2016 may have been the biggest roller coaster of a year in
recent memory. It has been both a year of strange sometimes frightening occurrences
across the globe that have left a strong feeling of uncertainty at the end of
the year. Luckily in times of uncertainty the movies tend to step up to the
table and 2016 was a fantastic example of such. 2016 was the best year for
films in recent memory providing an incredible list of diverse choices for moviegoers
of every taste. Due to the amazing amount of great films to come out this year,
and my expanded movie viewing in general, 2016 will represent the first year
that I have chosen to expand this list to 20 movies. Anything else seems
criminal at this point. Here are the films that made the biggest impact on me
in 2016, and represent the tip top of an extraordinary year. Here is part one
of my list of the 20 best films of 2016:
20. The Salesman
Asghar Farhadi has been one of the decade’s most inspired
filmmakers. His film A Separation represents one of this decade’s biggest
achievements, a film whose power was in its beautiful subtlety. The Salesman
continues this mold, providing a tragic portrait of the downturn of a
relationship and the horrors of sexual assault. The Salesman is a film that
uses its quiet nature to its advantage, its lack of noise amplifies the tragedy
at its core. Farhadi has carved a magnificent corner all to himself, creating
emotionally powerful films that deal with serious adult struggles with grace
and subtlety, and while The Salesman never reaches the levels of greatness
found in A Separation it is still a film that deserves to be seen.
19. I, Daniel Blake
Ken Loach’s best film in years, I, Daniel Blake’s portrayal
of the flawed British welfare system is one of 2016’s most heartbreaking films.
In I, Daniel Blake Loach provides a powerful critique of the system through the
examination of two heart wrenching cases of the welfare system letting ordinary
folks down. The film’s two central characters, beautifully portrayed by both
Dave Johns and Hayley Squires, are perfect sympathetic contrasts to the cold
hearted system that is supposed to help them. Loach presents their struggles in
minute ways by focusing on the crazy amount of complications that the welfare
system provides and never resorts to overly broad, manipulative strokes. Its
power comes through Loach’s empathy for the characters’ situations, not through
grand gestures to show a system in crisis. It makes for a devastating film that ultimately
feels urgent and unsettling.
18. Lemonade
Beyoncé’s short film about the emotional roller coaster ride
of being cheated on remains one of the most unique and powerful film
experiences of the year. Using a mix of montages set to her latest album Beyoncé
manages to cover a lot of emotional ground, running through various sequences
of anger, regret, empowerment, and at the end of the day forgiveness. The most
important aspect of Lemonade though remains its sublime ability to convey
internal conflict visually. Often times filmmakers focus solely on the
emotional conflict that is easy to display, subtlety be damned. Lemonade
manages to capture internal conflict in ways few have by letting the meld of
music and visuals do jobs that dialog and exposition cannot handle. The result
is a detailed and beautiful portrait of cheating and emotional conflict that is
hardly ever seen on film.
17. Eye in the Sky
One of the unfortunately forgotten great films of 2016, Eye
in the Sky is a great old school contemplative war film updated for 2016
technology. In this case the moral dilemma at the centre are drone strikes and
their potential for collateral damage. Beautifully examined from many of perspectives,
from the hardened war general, to the brand new drone pilot who does not
approve of the situation, to the potential innocent bystanders on the ground,
Eye in the Sky is a fantastic and detailed examination of the detached nature
of a drone strike. The film is also tense as hell, and is just a perfectly
constructed thriller building slowly to its explosive and tragic climax.
Because of its scary relevance and extreme competence Eye in the Sky is one of
2016’s very best and should not be looked over.
16. Love and Friendship
Few writers have a crackling pen like Whit Stillman and
there may be no better example than in his Jane Austin adaptation/parody Love
and Friendship. One of the most devious and hilarious films of the year
Stillman combines his signature acid tonged characters with the rigid rules of
Austin to great effect. Throw in a great tour de force performance from Kate Beckinsale
(her best in years) to deliver Stillman’s gospel and you have a great mashup
that should not be forgotten.
15. Green Room
What do you get when you get a clash between punk music and
Nazis? Pure chaos of course! Green Room is one of 2016’s most intense films,
and continues the rise of great young filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier. Sualnier
creates a claustrophobic pressure cooker by spending the majority of the film
with the main characters locked in a Nazi bar with no other option but to try
and escape or die trying. What ultimately steals the show though is the
intelligence of all the characters involved. The main characters in Green Room
are not your usual thriller/horror movie archetypes and the decisions they make
in situations of grave danger are intelligent. They are not just cannon fire,
instead they feel like real human beings trying their best to survive a horrid
situation. A similar level of intelligence is found in the film’s main villain,
Patrick Stewart’s frighteningly cold Neo Nazi gang leader Darcy. Darcy is not
just scary because of the lengths he is able to go to get rid of the main
characters but also because of his insane level of competence. It makes Green
Room one giant deadly game of chess that provides 2016’s most intense thrills
while never forcing one to question the intelligence of anyone involved.
14. Hell or High Water
The western is dying on the vine. What seems to be left of
its caucus are unfortunate nostalgia films (The Magnificent Seven) or
filmmakers’ making allusions to it without expressly being forced to make one
(Quentin Tarrentino’s last few films come to mind). Then there is Hell or High
Water, a film that proves that there is still room left at the table for a new
updated version of the western. Similar to the Choen Brother’s No Country for
Old Men, Hell or High Water sets a heist story in the midst of America’s dying
small towns with a great degree of success. Hell or High Water is thrilling and
intelligent tackling not only the usual tropes of a heist movie but is also an
offbeat examination of the characters at the centre and the institutions that
got them to the place they find themselves in. Hell or High Water is another
hopeful example that the modern western can still be relevant and creative; a
sign that, while the genre has hit hard times, that it is not dead yet.
13. The Lobster
Imagine the most strange and absurd premise possible. Maybe
a world in which single people are hunted and sent to a hotel where they have
45 days to find love or they are turned into an animal of their choosing. Now
take this premise to the most natural extremes. There yet? Now go a little bit
further and you have Yorgos Lanthimos’ amazing English language debut The
Lobster. The Lobster is a great example of pure absurdity and commitment to its
premise. The Lobster continues to go to new, strange, hilarious heights throughout
its near two hour running time while all the while continuing to play by all
the rules that it establishes early on. The result is a wonderful piece of dark,
absurdist filmmaking that is beautiful in its own wacky way.
12. Nocturnal Animals
Another film to slot into the capital S strange category
Nocturnal Animals is a beautiful film that is wholly unique. Blending stylish
art film and gritty thriller all in service of describing a failed marriage
between a hardened art curator, and a romantic author is a strange premise on
paper but works surprisingly well in practice. Tom Ford’s now signature style blends
the genres perfectly creating a film that is as powerful substantively as it is
stylish. It also features another great performance from Amy Adams as the cold
Susan as well as one of the best endings to any film in 2016. Nocturnal Animals
is the complete package, and a total tour de force of a film.
11. Manchester by the Sea
Grief is a popular emotion for filmmakers as it is easy to
comprehend and visualize. The balance of displaying grief is often tough as
filmmakers tend to struggle with walking the line of being powerful but not
overly manipulative. Kenneth Lonergan has mastered the understanding of grief and
that is on display in full force in Manchester by the Sea. Lonergan’s portrayal
of grief in Manchester by the Sea is complex and understanding empathizing with
his characters throughout some of their darkest hours. Casey Affleck’s Lee
Chandler is a man deeply consumed by a dark inescapable grief that continues to
compound through the loss of his brother and the subsequent revisit to the town
he left behind. Affleck’s masterful performance shows a man cut off from the
world through grief, and his inability to talk to the people around him is more
powerful than any outward emotion. It makes for a film that is not flashy in
its depiction of loss and is more powerful for it. Combined with a beautiful understanding
of place and some dynamite supporting performance it makes for an absolutely stunning
motion picture. Manchester by the Sea is an film that is impossible to shake
and the fact that it only ends up at number 11 on this list speaks volumes to
the sheer amount of amazing films that 2016 has produced.
Next: 10-1 The absolute cream of the crop in 2016 (Coming Tomorrow)
