Best Movies of 2016 – Five Takeaways from 2016

2016 has finally come to an end and it is time to look at the best movies of 2016 as well as the worst of 2016.  It has been one hell of a year for cinema. I saw more movies this year than any other year before.  I was exposed to so many genres and filmmakers, some new, some old.  But, with every year, I learn some things along the way while watching all the movies that I watch.  Some might be long term, others might only affect that specific year.  Here are five things that I learned, or five takeaways, from the 2016 movie year.

5 – DISNEY RULES ALL

Disney was a powerhouse, but this year, they took over cinema.  Besides their own great animated films, Zootopia and Moana, they got another Pixar gem in Finding Dory, a brilliant live-action remake of The Jungle Book, two Marvel blockbusters with Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange, and another successful Star Wars film with Rogue One.  With these films, Disney dominated the box office and critics circles alike.  And, even bigger, they partnered with Netflix and now all Disney is or will be streaming there.  Disney is taking over the world and it is a beautiful thing.

4 – UP AND COMING DIRECTORS BECOME STARS

This year we got films from great, veteran directors;  Martin Scorsese, Mel Gibson, Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, and Jim Jarmusch, to name a few.  But the year really belonged to the up and comers, who should now be referred to as the up and present, because they’ve made their mark.  We got a couple of directors who solidified their greatness after only a few films and a couple of veterans who are finally getting their due.  Damien Chazelle (La La Land), who bursted onto the scene with 2014’s Whiplash, made a film that looks like he’s been making movies for years.  Tom Ford’s haunting  Nocturnal Animals proved he was more than just style.  Jeff Nichols (Midnight Special and Loving) and Peter Berg (Deepwater Horizon and Patriot’s Day) each put out two great films this year both of which are career highs.  And Denis Villeneuve, a man who has been making movies for a relatively long time, is finally getting awards and box office recognition for his sci-fi masterpiece, Arrival.  These directors are the future of cinema and you can’t help but be excited for what they’re going to put out next.

3 – THE D.C. CINEMATIC UNIVERSE CATASTROPHE(S)

D.C. put out two films this year, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad, both of which are bad, bad movies and did poorly critically and, for how big the movies are, somewhat disappointed at the box office.  How could this happen when they have arguably the two most iconic super heroes, Batman and Superman, under their belt?  Here’s how.  D.C. tried to hard.  Marvel and the MCU are way ahead of D.C. in terms of filmography due to D.C. and Warner Brothers putting huge stake in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy (Marvel was already done with The Avengers (2012) when Nolan finished his trilogy).  So, instead of taking their time, giving each character a solo movie, and establishing a universe, D.C. rushed to get to where Marvel is and the result is awful.  Even if they wanted Justice League by released by 2017, which it is scheduled, and with Man of Steel coming out in 2013, here’s how they could have done it:

• 2013 – Man of Steel 
• 2014 – Wonder Woman and Flash
• 2015 – Aquaman and Cyborg 
• 2016 – Green Lantern and Batman 
• 2017 – Justice League
• 2018 – Suicide Squad

This is just poor planning.  Instead of this thought out planned that clearly worked for lesser heroes that the ones D.C.has, they rushed it and the results show.  Batman v. Superman is a jumbled mess and Suicide Squad is a funless, poorly written piece of hot garbage.  D.C. should be worried and Marvel should be laughing all the way to the bank.

2 – THE YEAR OF ANIMATION

I called last year The Year of the Documentary, as their were so many unique and brilliant documentaries released.  This year, it was all about animation domination.  I will be posting more about this later when I count down my ranking of all the animated movies from this year, but we got a number of excellent films, some I would consider to be some of the best animated films I have ever seen.  We got them from all studios, Disney, Pixar, Laika, Illumination, D.C., Dreamworks, and foreign studios, as well.  They were all unique, special movie-going experiences and shows just how great the current state of animation is.

1 – THE RISE AND FALL OF THE BIRTH OF NATION

Boy, does this one hurt.  I had the privelege of seeing the very first screening ever of Nate Parker’s directorial debut at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.  I was blown away by the film and was convinced it was going to be a suresire awards contender come fall.  That was until the controversey started.  When Parker was in college at Penn State back in 1999, he was accused of rape and sexual assault.  Parker was found innocent of all charges, but it was the accusations that mattered.  The story of what happened in sickening and heartbreaking, especially since the victim has since taken her own life.  Though this happened almost two decades ago and was coincidentally brought up as soon as Parker hit it big, even though he has been in movies for years now, this was all that was needed to crush any and all hopes of The Birth of a Nation having any sort of success, which is a shame.  I have my own, mildly controversial opinion about this issue, but it really comes down to this; can you separate the artist from the art?  I certainly can.  And to those who can’t, I ask if you’ve ever supported any Roman Polanski or Woody Allen films?  Or if you’re a sports fan, have you ever supported Kobe Bryant or Patrick Kane?  The Birth of a Nation is still one of my favorite movies of the year and I think years down the road, will get the recognition it deserves as one of the finest movies of 2016.

Keep a look out for the rest of my best movie of 2016 coming this week.  Until then, continue to follow Kevflix on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, and on Facebook and YouTube by searching Kevflix.