From Hunt for the Wilderpeople to Zootopia: The best movies of 2016
IT’S been a bumper year for moviegoers with 2016 throwing up a raft of excellent and entertaining films. It’s not easy to be the best of the best.
IT’S been a bumper year for moviegoers with 2016 throwing up a raft of excellent and entertaining films. So it’s not easy to rise to the top.
This year’s best movies feature a selection of films that are darkly funny, thrilling, profound, quiet and heartwarming.
Here are the picks for 2016’s best films, in no particular order. Make sure you check them out.
An ode to misfits and outcasts, the sublimely funny Hunt for the Wilderpeople is about “bad egg” orphan Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) whose life ambition is to be a bad-arse rapper and die in a blaze of glory. This city kid finds himself completely out of his element when he’s placed with a foster family in the New Zealand bush, and even more so when he finds himself on the run with curmudgeon Uncle Hec (Sam Neill).
Taika Waititi, one of the most exciting filmmakers to come out of New Zealand in a long time, puts together a clever movie crackling with wit, heart and whimsy without a whiff of pretension, while his musical cues and visual choices show a sophisticated understanding of tone.
We dare you to not completely fall in love with Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
A tribute to old Hollywood glamour and the musicals of the 1940s and 1950s, La La Land was one of the most anticipated movies of the year. And it delivered. Referencing the likes of Singin’ in the Rain and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, La La Land charts the love story between aspiring actor Mia and jazz pianist Sebastian as they try to conquer the city of dreams.
The sheer ambition of its production is a master stroke, from its cinematography to its musical score to its exquisite use of colour and light. The vibrancy of the costumes and its use of lighting to spotlight significant moments make the whole movie absolutely gorgeous to look at while its opening number is a visual and aural delight.
La La Land is the perfect movie for people who love movies and dreams — it’s the ideal antidote to a bruising year.
A modern take on an old-school heist movie, Hell or High Water beautifully captures a bleak and spare existence in West Texas. Brothers Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster) are in the middle of a string of small-fry armed bank robberies, liberating a few thousand dollars at a time while Texas Rangers Marcus (Jeff Bridges) and Alberto (Gil Birmingham) chase them through half-boarded-up towns and depressing motels.
With no clear heroes or villains, the film is laced with moral ambiguity and plays with your empathy in this post-GFC era. Anchored by incredible performances, including from, surprisingly, Pine, Hell or High Water is an unconventional thrill-ride with depth and grace. Bonus: Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ evocative score of sombre strings and piano adds an extra dimension to an already brilliant film.
It’s such a shame Certain Women didn’t rate even a limited theatrical release in Australia because it is understated filmmaking at its very best. Those who caught a screening at either the Sydney Film Festival or the Melbourne International Film Festival this year were the lucky ones but everyone else will get a chance when it’s released on digital and DVD in 2017.
Directed by indie filmmaker Kelly Reichardt and starring Michelle Williams, Laura Dern and Lily Gladstone (a powerfully restrained performance), Certain Women is a triptych of stories about three women in Montana. They’re not stories that would’ve anchored any blockbuster, rather they’re vignettes, a momentary glimpse into the everyday challenges faced by people who aren’t trying to save the world.
Like the women whose stories it tells, Certain Women exudes a quiet strength — it isn’t flashy nor is it imposing but its purpose and meaning rings loud.
ARRIVAL
Arrival may start with a swarm of alien spaceships landing on Earth but that’s where any similarity to the established conventions of that genre ends. Amy Adams shines as linguist Louise Banks, who’s recruited by the American military to try and communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors — a challenge given that humans and the heptapods don’t share any common language or core syntax.
Denis Villeneuve has crafted a considered and smart drama masquerading as sci-fi because Arrival is really about communication and our concept of time. Don’t be intimidated by its ambitious, philosophical scope — there’s a poignancy to the film that demands to be seen. Adams gives a particularly affecting performance.
Anthony Weiner, the American congressman whose claim to infamy is sexts of himself in his bulging underwear and the nom de plume of “Carlos Danger”, knew it was a bad idea to participate in Weiner. He says to camera: “Sh*t, this is the worst, doing a documentary on my scandal.” But he did it anyway. Why he did it becomes increasingly clear as his outsized ego and narcissism take front and centre.
Filmed while he tried to mount the Anthony Weiner Comeback Tour in his bid to become NYC mayor, the filmmakers gained remarkable access to Weiner, his staff and his family during the campaign, made all the more amazing when a fresh scandal breaks in the middle of filming. Rather than banish the cameras, Weiner kept going and it’s all gloriously captured in this absurdly realistic and ridiculously entertaining portrait of political crisis.
SPOTLIGHT
There’s a reason Spotlight won the film industry’s most illustrious honour this year — the Oscar for Best Picture. It may not be an aesthetic wonderland but Spotlight is one of most well written and tightly plotted films in many years, boosted by strong performances from a cast led by Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo and Michael Keaton.
The incredible true story of The Boston Globe reporters who persevered and broke the child abuse scandal that engulfed the city’s Catholic establishment is a timely reminder of the role of fearless investigative journalists. It’s also a scathing indictment on the institutional corruption that continues to repress and undermine victims who have already been through the wringer — a story that remains all too true in Australia.
British filmmaker Ken Loach is particularly fond of social realism dramas about the underclass and I, Daniel Blake is no different. This year’s Palme d’Or winner is about a widower trying to navigate the Kafka-esque labyrinth of the British social welfare system. His story, and that of young single mum Katie and her two kids gives searing insight into the kind of world most people have little idea of - the absolute desperation that comes from being hungry, at having to choose between school clothes and dinner, of good people repressed in a system that wants nothing to do with them. It also goes some ways to explaining the political disenfranchisement made evident in 2016. I, Daniel Blake is simple storytelling at its most powerful.
Paterson is the 12th feature from Jim Jarmusch and it takes his signature minimalist style to another level. With a thoughtful and tender performance from Adam Driver, fast becoming a real thespian force, Paterson’s greatest achievement is making the mundane and ordinary extraordinary.
Paterson follows a week in bus driver-cum-poet Paterson’s life, each day beginning and ending the same way in a repetitive loop that is oddly mesmerising. It’s a quiet and humble film about a quiet and humble man who finds significance in the everyday. It’s honest and it pulses with heart and soul.
ZOOTOPIA
More than just a crowd-pleaser, Zootopia was a nice parable about empowerment, acceptance and diversity, something we all need a little more of this year. It was also proof that the best Disney animations doesn’t have to come from its Pixar subsidiary.
The story of a barrier-busting bunny who becomes the first rabbit police officer, the film cleverly incorporates genre elements of film noir and mystery into a movie ostensibly made for kids. The voice work from the likes of Jason Bateman, Ginnifer Goodwin and Jenny Slate are top notch. You can’t fault a well-crafted cartoon that both makes you laugh and fills you with hope that we can fight back against fearful political rhetoric.
Honourable mentions: The Big Short, Deadpool, Mustang, Captain America: Civil War, The Red Turtle, Sausage Party, Everybody Wants Some, The Nice Guys and 10 Cloverfield Lane.
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