I’ll be honest – 2016 was not my favorite year for film. While movies like American Honey, The Edge of Seventeen, Moonlight, and Manchester by the Sea astonished me (and Lion made me cry uncontrollably from the first five minutes until the end of the credits), I find myself less impressed with most of this year’s Oscar hopefuls. La La Land, which my fiance and I have nicknamed “Blah Blah Bland,” is just another example of Hollywood autoanilingus. (Does anyone even remember Th

If you have the opportunity to see Japanese animated drama film Only Yesterday this week, I implore you to do so, as it is a triumph of both visual storytelling and emotional resonance. Hailing from Hiyao Miyazaki’s famed Studio Ghibli and acclaimed director Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya), this lyrical meditation on childhood memory was a surprise hit when it bowed in 1991, becoming Japan’s highest-grossing film that year. Thanks to po