June 1 - what does that date mean to you? Summer vacation, the start of an internship or just another Wednesday? Universally, if your date keeper of choice is the good old-fashioned Gregorian Calendar, June 1 means day 182 (3, if a leap year) of our 365 day solar cycle. It is betwixt our seasons as the year's midway point, and that means nearly half the inventory of this year's films have been released for our prospective pleasure. With this article, I will reveal to you my pick for what I feel is this half-year's best film.
The qualifications
Just to be clear on what is being considered, there is a set criteria. The films must have each received a wide theatrical release across America. This includes indie-films given a wide release and major blockbusters.
My pick
The past six months have been full of animated animals ("Zootopia", "The Jungle Book"), superheroes ("Batman v. Superman", "Captain America: Civil War", "Deadpool"), and the Coen Brothers ("Hail Caesar"). Surprisingly enough, despite some heavy hitting names, my choice for best film of the first half of 2016 does not fall under any of these categories. In my opinion, the best movie so far this year is "10 Cloverfield Lane."
This is such a fantastic movie. Not only is it a thrilling suspense film, but it is also makes for an excellent study of film making technique, all the while managing to be great fun and excitement. Yes, I very much enjoyed the action-packed sequences of "BvS" and "Civil War," but I found much of what built up both their plots somewhat convoluted. "Deadpool" was fun but at the end of the day it was too grotesque for my taste. "Zootopia" did a nice job walking the tight-wire act of dealing with social issues while presenting itself as a kids movie. But overall, I found "10 Cloverfield Lane" to be the standout flick of this years releases.
Technically taking place in the same time as "Cloverfield," "Cloverfield Lane" indirectly picks up after the alien attacks on earth as it follows the lives of three survivors living (held against their will?) in a rather home-sweet-home-y underground bunker. The setting may help distract the characters, played by John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and John Gallagher Jr., from the extraterrestrial turmoil above ground, but the real tension comes from the unreliability of the younger two's impromptu, and overbearing, caretaker Howard (Goodman). His benevolence tentatively becomes malevolent as Michelle (Winstead) and Emmett (Gallagher) slowly unravel the real truth behind the aliens, the bunker itself, and Howard's past. Mayhem quickly turns to mystery in the underground safe-house, and I never found myself far from the edge of my seat.
This film, directed by Dan Trachtenberg and produced by sci-fi specialist J.J. Abrams, is worthy of Hitchcock-ian comparison in terms of character development (self-destruction?), suspense, string-based score by Bear McCreary and overall tone of film. And although the quality of this thriller begs for the comparison to its predecessor, it still manages to find unique ways to stand apart. I thoroughly enjoyed my this film, so much so that, in my mind, it stands out against the likes of culturally colossal names such as Batman, Superman, Ethan & Joel Cohen, and Disney itself. If you get the chance and enjoy a good thriller, I highly recommend you check out this movie. It will be well worth your time to see that Alfred Hitchcock does indeed live, on 10 Cloverfield Lane.
