Ten films to watch in 2006

A Bigger Splash
A Bowie-ish rock goddess (Tilda Swinton) and her devoted boyfriend (Matthias Schoenaerts) are on holiday when two uninvited guests turn up at their Italian villa: the rock star’s party-animal ex (Ralph Fiennes) and his sulky, seductive daughter (Dakota Johnson). Depending on how you look at it, the holiday is either well and truly over, or just getting underway.
Hail, Caesar!
Ethan and Joel Coen’s period comedy could well be 2016’s most sumptuous treat, an ice cream sundae of a film comprising the Coens’ favourite ingredients: a kidnapping (The Big Lebowski), the Golden Age of Hollywood (Barton Fink) and George Clooney being a buffoon (O Brother Where Art Thou?). Josh Brolin stars as a studio executive who steps in when Clooney’s matinee idol is spirited away from the set of an ancient Roman epic.
The Witch
The Witch is 2016’s answer to It Follows: an independent horror film which had festival audiences raving about its cleverness and style as well as its nerve-jangling scariness. The winner of the Best First Feature Award at October’s London Film Festival, Robert Eggers’ directorial debut tells the relentlessly creepy tale of a Puritan family which is exiled from a New England settlement in the 1630s.
Julieta
Pedro Almodóvar’s last film was 2013’s toe-curlingly unfunny I’m So Excited, so it’s a relief to report that his new one – his twentieth – marks his return to ‘the cinema of women’. With any luck, we can expect a bruising, emotionally charged comedy-drama in the vein of Volver and All About My Mother.
High-Rise
Ben Wheatley’s surreal black comedy opens with a shot of Tom Hiddleston on his tower-block balcony, barbecuing a dog, and proceedings get more chaotic and disturbing from there. Adapted from JG Ballard’s 1975 satirical novel, High-Rise is set in a forbidding skyscraper which houses the chain-smoking poor on the lower storeys, the decadent rich on the upper ones, and the building’s lordly architect (Jeremy Irons) in the penthouse.
Everybody Wants Some
Boyhood was Richard Linklater’s masterpiece. Shot over 12 years, it charted a Texan boy’s journey through high school with all of the warmth, humour, and quiet profundity of the writer-director’s best work. His follow-up is a sequel of sorts. According to Linklater, “it begins right where Boyhood ends with a guy showing up at college and meeting his new roommates and a girl”. But its 1980s setting also suggests an unofficial sequel to his breakthrough comedy, 1993’s Dazed and Confused.
Snowden
It has been a decade or two since a new Oliver Stone film was anything to get excited about, but Snowden sounds like the kind of hard-hitting, argument-starting drama he’s famous for, in that it’s political, controversial, and non-fictional – although some of his detractors might argue with that last category.
The BFG
Thirty years after Melissa Mathison wrote the screenplay for ET The Extra Terrestrial, it was announced that she and Steven Spielberg would finally be working together again, this time on an adaptation of one of Roald Dahl’s most enjoyable and scrumdiddlyumptious novels, The BFG.
The Girl on
the Train
Stand back, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Step aside, Gone Girl. The latest Girl-ish mystery-thriller to be based on a best-selling novel is The Girl on The Train. Directed by Tate Taylor, who made the Oscar-nominated The Help, the new Girl stars Emily Blunt as an embittered alcoholic who is fixated on her ex-husband.
Doctor Strange
2016 is jam-packed with superhero blockbusters, with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War, and X-Men: Apocalypse among the colon-tastic titles. But the most intriguing is Doctor Strange, which introduces Marvel Comics’s demon-battling “master of the mystic arts” to the big screen.     —BBC

Ten films to watch in 2006

A Bigger Splash A Bowie-ish rock goddess (Tilda Swinton) and her devoted boyfriend (Matthias Schoenaerts) are on holiday when two uninvited guests turn up at their Italian villa: the rock stars party-animal ex (Ralph Fiennes) and his sulky, seductive daughter (Dakota Johnson). Depending on how you look at it, the holiday is either well and truly over, or just getting underway. Hail, Caesar! Ethan and Joel Coens period comedy could well be 2016s most sumptuous treat, an ice cream sundae of a film comprising the Coens favourite ingredients: a kidnapping (The Big Lebowski), the Golden Age of Hollywood (Barton Fink) and George Clooney being a buffoon (O Brother Where Art Thou?). Josh Brolin stars as a studio executive who steps in when Clooneys matinee idol is spirited away from the set of an ancient Roman epic. The Witch The Witch is 2016s answer to It Follows: an independent horror film which had festival audiences raving about its cleverness and style as well as its nerve-jangling scariness. The winner of the Best First Feature Award at Octobers London Film Festival, Robert Eggers directorial debut tells the relentlessly creepy tale of a Puritan family which is exiled from a New England settlement in the 1630s. Julieta Pedro Almodvars last film was 2013s toe-curlingly unfunny Im So Excited, so its a relief to report that his new one his twentieth marks his return to the cinema of women. With any luck, we can expect a bruising, emotionally charged comedy-drama in the vein of Volver and All About My Mother. High-Rise Ben Wheatleys surreal black comedy opens with a shot of Tom Hiddleston on his tower-block balcony, barbecuing a dog, and proceedings get more chaotic and disturbing from there. Adapted from JG Ballards 1975 satirical novel, High-Rise is set in a forbidding skyscraper which houses the chain-smoking poor on the lower storeys, the decadent rich on the upper ones, and the buildings lordly architect (Jeremy Irons) in the penthouse. Everybody Wants Some Boyhood was Richard Linklaters masterpiece. Shot over 12 years, it charted a Texan boys journey through high school with all of the warmth, humour, and quiet profundity of the writer-directors best work. His follow-up is a sequel of sorts. According to Linklater, it begins right where Boyhood ends with a guy showing up at college and meeting his new roommates and a girl. But its 1980s setting also suggests an unofficial sequel to his breakthrough comedy, 1993s Dazed and Confused. Snowden It has been a decade or two since a new Oliver Stone film was anything to get excited about, but Snowden sounds like the kind of hard-hitting, argument-starting drama hes famous for, in that its political, controversial, and non-fictional although some of his detractors might argue with that last category. The BFG Thirty years after Melissa Mathison wrote the screenplay for ET The Extra Terrestrial, it was announced that she and Steven Spielberg would finally be working together again, this time on an adaptation of one of Roald Dahls most enjoyable and scrumdiddlyumptious novels, The BFG. The Girl on the Train Stand back, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Step aside, Gone Girl. The latest Girl-ish mystery-thriller to be based on a best-selling novel is The Girl on The Train. Directed by Tate Taylor, who made the Oscar-nominated The Help, the new Girl stars Emily Blunt as an embittered alcoholic who is fixated on her ex-husband. Doctor Strange 2016 is jam-packed with superhero blockbusters, with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War, and X-Men: Apocalypse among the colon-tastic titles. But the most intriguing is Doctor Strange, which introduces Marvel Comicss demon-battling master of the mystic arts to the big screen. BBC