Numbers' Numerical Numbering: Vol. III, A 2016 Top 50 (COUNTDOWN COMPLETE)

[4815162342]

#18

 

Spoiler

 

 

Directed By: Park Chan-wook

 

Starring: Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-Ri, Ha Jung-woo, Cho Jin-woong

 

Domestic Release Date: October 21, 2016

 

 

I'm sorry Tele. I know since you played the dirty old man you wanted us all to love it.

 

There is a lot to really like about this film. It's lush, extravagant, very well designed, with some great acting performances and some killer plot and character twist and turns. But it's about 20-30 minutes too long in my opinion. I think a decent amount of fat needed to be trimmed from the film to give it a bit more focus and punch, as there's a few points where the film moves a bit too genteely and laid-back in pacing and in development. Plus, I kinda was thinking it was going to be a bit more fucked up, considering the director, but really aside from some plot twists and changes in tone, it's relatively straight-forward, if occasionally laced with some great dark humor. It's a very good movie that I think could have been a bit better, but for what we get it is a pretty intense ride as the narrative slowly pulls you in deeper through layers of character reveals.

 

 

[Plain Old Tele]

GODDAMMIT NUMBERS

 

YOU'RE ON THE LIST

[4815162342]

#17

 

Spoiler

 

 

Directed by: Denis Villeneuve

 

Starring: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker

 

Domestic Release Date: November 11, 2016

 

 

The BOT #1 film of the year....is a decent bit below #1 on my list. The first 3/4 of the film are really, really strong, with wonderful cinematography, rippling tension, good acting, with the only iffy part being where Not Alex Jones convinces a handful of army mooks to try and blow the aliens up. Then the climax hits and honestly, it didn't that well for me, as it used a plot device that rarely is pulled off effectively and executes it in a way that makes it feel like the film is really trying to be too clever by half. So the film gets dropped down a chunk for that. Shame too, as Amazing Amy is in fact amazing in this, carrying the movie with every ounce of acting ability. The score by Johan Johansson is fine, appropriately moody, but when the best music in the movie is the music you've licensed to use at the bookends of the film, your score isn't that up to snuff. I'll let others duke it out whether Shutter Island did On the Nature of Daylight better.

 

 

[4815162342]

5 minutes ago, Telemachos said:

GODDAMMIT NUMBERS

 

YOU'RE ON THE LIST

 

Better than being in your basement, amirite?

[Plain Old Tele]

I.... guess I'll just repeat my last post again?  

[aabattery]

@Telemachos right now.

 

[4815162342]

#16

 

Spoiler

 

 

Directed By: Garth Davis

 

Starring: Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara, Sunny Pawar

 

Domestic Release Date: November 25, 2016

 

 

Man did the Weinsteins screw up with this one, as evidenced by its recent box office upswing. If they'd handled the release better, it'd have done much better numbers and maybe even launched a stronger awards push. Anyways, Lion is a very emotional and powerful movie that is separated into two acts. The first, following young Saroo as he is separated from his family, is harrowing and intense as he struggles to survive, evades human predators, and finally winds up in an orphanage being one of the lucky ones groomed to be pawned off to Caucasian adults. It's riveting drama that keeps you afraid for what will happen next yet still eager to keep on watching. The second half is a more conventional drama story, with the grown-up Saroo haunted by his past and finally throwing everything he has into tracking down step by step his childhood journey and where he came from. It suffers a bit from some pacing problems, and Rooney Mara is a bit wasted, but Patel and Nicole Kidman both shine with their acting. The film culminates in a truly emotional catharsis, one that never feels manipulative or artificial. If the pacing and character issues in the second half were cleaned up a bit, this could have broken into my Top 10.

 

 

[4815162342]

Hints for #15-11 (the last batch for hints):

 

15- Best on a roll

 

14- See You in (Supreme)Court

 

13- Better 13th than last

 

12- Drain the Swamp

 

11- The Tom Sawyer Gambit

[cannastop]

Just now, 4815162342 said:

15- Best on a roll

[cannastop]

2 minutes ago, 4815162342 said:

14- See You in (Supreme)Court

 

13- Better 13th than last

I guess either of these could be 13th.

[cannastop]

15 minutes ago, 4815162342 said:

#17

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Directed by: Denis Villeneuve

 

Starring: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker

 

Domestic Release Date: November 11, 2016

 

 

The BOT #1 film of the year....is a decent bit below #1 on my list. The first 3/4 of the film are really, really strong, with wonderful cinematography, rippling tension, good acting, with the only iffy part being where Not Alex Jones convinces a handful of army mooks to try and blow the aliens up. Then the climax hits and honestly, it didn't that well for me, as it used a plot device that rarely is pulled off effectively and executes it in a way that makes it feel like the film is really trying to be too clever by half. So the film gets dropped down a chunk for that. Shame too, as Amazing Amy is in fact amazing in this, carrying the movie with every ounce of acting ability. The score by Johan Johansson is fine, appropriately moody, but when the best music in the movie is the music you've licensed to use at the bookends of the film, your score isn't that up to snuff. I'll let others duke it out whether Shutter Island did On the Nature of Daylight better.

 

 

Didn't mind Arrival

 

Spoiler

Ending that much. It already had alien squids squirting black gas in circles. Implementing Bill & Ted logic isn't a far leap from there.

 

[CoolioD1]

honestly i liked the ending to arrival a lot it was the middle i had a problem with. wasn't surprised when i learned they based it on a short story they stretched to get near that 2 hour mark.

 

btw 14 is loving, I think?

[4815162342]

22 minutes ago, Telemachos said:

GODDAMMIT NUMBERS

 

YOU'RE ON THE LIST

 

I wanted there to be more bits like when

 

Spoiler

 

Sook-hee lets go of Hideko to vent and scream about Fujiwara being a scheming bastard and for a handful of seconds is oblivious to Hideko slowly strangling to death and jerking beside her. That was a great bit of dark humor the film could have used more of.

 

Plus it'd have been so much cooler if the snake Kouzuki had was an actual snake instead of just a statute. At first I thought it was and was like "yeah now the craziness is starting"

 

 

[CoolioD1]

btw the handmaiden was a couple spots lower on my list but i still think i liked it more than you did. i'm just easier i guess.

[4815162342]

1 minute ago, CoolioD1 said:

btw the handmaiden was a couple spots lower on my list but i still think i liked it more than you did. i'm just easier i guess.

 

I think my expectations were raised because a few people, Tele including, were talking about it being fucked up and stuff, so I was expecting something more like Stoker and Oldboy

[CoolioD1]

oh yeah it's not really fucked up at all except one scene near the end. i think i liked it better for that. i dig sympathy for mr vengeance and all but the story sings without it.

[4815162342]

Been busy today. Will try to get the five up lateish tonight.

[Plain Old Tele]

My appreciation is more how the plot splintered, fractured, and came back together. 

 

Though yeah, I was hoping that octopus would do something.  

[4815162342]

#15

 

Spoiler

 

 

Directed By: Yorgos Lanthimos

 

Starring: Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Olivia Colman, John C. Reilly, Ben Whishaw, Lea Seydoux

 

Domestic Release Date: May 13, 2016

 

 

Starting our Top 15 is an eclectic and offbeat dark romantic dramady about a dystopian world where single people are outlaws and, if unable to find a romantic life partner, are forcibly turned into animals to live out the rest of their lives. Colin Farrell is brilliantly aloof as a man whose wife has deserted him and therefore must find a new mate or be condemned to life as a lobster. His offbeat, detached, stunted mannerisms and behavior really sell the absurdity of the situation he finds himself in, especially in how dour and serious he treats everything. The rest of the ensemble cast does things pretty well, and the writing of the film is sharp and incisive, with plenty of moments where you're not quite sure to find humorous or near appalling. It's a great little indie film that thankfully has gotten a small slice of Oscar recognition.

 

 

[4815162342]

#14

 

Spoiler

 

 

Directed By: Jeff Nichols

 

Starring: Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga

 

Domestic Release Date: November 4, 2016

 

 

Next up is Jeff Nichols' second film of the year, and the far better of the two. Loving is a quiet, subtle drama, that motors through based on the powerful yet subtle acting of its two leads. Edgerton and Negga both shine as the interracial couple whose struggle to become legally recognized as man and wife eventually led to a battle before the Supreme Court (repurcussions of which are felt through today). The rest of the cast does their jobs, but this is primarily a two-person show, and they definitely hold your attention throughout, very rarely resorting to any hint of melodrama (that gets reserved for the renowned scenery chewing of bit player Marton Csokas). Perhaps the fact that the film is more subtle and low-key is why it didn't quite catch on with audiences or the awards season, but it truly is an emotional, earnest, and heartfelt drama that plays its cards all right and never feels like it's trying to lead the audience around by the nose.