Manchester by the Sea (2016)

By no means is it a fun film. No, it's about as depressing as it gets-. I really appreciated the storytelling. Kenneth Lonergan's script is well developed, unfolding in stages, weaving in flashbacks seamlessly, slowly revealing how our characters became the characters they are. It is an emotional story made more so by full fledged characters. Casey Affleck plays the troubled brother of the deceased. He is very good, dealing with grief in his own way. His expression does not change when he is first informed of his brother's death. Grief is a process, and we watch him go through various stages. Lucas Hedges, too, is excellent. His is another approach to grief. He provides some comic relief to the audience. What is perhaps so impressive about the characters are how real them seem. That's why it's so powerful.

Fences (2016)

I've never seen the play, but this is supposedly verbatim from August Wilson's words. This is the first film adaptation of any work of Wilson's. He is an American treasure, and Denzel Washington does an honorable job doing him justice. You don't mess with something that ain't broke. Denzel is an actor's director. He lets the stars (most of all himself) shine. Most of the cast is straight from the 2010 Broadway production, for which Denzel and Viola Davis both won Tonys. The whole cast is excellent. They've gotten some flack for basically just putting on the play in front of a camera. But I don't have a problem with that. Plays tend to have deeper scripts. And they retain all the elements of this essential portrait of American life.