Eclectic Boredom: Top 10 Movie of 2016

I like the idea of theming for these monthly top ten lists. October was an easy connection to horror. I tied my Disneyland trip to the top Disney movies in November. I was all ready to do it again for December with a list of Christmas movies. There's a problem though: I haven't seen enough Christmas movies to build a proper top 10 list. Nowhere close. That surprised me, but it's really hard to get to the 100 minimum that I set, especially since I define Christmas movies a bit more harshly (Die Hard would only be considered one if I was already at 99 and needed a 100th, for example). That's for the best though. Nostalgia drove my last list and would've driven a Christmas list as well. I like a little more variety than that. Besides, there's another obvious choice. I'll be making an overall ranking of the 2017 movies I've seen at the very end of the year. I might as well re-sort my 2016 list now that I've had a chance to reflect on the movies and fill in some gaps. I normally do this anyway, so this saves me the trouble.

Before I get into the list, I want to run through my guidelines. The standard rules still apply. I've seen well over 100 2016 movies, so that's not a problem. I'll include the full list of all movies I've seen at the bottom and in the post. If you think I'm missing a movie in my top 10 list and it's not in the full list, then I haven't seen it, or it isn't a 2016 movie. I'm defining the release year based on where it shows up on BoxofficeMojo. If it didn't get a theatrical release in the US, then I'll revert to the IMDB year.

Excluding the Oscar Shorts collection I saw in theaters, I've seen 130 so far from 2016. That's a lot. Certainly more than I expected. With so many movie, the first round of cuts was easy. I would like to note that I did not bother to rank all the movies 1-130. I started with groups of two movies, ranked those, then combined those with other groups. I kept doing this, until I got to groups of ten. At that point, anything in a group that ranked lower than 10th was cut entirely, since it had no hope of making the top 10 once I finished combining the groups. I point this out, to explain that not all cuts are equal. Not everything in my first group of cuts is something I like less than my second group of cuts. I'll stand by my sorted list of top ten and my unsorted ten honorable mentions. Beyond that, don't read too much into the groupings unless otherwise noted.

The first cut was easy. 50 movies, none that I'd really recommend. There's a few in there like Race, The Invitation, or Silicon Cowboys that have their charms. Nothing that needs to be singled out for positive reason.

1st Cut
Captain Fantastic
The Light Between Oceans
Search Party
American Pastoral
Rules Don't Apply
Satanic
Independence Day: Resurgence
Trolls
Now You See Me 2
Alice Through the Looking Glass
War Dogs
The Divergent Series: Allegiant
Nocturnal Animals
Race
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
The Finest Hours
The Invitation
All the Way
The Secret Life of Pets
Kung Fu Panda 3
The Girl on the Train
The Boss
Ice Age: Collision Course
Money Monster
Florence Foster Jenkins
Live By Night
The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years
Colonia
Get a Job
37
Blood in the Water
Central Intelligence
Jason Bourne
The Magnificent Seven
Storks
Nerve
London Has Fallen
Demolition
Silicon Cowboys
Tallulah
Beware the Slenderman
Jane Got a Gun
Two Lovers and a Bear
Mojave
Ride Along 2
The Angry Birds Movie
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back
Lights Out
The 5th Wave
Inferno

An obvious fact that sometimes gets lost when I'm spending all my time dissecting every single movie I watch is that I like movies. I like way more than I don't. Otherwise, why would I spend so much time doing it? So, looking at my 2nd cut, there's a lot of movies I did enjoy. A couple, like The Birth of a Nation or Kubo and the Two Strings could've sniffed top 10 consideration if I was in the right mood. Still, this cut was pretty painless.

This is when it really starts to tighten. Deepwater Horizon was my go to "That was a lot better than I expected" movie of 2016. Christine was a nice, late discovery. Southbound is a horror movie with a lot of the DNA of the V/H/S movies which are all-time favorites of mine. Denial was a thoroughly enjoyable film I saw almost by accident. Moana, Finding Dory, and Civil War were a lot of fun. The toughest cuts in this group were Manchester by the Sea and Fences, probably. It's not a surprise that they fell some now that I'm out of the award season bubble.

If you are keeping track, the list is down to 20. At the moment I'm writing this, I feel pretty good about calling this my top 20 overall. Don't try to get me to rank 11-20 though. These are all high quality films that I value greatly. You can't go wrong watching any of them.

Honorable Mention

Don't Think Twice - Mike Birbiglia has made a movie about Stand Up comedy and now Improv Comedy. This guy gets me.

Hail, Caesar! - The Coen brothers are going right for the laughs with this one. If you can get through the "Would that it were" scene without laughing, then you are dead inside.

Jackie - I'll happily watch Natalie Portman kill it on screen for two hours with a strong supporting cast and a great score.

The Legend of Tarzan - I damn near put this in my top ten and figured out the rest from there. For some reason, I'm all in on the pulp entertainment of this.

Lion - Better than Slumdog Millionaire by a wide margin. Bring the tissues.

Loving - A pretty perfect mix of tone and performance without letting the plot get in the way. I kept waiting for this to go off the rails and into melodrama and it never did.

Moonlight - A masterfully made movie. I'll admit that I'm still missing that last bit of connection that so many people had to it to push it over the top, but its quality alone secures it in the top 20.

Sing Street - A deliriously fun film with great music. As long as John Carney wants to keep making musical movies, I'll happily watch them and watch them again.

Tower - This is a really clever documentary about the 1966 University of Texas shooting. The mix of actual footage and animation is really unique and gives it some emotional heft that a more traditional documentary would lack.

Zootopia - Funny. Beautiful animation. Great message. Overflowing with energy. Disney Animation is on a roll lately.

Now it's time for the top ten. These are the ten best movies I saw from 2016. There's a decent amount of shuffling since my ranking at the end of last year. This looks more correct though. I feel like all of my genre sweet spots are represented. Horror. Coming of age. Buddy comedy. Balls out comedy. Tense stories. Relaxed paces. This is a pure ranking since the only commonality is date of release. I don't have adhere to any genre guidelines of pay attention to how well it represents some other qualifier. This is a list decided by value added to my 2016. In simplest terms, there are the 2016 films I'm most comfortable recommending.

Top 10

10. The Handmaiden
This Korean movie is very long and very foreign. From a screenplay standpoint, it is the most fun of any movie on this list. It's a wild ride that's worth the time investment and focus, I promise.

9. The Edge of Seventeen
I talked myself out of putting this in my top ten last year, because I was blinded by the awards buzz movies. If I check back next year, this might be even higher. Hailee Steinfeld is superb in the lead role. I love a good coming of age story and this is a great one.

8. Everybody Wants Some!!
God bless Richard Linklater. This movie is basically Dazed and Confused: The College Years and there's nothing wrong with that. There's barely any plot and almost no stakes. I just like hanging out with these guys for a couple hours. Sometimes it's nice to watch a movie that asks almost nothing from you.

7. The Witch
This is a damn fine horror movie. Or maybe it's just dark folklore. Whatever it is, it's great. The film is gorgeous is a gloomy way, and would rather beat you down with its dreary atmosphere that resort to a lot of jump scares. The Witch haunted me like no movie since Under the Skin.

6. Sausage Party
Look. I've loved the Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg partnership since Superbad. I don't love everything of theirs, but I did love this. It's unabashedly dirty, violent, and disgusting. It's not at all subtle. If it let up at all on the relentless jokes it would fall apart. I laughed pretty continuously throughout this movie and, I swear, it's not as dumb as it lets on.

5. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
I love Star Wars. It all comes down to that. This was a great test run for the non-saga movies, coming together great, despite a lot of behind the scenes turmoil. The final battle sequences alone secures it a spot in the top 10.

4. La La Land

Even last year I predicted that this wouldn't stay my top film. I love the music, the direction, the production design, and the two leads. The plot is undeniably pretty lean and I don't really care. The pure enjoyment factor I get out of watching it makes up for any of its shortcomings.

3. Eye in the Sky
I can't separate this movie from how much of a pleasant surprise it was for me. The script and editing are masterful examples of how to expand a story out and contract it back down efficiently and effectively. It's full of messages without being preachy. It's tense as hell (even during a rewatch) without getting melodramatic. It's a great "people doing their damn job" movie. I can't recommend it enough.

2. Hell or High Water
It's nice when a movie just works. On paper, this is a pretty standard cops and robbers movie. But, the rapport between both sets of lead characters is just perfect, Taylor Sheridan's script has a tremendous and confident ease to it, and David Mackenzie manages to shoot West Texas in a way that captures the spirit of it without feeling exploitative. Until you watch it, I really can't do it justice.

1. The Nice Guys
I feel like most top movie lists are like the quiz episode of Friends, when Ross asks for what Rachel tells people is her favorite movie (DangerousLisasons) then what her actual favorite movie is (Weekend at Bernie's). I don't care what you think you should say the best movie in a year is. I want to know what your actual favorite it. I try to be honest, and in this case, that means The Nice Guys. I laughed harder than anyone in the theater when I first saw it. I laughed hard watching it by myself in my room months later. Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling are a shockingly effective buddy cop comedy duo. The plot makes just enough sense to stay out of the leads' way. And, between this, Inherent Vice, and recently Free Fire, I've discovered that the late 70s is a time period I like a lot. If I could only keep one more from this year, it would be The Nice Guys. Plain and simple.

Full List
#
The 5th Wave, 10 Cloverfield Lane, 20th Century Women, 37
A
The Accountant, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Allied, All the Way, American Pastoral, The Angry Birds Movie, Arrival, Author: The JT LeRoy Story
B
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years, Beware the Slenderman, The BFG, The Birth of a Nation, Blair Witch, Blood in the Water, The Boss
C
Cameraperson, Captain America: Civil War, Captain Fantastic, Central Intelligence, Christine, Colonia, The Conjuring 2
D
Deadpool, Deepwater Horizon, Demolition, Denial, The Divergent Series: Allegiant, Doctor Strange, Don't Think Twice
E
The Edge of Seventeen, Elstree 1976, Everybody Wants Some!!, Eye in the Sky
F
Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Fences, Finding Dory, The Finest Hours, Florence Foster Jenkins
G
Get a Job, Ghostbusters, The Girl on the Train, Green Room
H
Hacksaw Ridge, Hail, Caesar!, The Handmaiden, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, How to Be Single, The Huntsman: Winter's War, Hush
I
Ice Age: Collision Course, Independence Day: Resurgence, Inferno, The Invitation
J
Jackie, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, Jane Got a Gun, Jason Bourne, The Jungle Book
K
Keanu, Kubo and the Two Strings, Kung Fu Panda 3
L
La La Land, The Legend of Tarzan, The Light Between Oceans, Lights Out, Lion, Live By Night, The Lobster, London Has Fallen, Love & Friendship, The Lovers and the Despot, Loving
M
The Magnificent Seven, Manchester by the Sea, Me Before You, Midnight Special, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, Mr. Right, Moana, Mojave, Money Monster, A Monster Calls, Moonlight
N
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, The Neon Demon, Nerve, The Nice Guys, Nocturnal Animals, Now You See Me 2
P
Passengers, Patriots Day, Pete's Dragon, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
R
Race, Ride Along 2, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Rules Don't Apply
S
Satanic, Sausage Party, Search Party, The Secret Life of Pets, Silence, Silicon Cowboys, Sing Street, Snowden, Southbound, Star Trek Beyond, Storks, Suicide Squad, Sully, Swiss Army Man
T
Tallulah, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Tower, Trolls, Two Lovers and a Bear
W
War Dogs, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, White Girl, The Witch, The Witness
X
X-Men: Apocalypse
Z
Zootopia

Eclectic Boredom

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Top 10 Movie of 2016

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