Hello again you
lovely, lovely, gorgeous lot. It is the beginning of the New Year (again)
so I again bring you a list of my top films of the past year (again). You
are again most welcome. See how good I am to you. Please remember these are my
personal Top Ten films from those I have seen. So if you think I have missed a
great film out, then either I haven't had a chance to see it, or you are wrong.
Message me and I will let you know which of the two it is. Also please be aware that this post
will probably contain minor spoilers
Notable mentions
These are the films
which I really enjoyed and were the closest to being in my Top Ten:
Captain Fantastic – A lovely film that follows Viggo Mortensen’s Ben and his children as they deal with a tragic loss. Ben and his wife Leslie have decided to raise their six children away from the evil of modern life, teaching them to be freethinking, imaginative, artistic and self-reliant. Their little piece of paradise is rocked when Leslie commits suicide at a mental health facility she has been staying at. The family have to venture out into modern society to attend her funeral and Ben has to face some uncomfortable home truths. Really good performances from everyone involved, with Mortensen on top form.
Deadpool – After the utterly awful depiction of the character of Wade Wilson (never referred to as Deadpool), in the utterly awful X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and the long development hell that this film meandered around in afterwards, it was a miracle that we got this film at all, let alone a film this good and as faithful to the source material. All credit to the annoyingly handsome Ryan Reynolds and his team for working so hard to get this made. A funny, original and over the top comic book film, that shows that even without a huge budget, (the film was made for $58 million), and with the right attitude and people behind it, a comic book film can be successful.
Doctor Strange – This was one of the films I was most looking forward to this year. Being a comic book fan I was interested to see how Marvel would finally bring the concept of magic (real magic not that Thor science so advance that it looks like magic rubbish), into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and how it would fit in. Also Doctor Strange though a very important character in the comics, doesn’t instantly come to mind when thinking about comic book characters to head a major motion picture. The film though not perfect did the job of bring this new concept into an established film universe well. Great performances all around though Rachel McAdams was seriously under used. Filled with really great special effects, that bought to mind the trippy comic book art of Steve Ditko.
The Jungle Book – This Live Action/CGI remake of the 1967 animated Disney classic was a nice surprise for me, I only went to see it as I had nothing else to do and had seen everything else out at the cinema already. I really enjoyed the film; it was funny, heart-warming and thrilling. The voice performances were mostly great especially Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley and Idris Elba. The newcomer Neel Sethi as Mowgli was also very good, especially considering he was a lot of his acting was done against CG characters. Well worth a watch, though it may not be as suitable for younger children as the animated original as there seems to be a lot more menace.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot – OK let us get this out of the way in the beginning, I have a huge crush on Tina Fey, I just can’t help it smart , Intelligent women are just very attractive to me. That is not the reason this film is in my notable mentions though. The film tells the story of real life journalist Kim Barker, and her experience moving from her comfortable desk job in the states, to becoming a rookie war journalist in Afghanistan. Though the film is essentially a comedy and has its fair share of funny moments, it still has a lot to say about the state of things in Afghanistan and the dangers faced by the journalists that risk their lives to report from there.
Captain Fantastic – A lovely film that follows Viggo Mortensen’s Ben and his children as they deal with a tragic loss. Ben and his wife Leslie have decided to raise their six children away from the evil of modern life, teaching them to be freethinking, imaginative, artistic and self-reliant. Their little piece of paradise is rocked when Leslie commits suicide at a mental health facility she has been staying at. The family have to venture out into modern society to attend her funeral and Ben has to face some uncomfortable home truths. Really good performances from everyone involved, with Mortensen on top form.
Deadpool – After the utterly awful depiction of the character of Wade Wilson (never referred to as Deadpool), in the utterly awful X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and the long development hell that this film meandered around in afterwards, it was a miracle that we got this film at all, let alone a film this good and as faithful to the source material. All credit to the annoyingly handsome Ryan Reynolds and his team for working so hard to get this made. A funny, original and over the top comic book film, that shows that even without a huge budget, (the film was made for $58 million), and with the right attitude and people behind it, a comic book film can be successful.
Doctor Strange – This was one of the films I was most looking forward to this year. Being a comic book fan I was interested to see how Marvel would finally bring the concept of magic (real magic not that Thor science so advance that it looks like magic rubbish), into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and how it would fit in. Also Doctor Strange though a very important character in the comics, doesn’t instantly come to mind when thinking about comic book characters to head a major motion picture. The film though not perfect did the job of bring this new concept into an established film universe well. Great performances all around though Rachel McAdams was seriously under used. Filled with really great special effects, that bought to mind the trippy comic book art of Steve Ditko.
The Jungle Book – This Live Action/CGI remake of the 1967 animated Disney classic was a nice surprise for me, I only went to see it as I had nothing else to do and had seen everything else out at the cinema already. I really enjoyed the film; it was funny, heart-warming and thrilling. The voice performances were mostly great especially Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley and Idris Elba. The newcomer Neel Sethi as Mowgli was also very good, especially considering he was a lot of his acting was done against CG characters. Well worth a watch, though it may not be as suitable for younger children as the animated original as there seems to be a lot more menace.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot – OK let us get this out of the way in the beginning, I have a huge crush on Tina Fey, I just can’t help it smart , Intelligent women are just very attractive to me. That is not the reason this film is in my notable mentions though. The film tells the story of real life journalist Kim Barker, and her experience moving from her comfortable desk job in the states, to becoming a rookie war journalist in Afghanistan. Though the film is essentially a comedy and has its fair share of funny moments, it still has a lot to say about the state of things in Afghanistan and the dangers faced by the journalists that risk their lives to report from there.
The Top Ten
10) Sing Street
A wonderful film from the writer and director of 2007’s Once. Set in 1985 Dublin, this film follows young Conor Lawlor, (newcomer Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), as he is forced due to financial problems, to move from his expensive private school to a state run school in the inner city. Where amidst the bullying from both fellow students and an overzealous priest who teaches at his school, Conor discovers the girl of his dreams, the enigmatic Raphina (played by Lucy Boyton), and in order to impress her, asks her to be in a music video for his band, the only problem being Conor is not in a band. What follows is a story of Conor trying to finding his own sound, through trying to emulate many different artists introduced to him by his older brother, from Duran Duran to David Bowie to the Cure. A great supporting cast throughout the film and a truly brilliant 1980’s soundtrack.
9) Eddie the Eagle
This film follows the real life exploits of British Ski Jumper Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards as he fights against discrimination and the odds to become an Olympian. Mocked throughout for his lack of athleticism and the fact that Britain is not known for its ski jumping tradition, Eddie never the less preserves. This comedy-drama is directed by Dexter Fletcher and stars Taron Egerton in the title role and Hugh Jackman as his reluctant coach Bronson Peary (a fictional character added for the film); this film has a lot of heart and tells the underdog story very well. Interestingly the event of this film took place at the same Olympic Games, where the Jamaican Bob sledge team first competed, as shown in Cool Runnings, a film that this one, shares more than a slight passing resemblance to.
8) Star Trek Beyond
On the 50th anniversary of Star Trek and after the slight mess that was Star Trek: Into Darkness, Star Trek Beyond had to be something special, and it was a good return to form for the crew of the USS Enterprise. This was Star Trek in the best possible sense. We of course had the huge action set pieces that are now somewhat necessary in the modern blockbuster, but they were built on the solid foundation of story and character. We start off with Captain Kirk full of self-doubt, as is so with all good Star Trek Original Series films, though when the chips are down we have him in full Kirk mode, (well without the romancing of the ladies part). We get extended team ups of Spock and McCoy, which is a joy to watch, and we get an excellent menacing villain (though they could have explained his transformations better). If I have one issue it would be that Zoe Saldana’s Uhura and John Cho’s Sulu are slightly left out in the cold. There are a lot of good nods to Star Trek history as well as tributes to the passing of both Leonard Nimoy and Anton Yelchin.
7) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
OK Firstly I just want to say, I’m not a huge Harry Potter fan. I don’t have anything against the franchise; I just think I was a little too old when the books came out so never read them. I have seen all of the films though, and enjoyed most of them. I can see it’s a brilliantly created and filled out world and all credit to J. K. Rowling’s imagination. I’m just more of a Comic Book/Star Trek/Star Wars guy, and as there were films for all of the aforementioned coming out this year, I wasn’t even completely sure that I was going to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Luckily for me I did. As I mentioned I have seen all the films in the series before, so was familiar enough with the world not to need a lot of exposition, but the setting and story were different enough to keep me interested. It also didn’t hurt that Eddie Redmayne, played Newt Scamander like an introverted 11th Doctor, (come to think of it, he even had box which was bigger on the inside). There are great performances throughout, especially from Redmayne as the aforementioned Newt, and Dan Fogler as an unsuspecting muggle/no-maj who gets caught up with Newt (somewhat like a companion).
6) Captain America: Civil War
On paper this film could have been very problematic, the last Marvel team up in Avengers: Age of Ultron was not as well received as it could have been, basically accused of repeating the same formula as the first Avengers film, but with killer robots instead of killer aliens. Civil War not only had to bring back most of the Avengers (The Hulk and Nick Fury the only real absentees), it also had to bring the Winter Soldier and Ant-Man into the fold as well as Introducing a brand new Spiderman and Black Panther. I was also interested to see how they would bring this popular comic book arc to the big screen, in the comics the big contentious issue that causes the divide was the unmasking of superheroes and revealing of their secret identities for registration, and so far the Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn’t have many masked heroes or secret identities (Ant-Man who is not really known, and Dare Devil on TV excluded). The film did deliver though, the story was compelling and interwove with the previous films well, it even made Age of Ultron essential, and with the exception of a few issues, the story made sense. It also introduced us to an interesting new villain in Zemo, who was changed a lot from his comic book counterpart; he was ruthless, smart and in the end ultimately successful, he even made you feel sympathy for him.
5) The Nice Guys
If there is one thing that Shane Black is really good at, it is writing great buddy cop films, even when the buddies involved are not actually cops, like in his 2005 masterpiece Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or like in his latest offering The Nice Guys, which follows Russell Crowe’s professional enforcer Jackson Healy and Ryan Gosling’s shifty private eye Holland March as they uncover a vast conspiracy involving the porn industry, the automotive industry and the Government in 1977 Los Angeles. Crowe and Gosling make a brilliant team, occasionally joined by then 14 year old Angourie Rice, playing March’s young daughter. Fantastic performances (who knew Ryan Gosling could be this funny, actually who thought that Russell Crowe could be this funny as well) throughout, all punctuated by a great script written by Black, filled with fleshed out characters and witty dialogue. An old fashioned noir set amongst the gaudy colours of the 70’s. It is a true shame that this didn’t do as well as it should have at the box office.
4) Hail, Caesar!
3) Arrival
A serious science fiction film that deals with the problems that may be faced when making first contact with an off world alien civilisation, without all the blowing up that tends to be associated with such films, (well OK some blowing up involved). This is a quiet film that looks at the issue through the eyes of Amy Adams’ linguist Louise Banks, as she is called up to help translate and communicate with the newly arrived aliens, who have turned up at 12 different locations around the world. Aliens who I may add are like nothing we have seen on the big screen before. The majority of the film is concerned with trying to teach the new arrivals the basics of our language so that we can learn there, just to find out why they have come to earth, while the wider world grows impatient waiting for answers and the governments of the other countries with the arrivals grow suspicious of each other and start to make plans on their own. Any mistake could have catastrophic results for entire planet. Atmospheric and moody, this film shows off Amy Adams’ talents to their fullest.
2) Hunt
For The Wilderpeople
This film was going
to be my number one until a few days ago and it would have been a worthy
winner. Sam Neill is brilliant as a grumpy old man called Hec, who lives in a
remote farm in the New Zealand wilderness with his lovely wife Bella, (the very
good Rima Te Wiata). Bella (much to Hec’s chagrin) decides to foster a young
delinquent Ricky Baker, played by relative newcomer Julian Dennison. Just as
Ricky becomes close to Bella, she dies and faced with having to go back into
the system, Ricky decides to fake his own death (in the most inept way
possible) and runaway to the forest. Hec goes after him, and due to unforeseen
circumstances (caused by Ricky), everyone assumes Hec has gone mad and
kidnapped Ricky, a huge manhunt ensues with Hec and Ricky on the run. This is a
very funny film that gets more and more ridiculous (in a good way) as it goes
on. Neill and Dennison make a great duo, with Ricky constantly getting on Hec’s
nerves, but Hec not able to abandon the naive Ricky. Taika Waititi brings his
brand of offbeat humour and masterfully produces a true classic. I can’t wait
to see what he will do with Thor next year. Watch out for a totally bonkers
cameo by Rhys Darby.
1) Kubo
and the Two Strings
I saw this film quite late in the year and was totally blown away by it. I had to watch it again and watch the Hunt for the Wilderpeople (up until then my then number one film of the year) again as well, to make sure that putting at it number one was not just a knee-jerk reaction. From the studio that bought us the excellent Coraline in 2009, this stop-motion animated film, is not only beautiful to watch, but also provides us with a wonderful story filled with wonder, thrills and scares. Set in ancient Japan the story follows our young hero Kubo, who upon losing his mother has to go on a adventure to seeks out three pieces of mystical armour, so he can protect himself from the supernatural powers of his grandfather the Moon King and his two aunts, who want to take away his humanity and make him one of them. With two unusual companions by his side and his own growing powers (magic based on playing his shamisen which are a joy to watch), Kubo must go a classic heroes journey. There are some great action sequences, though what is at the heart of this story isn’t the great fights scenes (though those don’t disappoint), or even the tale of adventure itself, it is the story Kubo’s growth and his coming to terms with losing his parents. Filled with moment to make you laugh and to make you tear up, this film is a true delight.
I saw this film quite late in the year and was totally blown away by it. I had to watch it again and watch the Hunt for the Wilderpeople (up until then my then number one film of the year) again as well, to make sure that putting at it number one was not just a knee-jerk reaction. From the studio that bought us the excellent Coraline in 2009, this stop-motion animated film, is not only beautiful to watch, but also provides us with a wonderful story filled with wonder, thrills and scares. Set in ancient Japan the story follows our young hero Kubo, who upon losing his mother has to go on a adventure to seeks out three pieces of mystical armour, so he can protect himself from the supernatural powers of his grandfather the Moon King and his two aunts, who want to take away his humanity and make him one of them. With two unusual companions by his side and his own growing powers (magic based on playing his shamisen which are a joy to watch), Kubo must go a classic heroes journey. There are some great action sequences, though what is at the heart of this story isn’t the great fights scenes (though those don’t disappoint), or even the tale of adventure itself, it is the story Kubo’s growth and his coming to terms with losing his parents. Filled with moment to make you laugh and to make you tear up, this film is a true delight.
And my worst film of the year for 2016 is.........
Grimsby
(AKA The Brothers Grimsby)
OK I owe this film my thanks, if it didn’t exist then Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice would have been my worst film of the year, and it would truly be a personal tragedy for me if a Batman film was to be the worst film of the year, I mean I’m lucky I wasn’t doing this when the cinematic toy commercial that was Batman and Robin came out. Any way Grimsby (AKA, The Brothers Grimsby) is truly awful in ways I don’t even want to think about. I’m a huge admirer of the work a lot of the actors in this have done before, so have no idea why they would agree to be in this dreadful piece of crap. Avoid at all costs
OK I owe this film my thanks, if it didn’t exist then Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice would have been my worst film of the year, and it would truly be a personal tragedy for me if a Batman film was to be the worst film of the year, I mean I’m lucky I wasn’t doing this when the cinematic toy commercial that was Batman and Robin came out. Any way Grimsby (AKA, The Brothers Grimsby) is truly awful in ways I don’t even want to think about. I’m a huge admirer of the work a lot of the actors in this have done before, so have no idea why they would agree to be in this dreadful piece of crap. Avoid at all costs
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