Top Ten Films of 2016

For some reason, this year felt underwhelming, so much so that I thought that maybe this was a bad year for cinema with the amount of disappointments I've seen. However, we should not focus so much on the bad, as I found out when making my top ten list for 2016 there have been some great gems this year, more so than I thought, and that's without seeing some of the most critically acclaimed films like Arrival, La la Land and The Handmaiden (trust me, I really wanted to find time to watch them all). So read on and find out what I thought were the best 10 films I've seen this year.

10. Captain America: Civil War

After a shaky year in 2015, it's nice to see the two latest Marvel films break my top ten again. For me Civil War was the sequel to The Avengers we should have had. At times it felt a little bloated with the amount of characters on screen but it was none the less an excellent time at the cinema with a more thought provoking storyline than most other blockbusters this year. You can check out my full review here.

9. 13th

This was one of the last films I saw in 2016 but easily the best documentary I have seen all year and the one that left the biggest impression on me. This is a documentary that showcases a history that I knew little to nothing about and I have a feeling that a lot of people may be in the same boat. This film is so shocking and important that it needs to be seen by everyone. Read my full review here.

8. Zootopia

A lot of the fears we have about what the world is coming to after this year were played out in family friendly and relatable ways in Zootopia. A lot of animation panders to both the kids and adults of its audience but never have I seen one walk the line as well as this, whilst also delivering a very smart and timely story. If we can bring these kind of moralistic messages to all family films then the world would be a lot better place. Check out my full review here.

7. Sing Street

When music and film come together beautiful things can happen, this is one of the best examples. My family is big into 80's music, I was practically raised on it, therefore I have a lot of love for the era. Mix that with a love of filmmaking (obviously) and coming of age stories then this film is an absolute treat. I highly recommend to anyone (it's my Dad's number 1 film of the year!). Check out my full review here.

6. Doctor Strange

Out of the two Marvel films we got this year I did not expect this one to be my favourite. I also did not expect this one to be the most fun I had in the cinema all year. I had an absolute blast, it felt so unique and I loved how at every familiar trope was a twist ready to take you by surprise. It felt like its own thing and really did encapsulate the screenwriters saying; 'the same but different'. Credit to both director, writers and everyone involved for creating a brilliantly crafted story with lots of exciting spectacle. Read my full review here.

5. The Girl With All the Gifts

I haven't seen this film in any top tens this year and I'm not really sure why? Just as I thought I was done with the zombie genre, this film comes along and reaffirms my faith that new, different and unique stories can be told within the familiar apocalypse structure, plus it's an excellent and faithful adaptation of the equally good book. This film has a lot of style and elegance in the way it tells its story whilst also being accompanied by the best score of the year. One of the most original zombie films ever made. Read my full review here.

4. 10 Cloverfield Lane

I feel like this was one of the most perfectly executed films of the year. So many small elements are brought together and are paid off to create a really smart, original and interesting storyline. It's great to see Dan Trachtenberg, from YouTube video fame, now being hailed as one of the most exciting up and coming filmmakers. After this excellent debut feature film, I really can't wait to see what he does next. Read my full review here.

3. Morris From America

This film came out of nowhere and hit me in a very personal way. Maybe I'm biased to this film because I also grew up in Germany but I also think there is a lot going on here that makes this one of the best coming of age stories I have ever seen. Even if you haven't grown up somewhere alien to you then there are still a lot of similar themes you can relate to, as well as being able to watch two of the best performances of the year from Markees Christmas and Craig Robinson. This probably didn't register on everybody's radar in 2016 so I urge you to go out and watch this one. Read my full review here.

2. Swiss Army Man

It's become apparent with this film, that any premise, no matter how wild, crazy or stupid, if treated with enough love and care can be made into one of the most heartfelt, truly human stories of the year. Okay some audiences may not get the absurdity, but if you give it the time of day then I dare you not to moved by this film. An absolute win for creative filmmaking, one of a kind performances and the human spirit. Read my full review here.

1. Everybody Wants Some!!

Yes, Richard Linklater tops my list yet again. He truly is the most interesting director working right now. This film, marketed as the 'spiritual sequel' to Dazed and Confused, may not feature the most relatable characters ever but it really does capture a feeling, an atmosphere and the emotions of moving away from home. It's been a year since I graduated from University and this one really did hit me hard, the experiences depicted may not be universal but the overall journey of the film feels familiar. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me want to hug Richard Linklater for just getting it so right, and yet again making my favourite film of the year. Read my full review here.

So there you go folks, my favourite films of the year. I should probably give shout outs to films that were very close to making this list such as The Nice Guys, The Green Room, The Fits and The Witch. There was some good to 2016, I am however very excited to see what the new year brings.

Let me know what were your favourite films of the year in the comments below.

Happy New Year everyone and thanks for reading!

Quick Reviews #15

Quite a few short reviews in this post here but I've seen quite a lot of new films recently so I thought you guys would like to read my thoughts. Enjoy!

Kubo and the Two Strings

A really beautiful stop motion fable that oozes creativeness and originality. Very refreshing to see in a year full of sequels, adaptations and reboots. I do worry that a younger audience may not fall in love with the strange mythology, or at times quite slow pace, but for now I’m just happy that it’s here. It also makes me feel very bad for not seeing any of the company’s previous work, time to change that…

4/5

Warcraft

Not as bad or as confusing as everyone has been banging on about. I quite enjoyed this one, it’s far from perfect but I had a good time in this world. I’ve never played the game, everything I know has been from the trailers and although I’m still not 100% clued up on everything that happened, I think I got the general gist of things pretty easily. I mean it’s messy in parts, drags near the end and could’ve been streamlined to maybe two or three main characters but overall I had fun and for the most part the effects were pretty darn impressive. If they make more, then I look forward to seeing where the story goes next.

3/5

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

I really enjoyed the first film, it was stupid yet a lot of fun, this one however, not so much. I didn’t really get that hooked with the story, barely any of the jokes landed and the action sequences just blurred into one by the end. The turtles themselves still look great and I like the fact that they went deeper into the source material, making thus truly feel like a Saturday morning cartoon brought to life, only not as well done as the previous film.

2/5

The Neon Demon

Okay, I think it’s time to say that Nicolas Winding Refn has gotten too big for his boots. Every times he makes a new film I hope that we get another Drive or Bronson, two of his films that I adore, but we’re not getting that, we’re getting just weirder and less coherent films that are only designed to shock the audience and it’s just getting tacky. It’s not that I didn’t get this film either, I got it, it pretty much hits you over the head with its ‘themes’ and ‘metaphors’. I feel like this film has a very narrow minded and stereotypical view of the modelling industry, like Refn wrote it without doing any research but went in with the same pre-conceptions that most of the public have about the industry, it says absolutely nothing new. Cinematography wise, yeah it still looks great, you can’t fault that, but I guess I was just hoping for more. The worst thing is that I will keep getting sucked into watching his films in the hope that any one of them may be his next Drive. People may laugh at me for rating this lower than some of the other films on this list but there’s nothing worse than a bad film which you had high expectations for…

1.5/5

Finding Dory

Not a scrap on the original but still fun. It really doubled down on the disability metaphor which meant for some interesting new characters. This was a nice sequel but there is no need for a threequel.

3.5/5

The Shallows

Simple yet sweet, a brilliant self-contained shark thriller that looks great and keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout. I really wasn’t expecting to like this as much as I did. Also the Shark CG looks great!

4/5

Keanu

I laughed a lot at this. I feel like it’s been a while since I saw a really good comedy and this just felt refreshing. Key and Peele are hilarious, it’s not a joke a minute but it’s so stupidly funny when they do land, I had a blast.

4/5

Sing Street

I love films that have music intertwined so romantically with them, this is one of those films. It’s charming, it’s funny, it’s the right amount of happy and sad and most of all, it’s inspiring. There are some aspects that I feel could have been more fleshed out but I don’t care that much because overall it was brilliant. One of the best films of the year so far.

4.5/5

Well I hope you enjoyed that slightly longer version of 'Quick Reviews'. Work has been pretty busy recently so I haven't had much time for film viewing, however I did just go to see The Girl with All the Gifts, so I hope to be able to review that one for you guys soon because it was great!

You can read even more reviews from me and check out some of my watching habits over on Letterboxd.

Thanks for reading!