Editor’s Note: As the calendar year winds to a close, may you find time over the holidays to watch all the movies you meant to get to month after month. Here, our intrepid film reviewer’s top picks for 2016. We recommend you start with these.
5. Arrival
The strongest sci-fi film of the year was also one the best movies of 2016, period. French Canadian director Denis Villeneuve (Sicario) and screenwriter Eric Heisserer delivered a thoughtful and mature approach to the age-old “first contact” story. The world is sent into a frenzy after a dozen extraterrestrial spaceships descend on the planet with no clear intention. A linguistics expert (Amy Adams) and physicist (Jeremy Renner) are dispatched to try to establish communication with the otherworldly beings. At its core, Arrival is a relatively small movie that tackles enormous ideas, namely the nature of grief. It’s a brilliant narrative twist that delicately and elegantly humanizes a genre so often plagued with endless CGI destruction.
4. Kubo and the Two Strings
American stop-motion animation studio Laika’s (Coraline, Paranorman) fourth film is also their crowning achievement. Kubo and the Two Strings is an ancient Japanese folk tale mixed with epic adventure, about a young boy (voiced brilliantly by Game of Thrones’ Art Parkinson) who joins forces with a wise Monkey (Charlize Theron) and Beetle warrior (Matthew McConaughey) to battle the deceptive Moon King and a pair of evil twins known as the Sisters. The movie is utterly exquisite; not only is it a testament to tireless, painstaking technical craftsmanship, but it's rich with introspective themes about familial bonds, fate and mortality. Kubo isn’t afraid to tackle tough topics, doesn’t pander, and casts a lingering spell on the viewer.
3. Moonlight
The life of a gay American black man is chronicled in three distinct stages of his tumultuous life, in the incredible coming-of-age tale Moonlight. Utilizing three different actors (Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes) to great effect, director Barry Jenkins (Medicine for Melancholy) eschews the standard formulaic approach to storytelling in a beautifully understated way to convey the trials and tribulations of a young man grappling with his own sexuality. Moonlight’s bold aesthetic makes for a breathtaking visual tapestry and its abrupt conclusion only enhances the film, as if underscoring the uncertainty of life itself.
2. Manchester by the Sea
Writer-director Kenneth Lonergan’s (Margaret, You Can Count On Me) stunning examination of guilt and forgiveness in Manchester by the Sea was easily the year’s finest drama. Following the death of his older brother, Lee (Casey Affleck, giving the best performance of his career) is called to his former seaside home to act as guardian of his impertinent teen nephew (a sensational Lucas Hedges). What ensues is a heartbreaking and sometimes even hilarious look at the complicated dynamics of a family dealing with the past and wrestling with how to move forward. The performances are achingly genuine and the razor-sharp script gives the film an indelible stamp of a quiet masterpiece.
1. La La Land
There was nothing more life-affirming at the theatres this year than Whiplash writer/director Damien Chazelle’s gorgeous, vibrant, and infectious modern musical. A struggling jazz musician (Ryan Gosling) and an aspiring actress (Emma Stone) strike up a romance and navigate the tricky waters of finding fame and success in modern LA. Full to the brim with rapturous singing, dazzling choreography, numerous nods to the bygone era of cinema, and an ending that is thought-provoking without being saccharine, La La Land solidifies Chazelle as a brilliant, dynamic filmmaker and reminds us that movies can still be a truly transcendent and magical experience.
