MRMOVIEETC'S TOP 10 FILMS OF 2016 - PART 2

Greetings, Movie Fans!

Alright, now to bring this list to a close for another year.

Here are the final five films from my Top 10 of 2016!


5. SING STREET

Musicals today may be a lot different than they were during the Golden Age of cinema when romances and dramatic-comedies would break out randomly in professional song and dance choreography. Not to make light of those films, it was called the Golden Age for a reason, but the cost to make a film these days being what it is and most classic musicals never clocking in under two-and-a-half hours, it makes sense to have music that's integrated into the overall story structural rather than as a flashy diversion. If there's one director that has this new perspective down to a science, it's John Carney. After breaking into the limelight with the outstanding "Once" back in 2007, and his not-quite-as-good follow-up "Begin Again" from 2013 that showed Carney could handle a much bigger budget and cast, he returns back to his simpler craft with "Sing Street", an absolutely excellent tribute to 1980's punk rock. What's even more impressive is that while Carney made sure to bring in some heavy-hitters like The Cure, The Jam, and Duran Duran, a bulk of the musical numbers were originally made specially for the film. It was obvious to me that "Sing Street" was a winner when it had me smiling from beginning to end. Highly recommended!




4. DON'T BREATHE

Nothing draws me into a horror film faster than when it makes a mission out of rolling up its sleeves and delivering relentless suspense like a cold pair of hands grasping firmly around your neck. Stephen Lang continues to beg the question as to why he is still so underrated in these roles, the moral ambiguity forced upon the audience was a genius way of keeping up engagement, and the classic rundown house in a decimated neighborhood served as the tasty frosting on the cake. I have heard some say that activities that went down during the Third Act left them jarred and out of the said suspense that got them there in the first place, but from this angle, having that in the film brought even more gravity and terror to the circumstances rather than simply having the characters escape or not escape. Just when I thought the home invasion sub-genre had become more or less exhausted, Fede Alvarez breathed life into the medium and certainly leaves me excited for what he has coming next.





3. ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY

While "Rogue One" may not answer any questions as far as the future installments of Star Wars and the direction that they are taking the overall story arc for the new trilogy, it does answer two very crucial ones just the same: Yes, Star Wars does appear to be in good hands with the Disney Empire (pun intended) when it comes to turning out high quality films, and most importantly, filled the biggest plot hole that has plagued "A New Hope" since its release. Not bad for a single installment in a franchise with perhaps the loftiest expectations in Hollywood. Honestly, it would have been plenty if "Rogue One" had passed as worthy supplement material for Episode IV, and not only did it do that, but it is a feature that I feel will be a standout moving ahead. Terrific action sequences, capable casting, and just enough winks to the target audience to create exciting word-of-mouth, "Rogue One" made me feel like the kid that used to watch the original trilogy on a regular basis back on VHS. I couldn't ask for much more than that.







2. KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS

How the hell is Laika not a household name by now? You know a movie is great when it can blow you away with its imagination and immensely impressive stop-motion animation, and simultaenously piss you off when nobody went to see it and it barely re-cooperated its budget. Seriously, Illumination can rake in hundreds of millions of dollars this year on a lazy hack-job, but "Kubo" goes by mostly unnoticed. There are no words.

Ok, end of rant.

Laika already had me hooked from the get-go with "Coraline", and then "ParaNorman" only solidified the studio as a legitimately talented bunch of filmmakers. To attempt to describe what makes "Kubo" such a great movie, outside of an addicting story and score, would be doing it a grave injustice. Do yourself a favor and go watch it already.



And finally, my favorite film from 2016 is:

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1. HUSH

All Hail, Horror!

It's about goddamn time.

Naturally, "Hush" does draw many comparisons to "Don't Breathe" and vice versa, and perhaps there is a level of exploitation at play in both films with the "victim" being physically disabled, although the screenwriters mapped it all out in a tasteful enough way by not making those characters helpless, so it would be rather difficult to levy a complaint against it. What was so smart about "Hush" is that while Maggie was entirely deaf, the audience could still hear her movements and thus making her attempts at survival that much more suspenseful. Lean and well-crafted, not only was "Hush" my favorite film from 2016, but also one of the biggest surprises. Netflix doesn't always score with its original material, though if this is the type of horror they plan on churning out, count me in!



I hope you all enjoyed my Top 10 Films of 2016 list!

For more movie reviews, news, and announcements, please do check out my A Journey Through Film Facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/pg/A-Journey-Through-Film-897875193561061/about/?tab=page_info)

Thank you for reading!

-MRMOVIESETC

MRMOVIEETC'S TOP 10 FILMS OF 2016 - Part 1

Greetings, Movie Fans!

The time has finally come to reveal my ten favorite films from 2016. As I alluded to in my Top 5 Most Disappointing List (if you have not checked that one out yet, please do so!), this was a tough list to put together this year. Don't get me wrong, that's a wonderful problem to have. I would much rather painstakingly comb through a long list of nominees, weed them down to 10, and then struggle to put those in a satisfying order as opposed to having two or three clear-cut winners with the rest being used as glorified filler.

I thought about putting all ten here at once, though that could admittedly get a bit lengthy, so I am going to split the list in half. 

Now, with plenty of material to go through, let's do this thing! Here are the first five films for my Top 10 of 2016:

10. THE JUNGLE BOOK

Perhaps once in every other blue moon, a remake so good will come out that it's not only a genuine pleasure to watch, but somehow also manages to improve upon its own source material. Case in point, I present you Exhibit A: Jon Favreau's "The Jungle Book" - an awe-inspiring visual spectacle that few others off the top of my head have managed to pull off successfully, and that's only the beginning. There's no debate that the original 1967 animated feature had plenty of qualities to love about it, including but not limited to, some very colorful characters and infectious song writing. It's also highly recognized as one of the final movies Walt Disney saw through before he passed away, so despite its numerous flaws like occasional recycled animation and a noticeable lack in plot, the original "Jungle Book" has always gotten a pass. What made this new imagining so smart is that Favreau and his crew of filmmakers recognized these issues and filled in the blanks by adding considerably more depth to the story, some darker themes particularly in regards to Shere Khan's character arc, whilst still remembering what made the original fun in the first place. The green screen effects are noticeable in rare instances, though outside of that, it is nearly unbelievable this whole thing was made in a Los Angeles studio and not the lush jungles of India. Highly recommended!

9. THE NEON DEMON

Full review still to come so I'll approach this a little more sparingly, but what I will say is that the new Nicolas Winding Refn's stylish horror-thriller is a immersive combination of dizzying and subtle visuals, a jarring '80s style score, purposefully understated acting to perfectly match its themes, and last but certainly not least, a certain level of grotesque that chills to the bone. We all know there are some films out there that have quickly polarized audiences and critics alike for one reason or another, but after finally get to watch them, it is hard to understand as to why or what the big deal was. "The Neon Demon", on the other hand, polarized its audience and it's completely understandable; this movie is not for everybody. I'd be willing to wager that even those with a casual interest will find their patience put to the test, but for fans of Refn's previous work and those that are up to the challenge, they might find a lot to love here, too. 

8. THE VVITCH 

Speaking of divided audiences, no other horror movie this past year came close to effectively doing just that quite as starkly as "The VVitch". It is rather ironic in its own right considering that the film starts off with pitchforks and exile, because it takes a brave soul to assert to a crowd of horror fans that it deserves to be recognized as a great film. However, before I'm asked to pack my bags and get out of town, allow me to say that I absolutely recognize and appreciate the naysayers side of the story - a lack in truth in advertising. The initial trailers gave the impression of a dark and dirty scarefest set during the glory days of Salem, and what we got alternatively was a slow-burning, Gothic tale drenched in religious zeal and paranoia. Now, I will not agree to the proclamations that "The VVitch" isn't horror at all, because that only makes me wonder if the same movie is being talked about. The creepiness is consistently lingering beneath the surface of this film, and with the aid of some wonderful directing by newcomer Robert Eggers, this was a superbly atmospheric piece of art. I have since then gladly added this to my collection and look forward to watching it again in the future.

7. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

A better Avengers film than "Age of Ultron"? Definitely. A Captain America sequel that surpasses "The Winter Soldier"? Unfortunately not. Be that as it may, "Civil War" was nonetheless one of the best blockbusters of the year, and now that 2016 is all said and done, the king of the summer movie slate and a satisfying ending to Cap's trilogy. Despite some of the apparent flaws of "Civil War", is anyone really going to contest how just how kick-ass that airport fight scene was? If anything, it should keep the faithful MCU masses intrigued as the familiar chapters of Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Thor appear to be coming to an end in the near future after the conclusion of "Avengers: Infinity War", and the Universe as a whole starts to move into more unfamiliar territory with Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man, and The Inhumans. Outside of that, there's not a lot to say here. It's an action-packed thrill ride filled with Hollywood superstars that look all-too-natural in their respective roles by now. Chalk up another win for MARVEL.

T-6. ZOOTOPIA & MOANA

Yes, that's right. Every once and a while a Top 10 list gets a cheat, and this is mine. Despite being too very different films from Disney Animation that I highly enjoyed, I could not for the life of me pick one over the other. I loved the characters and social commentary from "Zootopia", and was equally impressed by the music (yes, I feel it does rival "Frozen"), animation, and lore from "Moana". Due to the spacing of their releases, I have had the benefit of seeing "Zootopia" multiple times now, while "Moana" I've only seen once, so a winner could edge itself to the top over the coming months when"Moana" gets its bluray release, though I certainly do not anticipate much of a change. Both collectively prove that creative irons are still burning hot at Disney, and I believe there is every reason to think this winning streak is going to continue for quite some time yet. 

I hope you enjoyed the first half of my Top 10 list! Please stop back to see final five titles!

-MRMOVIESETC

TOP 5 MOST DISAPPOINTING FILMS OF 2016

Greetings, Movie Fans!

As you can see, I did not get around to these lists last year. I was late getting to a vast amount of titles from 2015, and by the time I did I deemed it to be far beyond an acceptable deadline; in a way, that kind of sucks because there were easily enough great films from last year to make one. Who knows? Perhaps I shall one of these days.

Moving on . . .

So, hey, how about that shit-show of a year we all called 2016, huh? Not to make light of anybody passing away from this world, but I honestly would not have been shocked if Vegas had started taking bets on "Who's It Gonna Be Next?" in Hollywood (or did they?). Regardless of how long one's particular grieving period is, over time we all start to recognize that, even though it's not always easy to see, there was good to go with the bad. Outside of yet another mediocre summer blockbuster run (I say "summer", because in Hollywood it is about nine months long now), 2016 had a pretty impressive and enjoyable catalog. Impressive enough, in fact, that my Top 10 for 2016 was one of the most difficult ones I have put together in quite some time.

HOWEVER, you see the title here, so before counting down to the gold, first comes the obligatory sewage bath.

To be clear, and as I have stated in the past, these are not likely the worst films of 2016; far from it, I'd be willing to wager. I'm sure there are some real gems out there that movie-goers wouldn't even use the theater tickets as toilet paper. You see, those types of films are the ones my gut instinct tells me to stay away from, so I rarely end up seeing the year's garbage. That being the case, my "Worst" list each year comes from films that I felt could have and should have been decent movies, only to just, well, not be, at all. For me, those kinds of movies are significantly more painful to the cinematic soul than films that suck so bad you can almost get a laugh out of the whole deal.

So with that brief introduction out of the way, it is time to let the fun begin!

Here are the Top 5 Films from 2016 that, to me, were the Most Disappointing:


5. LIGHTS OUT

Horror movies are finally starting to get exciting for me again. There are some fresh new faces making their way onto the scene that actually "get it", and by that I mean can take a modest or low budget and turn it into something more than mind-numbing and shameless cash-grabbing crap. 2016 had one of the best-looking lineups so far this side of 2010, and "Lights Out" was looking at first to be one of those. I want to feel bad for putting this film on the list at all because it was not all terrible; the acting was decent, the story was lacking yet passable for modern horror, and the big baddie had some due credit for being creepy enough. The major flaw that derailed the whole feature for me is how quickly obvious it became that there were no smaller ideas or diversions to back up the big rule the movie set for itself - the lights are going to go out and bad stuff is going to happen, most likely from behind *insert jump scare here*. The saddest thing of all is there were a few glimpses of some really cool avenues to explore, but by the time the film started to do that, it was over and too late for any real redemption.



4. INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE

I know, I know - how could this be considered disappointing? How could something that was clearly dead long before it crash-landed have had nearly enough positive expectations to end up on this kind of a list? Well, there is that "nostalgia" word that gets thrown around a lot. I will gladly admit that when the news first broke and the first few images of "Resurgence" started to appear that my pulse picked up a few paces. Let's all be honest with each other here, while the first "Independence Day" is one the purest definitions of junk food for the heart and mind, it is so blissfully "'90s" that it cannot help but come up in almost any conversations surrounding that decade of film. Hell, I mean, sure, it has started to show its age in some places in terms of special effects, though for the most part, it still holds up very well; and knowing how far that technology has come the past twenty years, I could not help having some optimism for the sequel, especially with Emmerich returning to helm. Nevertheless, all that anticipation was flushed in an impressive hurry once it was revealed that a certain original cast member wasn't going to make it because he was busy making a hardly less shitty movie coming out that same year, followed shortly after by a plot that looked to be effortless and dumb even compared to most new blockbuster standards. So, needless to say, when I finally got around to seeing "Resurgence", my Bar of Hope was set just above the moldy cellar floor, and by some cruel act of the cosmos, this tub of boiling feces still somehow managed to trip over said bar and face-plant into the concrete. Literally, the only good thing I could come up with to say about this thing is that, yeah, the alien CGI did look pretty cool, but not one thing more. I could try to touch on the big pieces of the bad side, though I think it might be faster for you to just watch it; though, seriously, don't watch it if you've spared yourself this long.


3. THE INFILTRATOR

I acknowledge that crime dramas revolving around drugs and drug families have been done to absolute death over the years, however that does not mean that these films cannot be good if they have all the right pieces.

Let me check the list on that:

1. Director Brad Furman - credits include "The Lincoln Lawyer" (I have heard decent things) and "Runner Runner" (Uh oh. Red flag.)

2. Stars include Bryan Cranston, John Leguizamo, and Benjamin Bratt. (Should easily make up for #1)

3. Set in the 1980s during the reign of Pablo Escobar. (Neat!)

Hey, two out of three, I like those odds! Wish I knew ahead of time that ratio turned out be Furman's bad movies versus good ones. Ugh, I am still stumped to this day with the level of talent lent that "Infiltrator" turned out to somehow be one of the most boring watches I would have all year. The cast, to their credit, did try to make it work, but with a script and plot that was so achingly by-the-book that I could have called out loud what was going to happen and when, that is a crystal clear sign that the filmmakers did not have the wits about them to take advantage of what they had. Honestly, there's just no excuse.


2. SUICIDE SQUAD

Remember that aforementioned actor that was too busy to return to the "Independence Day" series?

Well . . .

Nothing seems to strike doubt into the hearts of movie-goers these days faster than terms like "re-shoots", or such phrases as "Rated R downgraded to Rated PG-13", or "Warner Bros. fronting another live-action DC Comic adaptation." All joking aside, if there was one film that Warner honestly could not afford to fuck up this past year, it was "Suicide Squad", and yet, here we are, so good on ya, WB. My initial thought after the final credits rolled was something along the lines of "Eh, you know, it could have been worse", and I absolutely hold that to still be true, even with the ever-collecting evidence over the past few months suggesting that if all slicing and dicing the studio morons had done prior to release didn't happen that the end product still would have fallen short of anything spectacular, because David Ayer has proven to be competent as both a writer and director. At the end of it all, we may never know what Ayer's true vision was for "Suicide Squad", though that hasn't stopped the rampant conspiracy theories that Warner Bros. is paying him to lie because they fucked up. Regardless of all that, what we got stuck with is a clearly manipulated mess that should be have been chock-full of interesting characters and backstories, and a blast to watch in general, but instead ended not being any of those things. I believe my maintained intrigue throughout was to see if it would somehow still finish cleanly, or go down in an epic ball of flames. Sadly, neither one of those happened, and the result is another DC disappointment that will likely be forgotten in no time at all.


And the #1 Most Disappointing Film of 2016 is:

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1. THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS

I feel I said more than enough in my full review, so I'll simply boil it down to this:


Biggest. Misfire. In. Recent. Memory. 

I will still defend that "Pets" is still barely good enough for the youngsters to get something out of it, but I am likely not going to leap at the opportunity to join them. To be honest, this movie pisses me off more with each day that goes by. To have a sure thing set on your lap and unabashedly waste it in order to get by on the bare minimum of cute animals and one-liners makes me want to boycott Illumination altogether (if only I didn't have a cursed soft spot for "Despicable Me"). Given their competition, it dumbfounds me how they thought getting away with something like this was remotely feasible, yet economically speaking, they totally did get away with it, so what the hell do I know? I mean, other than the sure sequel I'll be happy to skip?


Thank you all for reading!! I hope you enjoyed this list of roasts and will return for the actual Top 10 good stuff!


-MRMOVIESETC