Sunday 8 May 2016

Movies I've Watched in 2016: Part 1

Film-wise, 2016 has been pretty entertaining so far. I usually visit the cinema once or twice a week, depending on the selection (and making full use of my Cineworld Unlimited Card). I'll try most genres, but I do tend toward mainstream Hollywood fare, unless something really catches my eye (I've been burned too many times by foreign-language films).

My only five-star film so far is Adam McKay's sensational, go-for-broke Wall Street black comedy, THE BIG SHORT. You really have to pay attention between the laughs, because it describes the complex moves that led to the near-total collapse of the US (and global) economic house of cards. Smart, frightening stuff.
 
Other nice surprises were David O'Russell's JOY, starring Jennifer Lawrence, which had received wishy-washy reviews (I loved it), the gripping suspense thriller 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE, and Kevin Reynolds' biblical procedural, RISEN, starring an excellent Joseph Fiennes.

Here's the complete list thus far. I'll post another one after the summer season is over.

10 Cloverfield Lane ****
Allegiant ***
Bad Neighbours 2 **
Batman vs Superman 3D ***
Captain America: Civil War 3D ****
Deadpool ***
Eddie the Eagle ****
Hail, Caesar! ***
High-Rise **
Joy ****
London Has Fallen ***
Midnight Special ***
Risen ****
Spotlight ****
The Big Short *****
The Finest Hours ****
The Huntsman 3D **
The Jungle Book 3D ****
The Revenant ****
Zootropolis 3D ****
 
And a couple of retro double-bill screenings I attended (the Cap films were actually screened as a triple, culminating with the equally brilliant Civil War):
 
Alien *****
Aliens *****
Captain America: First Avenger 3D ****
Captain America: Winter Soldier 3D ****
 
Next up, I'm really looking forward to Shane Black's THE NICE GUYS, starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. The trailers are hilarious, and Black's previous films (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man 3) both hit the spot for me.