Jamie Foxx confirms: Scorsese attached to Mike Tyson biopic

Well, this was unexpected. Jamie Foxx recently spoke to Screen Rant and divulged some interesting information about a Mike Tyson biopic he has been passionately working on for the better part of a decade. The big news is that Martin Scorsese is officially attached to the film. If you are, for some reason, unaware of the connection between Scorsese and boxing, the venerable 74 year-old filmmaker directed the greatest boxing movie of all-time in 1980 with "Raging Bull." Scorsese tackling Tyson, who might be even more flawed, violent and aggressive than Lake LaMotta ever dreamed he could be, might be a match made in cinematic heaven.

Now is Scorsese involved as producer or director? That's the big question, but all seems to indicate that it is in fact as director. This adds to the lineup of films coming up for Scorsese. He is rumored to start shooting "The Irishman" with De Niro, Keitel, Pacino and, possibly, Pesci this February and is currently waiting for the final draft of a screenplay adaptation of Erik Larson’s book, "The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America." The latter would star Leonardo Dicaprio and, if all goes according to planned, would be their sixth collaboration together.

Screen Rant: Speaking of getting punched, one of the most polarizing lives of the past thirty years has been Mike Tyson. I know you were attached [to a biopic of Tyson], what’s the update on that? 

Jamie Foxx: That is a go. 

Screen Rant: It’s a go? Martin Scorsese’s still attached? 

Jamie Foxx: Yeah, he’s attached, and it’s—Mike Tyson’s life is one of the most amazing American stories.

Full Screen Rant interview can be found HERE.

Is the "Gangster" genre dead?

I was anxiously awaiting my press invite to catch Ben Affleck's gangster epic "Live By Night." We were in dire need of a good 'Gangster' picture, something that hasn't been the case since 2007's American Gangster or, for some including myself, Michael Mann's underrated 2009 John Dillinger film "Public Enemies." If you're counting foreign films as well, which you should, there hasn't really been a seminal addition to the genre since 2010's "Un Prophete" from Jacques Audiard. I did think Jeremy Saulnier reinvented the genre with his underseen indie film "Blue Ruin," from 2014, but does that really count? It's like saying "Blood Simple" is a gangster film, which "Blue Ruin" bares striking similarities. I also enjoyed John Hillcoat's underseen "Lawless" from 2012, but it didn't give us anything new, fresh or original within the genre.

I'm here to report that the dire streak of Gangster films for Hollywood will continue because, well, Ben Affleck's "Live By Night" is just not good. It follows the familiar tropes of the gangster genre and, in fact, makes them seem boring and rusty. Even the action scenes, which if you've seen Affleck's "The Town," are the director's specialty, fall flat on the ground. What we're left with is a film that is reminiscent of 2012's misbegotten "Gangster Squad." That's not a compliment. Remember that film? That was the nail in the coffin as far as I'm concerned for the genre. Bankable actors and actresses couldn't even make it a box-office success and the reviews, yikes. 

All this brings leads me to an article from The Guardian, published this week, well worth a read and which proclaims that "Live By Night" is "Ben Affleck’s love letter to – and hopefully death knell of – the classic Hollywood gangster flick." Is the gangster genre dead? Time will only tell, but there are signs indicating that it is the end of an era for the genre and that it will have to evolve into something fuller and more relevant to rise back up from the ashes. Last year's superb "Straight Outta Compton" might be a sign of where it's headed and, although I'm stretching the genre a bit here with that example, maybe we should start to qualify some hip-hop movies as part of the "gangster" genre. There are films about Tupac, Biggie and Snoop Dogg forthcoming, all of which will probably deal with their connections to organized crime (Bloods, Crips etc.) Why should those films, just like "Straight Outta Compton," not be considered gangster films?


While were at it, best gangster films of the last decade? Were there any? The 2000's had "City of God," "The Departed," "Road to Perdition," "American Gangster," "A Prophet," "Gangs of New York," "Eastern Promises," "A History of Violence," "Public Enemies." But the 2010s? Nada. Can't find a single worthy addition. I can deal with, the aforementioned, "Lawless" an ultra-violent Prohibition era Gangster flick or, if it counts, last year's superb "Straight Outta Compton" although I'm stretching the genre a bit there.

"Live By Night" comes out in limited release on December 25, 2016, before opening wide on January 13.  

If Damien Chazelle wins Best Director next month at the Oscars he'll become the youngest ever winner of the award

And no, 25 year-old Orson Welles didn't win for "Citizen Kane" back in 1941, instead the award went to John Ford and his underwhelming "How Green Was My Valley." Good God. What made his "Citizen Kane" debut even more impressive was the fact that it was Welles' first feature. Then again, Welles loved Ford so much that he watched "Stagecoach" over and over again to study and prepare for the shoot of "Citizen Kane."

The stats are as follows:

Damien Chazelle "La La Land" (31 Years old)

Norman Taurog "Skippy" (32 Years old)

Lewis Milestone "Two Arabian Knights" (33 Years old)

Sam Mendes "American Beauty" (34 Years old)

Frank Borzage  "A Farewell to Arms" (35 Years old)

Lewis Milestone "All Quiet on the Western Front" (35 Years old) 

Tony Richardson "Tom Jones" (35 Years old)

Francis Ford Coppola "The Godfather" (36 Years old)

Nicolas Winding Refn's next movie revealed

Nicolas Winding Refn will continue to build one of the most iconoclastic filmographies in cinema with his next film: "The Avenging Silence." Not much was known about his follow-up to last year's polarizing, shocking, repulsive, beautiful, brilliant "The Neon Demon" ... that is until just a few hours ago. 

According to The Playlist, The film's full synopsis is now available to read and available via Crouching Tigers Project Lab which launched just last month at "International Film Festival & Awards Macao.”  Twelve projects were selected for the given filmmakers to try and pitch their films to producers, distributors, backers etc. ""The Avenging Silence" was one of them.

This is the synopsis they got:

A former European spy, accepts a confidential mission from a Japanese businessman exiled to France to take down the head of the most treacherous Yakuza boss in Japan.

But it’s in the extended synopsis where the story gets truly fascinating, as it looks like once again, Refn will have (as the title suggests) a protagonist who doesn’t say much at all:

The spy was one of the leading spies in Europe. An injury inflicted to his vocal cords during a failed mission six years ago left him mute, forcing him to leave his profession. Now, six years later, he is sought out and put on confidential assignment by a former Yakuza, now a retired Japanese businessman in exile in France, to track down and kill the head of the most dangerous Yakuza family in Japan.

Afraid of flying, our spy anonymously boards a cargo ship headed for Tokyo. An onboard explosion sinks the ship and our spy finds himself washed ashore on a life raft in southern Japan. As a mute, our spy must silently journey through Japan seeking 4 clues – symbolizing conquest, war, famine, and death – which will guide him to the unknown location of the Yakuza boss. Meanwhile, the Yakuza boss, known for his 2004 mass slaughter of Yakuza members who had turned against him, is believed to be plotting to reenter the Japanese underworld after living in his own surreptitious world in the mountains, void of all technology. This way of life becomes an obsession for the Yakuza boss. Rumors spread that he had committed suicide years ago but escaped prisoners from his hidden camp told stories of his plan for a comeback. Now rival Yakuza families suspect he is forming a master plan to return, a plan that unburies the most infamous story of Yakuza betrayal.

Our spy finds himself on an existential journey through Japan in search of pieces to the puzzle that will lead him to a confrontation with the ultimate Yakuza boss in a terrifying conclusion.

Last august Refn tweeted this tease about his potential next film:

ROGUE ONE editor John Gilroy: "A lot of the movie changed"

John Gilroy is an enigma, he edited both Suicide Squad and Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler is one of the most beautifully edited films of the decade, reminiscent of the gritty work of editors in the 1970s. Suicide Squad is one of the most poorly edited films I have seen. Does it have to do with lousy the material he had to work with?

We all know that reshoots happened with "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" We also know that Gareth Edwards got pushed aside to make way for screenwriter Tony Gilroy, who got payed more than $5 Million for them. You don't get payed that much for just rewrites. Make no mistake about it, he was part of the film-making process. 

John Gilroy spoke to UK's The Independent in one of the most insightful interviews yet about what happened.

For more on the production mess of "Rogue One" click HERE

Full interview can be found HERE, but here are the most interesting sections:


How did editing Gareth’s footage compare to working on other films? 

He’s very hand on, apparently. I was given some free range to do things. I came on and helped shape a few things, to try some things, and I did. We had re-shoots. In terms of being hands-on, I would say it was about normal for directors. You mentioned re-shoots. 

How much input did you have with those? 

 I came on a little bit later than the other two editors. When I came on, there was a plan, so we did some photography. I was very much set on the movie that you see. There have been other incarnations of the movie, with different scenes that were not used, but I didn’t think about them that much. I was thinking about the movie that we had to make. 

 In some of the trailers, there’s some very different footage. 

 They were trying different things, obviously, as they went along. 

There was one where Jyn was holding the Death Star plans and running through what looks like a London tube.  Was there another ending in sight at the beginning? 

[SPOILERS] 13 scenes from Rogue One's trailers cut from the film 13 show all I would say a lot of the movie changed. That’s the simplest way to put it. I’ve said we definitely changed things at the beginning, added scenes developing those characters, and that has a ripple effect through the whole movie. So, I know people have been watching and clocking the deleted scenes and saying ‘I wonder how that fit in?’ but I was mostly concerned with the movie you saw. I was there to put that movie together. 

In a previous interview, I believe someone said there was a rough cut of Rogue One made using other films. 

Colin said that. He saw everything at every stage of this journey. And that happens - I’ve been on films where you make a pacemaker. Taking scraps of other films and making a sketch with other films, It’s not unheard of at an early stage of a film.

It’s interesting that both those films had a lot of talk of re-shoots and deleted scenes from the trailers.

A lot of things happened on Suicide Squad too. I’m not going to go into all that, but sometimes on these very big features, there’s a lot at stake. And when there’s a lot at stake, you need to get it right. Filmmakers need to feel they’re getting it right. So, people sometimes change their mind. People add different ideas and I guess you can say that about both these films. 

Because these trailers are sent out so far beforehand, does the reaction to them change the way you edit the film? Or are you completely oblivious to them, ignoring the reaction from fans at places like Comic-Con?

I ignore it. A trailer or a comic-con piece is a totally different thing to what we’re really doing. But, it’s really nice to clock. What the early trailers on Suicide Squad did was show Warner Bros. people are very interested in the movie and the series. I’d say those short form things are an art in and of themselves. That’s a whole other thing. I don’t normally think about it too much and there’s not a lot of interface between the two disciplines. 

The Playlist names the 50 best movie musicals, but is SINGIN' IN THE RAIN really the best ever?

I have no problem when someone claims "Singin' in the Rain" is the best movie musical of all-time because, well, it is! The choreography, songs and cinematography is just top-notch and almost impossible to recreate in this day and age. You can tell they worked their butts off to pull off some of the song and dance that was in the film. That's a lot of hard work and something that I feel today's film industry just does not have the time and energy to work out in coherent fashion. Damien Chazelle sure tried though, and the time and effort that went into making "La La Land" clearly shows on-screen.

Now, back in September I wrote this in my review of "La La Land": "It’s quite possibly the best movie musical since Bob Fosse’s “All That Jazz.” 5 or so months later and I still believe this to be true. I mean, think about it this way, the last 30 or so years we've had the odd movie musical come out here and there and we've always had some critics claiming that "the Musical is back!" But was it ever really gone? One can make the case that between 2000 and 2009 there were plenty of notable films to choose from: "Dancer in the Dark," "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," "Moulin Rouge," Chicago," "Once," "8 Women," "Dreamgirls," "Hairspray" and "Sweeney Todd" just to name a few. The last 5-6 years the genre has struggled a little more, which is why "La La Land" has been greeted with such open arms. Not to dismiss Damien Chazelle's film, which is even better than any of the ones I have mentioned above and a true landmark for the genre. 

My colleagues over at The Playlist have just come out with their own list of the 50 best movie musicals of all-time. The rankings don't agree with my theory that "La La Land" is the best musical since "All That Jazz" which was released close to 38 years ago. The Playlist is saying it's the third best musical, the other two ahead of Chazelle's film are "Beauty and the Beast," GREAT, and "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," even GREATER.

Click FULL LIST to see the entire Top 50

The Top 20 is as follows:

1. “Singin’ In The Rain” (1952)

2. “All That Jazz” (1979)

3. “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” (1964)

4. “West Side Story” (1961) 
5. “Cabaret” (1972) 
6. “The Wizard Of Oz” (1939) 
7. “Beauty & The Beast” (1991) 
8. “My Fair Lady” (1964)
9. “Hedwig &The Angry Inch” (2001) 
10. “The Sound Of Music” (1965)
11. “Swing Time” (1936)
12. “An American In Paris” (1951)
13. “Mary Poppins” (1964) 
14. “La La Land” (2016)
15. “Funny Girl” 
16. “Top Hat” (1935)
17. “Show Boat” (1951)
18. “The Jungle Book” (1967) 
19. “Dancer In The Dark” (2000)
20. “A Star Is Born”(1954)

METROPOLIS was released 90 years ago to this day. Using diagrams from a 1927 magazine, here is how they made those eye-popping/groundbreaking special effects

Oh "Metropolis," you had me at hello. I'll never forget the first time I saw the film. It was at film school and I had heard all the hoopla about this masterpiece being the granddaddy of all science fiction films, but I didn't realize just how incredible the effects director Fritz Lang created were until I saw the actual film. The sheer scope and vision to make such an astonishing film at such an early stage of cinema. How can we ever forget it?  It's up there with "Citizen Kane" as the most influential movie of all-time. It gave people a visual rendering to all the sci-fi they were reading and dreaming of, but it also predicted how science fiction would feel, look, be dreamed-up for the next 90 years. Prophetic.

Mucho thanks to silentmoviegifs for creating this.

LOGAN will be the first Marvel movie to premiere at a major film festival when it debuts this February at the 67th Berlin Film Festival

Fox must have a decent amount of faith in this film to have it premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. We do already know that this won't be your typical superhero movie. The James Mangold-directed film has already earned an R rating and is supposed to be the final Hugh Jackman/Wolverine picture. The trailer, which successfully blended black and white footage with Johnny Cash's eponymous tune "Hurt," hinted that the film would be different from what we usually get in the genre. It looks like a depressing movie, which is more than welcome by the way, and we are more than excited to catch a glimpse of it next month.

I doubt they're entering this into Berlin Film Festival for no other reason, but to advertise it as something outside of what we're use to seeing in Superhero movies. I think it's quite a bold, but exciting move though.

Ryan Reynolds has also stated that he believes "Logan" will be an Oscar contender come next year.

“‘Logan’ looks like a movie that might break that glass ceiling,” Reynolds told Variety. “I know first-hand that it’s amazing. I’ve seen some of it. It’s mind-blowing. It relies a lot on character.

First Look: Joseph Fiennes as Michael Jackson, Stockard Channing as Elizabeth Taylor and Brian Cox as Marlon Brando in URBAN MYTHS

Joseph Fiennes playing Michael Jackson in a TV production for the UK’s Sky Arts. 

If you remember, last year there was much controversy over the announcement of a white actor playing Michael Jackson. What the hell did they expect? Did they want a black actor to put on white face and play Jackson instead? The dude was white, his skin tone was whiter than 99% of white people. 

The trailer for Urban Myths hit YouTube on Tuesday, and, suffice to say, what the hell?! Stockard Channing plays Elizabeth Taylor, uncanny resemblance, and Brian Cox portrays Marlon Brando. A 2011 Vanity Fair article alleged that Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando road-tripped to Ohio shortly after the 9/11 attacks, an event now being recreated as part of Urban Myths.

I can't really lie to you, I am very much looking forward to this ... potential trainwreck reenactment of the now infamous road trip from hell these three took. It's about time someone attempted to deconstruct the absurd relationship Jackson, Brando and Taylor had. I wonder where Macaulay Culkin was the weekend this road trip happened, he must have gotten an invite, right? 

J.J. Abrams: "I’m now more excited about working on things that are original ideas that perhaps one day someone else will have to reboot."

Looks like Mr. Reboot/Remake/Lens-Flare has finally had it with selling his soul to the devil.

Over the past decade or so J.J. Abrams has rebooted, successfully might I add, "Star Wars," "Star Trek" and "Mission: Impossible."

/Film has him saying this:

"You know, I feel incredibly lucky to have gotten involved in things that I loved when I was a kid. In fact, even Westworld, which we’re here for tonight, is one of them. But I don’t feel any desire to do that again. I feel like I’ve done enough of that that I’m more excited about working on things that are original ideas that perhaps one day someone else will have to reboot."

Do notice that he doesn't really mention sequels or prequels.

 "Mr Abrams we need to make a Ghostbusters-Back to The Future crossover".

"No, I'm done with reboots, its limiting my artistic ability".

"We'll give you a budget of 900 million and 10% take in merchandise".

"How many do you want?"

Original content Abrams has actually directed in his film career: "Super 8." That's it. Of course on television he's the man behind "Alias," "Lost" and -WUH?- "Felicity."

DEADPOOL just became an Oscar contender with its Producers Guild of America Best Picture nomination

I ain't kidding. The PGA is usually the most accurate way to predict the Oscar nominees for Best Picture. Thousands of industry producers vote for the PGA awards and guess who votes for the Best Picture award at the Oscars? Those same producers that voted for the PGA. 

As it stands "Sully," "Silence," "Jackie," "Loving," "20th Century Women" and "Florence Foster Jenkins" are out of the race. They cannot make it, the odds are stacked against them.

The following are the nominated films:

Arrival
Deadpool
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight

Full List on its way. This list via Kris Tapley.

Gold Derby:

Last year, the guild foresaw seven of the eight Oscar contenders: “The Big Short,” “Bridge of Spies,” “Brooklyn,” “Mad Max; Fury Road,” “The Martian,” “The Revenant” and “Spotlight.” It missed “Room,” opting instead for “Ex Machina,” “Sicario” and “Straight Outta Compton.” While “The Big Short” won over the producers, academy voters opted for “Spotlight.”

Likewise, in 2014, the PGA went seven for eight: “American Sniper,” “Boyhood,” “Birdman,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Imitation Game,” “The Theory of Everything” and “Whiplash.” It went with “Foxcatcher,” “Gone Girl” and “Nightcrawler” over eventual Oscar nominee “Selma.” “Birdman” was the top pick for best pic with both groups.

In 2013, eight of the PGA nominees made the cut with academy: eventual Best Picture winner “12 Years a Slave,” as well as “Gravity” (which had tied with it at the PGA), “American Hustle,” “Captain Phillips,”  “Dallas Buyers Club” “Her,” “Nebraska,” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.” The other two PGA contenders — “Blue Jasmine” and “Saving Mr. Banks” — were snubbed by the academy. Rather, Brit hit “Philomena” was the ninth Oscar nominee.

Vince Vaughn and Mel Gibson -both Conservatives- having to sit through Meryl Streep's scathing anti-Trump speech

Did the camera purposely pan on these two guys when Meryl Streep was giving her, now controversial, speech condemning President-Elect Trump? Who knows, but it's moments like these that make watching the Globes well worth it. I can only imagine what was brewing in their heads as Streep delivered the line "When the powerful use their power to bully others we all lose."

One might say Streep is clearly still sore from the loss Democratic Presidential nominee Hilary Clinton suffered last November. If your memory serves you well you might remember Streep not only endorsing Clinton, but campaigning for her at a few events as well. Streep was confident that Trump would lose that, According to The New York Times, on July 26th, in Philadelphia, she told a crowd of thousands of Hilary supporters "She will be the first female President, but she won't be the last."

Tom Hardy Is 'Waiting for the Call to Come' on 'Mad Max' Sequels

With all the rubbish sequels that are being made these days in cinema, this is one of the few that actually makes sense to greenlight.

George Miller is apparently in pre-production on Mad Max: the Wasteland and has Hardy signed up to do two more Mad Max films. I expect they will be finishing the script and building a monstrous set design even before Hardy is signed on.

Tom Hardy spoke to Esquire and had this to say when asked if there will be a sequel:

"Yeah I believe so! I don't know when that starts, but I believe that's in the books. There's a couple of those floating around. I'm waiting for the call to come. It was so good, man."

Bar none the Best Golden Globe moment from last evening: Kristen Wiig And Steve Carell presenting 'Best Animated movie'

Steve Carrell is so good at playing it straight while saying completely off the wall hilarious lines. He had tears forming in his eyes, the man is a wonder. Acting is a profession just like anything else. This really goes to show how much of an expert he is, but comedic acting is harder than normal acting. There is a reason why Breaking Bad used so many actors with comedy backgrounds. Truly impressive stuff. It's very impressive. Kristen is good but you could tell she was struggling to hold it together. He was so straight faced it could have been a real story.

IMAX poster for La La Land is beautifully retro

From my 9.17.16 review at the Toronto International Film Festival:

"Winning the People’s Choice Award at TIFF, and coming out this Friday, Damien Chazelle’s film was a no-brainer. Everyone felt sure it was going to win even before the festival started. Starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, Chazelle’s film has moments of pure joy that make you feel punch-drunk in love at the movies again. The morning press screening burst into extended applause after the film’s final shot and that sealed the deal for the film’s eventual fate as a major Best Picture contender. Stone, a beauty of an actress, also turned heads for her performance as Mia, a struggling actress hoping to find her big break. Mia falls for Sebastian, a playful and charismatic Ryan Gosling, as they embark on a colorful and touching adventure filled with some of the best original songs ever conceived for the big screen. It’s quite possibly the best movie musical since Bob Fosse’s “All That Jazz."

"The Irishman" producer on Scorsese using CGI to make De Niro look younger: "We’re still experimenting but saw a test and it looked extraordinary."

On De Niro being given the CGI treatment

And you’re using CGI to reduce De Niro’s age for The Irishman?

"It’s a story that spans a lot of time, so some segments without prosthetics we’ll be able to get him to look like his Godfather, Part II part. Well, that age, anyway."

And you’ve tested it with him?

"Yeah. It won’t be a huge aspect of the movie, but sections. The technology can go from 20, 40, 60. Yeah. We’re still experimenting but saw a test and it looked extraordinary."


On Joe Pesci coming out of retirement


Are you still talking to Joe Pesci about coming aboard The Irishman?

"I know Bob is. Robert De Niro, that is. It’s in his hands now and I know he’s making an effort. There will be a time when we have to start that so I know he’s having those conversations with Joe and still trying to get him on board."

Courtesy of Collider

Anthony Hopkins testing different masks as Hannibal Lecter for THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

Source: Bloody Disgusting

Dreaded Golden Globes telecast did bring me one moment of joy

Where have all the exciting American filmmakers gone?

So let's play a little game here.

We all know the late '60s and all of the '70s brought forth some of the greatest filmmakers of our time: Scorsese, Coppola, Peckinpah, Altman, Spielberg, Friedkin, Waters, Malick, Cassavettes, De Palma, Eastwood, Allen, Nichols, and Romero just to name a few.

The early '80s gave us Lynch, Demme, Brooks, Cronenberg, and Gilliam, and then the indie movement started blossoming a few years later with Jarmusch, Coen, Lee, Van Sant, Sayles, Soderbergh, Tarantino, and Linklater.

Heading into the new century, some of the most promising filmmakers entered the fray: PTA, O. Russell, Anderson, Payne, Jonze, Fincher, Aronofsky, Nolan, Haynes.

And then between 2005 until to this day .... STAGNATION.


I want you to think about my reasoning here for a second. Think of an American director who had his film debut at the earliest in 2003, who has built a solid reputation and has had a legitimately important impact on cinema in the same vein as the names I just mentioned? Anyone? I can think of many directors born outside the United States: Dardenne, Glazer, Villeneuve, Joon-Ho, McQueen, Farhadi, Lanthimos, Chan-Wook, Refn, Mungiu, Weerasethakul, Wright, Arnold.

So what's the future of American cinema like? It looks bleak to say the least, but there are still some filmmakers starting to form impressive filmographies, despite the studio system not being interested in giving them any kind of creative freedom or room for original thought. Yet they have managed to find a way to showcase their artistic visions on the screen for us. I found 14 names that might give hope for the future of American cinema.

Damien Chazelle
"Whiplash," "La La Land"

Shane Carruth
"Upstream Color," "Primer"

JC Chandor
"Margin Call," "All Is Lost," "A Most Violent Year"

Jeremy Saulnier

"Green Room," "Blue Ruin"

Tom McCarthy

"The Station Agent," "Spotlight," "Win Win," "The Visitor"

Bennett Miller

"Capote," "Moneyball," "Foxcatcher"

Charlie Kaufman
"Synechdoche New York," "Anomalisa"

Jeff Nichols

"Shotgun Stories," "Take Shelter," "Mud," "Loving," "Midnight Special"

Ryan Coogler

"Creed," "Fruitvale Station"

Ava DuVernay

"Selma," "Middle of Nowhere," "13th"

Rian Johnson

"Brick," "Looper," "The Brothers Bloom"

Mike Mills

"Thumbsucker," "Beginners," "20th Century Women"

Cahiers Du Cinéma readers name their 10 best of 2016

Great list. Love all of these except for Bruno Dumont's "Ma Loute," which underwhelmed me at Cannes, ditto Pedro Almodovar's "Julieta," but that one's still recommended. It's minor Almodovar, but that still means it's better than 99% of the fare released here in the States. A few hidden gems that haven't gotten the recognition they deserve: "Aquarius" and "Un Jour Avec, Un Jour Sans" ("Right Now, Wrong Then"). Seek these out when you have the chance, they are one of the very best films I saw last year.