My Top 10: Films Of 2016

2016 has been a funny sort of year. While most of the blockbusters were disappointing, it is the independent films that have shone. It managed to end up with a historic outcome for my film of the year. The first ever of this particular genre to end up on top.

It was not until the last few months of the year, where the quality certainly made up for the majority of disappointments that were released. Thankfully, a lot of those independent films have been either well reviewed or being given a healthy amount of nominations in the major awards.
Film documentaries have also shone this year. Many with hard-hitting subjects, and some with the most delightful stories that only script-writers could only dream of.

At first, I thought the quality would be lacking in my top 10. But in the end, there were a few films that I was surprised that I had to take out.

The first one I wanted to mention was The Jungle Book. It is one of the few re-makes of recent years to be superior to its original.
Director Jon Favreau and his team showed their passion of this story and gave us a hugely entertaining adventure extravaganza.
It has spectacular visual effects, perfect voice casting and a well constructed and developed story. This is certainly my Jungle Book.

Manchester By The Sea I thought would have made it as well. A deeply moving and well constructed drama which sees Casey Affleck play an uncle who is asked to look after his nephew following the death of his brother.
Affleck as well as Lucas Hedges and Michelle Williams give us a highly emotional story with a few surprising comedic moments.

Free Fire sees an arms deal goes wrong. Then a epic shoot-out ensues and it is just a matter of survival.
British director Ben Wheatley has made one of the most fun and exciting action films in recent years. The action is visceral and beautifully shot.
It is incredibly funny from start to finish and has many great performances, especially by Sharlto Copley.

Weiner is quite an astonishing film documentary about the disgraced New York Congressman Anthony Weiner whose strange personal life hugely affected his campaign to be Mayor Of New York in 2013.

Another documentary. This is one Supersonic, which covers Oasis the biggest British band since The Beatles. I would not call myself an Oasis fan. But I certainly appreciate their achievements and popularity. The film's thorough detail really makes you see why they are who they are and fans and no-fans can really get a lot out of this.
It is thorough in its detail and has a great presentation with nothing but archive and backstage footage. This for me is the most spot-on presentation of what this band is about.

One that could have been included, was Split. I never thought I would see director M. Night Shyamalan come back with a fun and highly enjoyable horror thriller that is full of great ideas.
A combination of a unique story and very strong performances especially by James McAvoy made this such a fun watch. Shyamalan is back, and I hope it's not just a one-off. It is not just a film about this individual. But how the media value scandals and personal life over their political views.

If this was a top 10, then The Handmaiden would have made the cut. Chan-Wook Park's latest installment and it is a highly gripping, tense and suspenseful Gothic thriller. With Oscar worthy performances by Tae-Ri Kim and Min-Hee Kim, there is a lot to like about this.
When you think you have the story sorted, trust me it goes places you won't expect. It's quite a fascinating character study that has unprecedented access to something like this.

This year, I wanted to do a FULL ranking list of the 2016 films that I have seen. Below are those films, with a short review of each of my top 10. I also have this list in video form if you want to check that out as well:

201) Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens
200) Planet Of The Sharks
199) Ice Sharks
198) Jurassic Wars
197) Independents' Day

196) Grimsby
195) Gods Of Egypt

194) Cell
193) Max Steel
192) Independence Day: Resurgence
191) Our Kind Of Traitor
190) The Great Wall
189) Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
188) Zoolander 2
187) The BFG
186) The Girl On The Train
185) Dad's Army
184) Central Intelligence
183) Alice Through The Looking Glass
182) Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates
181) Inferno
180) The Hunstman: Winter's War
179) Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice

178) Mother's Day
177) Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children
176) Love & Friendship
175) Morgan
174) Suicide Squad
173) Ghostbusters
172) Assassin's Creed
171) I Am Wrath
170) All This Panic

169) Operation Avalanche
168) Trolls
167) Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
166) Bleed For This
165) Neruda
164) The Levelling
163) The Greasy Strangler

162) The Purge: Election Year
161) Revolution: New Art For A New World
160) Personal Shopper
159) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows
158) Cameraperson
157) Passengers
156) Citizen Jane: Battle For The City
155) Things To Come
154) Lights Out
153) Keanu
152) The Legend Of Tarzan
151) Pete's Dragon
150) Imperium
149) The Secret Life Of Pets
148) The Birth Of A Nation
147) Risk
146) The Love Witch
145) Versus: The Life And Films Of Ken Loach
144) 13 Hours
143) Born In China

142) Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave A Damn

141) Apprentice
140) The Angry Birds Movie
139) Hail, Caesar!
138) Sausage Party
137) The Promise

136) Graduation
135) I Am Bolt
134) Ouija: Origin Of Evil
133) Hotel Salvation
132) Swallows And Amazons
131) The Girl With All The Gifts
130) Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

129) Lady Macbeth

128) Heal The Living

127) Me Before You

126) Una
125) Hidden Figures
124) Florence Foster Jenkins
123) Kung Fu Panda 3
122) Hush
121) X-Men: Apocalypse
120) Money Monster
119) Allied
118) Tommy's Honour
117) A United Kingdom

116) Antropoid
115) Forever Pure
114) Unlocking The Cage
113) Warcraft: The Beginning
112) The Infiltrator
111) Snowden
110) The Magnificent Seven
109) Bobby
108) Wild

107) Little Men
106) Doctor Strange
105) Gold
104) Department Q: A Conspiracy Of Faith

103) Denial

102) The Finest Hours
101) The Limehouse Golem
100) The Founder
99) Sully: Miracle On The Hudson

98) Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
97) A Monster Calls
96) Prevenge
95) In Between
94) The Age Of Shadows
93) American Honey
92) Frantz
91) Mindhorn
90) 20th Century Women
89) The Eagle Huntress
88) Sing

87) Julieta
86) Eddie The Eagle

85) The Nice Guys
84) Jim: The James Foley Story
83) Midnight Special
82) Goldstone
81) Sami Blood

80) Paterson

79) A Cure For Wellness

78) Queen Of Katwe

77) Trapped
76) Free State Of Jones

75) Jason Bourne
74) The Conjuring 2
73) The Hounds Of Love

72) The Lost City Of Z
71) Away
70) Elle
69) The King's Choice
68) Christine
67) Clash
66) After The Storm
65) Don't Breathe
64) Star Trek Beyond
63) Before The Flood
62) Ethel & Ernest
61) Notes On Blindness
60) Neerja
59) Their Finest
58) Loving
57) Kubo And The Two Strings
56) Deepwater Horizon
55) Finding Dory
54) Moonlight
53) Patriots Day
52) Silence
51) The Salesman
50) Big Fish & Begonia
49) Bobby Sands: 66 Days
48) The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years
47) Dancer
46) Michael Jackson's Journey From Motown To Off The Wall
45) My Life As A Courgette
44) Headshot
43) I Am Not Your Negro
42) The Wailing

41) Train To Busan
40) Moana
39) Life, Animated
38) Raw
37) The Edge Of Seventeen
36) The Neon Demon
35) 10 Cloverfield Lane
34) I, Daniel Blake
33) Hunt For The Wilderpeople
32) Captain America: Civil War
31) Swiss Army Man
30) The Accountant
29) The Light Between Oceans
28) Score
27) It's Not Yet Dark
26) Rogue One
25) Nocturnal Animals
24) Jackie
23) Everybody Wants Some!!
22) Hacksaw Ridge
21) La La Land
20) Fences
19) The Jungle Book
18) Lion
17) Miss Sloane
16) Manchester By The Sea
15) Free Fire
14) Weiner
13) Split
12) Supersonic
11) The Handmaiden

10) Hell Or High Water - A crime western that definitely feels like it belongs in the 70's or 80's.

It sees two brothers resorting to a desperate scheme of robbing banks in order to save their family's ranch.

A wonderfully written script with top performances by Ben Foster and Jeff Bridges, as well as Chris Pine and Gil Birmingham.

9) A Silent Voice - An emotional and beautiful anime that was never afraid to make it a tough watch and cover sensitive subjects.

It covers universal topics and relatable ones for so many people.

Along with the gorgeous Japanese animation, this film has such strength in its story and themes, it will be seen as real as any other live-action feature.

8) Sing Street - Possibly the feel-good movie of the year that came out of nowhere.

From the director of Once and Begin Again, John Carney has done a fantastic job in this wonderful coming of age story.

It has great characters, top story-telling, countless comedic moments and has a soundtrack that deserves to win Best Original Song at the Oscars.

7) Deadpool - For many, the superhero film that we have been waiting for.

With some films within this genre being too similar or disappointing, along came 'the merc with a mouth' as Ryan Reynolds reprises his role with fantastic results.

It is ridiculous funny with an unexpectedly clever non-linear story-telling.

6) Zootropolis - A hugely entertaining Disney adventure that keeps the studio in another golden era of their film history.

It tells an interesting crime story with our two buddy cop-esque characters that goes down risky paths. But the execution of everything makes it a wonderful all-round story that manages to be more appealing to adults than kids.

Definitely the family film of 2016.

5) Captain Fantastic - A wonderful comedy drama that sees a family living in the wild and living off the land, having to face the real world due a tragedy.

It is a real eye-opener, very inspiring and has top performances all-round, especially by the always great Viggo Mortensen.

4) The Red Turtle - A wonderful and highly engrossing animation that is also produced by Studio Ghibli.

While it is not a full Ghibli, it is still a wonderful story that is simply told and has a snappy 80 minutes duration. Despite there being next-to-no dialogue, the visual story-telling is simply gorgeous.

3) Your Name - A very clever and hugely funny anime by Makoto Shinkai, who is being labelled as the new Hayao Miyazaki.

It sees two high school kids who are united through their own dreams. It has a great mix of rom-com and sci-fi. The animation is powerful, the characters are memorable.

It also makes me want to see more anime outside of Studio Ghibli.

2) OJ: Made In America - This 7hr 45min film documentary gives us one of the most well told and heavily detailed versions of one of the most famous events in 20th century America.

I found it fascinating and highly remarkable viewing, and this needs to be seen by everyone. Not only does it wonderfully portray the rise and fall of O.J Simpson. But also the tragic events in California during that time.This will be the definitive edition of one of the most famous court cases of all-time.

1) Arrival - Denis Villeneuve's complex and profound sci-fi drama has been seen by many as one of the best sci-fi's of the last few decades.

Amy Adams play a linguist that is recruited by the military to translate an aliens language.

It's non-linear story-telling has what made this film one of the best told stories for some time.