Here's the continuation to my Favorite Films of 2016 list. If you want to catch up, read Part 1 (#10 - 6). Until then let's get to it and see what five 2016 films I loved the most.
PART 2 (#5 - 1)
5. THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK -
I never thought a documentary would make this list, but low and behold this was an incredibly well-directed film under the helm of Ron Howard about the touring years behind my all time favorite band, The Beatles. Of course, it would be easy for me to fanboy over this considering how much I adore this band and the music they created, but this was a movie that really got under my skin and made me think things about The Beatles that I hadn’t thought before. This was a documentary that didn’t sanitize anything and make you think life in this band was so fine and dandy because it just wasn’t. I won’t give much of the story away, but you learned about struggles they had in their career and how there were times when they even felt kind of broken despite all of their fame and popularity gained from performing on stage and creating such iconic music. I love The Beatles so much as a band, but this movie made me love them even more because I got a better grasp of who they were as actual people that I could relate to and understand. For those reasons alone it was no doubt I had to include it this high on my list.
4. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR -
I’ve been loving the Marvel Cinematic Universe so much and all the different characters that were brought on screen through all these different films. I just can’t get enough of these characters every time a new film from Marvel Studios comes out, so it was no question I was excited and hyped as anything to see a film like Civil War and gladly enough this film did not disappoint whatsoever. First of all, there was the return of Joe and Anthony Russo to direct, with the success of such a phenomenal film like The Winter Soldier. They once again make a film that has tension you can really believe in, an incredibly compelling story about the conflict with our heroes, and some of the most amazing action sequences I’ve ever seen in any superhero/comic book film. Also, the conflict of this story is so well handled that it was hard for me to pick a side between Cap and Iron Man. I loved that the movie was able to make you feel for both sides and not have characters feel so one note that it was already so obvious which team you’d be rooting for. I loved the different twists and turns the story takes and that each actor and actress brings their A game to make you care about them. This movie could’ve had trouble with balancing all of these characters in one film, but they pulled it off, did it well, and made one of the best comic book films of all time!
3. THE NICE GUYS -
It really bites that this film under-performed and that no one went out and saw it because out of all the films released in 2016, in my opinion, this was such a unique and one of a kind picture. The 70s throwback was absolutely perfect and stylistically made this film so uniquely different to watch and also giving you the impression you were actually watching a 70s caper type film. Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe both had amazing chemistry and played off of each other extremely well. The banter between them was just too good to be true! Also to go off of that, the screenplay in it of itself was so original with a great concept and utterly hilarious dialogue. I was completely entertained and invested throughout and never felt anything dragged or happened too quickly. This was one of the best-paced movies I’ve seen in quite a while because there was great direction behind it all under Shane Black with a fun and even meaningful script to go along with it. Every scene I just couldn’t get enough of and I adored every single character, every moment, and just...freaking everything! If you haven’t had the chance to see this film yet I implore you to go check it out at once since this is the type of film that needs more attention. The Nice Guys is a brilliant 1970s throwback that still felt fresh and brand new!
2. SING STREET -
Sing Street was a film that had a major impact on me due to the fact that our main character Connor, played brilliantly by Ferdia Walsh Peelo, had this strong passion for music and used that as an escape for the most difficult times in his life. This film reminds me why we should use our passions if it’s art, music, movies, sports, or anything of that sort as a means of escape from reality because it can bring us joy in the darkest times of our lives. To go along with the theme of escape, there was also one of the most well-handled romances I’ve ever seen done in any film ever. The romance between Connor and Raphina (Lucy Boynton) felt so genuine and realistic that it never came off as being cheesy or easy going. I cared so much about the relationship they had because of how they both gave meaning to each other in their own lives. In that regard, I thought the romance was very touching. Of course, the throwback to the 80s was just plain awesome and the original songs created for this film that had that vibe of popular 80s songs have been playing on endless repeat in my music library. There is not a single aspect that was off-putting about this movie because of how real these characters were, how personal the story was, but of course how pretty awesome the throwback was to one of the greatest decades in music history.
And now My Favorite Film of 2016 is...
City of Stars
Are you shining just for me?
1. LA LA LAND -
Damien Chazelle just needs to keep making movies forever and if that doesn’t say enough I don’t know what will. His previous film Whiplash was, in fact, my favorite film released in 2014, so for me and those who adored that film were incredibly excited to see what he would bring to a film like La La Land. Well, this film alone proves that Chazelle has the chops to make a film so different than not other 2016 releases, but films in the last decade. La La Land is going to be another film we look back on as one of the classics. Right from the beautifully orchestrated opening scene, the song number, I just knew I was in for something very special. With the upbeat songs every song and dance number had such an amazing amount of energy while the slower songs were very intimate and beautiful to listen to. Trust me when I say this that you’ll have that soundtrack stuck in your head and have a desire of wanting to listen to every song on repeat.
Justin Hurwitz needs to keep composing for cinema and collaborate with Chazelle every opportunity they get in the future. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have some of the best on-screen chemistry you’ll ever see in any film and a great romance story that’s so well developed that you care so much about the way it progresses. Maybe the story for this film isn’t the deepest thing, but in the end who freakin' cares? The movie is so fantastically directed and in that way tells a story that you’re emotionally invested in and characters that are so likable you gain an emotional attachment towards them. I could probably gush about this film for hours on end and write another paragraph to talk about how much I adore it, but to sum it up this film is an absolute must-see that has a complete story and an outstanding filmmaking display that reminds you how powerful of an art form cinema can be and for that reason alone La La Land is my favorite film of 2016.
So that concludes my complete Favorite Films of 2016 list! I’m so freaking happy that there was such a lovely turn out with the films released last year. It was a truly excellent year and hopefully, 2017 tops it in its own right, but if not 2016 in my book will still be regarded as one of the best years in all of cinema. Thank you all for reading through my Favorite/Worst series for 2016 releases, I can’t wait to see what 2017 brings because like I said it looks pretty promising and hopefully it leaves us all satisfied or even more than satisfied, but I was so glad about what 2016 had brought us in the first place. Look forward to more reviews in 2017 and until then see some movies and all that good stuff!
PART 2 (#5 - 1)
5. THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK -
I never thought a documentary would make this list, but low and behold this was an incredibly well-directed film under the helm of Ron Howard about the touring years behind my all time favorite band, The Beatles. Of course, it would be easy for me to fanboy over this considering how much I adore this band and the music they created, but this was a movie that really got under my skin and made me think things about The Beatles that I hadn’t thought before. This was a documentary that didn’t sanitize anything and make you think life in this band was so fine and dandy because it just wasn’t. I won’t give much of the story away, but you learned about struggles they had in their career and how there were times when they even felt kind of broken despite all of their fame and popularity gained from performing on stage and creating such iconic music. I love The Beatles so much as a band, but this movie made me love them even more because I got a better grasp of who they were as actual people that I could relate to and understand. For those reasons alone it was no doubt I had to include it this high on my list.
4. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR -
I’ve been loving the Marvel Cinematic Universe so much and all the different characters that were brought on screen through all these different films. I just can’t get enough of these characters every time a new film from Marvel Studios comes out, so it was no question I was excited and hyped as anything to see a film like Civil War and gladly enough this film did not disappoint whatsoever. First of all, there was the return of Joe and Anthony Russo to direct, with the success of such a phenomenal film like The Winter Soldier. They once again make a film that has tension you can really believe in, an incredibly compelling story about the conflict with our heroes, and some of the most amazing action sequences I’ve ever seen in any superhero/comic book film. Also, the conflict of this story is so well handled that it was hard for me to pick a side between Cap and Iron Man. I loved that the movie was able to make you feel for both sides and not have characters feel so one note that it was already so obvious which team you’d be rooting for. I loved the different twists and turns the story takes and that each actor and actress brings their A game to make you care about them. This movie could’ve had trouble with balancing all of these characters in one film, but they pulled it off, did it well, and made one of the best comic book films of all time!
3. THE NICE GUYS -
It really bites that this film under-performed and that no one went out and saw it because out of all the films released in 2016, in my opinion, this was such a unique and one of a kind picture. The 70s throwback was absolutely perfect and stylistically made this film so uniquely different to watch and also giving you the impression you were actually watching a 70s caper type film. Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe both had amazing chemistry and played off of each other extremely well. The banter between them was just too good to be true! Also to go off of that, the screenplay in it of itself was so original with a great concept and utterly hilarious dialogue. I was completely entertained and invested throughout and never felt anything dragged or happened too quickly. This was one of the best-paced movies I’ve seen in quite a while because there was great direction behind it all under Shane Black with a fun and even meaningful script to go along with it. Every scene I just couldn’t get enough of and I adored every single character, every moment, and just...freaking everything! If you haven’t had the chance to see this film yet I implore you to go check it out at once since this is the type of film that needs more attention. The Nice Guys is a brilliant 1970s throwback that still felt fresh and brand new!
2. SING STREET -
Sing Street was a film that had a major impact on me due to the fact that our main character Connor, played brilliantly by Ferdia Walsh Peelo, had this strong passion for music and used that as an escape for the most difficult times in his life. This film reminds me why we should use our passions if it’s art, music, movies, sports, or anything of that sort as a means of escape from reality because it can bring us joy in the darkest times of our lives. To go along with the theme of escape, there was also one of the most well-handled romances I’ve ever seen done in any film ever. The romance between Connor and Raphina (Lucy Boynton) felt so genuine and realistic that it never came off as being cheesy or easy going. I cared so much about the relationship they had because of how they both gave meaning to each other in their own lives. In that regard, I thought the romance was very touching. Of course, the throwback to the 80s was just plain awesome and the original songs created for this film that had that vibe of popular 80s songs have been playing on endless repeat in my music library. There is not a single aspect that was off-putting about this movie because of how real these characters were, how personal the story was, but of course how pretty awesome the throwback was to one of the greatest decades in music history.
And now My Favorite Film of 2016 is...
City of Stars
Are you shining just for me?
1. LA LA LAND -
Damien Chazelle just needs to keep making movies forever and if that doesn’t say enough I don’t know what will. His previous film Whiplash was, in fact, my favorite film released in 2014, so for me and those who adored that film were incredibly excited to see what he would bring to a film like La La Land. Well, this film alone proves that Chazelle has the chops to make a film so different than not other 2016 releases, but films in the last decade. La La Land is going to be another film we look back on as one of the classics. Right from the beautifully orchestrated opening scene, the song number, I just knew I was in for something very special. With the upbeat songs every song and dance number had such an amazing amount of energy while the slower songs were very intimate and beautiful to listen to. Trust me when I say this that you’ll have that soundtrack stuck in your head and have a desire of wanting to listen to every song on repeat.
Justin Hurwitz needs to keep composing for cinema and collaborate with Chazelle every opportunity they get in the future. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have some of the best on-screen chemistry you’ll ever see in any film and a great romance story that’s so well developed that you care so much about the way it progresses. Maybe the story for this film isn’t the deepest thing, but in the end who freakin' cares? The movie is so fantastically directed and in that way tells a story that you’re emotionally invested in and characters that are so likable you gain an emotional attachment towards them. I could probably gush about this film for hours on end and write another paragraph to talk about how much I adore it, but to sum it up this film is an absolute must-see that has a complete story and an outstanding filmmaking display that reminds you how powerful of an art form cinema can be and for that reason alone La La Land is my favorite film of 2016.
So that concludes my complete Favorite Films of 2016 list! I’m so freaking happy that there was such a lovely turn out with the films released last year. It was a truly excellent year and hopefully, 2017 tops it in its own right, but if not 2016 in my book will still be regarded as one of the best years in all of cinema. Thank you all for reading through my Favorite/Worst series for 2016 releases, I can’t wait to see what 2017 brings because like I said it looks pretty promising and hopefully it leaves us all satisfied or even more than satisfied, but I was so glad about what 2016 had brought us in the first place. Look forward to more reviews in 2017 and until then see some movies and all that good stuff!
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