Everybody Wants Some!!

A hangout movie largely devoid of major conflict, Richard Linklater's Everybody Wants Some!! is an easygoing, carefree, and hilarious exploration of youth and philosophy viewed through the prism of an east Texas college baseball team in 1980. It's alternately raucous, touching, sweet, and silly, but it's almost always hilarious. This is one of my favorite films of 2016 so far.

Everybody Wants Some!!
Writer/Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Blake Jenner, Glen Powell, Tyler Hoechlin, Wyatt Russell, Zoey Deutch

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

I really wanted this movie to be great. I enjoyed Man of Steel at the time of release, (though it holds up less and less each time I revisit it), and I was excited about the potential of Ben Affleck playing Batman as soon as that casting was announced. But Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a joyless, grueling, two-plus hour waste of time, a film incapable of rising above director Zack Snyder's visual trappings and delivering anything remotely resembling a compelling story. This is a great example of how not to make a superhero movie.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Jesse Eisenberg, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot

Midnight Special

I was very impressed with writer/director Jeff Nichols' two most recent films, Take Shelter and Mud, so I was slightly torn when I heard he was going to be directing his first studio film. Would this new project retain the qualities that made the aforementioned movies so enjoyable, or would a bigger budget and navigating the complicated landscape of studio filmmaking soften the style I enjoyed so much? Thankfully, Midnight Special is a mostly-satisfying thriller that tells its own story while feeling like a throwback to classic sci-fi movies like Close Encounters of The Third Kind, Starman, and E.T.

Midnight Special
Writer/Director: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver

10 Cloverfield Lane

Brimming with edge-of-your-seat suspense, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a wonderfully effective throwback to classic nail-biters and a terrific expansion of the Cloverfield cinematic universe.

10 Cloverfield Lane

Director: Dan Trachtenberg

Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, John Gallagher Jr.