Top 30 films of 2016
No matter what you thought about the year as a whole, when it comes to movies 2016 was a really good year. Sure the summer blockbusters…
No matter what you thought about the year as a whole, when it comes to movies 2016 was a really good year. Sure the summer blockbusters imploded more often than not (don’t they tend to do that more often than not these days?), but all hope was not lost. For every Independence Day: Resurgence there was a Star Trek Beyond. And even a few that weren’t part of a franchise. Below are my picks for the 30 best films of last year. Stay tuned for my TV picks.
30) Don’t Think Twice
Mike Birbiglia scores with a look into the lives of an improv troupe as it implodes once one member makes it big with a gig on an SNL-esque TV show. An impressive cast and a funny, insightful script deliver.
29) The Neon Demon
The life of a model is not easy. Especially when it includes pervy motel owners, necrophilia and cannibalism. Nicholas Winding Refn’s latest is a deep-dive into a narcissistic world, where you are guaranteed to have a time.
28) The Edge of Seventeen
A smart, fun YA movie that’s been compared to John Hughes, this also features another first-rate turn from Hailee Steinfeld as a moody teen who just can’t seem to catch a break.
27) A Man Called Ove
This lovely, darkly humorous story of a suicidal retiree has shades of Up, but there’s more to this Swedish film (an adaptation of the Fredrik Backman novel) than a Pixar reference.
26) 10 Cloverfield Lane
The rare instance where the sequel is better than the original. Dan Trachtenberg’s three-hander featuring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher Jr. and John Goodman locked in a bunker is the type of thriller that is hard to pull off. Usually.
25) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The first standalone Star Wars film on the big screen (sorry, Ewoks: Battle for Endor) is a winner. Director Gareth Edwards and his strong cast deliver on all fronts. Suddenly that young Han Solo film doesn’t seem so sketchy.
24) Sing Street
Conor’s life isn’t easy, but making music with the band he formed in order to get to know this really cool girl definitely helps. John Carney’s latest is filled with great music and will leave you with a smile upon your face.
23) The Nice Guys
Shane Black’s ‘70s-set buddy/action comedy has a lot going for it, not least of which are Ryan Gosling’s comedic chops and the film-stealing talents of Angourie Rice as Gosling’s daughter.
22) Don’t Breathe
The other chiller that features people stuck in a confined location with a potential psychopath is this smart exercise in terror from director/co-writer Fede Alvarez. Tense and nerve-wracking, it’s a huge improvement over his grim take on Evil Dead.
21) Captain Fantastic
Viggo Mortensen is a father raising his kids away from society and the white noise that comes with it in this charming yet emotional tale about a family coming to terms with life as they know it.
20) The Conjuring 2
The second in a hat trick of sequels that impressed in 2016, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga take on England’s infamous Enfield haunting. The demons may be bigger and badder, but this franchise just gets better.
19) Loving
Writer-director Jeff Nichols had a one-two punch in 2016. Here, he shines a spotlight on Richard and Mildred Loving’s inspirational, true-life fight for their interracial marriage to be legally accepted in the state of Virginia.
18) Jackie
Natalie Portman rightfully dominates this raw, focused biopic of former First Lady Jackie Kennedy as we experience what Kennedy went through in the days following the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy.
17) Green Room
Punk rockers vs. Nazis. The late Anton Yelchin and his band mates try to survive a group of skinheads led by Patrick Stewart after accidentally witnessing a murder at the club where they’re performing. Taut, visceral and chilling.
16) Moana
Disney’s latest girl power effort might just be its best yet. Young leader Moana sets forth on a grand journey to help her people with the aid of the narcissistic demigod Maui and a demented chicken. If that doesn’t make you watch, nothing will.
15) Captain America: Civil War
Now this is how you do a comic-book mashup. A rousing and coherent action film that also makes you think while you laugh and cheer. Your move, DC.
14) A Bigger Splash
Director Luca Guadagnino’s sexy, sun-dappled drama adds a dash of Highsmith as it comes to a boil. Tilda Swinton, Matthias Schoenaerts and Dakota Johnson are fantastic, but it’s Ralph Fiennes, seemingly having the time of his life, who dances off with the show.
13) Swiss Army Man
Daniels’ directorial debut is a belter. Paul Dano finds himself alone and suicidal on a deserted island when he discovers a corpse (a game Daniel Radcliffe) who becomes his best friend. The result is hilarious, heartfelt and surprising. It also features one of the best soundtracks of the year.
12) Hail, Caesar!
The Coen brothers’ latest gives a nod to the golden age of Hollywood with this period farce that has a Preston Sturges vibe running through its script. Channing Tatum, Alden Ehrenreich, Josh Brolin and Ralph Fiennes are standouts.
11) Manchester By the Sea
Casey Affleck anchors this portrait of a family in mourning. Kenneth Lonergan’s third film expertly injects humor amid the pathos, allowing his characters (and by extension his actors) room to maneuver and breathe in this new world.
10) Midnight Special
Jeff Nichols’ other wonderful film from 2016 nods to classic Spielberg and John Carpenter’s Starman while spinning a fantastic yarn of its own as a father goes to great lengths to protect his son from a world who doesn’t understand him.
9) Kubo and the Two Strings
The best animated movie of the year is also Laika’s best production yet. A bold, visually stunning piece that features a young boy’s quest to defeat his grandfather, the Moon King (Ralph Fiennes, obviously having a banner year).
8) Hell or High Water
This well-drawn neo-Western proves there is still life in the ol’ genre yet, it just depends on the execution. Pitting relatable bank robbers Chris Pine and Ben Foster against Texas Rangers Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham with a script by Sicario screenwriter Taylor Sheridan and helmed by David Mackenzie? It doesn’t get much better than that.
7) Love & Friendship
Whit Stillman’s sharp, witty adaptation of Jane Austen’s Lady Susan not only brought a lesser-known work by the beloved author to the screen, it also reunited Stillman with Kate Beckinsale, giving the actress her best showcase in years.
6) The Witch
Writer-director Robert Eggers’ immersive, first-rate horror is on par with any of the presumptive Oscar nominees from the Class of ’16. The beguiling Anya Taylor-Joy captivates as the girl accused of being the sorceress in question.
5) La La Land
The movie musical makes a welcome comeback in Damien Chazelle’s loving ode to the genre, which embraces its modernity as well as its old-school sentimentality and spectacle to deliver a winning valentine.
4) Arrival
Extraterrestrials visit Earth, but what do they want? It’s a popular conceit in sci-fi cinema, but this time it’s given an elegiac twist that makes the story seem fresh. Amy Adams has never been better and she’s supported by a terrific cast.
3) The Hunt For the Wilderpeople
It’s hard to come across a more joyous cinematic experience in 2016 than writer-director Taika Waititi’s latest. An odd-couple comedy about a foster kid who inadvertently ends up on the lam with his foster father, it’s heartfelt and hilarious.
2) The Lobster
Intelligent. Darkly funny. Absurd. When the film in question deals with one man’s desire to find a mate in 45 days or else he’s turned into the animal of his choosing (in this case, the titular crustacean), these adjectives are fitting. When the film is as original and endearing as this, these adjectives become badges of honor.
1) Moonlight
Charting one man’s maturation from child to adult via three key periods in his life, writer-director Barry Jenkins’ powerful, meditative drama stirs the soul as it imprints itself upon it.
Best of the Rest
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie; Bridget Jones’s Baby; Café Society; Deadpool; Doctor Strange; Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them; Little Men; Maggie’s Plan; The Meddler; Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children; Miss Sloane; Nocturnal Animals; Ouija: Origin of Evil; Our Kind of Traitor; Star Trek Beyond; and Zootopia