Killing Time’s Top 10 Movies of 2016

It’s good that it was a great year for movies because we certainly needed the escapism in 2016.  I cannot recall a year with more quality films, both inside franchises and standalone films.  Exemplifying that most was Disney, which had the single greatest year of any studio in Hollywood history, grossing way over $7 billion, and doing it with quality.  It’s no accident that The House of the Mouse will end up with the top 5 grossing movies of the year.  Whether it be through their own animated and live action films, Pixar, Marvel, or Star Wars, Disney put quality product after quality product out in 2016 and people responded in droves.  It may be overly optimistic, but let’s hope that studios take note that the films that made the bucks were the films that were good.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN I JUST MISSED THE CUT???? I PUT IN MAXIMUM EFFORT!!!!

And there’s so many films yet to see!  I have to qualify this as a preliminary list.  I’ve seen 64 movies in 2016 (normally I average 90 when all is said and done).  With Oscar films releasing wide in January, this list may very well change, which is why my ultimate say on the year in film is our annual Renaissance Film Awards which will take place Oscar week.  But as this year ends, it’s fitting and right that I single out the my top 10 (the quality is so deep, I may do a top 25 list later in February alongside the Rennys).  My top two films have not changed since May and they are such a dead heat in my mind that they just swapped again last night.  No surprise, both are Disney films.  I gave out three perfect 10’s (thus far) for 2016 films, but more 9’s than any year I’ve been a reviewer.  Yes, there were films we were counting on that fizzled (Batman vs. Superman,  Jason Bourne, Assassin’s Creed, etc.), but many more films stood up and surpassed our wildest expectations.  So, caveats in place here is my simple Top 10 as the year ends followed by a great 2016 Year in Film video put together by the talented people at We Got This Covered.  May you all have a wonderful New Year’s Eve, and I’ll catch you killing time in 2017.

Movie Review: Manchester by the Sea (2016) *Somebody Please Drown Me*

Most films I go see in the theater, I go because I have some interest in them.  Around this time of year, I try to go to see most of the award front runners primarily because of this blog (get ready to shoulder some blame), and that’s why I found myself sitting through 147 of the pointless, rambling misery that is Manchester by the Sea rather than standing in the sold out line for Rogue One for the third time.  I don’t want to mince words, because I honestly cannot spend more than a few minutes more dwelling on this pointless wreck.  Manchester is boring, uncomfortable, awkward, unsympathetic, weirdly directed, poorly scored, and all-around the worst film I paid to see in a theater in the last three years.

Top 10: Trailers of 2016!!!!

A great trailer is like a mini-film.  The best of them tell you just enough to want to kill to see the movie it’s advertising without giving away the whole plot, use iconic imagery and music to capture the soul of the film, and live on even after the film’s release as a pleasure to watch.  A great trailer can even be for a movie that ended up being a huge disappointment.  Most of the films on this list are universally critically acclaimed, but Suicide Squad sharply divided fans.  Does that make that amazing “I Started a Joke” trailer released any less a masterpiece?  Nope.  Half of what was in the Rogue One trailers never made the final cut of the film.  Will that stop me from watching them for decades to come? Not a chance.

A few words about the process of selection. One, all that mattered for consideration was that the FILM came out in 2016 (even in limited release). Some of these trailers first dropped in 2015, just as we’re getting trailers for 2017 films in 2016.  Two, there are two films on the list with red-band trailers, so content warning, but they’re the trailers that made me want to see those films.  If you have any picks for trailers you think should’ve made the list, comment away, if WP will let you, paste the trailer’s link.  A great set of trailers sets up a great movie watching experience, and if you go to as many films as I do you tend to see the same ones over and over.  I never tired of these.

In Theaters This Week 2016 Farewell

Each Thursday we look at what is going to be coming out in theaters this weekend, show you the trailers for the big releases, predict the box office winner and just generally give you enough of a carrot to pull you through the rest of the work week.  I hope you’ve seen something over the last month that you want to catch up on, because nothing is opening wide this week.  Nada.

Top 5: Princess Leia Moments (Thank you, Carrie)

Ask any guy who grew up with Star Wars, and we’ll admit it: we were all in love with her at some point.  She blasted Stormtroopers, piloted speeder bikes, commanded armies, and choked out a Hutt in the hottest outfit in film history.  She was the only girl action figure most of us kept around.  She was awesome, and we loved her for it, and part of us always will.  So until we’re all one with the Force, here are my five favorite Leia memories.

1. Aren’t You a Little Short to be a Stormtrooper? (A New Hope)

2. You Scruffy Looking Nerf Herder! (The Empire Strikes Back)

3. I love you.  I know. (The Empire Strikes Back)

4. Slave Leia Chokes a Hutt OUT (Return of the Jedi)

5. I Always Hated Watching You Leave (The Force Awakens)

Carrie Fisher (1956 – 2016)