Top Ten Movies of 2016 (That I Saw in a Theater)

Say what you will about 2016. It has sucked. The world lost so many great artists. The first week of November in America was especially sure shit. The first week of December was a personal worst for me that saw the passing of my Dad. But the silver lining is:  There were some GREAT movies in what feels like a really solid year for cinema. And going into 2017, I can say, at least, that I have a great family and I have my health. What more should a man ask for?

Speaks Reviews: Midnight Special

 

Midnight Special is the kind of movie that forced me into battle myself in some way. To clarify:  it's one I readily admit (after only one watch) that I admire more than I love, if that makes sense.

I went in on the promise of a Spielberg-esque sci-fi chase film. It pulls, quite obviously, from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, even quite well at times. But what I ended up with was a film that doesn't reach the emotional high of its predecessor. It's missing the connections that Spielberg so perfectly offers in the end. Midnight Special offers an answer to the biggest question (and not much else), but it's an ending that didn't fully work for me, and the things I really wanted more of were left by the wayside. In a way, that's all good and well. This is a Jeff Nichols film. I know that. This in spite of the fact that (I know...I know!) I have never seen any of his previous work.