lost level

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Rainn Wilson in Permanent (2017).

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On the Nature of Daylight by Max Richter

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Michael Fassbender in Alien: Covenant (2017).

Much like alien movies, I had given up on tumblr for a bit... the same comment goes for both: I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.  That’s not to say it is a bad film (there were some outstanding elements) but perhaps I got my nerd hopes up a bit too much.

[televandalist]

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Bruce Dern in Silent Running (1972).

For more glorious stuff from the 70s click here.

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Time for another list you didn’t ask for... My best films of 2016 (depending on region) for your consideration (in order of literal title length):

Arrival 

Moonlight

The Daughter

The Nice Guys

Midnight Special

American Honey

Notes on Blindness

The Magnificent Seven

Rouge One: A Star Wars Story

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Honourable mentions and good things that don’t quite meet the criteria:

Dope

Violent

The OA

Stranger Things

The Edge of Seventeen

If you haven’t seen some of the things on this list then I very much recommend that you do :)

[netflix]

We all died more times than I can count.

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The OA (2016).

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Michael St. Michaels & Sky Elobar in The Greasy Strangler (2016).

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Amy Adams & Jeremy Renner in Arrival (2016).

It’s hard to recommend without spoilers so perhaps just watch it.  I might write a full review upon it’s DVD/Blu Ray release.

[madam-shogun-assassin]

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Maggie Cheung in Hero (2002).

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Sasha Lane in American Honey (2016).

In the continuation of movies with the prefix ‘American’ comes American Honey. I confess I wasn't expecting this it caught me off guard for some reason I prepared myself for something obnoxious only to find the sublime amidst it. Some characters would have easily been written off if handled differently but like real people even some of the apparent deplorables have hidden depths. It all felt rather authentic (whatever that is) and that cinematography (by Robbie Ryan) was exceptional. 

I don’t know what it is that Andrea Arnold does but somehow she got great performances from a relatively unknown cast and Shia LaBeouf.  I can honestly say there are a myriad of reasons to watch this film.  Well played and very much recommended.

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First We Take Manhattan by Leonard Cohen

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Asa Butterfield & Ella Purnell in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016).

You remember the last time you went to see a Tim Burton film blind ignoring reviews & previews before hand... yet this time even with a default grumpy disposition you didn't leave disappointed. 

I confess I found myself grinning like an idiot. It did a lot of things right and was quite adept at world building without too much clunky exposition (see Vampire Academy for example).

Very much recommended for just about anyone.

[cinemafanatic]

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Anya Taylor-Joy & Kate Mara in Morgan (2016).

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Kate Mara in Morgan (2016).

[gabuwingchun]

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Michelle Yeoh in Yes, Madam! aka Huang jia shi jie (1985).

[fuforthought]

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Gordon Liu in The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978).

[drunkensword]

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Ziyi Zhang in The Banquet (2006).