COLUMN: 16 hidden gem films from 2016

Even with my access to more-than-most with festival coverage and press credentials, I can’t see everything. What I can do is prop up some hidden gems that I was lucky enough to see and review. Here are 16 under-seen winners from 2016. The qualifier for the list was title earning less than $1 million at the box office. They are ranked from highest-scoring review to least.

MOVIE REVIEW: War Dogs

You know the "Goodfellas" tropes: excessive narration, ordinary people getting rich or powerful doing extraordinary and often illegal activities played by colorful actors or actresses, dramatic license spinning a likely lesser true story, a kicking period soundtrack, pervasive drug use, freeze-frame shots to stamp moments, and a tidy epilogue of comeuppance. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it is also lazily standing on the shoulders of giants. That’s the impact and existence of Todd Phillips’s “War Dogs” in a gun… err… nutshell.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Program

Creating entertaining biopics about a universally disgraced figure are a hard sell under that key word of "entertaining." If they attempt to create sympathy, a duel of alienation and bias can arise. A good, thought-provoking movie has to fearlessly dig deeper. As Van der Rohe is attributed to saying, "the devil is in the details." Exposing the sordid and untold details of what led to the subject's defamation is where your film gets interesting. The rise and fall of champion cyclist Lance Armstrong is fertile ground and a fresh wound that has yet to be solved. "The Program," directed "Philomena" and "The Queen" Oscar nominee Stephen Frears, pedals uphill in attempting to shine a light on the dark details.

COLUMN: 2016 Spring Movie Preview

The spring movie season is meant to bring promise coming out of winter, the slowest annual season of the year. The awards seasons is done and gone and new movies can make their mark on 2016. Most of the blockbusters we've been drooling over are still looming for when summer hits in May. However, for several years now, more tentpole movies are starting to stake their claim and populate the spring season where the competition is much less than the summer gauntlet which presents a new slugger every week from May until August.

2016, Column, EditorialDon ShanahanMarch 2, 20162016, 2016 Spring Movies, 2016 Spring Movie Preview, Spring Movies, 2016 Spring Movie Calendar, 2016 Spring Movie Checklist, March film releases, March movie releases, April film releases, April movie releases, London Has Fallen, Zootopia, Knight of Cups, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Brothers Grimsby, The Perfect Match, Eye in the Sky, The Young Messiah, Hello My Name is Doris, The Lobster, Lolo, Allegiant, Midnight Special, Miracles from Heaven, The Program, The Little Prince, The Bounce Back, The Bronze, Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, I Saw the Light, The Invitation, Mia Madre, Miles Ahead, Rings, God's Not Dead 2, Collide, Amityville: The Awakening, The Boss, Demolition, Before I Wake, Hardcore Henry, Louder than Bombs, The Jungle Book, Barbershop: The Next Cut, Everybody Wants Some, Criminal, The Huntsman: Winter's War, Keanu, The Meddler, Mother's Day, Ratchet and Clank, Same Kind of Different as Me, Donald Shanahan, Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a LessonComment

CHECKLIST: 2016 Spring Movie Calendar

Here is your lineup of upcoming films for the ever-warming spring movie season that aims to put winter behind us. Pick through this list for March and April and find a few winners. Add these to your calendar or print and slip this list on the fridge.