BEST in FILM (2016)

Why do we go to the movies?

Is it to impress a lady on a date?  A lousy excuse to make a first move?

Or to keep your kids from killing themselves while they watch Dory?

Do we go to the movies to be the first person on social media to shout out how awesome or awful something was, and to garner others attention? (Word of mouth)

Or do some of us go to the movies to be taken away, an  escape if you will? A few moments of an alternate reality that we dive our minds and souls into hoping to be swept away to a new place where we become engulfed in whatever story is taking place.  For myself I found over the years more and more I love to be carried away and forget the outside world exists, if but for a couple of hours.  The rarest type of films that accomplish such a task are usually the ones that make their way onto my blog year in and year out.

Thank you for joining me again friends of old and new, here we go on another journey of yours truly Top Ten best films of this past year (2016)

HONORABLE MENTIONS

These movies just missed making the cut but were solid entries that deserved a shout out nevertheless…

SULLY – Eastwood.  Hanks.  True Story.  Although cliché at many moments it was still a gripping story with flashes of greatness.

TRAIN TO BUSAN – A tour de force zombie apocalypse thriller from Korea that delivers by far the best zombie adaption we’ve got in years.  Although in subtitles this film bags quite a punch about a train of survivors attempting to get to safety while slowly the passengers begin to turn.  You want entertainment, zombies that run not walk, this movie is for you.

THE JUNGLE BOOK – Disney may have struck a gold mine with turning their animated classics into CGI modern live action films.  Jungle Book’s by far the best use of 3D in 2016 and its revamped old tale feels just as new as it did all those years ago.  Yes I’m old ;/

ROGUE ONE – Far surpassing last year’s severely overhyped Episode 7, a true action sci fi blockbuster with guts and heart, this is easily the best Star Wars entry since the original trilogies.  Here’s to hoping it rubs off on next year’s Episode 8.

DEADPOOL – Slick, dark, funny, twisted yet still hilarious, Ryan Reynolds’s delivers perhaps his best and honest performance in the first true R rated marvel studios movie we always deserved, well since Blade anyway. 

HIDDEN FIGURES – The true story about the women of color who played a pivotal role in helping America get to Space and eventually the Moon, ahead of Russia, was another fantastic film that just missed the list.  A great ensemble cast that is as deserving as any this year, and the incredible story of how these women behind the scenes were equally as important as any in a time when race tensions soared. 

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL – An ode to classic 80s speilberg-ian times, a cat and mouse chase between government and a special child whose beloved father will stop at nothing to protect, MS is a rollercoaster drama that doesn’t let up until its climatic ending.

THE

TOP 10

# 1 0

THE NICE GUYS

We kick off this installment of the top 10 with a good ole 80s/90s fashion buddy action comedy that has been painfully missed.  From Gibson/Glover to Nolte/Murphy and Stallone/Russell (if you need titles of these movies than you’re too young for this topic or I’m too old sadly), the buddy action comedy genre has taken a step back over the modern times, but Shane Black’s dark comedy Nice Guys spins a new twist on an old familiar game and exceeds exceptionally well.  Gosling and Crowe kill it together on screen with almost too good of a chemistry for a duo whom never worked together before.  If you want a good old fashion laugh with cheap thrills, Nice Guys is about as good as it gets.  (Available on HBOgo)

# 9

THE VVITCH

A folklore time period supernatural horror film, The Witch (or VVitch as its been stylized as) takes a slow build in leading up to its riveting climax but the journey is what makes it worth every minute.  Forced out of their plantation home due to a disagreement of the word of God, a family must live outside in the woods where strange things happen like a missing baby, odd witchcraft behavior, and a possibly demon possessed goat.  Sounds silly right? Far from it and if you’re into the more spine tingling hair raising horror stories The VVitch will serve you exactly what your bleeding heart desires.  (Available on Amazon Prime)

# 8

LION

A heart pounding true story that rips at the very core of human emotion, Lion takes you on an up and down tale of a young Indian boy who becomes lost from his mother and brother and has to survive on his own.  He becomes adopted by a wealthy Australian couple who raise him as their own son until he one day realizes he has to find his family he lost almost 25 years ago. Dev Patel plays the older boy Saroo in the latter hour of the film, but he gives a wondrous performance deserving of his second Oscar nomination (slumdog millionaire, a favorite of mine).  Nicole Kidman also plays exceptionally well as Saroo’s adopted mother and shows she hasn’t lost her touch in her latter years as an actress.  Feel good story certainly is one way of describing Lion, but it’s a story worth experiencing for the sheer audacity of the journey this boy/man endures.  Keep the klinex close by for this one. 

# 7

MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

From feel good of the year to the feel bad movie of the year.  In Manchester by the Sea, you’re going to embark on one of the more depressing films you’ll see but it’s a profoundly strong film.  Propelled by a career performance from Casey Affleck, Manchester tells the tale of a man whose guilt has drove himself into a cloud of misery he feels he deserves for an unspeakable act in his past he can’t let go.  When his brother dies, he is forced to care take for his nephew when he wants nothing to do with it.  He has his own demons to deal with that to add parenting to the mix is almost toxic.  Affleck’s portrayal of a beaten down man with nothing left is deserving of the best actor award this year and I wouldn’t be upset one bit if he wins.  Michelle Williams, albeit a smaller role, also delivers a strong performance as Affleck’s ex wife in the film.

# 6

THE WAILING

For the first fully subtitled foreign film to make my list in quite sometime; I couldn’t allow the Wailing to be overlooked.  A South Korean supernatural horror thriller that will take you on one of the most hellacious rides you’ll experience in front of the TV.  The story revolves around a policeman whose trying to save his daughter from an obscure disease that has hit his small town causing violent murderous outbursts that can’t be explained, which has only begun with the appearance of a Japanese stranger.  Telling much more would only lessen the many surprises that come from enduring this amazing story.  Primarily a wild WILD final 45 minutes that will you have on the edge of your sofa, scratching your head and scared to leave the light off for the night.  As much as Hollywood has come around to accepting artistic Indy films over the last few years, watching films like the Wailing remind you just how much further foreign films from the East truly continue to push the envelope than the States.  This is a type of a movie that may not sit well with many or simply go over people’s heads, but for those that frequent the darker side of story telling, it doesn’t get much crazier than this.  (Available on Netflix)

# 5

MOONLIGHT

We kick off the back five of my list with an incredible coming of age story filmed in the gritty and grim parts of my hometown Miami.  Director Barry Jenkins fought hard to make this movie authentic by filming majority of Moonlight in the very crime hardened streets he grew up in Liberty City.  The premise is a simple one, a young boy growing up in one of the more troubled parts of Miami, figuring out who he is and coming to terms with his sexuality.  Told over three different chapters of Chiron’s life (child, teenager, young man), Jenkins does an outstanding job bringing the audience into his tragic ugly world where being who are you can come with consequence.  Peer pressure in any city is difficult in young adults, but in liberty city Miami it could cost you your life.  Moonlight delivers stand out performances across the board from its cast and cinematography that shows even the darkest parts of Miami can be a sight for sore eyes.  Illuminating a fragile yet strong subject matter in a city like Miami where toughness, ego and alpha dog prowess often conquers.  It made for a beautiful and an ugly story.  Which ironically perfectly describes the city I call home. 

# 4

HELL OR HIGH WATER

One of the sheer joys I had watching any film this year (suppose that goes without saying at this point), Hell or High Water kicks rocks to the recent senseless overture of western action films (see Magnificent Seven, or don’t sorry lol) for a more polished, character driven modern western story that feels as refreshing as it is necessary.   The always-eccentric Jeff Bridges plays the sheriff chasing down two bank-robbing brothers in the heart of Texas country.  The premise is simple enough but the performances and very layered character development is what drives Hell or High Water to one of the best westerns I have seen recently.  I always knew early on in the year it would be near the top of my list.  An exceptionally great job by Chris Pine and Ben Foster as two polar opposite brothers whose chemistry is undeniable on screen and one of the best brother portrayals I can say I’ve seen.  Their electric bond on screen strikes such a cord in this powerful story that they essentially are the heart pump of the movie.  There are times when it almost feels like you are watching a Texas western version of Michael Mann’s Heat.  And if you know how much I consider Heat an all time great that is very high praise from me.  Here’s to hoping the Western isn’t dead and films like this can continue to inspire the genre to survive. 

# 3

ARRIVAL

How long has it been since a serious sci-fi film really came out and blew audiences away?  And don’t give me Nolan’s decent attempt with Interstellar, a film I always personally felt never quite got over the hump of trying to be overly-cool and smart for its own good.  Nolan tried making 2001 but ended up with a modest film that really no one talks about anymore.  Director Denis Vellenueve however has created what I felt Nolan wanted to do in Arrival.  A transcendent, gorgeous and brilliantly executed film, Arrival is everything one could ask for in a thinkers-man science fiction story.  Amy Adams delivers what I can only say is a hell of a career turning performance.  Playing a linguist whose talents are second to none, her character is called in to help decode an alien language in order to communicate when 12 spacecrafts randomly show up to Earth.  The story is easily one of my favorites I enjoyed all year, with arguably one of the best climatic finishes of any film you’ll see.  A third act that actually lives up to the build up.  Villeneuve continues his hot streak of exceptionally terrific dramas (Prisoners, Sicario) that have all made my list.  Don’t look now but we might just have the next Christopher Nolan up and comer ready to mantle the thrown of hottest man behind the lens.  Arrival was also one of the best experiences I had watching in a theater in quite some time.  It tangles you in its web of fascination and wonders and never lets you go.  You almost forget to breath at times at the sheer marvel of it.  With the revamped Blade Runner 2049 next on his hit list, I already have Villeneuve close to being right there with the best directors out there in the game. 

# 2

NOCTURNAL ANIMALS

Perhaps the most pleasant unexpected amazing film I watched all year was Nocturnal Animals.  Any other normal year this movie would be far and away my #1 choice.  It literally has everything I love about movies…dark, sexy, bleak, grit, layers (and lots of layers in this one) and excellent performances.  The Amy Adams train continues with another head turning performance that almost equals her role in Arrival.  A far darker character so it’s not fair to compare, but where one film stuns in hope and beauty this other tale stuns in the dark, nocturnal world of the bad and boujee (no pun intended).  Tom Ford not only directs but produced and wrote this incredible fascinating tale of a story within a story about a broken ex husband who dedicates his novel to his ex wife and sends her an early draft for her to read.  And between the two timelines we discover some very dark and eye opening revelations that I surely will not repeat a word of here.  To call this movie a rollercoaster would be demeaning almost, because a rollercoaster ends eventually.  Long after this film finishes you are stuck with questions you may not have discovered the answers to right away.  It’s a film that almost immediately invites debate and conversation with people you know who’s seen it and dissect it.  Ford stunned me that he could make a movie this good.  For a man known in the fashion world for his fancy suits and accessories, which he purposely did not showcase in his film to bar distraction, the man deserves a hell of an ovation to pull off this dark of a movie and not go off too pretentious or preposterous.  With what could arguably be the strongest all around cast this year (Jake Gyllenhal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Michael Sheen and Laura Linney), Animals excels as a near-perfected dark noir psychological thriller with a hefty complicated story that once you put the pieces of the puzzle together, you stand back and marvel at the sheer brilliance of it all.  How the Academy did not honor this film with more nominations than just one is beyond me.  It is hands down one of the very best thrillers I have EVER seen.  

# 1

LA

LA

LAND

Where do I even begin…

I’ve used just about every synonym for great, amazing, fantastic, terrific, etc etc I could use in the dictionary to describe La La Land and none truly convey properly how I feel about it. 

To say it’s the best movie of 2016 is one thing, but it’s not just of the year, La La Land is already one of greatest movies of all-time.  Yes I said it…ALL TIME!  And the always-important “test of time” will only strengthen that belief.  I’ve watched it twice and it felt as brand new as it did the first time.

The story is nothing you haven’t seen before and that’s ok because originality isn’t what La La Land is trying to accomplish, in terms of story.  It’s making something old, brand new again and fresh.  An ode to old school Hollywood and music, two aspiring artists in Ryan Gosling (a pianist who wants to open a jazz club) and Emma Stone (trying to make enough auditions to become an actress) find each other in the overly congested LA where their passion for art articulates their passion for each other. 

Both delivering some of the best chemistry you’ll see between two actors in any movie, La La Land is a love story yes, but much much more than a romance between a man and woman.  It’s a love story about finding yourself and the maturity in finding one’s path in life.  It’s also a love story about movies, music, nostalgia and the memory of a time not too long ago, with a modern twist in present day times that makes it something completely beautiful and magical really. 

Director Damien Chazelle (2014’s Whiplash) has orchestrated a masterpiece of filmmaking.  Clearly inspired by musical classics of the 50s and 60s, he even opens the film using the same old CinemaScope widescreen vintage look.  And much of La La Land gives off that feel, in its unique Technicolor world of yesteryear.   

To call this movie a “musical” is almost an injustice; because once you slap the word MUSICAL to any movie you automatically get this rush of eye-rolling and oh-no-not-a-musical hush from casual movie goers.  Yes there’s music, and its beautiful music.  Loving the soundtrack is half the fun but it’s far from all of the fun.  You have this magical story about finding love not just between two people but in the things we all fell in love with at one point in time. 

La La Land taps into what I personally always loved about going to the movies in the first place.  You want to escape and FEEL something.  La La Land is a movie about those types of escape.  It’s as if someone tapped into your deepest child hood memories and brought all those things you loved growing up with into a new world of wonder and amazement.  And threw in a soundtrack to play in the background as you watched it all unfold again. That is La La Land.  A world I anxiously look forward to stepping into again and again…and again.