Music and cinema are natural bedfellows. From the piano led accompaniment of silent films to the pop soundtracks of Quintin Tarantino. However, very few directors have merged the two as effectively as John Carney. His breakout film Once was the first hint at that talent before Begin Again cemented it. Somehow, though, he has topped both of those with the quite frankly incredible Sing Street.
Green Room (2016)
There’s something thrilling about punk rock on film. The wild and pissed off nature of it lends itself to any number of scenarios. However, very few films have captured that nature in the way Green Room does. When punk band The Ain’t Rights walk into a room full of Neo-Nazis and launch into a cover of The Dead Kennedys‘ ‘Nazi Punks Fuck Off’ it taps into the rebellion that lies at the heart of that scene. That that moment is encamped in a film that takes the siege horror genre and twists it in a whole manner of fucked up ways is just an added bonus.
Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)
The story of Florence Foster Jenkins is a mix of the bizarre and the inspirational. A New York socialite who was robbed of her status as a piano prodigy due to injuries to her hand, she went on to become a great supporter of the arts. However, she wasn’t content with just supporting them and decided to make steps into opera singing. Sadly, the only person unaware that she was awful, was herself, and she was kept ignorant of that right up until the moment she sang at Carnegie Hall.
Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
WARNING: this review will contain a whole load of Richard Linklater loving, and if you ain’t down for that you should move along. Everybody Wants Some!! is the latest work from a man who over the course of thirty years has produced films as diverse as Boyhood and School of Rock. However, in among those vastly different films, there are themes that pop up time after time and the same goes for Everybody Wants Some!! Themes of growing up, love and philosophy that Linklater seems naturally drawn to.
Son of Saul (2016)
Son of Saul is a hard film to love. Not because of any faults but because of its subject matter. Set in Auschwitz, it follows Saul, a Sonderkommando who works with the bodies of the dead, as he tries to conduct a proper burial for his son. While this is going on, his fellow Sonderkommando are planning an escape from the horrifying conditions that they live in.
Eye In The Sky (2016)
Gavin Hood’s Eye In the Sky is a film with a lot of questions, however, not necessarily one that is willing to provide answers. Much like last years rather overlooked Good Kill it puts drones at the centre of its plot. Unlike that film, this doesn’t just focus on the pilots but every other step up the ladder in the decision-making process as well.
The Jungle Book (2016)
Some decisions just make sense, and it is impossible to go through the cast list of The Jungle Book without thinking, ‘damn, that makes sense.’ From Bill Murray as Baloo to Christopher Walken as King Louie it just works. The question is can Jon Favreau’s attempt at a ‘live-action’ (in reality the only live-action element is Neel Sethi as Mowgli) Disney classic live up to such an illustrious cast?
Midnight Special (2016)
Only four films into his career Jeff Nichols has set himself up as a man to watch. The southern drawl of Mud played a big part in Matthew McConaughey’s renaissance and at the age of 37, he could lay claim to being one of the most intriguing directors to come out of America in a while. Midnight Special is his most ambitious film to date and sees him taking a step into science fiction.
Eddie The Eagle (2016)
Eddie The Eagle is a classic British legend. A man who went to the Olympics and was a bit rubbish and off the back of that became a national hero. It taps into that British love of a trier, and you can bet that most people would think of him long before they got round to actually successful Olympians. It is strange then that it has taken this long for his story to reach the big screen.
Zootropolis (2016)
Since Disney’s acquisition of Pixar and the hiring of John Lassiter their animation department has gone through a bit of a resurgence. Everyone is aware of the phenomenon that is Frozen but around that films like Big Hero Six have shown an ability to move away from the classic Disney formula. To be added to that realm is Zootropolis (known as Zootopia in America) a film set in an animal utopia.
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