Chasmmi's Top 90 films of 2016 - It is finally here!!! The world is going wild.

[chasmmi]

Spoiler

 

41st - The Legend of Tarzan - 88/100

Another nice surprise of a film from last year. 

 

I liked that this was not an origin story, it was actually kind of interesting for there to be this back story that happened but we never actually saw. This of course is helped by Tarzan being such a famous story that does not need to be spoonfed to a lot of the audience. 

 

The cast in this are generally good, Jackson is very Jacksony in his Jacksoning which is always entertaining. Tarzan himself is believable as far as a Tarzan could ever be believable and just overall this was a film that was supposed to be bad but wasn't.

 

Would watch again and would watch a sequel if it happened.

 

 

[chasmmi]

Spoiler

 

40th - Popstar: Never Stop Not Stopping - 88/100

This was funny, but not funniest film of the year funny.

 

So we are onto the 5th? best musical of last year. Popstar was another film for me that had some big highs (some of the songs), but also longer than hoped periods that dragged without too much to laugh at. 

 

This is still an eminently rewatchable film though that has enough songs that could be put on a Youtube repeat playlist at your leisure and will potentially age pretty well. I'm just not in love with it. 

 

 

[chasmmi]

Time to annoy another group of stanners...

[chasmmi]

Spoiler

 

39th - Your Name - 88/100

A pretty anime, with a nice little relationship story marred by it being a little ...absolutely fucking stupid.

 

Yeah, so the film that was doing crazy things at the Japanese box office and had people ranting and raving about it both here on the forums and anywhere else where people realise that Japan does animated films. 

 

I am one of those people that doesn't see enough of this genre (I am trying to think if I've seen a non-ghibli offering before this... I'm not sure. And there is enough accomplishment here to reinforce the ideas that both: I should watch more Japanese animation and that there is more to Japanese animation than films that kick off with the idiotic Totoro thing flummoxing about as a logo. 

 

However, the body swap stuff here was cool at first and the characters dealing with it was pretty well done. However as the grander plot unfurled, it turned out that this film was operating on a level of brain-numbingly stupidity that I haven't been assaulted by since The Lake House. I am trying to avoid spoiling anything, but I will just finish by saying that to find this film enjoyable is pretty easy. To appreciate its merit is a no-brainer. To love everything about it unconditionally... You need to be very very forgiving of its grander plot. 

 

sorry @SchumacherFTW et all

 

 

[SchumacherFTW]

Well, at least that masterpiece is in your top half Chas. 

[chasmmi]

Spoiler

 

38th - 10 Cloverfield Lane - 89/100

Another film that is beloved by some and liked a lot by me.

 

Maybe if this had ended 10 minutes earlier, maybe I would have had an even better lasting impression of this, but the last scene seemed so tacked on and divorced from the rest of the film, it kind of threw me out of the film at the very end.

 

The main story though was pretty great.  Goodman is amazing in this and lifts the whole film when he is on screen. Adding to that, the suspense and mystery about what was really happening and what wasn't was really intriguing to watch and I was hooked on the premise all the way up to the end when it kind of fucks things up a little.

 

 

[chasmmi]

Next up, are two of the most popular highly regarded films of 2016... 

[chasmmi]

Spoiler

 

37th - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows - 89/100

Yep I am the one person in the world that liked both films.

 

The first Turtles film was a lot of silly fun in my opinion and much better than it should have been. The only real downside to it was the shifted focus to April and  the lack of a lot of cult characters. 

 

The sequels fixed both of those. We got Bebop, Rocksteady, Krang et. all and and for the most part everyone was somewhere from fun to pretty great. There was a set up in place here for an epic third installment (that we will never see) and I left the cinema feeling very happy about what I saw with this film. It's just a shame I am in the minority. 

 

 

[chasmmi]

Spoiler

 

36th - Independence Day Resurgence - 89/100

The first is an all time classic is my eyes and thus my glasses are infected with roses it seems.

 

I was the perfect age for the first Independence Day. Twelve/Thirteen years old and avid watcher of Prince of Bel Air on BBC two, this was such an awesome spectacle of never scene before special effects and the most charismatic actor in the world being awesome alongside some other pretty awesome actors. 

 

Yeah, it sucked that Smith didn't return, but it was a lot of fun to see the rest of the old cast return and tell a story of silly over the top destruction like they did 20 years ago. It is times like these films where I do not understand what it is that I do not see, but others do to make them hate so much. This was full of enjoyment for me and on the same level as Jurassic World for Nostalgia sequel come good.  

 

 

[chasmmi]

Tomorrow evening I will finally be watching the 90th film on my list. After which I can likely speed this whole thing up and bust through the top 35 in about 5 or 6 days maximum. 

 

Gonna stop for tonight as I am hoping I have timed this right for worse case scenario, tomorrow's film will slot in about here. Best case scenario, it maybe has top 5 potential. 

[SchumacherFTW]

5 hours ago, chasmmi said:

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37th - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows - 89/100

Yep I am the one person in the world that liked both films.

 

The first Turtles film was a lot of silly fun in my opinion and much better than it should have been. The only real downside to it was the shifted focus to April and  the lack of a lot of cult characters. 

 

The sequels fixed both of those. We got Bebop, Rocksteady, Krang et. all and and for the most part everyone was somewhere from fun to pretty great. There was a set up in place here for an epic third installment (that we will never see) and I left the cinema feeling very happy about what I saw with this film. It's just a shame I am in the minority. 

 

 

Awesome movie, made me feel like such a kid. 

[chasmmi]

 

Spoiler

 

35th - Arrival - 89/100

There is some really good stuff in this. 

 

I thought the linguistics stuff was really well done and the film felt really very clever all the way through. The questions raised are intriguing and the acting and characters in this are really very good. 

 

However, I do think there were a few moments that dragged a little more than I would have liked and the resolution could have given me a little bit more. Overall though, films like this and Martian make me very happy about the direction that quasi sci-fi films seem to be going in.

 

The most interesting question that this film seemed to raise for me was:

 

Spoiler

If you know that the child you are going to have will die of a terminal unavoidable illness in their mid-teens. Do you still go through will having the child that you will love and mourn, or do you choose no have said child never have been born, in order to avoid all the pain that will eventually come? 

 

 

[chasmmi]

Spoiler

 

34th - Train to Busan - 89/100

In some ways, WWZ on a train. 

 

Considering I live in Korea, I do not watch enough Korean films, as the good ones are generally fantastic and they twist genre and story in a way that Hollywood just cannot do. I did see this one though and it was a lot of riotous fun.

 

ZOmbies on a train is saomething that you kind of know if you are going to enjoy pretty much based on premise alone. Yes it can be done well (like here) or done badly (cannot think of a bad zombie train movie right now), but zombies and still zombies and create much potential for fun and excitement.

 

This is a good introductory film for Korean cinema as the zombieness means that there is less problem about language barriers compared to some serious drama. So yeah, this is really worth trying and the final film on my list not to get a 90.

 

 

[chasmmi]

Spoiler

 

33rd - Passengers - 90/100

Yes, I am on the side that believes this is a good film. Don't listen to @TelemAAchos

 

Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence are great actors and they work well with each other here. This is an interesting story that raises a good moral question as to what one would do if put in Pratt's position, and I believe the film shows the character's dilemma really well. 

Spoiler

I agree that the discovery of Lawrence could have been done better than 'Ooh! pretty girl! Me want!' but the general concept of wishing for companionship and needing it to stay sane is a no brainer to me and he went through over a year of turmoil before going through with his decision. 

 

I think anybody who claims that they would spend the remaining 60+ years of their life happily existing in solitary confinement while 5000 potential companions lie around them is delusional as to what that decision actually means over the course of a lifetime. 

 

It's an interesting film that is mostly a hit for me and I am glad to have seen it.

 

 

[chasmmi]

Spoiler

 

32nd - Nerve - 90/100

The trick to finding any movie great is clearly to watch it immediately after Assassin's Creed ends. 

 

A couple of years ago, there was a film called cheap thrills that had an ambitious idea for a concept and in my opinion didn't quite pull it off (It was still good though). This film does a similar concept, but better. 

 

This was a great and surprising little thriller. It had twists and turns and I was actually gripped from start to finish. The two main leads are really strong and this is a film that needs to be seen by a wider audience.

 

 

[Plain Old Tele]

Dammit @chasmmi

[chasmmi]

Spoiler

 

31st - Trolls - 90/100

Dreamworks really needs to fire its trailer department. 

 

Last year, the trailers to home were pretty horrible and the film turned out to be good. Turbo and Croods also had pretty bad marketing and again the films were better than I expected. 

 

Trolls... Dear fuck this had horrible trailers. I actively did not want to see this film at all and it was only the fact that a few unexpected people said it was pretty good, which made me go out and watch it. And it is great. The voice work is top notch, the use of songs is really well done and every character has a good arc with a good pay off. I honestly cannot believe how good this was and right now, it means I will be watching Dreamworks animations no matter how bad their trailers are. 

 

 

[chasmmi]

Spoiler

 

30th - Doctor Strange - 90/100

Yes, 30th, I have not come to bargain.

 

I am surprised I have this as low as 30 because I thought it was great. Slow to start and it was jarring having Gregory House play Strange, but overall this was a fun, exciting spectacle with impressive set pieces and a universe ready for a sequel. 

 

It got better and better as the film progressed and I am ready for more strange in my life. 

 

 

[4815162342]

16 minutes ago, chasmmi said:

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33rd - Passengers - 90/100

Yes, I am on the side that believes this is a good film. Don't listen to @TelemAAchos

 

Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence are great actors and they work well with each other here. This is an interesting story that raises a good moral question as to what one would do if put in Pratt's position, and I believe the film shows the character's dilemma really well. 

  Reveal hidden contents

I agree that the discovery of Lawrence could have been done better than 'Ooh! pretty girl! Me want!' but the general concept of wishing for companionship and needing it to stay sane is a no brainer to me and he went through over a year of turmoil before going through with his decision. 

 

I think anybody who claims that they would spend the remaining 60+ years of their life happily existing in solitary confinement while 5000 potential companions lie around them is delusional as to what that decision actually means over the course of a lifetime. 

 

It's an interesting film that is mostly a hit for me and I am glad to have seen it.

 

 

 

8 minutes ago, TelemAAchos said:

Dammit @chasmmi

 

7 minutes ago, chasmmi said:

  Hide contents

 

31st - Trolls - 90/100

Dreamworks really needs to fire its trailer department. 

 

Last year, the trailers to home were pretty horrible and the film turned out to be good. Turbo and Croods also had pretty bad marketing and again the films were better than I expected. 

 

Trolls... Dear fuck this had horrible trailers. I actively did not want to see this film at all and it was only the fact that a few unexpected people said it was pretty good, which made me go out and watch it. And it is great. The voice work is top notch, the use of songs is really well done and every character has a good arc with a good pay off. I honestly cannot believe how good this was and right now, it means I will be watching Dreamworks animations no matter how bad their trailers are. 

 

 

 

[chasmmi]

5 minutes ago, 4815162342 said:

 

 

 

 

You ain't seen nothing yet