This list features writing by Zach Dennis, Andrew Swafford, Lydia Creech, Ben Shull, Jessica Alice Carr, and John McAmis
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Visionary German director Werner Herzog turns his camera on many internet experts with Lo and Behold
Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World (2016) by Werner Herzog
Review by Andrew Swafford
Lo And Behold by Werner Herzog is an incredibly fascinating podcast--providing unique perspectives that inspire curiosity and skepticism, posing questions and exploring ideas that don’t necessarily add up to any larger conclusions.
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Wes Robinson, Callie Hernandez, Valorie Curry, and Brandon Scott star in Blair Witch
Blair Witch (2016) by Adam Wingard
Review by Zach Dennis
Blair Witch is another in a long line of modern horror films aimed at giving the audience what it wants — a few scares over the course of 90 minutes — and nothing more. It is disappointing to relegate a genre to its most banal features and be satisfied with that, but it seems like it is where we are with horror today in the mainstream.
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Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander star in The Light Between Oceans
The Light Between Oceans (2016) by Derek Cianfrance
Review by Zach Dennis
The Light Between Oceans is never poor because of its narrative choices, but it loses its punch about halfway through and never finds it again.
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Fantastic Planet (1973) by René Laloux
Retro Review by John McAmis
Fantastic Planet, set in an odd world where plants gurgle and statues dance, holds a great deal of truth about humans, and we see a version of our own society through giant red eyes.
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Jane Levy stars in director Fede Alvarez's Don't Breathe
Don't Breathe (2016) by Fede Alvarez
Review by Andrew Swafford
By flipping the script on a standard horror narrative, Don’t Breathe sets itself up as an extremely compelling genre exercise, with stakes that matter, a world you understand, and characters you identify with on both sides of the conflict...and it’s great while it lasts.
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Ralph Fiennes and Art Parkinson star in Kubo and the Two Strings
Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) by Travis Knight
Personal Essay / Review by Jessica Carr
(Read original review by Andrew Swafford here)
When I was sitting next to my parents watching Kubo and the Two Strings play out, I couldn’t help but let the tears fall from the corners of my eyes. This was a story that resonated with me so closely.
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Cinematary Canon #1: Best Movies Set in Autumn
This list features writing by Zach Dennis, Andrew Swafford, Jessica Carr, John McAmis, Lydia Creech, and Ben Shull
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King Neptune and his feathered friends star in Vorkapich and Hoffman's Moods of the Sea
Moods of the Sea (1941) by Slavko Vorkapich and John Hoffman
Retro Review by Dylan Moore
It is easy to forget or take for granted the effectiveness of a piece of music to inform the editing rhythms of a film...it can feel like background noise, but the swells and crashing of waves in Moods amplified by the music and woven together from fragments of footage gives an active vision of the the sea.
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Art Parkinson and Charlize Theron star in director Travis Knight's Kubo and the Two Strings, developed by LAIKA Studios
Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) by Travis Knight
Review by Andrew Swafford
Kubo is a story about storytelling, but it wisely understands that we don’t just tell stories to escape into fantasy or to entertain ourselves; stories are the voices that link generations and allow the presently living to learn from past lives.
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Mike Birbiglia, Kate Micucci, Chris Gethard, Gillian Jacobs, Keegan Michael-Key, and Tami Sagher star in Don't Think Twice
Don't Think Twice (2016) by Mike Birbiglia
Review by Zach Dennis
I don’t think Don’t Think Twice cured my dislike for improv, but it gave me more understanding. We are all on the ride of life and whether or not the highs and lows of that ride coincide with where we want them to be is completely up to chance. And despite its cringe-inducing characters, Don’t Think Twice succeeds at making you reflect on that — regardless of what step you’re on.
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Kodi Smit-McPhee voices Norman in ParaNorman
ParaNorman (2012) by Sam Fell and Chris Butler
Retro Review by Zach Dennis
The plot of ParaNorman seems better suited for 2016 than its actual release in 2012, but that is because it harps on a breath of clarity that is much needed in a world marked by shootings, tyrannical politics, and targeted aggression.
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Royalty Hightower stars in director Anna Rose Holmer's The Fits
The Fits (2016) by Anna Rose Holmer
Review by John McAmis
With little dialogue, a smoothly tracking camera that moves up and over the sides of pools and railings, and an eerie score of a solitary, screeching clarinet, Holmer paints a quiet picture with miles of anxious subtext.
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Oakes Fegley stars in Pete's Dragon
Pete's Dragon (2016) by David Lowery
Review by Zach Dennis
In a time when many seem to be striving to recapture American values, this heartwarming film from writer/director David Lowery accomplishes the goal and all while working within a format that has been wrought with uniformity for so long.
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Julian Dennison and Sam Neill star in Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) by Taika Waititi
Review by Jessica Carr
At the end of the day, Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a feel good film. Taika Waititi gives us loveable characters with flaws and over the course of the film, we have the opportunity to see them grow into better people.
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Robert DeNiro stars in Taxi Driver
Taxi Driver (1976) by Martin Scorsese
Retro Review by Zach Dennis
The trick of Taxi Driver is not in the lengths Travis goes to break from his loneliness, but how it is able to visualize something so absolutely foreign to so many people — the sick mental state.
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Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, and Mackenzie Foy star in director Mark Osborne's The Little Prince
The Little Prince (2016) by Mark Osborne
Review by Andrew Swafford
This adaptation of The Little Prince, for all its beauty and intellect, is flawed in such a deep and fundamental way that the entire narrative fails--it attempts to deconstruct The Little Prince without constructing it first.
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Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg star in Cafe Society
Café Society (2016) by Woody Allen
Review by Zach Dennis
Jesse Eisenberg fields a strong performance in the lead role, even if overshadowed by the stellar work of Berlin, Stott, and Stoll, and for the most part, Cafe Society is as delicious as the wining and dining being done on screen.
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Matt Damon stars in Jason Bourne
Jason Bourne (2016) by Paul Greengrass
Review by Zach Dennis
In a world post Blackhat and Mr. Robot, Jason Bourne feels like the average person’s understanding of modern technology with none of the eye-opening moments that the franchise has been known to illuminate on.
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John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Karl Urban, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Simon Pegg star in Star Trek Beyond.
Star Trek Beyond (2016) by Justin Lin
Review by Zach Dennis
It isn’t a game-changer for either the franchise or blockbusters as a whole, but Star Trek Beyond is a welcome reminder that characters and story matter for blockbusters, and that doesn’t always mean that bigger is better.
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