Shit. Just. Got. Real: 2016 Cinema in Review

It takes a long time to get a movie made: Martin Scorsese had been thinking about making Silence for over 30 years and had various false potential production starts; Fences was once slated to be made in the ‘90s with Eddie Murphy as the lead; and Damien Chazelle had wanted to make La La Land since before he made Whiplash. So, given how long it takes to make a film it’s obvious that they could not have predicted how much the world would change on November the 8th of the year they were ready to be released.

Following the events of this particular day, I went through a patch of depression that was unlike anything that I had gone through before. During this time I kept thinking why should I bother with movies, television, music, or art in general when the world was crumbling right in front of our eyes and so many people were celebrating it. Yet, I kept on watching because I had nothing else, but just about everything felt tainted.

The first film I watched in theaters since then was Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I had to drag myself out of the house, and I had to treat my self to a large popcorn and soda (which I never do). The film is not particularly great but watching a simple good versus evil story on the big screen where the good guys win while I’m gorging on salty popcorn and a sweet Coca-Cola was cathartic. That right there is how the real world should work, and I felt like standing up and cheering at the most basic of triumphant moments.

Since then, I cannot look at movies in the same way. Moana and Hidden Figures no longer are just movies about extraordinary women of color doing extraordinary things, but rally cries for real women of color to stand up and do even more extraordinary things. Moonlight is now a call for empathy and understanding. Even Star Trek Beyond, with its world where races and species of all kinds live in harmony feels like a daring future to strive towards.

This of course cannot be said of every film in 2016, let alone my top 25 (Everybody Wants Some!! Is still just about bro-dudes doing stuff and I love it for it), but that’s okay. Even so, art will never be the same, at least through my eyes.

Honorable Mentions

Top 25

25.

A trio of stories about the lives of three small-town women that shows how challenging it is to be a woman even in the most mundane of situations. Some segments work better than others, but as a whole it is nonetheless a very compelling experience.

24.

John Carney leaves big name stars behind for his latest musical and recaptures the magic of Once with Sing Street. This story of a boy forming a band to impress a girl is a joy from start to finish, featuring great music and fantastic performances from the entire cast. Although Carney’s schtick may grow old one day, for now I hope he keeps doing what he is doing.

23.

My nieces love this movie and have made me watch it many times with them. Everytime I have laughed so hard at its ridiculousness. Everytime I marvel at the genius of some of the gags. Everytime I can’t help but get choked up by the ending.

22.

What at first glance seems to be another Sundance-type of film about white people problems turned out to be something completely different and one of the most affecting films I saw all year. Julia Heart’s study of grief and ode to public school educators feels deeply personal I could not resist going along with the emotions on display. Lily Rabe is excellent as the title character. She imbues her character with so much life when she could have easily gone the one-note route to play someone reeling from the death of a loved one. Also worth watching for Timothée Chamalet’s performance. Not only is he great but you’ll want to be ahead of the curve for when everyone falls in love with him later on this year on Call Me By Your Name.

21.

All I wanted out of this was some dumb fun, and that’s exactly what I got. However, top-notch filmmaking that made the most of its relative low budget and Blake Lively’s solid performance high on my favorites list.

20.

As much as I may admire their craft, Disney’s live-action remakes of The Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast have failed because of how they little they dare to drift apart from their animated counterparts, and they always end up feeling like pale imitations. With Pete’s Dragon David Lowery did the complete opposite: he took the central conceit of the original film (a very bad film) and built up an entirely new film. The result is the best live-action film Disney has released in many, many years. It’s a family film that takes its audience seriously. It features moments that under lesser hands would have been played up for laughs rather than earnest emotion. It goes dark when it needs to and not just for cheap emotional manipulation. It’s wonderful.

19.

Thanks to Rebecca Hall’s magnificent performance and the atmosphere created by Antonio Campos and his crew Christine becomes a compelling look into the last days of reporter Christine Chubbuck’s life as she tries her hardest to be and feel better, but every little setback (created by both herself and society) keeps piling up and taking their toll on her. Christine may not dig deep into the psychological aspects of what led Christine Chubbuck to commit a live, on-screen suicide, but it is nonetheless a great drama that I just couldn’t look away from

18.

Fun, Heart, Emotions

Ricky Baker legend born

It’s magestical

17.

Indignation is an infuriating and sometimes shocking indictment of American values during the Korean War era. James Schamus directs for the first time after a long career as a screen writer and studio head and shows that he learned a lot from the great directors he has worked with. He makes the fictional Ohio college where this takes place feel like the most stifling place in the world, a place where danger lurks around every corner. This is not because someone might kill you as they would in Korea, but because if you step out of line one bit it could mean you end up having to go there. Nothing captures this more than the centerpiece battle of wits between Marcus Messner (Logan Lerman and Dean Caudwell (Tracy Letts). The actors in this scene are fantastic, the dialogue compelling, and the way Schamus shoots it makes it feel like a scene right out of a thriller. One could even make a case this is a thriller, but for now I’ll settle for calling it one of the best of the year.

16.

Given that it was a Weinstein release, Lion could have been a disaster. A movie from them set in India about suffering orphans released in the thick of Oscar season? Recipe for disaster. Thankfully, director Garth Davis, who co-directed Top of the Lake with Jane Campion, knew how to approach this story rightfully. He stays at arms length and lets the story tell its self and the emotions speak for themselves, which is just what was needed for this. Because of this he gets right the feeling of isolation that grown-up Saroo feels due to attempting to deny a very important part of him. It’s helped by the fantastic performances from the entire cast.

15. (3-way tie)

April and the Extraordinary World involves an alternate reality where the world is powered by steam, there are talking cats and lizards, and a serum that can cure just about everything. All of this is enough for me to love it at first sight but the reason it has stayed in my mind since watching it is its hero. For April, all this madness is a matter of life and death. Her family disappeared when she was young and all he has left of them is a cat and this miracle serum. One day she receives a message from her dad and she sets off on an quest  that involves all the previously mentioned shenanigans, in order to save her parents. The film is both a hilarious comedy and a thrilling adventure. The French cast is extraordinary and give so much emotion to the film. But the real star of the film is the animation. It’s look is so creative and so beautiful that it may deserve to stand along Disney’s Sleeping Beauty as one of the most beautiful animated films of all time. I hope over time  more people discover this gem.

Long Way North is about a Russian teen who sets out to find the wreckage of a very expensive exploration to the arctic led by her grandfather. It is less humorous than April, but as great an adventure. It actually plays out like a family-friendly  version of The Revenant and Alive (so no cannibalism, sorry) that pushes the limits of family entertainment. Also, like April, it’s a gorgeous film, looking like a picture book come to life.

Another tale of a young woman proving her worth by saving her people- now in musical form! John Musker and Ron Clements direct their first CG film and the result is one of their very best. Moana is an inspried, beautifully  rendered adventure about following your true calling  (like pretty much every Disney princess film) made great not just by the greatest musical score any film from this studio has had since The Little Mermaid, but also by its Polynesian setting and the well-researched history and myths that are featured in the film. It’s just such a treat to see a beautiful culture be given the big budget treatment by the biggest film company in the world. With this and the one other film featured on this count-down, we see why despite some tumbles throughout the decades, Disney continues to be the top name in studio animation.

14.

The Red Turtle is one of those films that are so beautiful that you simply have to watch it because of how beautiful it is. Thankfully there’s more to the film to not only make it a feast for the eyes. Michel Dudok de Witt makes his feature-lenght debut after a long career of making short films and commercials, and he brings that lifetime of experience into this. He has an affinity for stories about the passage of time and how it affects family relationship, which makes this the project he was born to make. It falters a bit for me when it comes to engaging my emotions, but his film making, the gorgeous animation and the incredible score by Laurent Perez Del Mar makes this such a compelling experience that I couldn’t help but be moved when it was over.

13.

Although having seen the original series is required to get the most out of this film, it remains a fantastic piece of work in its own right. While the series saw Patrick and his friends trying to figure out their lives, the film finally sees them taking the step into maturity, and not necessarily by choice. With his usual fly-on-the-wall approach Andrew Haigh brings us a great story filled with comedy, drama, tears, and, of course, moments of extreme awkwardness. Also like the rest of his works, it is visually sumptuous and impeccably performed by the entire cast. The show may have ended too soon, but I love that we got to get closure on these characters in such a great way.

12.

I walked into this film with zero expectations, only knowing that it got great reviews and walked out having seen one of my absolute favorites of the year. Kelly Fremon Craig’s directorial debut is a self-assured coming-of-age film that had me in fits of laughter and emotions in equal measure. As ridiculous as it could get sometimes, the emotions remained raw and grounded, which made it stand apart from others of its kinds. Also helping in this matter is Hailee Steinfeld’s performance. She finally lives up to the promise she showed in True Grit with a performance that always feels nature and honest, but never one-note. It doesn’t hurt that she has Woody Harrelson and Kyra Sedgwick supporting her with equally impressive work. It may have flopped at the box office, but this film remains a pure delight  and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Kelly Fremon Craig.

11.

Zootopia continues to surprise me with how great it turned out to be. What I originally thought would be just a silly animal romp ended up becoming one of the most thematically relevant films for our times. I sat there in awe watching this unfold. I also sat there laughing because the comedy is absolute perfection. But perhaps my favorite thing is the world-building. The filmmakers make this world feel so lived in that it feels as if you can tell many greats stories set within the many districts of the film’s metropolis. Zootopia is the crowning achievement of the Lasseter era at Walt Disney Animation so far.

10.

There are so many ways that a movie directed by Paul Verhoeven about a woman plotting revenge after she is raped could have Verhoeven’s vision of this story, conceived from a novel written by a man and adapted for the screen by a another. Thematically it is as questionable as that makes it sound and made all kinds of red flags go off in my head while watching it. But then there’s Isabelle Huppert. She and Verhoeven famously didn’t talk about the character and he let her do what she wanted, an it shows. As written, the character is a scheming ice queen, but Huppert imues her with so much more. As she plays her, Michelle is a passionate woman who knows what she wants and will do anything to get it, whether it is to get a game designer to bend to her will or to find her rapist. At th same time, you see the humanity in her in how she reacts to to th lies of those close to her and how espite her personality, she is afraid that she will be assaulted again, Verhoeven’s vison of the story and Hupper’s vision of the character are totally at odds with each other, and yet they work perfectly well together. The result is a provocative thriller that compelled me, repulsed me, and in the end left me in a state that I wanted to closely examine wha it all meant.

9.

Despite being billed as a “visual album” and premiering on HBO, Lemonade ended up becoming arguably the most important cinematic achievement of the year. At first it seems as if Beyoncé is going to use this as a musical exploration o the infamous elevator incident from a few years back, but that is only a launching pad for something much bigger. From this starting point, with incredible visuals created by Beyoncé, Khalil Joseph, and other renowned directors like Mark Romanek, Jonas Akerlund, Melina Masoukas, among others, as well as the est lyrics she has ever performed, she makes a statement about he ups and downs what it means to be a black woman in today’s world. The result is an equally entertaining and powerful musical experience. It moved me so much an yet I know my feelings do’t compare to what millions of black women  felt when they saw themselves represented in such a way, particularly in this time that we are living in. Even if it wasn’t such an achievement in film making, it should e celebrated just for that.

8.

Most of what I have to say about our reigning Best Picture champ has already been said by better writers than me, but here’s a summary it’s beautiful, haunting, emotional, and it grabbed me from the very beginning. It didn’t quite grab me on a personal level, but the greatness of what is there cannot be denied.

7.

When a movie starts by giving you a major case of the giggles during its first scene, it has to keep that momentum going forward otherwise it will be a disappointment. This was the case for Love & Friendship, and its character introductions. Thankfully, the film sees writer/director Whit Stillman working at the top of his game. The acerbic dialogue and critiques of upper-class people that he has become famous for continues to be as delicious as ever, but now it is elevated by mixing Jane Austen’s wit to the proceedings. Then there’s the actors, who bring these character and this dialogue to life with so much gusto, but none of them better than Kate Beckinsale, who is giving the best performance of her career and elevates the film to a completely different realm. Not only is it one of the best movies of the year, but one of the best theater experiences I’ve ever had.

6.

From the moment the film started, I knew Kubo was going to be unlike anything I had ever seen. The stop-motion animation is so complex and intricate that I could not help but be in awe of every single frame that passed across the screen. But considering that it tells and epic hero’s journey, there’s no way it would have worked without an ambitious directorial vision, which Travis Knight most definitely had as a first time director. Thankfully all this ambition is there to serve an engaging, if basic, story about family and finding one’s humanity. Combine this with incredible designs all across the board, Dario Marianelli’s sore, and Regina Spektor’s cover of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and you have a cinematic experience for the ages.

5.

Machester by the Sea is a look into the lasting effects of a variety of tragedies. That subject could have potentially made for very dark cinematic experience, but not under the watchful eye of Kenneth Lonnergan. His script and direction feel very raw and real. He understands how in real life there can be comedy in the midst of very dark moments. He also understands that although certain events might forever alter the life of a person, it doesn’t make him or her any less complex. By letting the story play out without any flashy camera work and without forcing the emotions on the audience in a very obvious manner, it ends up becoming a more powerful and lasting experience.

4.

Your Name. is an awe-inspiring achievement in just about every way. From the very first frame, the animation is jaw-dropping gorgeous and immediately endeared me to the enterprise. The score by Japanese pop group RADWIMPS (what a name) is perfect for this kind of film. But the most astonishing aspect is how well the script manages to mix a variety of genres, themes, and tones. The film is basically a mix of Freaky Friday, The Lake House, Deep Impact, Terrence Malick spiritualism and Hayao Miyazaki activism. The tone can shift between comedy and melancholy on a dime and it never feels wrong. Out of this potential mess Makoto Shinkai managed to make a thrilling, romantic, and politically charged cinematic spectacle that simply took my breath away.

3.

A number of films in the top 10 left me in awe for one reason or another, but  one of them quite left me feeling like Arrival. With impeccable craft, atmosphere, direction, and performances we are told an alien invasion tale that is more relevant in these times than it would have been at any others. It shows how a major global event can make even enemies work together for the sake of man kind at the same time. At the same time it shows how powerful a few words can be as they can easily bring out the worst in us and put at risk that frail unity. What ultimately got through my cynical heart was how it beautifully says how even when the future may not be all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows, we can forge ahead together.

2.

Paterson is about a bus driver/ poet who lives in Paterson, New Jersey. We get to experience one week of his life as he goes through the motions. He gets up, has breakfast, write a little, goes to work,  goes home, and visits a local pub. But it’s the moments in between that make it so compelling: how Paterson listens in on the conversations of his passengers, how he observes the world as the walks around town, how he lovingly listens to whatever quirky things his wife has to say. Even if he doesn’t necessarily write about everything that he experiences, through Adam Driver’s performance you can see how every experience is aiding his creative process. Jim Jarmusch’s vision is so gentle even in moments of tension that I wanted to live in this world he has created. When it was over, despite the film’s quiet nature I wanted to jump out of joy because I had just experienced such a beautiful interpretation of what it is like to be a creative soul in a mundane world. I love, love, love this film.

1.

When I sat down to watch this I was not prepared for what this film would do to me. Although it is less than 70 minutes long and animated with relatively crude Claymation and features odd character designs, My Life as a Zucchini puts you through an unforgettable journey. This story of orphans coping with their situation and forming a surrogate family could have been a hokey disaster, but director Claude Barras and writer Celine Sciamma (working off a novel by Gilles Paris) managed to strike the right tone within their work. Barras’s decision to tell this story with odd-looking animated characters only helps to highlight the youthfulness and innocence of the characters, which in turn makes is feel more for what they are going through. Sciamma’s script brings Mike Leigh to mind in how every single character, no matter how insignificant, feels complete and with a life of their own even if we are never going to know about it. Also like Leigh’s films, it always manages to find some genuine moments of comedy among the drama I haven’t even touched on Sophie Hunger’s score (the film ends with her cover of “Le vent nous portera” and it’s perfect) and the performances, but just know that it all works together in perfect harmony. It’s just a magnificent piece of cinema, and an easy pick for my favorite film of the year.

Superlatives

1. Claude Barras, My Life as a Zucchini
2. Jim Jarmusch, Paterson
3. Dennis Villeneuve, Arrival
4. Makoto Shinkai, Your Name.
5. Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
6. Kenneth Lonnergan, Manchester by the Sea
7. Travis Knight, Kubo and the Two Strings
8. Beyoncé Knowles Carter & Khalil Joseph, Lemonade
9. Kelly Fremon Craig, The Edge of Seventeen
10. Andrew Haigh, Looking: The Movie

1. Adam Driver, Paterson
2. Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
3. Sunny Pawar & Dev Patel, Lion
4. Ryan Gosling, La La Land & The Nice Guys
5. Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
6. Logan Lerman, Indignation
7. Kacy Mottet Klein & Corentin Fila, Being 17
8. Rolf Lassgård, A Man Called Ove
9. Julian Dennison & Sam Neill, Hunt for the Wilderpeople
10. Tom Hanks, Sully

1. Isabelle Huppert, Elle & Things to Come
2. Sandra Hüller, Toni Erdmann
3. Annette Benning, 20th Century Women
4. Ruth Negga, Loving
5. Kate Beckinsale, Love & Friendship
6. Rebecca Hall, Christine
7. Amy Adams, Arrival
8. Hailee Steinfeld, The Edge of Seventeen
9. Lily Rabe, Miss Stevens
10. Alui’I Cravalho, Moana

1. Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes, Mahershala Ali, Andre Holland, Moonlight
2. Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea
3. Raul Castillo, Looking: The Movie
4. Tom Bennett, Love & Friendship & Mascots
5. Timothée Chamalet, Miss Stevens
6. Woody Harrelson, The Edge of Seventeen
7. Jack Reynor, Sing Street
8. Alden Ehrenreich, Hail, Caesar!
9. Issei Ogata, Silence
10. Glen Powell, Everybody Wants Some!!

1. Greta Gerwig, 20th Century Women
2. Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea
3. Nicole Kidman, Lion
4. Rossy de Palma,  Julieta
5. Golshifteh Farahani, Paterson
6. Lily Gladstone, Certain Women
7. Janelle Monae, Hidden Figures & Moonlight
8. Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
9. Lupita Nyong’o, Queen of Katwe
10. Sandrine Kimberlain, Being 17

1. Moonlight
2. Manchester by the Sea
   
3. Hidden Figures
   
4. Sing Street
   
5. Looking: The Movie

1. Paterson by Jim Jarmusch
2. Manchester by the Sea by Kenneth Lonergan
3. The Edge of Seventeen by Kelly Freemon Craig
4. 20th Century Women by Mike Mills
5. The Red Turtle by Michel Dudok de Wit & Pascale Ferran
6. Zootopia by Jared Bush and Phil Johnston
7. Christine by Craig Shilowich
8. Miss Stevens by Julia Hart & Jordan Horowitz
9. Everybody Wants Some!! by Richard Linklater
10. April and the Extraordinary World by Franck Ekinci & Benjamin Legrand

1. My Life as a Zucchini by Celine Sciama, based on the novel “Autobiographie d’une Courgette” by Gilles Paris
2. Arrival by Eric Heisserer, based on the short story “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang
3. Moonlight by Barry Jenkins, based on the play “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue” by Tarell Alvin McCraney
4. Love & Friendship by Whit Stillman, based on the novel “Lady Susan” by Jane Austen
5. Your Name. by Makoto Shinkai, based on his novel
6. Elle by David Birke based on the novel “Oh…” by Philippe Djian
7. Lion by Luke Davies, based on the Book “A Long Way Home” by Saroo Brierly
8. Indignation by James Schamus, based on the novel by Phillip Roth
9. Hunt for the Wilderpeople by Taika Waititi, based on the novel “Wild Pork and Watercress” by Barry Crump
10. Looking: The Movie by Andrew Haigh and Michael Lannan, based on the television show

1. Arrival
2. Café Society
3. Lemonade
4. Silence 
5. Lion
6. Moonlight
7. Looking: The Movie
8. Paterson
9. La La Land
10. Midnight Special

1. Allied
2. Café Society
3. The Dressmaker
4. Kubo and the Two Strings
5. Lemonade
6. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
7. Live by Night
8. La La Land
9. Looking: The Movie
10. The Edge of Seventeen

1. Arrival
2. Manchester by the Sea
3. Moonlight
4. Lemonade
5. Your Name.
6. Elle
7. Ouija: Origin of Evil
8. Paterson
9. Sully
10. Hunt for the Wilderpeople

1. Star Trek Beyond
2. Suicide Squad
3. 20th Century Women
4. The Dressmaker
5. Julieta
6. Lion
7. Jackie
8. The Love Witch
9. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
10. Swiss Army Man

1. Arrival by Jóhann Jóhannsson (Outstanding track: First Encounter)
2. Moonlight by Nicholas Britell (Outstanding track: The Middle of the World)
3. Lion by Dustin O’Halloran & Hauschka (Outstanding Track: Lion Theme)
4. La La Land by Justin Hurwitz (Oustanding Track: Epilogue)
5. Kubo and the Two Strings by Dario Marianelli (Oustanding Track: Story Time)
6. The Red Turtle by Laurent Perez Del Mar (Oustanding Track: The Tsunami)
7. Your Name. by RADWIMPS (Oustanding Track: Mitsuha No Theme)
8. Hell or High Water Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (Oustanding Track: Comancheria)
9. Midnight Special by David Wingo (Oustanding Track: New World)
10. Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice by Hans Zimmer & Junkie XL (Oustanding Track: Is She With You [Wonder Woman Theme])

1. “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana
2. “Drive It Like You Stole It” from Sing Street
3. “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” from La La Land
4. “Something Wild” from Pete’s Dragon
5. “Nobody Knows” from Pete’s Dragon & “Holdin’ Out” from Storks
6. “Try Everything” from Zootopia
7. “Get Back Up Again” from Trolls
8. “Heathens” from Suicide Squad
9. “Wish That You Were Here” from Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
10. “No Dames!” from Hail, Caesar!

1. Arrival
2. Passengers
3. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
4. Live by Night
5. Café Society
6. Lemonade
7. Allied
8. La La Land
9. April and the Extraordinary World
10. Kubo and the Two Strings

1. Arrival
2. Deepwater Horizon
3. Kubo and the Two Strings
4. Rogue One: A Star Wars STory
5. Star Trek Beyond
6. Passengers
7. The Conjuring 2
8. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
9. The BFG
10. Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice

1. Kubo and the Two Strings
2. Arrival
3. Passengers
4. Doctor Strange
5. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
6. Star Trek Beyond
7. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
8. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
9. The BFG
10. Pete’s Dragon

1. Claude Barras, My Life as a Zucchini
2. Travis Knight, Kubo and the Two Strings
3. Kelly Fremon Craig, The Edge of Seventeen
4. Michael Dudok de wit, The Red Turtle
5. James Schamus, Indignation
6. Julia Hart, Miss Stevens
7. Dan Trachtenberg, 10 Cloverfield Lane

“I didn’t choose the skux life, the skux life chose me”

-Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison), Hunt for the Wilderpeople

“How dare you adress me, sir! Be gone or I will have you whipped!”

-Lady Susan (Kate Beckinsale), Love & Friendship

“Who is you, Chiron?”

-Kevin (André Holland), Moonlight

“The Greatest Love of All” from Toni Erdmann

The Whizzpoppers scene in the last act of The BFG

The stepladder routine from Mascots

The final car chase from Hunt for the Wilderpeople

The fantasy sequence that makes up the finale of La La Land

Looking: The Movie

My Life as a Zucchini 

Moonlight

That’s all for 2016, folks! See my complete list of everything film that I saw on Letterboxd