It's that time of year again - your vote for best film of 2016?

Manchester By The Sea

Runner up: Captain Fantastic

 

My ranking so far:

1. Moonlight
2. Manchester by the Sea
3. La La Land
4. Lion
5. Hell or High Water
6. Arrival
7. Loving
8. Sully

Haven't seen Fences, Jackie, Hidden Figures and Silence yet.

 

I dunno if I'd call it "best film of 2016" or not (though I thought it was pretty damn good), but you mean to say that my wife and I were the only ones who liked (or even saw) Snowden? @Oatsdad

 

Hunt For The Wilderpeople is utterly marvellous. Hilarious, touching and tragic, but mainly hilarious. Just brilliant. Difficult to get to see - I had to buy a New Zealand import Blu Ray. Why no general release for a film this great I just do not understand. Because it's not Hollywood but from New Zealand? Same director as What We Do In The Shadows (also highly recommended). His next project - Thor Ragnarok for Marvel. Can't wait.
Dr Strange was great too, as it was true to the spirit and detail of the original comics that I love.
I also enjoyed Hateful Eight (January 2016 release in UK), Captain America Civil War and Rogue One.
The BFG was good but not great. Not enough laughs.

 

Moonlight is the one I most regret not seeing. When it was playing here, I had no idea it was so highly acclaimed, and by the time it started winning critics' awards it was on its way out of local theatres.

I had been looking forward to Silence, but I've read more than one critic complaining its three hours are hell to sit through. So I'll pass on that. I do hope to see Fences and Hidden Figures this weekend, though.

 

Didn't see it!

 

Also haven't seen Toni Erdmann, 20th Century Women, Nocturnal Animals and Love and Friendship yet.

I have seen Captain Fantastic, Hacksaw Ridge, Florence Foster Jenkins, The Lobster and Zootopia. I see those films on several "best of 2016" lists; I wouldn't put them on mine.

 

Arrival
Deadpool

 

Haven't seen Manchester By The Sea or Moonlight yet, but so far Arrival and The Witch are tops for me.

 

My updated ranking:

1. Moonlight
2. Manchester by the Sea
3. Hell or High Water
4. Fences
5. La La Land
6. Loving
7. Arrival
8. Lion
9. Sully

Still quite a few films I want to see before I call the list final.

 

2016 had my fewest total of viewed films in a long time with fewer than 100. I have watched plenty of great television and streaming programs though. Some of my favorites films from late 2015-2016 along with my rating on Letterboxd:

4 stars
13th
Arrival
Hell Or High Water
Mascots
The Witch
David Cross: Making America Great Again
Tab Hunter Confidential
Eat That Question: Frank Zappa In His Own Words
Spotlight

3 1/2 stars
Batman: The Killing Joke
Man vs Snake
I Am Thor
Captain America: Civil War
Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse (admittedly very low-brow but I did laugh quite a bit)

A special mention goes out to the absolutely fantastic 2013 Swedish Film, The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared. I saw this for the first time this year and watched it the very next day again with my girlfriend because I knew she'd love it. So much fun and highly recommended. I'd be willing to bet that it will be Americanized at some point.

 

Deadpool
Hail, Caesar!
Hunt For The Wilderpeople

 

Manchester by the Sea
Center of my World
Snowden
The Edge of Seventeen
Midnight Special
The Neon Demon
Jason Bourne
I, Daniel Blake
Certain Women
American Honey
Everybody Wants Some
La La Land
The Nice Guys
Bridget Jones's Baby
Anthropoid
Sing Street
Florence Foster Jenkins

 

Finally, somebody else other than myself who mentioned Snowden!

 

My Top 3 -

Julieta
Paterson
Rams

I also liked -

Baden Baden
Embrace of the Serpent
The Measure of a Man
Next to Her
Tharlo
Things to Come
When Marnie was There
Youth

Documentaries -

Hitchcock/Truffaut
Ingrid Bergman in her own words
Red Army

Music -

Bayou Maharajah
Mavis!
What Happened Miss Simone?

 

Embrace of the Serpent - this would be my number one by far. Several films mentioned above have yet to open in the UK so I can't comment on those. Based on his previous work I am very much looking forward to Manchester by the Sea.

 

My top 5

1. Julieta by Pedro Almodóvar
2. Nocturnal Animals by Tom Ford
3. Café Society by Woody Allen
4. The Nice Guys by Shane Black
5. Un homme à la hauteur (Up for Love) by Laurent Tirard. Nice and charming French film.

 

I agree with the Lobster being the worst of 2016. My best is "Lion" or Manchester by the Sea---two late in the year gems.

 

I just got back from seeing Fences and, sadly, my answer is no. I say sadly because, though it's really well acted and written, I don't think the power it must have had on the stage transfers fully to the screen. I think a more imaginative director than Denzel was called for. Still worth watching -- just not top-10 material, IMO.

The movie I am adding to my top 10 is Hidden Figures, a dazzling entertainment about three black female math whizzes working at NASA in the 1960s. I know, it doesn't sound like much, but I had an absolute blast. And Taraji P. Henson, especially, gives (what should be) a star-making performance.

So my list now looks as follows:

1. La La Land
2. Hell or High Water
3. Manchester by the Sea
4. Hacksaw Ridge
5. Arrival
6. Hidden Figures
7. The Witch
8. Loving
9. Captain America: Civil War

 

On the other hand, forum member Raf listed Fences in his top 10 above, so I could be wrong about it.

Here's his post:

 

Figured. Thanks.

Did you see St. Vincent? Added 'Hidden' to my queue.

The Marvel flix are over the top. I watch them in my theater as guilty pleasure. Nothing wrong with that!

Have seen or will screen upon blu release all on your list. See Midnight Special (especially in a proper home theater!) and Mud from director of Loving.

 

I didn't see St. Vincent, though I'm not sure why because it got favorable reviews, and Loving is my first Jeff Nichols film. I'll check out all the movies you mention. Thanks!

 

Anything that gives me pleasure is not guilty!

 

I didn't realize "Hidden Figures" had a "limited" run in 2016. Makes sense - it has "Oscar potential" written on it, so it's logical they got it on some screens for award consideration. I just didn't know they'd done so!

 

I actually could have seen it last weekend, but (1) I confess I wasn't all that excited about it, and (2) I knew it would be playing much closer if I waited till the new year.

Btw, I didn't mention earlier that Janelle Monáe is in it too, and she's terrific. And she's also in Moonlight, which I haven't seen but is an even more certain Oscar contender. So she's certainly started her acting career with a bang.