Best of 2016 - Print Topic

Time to kick this thread off. A handful of films I still haven't seen this year; in the unlikely event you're interested which ones, hit me back and I will tell you. In any case, my list has more or less taken form, with only two or three films having the potential to sway me. Let me know your "best of." As for me...

Best (alphabetical order):

Elle
Green Room
The Handmaiden
Hell or High Water
High-Rise
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
The Neon Demon
Sausage Party
Wiener-Dog
The VVitch

Honorable Mention (alphabetical):

Don't Breathe
La La Land
The Shallows

Worst: Phantasm: Ravager/Yoga Hosers

Dishonorable Mention: Colonia

Biggest Surprise: The VVitch

Biggest Disappointment: Phantasm: Ravager

Plan on watching:

Arrival
Julieta
Paterson

Will be avoiding most of the Oscar-buzz films this year for a change. In my experience, and upon reflecting on past winners/nominees, most of them are great to pretty good but have no staying power whatsoever. I've put some of them on Best Of lists in the past, even in high positions, but then have never watched them again, even if they're on TV. Out of Best Picture winners alone, I think the most recent one I give two shits about to this day would be No Country for Old Men.

Once again, let me know your "best of." I use the phrase in the loosest of terms. For me, it's simply catchy but I essentially mean your favorites. Don't sweat it! :)

Can't pick a best yet as there are many for me to see. I can say on the most disappointing in terms of expectations I have Hail Ceasar - I expected much better

2016 was, sadly, my worst moviegoing attendence in recent memory. I only saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Lights Out, and Ghostbusters in theaters this year.

So many movies I wanted to see, but never got around to it, and plus, money's tight. Try going to a movie when you're broke. :P

Quoted from James McClung

Biggest Surprise: The VVitch

Best film I have seen this year. Loved it -- but other people I know hated it -- so I guess it is one of "those" films. The third act may or may not go one step too far. I still haven't decided.

Why are you typing it with two Vs, James?

Quoted from James McClung

Biggest Disappointment: Phantasm: Ravager

Yep. Not sure what I expected, exactly, but I expected more. Only hard-core fans of this particular franchise need apply.

Arrival was one of the best movies of the past few years, and I generally dislike sci-fi. I can't believe it got made.

Quoted from bert

Agreed. I don't sweat the hate. Divisiveness is a common trait amongst the best films IMO. I've yet to hear any detractors recommend a better horror movie this year (as you can see above, I didn't think Don't Breathe was one of them).

As for the two Vs, The VVitch is the official title of the film as far as I'm concerned. It's what appears in the credits and on the posters. I try to honor those kinds of details where I can. Plus two Vs are more occult, i.e. cooler.

My list:

The VVitch
First Girl I Loved
The Handmaiden
Maggie's Plan
Silence
American Honey
Train to Busan
Elle
Love & Friendship
Hacksaw Ridge

Honourable (?) mention:

The Greasy Strangler

Haven't seen lots, including:

Paterson
Fences
Moonlight
Arrival
The Fits

Very cool stuff this year, in my opinion. Some solid and fun genre entries (Don't Breathe, The Shallows, Lights Out, Green Room), the best of shitty new Star Trek (Beyond), the best Marvel film ever (Deadpool), the best spoof film in years (Fifty Shades of Black), some great unintentional hilarity (God's Not Dead 2, Mechanic: Resurrection, Gods of Egypt), some unexpectedly strong sequels (Ouija, Barbershop, Neighbours, Bridget Jones), some cool innovations (Sausage Party, Hardcore Henry), and Michael Bay managed to sneak in one more non-robot film (13 Hours) before continuing to waste his talent on Transformers 5.

Top 3
1. Hell or High Water
2. The VVitch
3. Green Room

Also enjoyed
10 Cloverfield Lane
Star Trek Beyond
Deadpool

Still on the watch list (at some point)
Rogue One
Magificant 7
Arrival
Dont Breathe
Passengers
Accountant
Hacksaw
Deepwater Horizon
Snowden

Quoted from Heretic

Honourable (?) mention:

The Greasy Strangler

As strange as this sounds, I would rank this toward the bottom half of this year's list. Nothing wrong with the content. You don't walk into something called The Greasy Strangler and not know what you're getting into. Much of it delivers, but after a while, it seems to run out of steam, one of the few things you can rightly hold a film like this accountable for. I also wish the actual "strangler" plotline was more developed (feels more incidental than anything), as I think it would've balanced some of the absurdist elements out that get to be sorta aimless by the end.

That said, I mention all this simply to discuss the film. Can't believe anyone else saw it. Can't believe I saw it. Some proper weird shit.

Quoted from Penoyer79

10 Cloverfield Lane

Totally forgot about this one. Would swap out La La Land for it in my honorable mention.

In the past, I was really excited to share my top 10. This year, not so much. Whereas in 2015, I couldn't wait to show other people movies like Mad Max or Bone Tomahawk, this year I'm just kinda meh. I'm not saying these films aren't amazing. They're just not must-sees right away. But alas, we have...

1. The Witch
2. La La Land
3. Arrival
4. Hunt for the Wilderpeople
5. Green Room
6. Don't Breathe
7. Kubo and the Two Strings
8. Hell or High Water
9. Popstar: Never Stop Stopping
10. The Neon Demon

Honorable mentions: Rogue One, Manchester By the Sea

Lastly, Moonlight deserves to win best picture of the year. While it didn't resonate with me personally, it needed to be made, needs to be watched, and needs to win Best Picture.

Oh and I didn't see the following: Elle, The Handmaiden, Paterson, Sing Street, American Honey, Don't Think Twice, Silence, Loving, or Fences

Well it looks like I gotta check " The Witch" out :)

Quoted from James McClung

Biggest Disappointment: Phantasm: Ravager

This one doesn't get talked about much. Absolutely horrible.

I too liked The Witch. One of the rare movies where I really liked the child actors. They did a good job.

Just saw Don't Think Twice and it's definitely top ten material. The acting, writing, and directing are all top notch. Check it out, even if you think the premise and characters seem insufferable on the surface (like me).

Quoted from albinopenguin

Lastly, Moonlight deserves to win best picture of the year. While it didn't resonate with me personally, it needed to be made, needs to be watched, and needs to win Best Picture.

It needs to win best picture based on concept alone?

Mine... in no paticular order

Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Green Room
Arrival
The Witch
Room
Train to Busan
Don't Breathe
Bone Tomahawk
Sing Street
Creed
Belle
Deadpool
Neon Demon

There was also some great TV, Stranger Things in particular, but liking Designated Survivor too.

Quoted from AnthonyCawood

bone tomahawk and creed are actually 2015 films.... still good movies though.

I go by films released theatrically in the country of the person making the list. That only seems practical. Technically, it's the festival premiere that makes a film's release date official, which would make The VVitch and Green Room, among others, 2015 films.

Quoted from Demento

It needs to win best picture based on concept alone?

Of course not. It's an incredible film with amazing visuals, solid direction, and a compelling story. That being said, it didn't quite resonate with me as much as I would have liked. But that doesn't mean it's not one of the best pictures of the year.

Furthermore, winning best picture is a sign of the times. And therefore, Moonlight deserves to win.

As much as I would like for La La Land to win best picture, it's almost pure Oscar bait. Seriously, the theaters in LA probably had to hire an additional janitorial team just clean up the buckets of ejaculate left in the theaters after every showing.

To be honest. 90% of movies that win Oscars and Golden Globes these days bored me out of my fucking skull.

I agree with albinopenguin that most movies win based on the current climate. Movies with socially relevant themes usually have an advantage.

I don't care for award shows, but I think La La Land will likely win Best Picture this picture. Moonlight might upset it though.

Quoted from Penoyer79

To be honest. 90% of movies that win Oscars and Golden Globes these days bored me out of my fucking skull.

Same: Seen one race/gay/poor/tranny film, you've seen them all.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films

Same: Seen one race/gay/poor/tranny film, you've seen them all.

LMAO! Where's the "Like" button in this place? I'd have broken my finger clicking it just now.

Same can be said for any genre... Super Hero, Action, SciFi, themes and plots are often repetitive.

But a good script, interesting characters and a good production differentiate even similar sounding films.

12 Years a Slave, Selma and Belle... all films that deal with race, but all different and I enjoyed them all.

Guess a lot of it comes down to personal taste, Oscar films tend to be Drama, genre films don't tend to get a look in.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films

Same: Seen one race/gay/poor/tranny film, you've seen them all.

In the Heat of the Night, Kiss of the Spider Woman, All About my Mother, Midnight Cowboy, The Crying Game, The Grapes of Wrath, Mississippi Burning...perhaps The Handmaiden this year...

They've more recently skewed towards boring Issues movies, but I think even the Academy has made plenty of picks that prove you wrong.

Yeah, I agree, Chris.

Personally, I currently watch more art house cinema than mainstream. Last year I watched an Asian drama about a grandma suffering from leprosy while teaching a chef to cook perfect biscuits . Great movie, but it's not in the multiplex.

There are "diverse" movies that have a wholly different approach to filmmaking. And you can see them all around the world. They're just not found at the big "buy me places". I just can recommend to watch out for other marketplaces to find "different". It's just logical.

Anyway, I don't watch those flicks because I want to feel so clever, more it is due to the fact that 2016's commercial filmmaking didn't offer a lot to my personal taste.

Then I remember times before, when there were big pictures like Gravity: I mean, hell, what an opening scene alone� Have I seen something like that before? Definitely not. Fantastic stuff.

The point is I think that people take no time for choosing which movie may be good for them. They rather like to consume and are later surprised it's the usual stuff.

Quoted from Heretic

Of course. Mississippi Burning is one of my favorite movies.

Saw Paterson. Jarmusch being Jarmusch. Fans'll dig it. Others may or may not. Probably won't change any opinions on Adam Driver either way.

Theater was small but packed, and the audience had a great time. So did I. Top 10 film for me, for sure.

Quoted from Heretic

Not really.

I've seen all of those films.  None of the others I've seen over the last two/three decades has added a single thing.

I like genre films,  and I like very strange films... But the types of issue Films that the academy likes bore me to tears.

I just don't understand the concept of them.  Slavery is bad? Poverty is dehumanising? The Holocaust was a bit of a low point?  No shit.