2016 Silver Screen Riot Awards

January 4, 2017 by Matt Oakes Posted in Lists, Most Popular 1 Comment

Now that we’ve gone ahead and declared our Top Ten Films of 2016 as well as our Ten Favorite Horror Movies of the Year, it’s time to get into the particulars and hand out some superlatives for other “Bests” of the year. Here we celebrate the best performances of the year, the finest directing, our favorite genre films, documentaries, animated features, foreign language films, even costumes… basically all the stuff we haven’t given props to yet. No lengthy discussion here, just some pictures and prizes. Read More

Silver Screen Riot’s Top Ten Films of 2016

January 3, 2017 by Matt Oakes Posted in Lists, Most Popular Tagged 10 Cloverfield Lane, Arrival, Don’t Breathe, Green Room, La La Land, Moonlight, Sing Street, Swiss Army Man, The Lobster, The Witch, Top 10 Movies of 2016 3 Comments

2016. What a year. As rock ‘n’ roll gods and Princess Leia were smote from the surface of the earth, Trump and Suicide Squad and the Zika virus emerged. But through the muck and the mire emerged a slew of films that rocked socks and reminded us that the movie theater is more often than not a safer space than CNN. As always there were a huge number of films in contention for a limited number of spots and making room for some meant dashing the hopes of others. So before we get to the top ten, let’s run through some very laudable runner-ups. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘FENCES’

December 23, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged August Wilson, Denzel Washington, Fences, Jovan Adept, Mykelti Williamson, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Russell Hornsby, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Viola Davis 3 Comments

As purely a thespian venture, the Denzel Washington starring and directed Fences is an applaudable homer. Performed with true fire in the belly, this adaptation of August Wilson’s 1983 Tony and Pulitzer Prize Award winning play of the same name unfurls a harrowing American experience of familial tension between patriarch Troy Maxson, his wife Rose, mentally impaired brother Gabriel and sons Lyons and Cory. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘WHY HIM?’

December 21, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Bryan Cranston, Griffin Gluck, Ian Helfer, James Franco, John Hamburg, Jonah Hill, Kaley Cuoco, Keegan-Michael Key, Megan Mullally, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Zoey Deutch Leave a comment

Oh Bryan Cranston, how far the mighty can fall. The four-time Emmy winning actor and Academy Award nominee rose to stardom putting the meth in method acting as high school chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin Walter White. But Cranston was not always the one who knocks. Many will remember his stretch as the goofy Hal on 2000s sitcom Malcom in the Middle. Here Cranston was the antithesis of the mean-mugging Heisenberg as an indecisive and immature father figure. He was the Stevia to Mr. White’s ricin; proof in the pudding that Cranston can wear many hats (even if the wool pork pie fedora still fits best.) With his latest comedic endeavor, the mind-numbing Why Him?, some might say that Cranston has returned to his roots. Not that that’s a good thing. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘JACKIE’

December 15, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Billy Crudup, Greta Gerwig, John Hurt, Natalie Portman, Noah Oppenheim, Out in Theaters, Pablo Larraín, Peter Sarsgaard, Reviews 5 Comments

Heartache and quiet dignity define Jackie Kennedy Onassis in Pablo Larraín’s thoughtful biopic Jackie. Recounting the events immediately following the assassination of the 35th US President John F. Kennedy, the film written by Noah Oppenheim (Allegiant, The Maze Runner) explores an intricate swatch of issues facing both the United States on a macro level and Mrs. Kennedy on a micro level. Oppenheim and Larraín’s ability to overturn so many stones and explore so many corners of both American life and Jackie’s personal descent into melancholia, all under the watchdog snouts of overeager politicians, public scrutiny and the constant threat of the media’s clicking cameras, is nothing shy of hugely impressive, especially operating within such a relatively constrained run time, a mere 110 minutes. But Jackie’s true staying power lies in star Natalie Portman. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY’

December 13, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alan Tudyk, Ben Mendelsohn, Chris Weitz, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen, Felicity Jones, Forest Whitaker, Gareth Edwards, Out in Theaters, Reviews, ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY, Tony Gilroy, Wen Jiang Leave a comment

Many Bothans may have died recovering the plans to the second Death Star but nabbing the blueprints to the original moon-sized, planet-destroying weapon was no cake walk either. Just ask Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones ably commanding), the unlikely leader of a ragtag group of anti-heroes tasked with the improbable task of securing said plans in Gareth Edwards’ reverent and darkly-tinted Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.   Read More

Top Ten Horror Movies of 2016

December 9, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Lists, Most Popular Tagged 10 Cloverfield Lane, Babak Anvari, Baskin, Don’t Breathe, Green Room, Hush, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ouija: Origin of Evil, The Eyes of My Mother, The Invitation, The Lure, The Neon Demon, The Shallows, The Wailing, The Witch, Under the Shadow 2 Comments

It’s that time of year. Christmas music infects our radios, capitalism runs rampant and industry insiders rush to be the first to publish their official Top Ten lists. While we at Silver Screen Riot are not racing to the finish line before we’ve seen the likes of Rogue One, Martin Scorsese’s Silence or a number of other potential contenders for the title, there is a collection of films that we do feel comfortable ranking: that of the horror persuasion. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY’

December 8, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Abbey Lee, Courtney Vance, Fortune Feimster, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, Jillian Bell, Josh Gordon, Kate McKinnon, Office Christmas Party, Olivia Munn, Out in Theaters, Reviews, T.J. Miller, Will Speck 2 Comments

With every Holiday season comes the arrival of a new batch of Holiday movies. Some are geared towards the whole family, others exclusively for adults (read: stoned teenagers) but most are disposable garbage. Increasingly, we’ve seen an uptick in adult-oriented, hard-R holiday season comedies and with Office Christmas Party, Why Him? and Bad Santa 2 all in theaters this holiday season, there is no shortage for those looking to mix some raunch in with their ugly sweaters and eggnog. But at least with the former, you’ll find a few chuckles buried in among the coal. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘LA LA LAND’

December 7, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Benj Pasek, Best of 2016, Damien Chazelle, Emma Stone, Justin Hurwitz, Justin Paul, La La Land, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Ryan Gosling 4 Comments

Infectiously affable La La Land injects new life into a tried and true Hollywood tradition: the musical. A toe-tapping throwback to the tenure of Gene Kelley and Fred Astaire, Damien Chazelle’s Dom Pérignon-bubbly follow-up to excellent Whiplash is a joyous and bittersweet ode to a time when Hollywood peddled contagious cheer and catchy carols, pretty performers and movie magic. All that and more. Complete with lively choreography and an instantly antiseptic soundtrack, La La Land is an upbeat cure-all to the depressive onslaught of 2016 . And I don’t even like musicals. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘MANCHESTER BY THE SEA’

November 29, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Casey Affleck, Kenneth Lonergan, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea, Out in Theaters, Reviews 1 Comment

After debuting on Saturday night, Manchester by the Sea quickly became the buzziest film at Sundance. When Amazon made an unprecedented $10 million dollar deal to sweep up distributing rights, the echo chamber only got louder. On the one hand, writer/director Kenneth Lonergan must welcome the fat paycheck with open arms. And yet, such a lofty price tag sets a certain sky-high expectation for the film before its even had a chance to digest in anyone’s tummies or see the light of day for most viewers. All finances aside, Manchester by the Sea is a emotionally resonant tearjerker/masterful character study with Casey Affleck stepping up to the plate to claim some majorly overdue attention. Read More