Summilux r 35mm

Squirming just below the surface of Goodnight Mommy, a nerve-shredding new thriller from far-flung Austria, is an almost comically predictable plot twist. Moviegoers hip to the true identities of Tyler Durden and Keyser Söze should figure it out by the end of the first reel, when the filmmakers have already begun to show their hand. But you don’t go to a midnight movie to have your mind blown. You go to have your stomach churned, your hairs put on end, your fingers forced over your eyes. And by that base criteria, this elegantly nasty little potboiler should satisfy those brave enough to brave it. They might see the big reveal coming, but that won’t help them unsee the horrors leading up to it. Advertisement Nearly all of the film takes place in a secluded country house, surrounded by an idyllic forest and vast cornfields, perfect for frolicking and fleeing. This is the new home of 9-year-old twins Elias (Elias Schwarz) and Lukas (Lukas Schwarz), as well as their … [Read more...] about Guessing the twist won’t save you from the horrors of

“I feel like I’m in a dream,” Charlie (Adam Driver) tells Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) the moment after she serves him divorce papers. The papers aren’t a surprise—he knew this day was coming, and there’s little indication that he believes that their differences are, as they say, reconcilable. For both parties, it’s more the how of the moment that’s so strange: in someone else’s kitchen out in California instead of in their own home in New York, and by her sister (Merritt Wever), because of course the law says that Nicole can’t hand Charlie the papers herself. It’s not the way either of these soon to be exes imagined this seminal moment in their lives transpiring. Of course, there was a time that neither of them could imagine being in the situation at all. That’s the thing about divorce: It’s pretty surreal no matter whose kitchen you’re standing in. There’s a certain screwball energy to the beats … [Read more...] about Noah Baumbach makes a moving divorce drama, and Adam Sandler plays a tornado of self-destruction

When people talk about what a terrible year 2016 has been, they could be referring to any number of things, from virus scares to the death of beloved celebrities to whatever the fuck happened on November 8. What they can’t mean is the movies, though. Only those who spent all their money on the biggest Hollywood product could really complain about the cinema of 2016 (and even then, they’d have some pretty good Marvel movies and a solid Star Wars spin-off to fall back on). As usual, there was no grand unifying element linking all of the year’s finest films, but there were some shared themes and motifs: grief, and coping with it; strained family bonds; the responsibility (and burden) of religious faith; and, of course, cars. More than a few of the year’s best films also took time to highlight the details of normal life, tethering their drama, comedy, or delirious fantasy to something mundanely relatable. Mathematically ranked by our six regular reviewers, who each … [Read more...] about The 20 best films of 2016