The best of 2016 films
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announces its Oscar nominations on Jan. 24.
In the meantime, here come my select best contributions to 2016’s motion pictures, some of which have no chance to make the Academy’s short list of nominations.
Best Actor: Lewis MacDougall as the tormented son of a dying mother in “A Monster Calls.” Not a single false or calculated moment in his performance, one so layered and genuine you’d never suspect it came from a 12-year-old actor.
Runners-up: Casey Affleck in “Manchester By the Sea” and Denzel Washington in “Fences”
Best Actress: Taraji P. Henson — funny, vulnerable, angry and smart — as the mom and mathematical genius who helped propel Friendship 7 into orbit in “Hidden Figures,” and struck blows for racial and gender equality along the way.
Runners-up: Rebecca Hall in “Christine,” Meryl Streep in “Florence Foster Jenkins”
Best Supporting Actress: Naomie Harris as the conflicted, strung-out mother in “Moonlight”
Runners-up: Michelle Williams in “Manchester by the Sea,” Viola Davis in “Fences”
Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali as the contradictory good father figure/neighborhood drug dealer in “Moonlight”
Runners-up: John Goodman “10 Cloverfield Lane,” Jeff Bridges in “Hell and High Water”
Best Direction: Damien Chazelle for “La
Suburban film notes
• “Carousel,” the 1956 cinematic adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s stage musical hailed by Time magazine as “the best musical of the 20th century,” will play at 2 and 7 p.m. on Sunday, Jan 8, and Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 17 Chicago and suburban theaters. Admission: $7; $4.50 for children and seniors. fathomevents.com/event/carousel.
• Classic Cinemas’ Second Monday Film Club continues with a showing of “A Man Called Ove” at 1 and 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 9, at the Woodstock Theatre, 209 Main St., Woodstock. $6 matinee. $8 night show; $6 for seniors.
When a loud family moves next door to a grumpy old guy named Ove, sparks fly. Until the family begins to connect with the retiree in this Swedish production. Go to classicinemas.com.
• The After Hours Film Society presents Nanni Moretti’s showbiz domestic drama “Mia Madre” at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 9, at the Tivoli Theatre, 5021 Highland Ave., Downers Grove. General admission: $10. ($6 members).
A stressed-out movie director (Margherita Buy) juggles job demands with her aging mother’s needs plus her willful daughter’s increasing isolation. See? Directors are just like real moms. Sort of. Go to afterhoursfilmsociety.com.
• The Chicago Film Critics Association sponsors a 40th anniversary showing of “Saturday Night Fever” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11, at the Elk Grove Cinema, 1050 Arlington Heights Road, Elk Grove Village. CFCA member Pat McDonald introduces the movie and conducts a brief post-film discussion.
This Bee Gees music-pumped movie propelled “Welcome Back Kotter” TV star John Travolta into the Hollywood stratosphere as Tony Manero, a Brooklyn kid who kicks it big-time at the local disco. I interviewed Travolta in 1999 and asked him how he created Manero’s physicality.
“I grew up in a predominantly black school,” he told me. “There was a definite jive to the walk of blacks of that period. I loved it. I thought ‘This guy (Manero) is music and rhythm and dancing and he’s street!’”
Tickets cost $6 at the box office or classicinemas.com.
Robin Williams tribute
Join me and film historian Raymond Benson when Dann & Raymond’s Movie Club presents “The Films of the Amazing Robin Williams,” 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12, at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, 500 N. Dunton Ave., Arlington Heights. ahml.info.
Clips from such dramatic and comedy gems as “Popeye,” “Good Morning Vietnam,” “Dead Poets Society” and “Aladdin,” plus 10 others. Join us for a tribute to one of Chicago’s greatest native sons who grew up in two Lake Forest schools. Free admission! Popcorn provided.
