The lights of 2016 are dimming. This means many things, one of which is me picking out my ten favorite movies of the year. This year marked an anniversary of sorts for me. At the start of September, marked a decade in which I have been to see a movie, on the big screen, every weekend. That is worth celebrating. Also coming up in 2017 I will celebrate fifteen years of saving my ticket stubs, and placing them in my dvds/blu rays as I collect them. That’s another story.
2016 brought many opportunities for me to go to the cinema. This year I continued my opening weekend tradition with a party for the opening of the summer movie season. The title was Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War. I always enjoy putting on these opening night movie events. It depresses me that I don’t get to host them as often as I once did. I did manage to do a handful of them this year including evenings for Star Trek: Beyond, Rogue One, and Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them.
Before you get into the list please allow me to give an honorable mention to Sully. Politics aside Clint Eastwood still is one of my favorite directors working today. He crafted an intelligent movie that captivated me through out, even though I knew exactly how it was going to end. I wanted to include it on my top ten list but had to make a tough decision because there were a lot of movies I really loved this year.
As always there are movies that I haven’t seen for consideration of this list but that’s why I have The One That Got Away (under the best of the rest portion of this list) for next year’s list.
Without further ado I get to my top ten of the year. I hope you enjoy the list and my Best of the Rest portion as much as I enjoyed putting this together.
10. Jackie
I’m a huge fan of Natalie Portman (she’s one of my two current Hollywood crushes) and have a fascination with the Kennedy President, First Lady Kennedy especially. Naturally I was excited when I saw the first trailers for Jackie. 95 minutes after the film started I was in love with this movie. It never dragged as in centered around one of the biggest controversies in American history. Both Natalie Portman and Peter Sarsgaard, as Bobby Kennedy, shined in their respective roles. I’m curious to read how much of the movie is fact vs creative fiction. In the days to come I’ll be reading up, again, on the events in the film. That to me is a sign of an intriguing movie.
9. Kubo & the Two Strings
2016 brought a variety of animated movies that I really enjoyed. Sausage Party (don’t take the kids to this one), Zootopia, Miss Hokusai, Finding Dory, and chief among them Kubo & the Two Strings. The film was gorgeous to watch with really interesting characters. The story was simple but told really elegantly. I also loved hearing the voice cast that included Matthew McConaughey, Rooney Mara, & Ralph Fiennes. It doesn’t matter what your age is, this one is incredibly entertaining to watch.
8. Miss Sloane
Jessica Chastain is my other current hollywood crush and I was excited to see her in Miss Sloane. The movie focuses on a DC lobbyist battling for a bill on gun control. The movie reminded me a lot of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Both features present a lot of information and characters, very little of which an audience member can trust until everything comes together in the end. I enjoyed that cat and mouse aspect of the movie. There’s also a really great pay off at the end of the movie that is worth sitting through the two hour twelve minute run time.
7. Free State of Jones
Free State of Jones focuses on a true story from the civil war that I was unfamiliar with. After the movie I went home and read up a little on the events surrounding portrayed. There’s a sub plot set a two generations later that was also compelling. I enjoy movies with great stories. That’s exactly what Free State of Jones is, a movie with an incredible story.
6. Loving
Loving is very beautiful movie to watch. It’s also heartbreaking that not so long ago interracial marriages were illegal. The movie follows a couple that changed that in the United States. I loved how subtle the movie was. There was no flashy trial in front of the supreme court, nor was there a triumphant moment that was accompanied by a heavy orchestra. Instead the movie focused on Richard and Mildred Loving’s relationship and life together. The historical victory of their’s was more of a sub plot in their life together. I loved the subtly in that and throughout the story.
5. Eye in the Sky
It did my heart good to see Alan Rickman one more time on the big screen. I was a huge fan of his from the first time I saw Die Hard. He did not disappoint in this one either.
Very few films I saw this year were as timely as Eye in the Sky. The film focuses on a drone mission, cutting between the drone pilots, the mission commander, heads of state observing the mission, and the mission itself, all of which were happening simultaneously around the globe. I won’t give away the ending but I really enjoyed how this film ended, giving a great since of reality to the movie. I was impressed with how well the movie showed decisions being made, including the lack of making them, and how it effected everyone involved with the mission.
4. Green Room
No performance creeped me out more this year then Patrick Stewart’s in Green Room. He plays the villain in the movie, a leader of a neo-nazi group. I loved seeing him play against his hero stereo type.
Though he finished a few more movies before his untimely death, Green Room also serves as the last film that Anton Yelchin starred in before he passed. He was perfectly cast as the leader of a punk rock band, literally fighting for their lives.
Of course there is much more to this movie then the perfectly cast two leads. It’s a great atmosphere to it and is filled with nail biting suspense. I know this kind of movie isn’t for every one. For those who find thriller/horror films up their ally check this one out. You won’t regret it.
3. Hell or High Water
Sit back and prepare to take one hell of a roller coaster ride over the next 102 minutes when watching Hell or High Water. I saw this movie over the summer and never wanted it to end. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire running time. It was a great counter program to the big blockbusters of the summer and easily the best movie the light up the screen during the summer season. It’s one I could of easily seen twice in theaters. The final showdown with Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine, and Ben Foster was one of the greatest in recent memory.
2. Moonlight
No other movie this year made me as uncomfortable or tugged at my heart strings more then Moonlight. The movie follows one individual through three very different and three very trying times in his life. It starts in adolescents, continues in high school, and concludes in young adulthood. It follows his as he struggles with his surroundings and who he is as an individual. Every frame of this movie was beautifully shot and the movie was very emotionally difficult to watch. It’s an incredible ensemble where I only knew one of the actors in it (Naomie Harris, the current Moneypenny in the 007 franchise). There’s much talent in this movie and I look forward to seeing Mahershala Ali in more movies.
And my number one favorite film of the year is . . .
1. Arrival
I’m a huge fan of science fiction movies, after all this list is bookended with two of them. Both were excellent movies and very different movies. This one was above and beyond excellent. The movie is about establishing a way to communicate with aliens that have arrived. Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forrest Whitaker are all fantastic in the movie. Arrival also features an incredible amount of nail biting suspense, which is something that I love in my movies. It’s well thought out and is an incredibly well written feature. Though able to predict where the film was going I still was breathless when the movie ended. This movie must be seen, especially with others.
THE BEST OF THE REST
Every year this list comes out around the turn of the new year. There are always a handful of films, that are released wide, after the new years page is turned. The One That Got Away is to recognize the best film of last year that I saw after the publication of the previous list. Previous honorees have included Zero Dark Thirty, Inside Llewyn Davis, and American Sniper. I’m also including what I consider to be the best female and male performance as well as screenplay and my favorite repertory screening I attended during the year.
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY: The Hateful Eight
I am a huge fan of Quentin Tarintino’s work, and have been for a long time. It’s no surprise then at how excited I was when The Hateful Eight was released. The movie has a simple setting with incredibly well written and acted characters to drive the story forward. Jennifer Jason Leigh easily gives the best performance of an incredible ensemble that includes Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Bruce Dern among others. The film boasted an impressive runtime of three hours but never did I feel my attention strained.
FEMALE PERFORMANCE (lead & supporting): LEAD: Natalie Portman Jackie SUPPORTING: Naomie Harris Moonlight
MALE PERFORMANCE (lead & supporting): LEAD: Tom Hanks Sully SUPPORTING: Mahershala Ali Moonlight
SCREENPLAY (original & adapted): ORIGINAL: Hell Or High Water ADAPTED: Arrival
REPERTORY SCREENING: The Big Lebowski
With all that said and done let’s go the movies!
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