End of the year is finally here, so here are The Best Films of 2016

This really is tough.

It's always tough to do a Films of the Year list at the beginning of a New Year.

You know why it is?

Because most of the "Best movies of the year" (the ones that will most likely be nominated for Academy Awards and such) are never properly given a wide enough distribution in the year that they come out. They usually wait until it's actually Oscar season to give these films a decent theatrical run.

So films like The Revenant and The Hateful Eight (and even films that were ignored at the Oscars such as the masterfully directed The Witch, the wonderfully quirky The Lobster or the lyrical work of art that is Knight of Cups) are mistaken as 2016 films instead of 2015 films.

And all the big 2016 films such as Fences, Jackie, La La Land, Moonlight, Manchester By The Sea, Elle, Hacksaw Ridge, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, The Founder, Patriots Day, 20th Century Women, Live By Night and Lion are really hard to track down unless you illegally stream them or wait until Oscar season.
As such I have not seen any of the above films.

So, keeping that in mind here is my list for 2016 not including films that were actually 2015 and not including the ones that I haven't seen yet, due to a lack of distribution (and that includes Yoga Hosers).

This also doesn't include documentaries. Otherwise I'm sure that the meditative excellence that is Notes on Blindness would be high on my list, as would the ever elusive Voyage of Time: Life's Journey.

So...



1. A Monster Calls.

2. The Girl on the Train.

3. Arrival.

4. Deadpool.

5. Zootopia.

6. Nocturnal Animals.

7. The Neon Demon.

8. Captain America: Civil War.

9. Silence.

10. Hail, Caesar!


Honorary shout-out to The Nice Guys. Reasons.
(I am just full of love for that movie).