It's
that time of year again, time for top 10 best and worst films of the
year. 2016 has been an absolute asshole of year. Many famous and much
loved actors, musicians and pop culture figures have been taken from
us, ive had some personal family issues which, i'm sorry to say, got
in the way of my reviewing. For that I do apologise, but I have been
watching movies.
So the following in list of ten films are ones that
have personally made in impression on me and some that didn't. You
may not agree and that's cool, please leave a comment on the page
telling me yours. The list features some movies that were released in
2015 but had releases in the UK in 2016...
Anyway
without further ado...my number 10 best film of 2016....
10
CLOVERFIELD LANE (2016)
10
Cloverfield Lane was a nice surprise. Not necessarily a complete
sequel to 2008's Cloverfield but set in the same universe, it packs a
lot of tension and a truly fantastic performance from John Goodman.
The film is essentially a single set film, meaning 90% of the movie
takes place in a single location. Using this allows for a more
personal viewing experience. You get to see how people get under each
other's skin, how they interact in a situation they have no control
over and how they eventually turn the tables and find a way out. It
has a very cool vibe to it, kind of like those post nuke movies of
the 70s and 80s with the character not knowing what awaits them on
the outside. It's well written, acted and directed with a stand out
performance by Goodman and a good role for Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
Definitely worth your time.
09
IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE (2016) / OUTLAWS & ANGELS (2016)
The
last few years has given us some pretty damn good modern takes on the
western genre, just last year, on my top 10 countdown of 2015, Bone
Tomahawk took the 3rd position on my best films list. 
This
year we were given not 1 but 4 great westerns, In A Valley Of
Violence, Outlaws & Angels, the remake of The Magnificent Seve
and one that didn't quite make the 10, Forsaken, starring father and
son duo, Donald and Keifer Sutherland. That film will definitely be
an honourable mention but I had a hard time deciding between which of
the above 2 to include on the list so decided to include both films
as my joint number 9 as I think they would both work well as western
double feature. The first, In A Valley Of Violence, follows that time
worn action movie plot, man walks into town, gets into trouble with
the local corrupt lawman and his numbskull son and his cronies and
finds himself forced to fight back. It's your fairly bog standard
plot but what works is that it all seems like a hell of a lot offun. The film, the first non horror film from director Ti West and the first West film to actually entertain me is a great little spaghetti/Hollywood throwback, Ethan Hawk gives good as the man slighted buy the town's corrupt Marshall, played brilliantly by John Travolta in one his best roles since Taking Of Pelham 1,2,3 in 2009. It's violent but not the kind of violence you'd expect from Ti West and is definitely worth your time.
Outlaws
& Angels on the other hand has the kind of violence you'd expect
to see in a Tarantino flick, a gleefully OTT shoot 'em up western
about a gang of bank robbing killers who take up residence in the
home of a preacher and his family, slowly turning on of their
daughters against them. Again, like In A Valley Of Violence, the film
is entertaining, the cast are good, even with some you'd never expect
to see in certain roles such as Chad Michael Murray as the leader of
the violent band of thieves and all credit to Francesca Eastwood, she
has better western acting chops than her brother, Scott, but both
have their legendary father to thank for that. Both films are well
worth spending a little time with, you won't be disappointed, thats
why I couldn't decide on which to include so I decided on both...
08
SING STREET (2016)
I
Remember being blown away by John Carney's Oscar winning low budget
romantic musical, ONCE, back when it first came out, the soundtrack
was stunning and the performances all seemed genuine, I really liked
and enjoyed his hollywood film, Begin Again with Mark Ruffalo and
Keira Knightly so I had I hopes for Sing Street and boy did it
deliver. We follow wannabe teen rocker Conor who starts a band with
his mates from school to impress a girl he likes. But the band are
actually really good. There's something about Irish comedy's that,
with the exception of that horrible Mrs Brown's Boys show, that
strikes my funny bone, Irish humour is very similar to Aussie humour,
It's subtle and it doesn't need the whole build up to the punch line,
it just catches you off guard. The kids are absolutely brilliant in
their roles and it has a similar feel to Alan Parker's iconic film,
The Commitments. It's nostalgic, sweet, funny, dramatic and has a
great soundtrack, one of the best hidden gems, if that's even what
it was.
07
BLOOD FATHER (2016)
Mel
Gibson returns to the role of badass statesman of badass university
with this quick, straight up chase flick. Gibson is a former ex-con,
ex-alcoholic tattoo artist living in a desert trailer park when he
gets a call from his estranged daughter. She's in trouble with some
Cartel gangsters and needs his help. She thinks she's killed her
boyfriend and now some nasty dudes are after her. Gibson jumps back
into action when the gangstas find our where he lives and the chase
is on. Car chases, bike chases and shoot outs all jam packed into a
streamlined, linear 88 minutes. It's not only a lot of fun but it's
great to see Gibson playing the badass once again. He did the same
thing a few years back with the hugely underrated Mexico based prison
flick, Get The Gringro. You never seem to get a duff performance from
Mel, even in the smaller films he does and he does absolutely
brilliantly in Blood Father. Is it a return to form for Gibson, I
hope so, he's been punished enough and with his new war movie,
Hacksaw Ridge, astounding critics, he could be back for good, I just
hope he stays clean and sober...
06
STAR WARS: EPISODE 7: THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015)
It's
been 10 years since we last visited the Star Wars universe in live
action form, something we may never have revisited had it not been
for Disney's acquisition of Lucas Film in october 2012. Fast forward 3 years and Disney/Lucas film releases the most anticipated film of the decade, the 7th film in the long running 40 year
franchise. Who do you get to direct a Star Wars film? JJ Abrams of
course. Now Abrams may have his detractors but there's no denying the
new film has way more heart and soul that George Lucas' prequal
trilogy. Episode 7 takes place 30 years or so after the events of
Return Of The Jedi and follows a new set of heroes along with some
old friends going up against a new threat, remnants of the galactic
empire, an almost cult like group called The First Order. There are
too many plot elements to go into too much detail here but, and this
is a issue a lot of people had with the film, it does sort of follow
the plot of A New Hope. That aside, Abrams and screenwriter, Lawrence
Kasdan have crafted a fun, nostalgic intergalactic space adventure
featuring new characters performed brilliantly by the new cast
members as well as returning characters from the original trilogy,
some absolutely brilliant practical creature FX, a stunning new John
Williams score and just a great fun vibe. We have to wait till next
December for Episode 8 but at least in the mean time we get the first
spin off movie, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story which to be honest,
looks even better than The Force Awakens. If you're a Star Wars fan
it's worth every minute of your time, if you're not then it's still
worth watching.
05
13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI (2016)
that's
right folks, my number 5 choice is a MICHAEL BAY movie. Now before
you throw a hissy fit, have you actually seen it?, it's a damn fine
war movie. Yes it features the customary Bayhem, but it feels more in
line with The Rock and Bad Boys 2 than his last few films, there are
no giant robots destroying cities or body builders trying to rip off
millionaires, There's a more human story behind 13 Hours, a story I
had no idea about, (Hilary i'm looking at you) and one which
interested me. Coming across a bit like Zero Dark Thirty and Black
Hawk Down, 13 Hrs is a siege movie of epic perportions, a story of
how a small group of 6 military contractors took on wave after wave
of militia during an assault on a U.S Compound in Benghazi, Libya.
It's an almost non-stop barrage of bullets and explosions all wrapped
up in a well written and acted, especially by John Kraszinsky and
James Badge Dale, action movie based on a real event that no one
really knew anything about. The film could have used a bit more
character development but that shouldn't impede your enjoyment of the
film. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers Of Benghazi is probably Michael
Bay's best film since The Rock, don't write this bad boy off...
04
DEADPOOL (2016)
The
only comic book based movie to appear on my countdown. I've kind of
given up on Marvel movies at the moment, I think the market is over
saturated with comic movies so i've decided to give the majority a
miss, I did watch X-men Apocalypse which I found to be messy and
quite dull and I did watch Iron Man 4 I mean Captain America Civil
War which, after enjoying the hell out of the previous 2, found to be
all over the shop, a messy movie where the writers couldn't work out
what to do with so many characters. It all felt a bit flat to me.
However, I enjoyed the living hell out of DEADPOOL, the character FOX
previously fucked up in the first stand alone Wolverine movie by
sowing up the mouth of the Merc With a Mouth. DEADPOOL even makes fun
of that in it's weird 4th wall breaking style, even taking
shots at DC's Green Lantern movie which starred Deadpool himself,
Ryan Reynolds. The film owes most of it's spirit and tenacity to
Reynolds as not just the main lead but the man who has relentlessly
tried to get the movie made over the course of 11 years. And he
finally did it. Deadpool is not the kind of superhero movie you can
take a 7 year old too, this is a super hero movie for people who like
their violence bloody and the language filthy. This is the adult
superhero movie. A film filled with utterly fantastic one liners,
some excellent actions scenes and a hero who couldn't give a fuck who
he offends. It's a laugh riot and it's also a pretty damn good action
film. So credit to Reynolds for being one persistent son-of-a-bitch
and for gifting us this bugnuts mental comic movie about comic book
movies, now i'm off to make some mother fuckin' Chimi-Changas.
03
MIDNIGHT SPECIAL (2016)
What
do you get when you mash John Carpenter's Starman, D.A.R.Y.L and ET
together and smoosh them all up into a family drama? You the utter
sublime and criminally underrated Midnight Special. The film received
barely any theatrical promotion, was gone within a blink of an eye
but still managed to get a critically good reception, how does that
happen?, it happens because of festivals and that how Midnight
Special impressed people. It impressed me so much that it's my number
3 pick. A child, a special child who has abilities goes on the run
with his father from the Government and a cult, drawn to the child's
abilities. The child can only be awake at night and must sleep during
the day, he wears goggles, he removes them and two beams of light
come out. His father was once a member of the cult out to use the
child's abilities. It's a really hard film to describe in a small
paragraph as you can see from my sort of synopsis. It's a wonderful
film, full of heart and emotion as well as being a family drama and a
hard sci-fi flick. The cast are outstanding, Michael Shannon gives
one of his best performances and he's ably supported by Joel
Edgerton, Adam Driver, Kirsten Dunst and Sam Shepherd. The sci-fi
elements are what drew me to the film originally but it's much much
more than a science fiction film. Writer/Director Jeff Nichols has
crafted a film that will not only cause you to scratch your head but
also ponder what is beyond our view, what is hidden? I cannot praise
Midnight Special enough. It's worth every moment of your time. Seek
it out.
02
CREED (2016)
I
must admit, as a huge fan of the Rocky franchise, I was a little
hesitant to hear about the idea that a spin off following the son of
Apollo Creed was in the works. I just couldn't see how it would work,
why would it work and would Rocky himself be in it. Well, here we are
at the 2nd spot on my top 10 list and what's this? Creed
is my number 3 pick?...Why? Because Creed is a damn fine film and a
brilliant addition to the saga and legacy of Rocky Balboa. Adonis is
the illegitimate son of Former world heavy weight champion Apollo
Creed, killed in the ring during a 1985 exhibition fight with Russian
beast, Ivan Drago. Adonis had a trouble start to life, finding
himself at young age as a ward of the state after his mother dies.
Taken in by Creed's widow and given a life more worthy than he had he
develops a taste for boxing, going to Mexico to fight unlicensed for
cash. He decides to quit his job and move to Philly to train full
time, enlisting the hesitant former world heavy weight champ and
legacy, Rocky Balboa to train him. CREED is a brilliantly written
film and never feels like a spin off, Stallone is front and centre
almost through-out the film and it really feels more like Rocky 7
only this time, Rocky's opponent isn't a man but a horrible illness
but through all of the Champ's ups and downs, he manages to bond with
Adonis, in a way that Adonis was never able to with Apollo. Rising
star Michael B Jordan absolutely nails the role of Adonis, he's a bit
hood but not as much as you'd think, he had a privileged up bringing
and a collage education but he's a man stuck between being his own
thing or following the legacy of his champion father. Jordan is just
fantastic but it's Stallone who steals the show, even earning an
academy award nomination for best supporting actor for his role as
the aging, retired Champion and it's just so great to see Stallone
acting as opposed to movie-starring. All the credit has to go to
writer/director, Ryan Coolger who has crafted a heartfelt, powerful,
sometimes funny boxing drama to rival the original Rocky back in '76
and it was an absolute tragedy that the Academy didn't reward Coolger
with a nomination at this years Oscars. Creed is an absolutely
wonderful film and a stunning addition to an already popular and much
loved franchise, but the best thing is the tiny little musical cues
featuring portions of Bill Conti's Iconic theme, Gonna Fly Now that
really brings back the nostagia for Rocky Fans. Do not miss.
01
THE NICE GUYS (2016)
Shane
Black may not be a name the average cinema goer recognizes, however
his work has been seen by million and millions of people. Shane Black
is the writer of action classics, Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout,
The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Last Action Hero and the Robert Downey
Jr comeback film, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang as well as writing and
directors Downey Jr's 3rd outing as Tony Stark, Iron Man
3. This year he returned with a new film, a late 70s set crime comedy
starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. The film starts with the
death of a missing porn star and how private detective Gosling is
hired to find out her where-abouts, add into the fold Russell Crowe's
Fixer, hired to stop Gosling from tailing a female acquaintance of
the porn star, the two 2 join forces when the case gets deeper and
more mysterious. Tagging along on the case is Gosling's daughter, a
tough as nails, smart as a book 12 year old. What sets The Nice Guys
apart from other films released this year is the fact that it's an
original property, not based on a book, game, newspaper article, it's
not a remake, it's not a reboot, it's not based on a comic book and
it's 100% original. This works in it's favour because a rarely does a
studio take a chance on an original property these days. But after
the success of Iron Man 3, Shane Black is again a name to pay big
bucks to. The film is a great throwback to the crime capers of the
70s such as Freebie And The Bean and The Hot Rock. It features not
one but multiple standout performances. Crowe is his best in years as
the tough as nails but still quite sensitive and human Jackson
Healey, a man who gets the job done if the money is right and a
brilliantly comic turn by Ryan Gosling as the idiotic Holland March.
Gosling is a great to watch after so many films of him looking like
he couldn't be bothered, there's actual life in him in this, he looks
like he's having a blast with the character and I think it was spot
on casting. There's great chemistry between the two leads and some
exciting action scenes. Black's script zings with great one liners
and the dialogue is up there with some of the best cool as shit
dialogue from the likes of Tarantino, Robert Towne etc. The only
issue I had with The Nice Guys is that there is so much going on it
does become a little confusing at times but you do catch up after a
few minutes. It makes a great companion piece to Black's previous
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, this could almost be a prequel, it's set in the
same city and very much has the same vibe as that film. I've seen it
3 times now and it gets better every time. For that, it takes my
Number one slot in my top 10 of 2016.
So
there we go folks, another year another Top 10 best films of the
year. I always do my rundowns between December to November because
with Christmas and New year I don't really have the time to write
these things up so films like Arrival, Rogue One and some others like
Hell And High Water and Dr. Strange won't appear as ive yet to see
them. So that's my top 10 of the year. Below are some honourable
mentions that didn't quite make the cut and my little rundown of
films that I considered the worst of the bunch...
HONOURABLE
MENTIONS
FORSAKEN
(2015)
A
great little western starring Donald and Keifer Sutherland, Michael
Wincott, Brian Cox and directed by 24 director and producer Jon
Cassar. The film has some great performances, some good action and
some wonderful cinematography. It's a great little low-budget western
that deserves your time.
THE
HATEFUL 8 (2015)
Tarantino's
second western and surprisingly a film that I didn't feature in my
top 10 which is unusual as QT's films usually make the grade, sadly
this one falls just short of cutting it. Beautifully shot on 70mm
film and featuring a new score from Ennio Morricone, The Hateful 8 is
a good film, it's not a masterpiece but it's good. It probably would
have worked much better as a stage production as the film is mostly
set in one location. It's worth a watch but it's a long movie, not
usually a problem with Tarantino movies but this one just seems to
drag a bit.
MR
RIGHT (2015)
Max
Landis wrote this action comedy romance starring Sam Rockwell as a
hitman who decides to kill the people who hire him instead and falls
in love with Anna Kendrick. It's a very funny comedy and the two
leads have great chemistry. The action is good and the laughs are
funny if a little dark. Worth a watch on a rainy day.
INDEPENDENCE
DAY: RESURGENCE (2016)
Not
a patch of the 1996 original but it's a hell of a lot of fun if you
leave your brain at the door. The visual FX are fantastic and
Goldblum give good on his return to his David character from the
first but the film lacks something that made the original so good.
Maybe the in your face patriotism, I dunno but it's a good
switch-off-brain popcorn flick.
HUSH
(2015)
Good
home invasion thriller from Mike Flanegan, director of Oculous about
a def writer home alone in her cabin in the woods and the masked
attacker trying to kill her. Some good tension and a good atmosphere
make this stand out from the usual home invasion flicks.
GREEN
ROOM (2015)
From
the director of the overrated revenger thriller Blue Ruin, Jeremy
Saulnier comes this fight for survival thriller about a punk rock
group who find themselves booked to play a gig at a skin head club
house and witness a murder, only for the skin heads to keep them
hostage. The band have to fight their way through armed racists whose
job is to make sure they don't, all under the orders of head racist
Patrick Stewart, who's great by the way.
So
that's my honourable mentions, there were more but this is already 8
pages long and I still have to do the worst films...speaking of
which...
THE
WORST FILMS OF 2016
THE
BROTHERS GRIMSBY (2016)
The
dude who directed The Transporter and The Incredible Hulk directed
this steaming pile of unfunny shit. How the mighty have fallen. An
unfunny action comedy starring Mark Strong and Sasha Baron Cohen, as
brothers separated at an early age. One becomes a spy for the
government and the other becomes a football lout. When the lout
discovers his brother's where abouts, it's hijinx all the way. Well
it's not really, it's complete shite and Rebel Fuckin' Wilson is in
it...instantly ruined. It's just not funny.
CELL
(2016)
You
know what, ive waited years for this on again of again movie based on
Stephen King's zombie novel. Why did I bother. An amateur mess at
that. It's badly shot, acted and well it's crap. I reviewed it here
at the site and wasn't too nice about it. The film stars John Cusack
and Samuel L. Jackson who presumably thought they were making a film
on the level of their previous King adaptation, 1408. Alas this is
not that. It's rubbish.
THE
5TH WAVE (2016)
Chloe
Moritz plays a teenager caught up in an alien invasion. That's pretty
much it. Based on an apparently best selling young adult series of
novels, the film basically copies everything from Falling Skies,
Stakeland and The Walking dead, aesthetics wise. Not good.
BATMAN
VS SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (2016)
Why
Warner Bros and DC continue to allow Zack Snyder to make movies for
them is beyond me. BvS is a bloated, CGI mess of a movie. The plot is
boring, the performances are sub par with the exception of Ben
Affleck's batman and the introduction of Wonder Woman comes straight
out of nowhere. It's a boring movie too and I found my attention
drifting multiple times. Hopefully Affleck's up coming solo batman
movie will redeem something.. Ive yet to see the extended cut which I
hear is a much better film but you know what they say, you can't
polish a turd.
31
(2016)
Rob
Zombie's return to horror since 2012 witch movie, The Lords Of Salem
is a dull excuse for a film. Another throw back to those grindhouse
films of the 70s that people started lapping up about 10 years ago
when Rodriguez and Tarantino brought out their grindhouse project.
The film is really badly shot for the most part, its shaky cam at
dawn almost through-out the film. Some of the performances are good,
especially Richard Break as Doom Head. Had Zombie decided to return
to his Devil's Rejects family then this film might have turned out
better but it's just boring.
So
that's my Top 5 worst films of the year. Now for something new. Two
films that were neither amazing enough to make the top 10 good or bad
enough to make the worst list...I give you...
FILMS
THAT WERE JUST MEH!
SUICIDE
SQUAD (2016)
Suicide
Squad could have been and should have been better. All the
promotional material advertised it as a goofy pop corn comic book
flick with a quick wit and smile to spare, instead, director and
writer David Ayer crafted a dingy, grungy action film that does have
some truly great moments but is out weighed buy the mediocre. Will
Smith and Margot Robbie are excellent but the film didn't really do
for me what I wanted it to do. It's good but not great.
WAR
DOGS (2016)
A
film based on a real life case of two 20 somethings becoming
international arms dealers was good, it wasn't great which it could
have been. It seemed more concerned with trying to compete with with
like Scarface, Blow and Goodfellas to actually be it's own film.
There are good central performances by Miles Teller and Jonah Hill
but I seemed to drag on in the middle. I suppose if you like these
types of films, real life crime dramas then it's probably right up
your street but if you really want to see a great film about gun
runners then I highly recommend the Nic Cage film, Lord OF War
instead.
Well
that's it folks, that's it for another year. What will 2017 bring us,
who knows, But hopefully 2017 will be a much better year. This year
had been good, movie wise, last year was terrible and I struggled to
find 10 films that blew me away. So Hope you enjoyed reading my
countdown. Have a look around the site, check out some reviews, some
of my other lists and countdowns and please , leave a comment.
Well
thanks for reading and I wish you all a great christmas and a happy
new year...
PEACE!!!!
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