The Best Films of 2016
As the curtain draws on the 2016 movie season, it's time to not only marvel at the year that featured a number of history-making blockbusters and budget-busting bombs, but also time to look over a list of the best films this spectacular year had to offer.
Moviegoers remained fascinated with superheroes in 2016. And the more animals, CGI characters, and fantasy worlds, the better. The top three ticket sellers in 2016 were Finding Dory, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Captain America: Civil War each of which contributed to an estimated $11.35 billion in ticket sales, a 2 percent increase over 2015.Despite the deafening din of the cash register clatter, a few films managed to make enough noise of their own to get our attention.
This isn't a list of our picks for Oscar consideration (nor are they the ones we hope will win) but rather a list of the ten movies that blew our skirts up in 2016. Enjoy!
List of the best movies of 2016:
Watching Everybody Wants Some!! is like putting on a pair of your favorite shoes. Everything fits. Every inch is perfect; every stitch broke in. And, damn it, these Chuck Taylors keep you moving AND grooving.
Shane Black's The Nice Guys hits on so many different levels, it certainly won't come as a surprise if we look back at this as the exact moment the buddy cop flick was awakened from its 30-year slumber.
If only we all respected the unwavering principles and convictions of others as stubbornly as we hold onto our own, perhaps we wouldn’t have to dig back through some 70 years of history to find our real heroes.
7. The Lobster
There’s never been a love story as twisted and as unique as The Lobster. It is more than a meal; it is cinematic chocolate with richness in spirit and form that it never once betrays.
6. The Witch
The Witch is a nasty display of atmospheric evil and restraint that even the darkest of demons will gladly pay to see thrice.
5. Swiss Army Man
As unique, daring, and freshly innovative as they come. Daniel Radcliffe makes for one hell of a zombie.
4. La La Land
Just like the two characters at the very center of this musical, the musical is unrealistic, ambitious, and charming as hell.
That’s why I love it.
3. Arrival
Arrival has come with a close encounter of a different kind. One that re-wires the brain and turns our perception of the linearity of time on its head. It stands in stark contrast to genre tropes and does what many science fiction films try to do but rarely succeed; it forces us to ponder the very things that define humanity.
One of the year’s best films and certainly one of the season’s must-sees. You’ll laugh, and you’ll cry, but mostly you’ll see how, at any moment, life can be changed. It’s how we choose to deal with life’s curve balls that defines who we are.
Watching Hell or High Water is like slipping on a well-worn pair of leather slippers. The kind with the fuzzy flannel lining. Just know that Texas spiders and scorpions like to hide in fuzzy flannel slippers. Beware!
Of course, what would a "best-of" list be without a reciprocal look at the worst 2016 had to offer. The grand prize for the biggest stinker of the year goes to (drum roll, please) ...
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a tie between:
1. Alice Through the Looking Glass
Alice is missing one key ingredient – an ingredient that would not have tacked a single additional dollar onto the film’s $170+ million budget – that endeared the original to hordes of filmgoers: fun. And with such rich, wacky, and whimsical source material, there should be plenty of fun to be had.
1. Zoolander 2
I’d like to say that if you enjoyed Zoolander, then this one will suit you just fine. But take it from someone who did find something to latch onto in the original: the warmed over humor in Zoolander 2 is a tired one-trick pony that spit the bit barely 15 minutes into the original.
