Given the excess of coverage and plethora of media portrayals of Diana, the late Princess of Wales, that Chilean director Pablo Larraín would choose her as the subject of his new film feels somewhat odd. Do we really need another look at Diana and the royal family and all their dysfunction? If you’re a fan of The Crown, you may already have had your fill, but if you’re still curious for even more on the inner workings of the Windsors and Diana’s psyche, then Larraín’s Spencer may be for you.
Spinning Platters film critics present their top 10 films of 2016
Spinning Platters film critics Carrie Kahn and Chad Liffmann each share their ten favorite films of 2016. Here is Carrie’s list, presented, unlike last year’s alphabetized list, in descending rank order. And you can check out Chad’s list here to see which one of us you agree with more!
10.) Nocturnal Animals
Tony (Jake Gyllenhaal, middle) arrives at a possible crime scene with lawman Bobby Andes (Michael Shannon, r.).
Sometimes the story-within-the-story convention can be confusing or feel gimmicky, but in this visually stunning picture from fashion designer turned filmmaker Tom Ford, the technique works to terrific effect. Amy Adams, as a woman haunted by a decision she made years ago, reads a manuscript sent to her by her ex-husband Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal), and that story comes alive on screen in the form of family man Tony (Gyllenhaal again) and his confrontation with some dangerous, deranged miscreants. Ford’s keen aesthetic vision and sharp performances by Adams, Gyllenhaal, and Michael Shannon as a tenacious lawman combine to make this brutally poetic but utterly captivating film one of the year’s most definitively unusual. (You can also read my full-length review here.)
Marking its closing with its annual awards ceremony, the 2016 Sundance Film Festival ended this past Saturday evening; you can see all the winners here.
For the second year in a row, I braved the Park City cold, snow, and the ubiquitous Los Angeles UGG-wearing throngs to bring you spotlights of a fraction of the films that played the Fest. With nearly 200 offerings, the Fest featured way more than this reviewer could see. While I sadly missed the big winner and much lauded The Birth of a Nation (you’ll have to stay tuned to Spinning Platters later in the year for a full review upon its wide release), I nevertheless managed to knock out a respectable 18 films in five days. Many of these may receive distribution deals (if they haven’t already), so you can study up now with these capsule reviews, which use our trademark Sundance Viewing Priority Level (VPL) Guide:
“This isn’t about women’s lib,” crows Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) in The Runaways, the feature-length debut from renowned music video director Floria Sigismondi. “This is about women’s libidos.” See what he did there? But this quote gets to the paradoxical high-wire act at the heart of this film: lib or libido? Empowerment or exploitation? A film that opens with a close-up of Dakota Fanning’s first drops of menstrual blood hitting the L.A. pavement could go either way.
