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The 25 Best Movies of the 21st Century

Ever since the BBC polled some critics and named the “25 Best Films of the Decade”, there’s been an avalanche of people spewing their picks. In Seattle, Brian Ziztelman polled a group of local critics (including myself) to name our collective favorite picks. While an impressive 9 of my 25 bowed unto that selection, I, like Brent McKnight before me have decided to reveal my own list. After all, these are my favorites. Without explanation or excessively commentary, here they are. My pick for the top 25 of the decade.
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The 25 Best Films of 2016 (So Far)

The year is just about half way through and with three film festivals under the belt, it seems appropriate to recount what have been the best of the year to date. We know there’s six more months of cinema coming down the drain and a lot of late arrivals usually have significant dominion over our end of year Top Ten list but we want to take the time to acknowledge what has already come and gone, to celebrate 25 marvelous films which unfortunately most people probably haven’t seen. Some of these have only played festivals and will get a wide release later in the year so keep your eyes peeled while others are already ready and waiting on Blu-Ray or DVD for your viewing enjoyment. Do yourself a favor and look into a few of them, won’t you? Read More

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Summer 2016 Preview – 28 Movies Better than Half-Hearted Suntanning

Sure it’s not quite summer yet but a few 70 degree days have gone to our heads and we’ve decided to do some spring cleaning. Thus the Summer 2016 Movie Preview! The aim of this comprehensive guide is to get you geared up for the coming sunny months, where you fair reader will holed up inside to watch moving pictures on monumentally-sized screens. As  can be expected, there is no shortage of spectacle this summer. You can almost rear the bleating of dump trucks reversing bloated piles of studio tentpoles to dump at our feet as we speak. Will there be a diamond in the rough this summer the likes of Mad Max: Fury Road? We don’t think so but hey, we can dream. With almost 4000 words to delve through below, we won’t stall any longer getting into the 28 films we think might just be worth foregoing a few hours of sun to see. Read More

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50 Most Anticipated Movies of 2016

Last year, we compiled a list of our 50 Most Films of 2015 and though many proved disappointed, the top-tier resulted in a barrage of wins. This year, we return to do the same. Consider yourself in store for a massive compilation of films, including many were already featured on last year’s list for release change reasons. For those curious, you will not find too many big franchise tent-pole movies like the redone Ghostbusters because I’ve not liked Paul Feig‘s work in the past or superhero fare a la Captain America: Civil War because we pretty much know what’s in store there. Some smashing, some joking, then everything’s a-ok in the end.

We’re looking for something fresh. Something that’ll surprise us. That’s why you’ll find very few sequels here and even less junk that you’ve seen on some other anticipation lists. But let’s get down to business. This is an absolutely massive article so I’ll stop wasting time and let you get right to it. Here it is: the 50 Most Anticipated Movies of 2016. Read More

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Winter 2016 Movie Preview – 16 Movies We’re Willing To Give the Benefit of the Doubt

We’ve written about the best films of 2015. We’ve written about the worst. And then, it was over. And so came “that” time of year. “That” time of year where the hits of 2015 continue to dominate the box office. Where awards contenders pile back into theaters. Where Star Wars makes another billion dollars. And, most importantly, where new releases are synonymous with shite. Hello 2016 movies. The dumping ground is right over here. Read More

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2015 Silver Screen Riot Awards

2015 has come and gone as has most of our recap coverage for the year. The one remaining elephant in the room is the 2015 Silver Screen Riot Awards where we pick and choose from the elite and populist alike to make our selection for best director, performer, cinematographer, screenplay, documentary, foreign film, action movie, horror movie and comedy. You’ll see a winner and a runner-up as well as a list of honorable mentions that are sorta ranked but without too much scrutiny paid to that ranking. Our awards (thankfully) don’t come with all too much description (read: none) but you’ll find some nice pictures in place of the words that probably would have gone unread. Because it’s been a long week and we know you’ll probably just scan for the winners anyways. So, concluding 2015 once and for all, here it is: the 2015 Silver Screen Riot Awards. Read More

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Silver Screen Riot’s Worst 10 Movies of 2015

Like any year, 2015 was a hotbed for steamy cinematic turds – and I don’t even watch Adam Sandler movies or Friedberg-Seltzer spoofs. Because let’s be honest, neither of the above have been good since I was in diapers. So for all the A+’s of 2015, there were accompanying F’s. For all the sweet, sweet victories, there were pussing, gaping canker sores. For every Leonardo DiCaprio, there is a Ryan Guzman. And a Ryan Guzman always brings the party down.       Read More

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Silver Screen Riot’s Top 10 Films of 2015

Well well well. 2015 has finally reached its end. After 201 films, 25 interviews (including Robert Duvall,  Kevin Bacon, Jason Segel, Jason Schwartzman, Greta Gerwig,  Jemaine Clement, Alex Garland, and Nick Kroll to name just a few), three massive international film festivals and countless hours spend idly engaged in film banter with my always entertaining gang of colleagues and peers at various Seattle screening rooms, I can finally come to the conclusion that, for what it’s worth, 2015 was an odd duck for film. Read More

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The Best and Worst Aspects of ‘STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS’

There has been an awakening. With a $238 million opening weekend, the box office roared to live, stoked by the Mustafar-sized conflagration of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, quickly making this seventh Star Wars film the biggest opening of all time and putting it on track to dethrone the highest grossing films ever. But all money aside, the real question on everyone’s lips were, is it good? Thankfully, the answer was a resounding yes. With a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes, critics and fans alike have rallied around the J.J. Abrams product like Ewoks on a post-Empire Endor. But that doesn’t mean that the film didn’t have its share of lows amongst the highs. Read More

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Holiday 2015 Film Preview – 10 December Films We Positively Cannot Wait For

Sleigh bells be damned. All we want for Christmas is movies! With cold weather driving us indoors and holidays meaning family time galore – which in turns means escape from family time galore – the movie theater becomes a quiet solace in which to bask in the creativity of other people. We’re cut through the stacks of Holiday offerings to give you the 10 December films we positively cannot wait for. Amongst them are big (and we mean big) blockbusters, a few little indie flicks, an adult stop-motion drama, new films from Alejandro González Iñárritu, David O. Russell and Quentin Tarantino and even a holiday horror for the scary movie fans. And of course, Star Wars. If all of them are as good as we’re hoping, it’ll be a Christmas miracle.

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