Image: Focus Features
Chris Luckett
“Last year, in my Best Movies of 2014,
I commented on how weak a year we’d had.
If only I’d known what 2015 would be like!”
–Chris Luckett, The Best Movies of 2015
For the second year in a row, I didn’t see 25 movies worthy of inclusion on my best-of-the-year list. Moreover, there are even fewer on this year’s list than last.
Image: Warner Bros.
Chris Luckett
Despite having starred in such masterpieces as Cloud Atlas and Captain Phillips in recent years, it’s been seven years since a live-action Tom Hanks movie opened #1 at the box office.
Sully, the Clint Eastwood-directed biography of Capt. Chelsey “Sully” Sullenberger, played on screen by Hanks, not only reclaimed that throne but also nearly broke September box office records.
Photo: Screen Gems
Chris Luckett
Only two movies opened in wide release on Friday — sci-fi thriller Morgan and tearjerker The Light Between Oceans — but neither was able to even crack the top 5 at the box office over the long weekend.
Photo: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Chris Luckett
2016 is the first year in over a decade in which I haven’t worked at a video store, which has noticeably affected how many movies I’ve seen since January. As we approach the final third of the year, though, when Oscar hopefuls like The Birth of a Nation and Fences will compete with precision-crafted entertainment like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, I’ve still seen at least ten movies worthy of strong recommendation.
These are the ten best movies of 2016 — so far, at least.
Image: Focus Features
Chris Luckett
Animated masterpieces are few and far between. There are a lot of really good animated films, but the truly brilliant works come along so rarely, they make you sit up and take notice, in a way only the best of cinema can. Kubo and the Two Strings, the latest stop-motion movie from animation studio Laika, is one such achievement.
The Apple Box 