I haven’t made a list
like this in a few years. Time I got back to it. I’ll try not to get as verbose
as I have the last few times I did this. I just want to point out two things
before I start. Firstly, I haven’t been seeing as many flicks as I used to back
in the day, which is the main reason I haven’t really produced an official list
in awhile. If there is something that you think was incredible that you feel I
somehow omitted, chances are I didn’t see it. Secondly, this is my list of
“favorite” films. Favorite doesn’t necessarily mean “best.” These are the top
ten experiences I had in a movie theatre in the past year. The ones that were
the most enjoyable to me. The ones that appealed to my particular sensibilities
the most. And trust me, 2016 was a year where I really needed escapism.
Honorable
Mentions
Before I get to the
official list, I'd like to mention a few films that didn't quite make the cut
this year. Good enough to recommend, but not a top ten pick for me.
Hail Caesar was a lesser Coen brother’s comedy featuring Josh Brolin
as Eddie Mannix, a studio executive in old Hollywood whose job it is “fix”
problems. Particularly, to track down the studio’s biggest star, played by
George Clooney, who vanished in the middle of a film shoot. This is great off-kilter
comedy delivered as only the Coen brothers can.
Star Trek Beyond is the third Trek movie that takes place in what has come to be
known as the Kelven timeline, and the first of this trilogy not to be directed
by JJ Abrams. This time it’s Justin Lin in the directors chair working from a
script co-written by Simon Pegg (who plays Scotty in the film). It’s a lot more
fun than the last one, and the movie does a nice job of giving each character
their place in the spotlight. Although this isn’t the Star Trek I grew up with,
it offered some truly enjoyable escapism.
Green Room features, sadly, one of the last performances of the
talented young actor Anton Yelchin who died tragically last year, as well as an
atypical performance by the great Patrick Stewart, who played a Neo-Nazi club
owner. The plot finds a punk band fending off attacks by Neo-Nazi’s in the
pacific northwest after seeing something they really shouldn’t have in a
Skinhead bar. This is a great, intense, bottle-film with masterfully handles
suspense as well as explosive action.
The VVitch: A New England Folktale is a chilling, slow-burn of a period horror film about a
family of Puritans who are exiled from their village and must face an evil
force plaguing them from the deep, unexplored, forest. The 17th
century language and attention to details were astounding, as were the
performances and the very genuine sense of impending doom.
But enough with the appetizers, lets get to the main course!
My Top 10
Films of 2016:
#10: Don’t Breathe
In this clever twist
on the home invasion horror flick, directed and co-written by Fede Alvarez,
three ne’er-do-well teens break into an old blind man’s house, hoping for an
easy score. Unfortunately for them the old man, played by the fantastic Stephen
Lang, is the most terrifyingly deadly human being imaginable. High jinks ensue.
Not for the faint of heart.
#9: 10 Cloverfield Lane
This terrific
psychological thriller is the spiritual successor to the 2008 found-footage,
giant monster flick, Cloverfield.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays a young woman who is abducted and held in a
bunker by an apparently unhinged man, played brilliantly by John Goodman, who
claims to be protecting her from some kind of apocalyptic event. The film is
incredibly effective as a thriller, but in the last ten minutes or so it
switches gears and turns into something so amazing and unexpected that I can’t
even hint as to what it is without spoiling the experience for you. Just go and
see it!
#8: Swiss Army Man
This is, without a
doubt, the strangest, most original, most unexpected thing I saw in 2016.
Describing the plot is going to be nearly impossible, so I’ll just say that
it’s about a suicidal man and a corpse, played respectively by Paul Dano and
Daniel Radcliffe, who develop a unique friendship as they try to escape being
marooned on a deserted island. Think Castaway meets Weekend at Bernie’s only
somehow deeper and more thought provoking than either of those films.
#7: Doctor Strange
I’m a sucker for comic book films, and no one does comic book
films better than Marvel Studios. In this one Benedict Cumberbatch plays an
arrogant surgeon who loses his fine motor skills after a serious car accident
crushes his hands. Exhausting all medical means to restore his ability to
perform surgery, he turns to mysticism to cure his handicap. In doing so he
finds a power within himself he never knew he possessed and is drawn into a
bizarre occult world. As much as I enjoyed the story and the characters, my
favorite thing about this movie was the special effects, which mirrored the
artwork of Steve Ditko, co-creator of the Doctor Strange character with Stan
Lee. I don’t say this often, but it’s totally worth it to see this one in IMAX
3D.
#6: The Nice Guys
In 1970s Los Angeles two schlubby private eyes, played by
Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, bumble their way through an investigation into
the death of a porn star. This was written and directed by Shane Black, the
same guy responsible for Kiss Kiss Bang
Bang, one of my favorite flicks, and while it’s not as good as that one, it
still features Black’s signature dialogue, action, and fantastic character
interactions.
#5: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
This is, without a doubt, the best Star Wars prequel ever made.
Not that a really high bar has been set for Star Wars prequels. This is also
the first Star Wars film to truly deal with the heavy cost of war. Indeed, this
is a genuine war film set in the Star Wars universe which tells the story of
the brave band of Rebel’s whose job it was to steal the plans for the Death
Star from the Galactic Empire. The end of this film fits seamlessly into the
beginning of Star Wars Episode Four: A
New Hope, and is especially heartbreaking considering the recent, untimely
death of Carrie Fisher.
#4: Hell or High Water
In this modern day
western, Chris Pine and Ben Foster play a pair of brothers from West Texas who
start robbing banks in a scheme to save the family farm while being pursued by
a couple of dogged Texas Rangers, played by Jeff Bridges and Gil Brimingham. It
is the fascinating parallel relationships between the two groups of men as well
as the complex moral gray areas this film delves into that sets it above the
typical western.
#3: Arrival
This is the best hard
science fiction movie I’ve seen in years. Amy Adams plays a linguistics expert
hired to communicate with a mysterious group of aliens whose spacecrafts are
hovering in twelve locations across the planet. This is a story more about
ideas than action, and the ideas explored are fantastic. The end of this film
manages to be both devastating and hopeful in equal measure, which is no easy
trick. Challenging and beautiful, the twist ending really stayed with me.
Seriously, I just can’t recommend this enough.
#2: Deadpool
The
popular Deadpool comic book character is brought brilliantly to the big screen
by director Tim Miller and actor Ryan Reynolds, who plays the titular title
character. Not only is this one of the few successful R-rated comic book movies
ever made, but it also serves as the first real superhero comedy, and it is
hilarious. The plot, about a loud mouthed, mentally unstable, mercenary who is
subjected to an experiment which grants him accelerated healing powers but makes
his face look like undercooked meatloaf, is a pretty by-the-numbers superhero
origin story. What makes it great is the dark sense of humor and clever
writing, which subverts typical superhero genre conventions and makes familiar
comic book tropes hilarious.
And now,
my favorite movie of 2016...
#1: Captain America: Civil War
As
I said, and as this list proves, I am a sucker of a good super hero movie, and
this one is incredible. This is the thirteenth movie in the series of films
making up the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the third film to focus on the
heart of that universe, Steve Rogers AKA Captain America. Not only does the
plot change the core dynamic of that universe from here on out, but it features
the absolute best on-screen superhero battle ever put on film. It is packed
with characters, but because most of them have already been introduced in their
own movies, it does not seem overcrowded the way Batman v Superman and Suicide
Squad did. This is also the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to
feature Spider-Man, my personal favorite comic book character, and even though
his screen time is limited, this is the most true to the source material
Spider-Man we’ve ever seen. But beyond all of the amazing action and spectacle and
all of the strong supporting characters, this is a movie about the fracturing
of the relationship between Tony Stark AKA Iron Man and Steve Rogers. The
viewer is presented with two very strong protagonists with opposing points of
view, both of which are totally valid. Both of these men are honorable and try
to find a peaceful resolution to their conflict, but in the end their
differences prove to be too big for them to resolve and it’s all kind of heart
breaking.
For
someone not as invested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as I am, I can see how
this movie wouldn’t be on the top of their list. But for me, who has followed
and loved these characters since I was a child, this was exactly the balance of
character driven drama and cinematic thrill ride that I want beamed into my
eyeballs every year.
Let me know what you
all thought. What were your top ten? Did I miss anything spectacular? Am I
completely off the mark on anything?
John Michael Decker is an actor living in Brooklyn who
loves movies, comic books, and wearing hats.
Copyright 2017 John Michael Decker.
No reprints without written permission.
