Big Balls, Big Mouth, Big Trouble, Big Wheels (I’ll be at the Big Wheel Park), Black Panther’s, Bringin’ Back the Beat, Bubbles, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s We Should All Be Feminists, Color War, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Daddies and Sons, Darci’s World, David Sedaris’ Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, Descendants of Eleazar and Miriam, Elephant Dreams, A Fish Story, Five Children and It, For the Birds, Ghosts in Our Blood, Grandmothers, Gramps and Dine for Your Life, I Love You! You’re Perfect!, In the Garden of Beasts, Insecure at School, Jitney, John Mellencamp’s Plain Spoken, Jungle Drum, Justin and Gobi, Judy Moody, Karakara, A Long Way Gone, Lion King, Love & Disrespect, Make A Wish, Make Me a Mother, Making Ends Meet, Making the Band, Maria Full of Grace, Maria José, Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story, Nami, Night of the Living Dead, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Once We Were Scarecrows, One and a Half People (Oyvey Adamim), The Other Half, Peter and Susan (Miskitu), Pinochet in Suburbia, Poetic Football: A Century of Football Verse, The Power of One and The Promise, Priyanka and I (Aamchisi Tumi), Promethea: Bringing Fire to the World, Quimbo De Mayo, Raising Hope, Rita Hayworth with a Shovel, Rock of Ages, Roots & Wings: A Personal Journey, Rosemary’s Baby, School Days, Seniromentales, Smash, Space Unicorn One, Spice Up Your Life, St. Vincent, Straight Outta Compton, Stuck on You, Summer Rental, Swim Little Fish Swim, Swim Team, Swim Team 2: Old School, The Taming of the Shrew, The Third Day of the Dragon, Time Warp Triplets, Tomb Raider (with Paulette and Sarah-Jane), Too Cool for Words, Tower of David (The Bible Story: Kings David and Athaliah), Trick or Treat: The Best of the Worst, Twelfth Night, Unicorn Store, Us (Ushuaia) Wand’rin’ Star, The War Bride (Yiddish version), Who Am I?, The Wood, Yank!, Year Without a Santa Claus All Shows Prices Reviews This is a very diverse list with a wide range of genres and topics. There is plenty of variety with the films too, as well as great choices in both mainstream and foreign films. Here are my thoughts on a few of the more interesting films: 10. A Long Way Gone (2007) — $9.99 This is a powerful and emotional documentary that shows you the true face of child soldiers. You are moved to tears at the end when you find out how the people of Kony’s African tribe came to do what they did. The film isn’t trying to make a point; it just wants to show us the truth and let us do with it as we wish. 9. The Promise (2017) — $13.99 This powerful documentary about genocide in Myanmar (Burma) is by a director who knows a thing or two about that subject. This is a hard movie to watch, but the ending still left me in tears. I was moved to make donations to help the people of Burma because of how the film makes you feel. 8. The Great Passage (2016) — $9.99 It sounds kind of silly to have this be one of the top eight movies of 2016, but I can tell you this is the real deal. I love this doc that follows some kids that have cerebral palsy as they move from their school in London, Illinois (a Chicago suburb), to London, England. I don’t think you’ll be able to stop laughing after the first fifteen minutes because of the absurd situations and the kids who are the subjects of these ridiculous situations. 7. Lion King (1994) — $5.99 It’s one of those movies I’ve never seen that’s always on my list of movies I should see, and this time I got lucky. I still can’t believe it took me this long to see the classic. The Lion King follows a timeless tale of the son of a tribal chieftain and his adopted brother; only this time it’s in Africa and it’s all about life in the jungle. It has songs that you’ll sing to yourself on the way home from the theatre. 6. Facing Darkness (2015) — $12.99 This film won the audience award at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and it’s a very powerful, and painful, documentary about the violence against women and children in Guatemala. Some scenes will make you wince and break your heart, and that’s why it’s on this list. The film will make you look at your life and the world around you in a new way. 5. In the House (2014) — $5.99 This is a powerful film that was inspired by a true story that followed a couple and their son who are put into a homeless shelter for women and children. This is a truly inspirational story that proves we all can do anything with enough drive and commitment. There’s a whole lot of inspiration in this story. 4. Quixote: the Novel (1993) — $4.99 It was my dream as a kid to be a filmmaker, but I’ve never seen a book adaptation that was as good as this movie. I also never saw the movie version of another book that had the same charm and allure as this film: Heart of Darkness. This film was based on a book by the legendary Cervantes, who died more than 500 years ago. The film made me wonder what kind of literature a writer like me might write in the future, and what kind of films I might direct one day. 3. Life, Animated (2015) — $12.99 I was one of those kids who loved all the Dr. Seuss books growing up. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this doc, but I found it so charming and funny and sweet. As a grownup, you get some insight into how much of a character Seuss was in his own life. It’s a wonderful tribute to a talented, quirky man who is known as the father of the modern-day children’s book. 2. Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain (2004) — $4.99 How do you get a trio of animated characters as brilliant as Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain? Put them all in a movie and you have something special. I saw this movie for the first time this year when I was watching a show on TV that showed clips from classic animated cartoons. My wife and I laughed so hard we were crying. This is truly one of the great animations of all time. I’m already planning to watch it again soon, just because I love it so much. 1. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) — $9.99 Before he made The Life Aquatic, Wes Anderson made Bottle Rocket, which was the film that introduced me to Wes Anderson. I’m certain it influenced this doc about a director that lost his mind and drowned, but did not drown alone. The Life Aquatic is what I imagine a David Lynch movie would be like, which probably goes to show you how much I love Lynch films. It’s a funny, but depressing movie, which is all at once dark, depressing, light, sad, hilarious, silly, smart, charming, and amazing. I don’t think I’ve seen a film like it. A good choice for a night when you want to go see something different and fun. This is a list of 50 films that were released in 2016 and can be seen in 2016 or for an upcoming movie that just arrived to Netflix or Amazon. I will add more films to this list, but here’s my complete list of 50 Films to Watch this Year (2016).