Man 3: 7/10 - While noticeably worse than the first two in the series, this is still fun entertainment. Tyson is brutally terrible as an actor and the script does suffer a bit, wedging in a real life plot regarding Ip's wife that doesn't fit the film's tone.

Knight of Cups: 2/10 - My hope when Malick directed The Tree of Life (2011) was that he was about to entire the climax of his career, but it appears that was the anomaly and his heart stands with pretentious art house nonsense like this.

La La Land: 10/10 - A brilliant example of a film being far greater than the sum of its parts. The performances are strong, but the singing and dancing are simply adequate, most of the music isn't very memorable and the opening scene feels strikingly awkward and out of context, yet the end result is a masterpiece. The film taps into a sweet nostalgia for 1950s Hollywood while being set in the present day and urging each of its viewers to live for the moment and never give up on a dream. It's the best new release I've seen this year and the best musical I've seen since Singin' in the Rain (1952).

The Last Man on the Moon: 5/10 - Unfortunately, Gene Cernan isn't nearly as interesting a man as the Apollo program was a historic landmark. And you can't help but get the feeling that director Mark Craig agrees, as his approach is anything but inspired.


Lion: 5/10 - A heartbreaking story that doesn't get the film it deserves. The filmmaking is just all wrong from start to finish. Director Garth Davis and writer Luke Davies misjudge Saroo Brierley's entire journey, focusing on so much that doesn't matter and missing all the moments that do.



Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World: 6/10 - Herzog takes a deep dive into the history and current relevance of the internet. Like most Herzog documentaries, while he stumbles onto some fascinating content, he also takes the viewer on some unnecessary tangents. 

The Lobster: 1/10 - A drastic satire on the world of aging and dating that misses all the notes of the human condition.

London Has Fallen: 6/10 - For those who were willing to suspend disbelief and escape reality for the length of the first installment, more of the same is waiting for you here.

Love and Friendship: 1/10 - A script not nearly as funny as director Stillman thinks it is. I found it unwatchable.

Manchester by the Sea: 9/10 - It's an unusual film on all fronts, in how the narrative plays out and in how the film resolves, but it leaves it's viewer having experienced something remarkably raw and powerful. Casey Affleck is wonderful in the lead, showing both his vulnerability and the volcanic temperament that's led him to where we find him when the film starts.

Midnight Special: 7/10 - How do I applaud a director for such impeccable storytelling and scold a screenwriter for a sloppy script when they're the same person?

Money Monster: 3/10 - Really terrible. It's an agenda film that ignores logic and any semblance of reality to guide a message.


Moonlight: 3/10 - I really hated this film and I find the critical acclaim it's receiving dangerous to the profession. It's a bad script helmed by a director clearly learning on the job and an amateurish cinematographer who I will actively seek to avoid in the future. Anyone who is claiming merit to this film beyond its social commentary is either lying or very misguided in their understanding of the filmmaking process. The film's only genuinely redeeming quality is the strong performance from Naomie Harris.



My Golden Days: 1/10 - Probably not deserving of such a low grade, but I just couldn't make it more than an hour through it. The plot is overly complicated and the characters are overly contrived.

Neerja: 7/10 - I went into this film knowing nothing about Neerja Bhanot's heroism during the 1986 hijacking in Pakistan and I left the film genuinely touched by her bravery in the face of evil. Unfortunately, the film does get bogged down with unneeded, melodramatic flashbacks, which were constantly taking me out of the moment.

The Neon Demon: 2/10 - An agonizing train wreck. Nicholas Winding Refn seemingly keeps digging for meaning in all the wrong places. The empty context of his work easily outweighs his talents as a filmmaker.

The Nice Guys: 6/10 - Some very funny moments, but the pacing is a mess and the film feels like it's dragging along at a crawl through the second half.


Nocturnal Animals: 8/10 - Dripping with symbolism, Tom Ford directs a tight, fascinating film. Ford is able to strike just the perfect notes at times, creating brilliant tension. Great performances all around, especially by Jake Gyllenhaal. I won't call the film's resolution a let down, but I didn't feel quite as satisfied as I hoped.



O.J.: Made in America: 9/10 - A brilliantly done, absorbing documentary that examines the life and times of one of the most fascinating American men in the last 50 years. At 450 minutes, I suspect some content could have been trimmed -- especially in the first half of the film -- but regardless, it's well worth one's time.

The Program: 6/10 - A formulaic retelling of Lance Armstrong's career with a script that doesn't explore its characters quite enough; they're all two-dimensional, which is a shame considering the strong performance from Ben Foster.

Race: 4/10 - After a wonderful first half, Hopkins tanks this film just about as quickly and disastrously as possible. The film's homestretch is filled with significant pacing issues that grind the story to a halt and forcibly pull the viewer out of this amazing historic tale. Lead actors Stephan James and Jason Sudeikis don't do the film any favors either.


Rogue One: 5/10 - Even if I put aside for a moment that this is a Star Wars film without Jedis and the saga's central Skywalker family, I still have critical issues with the filmmaking. (SPOILERS!) It's a screenplay that calls for virtually every new character to die at the end, yet not one tear was shed by anyone for the losses. The deaths were all filmed by Edwards with an expectation of emotional impact, but he never laid the groundwork for the needed character development to make anyone care.


Silence: 9/10 - This is a powerful film that I won't shake anytime soon. Scorsese wades deep into the tide with this complex content and emerges with a near-masterpiece. While certainly a minor quibble, I do find it unforgivable that he chose to cast English-speaking actors in the roles of the Portuguese missionaries.


Snowden: 7/10 - Stone's recreation of the Snowden security leak is formulaic and one-note, not accomplishing much more through film than what could have been accomplished in writing. With that stated, it's by no means bad or unenjoyably. For those interested in Snowden's life and his decision to hack national secrets, this film provides great perspective.


Star Trek Beyond: 4/10 - I haven't very much enjoyed any of the new Star Trek films, yet after each one I think to myself how much promise the series has due to such wonderful casting. It's now strike three and I'm no longer hopeful.


Sully: 4/10 - There's really not enough here for a feature-length film. The script focuses in on the only conflict it can find and then quickly tosses that aside just before the credits roll. And Eastwood, likely realizing the lack of climactic impact, twists around the narrative structure in a failed attempt to keep things fresh.



Weiner: 7/10 - A timely dive into the life of a truly damaged man. With news now breaking of a third sexting scandal, one can't help but feel overwhelmingly sad for those close to him.

X-Men: Apocalypse: 6/10 - Every superhero movie I watch follows the same paint-by-numbers plot structure. Singer's latest X-Men chapter is entertaining enough, but the genre is in desperate need of a fresh look.

Zoolander 2: 2/10 - This is among the worst films I've ever seen. I cringed for all those involved, especially director Ben Stiller, through every frame.


Rating Breakdown:
10 = 4 Stars (Masterpiece)
9 = 4 stars
8 = 3 1/2 stars (Great)
7 = 3 stars
6 = 2 1/2 stars (Good)
5 = 2 stars
4 = 1 1/2 stars
3 = 1 star (Bad)
2 = 1/2 star
1 = No stars (I was unable to finish viewing it)