So 2016 was a bust of a year, and 2017 seems like it is shaping up to compete with 2016's shit quality. Luckily, there is at least some good news on a personal level, as the wife and I are going to welcome our second child this summer. Just wish I felt more confident about the world we were bringing the kid into. So lately has been working around the house preparing our spare room and turn it into a proper room for the new baby, and getting our little one prepared for the coming addition. She seems pretty excited about it!
As I annually do for some reason, here is my Top 10 Movies of 2016:
10. Neon Demon
Nicholas Winding Refn isn't a filmmaker I've been following closely, but I really liked "Drive," and his latest film is stylish and creepy and pretty too look at, as it follows a young beautiful model as she enters the dark strange world of professional modeling. Just great too look at, with a very Argento feel too it all.
9. The Lobster
Just as weird a premise as a movie can have, enter hotel to find love, and if you don't, turned into an animal. It is a weird weird movie, but I really enjoyed it, even in it's second half when it began to drag a bit...it still had wonderfully weird ideas.
8. Loving
The story of the Loving couple, whose landmark case paved the way for it to be legal across the land to have interracial marriage...but what makes the movie great is that it barely focuses on the legal end of things, and instead focuses on the people, which makes it feel real.
7. Green Room
A band gets held hostage and must escape after witnessing a murder in the titular green room of a rock club owned by Neo-Nazis. Just a great gritty thriller.
6. Star Trek Beyond
I mean...I just love Star Trek, and this was the finest Trek film in year in my opinion. It blended that fun and freshness of the 2009 movie, with that classic Star Trek feel. It is a shame it didn't do better than the abysmal "Star Trek Into Darkness." As a Trek fan, this just put a smile on my face, and a warm feeling in my heart, and it was the only film on this list I went to see twice in the theater and made sure I got the blu-ray for Christmas.
5. Arrival
Every Fall we seem to get a solid intelligent sci-fi film now, and I am all for that. Amy Adams is great as a linguist who is called upon by the government to try and figure out a way to speak to an alien race that has landed on Earth, and try to understand their purpose on Earth. In the process she learns about herself...it is a character movie, it is a great smart sci-fi movie well made. For the sci-fi fans like me, I am so pleased we get something like this each fall.
4. Midnight Special
Another solid smarter sci-fi/fantasy picture from this year, and the second film by Jeff Nichols (the other being "Loving") to make my list. Nichols sort of channels Spielberg in this story about a dad trying to evade the law as he runs off with his son from a cult...but his son has some kind of magical powers, and may belong in another dimension. This year I really discovered Nichols, watching all of his films that lead up to "Midnight Special" and "Loving," and I realized he has quietly become one of the finest working directors today.
3. La La Land
I mean...how weird is it that a modern musical made it this high on my list? But "La La Land" is fun, well made, with good music, great stars with chemistry, and it feels like a throwback to the classic big Hollywood musicals of yesteryear, yet still felt fresh and modern...it was a good picture, one that evokes a classic cinema that I miss. Here's hoping it's success means we get more films like this, that evoke a little bit of hope and happiness.
2. Don't Breath
On the other end of the spectrum comes "Don't Breath," a horror-thriller about some young burglars hoping too pull of one last big job, which involves robbing a a bling vet...but this vet turns out to be more able than they realized...as the house is locked down and they must avoid him finding them and killing them, which means they can't make a single sound, must even muffle their breathing. And they find more surprises along the way...it is a great thriller - gritty, exciting, and a lot of fun.
1. The Witch
About as good a horror film as I have seen in some time. Just creepy from the word go, with beautiful cinematography, creepy imagery, and a tone that left me unsettled for a couple hours after watching. The kind of movie where I needed to turn the light on as soon as it ended! The language can be a difficult barrier, as the dialogue is pretty much entirely olde timey, but you get used to it, and if you get past that hurdle, well worth it. Best film of the year in my opinion, because it was highly effective as both a horror film, and just a piece of cinematic art in general. Top notch stuff.
As I annually do for some reason, here is my Top 10 Movies of 2016:
10. Neon Demon
Nicholas Winding Refn isn't a filmmaker I've been following closely, but I really liked "Drive," and his latest film is stylish and creepy and pretty too look at, as it follows a young beautiful model as she enters the dark strange world of professional modeling. Just great too look at, with a very Argento feel too it all.
9. The Lobster
Just as weird a premise as a movie can have, enter hotel to find love, and if you don't, turned into an animal. It is a weird weird movie, but I really enjoyed it, even in it's second half when it began to drag a bit...it still had wonderfully weird ideas.
8. Loving
The story of the Loving couple, whose landmark case paved the way for it to be legal across the land to have interracial marriage...but what makes the movie great is that it barely focuses on the legal end of things, and instead focuses on the people, which makes it feel real.
7. Green Room
A band gets held hostage and must escape after witnessing a murder in the titular green room of a rock club owned by Neo-Nazis. Just a great gritty thriller.
6. Star Trek Beyond
I mean...I just love Star Trek, and this was the finest Trek film in year in my opinion. It blended that fun and freshness of the 2009 movie, with that classic Star Trek feel. It is a shame it didn't do better than the abysmal "Star Trek Into Darkness." As a Trek fan, this just put a smile on my face, and a warm feeling in my heart, and it was the only film on this list I went to see twice in the theater and made sure I got the blu-ray for Christmas.
5. Arrival
Every Fall we seem to get a solid intelligent sci-fi film now, and I am all for that. Amy Adams is great as a linguist who is called upon by the government to try and figure out a way to speak to an alien race that has landed on Earth, and try to understand their purpose on Earth. In the process she learns about herself...it is a character movie, it is a great smart sci-fi movie well made. For the sci-fi fans like me, I am so pleased we get something like this each fall.
4. Midnight Special
Another solid smarter sci-fi/fantasy picture from this year, and the second film by Jeff Nichols (the other being "Loving") to make my list. Nichols sort of channels Spielberg in this story about a dad trying to evade the law as he runs off with his son from a cult...but his son has some kind of magical powers, and may belong in another dimension. This year I really discovered Nichols, watching all of his films that lead up to "Midnight Special" and "Loving," and I realized he has quietly become one of the finest working directors today.
3. La La Land
I mean...how weird is it that a modern musical made it this high on my list? But "La La Land" is fun, well made, with good music, great stars with chemistry, and it feels like a throwback to the classic big Hollywood musicals of yesteryear, yet still felt fresh and modern...it was a good picture, one that evokes a classic cinema that I miss. Here's hoping it's success means we get more films like this, that evoke a little bit of hope and happiness.
2. Don't Breath
On the other end of the spectrum comes "Don't Breath," a horror-thriller about some young burglars hoping too pull of one last big job, which involves robbing a a bling vet...but this vet turns out to be more able than they realized...as the house is locked down and they must avoid him finding them and killing them, which means they can't make a single sound, must even muffle their breathing. And they find more surprises along the way...it is a great thriller - gritty, exciting, and a lot of fun.
1. The Witch
About as good a horror film as I have seen in some time. Just creepy from the word go, with beautiful cinematography, creepy imagery, and a tone that left me unsettled for a couple hours after watching. The kind of movie where I needed to turn the light on as soon as it ended! The language can be a difficult barrier, as the dialogue is pretty much entirely olde timey, but you get used to it, and if you get past that hurdle, well worth it. Best film of the year in my opinion, because it was highly effective as both a horror film, and just a piece of cinematic art in general. Top notch stuff.
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