Disclaimer:
- “Best” and “worst” movie lists are bullshit. How do you compare apples with oranges? Well you don’t, not with any validity. So why bother? Just a bit o fun. And it’s an end-of-year tradition. I’m a traditional kinda guy. Whatever, take my picks with a grain of salt, unless you follow The Rap and have found your taste aligns with mine. (What better gauge of excellence? Congratulations).
- Some flicks that received widespread acclaim or otherwise made a mark are missing from my lists cos I didn’t see them. I’ve identified these at the bottom of the page.
- My viewing is heavily weighted towards arthouse/indie.
- My categories reflect an attempt to factor in the subjective nature of these types of lists. Some are therefore necessarily idiosyncratic. And again, mostly just a bit o fun.
- Films in each category are linked to my reviews except where otherwise indicated.
- Films in each category are listed in alphabetical order. Ranking them in order of merit makes no sense (apples, oranges). Besides, in the case of my Absolute Best, for example, I loved them all. No further qualification appropriate or necessary. I don’t care whether they meet whatever criteria bona fide experts apply to determine whether a film is “great.” If you want the reasons behind my assessments, you’ll find them in my reviews.
Absolute Best Feature Movies of 2016
Carol
Hell or High Water
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
I, Daniel Blake
Indignation
La La Land
Land of Mine
Our Little Sister
Son of Saul
The Red Turtle
Truman
Also Excellent:
Eye in the Sky
Julieta [not reviewed]
Little Men
Love & Friendship
Maggie’s Plan
Marguerite
Miles Ahead
Rams
Room
Sing Street
Spotlight
Sully [not reviewed]
Apparently Great, But Had a Weary On:
Embrace of the Serpent [not reviewed]
Significant Flick but Testing for Some:
American Honey
Worth a Look:
An (Sweet Bean)
Equity
Florence Foster Jenkins
Goldstone
Jason Bourne
God Willing (Se Dio vuole)
La Belle Saison (Summertime) [not reviewed]
Microbe & Gasoline
Midnight Special
Spear [not reviewed]
Tale of Tales
10 Cloverfield Lane [not reviewed]
The Confirmation
The End of the Tour
The Rehearsal
The Revenant (rated this initially, but on reflection, mostly for effort; De Caprio’s Oscar was awarded on the same basis, I suspect)
The Wait [not reviewed]
Trumbo
Up For Love
Wednesday, May 9 [not reviewed]
Absolute Best Docos of 2016 (Yep, separate category – how the hell is it valid to compare docos with feature movies?)
Dancer
Gimme Danger
The Beatles: 8 Days a Week
Wide Open Sky (not a great doco per se, but so moving and enjoyable I can’t leave it out)
Other docos worth seeing:
Highly Strung
Sherpa: Trouble on Everest
The Queen of Ireland [not reviewed]
Caution: random categories ahead
Crap But Fun (YMMV):
Office Christmas Party [not reviewed]
Above Average Horror:
Ouija: Origin of Evil
The Witch
Over-rated:
Anomalisa
Goldstone
The Brand New Testament
The Witch (yes, inclusion in one category does not exclude inclusion in another)
Disappointing
After the Storm
Life’s too short:
A Bigger Splash
A Month of Sundays
Café Society
Captain Fantastic
David Brent: Life on the Road
Dheepan
Down Under
Elle
Free State of Jones
Louder Than Bombs
Mia Madre [not reviewed]
Nocturnal Animals
Now You See Me 2 [not reviewed]
The Boss
The Dancer [PIFF 2016, not reviewed]
The Girl on the Train
The Legend of Barney Thomson
The Man Who Knew Infinity
Warcraft
Majority Got it Wrong, I Got it Right – So Blearrgghh!:
Mustang
Promising Start, Died in the Arse:
Morgan [not reviewed]
Perfect Strangers
The Daughter
Special Meryl Streep Award for Worst Aussie Accent of 2016:
Rachel Weisz in The Light Between Oceans. Actually, Ms Weisz surpasses Meryl’s effort in Evil Angels. Her accent was so bad she made Meryl sound like Lindy Chamberlain.
Contenders for Dog of the Year:
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence [not reviewed]
Bad Santa 2
Hail Caesar!
High Rise [not reviewed]
Sunset Song
The Light Between Oceans [not reviewed]
Dog of the Year:
Can’t separate two standout barkers – double kennel required. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence & Sunset Song
The following movies were not included because I didn’t see them:
Arrival
Ghostbusters (2016)
Our Kind of Traitor
The Handmaiden
The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe
Hacksaw Ridge
Kubo And The Two Strings
Swiss Army Man
Top 20 Highest Grossing Films in Australia 2016 (of these, saw only 3 – marked with asterisk)
1. Finding Dory
2. Deadpool
3. Suicide Squad
4. Captain America: Civil War
5. The Jungle Book
6. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
7. The Secret Life of Pets
8. Zootopia
9. Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them
10. Jason Bourne*
11. The Revenant*
12. Doctor Strange
13. Bridget Jones’s Baby
14. The Girl on the Train*
15. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2
16. Bad Moms
17. Central Intelligence
18. The BFG
19. X-Men: Apocalypse
20. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Happy New Year folx, and here’s to a bumper crop of movies in 2017!
Cheers!
rolanstein
Previous Annual Movie Best/Worst ofs
Best and Worst Movies of 2015 – The Boomtown Rap
The Boomtown Rap: Movies of 2014 – Best, Worst etc
The Boomtown Rap Movie Awards For 2013
The Boomtown Rap Movie Awards For 2012
The Boomtown Rap Movie Awards For 2011
The Boomtown Rap Awards For 2010
The Boomtown Rap Awards For 2009
The Boomtown Rap Awards For 2008
The Boomtown Rap Awards For 2007