Best of 2016 So Far

A quarter of the year is officially over.  Amazing how time flies.  We’ve officially passed through the garbage months of cinema and are heading full speed into the summer movie season.  I’ve seen 43 movies this year and, surprisingly, we’ve gotten some really good movies these past couple months, a few that may even end up on my year end list.  Let’s look at the best of 2016 so far and take a glimpse at to some of the movies coming out this summer and the rest of the year.  Some of the movies I’m listing haven’t been released yet, so keep an eye out for these titles.

 

BEST MOVIES 

1- THE BIRTH OF A NATION (Nate Parker)

A powerful, unflinching look at the story of Nat Turner, writer/director/star Nate Parker’s Sundance smash is far and away the best movie of 2016.

2- THE WITCH (Robert Eggers)

An unsettling, shocking, eerie horror film reminiscent of The Exorcist (1973).

3- ZOOTOPIA (Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush)

Probably the biggest surprise of 2016 so far, Zootopia is a wild, fun ride and the most subversive animated feature in years.

4- 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE (Dan Trachtenberg)

A pulse pounding, mind bending, claustrophobic thriller that has you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

5- MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (Kenneth Lonergan)

A slow burning character study with a gut wrenching twist and the best performance of the year from Casey Affleck.

 

BEST MALE PERFORMANCES

1- CASEY AFFLECK – MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

As I said above, this is the best performance of the year.  It’s a layered and emotional performance that will hopefully get Affleck awards attention at the end of the year

2- CRAIG ROBINSON – MORRIS FROM AMERICA

Robinson perfectly combines his normal comedic talents with some dramatic flare to give his most impressive and best performance to date.

3- RYAN REYNOLDS – DEADPOOL 

I don’t think anybody has been born to play a role as much as Reynolds was to play Deadpool, and he knocks it out of the park.

4- NATE PARKER – THE BIRTH OF A NATION

A powerhouse performance of grit and pride, one of Hollywood’s hidden gems won’t be hidden much longer.

5- JOHN GOODMAN – 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE

A new career high for Goodman, as he never gives his character away and rides the line of creepy, psychotic, and sincere like a pro.

 

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCES

1- MARY ELIZABETH WINSTEAD – 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE

Reminiscent of Ellen Ripley in Aliens (1986), Winstead gives a strong, captivating performance and takes the viewers on one hell of a ride.

2- KATIE HOLMES – TOUCHED WITH FIRE 

Unlike anything the actress has done before, Holmes is outstanding as a bipolar woman in a struggling relationship with a bipolar man.

3- REBECCA HALL – CHRISTINE 

The movie may not be that great, but Rebecca Hall impressive and uncanny performance proves that a great performance can elevate a movie from bad to fascinating.

4- MORGAN SAYLOR – WHITE GIRL

Saylor shocked everyone at Sundance with her ballsy, gritty, off the wall performance as a college student willing to do literally anything to bail her boyfriend out of jail.

5- MICHELLE WILLIAMS – MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

Though only in a few scenes, Williams is powerful and heartbreaking and should be a name we hear a lot come awards season.

 

WORST MOVIES 

1- KNIGHT OF CUPS (Terrance Malick)

The spectacular cast is wasted on yet another Terrance Malick mel0drama filled with pretty shots and complete nonsense.

2- BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (Zack Snyder)

With its bloated storytelling and poor character development, Batman v. Superman is an upsetting combination of bad filmmaking and great disappointment.

3- GODS OF EGYPT (Alex Proyas)

This movie might turn into one of those, “It’s so bad, it’s good” movies down the line.  But for now, it’s just awful.

4- RIDE ALONG 2 (Tim Story)

An unnecessary sequel to a less than mediocre film, this film proves Kevin Hart’s schtick is running thin.

5- ANTI-BIRTH (Danny Perez)

Weird, stupid, and incoherent, Antibirth felt like it was made by a college freshman in his first production class, which would be fine if it was a college film and not a Sundance Midnight movie.

 

MOST ANTICIPATED SUMMER MOVIES

1- CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (The Russo Brothers)

The battle of the century just got a whole lot better, as the last trailer gave us tons of emotion, real conflict, and Spider-Man.

2- FINDING DORY (Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane)

Finding Nemo (2003) is one of the greatest movies off all-time, and, save for Cars 2 (2011),  Pixar has a pretty solid record with sequels.

3- X-MEN: APOCALYPSE (Bryan Singer)

I loved X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) and Apocalypse looks like it is going to be bigger, badder, and more epic in every way.

4- THE FOUNDER (John Lee Hancock)

After two career best performances in Birdman (2014) and Spotlight (2015), could Michael Keaton finally win an Oscar this year for his portrayal of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc?  I’m hoping so.

5 – THE NICE GUYS (Shane Black)

Starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as a couple private eyes investigating a murder in 1970’s Los Angeles, this looks like a hilarious, bloody good time reminding me of Shane Black’s brilliant 2005 comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

 

MOST ANTICIPATED THE REST OF THE YEAR

1- SILENCE (Martin Scorsese)

Scorsese is my favorite director of all-time, so any movie he releases, especially a passion project, will always be number one.

2- LA LA LAND (Damien Chazelle)

Chazelle electrified the cinematic world with his 2014 debut Whiplash.  Now he’s back with what appears to be a classic Hollywood musical starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.  Sold!

3- CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE CIVIL WAR (The Russo Brothers)

See above.

 

4- FINDING DORY (Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane)

See above.

 

5- ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY (Gareth Edwards)

Being the first Star Wars film not part of the saga, this is one of the most intriguing titles of the year because it will be interesting to see how Disney goes about these solo films and how audiences react to it.

 

What have been your favorite movies of the year so far?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter @kevflix or on Facebook at Kevflix.