Film Round-Up 2016

Under normal circumstances, this post is the easiest I have to write each year. 

Going to the pictures between 2-3 times a week and seeing virtually every new release my local cinema has to offer means I'm usually able to watch a wide variety of films and form an opinion on them accordingly at the end of the year. Throughout the twelve months I make a note of standout films and performances, scores that I love and cinematography that makes me swoon. As such, by the time December rolls around compiling my thoughts into a vague list of favourites is pretty simple. However, this year it's been extremely difficult and has taken ages for me to come to a final decision as there weren't many films - if any - that stood out to me in the way that the likes of Brooklyn and Carol did last year, or The Grand Budapest Hotel and Interstellar did back in 2014. 

I've gone through all of my ticket stubs for the last year, rewatched numerous trailers and finally narrowed down my choices for the best films of 2016. As ever, I've been pretty strict and only included films that I've actually seen, and that have a U.K. release date during 2016, which is annoying as the best films I've seen this year don't come out till January (Manchester by the Sea, La La Land, A Monster Calls...).

Without further ado, here are my top picks for 2016. Hopefully they'll provide you with inspiration for a cinema trip over the next few days, or give you some ideas for hidden gems to look for on Netflix and Sky Movies when they arrive next year.

THE FILM THAT...

GOOD

… Made Me Laugh Till I Cried – Bad Moms

… Made Me Cry So Violently I Had to Pull the Car Over to Stop Sobbing on the Way Home – Room

… Was Surprisingly Lovely – Kubo and the Two Strings

BAD

… Had a Positive Critical Reception That Seriously Baffles Me – Everybody Wants Some!!

… Was Hysterically Bad – Gods of Egypt

… Failed to Live Up to its Trailer and Entire Marketing Campaign – Suicide Squad

UGLY

… Was so Disgustingly Violent After the Interval I Felt Sick – The Hateful Eight

… Had the Worst Use of an Eyeball – The Neon Demon

… Boasted the Most Uncomfortable Animated Sex Scene – Anomalisa and Sausage Party (TIE)

… I Wish I'd Seen – Son of Saul

… I Wish I Hadn't Wasted My Time On – The Birth of a Nation

… I Wish Everyone Else Had Seen Too – A Bigger Splash

… I Wish I Could Experience For The First Time All Over Again – Star Trek Beyond

EXPECTATIONS

Failed to Meet Expectations – The Girl on the Train

Lived Up To Expectations – Captain America: Civil War

Exceeded Expectations – Sully

THE 3 Bs

Most Beautiful – Moana

Most Brutal – The Hateful Eight

Most Boring – The Revenant

THE BEST OF THE BEST

Best Book-to-Film Adaptation – Room

Best Original Screenplay – Spotlight

Best Score – Arrival

Best Summer Blockbuster – Ghostbusters

Best Superhero Film – Deadpool

Best Sequel – Bridget Jones’s Baby

Best Quote – “Would that it were so simple.” – Hail, Caesar!

Best Animation – Zootropolis

Best Cinematography – The Revenant

Best Costumes – Hail, Caesar!

Best Cinematic Experience – Deepwater Horizon

Best British Film – A United Kingdom

Best Trailer – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

THE CREAM OF THE (2016) ACTING CROP

Actor of the Year – Michael Shannon (Midnight Special & Nocturnal Animals)

Supporting Actor of the Year – Jacob Tremblay (Room)

Actress of the Year – Amy Adams (Nocturnal Animals & Arrival)

Supporting Actress of the Year – Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)*

* this was particularly tricky for me as I couldn't settle on a single supporting actress performance throughout the year that I thought merited recognition. Personally, I see Vikander's performance as a leading role and not at all supporting in The Danish Girl, but as she was so brilliant and she campaigned as a supporting actress during awards season at the start of the year she seemed to be the default choice here. Hmm.

Breakthrough Star – Mahershala Ali (House of Cards, Luke Cage, Free State of Jones, Moonlight, Hidden Figures)

As with Vikander above, I struggled to pick a Breakthrough Star. Ideally I wanted someone who had made a significant impact on British audiences during 2016, but no-one was standing out for me except for American actor Mahershala Ali. He may not have been a large screen presence throughout the year in Britain but he's been garnering well-deserved attention for months for his films due for release early in 2017 in the U.K.. He's been a Netflix regular this year, returning as Remy Danton in House of Cards and taking on the villain in Marvel's Luke Cage. Towards the end of 2016 he was finally in cinemas with Matthew McConaughey in the sadly forgettable Free State of Jones. However, it's next year that things get exciting for Ali, with a role in the hotly anticipated Hidden Figures which charts the true story of a team of African-American female mathematicians who work with NASA on the launches of the first successful space missions. In addition - and more importantly - he stars in Moonlight, a film that follows a young black man from childhood to adulthood in Miami and has been at the top of nearly every 'top films of 2016' list I've read recently. The film provides Ali with a role for which he is already sweeping up supporting actor awards. He looks a lock-in for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar and apparently deservedly so.

Ensemble Cast – Spotlight

FILMS OF THE YEAR

Outstanding Achievement in Film in 2016 – Zootropolis

10. Sully

9. Hell or High Water

8. A Bigger Splash

7. Captain America: Civil War

6. Spotlight

5. Hail, Caesar!

4. Midnight Special

3. Room

2. Nocturnal Animals

Film of the Year – Arrival

There you have it: those are my personal top choices! I'm aware that there are a number of films 'missing' such as The Hunt for the Wilderpeople and American Honey, and there's a shameful lack of foreign films, but I'm been restricted by the offerings of my local multiplex this year and I didn't feel it was appropriate to include any films I hadn't actually seen no matter how much I'd read about them! One of my resolutions for 2017 is to attempt to see a better range of films throughout the year as I don't want to be in this situation again!

That being said, I still stand by my top 10 in particular: I adored the smart sci-fi Arrival, and while Nocturnal Animals may have divided critics I thought it was incredible, seeing it twice and thinking of nothing else for weeks. Oh, and Zootropolis is currently on Sky Cinema - it's a delight and well worth a watch for the Breaking Bad joke alone.

Here's to more film-watching in 2017! With awards season upon us and superhero films aplenty lined up for the summer and beyond it's set to be a good one, fingers crossed...