Ben's Favorite Movies of 2016
Last year, I wrote about the distinction between "favorite" and "best" when it comes to making these kinds of lists, and I'd encourage you to go back and read that because the same mentality applies here. These are my favorite movies of 2016 — the ones that either meant a great deal to me on a personal level or did something I found especially fascinating. A lot of critics' "best of" lists recycle the same 10 movies, but there's at least one on this list that I almost guarantee you won't see on anyone else's. So let's get on to the picks:
10. Swiss Army Man
This was a super late addition to the list, because I only caught up with it yesterday for the first time. I loved how it serves as almost a parody of indie film tropes but just slotted in the most ridiculous, off-putting thing they could think of (a farting corpse) to prove that the formula could still work. As bizarre as it is, this movie tells a legitimately sweet, heartfelt story and the performances from Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe are terrific. And that stirring score, wonderful cinematography, and immaculate production design of their adventures in the woods? Top-notch.
9. Hail, Caesar!
The Coen Brothers' romp through the Golden Age of Hollywood is not only laugh out loud funny, but full of the kind of rich thematic work that actually leaves you thinking about the movie and its messages for a long time afterward. Not enough people saw this movie last year, but I have a feeling it'll eventually take its rightful place in history as an upper-tier Coen film.
8. Fences
Denzel Washington directs and stars in this stirring look at the life of a tough black father and his relationship with his family in 1950s Pittsburgh, and while he's excellent in the movie, Viola Davis towers over him with her jaw-dropping performance. I don't think there was a better showcase for actors doing their thing on the big screen last year than Fences.
7. 10 Cloverfield Lane
Shrouded in secrecy until a few weeks before its release, this movie is a total knockout. The suspense made me squirm in the best possible way, and the bravura ending takes the small-scale thriller to a whole new level. Mary Elizabeth Winstead isn't quite a full-on Hollywood megastar yet, but this movie makes the case for why she should be in the industry's upper echelon. I also think John Goodman deserves some Oscar consideration for his terrifying supporting performance as Howard. It's a hell of a feature directorial debut from Dan Trachtenberg, and I can't wait to see what he does next.
6. Everybody Wants Some!!
Richard Linklater's breezy comedy covers the weekend before college begins for a freshman baseball player in 1980s Texas, and it's populated with a crazy cast of characters who all have their chance to shine. Spending time with these guys was one of the most enjoyable moviegoing experiences I had all year.
5. Kubo and the Two Strings
This is the best animated movie of 2016 by a mile. Laika's stop-motion work is breathtaking, but this is far from simply a style exercise: it's a fully formed story with memorable characters that pop, and the beautiful way the film treats huge concepts like death and legacy proves Laika actually respects its audience enough to give them something to think about (unlike a garbage movie like The Secret Life of Pets, which just goes from cheap gag to cheap gag with nothing interesting to say about anything).
4. O.J.: Made in America
A staggeringly in-depth work of art, this seven-plus hour film made me understand the verdict of the O.J. Simpson trial better than anything else. By giving us the proper context into not only O.J.'s life, but the political and societal upheavals and injustices that were brewing under America's surface leading up to the trial, the film sets the stage and captures the fallout more clearly than anything I've ever seen.
3. La La Land
Can two driven people balance their love for each other and their passion for their arts? That's one of the questions at the center of Damien Chazelle's heartbreakingly gorgeous La La Land, and the film isn't concerned with finding an easy answer. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone lay on the charm and the movie is really good...up until its final 10 or 15 minutes, which is where it goes from "really good" to "transcendent."
2. The Light Between Oceans
Here's the pick you won't find on anyone else's list. Most critics couldn't get into The Light Between Oceans, but I thought every single aspect of it was perfect. I don't think I've ever seen a movie where I was so convinced that every single decision made was unquestionably the best and correct choice, and I was completely bowled over by this movie. A heart-wrenching drama that's poignant and moving in all the right ways, this one will stay with me for a long time.
1. Arrival
It was going to take a lot to top The Light Between Oceans, but Denis Villeneuve's Arrival came along and did it. It's a totally different type of movie (which is why ranking these things against each other is arbitrary and admittedly ridiculous), but the way this script slowly reveals what it's truly doing as the movie goes along is masterful. This is smart science fiction that prefers intelligent communication to explosions, and it's one of the few films last year that swung for the fences and actually connected in a huge way. What a stunner of a movie.