The Best Movies of 2016

Another great year of movies has passed, and it's time for my annual list of the best ones that I got to see. I was fortunate again to be able to see all of the Best Picture nominees, while also enjoying several films outside of that scope. I've filled the major categories per the norm while also throwing in several of my own so as to honor some great movies that don't fit in the standards. I also have thrown a ranked list at the bottom of the blog for those who want a simple TL;DR, but I promise that my small comments on each film are worth reading through!

As always, here is my DISCLAIMER that I wasn't able to see every film that was released in 2016, and I didn't necessarily agree with the critics/audience on which films were good or not. This is my personal opinion, and should be taken as such. I got to see some good animated films this year, so that category is back, but there weren't any documentaries that piqued my interest, so that category is missing. Despite my poor performance last year (11 of 20), I want to continue making Oscar predictions and so you can find those in each major category. Now before we begin, my dis/honorable mentions!


Movies Best Forgotten

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice
The Lobster
Silence (despite a tour de force from Andrew Garfield)
Star Trek Beyond


Movies Respected But Unawarded

Doctor Strange
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Finding Dory
Green Room
Hacksaw Ridge
Hardcore Henry
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
The Jungle Book
Loving
Manchester by the Sea (Casey Affleck was tremendous in this tremendously depressing film)
Moana
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Sing Street
Train to Busan
The Witch
Zootopia


Movies Unwatched or Unknown

20th Century Women
Allied
Captain Fantastic
Elle (I wish I could but I couldn't find it anywhere)
Florence Foster Jenkins
Hail, Caesar!
Jackie
My Life as a Zucchini
Nocturnal Animals
Passengers
The Red Turtle
The Salesman
Suicide Squad
Sully
Trolls


Now, the Best Movies of 2016 according to Robert, along with predictions.



Oscar Predictions for Categories Unrepresented

Costume Design - La La Land
Documentary (Feature) - I didn't see any nominees so I really don't know.
Documentary (Short Subject) - I apologize for not watching documentaries this year.
Film Editing - Arrival
Makeup and Hairstyling - A Man Called Ove (because it can't be the other two...)
Production Design - La La Land
Short Film (Live Action) - Uh, yeah, no clue.
Short Film (Animated) - Piper
 ^
 Side note: if it had been aired in theaters, I would've wholeheartedly vouched for The Last Bastion from Overwatch for Animated Short: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to8yh83jlXg)




Best Modern Greek Tragedy: Captain America: Civil War

First, I want to explain the category title. In many ways, superheroes are our culture's version of the gods that the Greeks and Romans obsessed over and wrote many stories about, primarily in the tragedy genre. Civil War is one of the first true tragedies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, for spoiler reasons that I'll leave unmentioned here. But if you've already seen this great comic book film, then you know what I'm talking about. The betrayal of close friends and the clash of titans on screen give all of us the same feelings that I'd imagine the Greeks had when Paris shot Achilles in his heel during the Iliad. The dividing of lines between Captain America and Iron Man over one man, Bucky Barnes, has created a modern Greek tragedy of sorts, although I'll be the first to state that the quality of the stories is incomparable. However, getting to see Tom Holland as the new Spider-Man was quite amazing!

This is such a unique genre that I don't have any other candidates that really match its requirements, but if we went with strictly tragedies, Manchester by the Sea with its dark mid-film twist and Silence with its mental and spiritual breakdowns definitely would be worth mentioning here.


Best Cinematography: Arrival

One of the most breathtaking moments of 2016 was when we follow Amy Adams as she first witnesses the enormous alien ship floating above a misty valley, with a stunning aerial view of the fog rolling over the hills surrounding it. Bradford Young has shown himself to be a remarkable cinematographer with not only these large, epic shots, but also the close-up framing of characters' faces, often with a soft focus and natural lighting. In a film so centered around language and human-extraterrestrial interactions, the portrayal of every shot continues to capture either a natural beauty or an eldritch terror of the unknown. As far as beauty goes, Arrival is one of the best in the last few years, and that's saying something with Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity, Birdman, The Revenant) tearing up the place recently. This will be Lubezki's first year in the last four that he's not nominated for an Oscar (which he won all 3 he was nominated for).

Moonlight had many visually artistic scenes and La La Land had some of the best choreography in years, but Arrival still proved itself to be a masterwork in cinematography.

OSCAR PREDICTION: La La Land


Best Supporting Actress: Naomie Harris (Moonlight)

Perhaps many of you are like me, and only know Naomie Harris for her small role in the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean films as the witch Tia Dalma. That said, I didn't expect much of her in Moonlight, but I was dead wrong. Harris gives us one of the most twisted mothers in recent memory, during a time when single-mother roles seem to be winning a lot of awards (Patricia Arquette in Boyhood, Bria Larson in Room). However, where those mothers were generally good with some complicated problems, Harris plays a very abusive, drug addict who treats her son like trash, leading him to seek refuge with strangers from her constant emotional and mental trauma. Harris gives us a very complicated person who definitely has some personal demons, but ultimately tries to fight through them for her son. However, the absolutely broken relationship between her and her son and the heartbreaking moments of interaction between the two are part of what made Moonlight so great, and makes Harris absolutely deserve this award.

Michelle Williams was almost as devastating as a grieving mother in Manchester by the Sea, while Angourie Rice was hilarious as the snarky daughter in The Nice Guys, but Harris' performance was absolutely perfect. On a side note, I considered Viola Davis to be a leading actress in Fences, so that's the reason that you don't see her name here.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Viola Davis (Fences)


Best Music: La La Land

Here comes the biggest DUH of 2016: La La Land winning Best Music. And why not, with its original, jazz-styled soundtrack that also hearkens back to the glory days of musicals. There's some Singin' in the Rain here, some West Side Story there, but all Damien Chazelle (writer-director) everywhere. Justin Hurwitz has composed a beautiful film that does what all musicals wish to do but often fail at: infusing the soul of the film itself with its music, instead of the other way around. Oh, and it got two songs nominated for Best Original Song, if you were wondering.

Moonlight has a gorgeous soundtrack that sets the mood for every scene, while Sing Street was another great musical set in 1980s Ireland, but La La Land was a jazz musical made by the creator of Whiplash. It was going to win.

OSCAR PREDICTION: La La Land


Best Foreign Film: Lion

I'll be honest, this Australian gem caught me off guard with its very real and very human story, and almost can be likened to a nonfiction version of Slumdog Millionaire in some ways. Sunny Pawar shows some incredible talent as the child actor of Saroo as he becomes lost in India and finds himself thousands of miles away from home, but then Dev Patel also shows skill as an adult Saroo desperately trying to retrace his journey and find his hometown and family. Nicole Kidman is also great as Saroo's adoptive mother, but the way this very real story is told hits home and brings all of the feel-good emotions that you would want. I wish that they had developed Saroo's girlfriend, played by Rooney Mara, a little more, but that may just be me wanting Mara to have more of a chance to show off those incredible acting chops of hers. Regardless, this was a great movie and coming-of-age story.

Eye in the Sky (UK) gave us a very realistic depiction of modern warfare, and Train to Busan (South Korea) was one of the best zombie films in recent memory, but neither had the power of Lion. On a side note, I've decided that I need to stop awarding this category to English language films, since that's kind of cheating, so expect the rest of my categories to include more non-American films in the future.

OSCAR PREDICTION: The Salesman (an Iranian-French film, in protest against Trump)


Best Ensemble Cast: Eye in the Sky

Ever wonder what it's like to have to decide the fate of several people over a phone? This film captures that impersonal way of hefty decision making, as it follows a single day in British warfare as they seek to assassinate a group of terrorists via missile strike amidst a group of citizens. Every order or action has to be approved, and sometimes extra steps have to be taken in order to get that approval, such as sending a tiny drone into a room to verify someone's identity. Helen Mirren, the late Alan Rickman, and Aaron Paul all lead this deft cast who all perform to the best of their abilities, turning this combat-light war film into a bureaucratic thriller, filled with tension and moral ambiguity. It's really a shame that so few people saw this film, as I thought it was one of Rickman's finest roles and worth remembering him by, in addition to Severus Snape or Hans Gruber. War is hell, even when the gore and violence isn't necessarily turned up to 11, which this film shows clearly.

Moonlight has a stellar cast, including all three actors of the main character, while Manchester by the Sea has several masterworks with strong support, but Eye in the Sky had a large group of people all come together without a definitive lead and all deliver great performances. Fences is also worth mentioning for its acting-heavy run time.


Best Portrayal of a Modern Disaster: Deepwater Horizon

It's been quite some time since I've enjoyed a disaster film as much as this one, and its directing from Peter Berg (Lone Survivor) is top notch. Berg also made Patriots Day, which was a good film as well, and all three of his last movies have featured Mark Wahlberg delivering some of his best roles outside of The Departed. This movie shows the real-time unfolding of the largest oil industry accident in U.S. history, an event which I actually studied while going to school. The accuracy of the film along with its dramatic flourishes make this frighteningly realistic, with camerawork that makes you forget that you're watching a movie and some of the best visual effects I've seen. The moment when the rig goes up in flames is absolutely terrifying in theaters, and well worth the price of a ticket.

As I mentioned before, Patriots Day was another great disaster movie from Berg, and Lion portrayed a modern familial disaster very well, but this thrilling reenactment still stands head and shoulders above the rest.


Best Visual Effects: Kubo and the Two Strings

Not since The Nightmare Before Christmas have we seen such a beautifully animated stop-motion film. With the stylings of a samurai Western and the artistry of an oil painting, Kubo and the Two Strings manages to create one of the most wondrous worlds of 2016, while also delivering with a great story. Think no farther than the fighting origami scene or the voyage across the sea to prove just how gorgeous this film really is. Although this is technically an animated film, I would definitely count it as visual effects (and apparently the Academy agreed!). If you love true eye candy, not just explosions and action, definitely give this one a go.

The Jungle Book was filled with fantastic visual effects with its junglescape and animals, while Arrival also delivered with several haunting visuals, but Kubo and the Two Strings stole the show with its old school animation.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Kubo and the Two Strings


Best Sledgehammer-to-the-Fourth-Wall Flick: Deadpool

I was honestly surprised that this movie ended up being so great. Ryan Reynolds is perfect as Deadpool as we follow him being transformed into a superhuman who still just wants his lover, played by Morena Baccarin (of Firefly fame), which actually created one of the best love stories in a comic film. Some of the funniest moments of the year happen within the first hour of this film, including many fourth wall breaking jokes (obviously), references to International Women’s Day and 127 Hours, and several tributes to fellow X-Men universe actor Hugh Jackman. T.J. Miller also gives a hilarious supporting role as Deadpool’s bar owning friend Weasel, including their discussion of how ugly Deadpool looks after being transformed. If you’ve got one of those I’m-going-to-hell-for-laughing-at-that senses of humor, you will be laughing almost nonstop throughout this film like I did. This was just the right film that the superhero genre needed, and follows in the footsteps of Guardians of the Galaxy in proving that we don’t need goody two shoes heroes that everyone already knows in order to enjoy a film such as this.

The closest thing to a fourth-wall break is when the audience is being talked to as a character, which Popstar: Never Stop Stopping did hilariously in its mockumentary style, while Hardcore Henry did in its first person action style, which was also a great addition to the action genre, if you haven't seen it yet. But neither even come close to the wrecking ball that was Deadpool.


Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Many people will know Ali for his work in House of Cards as political aid Remy Danton or for his phenomenal role as Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes in Marvel's Luke Cage on Netflix, but he takes his acting abilities to a whole new height in Moonlight. Ali gives us a friendly father figure for main character Chiron, who's in the middle of a struggle with his addict single mother. Juan, as Ali's character is called, also happens to be a drug dealer who discovers how he directly messes with others' lives. Juan's struggle with his own lifestyle while trying his best to be a foundation in Chiron's life is both complex and moving, and Ali gives us a very realistic human who is one of many characters in Moonlight to show us just how complicated our modern society can be, where everyone's story has a hero and a villain but those lines often blur to the point of no distinction. Ali has been getting lots of praise for his performance in this film and I would definitely advocate that he deserves it all.

John Goodman as a monstrous villain in 10 Cloverfield Lane and Yosuke Kubozuka as a spineless wretch in Silence both deserve praise as well, but Ali was in a league of his own this year.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)


Best Sound Effects: Arrival

From the moment that we finally see the aliens in Arrival, we get treated to some of the best auditory experiences in a film. The deep bass notes of the aliens themselves, the emphasis of fuzziness during moments when Amy Adams is unfocused, the dream-like muffling of thick air; all of it works together with the directing and visual effects to create a cinematic experience unlike many. The silence around dialogue or during quiet moments without music also serve as great calm scenes in the midst of a very emotional storm involving Adams' personal life, as well as the panic of a world dealing with extraterrestrial communication. This was one of the best science fiction films that I've seen in years and the sound effects were just one reason for its excellence.

Don't Breathe had some great soundwork involved with its creative horror plot of being trapped in a house with a blind Marine, and Deepwater Horizon also showed excellence in its aural realism, but Arrival still takes the cake for me.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Sound Editing - Hacksaw Ridge
OSCAR PREDICTION: Sound Mixing - Arrival


Best Hitchcockian Thriller: 10 Cloverfield Lane

Placed within the claustrophobic confines of a fallout shelter and an enigmatic host with the menacing John Goodman, this was one of the best written and directed films of the year. I don’t mean to continue to toot Damien Chazelle’s horn, but on top of making two of the best films of the last few years (Whiplash, La La Land), he wrote the script for this nail-biter, which was then expertly directed by Dan Trachtenberg. The whole cast does exceptionally well, especially Goodman, and the whole film is packed with dread and tension; a Hitchcockian experience of paranoia. The big, lovable teddy bear that is Goodman in most films turned that character on its head as a paranoid war veteran who only mentions how dangerous it is outside and how much he misses his daughter (taken during a divorce). Although he often appears kind and protective on the surface, his outbursts of rage and bizarre behaviors hint at something monstrous lurking beneath the surface. When this monster finally appears, it is both shocking and terrifying, creating a fantastic thriller worth watching.

No other film really had a Hitchcockian influence to it, but Green Room, with its paranoid isolation and helplessness, and Hell or High Water, with its confusion of identity and many twists, came close to matching that tone.


Best Leading Actress: Viola Davis (Fences)

I've sung Davis' praises in the past, especially for her role in Prisoners, but she gives us her absolute best in this heartbreaking drama. Denzel Washington starred in and directed Fences, an adaptation of the stageplay by August Wilson, and he also did fantastic as an aging man in post-segregation Pittsburgh dealing with his dissatisfaction with his life and grudges against a country who stunted his own aspirations before finally establishing equality. But Davis does just as well as his wife, who reined him in when he was young and wild and provided a stable foundation for his life. Her own dissatisfaction finally comes to light during a catastrophic exchange between Davis and Washington that was one of the most emotional moments I saw in all of 2016. Her brilliance has been praised, and although the Academy nominated her for Best Supporting Actress (which I mentioned earlier and predicted that she'd win), I felt like she was much more in a leading role and so have reflected that here.

Amy Adams hasn't even gotten enough praise for her wonderful performance in Arrival, while Ruth Negga deserves recognition for her excellent role in Loving as well, but Davis still gave the best acting of the year for me.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Isabelle Huppert (Elle)


Best Cinematic Song: City of Stars (La La Land)

I know; shocking. In addition for giving us some of the best music of the year, La La Land also gave us several great songs, and none any greater than City of Stars. Ryan Gosling's great voice is the key to this song, along with his great piano-playing, but it also embodies much of the film's message to me: hope and ambition despite a ruthless and pessimistic world. Los Angeles is depicted as a city filled with both opportunity and a glut of people pursuing the same opportunities, and La La Land does this extremely well with its story, music, directing, and acting. Damien Chazelle has proven to be one of the brightest young talents of our time and I eagerly look forward to any and all of his future works, especially if they give us the same level of energy that both Whiplash and now La La Land have.

Feel Right in The Nice Guys had a great funk to it, and How Far I'll Go from Moana had a very inspiring message and sound, but neither can match the soul-felt vibes of City of Stars.

OSCAR PREDICTION: City of Stars (La La Land)


Best Animated Film: Kubo and the Two Strings

The little-known gem from Laika held me breathless with its gorgeous animation (all stop-motion and mentioned earlier) and great story. For those of you who do not know, Kubo and the Two Strings follows a young boy (Kubo) as he journeys across a Japanese-styled landscape to find three pieces of armor that will help him to defeat his evil grandfather, the Moon King. Along the way, we learn a lot about his background and the dark history of the world that he lives in. The characters are super memorable, especially Charlize Theron as the ferocious Monkey, and the fight scenes are unforgettable, especially when Monkey is involved. It's a great, original adventure for the family and also a piece of art meant to be treasured.

Finding Dory brought the emotions for me and did well as a sequel, while Zootopia had some interesting social commentary as a kid-friendly Se7en, but neither were anywhere near as classic as Kubo became for me.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Kubo and the Two Strings


Best Director: Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

I often love the epic styles of directing that Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings trilogy) or Christopher Nolan (Inception, The Dark Knight) love to deliver; or the close and personal styles of Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman, The Revenant) or Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men); or especially the stylized, thrilling styles of Martin Scorsese (The Departed, Raging Bull) or Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds). But I often forget how the subtle styles of directing can be some of the best in cinema by making you forget that you are watching a movie and make you feel like you are there, or that frames everything in beautiful portraits that make every shot feel like art. Barry Jenkins accomplishes both of these things in Moonlight, which was THE most beautiful film that I got to watch last year. The slow-motion shots of angry yelling, the silent and static shots of a painful conversation, or the romantic shots of an imagination gone wild; Jenkins gives us it all. He takes a phenomenal cast and makes them perform to their uttermost capacity, resulting in them winning two of my acting awards (and nearly three with Best Ensemble Cast being a close thing). Orson Welles (Citizen Kane) and Steve McQueen (12 Years of Slave) are the only two other directors that I can think of that combined absolute realism and artistic beauty so well, and if that's not the highest compliment that I can give to Jenkins, then suffice to say that I sincerely hope that he wins Best Director this year, and it would be well deserved.

Denis Villeneuve very, very nearly took this home for his fantastic work in Arrival, and Damien Chazelle has been praised often enough in this post that you know how much I loved his work in La La Land, but neither can match Jenkins' masterwork in Moonlight.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)


Best Leading Actor: Ryan Gosling (The Nice Guys)

Of course, I could go the easy route and name the same person for his performance in La La Land, but the honest truth is that I enjoyed him more in The Nice Guys. Gosling delivers one of the most hilarious and well-done physical comedy performances in recent memory, playing a sleazebag private detective hunting down a missing heiress in 1970s Los Angeles. His pairing with Russell Crowe as a straight man (a for-hire thug of sorts) also creates some of the best interactions between two characters in a comedy ("I was interrogating the mermaids." "You were, what?"). The most hilarious scene in all of 2016 occurs, however, when Gosling drunkenly stumbles upon a corpse and attempts to call Crowe for help. And then they dispose of the body in a, umm, irregular manner, and the results are riotous. As far as buddy cop comedies go, I advocate The Nice Guys for one of the best I've ever seen, and Gosling as one of the best actors ever in genre flexibility (The Notebook, Drive, La La Land, The Nice Guys; he's a master).

Casey Affleck is absolutely devastating in Manchester by the Sea and Andrew Garfield did great in both Silence and Hacksaw Ridge, but neither add up to Gosling's performance in The Nice Guys coupled with La La Land.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)


Best Screenplay: Arrival

When you base the script of your film on an award-winning short story (Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang), the results are likely to be incredible. Following an expert linguist, played by Amy Adams, we experience the attempts at communication with extraterrestrials who have descended onto Earth. Filled with realistic dialogue, mind-bending plot twists, and an emotional core, Arrival delivered a phenomenal true science fiction that deserves to be respected up there with Gravity and 2001: A Space Odyssey. There’s not a single complaint that I could name about any of this film’s screenplay, and anyone who loves stories will adore this film like I did.

Fences was adapted from a stage play and has some amazing dialogue, while Moonlight has the best steady flow of story during its own three acts and emotional catharsis, but Arrival still pulled slightly ahead of both in all of those traits.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Adapted Screenplay - Arrival
OSCAR PREDICTION: Original Screenplay - La La Land


Best Picture: Moonlight

This was one of the most difficult choices that I've had to make during my time of writing these personal awards, with Arrival and La La Land both being fantastic films. But in the end, the personal and complex tale of a black boy growing up in Florida moved me and affected me the most. Moonlight is a film about the most basic of modern dilemmas: personal identity. Who are you? Who is each of us? This is a film that explores this theme thoroughly and is not afraid to show both the highs and the lows of finding yourself. Only in a film as well crafted as this can we have a friend, a lover, a villain, and a role model all packed into one single character. And many of the characters are as multi-faceted as this, with director Barry Jenkins seeking to build one of the most intricate dramas with depth in every scene. Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris both give amazing performances, as I've already noted, but they aren't the only great actors in this film.

Alex Hibbert is both pitiful and lovable as a young Chiron, then Ashton Sanders is heartbreaking and quiet as a teen Chiron, then Trevante Rhodes is masculine yet fragile as an adult Chiron, fully fleshing out this young man's entire upbringing. Each act of the film is divided by these times in Chiron's life, and each one represents a different identity that he seeks to build for himself. The first two acts both end with devastating scenes that bring different emotional crescendos to the story, and although the third act ends unlike those, it also has a powerful ending that is more thought-provoking than it is emotional. The way that Moonlight also portrays modern masculinity, and how those who don't fit its norms face persecution, can be quite brutal at times, but really defines this generation much like Fight Club came to define the many children of divorce in Generation X. This film is a beautiful work of art with a fantastic story, and its execution is flawless. Thus, I can confidently say that Moonlight was THE best film of 2016.

As I already said, Arrival was a great science fiction drama and La La Land was a gorgeous musical, but Moonlight stole my heart and just edged out those other two masterpieces.

OSCAR PREDICTION: La La Land



TL;DR

1. Moonlight (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor)
2. Arrival (Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Effects)
3. La La Land (Best Music, Best Cinematic Song)
4. Kubo and the Two Strings (Best Animated Film, Best Visual Effects)
5. The Nice Guys (Best Leading Actor)
6. Fences (Best Leading Actress)
7. Deadpool (Best Sledgehammer-to-the-Fourth-Wall Flick)
8. 10 Cloverfield Lane (Best Hitchcockian Thriller)
9. Captain America: Civil War (Best Modern Greek Tragedy)
10. Eye in the Sky (Best Ensemble Cast)
11. Lion (Best Foreign Film)
12. Deepwater Horizon (Best Portrayal of a Modern Disaster)


Thank you for reading through my personal awards, and I hope you look forward to me posting these each and every year! I'm excited to see who wins the Oscars as well, but in the end, I know what my favorites were and that's what this post is all about. Please comment with your own suggestions or maybe a ranked list of your own!