Top 12 Movies I Loved in 2016

So... Hey! It's been a while, huh? 

Anyway here it is, what I perceive is the best films of 2016. Some movies on this list may not be your favorite, but this could be an opportunity to check these out. One last thing: what I seek out every year is the best movies in my opinion. I try my best to exclude any bias or Metacritic rating correlation so that I could be as authentic with my decisions as possible. Some films you may never hear about are probably on this list. So in that case, sorry if Deadpool, Zootopia, Rogue One, or even Manchester By The Sea aren't on this list. They're all great, but I zero in on movies I personally got moved by. So, let's get started.

12. The Nice Guys

Now here’s a movie I’m still shocked they still make. A sleazy buddy-cop crime movie directed by the ever-so awesome Shane Black, The Nice Guys feels so much like it got ripped wholesale from old 80’s cop movies but made entirely fresh and exciting. It basically has everything you like in this type of movie; shootings, hot girls, goody moments, comedic energy, and Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling doing their most hilarious turns of the year. You probably missed this gem during the time you were watching Captain America, but you should totally check this out!

11. Arrival

I almost have a subconscious urge not to put this movie on the list too fast. It certainly loses most of its credibility during its near implausible third act that feels so out of place from the rest of the film. However, after long and deep reevaluation, I realized that the films accomplishments drastically outweigh its small flaws. To put it simply, Arrival is just a smart, engrossing, and transcendent experience. One step away from being the next generations Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Arrival centers around an interpreter trying to work out an agreement with elusive alien figures in order to achieve global compromise as well as her personal afflictions. Even though it stumbles in the end, director Denis Villeneuve uses his complex and moody aesthetic to create a morally positive and smart movie that anyone can both love agree upon.

10. Captain America: Civil War

I’m honestly still baffled by how much Marvel gets away with being consistently great with their movies. They hold such a strong grasp of blurring the lines of campy comic book action and modernist blockbusters that they easily trump any other franchise that either tries too hard to do the same thing or not even trying at all. Even setting aside the bullshit Marvel-over-DC discussion – because apparently preferring “good” movies feels like a fucking war crime – Civil War especially just works! The dynamics between the characters feels fleshed out and understandable without feeling all over the place. The action scenes are inventive and appealing. The acting, directing, and special effects are all aces. Most importantly, it offers a thought-provoking and shockingly relevant moral dilemma without EVER resorts to moody and cheap execution. It’s just a real crowd-pleaser.

9. Fences

There are very few moments when I watched a film that moved me in my life, and the time I sat alone in the theatre watching Fences is certainly one of them. Adapted from an August Wilson play, Denzel Washington took it upon himself to write, direct, and star in this faithful adaptation that still has me shivered to this day. It centers around a middle class man who attends his family under pressure by his dark past and personal sins. It explores multiple themes of male authority and loyalty without ever losing the edge or nuance put on the table. For a film that surprisingly makes great use of its limited settings and cinematography, this is the type of film that proves that anything is nothing in any film without the gravitas of its lead performances and sharp script. Strong, tense, and sometimes delightful, Fences is Washington’s tour-de-force as well as a gravitating turn from Viola Davis. Please check this out and spread the word.

8. The VVitch

Here’s a movie you probably never heard about but get right into by now. While by no means a masterpiece, The Witch is just a unique experience. The premise is simple; a protestant family gets exiled for exercising their faith illegally and gets secluded in the outskirts of the forest. What they didn’t know is that the forest itself bares a sinister witch that haunts the family. Yes, it sounds like any run-of-the-mill Insidious clone, but it more than makes up for that thanks to its foreboding atmosphere, great sets, wonderful acting, and a great theme on paranoia and faith and persecution. It may not be too open for other moviegoing audience, but it’s certainly something you’ve never seen before

7. Silence

          Imagine the sheer BALLS it must’ve take to pull this movie off! A slow-burn 160-minute meditation of faith, humanity, cultural appropriation, sacrifice, and prolonged suffering? Even one that dares to say that God may or may not actually CARE about its pupils?! Recipe for disaster if you ask me, but it somehow works. Working well off his comfort zone from his typical repertoire, Martin Scorsese crafts a complex, layered story that questions faith upon turmoil but refuses to offer any answers. In many ways, Silence could also be a quiet subversion on the typical “white savior” story by having the main character get punished for even thinking of saving anyone. Hell, you might even teach a whole class on how to properly make a movie about religious persecution with actual CRAFT, WIT, AND UNBIAS! Whatever you do take from this movie, what will always be clear from the get-go is the wonderful acting, beautiful shots, and a gripping sense of dread. It’s a painfully slow endurance test of a movie with the heaviest religious themes but one that ultimately pays off, and one that underscores Scorsese as a master of his craft. If you manage to track it down in the near future, get comfortable and give it a chance.  

           

6. Elle

            Here’s a premise that I assure will piss anyone off; A female head of the gaming community gets raped by an unknown intruder and now wants revenge. Spoiling the rest of it would ruin the fun, but right now Elle might be Paul Verhoeven’s most devilishly poignant film yet. Everything you expect from this movie instantly gets undermined in ways that will shock you or relate to you or even both. Highlighting themes of sexuality, women dominance, the gaming community, and many more, this will be the film to either make or break you.

5. The Handmaiden

Chan-Wook Park has always made wonderfully insane movies that entertain and insight, but The Handmaiden is easily his magnum opus. Adapted from a Victorian era crime novel “Fingersmith” with an entirely different ethnic approach, the Oldboy director juggles multiple genres, tones, plot twists, and themes without ever doing too much of one or the other. It’s a cinematic balancing act; swinging from a crime thriller, to BDSM fetish, to South Korean culture, to even a heartfelt love story. Insightful, smart, sexy, funny, sweet, and above all else masterfull, The Handmaiden is one hell of an experience.

4. Swiss Army Man

Swiss Army Man is so fucking weird. Imagine if Charlie Kaufman smoked a bunch of shrooms and worked on a script with one of his younger nephews and you’ll probably know what you’re up against. It’s a movie about a man trapped on an island that befriends a talking corpse with the mysterious abilities to do superhuman capabilities with parts of his body. Wood chopping arms, fingers used as flints, and, yes, super farting! But amidst all this buffoonery, it evokes an unexpectedly sweet chemistry between the two leads as they figure out how to learn and fix each other. Without much spoilers, this film could be interpreted or enjoy in a multitude of ways. People could find nice connections between fixing personal demons, attending a firstborn child, finding who you are, among many more. Other people could just lay back and watch the absurdity of it all, not giving one shit about what it has to say. It’s a bold, weird, goof of a movie, but my kind of goof that you’ll probably get a kick out of as well. Give it a chance.

3. La La Land

Who says unapologetic, ham-fisted homages to 20^th Century Los Angeles couldn’t also be fun?  Watching La La Land is like watching a time capsule run wild with upmost sincerity. Everything from Golden Age Hollywood to traditional Jazz to Old-school musicals to even playwriting comes together in the most enjoyable experience of the year. And it’s all centered amongst an earnest yet surprisingly real love dynamic between two starry-eyed artists pursuing both themselves and their artistic ambitions. While Damien Chazelles previous film Whiplash succeeds as an insane and electrifying side of that ambition, La La Land also succeeds but with a softer, more colorful side of the same idea. Is it really just lightweight Oscar bait filled with Hollywood Easter Eggs and an onslaught of song numbers? Yes, but as far as these things go, it’s the best of its kind I’ll ever see, that’s for sure!

2. Kubo and the Two Strings

Someday in the near future, Disney will come across this little gem and kick themselves for not doing this story this well. The latest offering from Laika, Kubo and the Two Strings is just everything I wanted from a kids’ movie. With atmosphere, imaginative world along with tangible stakes, strong story lavished in ancient Chinese imagery and a widely impressive stop-motion animation, it’s a movie that enlightens, inspires, and transcends. Kids will absolutely love the brilliant colors and stop-motion animation, while adults would love the poignant, surprisingly human family dynamics and story. There’s not much to say other than it’s a complete package for all ages.

1. Moonlight. 

            I absolutely loved everything about Moonlight. I say that to almost every great movie I’ve seen in 2016, but I feel as though I honestly meant that whilst watching Moonlight. It’s not just because it has beautifully unique music and interesting cinematography. It’s not even just because it’s the first ever critically acclaimed film about homosexuals, black people, or anything part of the progressive milieu. It’s the best movie of the year because it takes all of these elements in a cinematic experience and crafts a genuinely personal story that tackles many angles on those elements. Centering around a boy named Chiron going through life in the ghetto streets of Miami, the movie takes a glimpse on how our sexual identity, childhood experience, past abuse, and perception of masculinity shape us as human beings. It’s a type of coming of age story that admits not everybody changes throughout the course of their lives. Even though anyone can change from innocent boy to thuggish adult, they are always the same inside. It’s a type of movie that dares admit everyone either battles with their personal ailments or hides them. It’s an ambiguous and moving piece and it’s all carried through a fantastic ensemble cast of Mahershala Ali, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes, Alex R. Hibbert, and Naomie Harris. Beautiful but bleak material, do not miss this!

Honorable mentions:

• ·       Deadpool (7/10)
• ·       Hardcore Henry (7/10)
• ·       Operation Avalanche (7/10)
• ·       American Honey (8/10)
• ·       Barry (7/10)
• ·       Moana (7/10)
• ·       Hush (7/10)
• ·       The Monster (7/10)
• ·       Manchester By the Sea (8.5/10)
• ·       Loving (7/10)
• ·       Birth of A Nation (7/10)
• ·       Hacksaw Ridge (7/10)
• ·       Sully (7/10)
• ·       Hell or High Water (8/10)
• ·       Doctor Strange (7/10)
• ·       Indignation (8/10)
• ·       The Neon Demon (8/10)
• ·       Captain Fantastic (7/10)
• ·       Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World (8/10)
• ·       The Jungle Book (8/10)
• ·       Pete's Dragon (8/10)
• ·       Zootopia (8/10)
• ·       Imperium (7/10)
• ·       BFG (7/10)
• ·       Hologram for the King (7/10)
• ·       The Mermaid (7/10)
• ·       Everybody Wants Some!!! (8/10)
• ·       Pop Star (7/10)
• ·       Barbershop The Next Cut (7/10)
• ·       Hail, Caesar! (8/10)
• ·       Eddie the Eagle (7/10)
• ·       10 Cloverfield Lane (7/10)
• ·       Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (7/10)
• ·       Nocturnal Animals (8/10)