2016 Individual Film Links

For a film to get its own page on the main 2016 links page, it must receive at least 5 link submissions from our members with few exceptions. Here is a list of all films that haven’t quite reached that threshold yet. When it does, it will be moved to the main page and removed from this page.

400 Days

The Abandoned

Airlift

Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong

Anesthesia

  • Mark Dujsik @ Mark Reviews Movies
    • Excerpt: Is that all there is?
  • Brent McKnight @ Cinema Blend
    • Excerpt: If you look too close, you’ll see a mess of ideas and themes, random connections, and jagged edges, but if you step back, these splotches form a pleasing enough picture.
  • Frank Swietek @ One Guys Opinion
    • Excerpt: A discourse on existential angst in the modern world, the ensemble piece comes across as sadly familiar, and as emotionally desiccated as its pallid characters.

B.C. Butcher

Bad Hurt

  • Jennie Kermode @ Eye For Film
  • Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
    • Excerpt: It’s a heartbreaking trajectory containing very affecting scenes. Some of the particulars pile on more taboos than maybe one film should carry–see Kent’s demons–but everything that occurs does so in order for the cast to earn their salaries.

Band of Robbers

  • Jason Bailey @ Flavorwire
    • Excerpt: It sounds awful, like yet another delayed-sequel/origin-story/cinematic-universe Product from an art form bent on telling “new” stories based on familiar elements. So maybe it’s due to mere expectation that ‘Band of Robbers’ is so wonderful – sharp, funny, big-hearted, and absolutely true to the spirit of the author in question.
  • Andy Crump @ Paste Magazine
    • Excerpt: Ever wonder what Tom Sawyer might look like in the mold of a 20-something millennial slacker? Then this film is for you.

Batman: Bad Blood

Bleak Street

Bridgend

The Brothers Grimsby

Cabin Fever

  • Blake Crane @ BlakeCrane.com
    • Excerpt: Living up (or down) to the worst traits of a remake, Cabin Fever does nothing to justify its existence.

Camino

  • Glenn Lovell @ CinemaDope.com
    • Excerpt: … a lean, rugged addition to the warrior princess subgenre … Bell once again metes out swift justice to men who badly underestimate her capacity to crack spines …

Cemetery of Splendor

Certain Women

The Clan

Contracted: Phase 2

A Country Called Home

Crazy About Tiffany’s

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny

  • James Marsh @ Screen International
    • Excerpt: Michelle Yeoh reprises her role as lovelorn warrior Shu Lien this belated sequel to Ang Lee’s worldwide smash hit wuxia drama, directed by Hong Kong action legend Yuen Wo-ping.

Dad’s Army

The Daughter

Demolition

Detective Chinatown

  • James Marsh @ Screen International
    • Excerpt: Chen Sicheng follows up romantic anthology Beijing Love Story (2014) with this high-energy crime caper in which a down-at-heel detective in Bangkok’s Chinatown goes on the run after being implicated in a murder-robbery case.

Diablo

Eisenstein in Guanajuato

  • Nicholas Bell @ Ioncinema
  • Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
    • Excerpt: [Greenaway’s] unique visual style is carefully composed of rich, painterly tableaux, his themes encompassing puzzles, murder, architecture, sex and death. They are all evident here, yet it is difficult to take “Eisenstein in Guanajuato” entirely seriously.
  • Carson Lund @ Slant Magazine
    • Excerpt: Greenaway’s habit of repeating old tics and playing around with virtuosic form for the sake of it might give off the impression of a director bored with his material, but what comes through clearly by the end of the film is the act of one artist’s eccentric generosity breathing new awareness into the life of another.

Embrace of the Serpent

Embrace the Serpent

Exposed

Fitoor

Fort Buchanan

Francofonia

Glassland

Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party

High-Rise

Hyena Road

In the Shadow of Women

Jane Got A Gun

Jim: The James Foley Story

Knight of Cups

  • Marco Albanese @ Stanze di Cinema [Italian]
    • Excerpt: L’ultimo dei grandi maestri degli anni ’70, il più isolato e schivo, il più geloso della propria privacy, continua a stupire.
  • Alan Mattli @ Facing the Bitter Truth [German]
    • Excerpt: It’s more consistent than ‘The Tree of Life’, but, beautiful imagery aside, it is still a frustrating watch, pompously hollow and infuriatingly preachy.

Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3

The Last Man on the Moon

Lazer Team

The Little Prince

Martyrs

Mastizaade

Mia Madre

The Monkey King 2

  • James Marsh @ Screen International
    • Excerpt: Cheang Pou-soi’s sequel to his own 2014 monster hit ($168m in China alone) is a considerably more coherent and assured production, boasting slick visuals and spirited central performances from Aaron Kwok and Gong Li. Tackling more familiar segments of Wu Cheng’en’s mammoth source text, The Monkey King 2 proves more accessible to overseas and casual viewers, while local audiences should return in great numbers over the Lunar New Year as Asia welcomes in the Year of the Monkey.
  • James Marsh @ Screen International
    • Excerpt: Cheang Pou-soi’s sequel to his own 2014 monster hit ($168m in China alone) is a considerably more coherent and assured production, boasting slick visuals and spirited central performances from Aaron Kwok and Gong Li.

Monster Hunt

  • James Marsh @ Screendaily.com
    • Excerpt: Former Dreamworks animator Raman Hui has scored a major commercial success on his return to Hong Kong with Monster Hunt, a polished fantasy adventure that blends broad comedy with period hijinks alongside first rate CG character work. Hui’s film broke China’s single-day record when it opened on July 16 and stormed past the RMB1 billion ($162.2 million) mark in just 8 days. But its uneven tone and wayward plotting could prove a bar to similar levels of success in international markets, despite its family-friendly tale of a baby monster being smuggled across medieval China.
  • Eddie Pasa @ DC Filmdom
    • Excerpt: Do me a favor: just rent “Willow” instead. “Monster Hunt” is a garbled mess.
  • Frank Swietek @ One Guys Opinion
    • Excerpt: An oddball mélange of action, slapstick, sentimentality and ghoulishness, all wrapped up into one big, galumphing package. It’s more a curiosity than a delight, but the adventurous might want to give the sweet-and-sour dish a try.

Moonwalkers

Naz and Maalik

Neerja

Portrait of a Serial Monogamist

  • Dustin Jansick @ Way Too Indie
    • Excerpt: Good intentions aren’t enough to overcome a clumsy execution in this light-hearted indie comedy.
  • Pat Mullen @ Cinemablographer
    • Excerpt: As Elsie wanders the city like a tramp in search of a lady, one can’t help but enjoy the charm of Portrait of a Serial Monogamist and hope that she finds a partner—and maybe even herself.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

  • Daniel Lackey @ The Nightmare Gallery
    • Excerpt: The novelty of combining classic romance fiction with horror elements can only carry the film so far, and the other elements can’t make up the rest of the distance.

Rabid Dogs

  • Glenn Lovell @ CinemaDope.com
    • Excerpt: What this French redo of Mario Bava’s 1974 heist thriller lacks in plot it more than makes up for in flashy camerawork, energy … Hitchcock would have cued us to the twist ending earlier.

Rabin, the Last Day

Regression

Remember

Requiem for the American Dream

Saala Khadoos

Snowtime!

Songs My Brothers Taught Me

  • Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
    • Excerpt: A Native-American brother and sister try in their own ways to find where they belong.
  • James Marsh @ TwitchFilm
    • Excerpt: The debut feature from Beijing-born Chloe Zhao focuses on the unlikely subject matter of adolescent Lakota indians in South Dakota. Beautifully photographed and confidently directed, Songs My Brothers Taught Me is a notable first film, marred only by a rather cliched coming-of-age narrative, albeit in an original and intriguing setting.

Touched with Fire

  • James Jay Edwards @ FilmFracture
  • Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
    • Excerpt: Unfortunately, I didn’t quite find the same level of investment when it’s just Holmes and Kirby. They’re both great at getting to the heart of their illness thanks to Dalio’s direction and their own driven attachment to the material, but the plot facilitating their collision course is too convenient.
  • Pat Mullen @ Cinemablographer
  • Tom Santilli @ Examiner.com
    • Excerpt: Touched With Fire may be one of the more legitimate takes on bipolar disorder to hit the big-screen, but it doesn’t quite burn as bright as it feels like it should.

The Treasure

Tumbledown

The Veil

Viva

Wazir

The Witch

Yosemite

Zootopia

  • José Arce @ LaButaca.net [Spanish]
    • Excerpt: Disney vuelve a la carga (en realidad vive en una carga constante desde hace años) con esta genial propuesta de animación detectivesca que propone un plano técnico verdaderamente bárbaro. A vender muñecos, sí, pero aquí también hay forma y fondo. Genial.
  • Alan Mattli @ Maximum Cinema [German]
    • Excerpt: It’s funny, surprisingly dark at times, and very timely. While it may not be quite up there with ‘Tangled’ and ‘Big Hero 6’, ‘Zootopia’ is a laudably mature effort from Disney.
  • Diego Salgado @ Cine para Leer [Spanish]