Some Movies I Missed in 2016

            It has been awhile, and at the end of the holiday season no less! Gone with the festivities, the days off, and the indigestion, but at the very least, there was plenty of time to catch up with some of the great films released over the year. Well, hypothetically speaking. The big downside this year was that so many films like Phantom Thread, Call Me By Your Name, The Post, and Paddington 2, are not reaching Orlando until well into January, which is disappointing. What’s the point of even having an end of doing a top list or retrospective when release dates are this arbitrary, and where’s my Paddington 2!?  Granted, this problem is nothing new as every year so many great films get little or sometimes no chance to screen here in Florida. So as a fun experiment, instead of catching up on the 2017 releases, I spent much of my holiday catching up with some of the films I missed in 2016 and review those instead.

Some Highs and Lows of August

            As of two weeks ago I have started a new semester of college, which means I’m still adjusting to the demands between schoolwork and blogging. For now I’ll just focus on writing short and informal stuff and leaving longer essays for Blogathons and film/topics that inspire analysis. Still, I saved up some short reviews of the films I saw during August just to make up for the dead time.

Best Films of 2016 (so far)

            It is July, so it seemed appropriate to do a sort of midseason review of 2016 by showing my favorite films of the year so far. It seems a bit silly; this list will be dated by the end of the year, but since I rarely review contemporary films this will at least encapsulate my favorite viewing experiences during the first half of the year. Even if only a few or possibly none of these films make it on my top ten, they are still worthy of being seen.

Witnessing Immortan Joe and his War Boys on the Fury Road

            (Spoiler Warning: I don't usually state this since I try to at least dance around major plot points, but this was a case where that was not possible, my bad. For maximum reading pleasure, go see Mad Max: Fury Road first, let it scorch your mind, and then read this.)

2015 Honorable Mentions

            So as of right now I am working on a rough draft for my top ten of 2015, which will hopefully be published before the Oscar awards in 2017. Orlando is not a very film centric town, which makes it difficult to find many of the prestigious films before awards season. Even then, I am lucky to ever find certain foreign and independent films because distribution the demand for such films here are null. Ultimately in order for me to write a top ten with confidence, I need the time to watch as much as I can.

            Regardless, this has been a robust year for film. In fact were so many distinguished films that to leave one out seemed almost sacrilege.  So at the very the least, it seemed right to honor the best films that will not reach my personal list and hopefully explain why they are not on the shortlist.  It was either that or I lament about the Oscars, which no one wants to here. Now lets talk movies.

Mad Max: Fury Road