Sunday, May 22, 2016

The Best Films of 2016 (so far)


I truly believe that every year in cinema develops its own tone, demonstrating the trend in art for that time. 2016 isn't even half over at this point, but still the general tone of cinema for this year is starting to take shape. And it's pretty exciting. With seven months to go, there have already been multiple films that have taken real risks. From indie films with unusual premises, to groundbreaking major blockbuster releases, to franchise films which have headed in an unexpected direction, to films that have accomplished unprecedented technical feats, the best movies of 2016 haven't just been good, they've been genuinely surprising. And I would say that this trend holds true even for the films I haven't liked so much. The films of 2016 have been inconsistent in terms of quality, but I feel that some of the lesser films I've seen this year at least failed while trying to accomplish something interesting. Perhaps the poster-child for this would be the Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead. Directed by, written by, and starring Don Cheadle (who does deliver a great performance), the film doesn't even try to fit into any notion of reality, and basically reads as Miles Davis fan fiction. The whole thing is weird and underwhelming, but it is at the very least one of the more original films I've seen in recent years. It's just a shame it doesn't quite live up to the film I imagine Cheadle had in his mind.

But I don't want to talk about the films I didn't like, I want to focus on the film I did like. And there have been quite a few. So without further ado, here's a look at my top fifteen films of the first part of 2016!


#15-High-Rise and #14-The Lobster

Tom Hiddleston broods in an elevator in High-Rise
I didn't intentionally place these two next to each other on my list, but I'm glad that it worked out this way because they are shockingly similar. Both of them feature very pointed yet very broad social commentary, both feature outlandish dystopian societies, They both even feature soundtracks of predominantly classical music. Perhaps most strikingly, both are incredibly violent and difficult to watch. In fact, there were moments in both of these films where I literally shielded my eyes from the screen. High-Rise, for example, starts with a scene of Tom Hiddleston calmly killing and eating a dog, and then just gets more disturbing from there. Hiddleston stars as Robert Laing, a doctor who moves into a high-rise apartment which is divided along social lines, with the upper classes living on the top floors and lower classes living on the bottom. And as the differences between the classes become heightened, drama ensues and eventually the apartment resembles a post-apocalyptic world. The Lobster meanwhile, has an even weirder premise. It takes place in a world where single people of a certain age are brought to a hotel where they have 45 days to find a mate or they will be turned into an animal of their choice. Colin Farrell stars as a man who checks into the hotel with a dog in tow (which used to be his brother). Both films are beautifully made--the visions of directors Ben Wheatley and Yorgos Lanthimos are so abundantly present in their respective films. They're wonderfully executed, and so strange in their own distinct ways that it's impossible to not at least be intrigued about where these films are going to take you. But I do feel that both of them would have ranked higher on my list if they had demonstrated more restraint. Each one starts off with a disturbing presence, and gets exponentially more disturbing with each scene. By the end of each film, they are so far removed from anything resembling our reality that any social commentary the film was trying to make becomes moot.

Colin Farrell and his brother check into their hotel room in The Lobster
For example, I loved the first part of The Lobster for how insightful it was. The world of the hotel was clearly designed to parody the modern dating scene, and it does so with aplomb. But in the second part of the film, the movie ventures to the world outside of the hotel and becomes an entirely different movie, where the chaos of the film's environment overshadows the substance so present in the earlier half of the film. Both of these films, at least on my first viewing, had moments where I felt they gave way to the temptation of shock value, relying on disturbing ideas and images without really using them to make a point. But they earn their places on this list because they both kept me engaged all the way through, and both have some really strong moments. The Lobster in particular, has moments that are sheer brilliance, and I wonder if my estimation of it might rise on later viewings. For now, though, they're solid if uneven films, which easily could have ranked higher on this list in other, weaker years. If nothing else, they deserve to be seen for their sheer ambition and intensity.

#13-Tale of Tales

Salma Hayek takes the phrase "Eat your heart out" too literally in Tale of Tales
Stories like Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, and Rapunzel are known the world over. And while they are often attributed to the Grimm brothers, the first known appearance of stories like these and many others is in an Italian book called The Pentamerone. And while some stories like the ones I've mentioned have endured, there are also some that never caught on. A new film from Italian director Matteo Garrone brings three of these lesser-known fairy tales to light in Tale of Tales, and that takes the #13 spot on my list. This movie has its flaws to be sure. The three stories are told simultaneously, rather than one at a time, and at times this makes the movie feel unfocused. And the stories highlighted by Garrone are outright bizarre--you understand why they haven't ever gotten their own animated Disney adaptations--and there are moments when you wonder why on earth Garrone thought these stories were essential to tell. But the thrill of this film is that Garrone commits to the stories' true natures. This is the undoubtedly bloodiest fairy tale film ever made, and while I haven't read these stories I imagine they're pretty faithful to the source material's notoriously gorey nature. But it's also the most visually stunning film I've seen this year. Tale of Tales looks like how a fairy tale film should look (I'd love if this small film could somehow be remembered for its costume design come Oscar time). Ultimately, the design elements carry Tale of Tales. For its faults, Tale of Tales really does transport you to another world that is utterly engrossing and a true joy to visit. Plus, I actually think that Garrone does a good job of balancing all three stories. They're equally interesting and so that no single story feels like the weak link compared to the other two. And there are some fun performances here, with standouts being Salma Hayek as a demented queen, Shirley Henderson as a desperate old woman, and Toby Jones as a foolish king who becomes enamored with a flea the size of a horse. Jones probably deserves the most credit for making his scenes with said flea not feel utterly ridiculous.

#12-Hardcore Henry

Critics of Hardcore Henry point to its weak screenplay while fans of it say "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
My personal tastes in film tend to air more towards the artsy and indie. I mean, so far, my "best of" list has featured three films that have hardly had major releases. Which is why I think some might be surprised to see the action film Hardcore Henry take the #12 spot. The film, about a man who wakes up to discover he's been altered to now be a cyberkinetic supersoldier, gained some recognition for its gimmick of being shot entirely from Henry's perspective, in the style of first-person shooter video games. Henry has been critically divisive, with its main detractors feeling that the film lacks any substance and that the gimmick has diminishing returns as the film goes on. And while I don't think these critiques are without merit, when I consider the reaction to this movie, I can't help but think back to the reaction to a more acclaimed film from last year: The Revenant.

Hear me out. Both of these films are low on story, but the story they have is one of revenge (early in the film, Henry's wife is kidnapped and he spends the film trying to find her). Both of them are technical marvels, with harrowing stories about the difficult process of filming. The only difference is that The Revenant had a $135,000,000 budget and lots of awards recognition, while Hardcore Henry had a $2,000,000 budget and a 48% score on Rotten Tomatoes. But I would argue strongly that Hardcore Henry is the superior film. For one thing, it's a lot more enjoyable to watch. But I also think that it succeeds more on a technical level. I don't think that Hardcore Henry is getting its due for how miraculous it is that it has been pulled off. It's not as objectively beautiful as The Revenant, but these action sequences are so meticulously choreographed and the stuntwork is simply incredible. But what impressed me most about Hardcore Henry was the use of sound. The sound editing and sound mixing is off the charts. Because of the way the film is shot, the camera's view is limited, and so the film can't use any of the film editing tricks that are typically used to pull off action sequences. Instead, it relies on sound to make it clear to the audience what's going on. Watch any of the scenes from Hardcore Henry on mute and it'll make no sense, but thanks to this film's brilliant use of sound, you can perfectly follow Henry's actions and movements amongst the chaos of an elaborate action sequence. It's pretty exciting to watch as an audience member, but also as an appreciator of film.

Sharlto Copley in one of the many iterations of Jimmy.
I'd also say that while the first-person gimmick is certainly what makes Hardcore Henry standout, I was pleasantly surprised to see that this film had some other interesting sci-fi elements going on. My favorite element of the film was the character of Jimmy, played by Sharlto Copley in what is actually one of the best performances of the year so far. Slight spoiler here, but Jimmy is a man who can transfer his consciousness to various clones of himself that he has around the city, meaning that on Henry's revenge quest, he is constantly being aided by Jimmy, but always a different clone of Jimmy. Copley does a great job, essentially playing multiple characters and one character all at the same time--making it plausible that each Jimmy is one and the same, while also imbuing each with a distinct personality. I got excited every time a new Jimmy showed up, because it was a delight to see what Copley would do next. Ultimately, I understand why some people disliked Hardcore Henry so much, but I do think it's worth seeing to make the decision for oneself.

#11-The Witch

Ralph Ineson morosely chops wood in The Witch
Horror films are having a bit of a resurgence at the moment. After several years relying on torture porn, jump scares, and found footage, we're finally starting to see the genre return to a level of artistry and restraint that is exciting to see. The past few years have given us multiple films that are destined to become new classics, and joining those ranks is The Witch. It's a bizarre film to be sure, with much of the dialogue being taken directly from historical transcripts from the Salem Witch Trials, but placed in a new context to tell a tightly-contained campfire horror story. Director and writer Robert Eggers makes an incredibly strong debut with The Witch, and shows that he's not concerned with traditional rules of filmmaking, but also that he understands those rules enough to know how to break them. He doesn't like giving his audience any set answers, but also understands that this ambiguity can lead to a wonderful sense of unease. Watching The Witch, you have no idea what's going on, but you know you're scared by it. It's a masterful (and beautifully shot) entry in the new canon of horror movies, and I can't wait to see what Eggers does next (and he's rumored to be working on a remake of the vampire classic Nosferatu).

#10-April and the Extraordinary World

April discovers electricity in the animated sci-fi thriller April and the Extraordinary World
It's going to be an exciting year for animation, with lots of promising animated films in the works. The genre is already off to a strong start with the French-Canadian steampunk sci-fi thriller kids movie April and the Extraordinary World. From the same company that made Persepolis, this is a film that truly understands the possibilities of animation, and uses the medium to its advantage to create a world which, as the title states, is extraordinary. The film exists in an alternate timeline of world history where all the scientists and inventors of the world have mysteriously disappeared, and the existing scientists must live in secret so that they don't meet the same fate. One such scientist is a young woman named April, the last remaining member of her scientist family, who along with a pickpocket and a talking cat discovers where all the scientists have gone. It's a great story--one which involves dragons, mysterious serums, and lots of cameos from famous scientists. It's often very funny, and a lot of fun, but what impressed me the most about the film was the sheer amount of detail that goes into the film's environment. We've seen steampunk movies before, but April and the Extraordinary World is the first one I've seen to actually justify its use of the aesthetic. The thought is that since scientists have all disappeared, electricity was never discovered and so all technological advancements in the world had to progress without it. It didn't get a large release in theaters, but it certainly deserves to be seen.

#9-Elstree 1976

Bored extras lounging around the set of Star Wars, the subject matter of documentary Elstree 1976.
It's tough to know what makes a great documentary. Crafting a documentary is as much of an artform as making a non-documentary film, but quite often, a documentary can get by as long as its chosen subject matter is interesting enough. And that is definitely the case for Elstree 1976. If you haven't heard of it, Elstree 1976 interviews ten actors who played bit parts in the original Star Wars films--everyone from Boba Fett to a rebel pilot to a Stormtrooper responsible for a famous blooper. The commercials bill Elstree 1976 as being about the making of Star Wars and, in part it is. Those who watch it specifically for the Star Wars connection will undoubtedly love hearing the behind-the-scenes stories. But Elstree 1976 is more about the actors than about the franchise they're a part of. We learn about their lives before the film, during the filming, and then after the film's release, and this is what made me love this movie as much as I did. It's not really about Star Wars, it's about these so-called ordinary people, and the care that it takes to tell us their stories is lovely. Elstree 1976 uses the Star Wars connection as an excuse to simply talk about people, and it makes it an incredibly personal film. I also think it's an especially useful film for any actor to see. Many--although not all--of the people they focus on are actors who had various degrees of success, and it's an authentic and frank look at what it's like to struggle in this industry.

#8-Green Room

The unfortunate protagonists of Green Room
Writer and director Jeremy Saulnier is still a relative newcomer to the world of film, but with just three films he has already demonstrated his own style and perspective that is a welcome addition to the horror genre. In his latest, Green Room, a young punk band desperate for a gig (Anton Yelchin, Alia Shawkat, Joe Cole, and Callum Turner) ends up accidentally witnessing a murder in the green room of the venue where they're performing. If that weren't bad enough, the club is run by neo-Nazis. Saulnier's is one of the rare horror directors whose films take place entirely within the realm of reality, with no supernatural elements ever being at play, and this nightmarish cat and mouse game is his most thrilling film to date. It's unrelenting and builds to an unbelievable fever-pitch. Plus the cast is great all around, although the standout is definitely Patrick Stewart as club owner Darcy Banker. Stewart doesn't play villains often, but he takes to it naturally, with his always powerful presence taking on new light in this film.

#7-Captain America: Civil War

Iron Man and War Machine take flight in Captain America: Civil War
 Marvel has done something unprecedented with their films. They've built a strong franchise that truly feels unstoppable, and has proven equally adept at building upon existing properties and introducing new characters. Captain America: Civil War was in a difficult position. After the success of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it had to continue the tone of that film while incorporating about fifty times as many characters AND setting up at least twelve other films. And it does a great job on all fronts. On its own, it's a solid entry with a great amount of action and drama. What impressed me most about the screenplay is that it manages to remain detached from its central argument. The "civil war" between the Avengers, with a side led by Captain America and Iron Man respectively, is a complex issue, and neither side comes across as distinctly right or wrong. It manages to present both sides as valid, and actually approach the central issue of the film from an interesting philosophical perspective. Even if it weren't about superhero characters, I think this film would have been a solid thriller, with one twist in particular being as well executed as I've ever seen a twist pulled off in film. In the scope of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America: Civil War is equally strong. I had already been excited for the movie Black Panther, but seeing Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa made me even more excited. And I had been skeptical about ANOTHER Spiderman movie, but Tom Holland's take on the character has completely won me over. But what Captain America: Civil War perhaps does best is build upon the relationships between these characters from previous films. The fact that there's so much dramatic material for this franchise to work with now means that these characters are already fully-realized and developed, which means that the film can really delve into their relationships. Captain America: Civil War takes advantage of the framework set forth to create a film that's enjoyable if you've never seen any Marvel film before, but becomes even better if you've seen them all.

#6-Sing Street

Ferdia Walsh-Peelo and Mark McKenna writing songs in Sing Street
I absolutely love John Carney. I truly believe that in his three feature films to date, he has proven better at making movies about music than any other filmmaker in history. His first film, Once, is universally regarded as a masterpiece at this point, and I thought his follow-up Begin Again was an underrated gem. Sing Street has all of the familiar themes from Carney's previous works--music, love, sadness, etc.--but is also his most personal film to date. Based partially on his own childhood, Sing Street follows a kid in Ireland named Conor (newcomer Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) who starts a band at his new school to impress his crush, Raphina (Lucy Boynton). The original music is great, and the songs immediately feel like classics, and still have a sort of rough charm that it feels believable that they were written by talented kids. Perhaps more impressively, the band changes their musical styles as Conor is introduced to new bands by his older brother Brendan (Jack Reynor) so the soundtrack is like a tour through the most popular bands of the 80's. But as great as the music is, the film really excels in its development of the characters and their relationships. One musical number, where Conor fantasizes a Back to the Future-inspired music video for his band, somehow provides some of the best character development of the year in a single scene. And at the heart of the film is the relationship between Conor and Brendan. Reynor steals the entire film as a college dropout coping with his unrealized talent while encouraging his younger brother to explore his separate artistic talents. It's a role that could have easily become a familiar caricature, but Reynor finds new dimensions to go in, and the dynamic between the two brothers is heartbreaking in its tenderness and authenticity.

#5-Deadpool

Deadpool and Negasonic Teenage Warhead have a sensitive heart-to-heart.
As good as Captain America: Civil War was, it's not even my favorite Marvel film of the year. Deadpool is a great superhero film, but as its titular hero constantly reminds us, he's not exactly your average superhero. Where Deadpool excels is in its comedy. This movie is hilarious. Seriously, it can hold its own with some of the all time great comedy films, and certainly ranks as one of the best action comedy films ever made. And it does this by finding its own comedic voice. Not only is it funny, but it has its own comedic voice that really is unlike anything else I've heard in film. I also have to say that I think that Ryan Reynolds deserves a lot of credit for his superb performance. As they've become so popular, comic book movies tend now to attract top talent, and I would say that Marvel movies are usually well acted. But the movies are typically not ABOUT the performances. Chris Evans does a great job as Captain America, for example, but the role isn't being written to showcase his performance, it's being written to serve the franchise as a whole. But with Reynolds, things are different. Not since Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man has a performer been given such a chance to shine playing a superhero, and Reynolds takes full advantage of it.

#4-The Jungle Book

The best movie villain of 2016 so far is a talking cat.
It has become clear that Disney plans to just keep remaking all of their animated classics into live action films. And while I don't think that this is necessarily a bad idea, it has seemed fairly so far. Their live action Cinderella, for example, was fine but utterly pointless (not to mention pretty and bland). But The Jungle Book was exactly what a live-action adaptation of an animated classic should be. It remains faithful enough to the familiar film to satisfy fans, but also distinctly puts its own spin on it and completely justifies why it deserved to be made. Seeing the film in live action works far better than I ever could have expected, and it's easy to forget that the film is almost entirely computer generated. It's so beautiful to watch, and the CGI so well done that you legitimately feel like you're there in the jungle. And I at least immediately found the talking animals incredibly lifelike and engaging. Perhaps none more so than Shere Khan. Due to the animation, but also due to Idris Elba's commanding vocal performance, Shere Khan is sinister and at times legitimately frightening as the scarred tiger seeking vengeance on humans. And Elba isn't the only strong voiceover performance. Casting Bill Murray as Baloo the sloth bear is both seemingly obvious and also inspired, and Christopher Walken is odd and surprisingly menacing as King Louie the Gigantopithecus. But the smartest thing Disney did was to get Jon Favreau to direct--this is someone who simply understands filmmaking. While The Jungle Book is breaking ground with its visuals, its story is ultimately very simple and Favreau knows how to tell it perfectly, keeping everything balanced.

#3-Zootopia
If Disney hasn't already started working on a Zootopia spinoff called Sloths then I am SO copyrighting that idea right now.
Disney's had a great year, with two films cracking my top five. I was intrigued by The Jungle Book fairly early on, but I will admit that Zootopia took me entirely by surprise. The premise doesn't sound all that original or exciting. "A world where animals can talk." Umm...isn't that most Disney movies? But watching Zootopia it is immediately clear that a lot of work went into this premise. They took the simple concept and ran with it, playing with it in a way that is both detailed and incredibly creative. On top of the world they've set up, the film's screenplay is fantastic. Honestly, you could take the same basic story and plotpoints, cast human actors, and you'd have a thriller that would probably be directed by David Fincher. But the thing that makes Zootopia especially noteworthy--and what everyone has been talking about--is its surprisingly effective tackling of issues of discrimination. What I love about the film is that it keeps its handling of social issues very broad and general. In doing so, it doesn't make its message specific. While most of the articles I've read about Zootopia say it's commenting on racism, I'd actually argue that this film will endure because it can be applied to multiple issues of discrimination in our society. It's not just a great kids' film, it's a great film that happens to be acceptable for kids to watch. If you haven't seen it yet, believe the hype and go watch Zootopia. Even if you're not as impressed by the story as I was, it has so many puns that it simply demands to be seen.

Also, it managed to break practically every record previously held by Frozen. That's right. It defeated Frozen. That earns it several extra points in my book.

#2-10 Cloverfield Lane

2/3 of the cast of the superb 10 Cloverfield Lane
I'm always intrigued by films with a small cast. If you have a limited set of characters and a limiting setting, it forces filmmakers to focus on the characters and story, which ultimately makes a film better. So what intrigued me most about 10 Cloverfield Lane was that it has, for the most part, only three actors. The underrated and always excellent Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Michelle, a woman who wakes up from a car crash chained to a bed in an unfamiliar basement. The only other people around are Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.), a man with a broken arm, and Howard (John Goodman), the person who is essentially Michelle's captor and who tells her that she can't go outside because there's been a nuclear attack and the air is no longer safe to breathe. From that point, the movie is a constant guessing game. Is Howard lying about the nuclear attack and using it as an excuse for Michelle to not leave? Is he telling the truth and actually did save Michelle's life by keeping her in his basement? Or does he think he's telling the truth but that's just because he's crazy and Emmett and Michelle need to escape now? I don't want to give anything away, because part of the brilliance of this film is that it constantly keeps you guessing. As the film goes along, more information is revealed about where they are and what's around them. More importantly, more information is revealed about each of the characters so that we as audience members are constantly changing our perceptions of the evens we see unfolding. It's one of the most engaging thrillers I've seen in a long time. All three cast members are great. Gallagher Jr. is always an interesting performer, and here he brings a lot of weight to what I imagine is probably the least developed of the three characters at least on the page. Winstead really shines as the film's protagonist and ostensible audience surrogate, and Winstead walks the often difficult line of playing Michelle as not too smart but also not too helpless. We get a capable character who is thrown into an impossible situation, and every action of Winstead's is understandable and clearly portrayed. But the standout is undoubtedly Goodman. This is his best performance since The Big Lebowski, and my favorite performance of the year so far. He is by far the most enigmatic of these three, and our perceptions of him change the most wildly and the most frequently. At times he's fearsome, and the next moment he's sympathetic. He at times comes across as brilliant, and at times as completely delusional. What's most impressive is that, even though the audience's opinion of Howard changes every scene, Goodman's performance remains consistent. This character is so defined that he can remain rock steady even as new information changes our perceptions of him, and his performance somehow always manages to justify whatever the audience's current perception is. His performance brought to mind Kathy Bates' brilliant work as Annie Wilkes in Misery, but it's unfair to compare the two. Howard Stambler is his own distinct character, and Goodman really knocked this role out of the park.

If I had any criticism about 10 Cloverfield Lane, I will say that I found the ending a bit disappointing. It's not a bad ending, but it's certainly not what I would have gone with. But the rest of the film is so strong that it hardly matters, which is why it's so high up on my list and has a good chance of making my top ten list at the end of the year. But there was one film that I liked even more.

#1-Remember

Christopher Plummer and Martin Landau plan an unlikely revenge quest in the thrilling Remember.

Most people haven't heard of Remember. I don't remember seeing it advertised very much, and it came and went while it was in theaters. And that's a shame because it is easily my favorite film that I've seen so far in 2016. All the other films I've mentioned so far were great, but Remember engaged and affected me in a way that none of these other films even came close to. The film follows Zev (Christopher Plummer) an elderly man in an assisted living home whose wife Ruth recently passed away. Zev is approached by Max (Martin Landau, in a rare but very welcome film appearance in his later life), another resident of the home who asks if Zev remembers what he promised to do after Ruth died. Zev, who has dementia, says he doesn't, but Max gives him an envelope and asks him to read it and follow the instructions to the letter. Zev opens the letter to find stacks of money and detailed instructions. Following them he exits the home and gets into a cab that is waiting for him. And I don't want to say anything else because I hope that this beginning has gotten you intrigued to see this movie for yourself. But it's going to go to some really interesting places. When I've recommended it to people, which I've done often, I describe it as a cross between Kill Bill, Memento, and Schindler's List. So try to imagine that and this might give you some inkling of what Remember might be like.

What you might not be prepared for is simply how exciting it gets. Christopher Plummer isn't the first actor who comes to mind when you think "revenge thriller," but Oscar-nominated director Atom Egoyan and screenwriter Benjamin August use that unpredictability to their advantage. At one point, Zev stays in a hotel in room 238, an obvious reference to The Shining. At first, I thought this was an odd reference to sneak into the film, considering that Remember seemingly has little to do with the supernatural forces at work in The Shining. But by the end of the film I understood. This film may not deal with forces from another world, but it manages to extract thrills and horror from parts of our own reality, and somehow manages to craft moments that at once feel surreal and all too realistic. At times it's like a trip to the twilight zone. And, of course, it features some incredible performances. Plummer is brilliant in the main role. Seriously, considering this and his Oscar-winning work in Beginners, I actually think he's doing the best work of his career in his later life. And the supporting performances are great too. Landau is excellent, and Breaking Bad's Dean Norris practically steals the movie in a single nail-biting scene playing a brutish cop who's a proud member of the American Nazi party. I honestly cannot recommend Remember enough. See it if you can--it deserves so much more attention that it initially received.

Dean Norris menacing Christopher Plummer in Remember.

And there you have it, my picks for the top fifteen films of the first part of 2016! It's already been a great year, so I can't wait to see what not-yet-released films can top these selections. What are some of your favorite films of the year so far? Did I miss any of your favorites? Which films are you most excited to see that are coming soon? Let me know in the comments!