TYF’s Best Films of 2016

Yesterday you got to see the outcome of our polled best films of 2016. Today, check out below our staffs individual lists for the best films of 2016. We’re all across the spectrum here, from Deadpool to Toni Erdmann and each individual list is worth checking out.

What films made your list this year?

Gabrielle Bondi’s Top 10 Movies of 2016

Despite the losses (and there were many), 2016 brought us a great year of film almost as consolation. Barry Jenkins and Damien Chazelle dazzled us with stories of dreamers and lost souls, each showing how far and wide the art of cinema can take us. The rest of the list is full of unconventional comedies, coming of age stories for women young and old, a dour but realistic look at our government or financial bigwigs look down on the impoverished.

1. Moonlight
2. La La Land
3. Jackie
4. Hell or High Water
5. Hunt for the Wilderpeople
6. I, Daniel Blake
7. Toni Erdmann
8. Things to Come
9. The Edge of Seventeen
10. Midnight Special

Allyson Johnson’s Top 10 Movies of 2016

I’ve written about all of these films multiple times this year and as it comes to an end, the biggest aspect I’ve taken away is just how alive and flourishing the medium is. Even if the blockbuster season was a bit of a disappointment, there were amazing feats of artistry to be found if you managed to look for them. From a coming of age story that will end up being a significant landmark in cinema, a film that made musicals “cool” again, a horror movie about a dinner party gone wrong or a biopic that shows there’s still life in that genre, it’s been an absolutely stunning year for film. I haven’t had as hard a time narrowing down my top ten (top 15 even) in years.

1. Moonlight
2. La La Land
3. The Handmaiden
4. Midnight Special
5. Hell or High Water
6. Green Room
7. The Edge of Seventeen
8. The Invitation
9. Jackie
10. Paterson

Honorable mentions: Loving, American Honey, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, Captain America: Civil War.

Donald Strohman’s Top 10 Movies of 2016

10. Southside With You

Painfully forced romance stories like Dear John or Twilight are a dime a dozen in Hollywood. So, it’s surprisingly refreshing to see a humble, small scale date come to the screen for a change. It just so happens that this particular story is about the future president of the United States, Barack Obama, and future First Lady Michelle going on their first date together. Thanks to the chemistry of leading actors Parker Sawyers and Tika Sumpter, Southside with You is the love story done right, creating one of the most genuine on screen romances of the year.

9. 10 Cloverfield Lane

A “sequel” to the 2008 found footage flick “Cloverfield” may have not been the most demanded feature on the planet, but who can argue with the end result? Thanks to a commanding presence from actors John Goodman and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, 10 Cloverfield Lane is not only the necessary “unnecessary” sequel we needed, it also proves itself to be leaps and bounds better than what the original provided.

8. Finding Dory

Finding Dory was thankfully not just another ocean trotting adventure to find a missing fish. Rather, this time titular character Dory, played by the ever charismatic Ellen DeGeneres, was trying to find out what happened to her family, whom she had long since absent mindedly forgotten. Introducing its audience to an array of colorful characters that range from hysterical to lovably flawed, Finding Dory is thankfully another Pixar sequel done right.

7. The Jungle Book

I think this one surprised us all. Disney’s decision to remake their animated tales didn’t sit well with many fans, but this year’s releases of Pete’s Dragon and The Jungle Book proves many of the naysayers otherwise. Of the two, however, The Jungle Book was the superior, thanks to outstanding animation and performances. Instead of just copying and pasting the animated version into live action, director Jon Favreau combined elements of the original with unexplored moments from Rudyard Kipling’s book, making the 2016 version of The Jungle Book stand entirely on its own.

6. Kubo & the Two Strings

Laika is one of the few Hollywood studios that continues to embrace the stop motion format on a regular basis, and the end result of their efforts have usually been great pieces. Their 2016 outing with Kubo and the Two Strings, however, tops every other adventure they’ve done to date. Showcasing the very best of their animation efforts, all while being backed by a fun, exciting romp through Japanese folklore, Kubo is a unique, vividly enthralling tale unlike anything else 2016 had to offer.  

5. Queen of Katwe

Disney is certainly no stranger to feel good sports films, but who knew they could make something like learning chess one of their best of the genre to date. For someone who never got the hang of chess, I was surprised how engaged I was throughout the run. With a commanding performance by Lupita Nyong’o, and one of the best feel good underdog stories of the year, it’s a shame Queen of Katwe didn’t do better at the box office, because it definitely deserved to.

4. Arrival

Alien invasion movies aren’t really my forte, so when Arrival was announced I wasn’t expecting much. However, the trailers don’t do this movie enough justice, because I was surprisingly blown away by the mythos and tense atmosphere Arrival carried. Not focused on the invasion itself, but rather the communication process that comes with meeting a new form of language, Arrival is one of the few film examples of what an actual encounter with extraterrestrials might be like in reality.

3. Moana

The Disney princess doesn’t need a prince to save her, and Moana proves this in its colorfully fun adventure on the sea. With an excellent score co-written by Hamilton’s Lin Manuel Miranda, and great comedic adventure to back it up, Moana is an absolute blast from beginning to end, and further proves that Disney is top dog of the animated realm.

2. Captain America: Civil War

Thanks to the risks taken with Winter Soldier paying off, Captain America: Civil War was able to go further and create what is arguably Marvel’s darkest adventure to date. Showcasing some of Marvel’s finest at the forefront, and containing one of the best comic book twists in cinema, Civil War feels like the best kind of action adventure commanded by an excellent direction from the Russo brothers.

1. Zootopia

Who would have guessed from the trailers that Zootopia would be something truly special in the year 2016? Not to say the trailers made the movie look bad, but it just came across as a cute, animated romp starring anthropomorphic animals in a city. However, the end product not only contains some of Disney’s best animated work to date, but the themes addressing xenophobia and racism are a surprisingly welcome addition. Kids will love the comedy and adventures of leading characters Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps, but Zootopia is the family film done perfectly by including adults in the fun as well. In fact, Zootopia may be one of the few animated pictures you’ll grow to appreciate more as you grow up, picking up on the messages of equality and fighting stereotypes when you grow older.

Honorable Mentions: Rogue One, Hush, The Finest Hours, Deadpool, Doctor Strange

Andrea Thompson’s Top Ten Films of 2016

Sure, there were a lot of good things that happened in 2016, but it’s still not enough to change my opinion of it, and how happy I am to see it end. Of course, there’s always a chance that 2017 may be even worse, but I still wouldn’t prolong this year for the world. If there’s any source of consolation for me, it’s that it was an amazing year for film, with so many unique offerings that it was very difficult to pare it down to which movies I’ve enjoyed the most. As a matter of fact, making this list provided me with pretty much my only pleasant reminiscence of a year that, thank god, will soon be behind us. So please enjoy my own attempt to make a silver lining out of it all with my list of the movies that I enjoyed the most in 2016.

1.Moonlight

Moonlight, a film about a young black man named Chiron coming-of-age, certainly has some familiar elements. He lives in an impoverished, crime-stricken neighborhood. His father is absent. His mother is addicted to crack. But good writing and great performances make all the difference. Set in Miami in three very distinct, very significant periods during Chiron’s life, beginning during his boyhood in the ’80s, then his teenage years, and finally young adulthood, each segment showcases Chiron wrestling with not only the treacherous environment he’s forced to navigate, but also with who he is, who he wants to become, and his own understanding of masculinity as he comes to terms with the sexuality that repulses and isolates him from his peers. The result is a tender, compassionate, poetic tribute to Miami and its people, especially those who make bad choices when swept up in forces beyond their control. But above all, Moonlight is a love story about how the very act of loving can redeem and bring out the best in all of us, even at our worst.

2.American Honey

It’s not often a movie thrills you and breaks your heart at the same time, but such passionate contradictions are what American Honey embraces as it follows the disenfranchised youth selling magazines across the country, partying hard as they journey from ritzy suburbs to poverty-stricken communities across the Midwest. The film takes its time with a nearly three hour runtime, but since we get to spend it with star Sasha Lane in the kind of breakout performance that fuels a long and successful Hollywood career, you’ll hardly mind it. Throw in some serious chemistry with Shia LaBeouf and Riley Keough as the group’s hardened boss, and it makes for the kind of experience that gives far more than it asks of its audience. Then there’s the soundtrack, which is the kind that threatens to stay in your head forever.

3.Untouchable

Brave is tossed around a lot in filmmaking, but I can’t think of a braver movie than Untouchable, a documentary that examines sex offender laws throughout the nation. The doc (which is also director David Feige’s first full-length film) mostly focuses on Ron Book, a powerful lobbyist and the driving force for some of the toughest sex offender laws in existence, and whose daughter Lauren was sexually abused by a nanny as a child. But Untouchable does something truly astounding: without minimizing the pain of the victims, it also humanizes the men and women affected by these laws. Some of them are genuinely sympathetic people who had consensual sex with someone who was only a few years younger, but others are what many would rightly call monsters, men who have molested or raped children. But Untouchable not only depicts them as human, it makes a case for how to keep them from reoffending, and how our current system hinders or hurts that goal. It’s not easy or pleasant film to watch by any means, but it is one of the most unique, empathetic experiences you’ll ever have.

4.20th Century Women

At the end of 20th Century Women, writer-director Mike Mills remarked that it was impossible to tell his child what kind of woman his grandmother was. He’s right. His earlier film, Beginners, which focused on his father, is certainly easier to describe. But 20th Century Women thrives thanks to incredible writing and spectacularly intimate performances, especially from the eponymous women, who are comprised of Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, and Greta Gerwig, all of whom have a major influence in his life. While we do see these women through the eyes of the teenage Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann), everyone is given their due in a film that mostly seems to be trying to capture the feel of a California summer in 1979, a time where the entire country seemed to be searching for meaning. Whether it was found or not is left to us.

5.The Handmaiden

Count on director Chan-wook Park, who also gave us films like Oldboy and Stoker, to complicate a seemingly simple story in the best of ways. The Handmaiden certainly seems straightforward enough to everyone in the beginning. In the 1930s Japanese-occupied Korea, a Korean thief named Sook-Hee (Tae-ri Kim) teams up with a conman to defraud a seemingly sheltered, innocent Japanese heiress Lady Hideko (Min-hee Kim). But the two women soon fall deeply, lustily in love in this sumptuous film, which also serves as a surprisingly non-exploitative cautionary tale against eroticism tipping into objectification.

6.The Love Witch

Many movies aim to cast a seductive spell, and The Love Witch succeeds like no other, ironic for a film that’s actually an homage to 1960s sexploitation dramas. Most of the credit goes to Anna Biller, who not only wrote and directed, but also edited, produced, and designed the costumes and sets, thus allowing her to reinterpret the genre she obviously loves and give us a stylish, deeply feminist horror about female fantasy and desire. But the rest goes to Samantha Robinson as the titular witch Elaine, a woman so desperate for love that she is willing to transform herself into the ultimate male fantasy while also demanding that men live up to her own impossible fairy tale dreams. In the process, the battle of the sexes begins to resemble an actual battlefield, as Elaine’s doomed, never-ending quest for love soon has a body count.

7.Elle

Talk about a movie that doesn’t let up. Elle begins with the title character’s rape and her reaction to it, in the process not becoming a story of victimization, redemption, or revenge, but rather a character study. We soon learn how just how invested Elle (Isabelle Huppert) is in having control, so much so that she refuses to call the police, or really make any changes at all. In the process, the film refuses to conform to any of the old rules about female sexuality, the new rules about female victimization, or the more modern ones about respectable feminism. It merely shows one woman’s response to the violence she has experienced  throughout her life, and how it has affected her relationships with her family, friends, and at work.

8.Christine

Sometimes failure is just as compulsively watchable as success. Tragedy, after all, is a genre all its own. The tragedy of Christine Chubbuck may have occurred in 1974, but it is still a painfully relevant one that still speaks to our time, with its themes of gender, gun violence, mental illness, and media sensationalism. The film’s superb screenplay brings all these issues to the forefront without reducing its heroine to them, while Rebecca Hall gives what may just be the best performance of her career. Her Christine is as achingly human, coming off as complicated as she is sympathetic. Chubbuck may not have been able to triumph over her many personal and professional demons, but Christine refuses to allow us to believe she isn’t worth championing.

9.Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

The latest Star Wars offering is actually a big studio movie masquerading as a tribute to all the unknown soldiers fighting for what’s right. They are the ones caught up in forces beyond their control, propping up the iconic leaders we are familiar with (RIP Carrie Fisher), and often giving their lives without ever knowing if their efforts have made a difference. Movie spin-offs are always a hard sell, but much like its characters, Rogue One beat the odds, becoming one of the funniest, action-packed, and enjoyable movies of the year. And its cast leaves you hopeful more Hollywood films will reflect the diversity of the people watching. It also has one of the best endings ever, and even manages to make clichés like the blind warrior feel fresh and new. Such a dark, but hopeful film about the fight against fascism may also be just what we need for 2017.

10.Wolf and Sheep

Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat’s first full-length film is impressive in every way, and not only because it so casually, confidently eschews plot, narrative, or really any kind of message or closure. Rather, Wolf and Sheep just follows the daily lives of the inhabitants of a remote village in Afghanistan, specifically the children who shepherd their families’ sheep. Clearly inspired by Sadat’s own time in similar surroundings, and bolstered by performances from mostly non-actors playing versions of themselves, what emerges is a portrait very different from what the media and even indie movies usually depict. Before long, the lives of people so different from our own soon become recognizable to us as we watch people laugh, fight, ostracize, and form close friendships, with just a touch of magical realism that feels right at home in such beautifully remote locations. Nevertheless, the outside world eventually intrudes in the form of rumors of armed men approaching the village. Small wonder then, that the meditative Wolf and Sheep comes to an abrupt halt along with its subjects’ peaceful lives.

Honorable mentions:  Captain America: Civil War, Moana, Zootopia, Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise, Girls Don’t Fly, War on Everyone, Almost Sunrise, Life, Animated, AWOL, Manchester by the Sea, Certain Women, Morris From America, In a Valley of Violence, Jackie.

Justin Carreiro’s Top 10 Movies of 2016

1. Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

The long awaited return to the wizarding world was worth it! Fantastic Beasts is an incredible film and the perfect start for a new trilogy.

2. Deadpool

Funny, self-aware, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously – Deadpool is one of the best superhero movies ever created.

3. NERVE

As a gamer and reality TV fan, I love watching movies about competition. NERVE is a cool movie about the dark side of social media with a gaming element to it.

4. Zootopia

Animated movies have a special place in my heart and this one is such a cute movie with a good message.

5. The Edge of Seventeen

Hailee Steinfeld shines in this quirky teen drama. In fact, all the actors do – it’s one you shouldn’t miss.

6. 10 Cloverfield Lane

Even though I prefer the plot of the first movie, the sequel is just as gripping. 10 Cloverfield Lane is an intense and suspenseful thriller.

7. Captain America: Civil War

It’s basically less a Captain America movie and more a mini-Avengers 2. Overall the film was good and by the end, you will choose a side in the Iron Man vs. Captain America debate. I’m #TeamCaptainAmerica.

8. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

This is a more serious side of Tina Fey that we haven’t seen in a long time. I was pleasantly impressed with her dramatic performance and the film overall.

9. Bad Moms

It’s a funny movie. I don’t know why I like it so much. Maybe it’s the jokes, the tone or the actors (like Kristen Bell, etc.)? But I liked Bad Moms.

10. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies

It’s a parody of the original Jane Austen story (but with zombies). Let’s face it, this movie doesn’t take itself too seriously and neither should you if you watch it. Simply sit back and enjoy this cheeky zombie flick.

Leigh-Ann Brodber’s Top 10 Movies of 2016

While I haven’t gotten to watch all the movies I wanted to this year, the few I have managed to watch have just been epic. Academically, it’s been a tough year and I’m more than happy that, in between studying, I got to see at least one or two films a week. One thing that was really amazing about the movies that came out this year was the stunning cinematography. This year has brought a lot of great films and I am more than excited for the films being released in 2017.

1. Deadpool
2. The Legend of Tarzan
3. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
4. Zootopia
5. The Little Prince
6. Moana
7. Sing Street
8. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
9. Gods of Egypt
10. Captain America: Civil War

Alexander Suffolk’s Top 10 Movies of 2016

• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

• Kubo and the Two Strings

• Arrival

• Manchester by the Sea

• Doctor Strange

• Captain America: Civil War

• Deadpool

• The Witch

• Swiss Army Man

• La La Land

So since Disney is going to be blessing every Christmas season with a flick from the galaxy far, far away, you never need ask me what my favorite movie of the year is. It’s going to be the new Star Wars. Every time. Yes, Rogue One had a litany of flaws, but I still found it incredibly enjoyable and I think it did the series justice. Plus, I mean, Darth Vader. C’mon.

However, I legitimately had a tough time rounding out the rest of my list. I don’t know if it was because 2016 made my desperation for escapism at an all-time high, but I enjoyed the hell out of a ton of movies this year. Ultimately, I chose the movies that just stuck with me the most for whatever reason. La La Land might be on here for being the most recent viewing, but I must say I find myself humming its jazzy swings out of nowhere, and I admire its courage to earnestly portray the bittersweet reality of being a millennial artist. Swiss Army Man was a hilarious yet heartfelt romp with a premise so bizarre, it was impossible for me to not love. The Witch deeply disturbed me in a way most horror films just can’t, and I loved its commitment to being a period piece on top of it all. Doctor Strange, Civil War and Deadpool proved to me that superhero films are still going strong, and while I debated which was the best, at the moment I’m admiring the creativity and surrealness in Strange’s ending. Manchester by the Sea is total Oscar bait, but I ate it up; human drama portrayed with such sincerity it didn’t feel like a movie at all, but an observation of real people’s lives. Arrival is probably the smartest movie of the year, with themes of knowledge triumphing ignorance that still manages to make one wonder about what should be valued in life – science fiction at its best. And Kubo and the Two Strings was a pure thrill for me: stunning animation, a killer soundtrack, wicked action, a badass Charlize Theron role and a familiar yet fresh take on the Hero’s Journey.

I also have too many honorable mentions to list here, and some movies I’m sure would be in the runnings if I saw them. So given all that, I have to say while 2016 sucked in real life, it rocked in the movie theater. Let’s hope for it be even better in 2017.

Jim Alexander’s Top Ten Films of 2016 

Aaron Neuwirth’s Top 10 Movies of 2016

It’s always a challenge to put these lists together, but also a lot of fun. 2016 offered a wide assortment of great films to choose from. Even my honorable mentions would serve as a great top ten list in and of itself. That in mind, this final tally goes encompasses the many different films that arrived at different times during the year and represent films I would love to keep watching, admire from a filmmaking and performance aspect and fill me with the general kind of joy I get from taking in so much entertaining or intriguing cinema from throughout the year.

1.       Paterson
2.       Zootopia
3.       Moonlight
4.       Hunt for the Wilderpeople
5.       La La Land
6.       Hell or High Water
7.       Kubo and the Two Strings
8.       The Lobster
9.       The Fits
10.   Midnight Special

Honorable Mentions: Hail, Caesar!, Sing Street, Jackie, Arrival, The Nice Guys, Manchester By The Sea

Lesley Coffin’s Top Ten Films of 2016 

Michael Fairbanks’ Top 10 Movies of 2016

10. Sing Street

9. Moonlight

8. Hunt For The Wilderpeople

7. Swiss Army Man

6. Zootopia

5. Arrival

4. The Nice Guys

3. Deadpool

2. Nocturnal Animals  

1. La La Land

Tyler Carlsen’s Top 10 Films of 2016

This year brought us a variety of excellent films for audience members of all ages. We needed these films after the “interesting” year we’ve had as a country and the endless amount of celebrity deaths that just keep coming. Whether it was superheroes facing off over what they believe, a soldier who refuses to hold a gun and ends up the hero, a man who exposed the truth that the world was shocked to learn, or a wise cracking mercenary in a red suit that loves Wham!, everyone had the ability to latch on and truly enjoy their cinematic experience. Each of these films inspired feelings of hope, happiness, bravery, and excitement that we all need every now and then.

1. Hacksaw Ridge
2. The Nice Guys
3. Sully
4. Captain America: Civil War
5. Fences
6. Hardcore Henry
7. Snowden
8. 10 Cloverfield Lane
9. Deadpool
10. The Infiltrator

Honorable Mentions: Arrival, The Birth of a Nation, Eye in the Sky, Eddie the Eagle.

Ryan Gibbs’ Top 10 Films of 2016

I am traditionally a little late getting around to new release movies, so a lot of these I only saw in November or December. I love documentaries, and three made my list this year: Eight Days a Week (Ron Howard’s superb doc on The Beatles’ touring years, which somehow finds new things to say about the most documented group in rock history), We Are X (a fascinating look at the legendary Japanese metal group X Japan, compelling for those who loved other music docs about underappreciated subjects like Searching for Sugar Man and A Band Called Death) and Jim: The James Foley Story (a bio-doc on murdered journalist James Foley).

1. La La Land
2. 10 Cloverfield Lane
3. Kubo and the Two Strings
4. Sing Street
5. The Beatles: Eight Days a Week
6. The Lobster
7. We Are X
8. Hail, Caesar!
9. Jim: The James Foley Story
10. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Jon Winkler’s Top 10 Films of 2016

Like most years, the best movies of 2016 were the ones that didn’t have toy deals, product tie-ins, or “Extended Editions.” In fact, I’d go so far to say that 2016 may be one of the worst years for blockbuster studio movies (Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, Ghostbusters, X-Men: Apocalypse, Warcraft) Fortunately, that means the rest of the world of movies was filled with interesting ideas, compelling characters, and unique filmmaking. We went everywhere from ancient Japan to 1970s Los Angeles, followed bankrupt cowboys and the First Lady, and faced a demonic goat and the equally scary dream of trying to make it as an actress. 2016 may have been a bit of a wash, but that made my top 10 picks all the more precious. In the words of the patron saint Wade W. Wilson, “Let’s count ‘em down.”

10. Hunt for the Wilderpeople 

9. The Edge of Seventeen

8. Una

7. Manchester by the Sea

6. Jackie

5. La La Land

4. Kubo and the Two Strings

3. Hell or High Water

2. The Nice Guys

1. The Witch

Cristina Moreano’s Top 10 Films of 2016

This year the big screen has had some wild and interesting stories to tell. Some really entertained us, a few wowed us while others were just a total disappointment. Aliens, wizards, a guy in an island with a corpse buddy, a World War II hero, musicals, a team of supervillains, a land far, far away…the list goes on! I admit I still have to see a few of the great titles that just came out, but hey…the year is not over yet! After a lot of consideration, these are the final 10 of my favorite films of 2016.

1. Arrival
2. Hacksaw Ridge
3. Sing Street
4. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
5. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
6. Deadpool
7. Zootopia
8. Sully
9. Swiss Army Man
10. Hail, Caesar!

AJ Caulfield’s Top 10 Films of 2016

The elbow-twitch reaction I have toward 2016 as a whole is akin to a Michael Scott-level emotional breakdown coupled with an “It was a dumpster fire” statement mumbled from underneath a massive blanket. Sadness, sourness and shocking tragedies have devastated us the world ‘round, but thankfully, film swooped in to grant us some solace — an escape from the insanity swirling around us incessantly. My top films of the year were ones that made me feel, and deeply so. Whether it was for arresting aesthetics and sparkling screenplay (lookin’ at you, number 1), for well-executed call-backs to nostalgic pasts or for cheek-tingling charm in a coming-of-age story, these films captured my attention and heart in equal measure. They were the most delightful distractions to an otherwise devastating year. This list is a hodge-podge of my favourites, and span across most genres any guy or gal could be looking for. I can’t recommend these enough.

1. La La Land
2. The Nice Guys
3. Moonlight
4. Green Room
5. Arrival
6. Jackie
7. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
8. The Edge of Seventeen
9. Hunt for the Wilderpeople
10. 10 Cloverfield Lane

Honorable mentions: The Invitation, Hail, Ceasar!, American Honey, and Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

Tyler Christian’s Top 10 Movies of 2016

2016 started off as a rather lackluster year for cinema. Numerous blockbusters produced rather disappointing final cuts, and there was an overabundance of needless sequels (Independence Day: Resurgence, Neighbors 2, Zoolander 2, etc.). However once the fall slate of releases arrived, in addition to catching up on numerous features from earlier months, I gradually grew enough confidence to proclaim 2016 as a uniquely great year for movies. A24 proved yet again why they’re the premier independent film studio for exciting auteurs to break out into larger audiences. Also, it should not be forgotten that the documentary genre enjoyed one of its finest years in terms of informative, diverse content. More than anything else, the year was highlighted by providing memorable movies across an extensive array of genres, which is ultimately shown in my list below. Enjoy!

Honorable Mentions: Sing Street, The Edge of Seventeen, De Palma, Zootopia, Arrival

1. Silence
2. OJ: Made in America
3. Moonlight
4. The Witch
5. La La Land
6. The Handmaiden
7. The Lobster
8. Manchester by the Sea
9. Nocturnal Animals
10. Green Room

*Still need to see: 20th Century Women, American Honey, Elle, Jackie, and Paterson

Mae Abdulbaki’s Top 10 Movies of 2016

There are so many movies that come out each year that it’s become hard to narrow it down to a top 10 list. 2016 was a weird, sad, tragic, and scary year. But at least there were a lot of good films to choose from! This list has been rearranged several times, but from Barry Jenkins’ gorgeous and thorough storytelling in Moonlight to Babak Anvari’s wonderful Iranian horror film, Under the Shadow, every one of these films

1. Moonlight
2. Under the Shadow
3. Hell or High Water
4. La La Land
5. Hidden Figures
6. Zootopia
7. Arrival
8. Don’t Think Twice
9. Moana
10. Loving

Honorable Mentions: Captain America: Civil War, Finding Dory, Deadpool, Southside With You, The Nice Guys

Will Ashton’s Top 10 Movies of 2016

This year was long. It was pained, it was sorrowful, it was merciless, and yet it was still beautiful — if, frankly, not quite as beautiful as other years, nor as plainly so. The beauty came from the little places, like how a few kindred spirits came together against overwhelming oppression, or how sadness can be met with underlying radiance — and that, in a way, was also how one could describe the best films of 2016. If you solely looked at the bigger titles, you saw many bloated blockbusters, countless unwanted sequels and a nauseating number of flops. Yet, it was often the little films, the ones that came softly humming, that stood out the most, and they’re the ones that continue to stand out the most — particularly within the last remaining days of this cold, unforgiving, but somberly rousing year we know as 2016. There were more than a few that I missed (The Handmaiden, Jackie, Silence, Paterson, etc), but here are the best that I caught.

1. Swiss Army Man
2. La La Land
3. Kubo and the Two Strings
4. Tickled
5. Tower
6. Moonlight
7. Manchester by the Sea
8. Weiner
9. Always Shine
10. One More Time With Feeling

Honorable Mentions: Moana; Life, Animated; American Honey; Chicken People; Everybody Wants Some!!; The Lobster; Don’t Think Twice; 20th Century Women; Ouija: Origin of Evil

Nathanael Hood’s Top Ten Film’s of 2016 

11. American Honey

For the record, I don’t actually think that Andrea Arnold’s American Honey, a road trip movie about a runaway teenager who joins a roving magazine sales crew, is the eleventh best film of 2016. To be perfectly honest, I still haven’t made up my mind if I like the film, let alone whether or not I think it’s “good.” But I had to put the film up here because I’ve spent more time thinking about it than every other movie of 2016 combined. American Honey consumed my mind in a way few films ever had. For that reason, I feel compelled to include it on my Best of the Year list.

Earlier this year I wrote on American Honey within the larger context of Arnold’s work. You can find that article here:

10. The Nice Guys

In terms of sheer, unbridled fun and entertainment, no other film in 2016 was quite as satisfying as Shane Black’s The Nice Guys. It’s dark, violent, pulpy joy from start to finish. From the very first few scenes it’s obvious that this was the film Black had prepared his whole life to make, re-purposing the buddy cop formula he perfected in his Lethal Weapon screenplays as well as the neo-noir stylings of his directorial debut Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005). If you removed the comedy from it—of course, why would you want to?—the film could work as a compelling detective story in its own right. Plus, it’s always fun to see Russell Crowe taking the piss out of his tough guy image.

9. Kubo and the Two Strings

Studio Laika’s Kubo and the Two Strings, a fantasy film set in ancient Japan following a young boy who can control paper with his enchanted shamisen, plays like a classic Hollywood serial operating with the same mythopoetic narrative logic as Star Wars: a grand quest through mysterious lands, a dizzying array of villains, a host of lovable sidekicks, and a fully realized fictional universe dense with beauty and magic. I’ve heard some people refer to it as the best unofficial adaptation of the Legend of Zelda video games ever made. There may be something to this claim—especially one sequence where Kubo gets rescued from an underwater eyeball creature that seems ripped out of a N64 game—but at its core, the film is a portrait of grief and loss as seen through the eyes (or eye) of a child. Though some of the plot developments are predictable, it doesn’t cheat any of its emotions. I wish more Western animated movies did likewise.

8. TIE: Arrival/Rogue One

In a year of so many big budget blockbuster disasters, Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival and Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story were reminders that at least some people in Hollywood still know how to make large-scale sci-fi extravaganzas. Arrival, a cerebral film about first contact, may be the first blockbuster to ever revolve around the heady topic of linguistics. But even if Villeneuve’s non-linear narrative acrobatics throw viewers off, the film can still be appreciated as a devastating yet hopeful tale about empathy and cooperation. On the other hand, Rogue One might be the most satisfying Star Wars movie since Return of the Jedi (1983)—if only because, unlike The Force Awakens (2015), it was bold enough to attempt its own identity and not just ape the best bits from A New Hope (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980). After an admittedly rocky first act, the film buckles in for some of the best thrills and action seen on the big screen in quite some time. Arrival and Rogue One both prove that experimentation and innovation need not be anathema to Hollywood spectacle films.

7. Swiss Army Man

Ever wonder what a Charlie Kaufman film would be like if he had an actual sense of humor? Outrageous and unpredictable, Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan’s Swiss Army Man plays like a lucid absinthe phantasm, using the simple premise of a man trapped on a deserted island with a dead body to examine existential queries the likes of which would make Terrence Malick green with envy. I spent the entire film with my jaw on the floor, incapable of believing what I was seeing. How could two directors who had never made a feature-length film before be this smart, this clever, this audacious? I saw so many half-baked, self-conceited art films this year by filmmakers who thought they were making grandiose statements about life, the universe, and everything by being as obtuse, esoteric, and transgressive as possible. Who could have imagined they would all be blown out of the water by a film where Daniel Radcliffe plays a talking corpse with an erect penis that doubles as a compass whose postmortem farts were powerful and plentiful enough for Paul Dano to ride him like a jet-ski to civilization?

6. Hell or High Water

We critics really need to start paying more attention to Taylor Sheridan. If his back-to-back screenplays for Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario (2015) and David Mackenzie’s neo-Western Hell or High Water are any indications, he might be well on his way to becoming the single most significant screenwriter in America since Paul Schrader. Hell or High Water is a gloomy, heavy film that sits upon your brain for weeks after you see it. Set in the poverty-stricken parts of rural America that Hollywood likes to ignore, it’s more than just a magnificent cops-and-robbers thriller: it repurposes the tenants of the Western genre for a new millennium. The West has been won, but for what cost? If civilization was the salvation of the early settlers, then crime is the salvation of their great-grand-children, the detritus of the Great Recession. There’s more than a little Old Testament in Hell or High Water: forgiveness can only come by way of a bullet. Also: a role hasn’t been more tailor-made for Jeff Bridges since The Big Lebowski (1998); it’s his post-Dude apotheosis.

5. Jackie

“Part of what makes Jackie so extraordinary is that it is a movie about America that could never have been made by Americans: Larraín, a native Chilean, intuitively understood that every four years, the American people elect their new king and queen. And few American queens captivated the world as much as Jackie, a woman equal parts at ease with being a homemaker, a fashion icon, a diplomat, a mother, and an icy enigma. Recreating her famous interview with Theodore H. White of Life magazine at her home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts shortly after her husband’s assassination, Jackie is both a devastating portrait of grief and loss as well as a curious meditation on the need for myths. Must America have royalty? And if it does, to what extent should that same royalty protect its own legacy?”

4. I, Daniel Blake

“To say it’s Loach’s best film in years, if not decades, is not understatement. Here is a film with the outraged fire of youth curated with the skill of a master craftsman.”

3. Shin Godzilla

“So imagine my surprise to discover that Shin Godzilla is not only thoroughly coherent, but quite possibly the best Godzilla film since the first one in 1954. Shin Godzilla nails the proper spectacle, tone, and emotions one would expect from a film where a monster named after God arises from the depths and wreaks havoc on a unsuspecting humanity.”

2. 13th

I usually don’t put documentaries on my year end Best Of lists; I have a separate list devoted solely to them. (Otherwise I’m sure David Farrier and Dylan Reeve’s Tickled and Keith Maitland’s Tower would have already shown up by now.) But something about Ava DuVernay’s 13th felt special. A breath-taking, harrowing examination of the US criminal justice system and how it used a loophole in the 13th Amendment to justify over a century of mass incarceration, the film is as necessary as it is prescient. When I first saw it premiere back in September at the New York Film Festival, the extended sequences featuring snippets of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign speeches juxtaposed against footage of the Civil Rights Movement were terrifying enough. But now they seem like a grim confirmation of a continuing reinforcement of white supremacy against America’s minorities. And yet DuVernay chose to end her film on images and scenes of hope. 13th is more than just a superb documentary, it’s downright essential viewing for the dark years ahead, both as a tool to inform the masses and a sermon promising something greater than we can possibly imagine. But only if we stay alert and vigilant.

1. Paterson

Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson may not be the most entertaining film of 2016. It might not be the smartest or the cleverest or the funniest. But it was the one film I kept returning to in my mind as this miserable year dragged on. Why do I love Paterson? Because it’s the anti-2016. Gentle, calm, and peaceful, Jarmusch’s simple tale about a week in the life of a Paterson, New Jersey bus driver also named Paterson (Adam Driver) was like a glimpse into a world that could and should be. It’s a world curiously absent of dread of malice, a world where all the paupers are poets and, perhaps as importantly, all the poets are paupers. It’s a world of respectful cultural fluidity; a world where Iranian housewives dream of country music and Japanese businessmen dream of William Carlos Williams. And through it all there’s an unspoken sadness just beneath the surface; a sadness which propels its characters to love and support each other in good times and bad. Paterson is everything American cinema should aspire to be—creative and earnest, hopeful yet realistic, with just a touch of magic thrown in. And even more than that, Paterson is everything America as a country should aspire to be, too.

Yasmin Kleibart’s Top Ten Films of 2016

1. Moonlight 

2. Manchester by the Sea

3. Hunt for the Wilderpeople

4. Sing Street

5. Kubo and the Two Strings

6. Green Room

7. Swiss Army Man

8. La La Land

9. The Nice Guys

10. Arrival

Katey Stoetzel’s Top Ten Films of 2016 

I struggled with this. My wallet struggled with this. It’s incredibly difficult to get out there and see every film, especially those limited release ones. So as a disclaimer, I don’t feel this list is complete. But how could it ever be? As much as I love film and going to the theater, I’m just not going to get to every movie. But I feel content with where this list ended up. It was a good year for film. For me, it started with “The Witch” and ended with “La La Land,” and everything in between was an absolute treasure. My only regret – due to some arbitrary designation of time, I could not put “Mad Max: Fury Road” on this list, no matter how much I wanted to.

1. Hell or High Water
2. Manchester by the Sea 
3. La La Land 
4. Arrival 
5. The Edge of Seventeen
6. The Witch 
7. Hunt for the Wilderpeople
8. Nocturnal Animals 
9. Star Trek Beyond 
10. The Girl on the Train 

Josh Cabrita’s Top Ten Films of 2016 

1. Knight of Cups 
2. Manchester by the Sea 
3. Toni Erdmann 
4. Certain Women 
5. Silence 
6. Our Little Sister 
7. Right Now, Wrong Then 
8. The BFG 
9. Little Men 
10. 20th Century Women 

Jon Espino’s Top Ten Films of 2016 

1. Moonlight 
2. Elle
3. Toni Erdmann 
4. La La Land 
5. Jackie 
6. The Handmaiden
7. Loving 
8. Paterson 
9. Manchester By The Sea 
10. Nocturnal Animals

Catherina Gioino’s Top 10 Films of 2016

Aww man. Can we even count 2016 as a good year of anything? Well, maybe this year wasn’t particularly that great– in terms of the film industry– it did produce some great movies that are sure to inspire future films and filmmakers alike. While we can’t just completely dismiss the rest of the films, these are just my pick for the top ten for the year.

1. Zootopia
2. A Hologram for the King
3. Moana
4. Manchester By The Sea
5. Jackie
6. Florence Foster Jenkins
7. Kubo
8. Paterson
9. Hail, Caesar!
10. Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Gary Shannon’s Top 10 Films of 2016 

(Haven’t Seen Yet: 20th Century Woman, Aquarius, Julieta, The Red Turtle, Silence, Toni Erdmann, Your Name)

(Honorable Mentions: The Age of Shadows, The Boy and the Beast, Certain Women, Don’t Breathe, The Edge of Seventeen, Kubo and the Two Strings, The Little Prince, Love & Friendship, Loving, Midnight Special, The Nice Guys, The Neon Demon, Paterson, Storks, Sunset Song, Train to Busan, The Wailing, Zootopia)

Special Mention: La La Land

Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling dance like Fred Astaire in a rare pastiche of classical Hollywood cinema that vilifies millennial optimism. Chazelle doesn’t imitate or serve the musical format of his precursors Donen, Kelly, Minnelli or Walters, but encapsulates it in a breezy and magical romance of postmodern anxiety.

10. Hunt for the Wilderpeople

A hilarious (and touching) contemporary investigation of emotional asceticism. For me, no film this year satirizes, more delicately and hilariously, the modern lunacy of law and order, class and race, media and privatism, and simply people trying coming to terms with the craziness of the world around them.

9. Moonlight

Intoxicating visual flourishes festoon this depiction of inner city romance and sexuality, imagined as a cultural mosaic in Liberty City, Miami. Moonlight is not something to be contemplated but absorbed, the film immerses us into feeling and thought the way it enraptures us into its neon-lit euphoria.

8. Hell or Highwater

A thrilling modern Deep South folk tale about bank-robbers in a declining American culture so anarchic and chaotic that one man’s notion of evil can easily dilute into another’s notion of good. Hell or Highwater is the most accurate portrayal of the corruption festering at the heart of Western values, and a piercingly sympathetic examination of the modern dustbowl calling itself the American working-class.

7. Knight of Cups

Most film critics have labelled Terence Malick as self-indulgent and obscure, but to me it’s only self-indulgent in the way most filmmakers try (and fail) to be more intimate, and obscure in that, unlike most films, Knight of Cups boldly attempts to feel its material instead of blandly attempting to format his ideas into something more digestible or emotionally condescending.

6. Elle

Verhoeven’s films have almost mostly just been appreciated as middlebrow cash-ins (if not loathed as artistic blunders), regarded as little more than conversational faux pas even though they’ve become favorited pop culture keepsakes of modern satire. Elle is his most approved artistic statement to date, not so much an indictment but a ravishing (and darkly humorous) inspection on the mysteries of human desire.

5. The Witch

Bearing a creepy, folkloric charm above its darker, more sinister subtext of Puritan despotism, The Witch displaces the catharsis of the horror genre for a more cerebral experience. His invocation of history (the Salem witch trials) contextualize this lurid family drama against the backdrop of a period in American history where the paranoid dangers of witchcraft and the occult were supplanted by the real dangers of mass hysteria and religious extremism.

4. Manchester by the Sea

Manchester by the Sea is neither conventional, predictable or ordinary, it’s both unexpectedly funny and devastating in moments that don’t seem to call for it, but we still laugh and wince readily at them because they feel so real and like the majority of us Lonergan’s characters don’t questions life’s serendipitous rewards or unforeseen punishments.

3. Green Room

Tyro-auteur Jeremy Saulnier channels the staticky pandemonium of contemporary America’s downturned politics and pits them in a gladiatorial show-down, brandishing its central conflict proudly: Punks Versus Neo-Nazis! Its brand of  nihilism seems almost too ne plus ultra in this Trumpian climate of a severed American identity, but Saulnier’s composition of violence is near-perfect, and his humanity (when not de-fleshed) punctures deeply into his material.

2. Our Little Sister

Our Little Sister, a vibrant, poignant and touching film about 4 people bonding upon the death of their estranged father, proves yet again (in a career spanning nearly 30 years) Kore-eda’s capacity to invoke culture and heritage all while transcending them with his omnipresent, universal graces and a flavour of hypnotic, fairy-tale whimsy.

1. The Handmaiden

The Handmaiden is Park Chan-wook’s sumptuous opus of feminine reclamation but, more than that, it’s a tapestry of cinematic tradition and rule-breaking, never gauging his excesses or limits. For all its virtues The Handmaiden is a film almost beyond description, the performances cinematography, production design, and sound conjugate, the result is an absolutely stunning, irreversible catharsis of sight and sound, an indelible feast for the senses and the mind.

What films made your list?