The 10 movies I enjoyed the most in 2016

This year I saw 32 movies in theaters, I know because I have a spreadsheet, and I have to say for me it’s been a good year overall. Of the 32 movies I saw in theaters 7 of them received “failing” grades, 13 got “C”s, 10 got “Bs”, and 2 got “A”s. Granted this is mostly because watching these movies cost me money so I’m not gonna just go watch any movie that comes out.

Before we get started here’s the movies I HAVEN’T seen this year but plan to: Keanu, Popstar, Manchester By The Sea, Everybody Wants Some, 20th Century Women, Moonlight, Hail Caesar.

Honorable Mention, or movies that didn’t make the cut because writing something about more than 10 movies would be boring for you: Hell or High Water, The BFG, Fences, Zootopia

Ok let’s get down to business…

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS BELOW SO IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THESE MOVIES DON’T READ THE LITTLE BLURB

10. 10 Cloverfield Lane

This movie absolutely nailed it in terms of atmosphere. John Goodman is fantastic as a creepy doomsday prepper,and Mary Elizabeth Winstead is almost as good. The best thing I can say about this movie is that it’s legitimately suspenseful. I get the feeling alot of people were turned off from seeing this movie because they expected another “found footage” like the first Cloverfield movie(I guess not alot of people like TJ Miller as much as I do?) but the truth is this movie can completely stand alone as its own movie. Frpm beginning to NEARLY the end of this movie you really have no idea what’s going to happen, and even though it takes place in mostly one set it’s never boring or dull. The ONLY thing I have against this movie is the ending. It just felt like….a bit rushed.

9. Pete’s Dragon

I love Pete’s Dragon. I genuinely do. Everything about this movie was wonderful but the MOST wonderful thing about this movie was the soundtrack. Seriously the music in this movie was some of the best in any movie I’ve ever seen. In moments the swelling of strings coupled with the majesty of Pete flying and the camera work made my eyes well up. It’s a shame this movie was overshadowed by the OTHER live action Disney movie about a savage young boy who interacts with a big beast. I feel Pete’s Dragon is gonna live on as a cult classic and I’m REALLY looking forward to what Director David Lowery and Composer Daniel Hart do with Disney’s live action “Peter Pan” because not since Hook has that story been done well. I can’t imagine how great the music is gonna be.

8. Sing Street

Let’s continue with the “wonderful” movies on the list. Sing Street was a delight, it was fun it had GREAT music. Great humor, a tremendous amount of heart and just overall fun! I guess this movie also shares the characteristic of having a GREAT soundtrack alongside Pete’s Dragon. I almost didn’t see this movie and it’s because of that second movie in yellow on the poster “Begin Again” I found Begin Again to be beyond cheesy,way too musically unrealistic, and just a series of moments that made me go “blegh”. I was so happy when Sing Street is everything Begin Again was not. THE ONLY problem with this movie is the ending…which admittedly IS cheesy. Still, I don’t fault it too much.

7. Moana

I know I’m not the first person to say this but thank you, John Lasseter! Since 2006 John Lasseter who founded Pixar has also been running Walt Disney Animation (alongside Ed Catmull who is also a Pixar guy) and has transformed the studio to the point where in my opinion they’re now making BETTER movies than Pixar. Seriously, look at the movies they’ve made since Lasseter/Catmull took over: Meet The Robinsons, Bolt, The Princess and The Frog, Tangled, Winnie The Pooh, Wreck It Ralph, Frozen, Big Hero 6, and finally Moana. Overall that lineup is AMAZING. The last four particularly, and I genuinely believe Moana is the best movie the studio has made. Great story telling, great visuals, great music and a “moral” that’s just great for a movie that will be seen by children. There’s no such thing as being “chosen” YOU have to make the choice to do it. Moana said it best near the end of the movie,

“I’ve delivered us to where we are
I have journeyed farther
I am everything I’ve learned and more
Still it calls me
And the call isn’t out there at all, it’s inside me”

and I feel this is as much true for US the viewer as it is for Walt Disney Animation, who is back to being the rightful king of the big budget western animation feature.

6. Don’t Think Twice

I’d like to think this movie is for everyone but I’m not sure it is. The fact that Ira Glass of This American Life produced it further reinforces this thought, but I urge you EVEN if you’re not down with the “hipster irony podcast listening” THING that I’ve been told “This American Life” exudes I urge you to watch this movie. This movie is FUNNY sure, but I wouldn’t say it’s a comedy. It’s a story about friends and dreams, and how people change as they do or don’t achieve success. It’s heart warming and bittersweet. It’s honest, to the point where at moments I felt like i was really listening in on REAL people having conversations. It’s also cool in that it gives you a view in to the world of “improv” which is where SNL gets most of its cast members or where most TV comedians have their background in.

5. Midnight Special

Midnight Special is the best super hero movie to come out this year. Or rather it’s the best “what would happen if someone with different abilities lived among us” movie of the year. What I liked most about this movie was that it was ALWAYS grounded. It never lost its believability and it was masterfully directed. There was just enough suspense and uneasiness about it that made SENSE given the subject matter. There were some great performances, great music, great visuals. Seriously go watch this movie.

4. Kubo and The Two Strings

I make no apologies about having TWO animated movies on this list. I love animation. Remember what I said earlier about Walt Disney Studios now coming back to being the rightful king of the “big budget western animation feature”? I feel like Laika is the king of the “art house” animation feature. Laika has more in common with Studio Ghibli than with Pixar or WDSA. Both Laika and Ghibli have picked a very difficult way to make movies, but both make movies that look and feel like nothing else out there. I feel like Kubo was the pinnacle of stop motion. The visuals in this movie are without comparison, but it’s not just a pretty visual. The story is really cool, for an animation movie which kids might see I even feel it might be a bit creepy at times, which is great.The music is amazing, and the humor in the movie is just right. I loved Kubo.

3. The Nice Guys

Shane Black nails it. Everything in this movie is good. The visuals, the music, the costumes, the camera work, the music, the HUMOR, the casting. Ryan Gosling is a really good comedic actor. It’s unfair how good that guy is at being funny. Russell Crowe plays the perfect humorless hardass(I wonder why?) and Angourie Rice who plays Ryan Gosling’s daughter is great in this movie too. What I loved most about this movie is that the world which was created is both funny and lighthearted and incredibly dangerous. It genuinely FEELS like the 70s were, an era where kids played with toys painted with lead paint. I also feel like seeing Gosling and Crowe together in this movie was like the first time I saw Gosling and Emma Stone together, it works and I hope I see it again sometime.

2. Arrival

To say that Arrival blew me away would be an understatement. I was so into this movie that a point in the movie when my wife leaned over to comment something I shushed her. First time I’d ever done that. Take the best part of Contact and Interstellar and you’ve got something that kinda resembles Arrival. Visually the movie is unparalleled in the world of sci fi. Sonically it’s amazing. The story is unique and the design is great. Amy Adams carries this movie in a masterful way, in fact after seeing this movie I WISH Denis Villenueve had used Amy Adams in Sicario instead of Emiliy Blunt, because as much as I love Emily Blunt I think she failed in carrying that movie. There’s been more and more movies dealing with “time travel” or the notion of it and I feel like Arrival handled this in a way that was much more elegant than the tesseract of Interstellar, and it did it in a “The Prestige” kind of way in which it makes you want to watch the movie again right after. Also like Interstellar this movie deals with the human ideal of love in a super unique way. Great movie all around.

1. La La Land

What a delightful surprise.

La La Land starts with a musical number in the traffic of L.A. through which I almost didn’t make it. I’m a musical guy sure, but something about this first song made me go “oh boy…” but the movie just picks up from there. When Ryan Gosling’s character get introduced the movie gets better, when I saw Gosling’s character play “I ran” on the keytar I was fully in. Again, how unfair is it that this guy can be THAT funny with his body language alone(also this dude learned how to play the piano). But still the movie kept getting better and better, from the great tap dancing number(in 2016?!) to the explanation of what jazz is and isn’t, to the dancing in the stars all told with an amazing soundtrack. It didn’t stop getting better. A couple that had genuine chemistry. The full progression from beginning to end of a couple. The best audition song ever. A heartbreaking bittersweet resolution.The lighting of the scenes! The music! so much of the story telling was done with just a dance and music. This movie overwhelmed me. The last scene in particular was done in such a wonderful way that I felt like such a tool for ever doubting this movie. If anything was needed this year was an earnest, delightful, charming movie that reminds us why we watch movies to being with. Thank you Damien Chazelle.