My Personal Top 10 Favorite Films of 2016
A list of my 10 favorite films I saw in 2016 with arbitrary ratings alongside them.
DISCLAIMER: I haven't seen Paterson at the time of making this list.
Honorable Mentions:
Captain America: Civil War
Deadpool
Hell or High Water
Kubo and the Two Strings
Star Trek Beyond
Swiss Army Man
The Witch
10 Cloverfield Lane
DISCLAIMER: I haven't seen Paterson at the time of making this list.
Honorable Mentions:
Captain America: Civil War
Deadpool
Hell or High Water
Kubo and the Two Strings
Star Trek Beyond
Swiss Army Man
The Witch
10 Cloverfield Lane
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- DirectorBarry JenkinsStarsMahershala AliNaomie HarrisTrevante RhodesA young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood.Moonlight is a stunningly beautiful portrait of the life of a young boy who eventually grows up to be a man who was raised in a rough, urban neighborhood in Miami while also facing scrutiny for being gay throughout his adolescence, and this intimate portrayal of boyhood completely floored me. What I love the most about Moonlight is that I’ve never seen a story of this structure or caliber be told with an all-black cast; the diverse representation with the stunningly mature story this film tells truly makes Moonlight the only film of its kind in existence. The performances the film's entire cast, particularly Mahershala Ali and Naomi Harris, are all incredible; there is never a performance that takes you out of the movie, and a lot of this is due to the raw, soulful direction by Barry Jenkins. The performances, especially towards the end between Chiron and Kevin, feel so real. It’s almost as if you’re eavesdropping on an actual conversation between two people, and when a film is able to transcend the barrier between the film and the screen, that’s how you know it’s deeply moved you. Moonlight is a masterwork in intimate storytelling.
- DirectorDamien ChazelleStarsRyan GoslingEmma StoneRosemarie DeWittWhile navigating their careers in Los Angeles, a pianist and an actress fall in love while attempting to reconcile their aspirations for the future.La La Land is writer/director Damien Chazelle’s 2nd major motion picture, and after his critically praised, Academy Award-winning debut, Whiplash, my expectations for whatever he was going to do next were absolutely through the roof. (and I don’t go throwing around that term lightly) Little did I know that his next film would be a passion project that pays homage to the classic musicals of the golden age of Hollywood; films such as Singin’ in the Rain, An American in Paris, or The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. And despite the fact that this film takes inspiration from many projects from this time period throughout its two hour runtime, I never felt like the film was blatantly stealing any of the material. The film always felt wholly original and unique in what it said out to do, and this is mainly due to the fact that Damien Chazelle presents the film as an actual film, rather than forcing a traditional musical to become a film. The film feels remarkably subdued and grounded, presenting these fantastical musical numbers and dance sequences, which composer Justin Hurwitz does a masterful job at orchestrating, in a realistic, modern-day Los Angeles. This is also due to the incredible performances from Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. Both make the dancing and singing work perfectly for their characters, and Gosling’s piano playing skills are to be praised. Even more so, they add the perfect amount of depth that their on-screen relationship needed to sustain the emotional core of the film, and I began to really see these characters as genuine people with realistic problems and aspirations. This is also because Chazelle wisely keeps the details for these characters vague, allowing the audience to form an emotional and relatable attachment to them as they go through the trials and tribulations of not just their relationship, but their dreams as well. And that’s what La La Land is really about: dreamers. People who aspire to do/be something greater than what’s expected of them, no matter who/what they are. There are little imperfections throughout the film’s presentation, but similar to a live performance of a Broadway musical, they’re barely noticeable. La La Land isn’t just the best film of 2016; it’s one of the best musicals ever made.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsKim Min-heeHa Jung-wooCho Jin-woongA woman is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, but secretly she is involved in a plot to defraud her.Chan-wook Park has created what I believe is his most accessible movie to date with The Handmaiden. This is a lurid, over-the-top, and extremely fun period drama with incredible performances across the board, particularly from Tae-ri Kim who had her major motion picture debut as the lead in this film, immaculate production design, fantastic writing with deep, fleshed out characters and themes of power through language, betrayal, and women's expectations, and innovative direction and building of tension that Park has built his career on. There's something in this film for everyone to love if they seek this film out, and that's something I haven't been able to say about a film by Chan-wook Park until now. This film is incredible, and easily among the best films released this year.
- DirectorJohn CarneyStarsFerdia Walsh-PeeloAidan GillenMaria Doyle KennedyA young lad notices a beautiful girl who begins to occupy his thoughts. While struggling with poverty, personal relationships and life's woes, he starts a band, hoping to catch her attention.Sing Street is an absolutely charming, joyous film that, like director John Carney's previous films, Once and Begin Again, uses music as a form of personal expression to incredibly funny and moving results. It’s also a fantastic coming-of-age story about discovering what you want to do with your life, and the type of person that you want to be in this world. The music, both the featured songs and the original songs, are all fantastic. You can tell that Carney carefully placed each song throughout the movie to help tell the story of what Conor is experiencing and how it changes him as a person who understands exactly who he wants to be. There is also a great fantastical element to this film, particularly a scene involving the band playing a song at his school’s local prom, and scenes like this just add even more depth to this film, making you pause and wonder “Is this really happening right now? Or is this simply what our main character wants to see happen?” This is an incredibly sweet film, and it’s a film that I’ve revisited multiple times since first seeing it a couple of months ago, and yet I still find more things in this film to love upon each repeat viewing.
- DirectorYorgos LanthimosStarsColin FarrellRachel WeiszJessica BardenIn a dystopian near future, according to the laws of The City, single people are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in 45 days or they're transformed into beasts and sent off into The Woods.The Lobster originally debuted at the Cannes Film Festival last year (2015) and ended up winning the Jury Prize, as well as a special mention for the Queer Palm, the award that Carol won last year. The film went on to be released in several European territories soon afterward throughout the rest of 2015. This year, The Lobster finally got a release in the U.S., and what we got is one of the most original sci-fi comedies to ever emerge from the genre. This is a unique movie that really understands how relationships work in 21st century, and proceeds to poke fun at it in the most deadpan way possible. It’s an original movie knows exactly what it is, and knowingly embraces what it is. If you love sci-fi movies, or black comedies, or are simply fed up with today’s dating atmosphere, watch The Lobster. It may be an acquired taste for some, but there isn’t a single other movie like it in the sci-fi comedy genre, and that’s what makes this film truly unique.
- DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsAmy AdamsJeremy RennerForest WhitakerA linguist works with the military to communicate with alien lifeforms after twelve mysterious spacecraft appear around the world.Arrival isn’t just a thinking person’s science fiction movie; it’s also a movie with genuine, heartfelt emotion that sneaks up on you when you least expect it. This is due to the care that went into the craft of this film: the incredibly smart writing, the masterful directing by Denis Villeneuve, and impeccable technical departments, most prominently the haunting score, gorgeous cinematography, and deliberately slow-paced editing. But it’s the film’s central performance by Amy Adams that gives Arrival its emotional heft, and makes it not just one of this year’s best films, but one of the best alien invasion movies ever made.
- DirectorByron HowardRich MooreJared BushStarsGinnifer GoodwinJason BatemanIdris ElbaIn a city of anthropomorphic animals, a rookie bunny cop and a cynical con artist fox must work together to uncover a conspiracy.Zootopia is another fantastic addition to Disney Animation Studio’s rapidly growing library of computer animated features alongside Tangled, Wreck-it Ralph. Frozen, & Big Hero 6. This is due to its excellent story that brilliantly ties in adult themes that are very timely in today’s day and age, as well as superb voice acting across the board from its main cast. The characters truly elevate this film above most other animated films that I’ve seen released lately. Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman respectively, have such good chemistry together! I also loved Idris Elba as the chief of police in this movie. However, what I truly loved about this movie was that the story was the main focus. As a result, the movie caters to both adults and kids extremely well. And honestly, I feel like this movie was made with adults in mind as the main audience because this film tackles some pretty dark themes as far as animated films go. This film touches on racial and gender stereotypes, friendships, relationships, and drugs among other topics. It would be so easy for the film to be bogged down with all of these more emotional and mature themes. However, the film never forgets what it is supposed to be: a colorful, vibrant, fun animated picture made with kids in mind. This movie is still tons of fun with great jokes sprinkled throughout, particularly a sequence involving sloths that I just couldn’t get enough of. Also, the score from Michael Giacchino: fantastic as always. Zootopia was so much more layered and mature than I ever could’ve anticipated. This is definitely one of the more surprising releases of 2016 so far; Zootopia is a fantastic animated film, and it’s among DAS’s best efforts so far this decade.
- DirectorKenneth LonerganStarsCasey AffleckMichelle WilliamsKyle ChandlerA depressed uncle is asked to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy's father dies.Manchester by the Sea is a hauntingly bleak drama with some of the best subdued acting I’ve ever seen on film, and genuinely clever, heartbreaking writing. Casey Affleck gives the absolute best performance I’ve ever seen from him. I adore how understated his performance is; I genuinely believed that Chandler Lee was a real, broken person living in today’s world. Michele Williams doesn’t have a huge role in the film, but she's heartbreaking in this movie, and there’s a scene in the later part of the film with Affleck’s character that truly messed me up for a good couple of days after I saw the film. And Lucas Hedges breaks through his child actor mold to give a truly fantastic performance as Affleck’s nephew. It’s truly the best depiction of human grief I’ve seen on screen, and that’s due to how incredible Kenneth Lonergan's writing and direction are. However, I can never see myself watching this film again because of how affected I was by it. That being said, Manchester by the Sea is Kenneth Lonergan’s best film, and is absolutely one of the best films of the year.
- DirectorShane BlackStarsRussell CroweRyan GoslingAngourie RiceIn 1970s Los Angeles, a mismatched pair of private eyes investigate a missing girl and the mysterious death of a porn star.The Nice Guys is a movie that would never be made, that would be considered past its prime; an intelligent private detective movie with hilarious dialogue simply isn’t made anymore in the landscape of all of these special effects driven blockbusters that occupy opening weekend slots nowadays. It feels as though this movie was concealed in a time capsule and was just now unlocked to give people a window to the past, to a world that once existed, but no longer does in the world that we know today. And with this we got a fantastic story with an appealing mystery, incredible characters, and excellent dialogue. Hollywood simply doesn’t make films like this anymore, but it’s films like The Nice Guys that show that movies like this can still work in today’s day and age.
- DirectorKelly Fremon CraigStarsHailee SteinfeldHaley Lu RichardsonBlake JennerHigh-school life gets even more unbearable for Nadine when her best friend, Krista, starts dating her older brother.The Edge of Seventeen is a movie that came out of nowhere for me. I was never intending to see it; It just looked like another generic coming-of-age story that I'd seen so many times before. However, what makes this movie stand out is the way it talks about angst, the psychology surrounding that, and how that angst affects the people in your life around you. It's genuinely heartbreaking, and I have to give credit to Kelly Fremon Craig for writing a script and directing said script that addresses these topics in a beautiful, respectful way. Hailee Steinfeld also gives her best performance in this film, proving that True Grit was no fluke and that she really can give good, consistent performances in different genre films. If you haven't seen this yet, I'd definitely recommend watching renting/streaming this; it's seriously that good.