2016 Halftime Recap
July 9, 2016
A Busy Summer!
We’ve been busy as bees watching movies for the first half of 2016! Here are 18 you might want to see – and we have added a few oldies. We are now reviewing some mini-series which “feel” like movies. The Night Manager is an excellent example.
Bigger Splash, A
(2016) - 124 min - R
Crime/Mystery, Drama
If you look for trouble hard enough…you will find it. Tilda Swinton plays Marianne Lane, a rock star, who is recuperating on and Island in the Mediterranean with her lover, Paul, when her former... More
Boss, The
(2016) - 99 min - R
Comedy
Funny but not laugh out loud funny. Melissa McCarthy is, as usual pretty hilarious, as Michelle Darnell who is sent to prison for insider trader and comes out finding herself penniless and sleeping... More
Eye In the Sky
(2016) - 102 min - R
Drama, Suspense/Thriller, War
Eye In the Sky depicts the events leading up to a drone strike to take out top terrorists in Kenya before they can execute a suicide strike. The technical capabilities of the military are amazing and... More
Finding Dory
(2016) - 97 min - PG
Action, Adventure, Animation
Want to feel 10 years old again? See Finding Dory which is the sequel to finding Nemo from 2002. It is adorable, touching, and a tiny bit scary. It is also funny. Take your child, your grandchild... More
Free State of Jones
(2016) - 139 min - R
Action, Drama, History, War
This movie, starring Matthew McConaughey, is sometimes a little tough to watch but is based on the true story of Newton Knight who as a medic during the Civil War from the South starts to discover... More
Genius
(2016) - 115 min - PG13
Drama, History
Colin Firth shines, almost always with his hat on, as Max Perkins, the editor who first published F Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway for Scribner's. Jude Law is the bigger than life Thomas... More
Love & Friendship
(2016) - 90 min - PG
Drama, Romance
Lady Susan played by Kate Beckinsale has a moral code which suits her. Anything goes as long as it forwards her own agenda. She is known as one of the most charming flirts in English society. ... More
Man Who Knew Infinity, The
(2016) - 108 min - PG13
Biography, Drama, History
Set in 1914 before the onset of World War I, Srinivasa Ramanujan, an Indian mathematician from Madras, India, writes to GH Hardy a Don at Cambridge University in England, in hopes of gaining his... More
Me Before You
(2016) - 110 min - PG13
Drama, Romance
Close call on whether or not to "take a date". Some men will hate it. Others will find the story engaging. Will Trainer played by Sam Claflin is a London based investment banker who becomes a... More
Money Monster
(2016) - 98 min - R
Crime/Mystery, Drama, Suspense/Thriller
Lee Gates is a cocky TV stock market guru whose show, Money Monsters, has recommended a stock which took an $800million loss on one day. After the show starts, a faux delivery man, Kyle, gets on the... More
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2
(2016) - 94 min - PG13
Comedy, Romance
Pretty funny sequel to the original movie which was the highest grossing romantic comedy of all time. The story takes place as Toula and Ian's daughter, Paris, is applying to college. Gus and... More
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising
(2016) - 92 min - R
Comedy
Truly a horrible movie. Gross and disgusting and really not very creative. Good actors wasted in this film portraying lots of potty humor, drug humor, etc. Even my brother with the heart of a... More
Nice Guys, The
(2016) - 116 min - R
Action, Comedy, Crime/Mystery
Set in 1977 in Los Angeles, Private Investigator Holland March with questionable ethics and an adorable 13 year old daughter, played by Angourie Rice, is on the trail of Amelia or "Misty Mountains" a... More
Night Manager, The
(2015) - 360 min - NR
Crime/Mystery, Drama, Suspense/Thriller
Fascinating series based upon John Le Carré's book of the same name. Jonathan Pine is the night manager of a luxury hotel in Cairo. As a veteran of the Middle East conflicts, the Brit is more or... More
Our Kind of Traitor
(2016) - 108 min - R
Suspense/Thriller
Good thriller based on the book by John Le Carré. Ewan McGregor plays a professor in Marrakesh when he meets a friendly Russian money launderer who asks for his help to save the Russian's family. ... More
Oldies
Burbs, The
(1989) - 101 min - PG
Comedy
One of the funniest movies ever. Tom Hanks plays Ray Peterson who lives next door to new neighbors in a run down house. Ray and his neighbors played by Bruce Dern, a Vietnam vet, and Rick Ducummon... More
Grantchester
(2015) - 55 min - NR
Crime/Mystery, Drama
Occasionally humorous but often melancholy stories of Sidney Chamber, a young clergyman who fought in World War II, and Geordie Keating a Cambridge based police detective. Sidney loves a young... More
House of Cards
(2013) - 42 min - R
Drama
This fascinating series currently available on Netflix from 2013 through 2016 (each episode 45-52 minutes and 42 episodes available) follows South Carolina Congressman Frank Underwood who with his... More
House of Cards (1990)
(1990) - 204 min - NR
Drama
The "original" House of Cards was shown in Great Britain in 1990 and stars Ian Richardson as Francis Urquhart, Majority Whip, and Susannah Harker as a young political reporter. If you have seen the... More
London Boulevard
(2010) - 103 min - R
Crime/Mystery, Drama
This depressing movie shows the violent underside of London as Mitchel tries to avoid working for the local violent mob boss. His friend, Billy, meets him at the prison and takes him to a very nice... More
Witness
(1985) - 112 min - R
Crime/Mystery, Drama, Romance, Suspense/Thriller
This is a wonderful movie which stars Harrison Ford. While nominated for many Oscars, two technical Oscars were awarded. Harrison Ford stars as the detective who goes to live with the Amish and... More
Witness for the Prosecution
(1957) - 116 min - NR
Crime/Mystery, Drama, Mystery/British
Fascinating movie based on a story by Agatha Christie and screenplay by Billy Wilder who also directs. Leonard Vole is accused of murdering an elderly rich widow he has befriended in order to... More
Zootopia
(2015) - 108 min - PG
Animation
Cute and not just for kids. Winner of the Oscar for best animated film, Zootopia reflects and echos the common film themes of prejudice and inequality of many of 2016's best movies while keeping us... More
