Brent's Top Ten Movies Of 2016 [UPDATED]

Without fail, some people grouse about how that particular 365-day journey around the sun was a bad year for movies. 2016 is no exception, a circumstance made all the more egregious because so many giant blockbusters sucked ass or, perhaps even worse, wound up inane and tepid and unmemorable in every regard.

The 2016 Seattle Film Awards Nominations

Because I’m a super fancy film critic (i.e. I spend most of my free time sitting silently in dark rooms watching movies most people never see; writing about them online, where no one reads about them, for little to no money; and talking about these movies no one sees with other likeminded obsessives—jealous?), I get to vote in super fancy end-of-the-year film critic polls. One of these is the Seattle Film Critics Society, which just announced the 2016 Seattle Film Awards nominations.

'La La Land' (2016) Movie Review

After Whiplash whipped up a frenzy, writer/director Damien Chazelle could do damn near anything he wanted. Helm a superhero movie? Probably could have done that. Tackle a big-budget summer blockbuster or weighty Oscar-bait drama? So many others have followed that path. But what does he do? He makes La La Land, a full-on throwback musical. And he absolutely kills it.

'La La Land' Belts Out A Dreamy New Trailer

I’m a sucker for musicals, and I love, love, love the fact that, after the massive critical success of Whiplash, when he could have done damn near anything he wanted, Damien Chazelle made a goddamn musical. And a musical starring the tag team of charm Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling to boot. La La Land hits theaters in December, and though it’s a few months off in the distance, it just delivered a dreamy new trailer.