Dennis Cozzalio of the Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule blog has posted another of his famous movie quizes, and as always, I’m excited to participate. Previous installments answering questions from Professor Hubert Farnsworth, David Huxley, Professor Fate, Professor Russell Johnson, Dr. Smith, Professor Peabody, Professor Severus Snape, Professor Ed Avery, Dr. Anton Phibes, Sister Clodagh, Professor Arthur Chipping, Miss Jean Brodie, Professor Larry Gopnick, Professor Dewey Finn, Ms. Elizabeth Halsey, Professor Abraham Setrakian, Mr. Dadier, and Professor Abronsius are also available. Let’s get to it:

1) Best movie of 2016

Not to take the wind out of my forthcoming top 10 list’s sails, but my favorite movie of the year (that I’ve managed to see, at least) is Arrival. It has many qualities to like and perhaps a few flaws, but more than anything else, I adore this movie because it brings a certain sense of wonder and conceptual breakthrough that is common in SF literature to the screen (where it is nearly absent).

2) Worst movie of 2016

A tough choice. I watch a lot of movies, so there are several contenders here, but I’m not a critic who is forced to watch some truly interminable movies on a semi-regular basis, so my available choices are probably not authoritative enough. Also, in deference to the Biggest Disappointment category in this year’s Kaedrin Movie Awards, I will go with something I just saw called Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things. I was hoping this would be about visual design, but it’s really just a documentary following a bunch of ridiculously photogenic rich people who made terrible decisions about their goals in life but were nonetheless able to opt out of the traditional capitalist lifestyle. They mostly come off as bland, boring versions Tyler Durden who can’t even throw a punch. The ideas behind the movement aren’t terrible, per say, but this movie doesn’t do a good job exploring or interrogating them or those who espouse them. Minimalism is alright, but this documentary taught me that minimalists are the worst.

3) Best actress of 2016

I haven’t seen some of the heavy-hitters in this category yet, but I was quite taken with Kate Beckinsale in Love & Friendship. As someone not predisposed to enjoying period costume dramas, I attribute a big portion of my enjoyment of this movie to Beckinsale’s sharply comic turn as a manipulative widow.

4) Best actor of 2016

Once again, I haven’t seen some of the favored few in this category yet, but the obvious choice that I have seen is Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea. A boring choice, perhaps, but what are you going to do? Stop reading? NO, don’t stop. Please don’t stop. I’ll be good.

5) What movie from 2016 would you prefer not hearing another word about? Why?

I’m sick of hearing certain people say that Moonlight is the best movie of the year and then pivoting to complaining about how they’re superior to everyone else because they will go for La La Land. The one caveat I have here is that I have not seen this movie yet, and thus I could be in for a Short Term 12-style reversal of opinion. (Update! I have just seen Moonlight. It’s very good, but to my mind, not the obvious #1 critics seem to unanimously proclaim. I would say that though. I’m the worst.)

6) Second-favorite Olivier Assayas movie

I’ve only seen the three part Carlos, so I guess I could pick one of those (it would be one of the two that didn’t cover the OPEC raid). Cheating? I’m good with that for now.

7) Miriam Hopkins or Kay Francis?

I’ve seen more Miriam Hopkins, but I don’t really know either of these actresses so… mulligan!

8) What’s the story of your first R-rated movie?

Nothing particularly exciting about the story except that the movie was The Terminator, which remains one of my all-time favorite movies. I’d like to think this is based on more than just nostalgia and I do believe the movie holds up well, but I can’t quite rule out my history with the film either. That being said, who cares, the movie is awesome.

9) What movie from any era that you haven’t yet seen would you be willing to resolve to see before this day next year?

I am woefully inexperienced with French New Wave films. I’ve seen several, for sure, but some of the most influential examples elude me. I know, I’m the worst. I will resolve to watch Breathless this year. I’d still have a lot of movies to watch, but it’s a start, right?

10) Second-favorite Pedro Almodovar movie

On second thought, perhaps I should resolve to watch more Almodovar. The answer here is Volver by default (i.e. I’ve only seen two Almodovar movies).

11) What movie do you think comes closest to summing up or otherwise addressing the qualities of 2016?

It’s tempting to resort to something snarky, like Titanic, but there’s got to be something more insightful, right? Nah, let’s go with The Final Conflict instead.

12) Chris Pine or Chris Pratt?

An interesting pairing that is roughly equivalent. Pratt has more innate charisma and comic timing, but Pine seems to have more range. Based on their current filmographies, I’d go Pratt, but Pine has the potential to overtake.

13) Your favorite movie theater, presently or from the past

I couldn’t think of a theater that wasn’t interchangeable with dozens of others until I remembered that I spent a week in Austin at the Alamo Draft House, at which point the answer became crystal clear. The South Lamar location that I remember fondly has apparently even been refurbished, so I’m sure it’s even better now. Regardless, the thing that made it great was the intangibles like the attitude and philosophy of the company and even the customers.

14) Favorite movie involving a family celebration

Was having trouble with this one and started looking around. Found Dogtooth which fits, in an odd sort of way. I guess. I mean, oof.

15) Second-favorite Paul Schrader movie

I usually read these questions to refer to the person in question’s directorial efforts, but in this case, I’m going with Schrader’s screenwriting, which leads me to Raging Bull.

16) Ruth Negga or Hayley Atwell?

Hayley Atwell is clearly the winner in terms of Marvel properties here, though Ruth Negga seems to have the buzz for her work in film this year. Alas, I have not seen Loving yet, so Atwell carries the day.

17) Last three movies you saw, in any format

Beware the Slenderman, an HBO true crime documentary about the infamous 2014 stabbing inspired by an internet boogeyman. Well done, affecting, and thought provoking.

Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things, of which I’ve already said too much.

The Handmaiden, Chan-wook Park’s latest, which immediately rocketed into my top 10 list for 2016. Twisty, turny, and beautiful.

18) Your first X-rated, or porn movie?

Apparently A Clockwork Orange was rated X, so there you have it.

19) Richard Boone or Charles McGraw?

Charles McGraw, for I have seen more of his movies. I know this sort of criteria is probably not the point of these types of questions, but it does make them easy to answer, that’s for sure.

20) Second-favorite Chan-wook Park movie

On the other hand, sometimes I’ve actually seen the majority of someone’s filmography and struggle mightily to find a good answer. Here it is a toss-up between Oldboy and The Handmaiden. Since I’ve only just seen The Handmaiden recently, let’s give it to Oldboy, eh? (Incidentally, Lady Vengeance is my favorite, which I gather is an unconventional choice.)

21) Movie that best encompasses or expresses loneliness

Taxi Driver‘s portrait of “God’s lonely man” Travis Bickle comes to mind.

22) What’s your favorite movie to watch with your best friend?

Top movie watching buddies usually go for new movies we haven’t seen. That said, we’ve probably watched some early aughts comedy too many times, something like Old School or Anchorman.

23) Who’s the current actor you most look forward to seeing in 2017?

Part of the reason my answers to questions #3 and 4 were so lackluster is that I apparently have an attitude towards actors similar to Hitchcock’s: “All actors are cattle.” Alright, so I would probably never declare such a dismissive thing myself, but I do tend to gravitate more towards directors and story than acting. Big acting showcases often leave me a bit cold, and thus I don’t really have much of an answer to this question.

24) Your New Year’s wish for the movies

I wish something other than sequels and remakes could break through and teach Hollywood to move in a more original direction, but I’m not holding my breath and past success on this front hasn’t exactly helped. I suppose I should also wish that if you’re going to make sequels and remakes, at least make them well. I thought they had a pretty good handle on this in the past few years, with truly fabulous stuff like Mad Max: Fury Road, Creed, and whatever you consider the Marvel movies (which did alright this year, to be sure). Some good potential this year, but I guess we’ll have to wait and watch and see.

Stay tuned, Kaedrin Movie Award winners will be announced next week!

As our planet completes its orbital cycle, most critics and publications have already published their “Best of 2016” lists and other such reminiscences. Here at Kaedrin, we love movies, but we’re beholden to no one and do not conform to your silly timelines. Also, I’m like, just a guy who likes movies a lot. I don’t have critic credentials, have access to screeners, or any other such luxuries. So my top 10 movie lists tend to come out in February, not long before the Oscars. This gives me time to catch up with some movies that only had qualifying runs in NY/LA theaters or some indies that are only now coming to streaming availability. It has nothing to do with laziness, I swears. Anyway, my January tends to be chock full of the previous year’s movies. As of Christmas*, I had seen about 45 movies that would be considered a 2016 release (are you on Letterboxd? We should follow each other.) This might be a hair behind the past few years’ pace, but it’s basically on par. By the end of January, I’ll probably have seen 70-80 movies from 2016 and have a pretty solid top 10. There’s still lots of ground to cover, so let’s create a list of films I want to see. As per usual, much of this is dependent on availability, so I most likely won’t get to every one of these, but it’s a good place to start:

• Tickled – A documentary where a journalist delves into the rough and tumble world of… online competitive tickling? This is exactly the sort of documentary that normally gets me, so it’s at the top of the list (and yes, I’ve now seen it, and it’s about much more than, uh, tickling; it’s also fantastic). (Available for purchase, should be rentable soon.)
• Weiner – Documentary covering Anthony Weiner’s rise, fall, attempted comeback, and additionally collapse. Apparently notable for the amount of access the filmmakers had during his run for Mayor, especially when the scandals broke. (And yes, it’s an astounding document.) (Available on Showtime’s various streaming channels, I was able to watch it on Amazon with a 7 day free trial that I canceled the next day.)
• Moana – Disney’s latest animated musical has been getting rave reviews and they’ve been on a bit of a hot streak recently, so this goes on the list. (Totally worth it, it’s a lot of fun…) (In theaters now.)
• Hunt for the Wilderpeople – I didn’t know much about this except that it was the next film from Taika Waititi, who made one of last year’s favorites, What We Do in the Shadows, which is enough to make me want to see it. (And it’s great!) (Available for rental. Streaming on Hulu.)
• Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World – Werner Herzog’s exploration of the Internet and technology, what’s not to like? (It’s decent, a bit unfocused, but interesting.) (Streaming on Netflix.)
• La La Land – Director Damien Chazelle’s throwback musical about an aspiring actress falling for a jazz musician in LA. I am not much of a fan of musicals, but this looks to be a front-runner for this year’s Oscars and I’ve heard people say things like “This is a musical for people who say they don’t like musicals”. This makes me skeptical, but I’ll give it a shot. (And I really enjoyed it! Not sure if it’s top 10 material, but it’s fun!) (In theaters now)
• Love & Friendship – So I’m not particularly into Jane Austen costume dramas and I’ve actually never seen a Whit Stillman movie, but I’ve heard good things about this from folks I trust, so on the list it goes. (And it’s quite good! It took me a bit to get into it, but by the end I was quite taken with it…) (Streaming on Amazon Prime.)
• The Handmaiden – Chan-wook Park’s latest film about some sort of, um, handmaiden who is seeking to defraud her employer. Or something. Who cares, it’s Park Chan-wook, I’m in. (Releases on DVD/Streaming sometime late January)
• Kill Zone 2 – AKA “SPL 2: A Time for Consequences”, this is a Tony Jaa action movie with some buzz behind it. I will watch this. (Available on Netflix Instant)
• Swiss Army Man – Ah the Daniel Radcliffe farting corpse movie. Despite that pitch, it’s apparently a very good film, so I will be checking it out. (Available for rental or purchase on most services)
• Finding Dory – Never saw Pixar’s latest in the theater, which needs to be rectified. (Available for rental on most services)
• Pete’s Dragon – Live action remakes aren’t usually my jam, but I’m told this is worth checking out so I probably will… (Available for rental on most services)
• The Jungle Book – Again, live action remake of an animated movie that I was never particularly in love with in the first place, but then, I hear good things… (Streaming on Netflix)
• The Mermaid – Stephen Chow’s latest was apparently a huge hit in China… but it’s American release was suspiciously quiet. I will watch. (Available for rental or purchase on most services)
• The Autopsy of Jane Doe – I know nothing about this except that it’s supposed to be one of the better obscure horror releases of the year. Sold. (Available for rental or purchase on most services)
• Kubo and the Two Strings – Another animated movie that I skipped in theaters, but people keep raving about it, so I guess I should give it a shot… (Available for rental or purchase on most services)
• De Palma – A documentary about Brian De Palma? Ok, sure, why not? (Streaming on Amazon Prime.)
• The Fits – I don’t know much about this other than that it starts a young actress named Royalty Hightower, which is the best name ever. Also, it’s supposed to be good, so there’s that. (Streaming on Amazon Prime)
• Elle – Paul Verhoeven’s latest and probably worth checking out solely because of that, but then, this has been getting mixed reviews, so there is that. Might not get to this one… (Availability unknown, which doesn’t help)
• Moonlight – Critical darling of the year, it’s only playing in Philly and I’m not sure if I can get down there before it leaves theaters. Does not sound like my cup of tea, but seems worth the stretch. (In theaters now.)
• Three – The latest from Kaedrin favorite Johnnie To, this one doesn’t appear to be available anywhere just yet… (Availability unknown)
• The Love Witch – I have no idea what this thing is and I’ve read about it a few times but I still don’t have a clue, which does make me want to watch it, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere. (Availability unknown)
• I Am Not a Serial Killer – I’ve heard good things about the book, so why not watch the movie? (Streaming on Netflix)

Phew, that’s 23 movies, which should keep me busy. I’m sure I’ll see some other things not on this list, and I most certainly will not get to all of these, but it’s a good start.

* I started writing this post a little before Christmas and meant to post it earlier last week, but this is a busy time of the year and yes, laziness was probably involved too. As such, a goodly portion of the above have already been watched – I’m now at 52 movies from 2016 and counting.

The case against Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens boils down to its plot, a retread of the original Star Wars Death Star storyline. While I was more than willing to go with it, as it it does execute well (plus, as I mentioned at the time, it does “rhyme” with the original trilogy much better than the prequels), I do certainly feel like that plot point is getting a bit tired. Enter Rogue One, the first in a series of one-off “Star Wars Stories” that will be injected between the numbered outings. Once again, we’re focused on a Death Star plot… but this isn’t really a retread. It tells the story of how the Rebels managed to snag the original Death Star’s plans (and how they so quickly found its weakness). Spoilers aho!

As a child, Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) sees her mother killed and father, genius scientist Galen (Mads Mikkelsen), suborned by the Empire to complete the construction of some sort of mysterious superweapon (that we immediately know is the original Death Star). Jyn manages to escape and is rescued and raised by a splinter rebel faction led by Saw Guerrera (Forest Whitaker). Jump ahead a few years and Jyn is imprisoned by the Empire, though they luckily do not know her true identity. She is rescued by the Rebel Alliance, who needs her connections to that splinter faction, as they’ve captured a defector claiming to have a message from Galen Erso. At first reluctant, Jyn gets onboard and builds a team of rebels, including the spy Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), a reprogrammed Empire droid K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk), a Zatoichi-like blind martial artist who is clearly not a Jedi named Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen), and his machine-gun wielding friend Baze Malbus (Wen Jiang). Together they must find the Death Star plans and deliver them to the Rebel Alliance. Along the way, they are opposed by Empire apparatchik Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) and his bosses, Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin.

Phew. Everybody get that? For a general plot that is very simple at its core, they’ve certainly amped up the moving parts to imply complexity. Tons of new characters, lots of new planets, backstories, subplots, and so on. It’s a bit overstuffed and perhaps not every arc is completely earned, but they managed to pull it off, even if it sometimes feels a bit perfunctory. Still, for a movie that is technically a prequel where you know how it’s going to end up, this does a remarkably good job inserting itself into the series without distracting from the originals. This is a movie that engages and enriches the original. It doesn’t just retread things we already know or fill holes, it adds something meaningful to the series. It’s probably one of the better prequels ever made.

I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that almost all of these characters are new and relatively interesting. We recognize many side characters, but the core is all new and unknown to us. Again, we don’t necessarily get to spend enough time with each character’s backstory or subplot to completely earn the payoff, but it’s still a payoff. There are some standouts, namely Alan Tudyk’s voice acting for K-2SO, who gets a couple of great lines. I liked the idea of Forest Whitaker’s cave-dwelling terrorist gone half-mad with paranoia and yet, being on the “right side” of Star Wars history. Similarly, Diego Luna does some good work with his tortured spy who’s seen and done horrible things. Felicity Jones does well in the lead role, and once her character buys in, she displays enough charisma to get by. Donnie Yen and Wen Jiang make for a good team and are total badasses. The problem is, again, not enough time to really flesh out these characters, making the movie feel a bit overstuffed.

This movie is a little more consistent and even though, so we don’t quite get anything as great as BB-8 giving the flaming thumbs up in VIII, for instance, but we also don’t get as many head-scratchers (how exactly does Starkiller base work?) Ultimately, we care about the characters and they’re fun to be around, even if they don’t really go above and beyond in that respect (i.e. we’re just not given any reasons to really dislike the characters, which is a trap that they could have easily fallen into). The plot is simple, but it does add some interesting retcons that actually enhance the series (namely, why the Death Star is so vulnerable).

Visually, it’s a very impressive movie. Director Gareth Edwards seems to be good at that, and his action chops are up to par as well. I really enjoyed the action here, and the set pieces were varied enough that it never becomes repetitious or tedious. Edwards isn’t as great with story, but what’s here is light years beyond Godzilla or Monsters.

Also distressing, especially given Edwards visual effects background, is the baffling choice to use CGI models for Grand Moff Tarkin (and one other character that shall remain nameless). This is something that has kinda worked in other movies (see Marvel’s use in Ant-Man and Civil War, though in both cases, what you’re seeing is younger versions of living actors – I guess the tech isn’t quite there for actors who have passed long ago…), but fails pretty miserably here. Individual moments or stills might work fine, but added up, the CGI never quite clears the uncanny valley. They get pretty far across… only to faceplant on the far edge of the valley… It becomes even more baffling given that they were able to cast some pretty great lookalikes (at least, close enough) for some of the other side characters, like Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly). O’Reilly played Mon Mothma in Episode III, which is interesting because that movie also features Wayne Pygram as Tarkin… and that looked fine!

Finally, I think they managed to pull off the darker, grittier vibe they were pulling for without distracting from its Star-Warsian nature, but once again, they don’t really have enough time to really nail these themes down. They walk the line well, though it would be nice, just once, for someone to say that a sequel or prequel will be “brighter and more fun” rather than “darker and grittier”.

So I’d call this movie a success. It’s not perfect, but most of my criticisms are relatively minor. That being said, let’s maybe lay off the Death Star focused storylines from now on, shall we? Maybe it’s just because there’ve been sooo many sequels in 2016 that failed so completely at this, but Rogue One walked a narrow tightrope on this movie and got to the other side. In general though, this fits well with the series. The original trilogy still resonates most with me, but I’d put Rogue One at least on par with VII, if not better. It’s certainly a massive improvement over the prequels, that’s for sure. I’m looking forward to more “Star Wars Stories”, and am obviously excited for VIII. We live in bountiful times for nerdy pursuits, which makes me happy.