Best of 2016

2016 Was the Worst Summer for Big Movies in 15 Years
2016 Was the Worst Summer for Big Movies in 15 Years
2016 Was the Worst Summer for Big Movies in 15 Years
About two months ago, on a day when I was in no way questioning my career path and life choices, I asked a question: “Is 2016 the worst summer movie season ever?” In early July, it was probably a little premature to raise that issue, but with theaters were filled with dreck like Independence Day: Resurgence, The Legend of Tarzan, and Alice Through the Looking Glass, it was hard not to wonder. At that time, I looked at the Rotten Tomatoes ratings from hundreds of wide releases from the last decade, and found that while the overall scores from 2016 were basically in line with those from ones from each of the last five years, the scores for just the biggest movies, the ones like Tarzan or Independence Day with budgets in excess of $100 million, were way lower this year.
ScreenCrush’s 2016 Fall Movie Preview
ScreenCrush’s 2016 Fall Movie Preview
ScreenCrush’s 2016 Fall Movie Preview
Y’know those back to school ads for Staples? The ones that repurpose the Christmas standard “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” to celebrate children going back class? I always hated those ads as a kid. Going back to school was not a time to celebrate. It was a time for grief and mourning.
The Under-the-Radar Movies You Should Have Watched This Summer
The Under-the-Radar Movies You Should Have Watched This Summer
The Under-the-Radar Movies You Should Have Watched This Summer
As the big blockbusters go, so goes the summer movie season. And this summer movie season, the big blockbusters were almost uniformly bad. But the reality is those films represent just a small percentage of the titles released to theaters during the dog days of summer. The vast majority of summer movies have tiny budgets and play only a handful of theaters at a time. And while the focus remains on the tentpoles, most of the summer’s best movies featured absolutely no robots or explosions or superheroes of any kind.
The 10 Best Movies of Summer 2016
The 10 Best Movies of Summer 2016
The 10 Best Movies of Summer 2016
Okay, so it was one of the worst summer movie seasons in recent memory. Trying to find the good blockbusters amongst the last four months releases sometimes felt like trying to find a needle in a stack of s---. But even this year there were diamonds in the rough. Today we’re celebrating the ten best, the summer movies of 2016 that didn’t make us weep for the future of cinema — and note that this list is just movies that got wide releases in at least 500 theaters. We’ll have a separate piece on under-the-radar summer films you might have missed next week on ScreenCrush. In the meantime, let’s celebrate the highlights from a depressing summer before we clear the decks and get ready for the fall.
The Best Movies, Actors, Actresses, and More From 2016 So Far
The Best Movies, Actors, Actresses, and More From 2016 So Far
The Best Movies, Actors, Actresses, and More From 2016 So Far
We’ve already picked the best movies of 2016 so far. But with just nine titles across our two lists, that left out a lot of great performances and movies and surprises from the year that was (not to mention the worst movies and crushing disappointments). Before we start looking ahead to the rest of the year, let’s give out some awards for the stuff we loved (and hated) from January to June. It’ll be fun! Even if we don’t know what to call these things. (The Crushies? The Screeners?) Whatever they’re called, here they are:
The 25 Most Anticipated Movies of 2016!
The 25 Most Anticipated Movies of 2016!
The 25 Most Anticipated Movies of 2016!
It’s officially 2016. Our Best of 2015 lists have all been published and the new year is upon us, which means it’s time to start looking to the future. Yes, 2015 was a particularly good year for movie fans, but 2016 looks pretty impressive too. You like Coen Bros. movies? We got one of those. You like Star Wars? Yup, one of those too. Critically acclaimed horror movies? Sure. Pixar? Of course. Movies where your favorite superheroes beat the crap out of each other? WE GOT TWO OF THOSE. We put together a quick list of the 25 movies — a mix of both blockbusters and indies — that we can’t wait to see next year. This will probably change as the year goes on (our 2015 list included Jupiter Ascending, Aloha and Tomorrowland so we’re not perfect), but based on what we know right now, this is it. Here are the movies we’re looking forward to the most in 2016, in the order of release date (those with no release date are listed in alphabetical order).