It was neither a great, nor an especially poor year for film. For all the focus on color in Oscars for the past twelve months, I found the 2015 pool of films about African or African-American experience a little stronger, which is not to say Hidden Figures or Fences didn’t deserve attention … just that I didn’t find either among the best of the year. As usual, I don’t expect anybody to agree with me … but that’s just part of the fun, isn’t it?
Honorable Mentions:
A superior film in every way to its tangentially related progenitor. Waiting for Mary Elizabeth Winstead to have a breakout? So was I.
Green Room
Jeremy Saulnier is one of the best writer/directors you’ve never heard of. People who can direct a decent thriller are rare.
The oddest film of 2016 – a dystopian future where single people are turned into their animal of choice if they cannot couple properly; a bizarre take on self-isolationism.
Le tout nouveau testament (The Brand New Testament)
God is Belgian. And He’s a jerk. ‘Nuff said.
Pretty sure this is every Sunday in New England during football season.
Had to sneak a teen film on this list somewhere. Hailee Steinfeld carries the weight of the teen world … all because films like Allegiant and 5th Wave sucked.
Finding Dory
Moana
Storks
Zootopia
Probably the best year for animated film since the pinnacle of the genre in 2010. I haven’t even included three of the best animated nominees.
One final entry to this list is Tower, a documentary chronicling the events of August 1, 1966 at the University of Texas at Austin. I will share a full review in the upcoming weeks.
Ok, you’ve waited long enough, and, if I know you, you didn’t see anything in that run except for one or two of the cartoons. So be it.
The TOP 10:
10. War Dogs
Profiting off war
Everybody’s doin’ it
Well … in Hell, that is
9. Demolition
Deconstruction as
A calling … probably not
The wisest calling
Korean zombies?
Would have been scarier with
Undead Kim Jong-Il
7. Moonlight
The search for oneself
Is frequently hampered by
The discovery
Psst, you over there
Want success in film this year?
Partner with Gosling
Lifetime of penance
Some pain doesn’t disappear
In reality
4. Arrival
Aliens are here
What do you suppose they want?
Put Giselle on it
My dad is a freak
Huh. That got me to thinking
Am I a freak, too?
2. Deadpool
Irreverence, is
His modus operandi
My kind of X-Man
1. La La Land
Get lost in romance
Modern iteration for
Old-fashioned escape
