It's unusually cold out thereâwarm up in a movie theater this weekend with our film critics' picks including Moana and Moonlight. Skip Collateral Beauty, a super-sad story about cancer that Ned Lannamann dubbed a "vile shitfleck of a movie." Instead, check out new releases like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and La La Land, or get in the holiday spirit with It's a Wonderful Life and Office Christmas Party. As always, check out our complete movie times calendar for more options, or our Things To Do calendar for all of the events happening this weekend.
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SATURDAY ONLY
1. Oyster Factory
The problem is this: Japan's population desperately needs young labor power to replace its aging population. But because the Japanese do notâfor the most partâlike foreigners, sections of the economy that require home production are unable to find a good solution to the labor crisis. Kazuhiro Soda's superb documentary Oyster Factory investigates this crisis with great but very quiet detail. We see oysters hauled out of the sea, we see them cracked open by grannies and granpas on their knees or sitting on cushions. We also see the faces of young Chinese laborers. Though they have lots of energy, they look unhappy. They are in a hostile country. The locals call them thieves or lazy. These are the niggers of the seaside villageâif a group of people exploit you and call you inferior at the same time, you are a nigger. CHARLES MUDEDE
Northwest Film Forum
SUNDAY ONLY
2. Heart of Glass
A whole town in 1800s-era Bavaria becomes depressed when the owner of the glassworks dies, taking the secret of his beautiful "ruby glass" with him. Meanwhile, a shepherd experiences frightening visions of the 21st century. All the actors were hypnotized during the shooting, lending the film a deeply bizarre tone that is further amplified by the Popul Vuh score. Werner Herzog's mysterious work is considered by many critics to be a masterpiece of non-linear filmmaking.
Scarecrow Video
ALL WEEKEND
3. Arrival
Arrival is an ominous, thrumming, beautiful thing that starts out being about aliens who need a decoder ring. It ends up being about something quite different. Arrival is about Big Thingsâand the manner in which Villeneuve gets to them, as his camera slowly traces structures and landscapes both familiar and strange, canât help but surprise and impress. Visually and aurally remarkable, Arrival sometimes unfolds like a clever puzzle and other times like a raw-nerve thriller; throughout, with heart and wit, Heisserer and Villeneuve never lose sight of the filmâs charactersâcreatures in a situation thatâs weird and mournful, exciting and threatening. ERIK HENRIKSEN
Various locations
4. Doctor Strange
The psychedelic visuals, the clever asides, the pure pleasure of having as good an actor as Cumberbatch at the center of a silly superhero epicâall of that cast a spell on me, and I came out of the theater utterly content. Doctor Strange might have a lot of baggage, but more than anything else, itâs fun. SUZETTE SMITH
Meridian 16
5. The Eagle Huntress
The Eagle Huntress looks amazing. The documentaryâs imagesâfeaturing a grinning 13-year-old Aisholpan Nurgaiv as she holds a splendid eagle half her sizeâare the stuff of myths. I went in pumped up to see a girl-power/girl-falconer documentary with plenty of big, cool-looking birds, and I was not disappointed. First-time director Otto Bell accomplishes a level of visual beauty we associate with BBC nature specials or, IDK, Lord of the Rings? Itâs breathtaking. SUZETTE SMITH
Seven Gables
6. The Edge of Seventeen
Nadine is a type of teenage girl you've never seen before. She's weird. She has dark eyes and sort of curly hair. All the kids at school hate her because she's very mature and kind of mean. She likes old movies and music. She is convinced that she has bigger and more serious problems than any of her peers. In a way, that's true. Her dad died suddenly when she was 13, and her family's sanity and strength took an understandable hit. Nadine is in many moments entirely predictable, and in others complex, burdened, and endearingly strange. The Edge of Seventeen, an R-rated coming-of-age movie full of sass and sweetness, excels at embracing stereotypes and tropesâthen immediately destroying them with funny and surprising writing. JULIA RABAN
Meridian 16
7. The Eyes of My Mother
The daughter of a surgeon suffers a brutal attack in her family home. Drawing on what sheâs learned both from her surgeon mother and from her attacker, she begins enacting violence herself in this truly gruesome-sounding horror film.
Northwest Film Forum
8. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
"I'm annoying," says Eddie Redmayne to Dan Fogler in the opening half-hour of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Heâs like Doctor Who with gout, and yetâjust like the good Doctor in even his lamest incarnations, thereâs just enough charm glimmering beneath the surface and shining through the contrivances that you canât write him off entirely. Fantastic Beasts, featuring an original screenplay by J.K. Rowling, is annoying in the manner of Scamander: It is eager to please and amaze, but undersells its spectacle until that spectacle becomes perfunctory. Itâs a goofy blast of kid-lit in love with Looney Tunes-inspired adventureâexcept when itâs a sour metaphor for child abuse and intolerance that owes one hell of a debt to Stephen Kingâs famous prom queen. But somehow, the two stories are sewed together just tightly enough that the TV pilot-esque clumsiness of Fantastic Beasts (there will be four more of these films, likely transforming ASAP into The Dumbledore Prequels) can be forgiven for the power in its climax. BOBBY ROBERTS
Various locations
9. It's a Wonderful Life
Shortly after It's a Wonderful Life's 1946 release, James Agee, the most astute and eloquent American film critic of all time, noted the film's grueling aspect. "Often," he wrote, "in its pile-driving emotional exuberance, it outrages, insults, or at least accosts without introduction, the cooler and more responsible parts of the mind." These aesthetic cautions are followed, however, by a telling addendum: "It is nevertheless recommended," Agee allowed, "and will be reviewed at length as soon as the paralyzing joys of the season permit." Paralyzing joys are the very heart of George Bailey's dilemma; they are, to borrow words from George's father, "deep in the race." The sacrifices George makes for being "the richest man in town" resonate bitterly even as they lead to the finale's effusive payoff. Those sacrifices are what make It's a Wonderful Life, in all its "Capraesque" glory, endure. SEAN NELSON
Grand Illusion
10. Jackie
Natalie Portmanâs portrayal of then-First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy is nothing less than amazing, perfectly capturing Jacquelineâs intense drive, strength, occasional pettiness, and overwhelming grief. She, along with director Pablo LarraĂn and a talented cast, go a long way to reshape our shared memories of Kennedy as simply a fashion plate in a pink pillbox hat, revealing a figure far more complicated and heroic. Jackie is a stunning, heart-wrenching meditation on truth, the American ideal, and the incredible pressure on first ladiesâwomen who represent just as much, if not more, than their husbands. WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY
SIFF Cinema Egyptian & Guild 45th
11. La La Land
You guys, I LOVED La La Land, and you will too. Donât be afraid of it just because itâs a musical about a struggling actress (Emma Stone) and a pretentious jazz musician (Ryan Gosling) who meet and fall in love and sing and dance in a romanticized, cartoony LA. Yeah, itâs splashy and grandiose and full of hazy violet Southern California sunsets, but its emotional core is genuine. Take it from shriveled-hearted me, the Unearned Sentiment Police: La La Land is a grand, over-the-top, razzly-dazzly love story that wonât make you puke one bit. It might even help you forget the horrors of reality, however momentarilyâand after the year weâve had, that practically makes La La Land a public service. MEGAN BURBANK
Pacific Place
12. Manchester by the Sea
In Manchester, Lee Chandler (Affleck) seems content to shovel walkways and unclog toilets for a living in Boston, until word comes that his older brother Joe (Kyle Chandler, seen in flashbacks) has died of a heart attack. Joeâs will stipulates that he wants Lee to move back to his titular hometown and become Patrickâs guardian. Lee, however, is haunted by past events and resists, with a toddlerâs tenacity, every effort by the people around him to help him come to terms. I feel for the guy, and you will too, but after two hours, I wanted to grab him by the collar and tell him to buck up. After all, heâs at least going to get an Oscar nomination out of it. MARC MOHAN
Various locations
13. Moana
Moana is the Disney princess movie everyone needs right nowâor, at the very least, Moana is the princess I've been dreaming of since I was a little girl. Not every kindergartner can see herself in Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, or, even nowadays, Frozen. After years of witnessing people of color gunned down and beaten on-screen, having a whole movie dedicated to showcasing the knowledge and beauty of brown people felt restorative. Yes, Moana is an animated children's movie, but it is important for children of color to be able to see movie audiences sit in awe of their people's stories. Representation matters regardless of age. ANA SOFIA KNAUF
Various locations
14. Miss Sloane
John Madden's Miss Sloane is a political thriller about a lobbyist (Jessica Chastain) who abandons her spot at a prestigious right-wing firm (where they plant goofy protesters at the Occupy marches to undermine their cause) so she can help the Brady Campaign pass a groundbreaking gun control law. The bill would make sure that bad guys couldn't buy guns. How, you ask? Don't ask. Don't dwell on the politics in the movie at all; they don't matter. Lull yourself into complacency by staring at Chastain's bold red lipstick and listening to the assertive clacking of her high heels. JULIA RABAN
Meridian 16 & Sundance Cinemas
15. Moonlight
Moonlight is a film that has all of the major film critics in the country singing the loudest praises, and is already breaking box-office records, and happens to be a coming-of-age tale of a black American male. But I want to make this clear: The director of Moonlight, Barry Jenkins, did not come out of nowhere. He also directed and wrote one of the best films of the previous decade, Medicine for Melancholy (2008). The wonder is that it took him so long to make his second feature, which will most likely make a big splash at the next Oscars. Expect Jenkins to be one of the few black Americans to win the award for best director. CHARLES MUDEDE
Meridian 16 & Sundance Cinemas
16. Office Christmas Party
Office Christmas Party rolls out joke after joke like an ever-patient Santa with a bottomless bag of toysâplenty of âem donât work, but only a Grinch wouldnât crack a smile as the party devolves into expected chaos. McKinnon, as the officeâs repressed HR rep, is an expected standout, but I was surprised by Aniston, whose unbelievably mean boss might be even funnier. You probably wonât want to talk about it the morning after, but this Office Christmas Party is a surprisingly fun time while it lasts. NED LANNAMANN
Meridian 16 & Varsity
17. The Princess Bride Quote-Along
Everyone who can factually claim to be an American has seen The Princess Bride 150 times. So why go see it on the big screen? Here's why: It's delightful and hilarious, and the goopy framing device gets out of the way fast, and there's that amazing scene where our heroine stands atop a hill, exclaims, "Oh, my love!" and hurls herself into a full-body roll. Plus, you can shout, âMy name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!â in a theater.
SIFF Film Center
18. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
This is one of the darkest films in the Star Wars series. In Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the theology of that faraway galaxy with its Force takes a backseat, and the troubled soul of the rebellion is at the controls. The Empire is not a joke. Its economic and military power is immense, and the power of its uniformity is almost unstoppable. To challenge it, you need more than just the Force. A rebel must, above all, feel that the realization of the ideal futureâhere in the form of a harmonious, heterogeneous galactic societyâfar surpasses (1) the evils of war and (2) the self. If you miss this point, the sacrifices of a revolution, then you will not understand the greatness of Rogue One. CHARLES MUDEDE
Various locations
19. Things to Come
French filmmaker Mia Hansen-Løve is 35, and Things to Come is her fifth feature. But while 2014âs Eden explored the pleasures and perils of youth, the new film revolves around a 63-year-old woman. Aside from the fact that Hansen-Løve, the daughter of philosophy teachers, avoids the stereotypes usually associated with films about older women, it's more about change than age. During the course of the film, Nathalie (played by Isabelle Huppert), a philosophy teacher, loses her marriage and her mother (the formidable Edith Scob), but those things happen to younger women, too. She also tangles with a publishing company that wants to bastardize her textbook to boost sales. But just when it seems as if things can't get much worse, they don't. KATHY FENNESSY
Sundance Cinemas
