Top Ten Films of 2016
I want to address a very serious issue before we go any further.
Some of these movies didn’t come out in the U.S. during they year I’ve been putting them into. I am sorry. But, I am using the IMDB & Letterboxd year they have associated with it and not the year I saw it. 50 years from now you won’t remember The Lobster came out in America the spring of 2016 and will just see that in 2015 there was a movie called The Lobster. So I will go with those dates. I will not be accepting any other questions at this time.
But I’ll remember. And I don’t like it. But that’s how it is.
Moving on.
The year 2016 is known for very few things. I moved to Chicago, Harambe was shot and killed, and that’s about it. Nothing happened in the later part of the year that changed everything. It’s all been easy going since then.
the movies
25. Paterson (Directed by Jim Jarmusch) - Amazon Prime
24. Moonlight (Directed by Barry Jenkins) - Netflix
23. The Neon Demon (Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn) - Amazon Prime
22. The Edge of Seventeen (Directed by Kelly Fremon Craig)
21. The Nice Guys (Directed by Shane Black) - HBO
20. Blue Jay (Directed by Alexandre Lehmann) - Netflix
19. American Honey (Directed by Andrea Arnold) - Netflix
18. Raw (Directed by Julia Ducournau)
17. Other People (Directed by Chris Kelly) - Netflix
16. The Lost City of Z (Directed by James Gray) - Amazon Prime
15. Silence (Directed by Martin Scorsese)
14. Hell or High Water (Directed by David Mackenzie)
13. Hail, Caesar! (Directed by Coen Brothers) - Netflix
12. Arrival (Directed by Denis Villeneuve)
11. Swiss Army Man (Directed by Daniels) - Netflix
top ten
10. The Handmaiden (Directed by Park Chan-wook) - Amazon Prime
Maybe the best movie of the year objectively. Impeccably made from every standpoint. The cast is actually not as impactful for me as everything else here. It is a weird, tender, aggressive, and erotic story of love in a situation not made for it. Come for the beauty of the filmmaking and stay for the Octopus.
9. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (Directed by Akiva Schaffer & Jorma Taccone)
One of the funniest movies of all time and easily of this century. Andy Samberg is our generations most successful comedy creator I think. It was Sandler /Ferrell handing it off to Samberg and Forte.
8. Always Shine (Directed by Sophia Takal) - Amazon Prime
A small indie psychological horror about two friends going into Big Sur together and not being sure who is who by the end. It’s in the long line of movies about identity and ego and envy turning to jealousy. As with almost all movies that mean something to me the cast had to make me feel things and while Mackenzie Davis is always interesting and usually good the real winner here is Caitlin Fitzgerald. She is one of the best actors that not many know. She’s putting in incredible work on TV and this is her best I’ve seen. Hope she gets a chance to be in a big production someday.
7. Certain Women (Directed by Kelly Reichardt) - The Criterion Channel
My favorite Reichardt, and that’s a hard choice. Essentially a vignette movie with some of the best cast work you’ll ever see. Grounded and subtle to a degree it can feel like you are watching real lives. I think it is one of the most patient and beautiful movies to come out this decade.
6. Gleason (Directed by J. Clay Tweel) - Amazon Prime
This documentary completely got me. I was crying, talking out loud, and smiling sometimes just after each other. I was inspired by the story while also being led to cringe from some of the intimacy shown. Give his wife an award, and I hope more people see this. It takes what could’ve been just a inspirational sad story and makes it a deeply human movie showing the things most would hide.
5. Lovesong (Directed by So Yong Kim) - Netflix
A hidden gem as Netflix might call it. I think Riley Keough is one of the deepest feeling actors on screen. She does so much with so little. Barely moving or making a facial movement to convey years of emotion. This is a beautiful movie that made me become a lifelong fan of hers and now she proves I was right every time I see her. And I haven’t even mentioned the great Jena Malone. Two great jobs in a sincere and sweet movie about the love you never had but always will at the same time.
4. Manchester by the Sea (Directed by Kenneth Lonergan) - Amazon Prime
It crushed me the first time I saw it and I have thought about it so fondly since then. It only falls because my love for the others has grown and it isn’t a movie I’ve rewatched much. I think Hedges is great, the better Affleck is near his best, and Michelle Williams makes more of 5 minutes than anyone else. Lonergan is a singular talent and I wish I could see his plays on the stage.
3. 20th Century Women (Directed by Mike Mills) - Netflix
A movie that I really liked upon my first viewing and now I love it. It has a few great performances, a relatable story to me in some ways, and full of humor and humanity in spades. It distanced me some early on and now I fall for it as soon as it starts. Give Bening an Oscar not Glenn Close.
2. Personal Shopper (Directed by Olivier Assayas)
One of my more PERSONAL picks because I saw this soon after a loss and it just spoke to me deeply. I think it is a great movie and if I hadn’t had some personal reasons for it I believe I would still love it. Kristen Stewart completely controls the screen and is charismatic even just holding an iphone.
1. La La Land (Directed by Damien Chazelle) - HBO
This movie really got me back then. I still love it and find it so fun and entertaining. I think it has problems and isn’t even a good musical, but it is a great movie. The reason for that is the filmmaking and the performances. Gosling and Stone are magnificent. They have clear chemistry that was evident years before in Crazy, Stupid, Love. Here they do my favorite romantic plot in movies. The ones who are perfect for each other but can’t be together. I love it and I will watch it any time of day or night. I will not be starting a jazz club.