Top Films of 2016

Article

'Moonlight'

The rewards for close attention to every scene and shot in "Moonlight" are the same as those for any patient reading of Henry James serpentine sentences.

By Richard Alleva

November 30, 2016

Movies

Article

'Hell or High Water'

"Hell or High Water" breathes new life into familiar materials, dealing out anachronistic juxtapositions while de-romanticizing the iconic figures of the western.

By Rand Richards Cooper

September 22, 2016

Movies

Article

‘Café Society’ & ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’

Comedies with superficial characters aren’t necessarily bad, but ‘Café Society’ stays predictable. ‘Florence Foster Jenkins,’ however, makes room for pathos.

August 26, 2016

Article

'The Innocents'

With its command of reverberant silences, its conveyance of past horror and ongoing pain, 'The Innocents' does what all good movies do: it lingers with you.

By Richard Alleva

July 28, 2016

Religious Life

Secularism and Modernity

Article

'Chimes at Midnight'

Just in time to relieve the post-Oscar doldrums comes the reappearance of Orson Welles’s "Chimes at Midnight," the 1966 adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV plays.

By Richard Alleva

March 10, 2016

Movies

Article

'Son of Saul'

Writer-director László Nemes takes us into the Auschwitz death camp one day in late 1944. The camera immediately fastens on Saul Auslander and never lets go.

By Richard Alleva

March 31, 2016

Movies

Article

'Fire at Sea': Documenting the Ongoing Tragedy in the Mediterranean

October 29, 2016

Article

'The Revenant'

Very few historical films have achieved this degree of physical verisimilitude. The bad news? Verisimilitude may be 'The Revenant'’s only great achievement.

By Richard Alleva

February 10, 2016

Movies

Article

'Weiner'

'Weiner' sets out to film Anthony Weiner’s unlikely political comeback, as he sought to put the disgrace behind him with a run for mayor of New York in 2013.

By Rand Richards Cooper

June 24, 2016

Media