Baumer's best 42 films of 2016 (and 12 worst) and Ruk's breakdown of 2016 films (Finished!)

[Plain Old Tele]

1 hour ago, baumer said:

Buddy, take back that like you gave me for the Moonlight post.  I know how much you liked both of those films.

 

1 hour ago, cannastop said:

Passive-aggressive likes are a forum tradition.

 

I give likes on all these lists, dammit.  

[Jason]

1 hour ago, Telemachos said:

I give likes on all these lists, dammit.  

 

Likewise, if it's not obvious by now, I like every single post in these lists regardless of whether or not I agree because I appreciate the perspectives and the write-up even when I don't agree (or more often, have no personal opinion because I haven't seen the film).

 

Particularly liked the Gods of Egypt write-up, it really is a guilty pleasure - there are parts/aspects of it that are pretty awful, but the entertaining parts of it were entertaining enough for me I had that feeling of "you know, I'm liking this a lot more than I thought I would."

 

Also, I haven't seen Civil War yet, but that write-up resonated with me because I was warned against watching it by a friend who liked it but said a non-fan like me probably wouldn't, and alluded to some of the things Baumer describes in more detail. I also got a laugh out of Baumer saying he's not sure how he made it to end of it, because my parents really did both fall asleep before the half-hour mark, and woke up about an hour later and left. Was actually a lifetime-first for my mom, she's the sort of person who is super-hyper and can't nap even when sleep-deprived.

Edited January 22, 2017 by Jason

[Daxtreme]

7 hours ago, Telemachos said:

 

It's very much a western action film as opposed to a HK or kung-fu one. Have you never seen another Statham action movie? (TRANSPORTER, etc).

 

It's that kind huh.

 

Well, one can hope

 

Are they really always the same? I only saw a couple ones, at most, can't even remember the titles. 

[baumer]

#21

Keanu

Directed by Peter Atencio

Starring:  Keegan Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Anna Faris

Box office:  20.5 million

 

What has been achieved here is almost illogical. A couple of what some people would call rather bland characters are going through personal crisis of their own. One day, Keanu, the most charming kitten ever put on a movie, makes an appearance, only to be "catnapped" a few days later but not before he has left graphic proof that he is one most charismatic and photogenic four-legged creatures out there.

It becomes apparent that we need to have a striking animal to portray Keanu, or any of his various incarnations. He has vivid, beautiful eyes, and he appears to hit every mark exactly. Our couple of heroes are promptly surrounded by some very nefarious criminals, people who wouldn't think twice before coming up with some nasty resolutions to solve their problems. One of them has fallen for Keanu's charms, and we see how Keanu is properly attired to fit in his new surroundings. Deals are made, things get more and more complicated, with people being quickly eliminated when they pose a problem or become annoying because these bad guys have a very short fuse and jumpy nerves.

Although most of the action is average and predictable, what one enjoys the most is the silliness of the whole thing as our couple of naive characters are soon seduced by their newly found popularity and fame. Here we are some average people attracted to the world of the bad guys, sometimes realizing every action has a consequence, especially as the number of murder keeps going up.

There's a great scene in the middle as one couple of criminals goes into an affluent client's home and is soon involved in a very strange series of games, with Anna Farris doing a great and absurd take on the ultimate crazy millionaire.

What attracted me to this movie in the first place was some of the George Michael stuff.  I'd never heard of Key and Peele before (since this movie, I've seen the absurdly funny black teacher skit, where he mispronounces the names of white students, pretty damn funny stuff) but their brand of humour is definitely something that appeals to me.  So the George Michael music kind of had me intrigued.  With his unfortunate passing, this film becomes almost a tribute to him.  It's worth seeing for many reasons, one of them is the music of Michael.

 

[baumer]

#20

Blair Witch

Directed by Adam Wingard

Starring:  Callie Hernandez, James Allen McCune

Box office:  45 million

 

I did a complete 180 on this one.  The first time I saw it, I pretty much hated it.  It was such a wasted opportunity and there were two or three scenes that should have been in here and they completely ignored what could have been some terrific scenes that would have upped the scare factor.  Another big problem with the film is that it got two or three really strong reviews that made it sound like this was going to redefine the genre.  And that just made people that much more excited.  But the inherent conundrum here is that the film is not a linear straight up horror like the original.  This one got too cute and too clever for its own good.  And if you are watching the movie looking for something to scare the shit out of you like the original did, then you will be disappointed.  Now, I'll admit that after I saw the film for the first time, I did research on it.  I just felt like I was missing something.  And it turns out I was.  This does make the film better in my eyes, and if you have wherewithal and the patience to do what I did, you might end up liking it more as well.  I realize a film is supposed to stand on its own without you having to seek outside sources to understand it, and I understand why people hated it...for good reason.  But for me personally, I liked digging and trying to find out what Wingard and Barrett were going for.  They really did take the mythology of the original and expand on it, in a huge way.  But again, the problem is you shouldn't have to do this to find the good in the film.  Maybe I'm being too lenient because I like both the writer and the director and because I loved the mythology of the first.  I still think they missed a few opportunities to scare the hell out of us, but as it stands, this is still a good film, it's just it could have been great.

 

[baumer]

#19

Collateral Beauty

Directed by:  David Frankel

Starring:  Will Smith, Edward Norton, Helen Miren

Box office:  75 million

 

For me it is one of the best films of 2016 due to its plot and acting. This is why I personally don't listen to critics.  They clearly saw something in this I didn't.  In fact, it's strange that a film like Manchester by the Sea can be universally praised and this one is almost universally panned.  They both deal with loss but in different ways.  I could relate to both characters in both films.  They both handle grief in different ways.  I felt a kinship with Smith's character in this.  I didn't lose a child but I remember when my mother passed away, the wish for more time with her was so painful.  I of course loved her but felt like I never told her enough and again, I wanted that time back but her death robbed me of that time.  These are the three central themes in the movie.  Smith has lost his daughter to a rare form of cancer and he writes letters to Time, Love and Death.  They respond to him and try to teach him to live again.  All I can do is tell you how the movie made me feel from my perspective.  And from my perspective it resonated with me because of the strong writing and the terrific performances from all involved, especially from Will Smith.  This is a film about dealing with loss and with grief and with regret and how long it takes to put it all back together again.  The ending has what amounts to one of the emotional scenes from any film from 2016.  I didn't see it coming even though there were subtle hints dropped throughout.  I'm glad I didn't figure it out because when you finally see what it is, it hits you, hard.  And Smith really is magnificent.  He spends much of the film being angry and hesitant and at times, he seems like he's going to snap out of things.  And then the ending.....I'll admit it made me break down and weep with him.  

Collateral Beauty is a terrific film and one I hope all of you eventually see.  Don't listen to the critics.  

 

 

[rukaio101]

Woot! Finally got my router fixed! Back to my list!

 

30. Batman and Robin: Return of the Caped Crusaders

 

 

Give it up for the only good DC movie this year, folks! An goofy homage to Adam West's Batman at its finest. Honestly, I feel a little bit guilty not putting this higher, because it really is a top quality homage to the 60s series. They go all out in trying to preserve that sense of fun and camp that made the old series enjoyable, up to and including getting several of the old cast back (including Adam West and Burt Ward). And, quite frankly, the story captures so much of the fun of the original series while still keeping it enjoyable for contemporary audiences who might be new to that style of Batman.

 

I'll admit I've not seen that much of the ’60 series and I don’t really feel I appreciate it as much as I should, but I still enjoyed the hell out of this. It has a winking, playful sense of humour and it's clear that the filmmakers loved and understood the original series it was based on and tried to do it justice (up to and including heavily implied homoeroticism). And quite frankly, in an era where DC films seems to be obsessed with dark and gritty (and has no ability to pull it off), this movie shines all the brighter. (It's saying a lot when *mild spoilers* Adam West's evil Batman still feels like a nicer guy than BvS's Batman.) But even without that, it’s still a fun movie and the only shining jewel in the turd sandwich that was the rest of DC’s 2016 output.

[rukaio101]

29. The Jungle Book

 

 

You know, I’m actually not that fond of the original Disney Jungle Book movie? Yeah, I can respect its position in history and the leaps forward it made in animation and yadda yadda, but I found the film itself fairly dull. So in that respect, the 2016 Jungle Book is the perfect remake for me, a movie that genuinely expands and improves on its predecessor. Still don't care that much for the original story, but this movie did a damn good job at trying to make me care.

 

Honestly, I don't know what it is about Disney's recent live-action remakes that keeps surprising me. Sure Maleficent was terrible, but Cinderella last year was a relatively pleasant treat. And this movie only improves on that. It had good acting, good drama, excellent effects as mentioned and, of course, Idris Elba being effortlessly badass and terrifying. I honestly jumped in my seat at a few of his scenes. Even the kid actor was pretty damn good. And considering the usual standards of child actors and the fact that he was interacting with blue screens for most of the movie, that's really damn impressive.

 

Still, the fact remains that I’m still not that fond of the Jungle Book story, so I can’t put this much higher. But it’s a very worthy remake that Beauty and the Beast is really going to have to try to live up to later in 2017.

[rukaio101]

28. The Conjuring 2

 

 

Don’t really need to say much about this, do I? James Wan is very damn good at doing what he does. And even in a year that had quite a lot of standout horror movies, the Conjuring 2 still ranks among the better ones. Does it retread on the first a bit? Maybe. Does every scare land? No. Did it feel a little overlong? Yeah. But it’s still a good story with a likeable cast of characters and some real fun, unique scares. The scene with the nun’s shadow and the portrait was a particular standout worth mentioning, as was the Crooked Man. And quite frankly, creating a sequel that captures even part of what made the first Conjuring great is pretty damn impressive.

 

It's a hell of a lot better than Insidious 2 and Annabelle to say the least. Also, staring at that portrait while I type this out is going to give me nightmares for weeks

[rukaio101]

27. Ouija: Origin of Evil

 

 

I was 50/50 over whether or not to put this above The Conjuring 2. Ultimately though, I think it came down to one thing. While the Conjuring had a lot of great ideas and scares, there were still moments (especially near the climax) where I found myself feeling bored. That never happened with this movie. Sure, it wasn’t always scary (and sometimes came off as unintentionally hilarious, especially towards the end) but it kept me entertained all the way through.

 

I never saw the first Ouija movie myself and, on paper, this movie doesn’t look much better. A family of fake psychics being haunted? That just makes it sound like the main characters are going to be pricks who deserve what’s coming. But I was surprised by how much I ended up caring for the family in this movie. These characters could easily have been painted with the broad ‘asshole’ brush that so many horror movies end up doing (*cough* Don’t Breathe *cough*) but instead they make them likeable characters with understandable reasons (in their own eyes) for what they’re doing. When the mother of the family states that they’re just trying to give people closure, it doesn’t feel like the half-hearted self-justification of a conman, it feels genuine (although whether that stops it from being a self-justification is debatable). You care about these characters and want to see what will happen to them.

 

Now, is this a perfect horror movie? No. It does get a bit over-the-top in the third act and it could easily be argued that it’s not that scary, but I still enjoyed the hell out of it and it never left me feeling bored once.

[rukaio101]

26. Storks

 

 

One of the more underrated animated movies this year (and 2016 has had a lot of great animated movies), this movie takes a really stupid premise and… well… okay, it’s still a really stupid premise in the movie proper. But it tells a really funny and enjoyable story with it.

 

Honestly, I laughed at this movie more than I laughed at several out-and-out comedies this year. The comedic timing is superb, the two mains have excellent chemistry, some of the gags are really inventive and there's a good supporting cast (the Wolf Pack in particular were a ton of fun to watch). It's not something to take too seriously, but it's not something that's trying to be taken too seriously. It's just aiming to be a light animated flick that's a ton of silly, over-the-top fun and, quite frankly, I think it hits the bullseye. 

[rukaio101]

25. The Magnificent Seven

 

 

You know, Antoine Fuqua is a director who I think has a very distinct, recognisable style. And, honestly... it’s not one I’m that fond of. For me, his movies are slow, overblown, grey and often lose my interest because of it, despite often having otherwise interesting premises. Both Olympus has Fallen and The Equalizer ended up being movies I should've enjoyed on paper, but liked a lot less largely because of that style. So I was a bit uncertain going into this movie. But, honestly, as this movie quickly showed me, that slow pensive style really makes Fuqua an excellent choice to direct a Spaghetti Western.

 

Seriously, every piece of Fuqua’s style that I usually can’t stand just works here. The slowness works to create tense standoffs only to be fiercely contrasted with (and complimented by) the overblown action. The greyness helps create an old timey period feel that fits the mood and tone of the movie just perfectly. It all just works. I've never seen a directorial style more tailor-made for a certain genre than I have here.

 

Now, I’ll admit, a decent part of this movie’s position this high may be down my natural bias towards traditional Westerns, but I honestly did feel this movie really did a good job of capturing the style of those old, gritty flicks. The heroes were morally grey, the villain was hammy while still remaining threatening, the action was fun while still keeping a sense of gravitas, the side cast was colourful, even the cheesier moments were great. Sure it kinda bungled the message of the original Seven Samurai in favour of a cheesy title drop, but it all still worked for me. Forget the Lone Ranger, I’d like to see more Westerns like this, thank you very much.

[rukaio101]

24. 10 Cloverfield Lane

 

 

An excellent little thriller. Good premise, good acting (especially from John Goodman), good tension, good pacing, good almost everything. Even the controversial third act I enjoyed. Again, it’s a movie I honestly really don’t have much bad to say about. There were just 23 other movies I preferred this year. That’s all there is to it.

[rukaio101]

23. April and the Extraordinary World

 

 

Continuing deeper into my forage of foreign animated movies this year, comes this French-Canadian Steampunk adventure. I had my eye on this flick for a while and it did not disappoint.

 

In an alternate history where Napoleon’s descendants rule France and the world’s premier scientists have been disappearing (and the remaining ones are hunted down by the government), young April searches for clues as to her parents disappearance while working on a mysterious serum designed to create immortal soldiers. A large part of why I love this movie is the aesthetic. Steampunk is fairly underrepresented in animated movies and I’d really like to see a lot more of it. The streets of Paris, the ideas and inventions represented, all look great and are a treat to admire.

 

But even beyond that, the movie’s still a lot of fun. Honestly, the entire movie reminds me of those old adventure comics. Fun, sometimes silly and with a sense of timeless charm that’s impossible not to love. Plus it has a strong heroine, a solid side cast, some very nice animation and overall plenty to love about it. The only reason it’s not higher is because the climax is a bit of a letdown (and possibly a bit too out-there) but otherwise this is a fantastically fun watch.

[rukaio101]

22. Hush

 

 

While I was watching this movie, I was reminded of a semi-famous Alfred Hitchcock quote about suspense.

Quote

Hitchcock:

 

“There is a distinct difference between "suspense" and "surprise," and yet many pictures continually confuse the two. I'll explain what I mean.

 

We are now having a very innocent little chat. Let's suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, "Boom!" There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary scene, of no special consequence. Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware the bomb is going to explode at one o'clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions, the same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: "You shouldn't be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!"

 

 

Hush all but personifies this ideal and is one of the rare gimmick horror movies that I think actually really works. See, normally in slasher movies, the terror comes from not knowing whether the killer is near, and if they are near where exactly they are. With Hush the terror comes from knowing exactly where the killer is but also knowing that the deaf-mute protagonist has no idea. Seriously, there were few scenes this year as unsettling as the killer openly and audibly entering through the front door while our protagonist sits on the sofa completely oblivious. I get the impression that, were I watching this in a packed theatre, we’d be going full panto crowd ‘He’s behind you!’ at the screen.

 

Unfortunately, it gets a bit less interesting and bit more traditional ‘home invasion’ horror after the killer reveals himself but unlike Don’t Breathe, it still maintained some interesting tricks with its gimmicks and at least kept my attention for the entire runtime. The killer is a bit of a one-note arrogant sadist but honestly that kinda makes the entire thing work. He has plenty of opportunity to kill the protagonist but doesn’t take it because he wants to amuse himself psychologically torturing her (which naturally backfires a few times). And we as an audience are left wondering when his patience will end. But anyway, while the movie doesn’t necessarily maintain the excellent suspense it had in the first act, it’s still more than worth the watch.

[rukaio101]

21. Moana

 

 

The lesser of the two Disney animated offerings this year (because does anyone seriously believe I’ve not seen Zootopia yet), Moana feels like a solid continuation on the path they’ve been taking with their ‘princess’ movies. I have to give credit to Disney animation for definitely trying new things and experimenting with these stories. In particular, it’s clear a lot of thought and development was put into Moana’s journey and character arc to try and give it depth beyond the standard animated Disney movie. Does Moana’s development completely come together? Eh… Not quite. Some bits feel a bit muddled or confused and the development was a bit poorly paced, but I give them credit for trying.

 

But still, the rest of the movie is a treat. I’m always fond of a good musical and Moana has some excellent songs in its mix. The animation is gorgeous, the story decent and Dwayne Johnson does a very good job as Maui (even if there were a few things about the character I felt were unsatisfyingly resolved). Ultimately, it's more or less what I expect from Revival Disney. A solid movie through and through. Possibly not one I enjoy quite as much as other people but, hey, that's something I've come to expect from Revival Disney as well.

[The Futurist]

6 hours ago, rukaio101 said:

28. The Conjuring 2

 

 

Don’t really need to say much about this, do I? James Wan is very damn good at doing what he does. And even in a year that had quite a lot of standout horror movies, the Conjuring 2 still ranks among the better ones. Does it retread on the first a bit? Maybe. Does every scare land? No. Did it feel a little overlong? Yeah. But it’s still a good story with a likeable cast of characters and some real fun, unique scares. The scene with the nun’s shadow and the portrait was a particular standout worth mentioning, as was the Crooked Man. And quite frankly, creating a sequel that captures even part of what made the first Conjuring great is pretty damn impressive.

 

It's a hell of a lot better than Insidious 2 and Annabelle to say the least. Also, staring at that portrait while I type this out is going to give me nightmares for weeks

 

Patrick Wilson & Vera Farmiga is one of the most beautiful normal couples in the history of film.

 

It is also so poetic : they are presented as religious people but the thing they have the most faith in is not God : it is each other.

 

 

[Plain Old Tele]

9 hours ago, rukaio101 said:

29. The Jungle Book

 

 

...Still don't care that much for the original story...

 

That movie isn't the original story. 

 

[AndyLL]

1 hour ago, Telemachos said:

 

That movie isn't the original story. 

 

 

Stories ain't stories until Disney makes a movie with them.

[carolwoodpr]

I am enjoying these lists.  You two obviously watch more movies than I do, but I respectfully must say that I liked Jungle Book, and a couple others you have listed as your worst movies of the year.  Obviously I need to branch out so that I can have a good worst movies list.

 

And Andy is right - it isn't a story until Disney makes it a movie.  Disney does rule the world.