Top Ten Films 2016 — The Gourmand Film Writer

Jun 19

Jun 19 Top Ten Films 2016

1. Moonlight ****

Like Beasts of the Southern Wild or Manhattan or Casino, Moonlight captures the reality of living in a specific place, at a specific time. I have never been to Miami, although I have seen it portrayed by many films, but never like this. There is a harsh reality to this Miami that is palpable, and yet, also beautiful in the most peculiar of ways. It is here, we witness the life in three chapters of Chiron, a young black man struggling with his family, identity, sexuality, and ultimately manhood. This is one of the most poignant, elegant, and heartbreaking coming of age stories I’ve ever seen. The film is so specific about Miami and Chiron’s life. It is in the little details that we find truth. In his youth with an absent father and drug addicted mother, Chiron is befriended by a father figure who happens to be his mother’s drug dealer: Mahershala Ali. But, where most movies would turn to a thriller or crime movie, Moonlight becomes even more real. It shows the humanity in Ali’s character who helps guide Chiron. He’s not reduced to a lovable drug dealer either, but a fully realized person with the complexity of being both a positive father figure and a horrific pusher of drugs. There is a marvelous scene in a swimming pool that is breathtaking in its simplicity and beauty which illustrates their relationship. And that is the key to understanding this film; it is poetry in motion; in its simplicity and focus it captures not only one life but all life… the questions this movie deals with are the questions of our time.

2. TIE: OJ Simpson: Made in America **** / 13th ****

No movie in my mind has better captured America recently than OJ Simpson: Made in America. Before the documentary, I never thought I would ever want to see another document or film or TV show on OJ Simpson. His trial dominated my life in the fourth grade. We actually watched the verdict on live television as it came in. But, this documentary along with Ava Duvernay’s 13th both capture the issues America continues to struggle with: race relations, especially as captured in the differing reaction to the verdict as well as assumptions made during the trial; domestic violence and with it sexism; the 24-hour new media empire starting; and the negatives of celebrity. In the same way that OJ makes us question the role of justice and race, Ava Duvernay’s 13th expands upon that idea into an overwhelming and frustrating documentary about how little we’ve come since the ratification of the 13th amendment. Two must see documentaries for our time.

3. Manchester by the Sea ****

Another movie about grief? It seems un-ending, but in hands of one of our best writers, Kenny Lonergan, the answers is: Yes. Emphatically, yes. Manchester by the Sea shares almost all of the qualities I love about Moonlight. Both are in-depth character studies of true substance, both are situated so perfectly that they evoke a specific time and place, both are real and universal in the problems they deal with. Manchester by the Sea misses Barry Jenkin’s visual poetry, but, what Kenny Lonergan lacks in visual flare, he makes up in character and humor even in the darkest of circumstances. Casey Affleck embodies a middle age loner who has always been an outsider now thrust into a parental role. In what could turn into caricature or unbearable-comedy, Lonergan and Affleck create poignancy. There are no easy resolutions here and the messiness of the relationship between the uncle and nephew now forced together is one of the most heartfelt relationships on screen this year. Michelle Williams also makes a devastating appearance building into the film’s brave but unavoidable conclusion.

4. Silence ****

I have never seen a more punishing masterpiece than Silence. I understand critic’s complaints about the film, but I actually think many of those complaints are the film’s strengths. Silence is a cornerstone in Scorsese’s life, bringing together the struggle of his faith contained in all of his films. Here is a story about the silence of God to the struggles of the world… if God is all loving, how can these atrocities occur? The film is sometimes being read as a white messiah story into an Asian culture and certainly that is how Father Rodrigues incorrectly views himself and his mission, but that is not the point of the movie. Father Rodrigues is flawed and arrogant, defiant in his faith until these experiences force him to question the Jesuit philosophy that God is in all things, even suffering. Andrew Garfield some have complained is not up to the weight put upon his performance, but that’s beside the point. He stands in for all of us; for the realization that doubt is an inherent part of faith and it is this struggle that at times is overwhelming but ultimately gives faith meaning. The length of the film is purposeful. It is soul-crushingly long and it’s supposed to be. The lack of any traditional score for most of the film is punctuated often by screams of the tortured. It is one of Scorsese’s most violent films in its effectiveness even if not always in its visuals. But we the audience, like Rodrigues or his mentor, Ferreira, played by Liam Neeson, can’t help but turn away while watching it. Silence illustrates better than almost any work the struggle of faith.

5. Arrival ****

Great Science Fiction is not about aliens, space or even technology: it’s about us and our present moment. Science Fiction is that sub verse drama which can boldly ask questions about the human condition without setting off red warning signs for censorship and disapproval, because after all, isn’t it really only about aliens? Arrival marks another landmark in Science Fiction films. It will be remember with 2001: A Space Odyssey, but while that movie sought to examine humanity on a grand scale about where our current “genius” might take us, Arrival seeks to examine it on a microcosm: through the perspective of one woman. Amy Adams glows in a performance to be remembered. As she comes to terms with questions of her own identity and purpose, she begins to realize even more important lessons about life and death, about what makes each human unique and special. The decision she has to make at the end is one her character never would have made except for this journey, for meeting a species whose perceptions of time are so different from ours that they make us question our fundamental understanding of reality and come out the other side more fully accepting of the truth.

6. Fences ****

August Wilson is the great American playwright of the later half of the 20th century. So often, filmed plays fall apart (see the horrific adaptation of August Osage County for such a result), but here, in the tried and true hands of Denzel Washington at the helm, both as the star character, Troy, as well as the director, Fences has become a great American film. Fences, like the title suggests, uses the visual metaphor of being fenced in as a symbol for the problems of family and racism. Denzel excels in this character in a performance of a lifetime. Troy is talker and Denzel infuses him with such urgency in his speech that if he were to stop speaking, he might just die. His equal and his match is wife, Rose, one of the great female roles ever written. Viola Davis is every bit the match for Denzel and she soars in a way of great strength coming through true pain. Her anguished speech after learning of Troy’s infidelities creates one of the films great moments. It is only matched by her steely resolve that follows.

7. The Handmaiden ****

Park’s Oldboy cemented his status as one of the great horror directors of our age. While The Handmaiden has as many twists and turns, and, in its own way, the same visceral gore and violence, suspense and terror as his other films, ultimately, The Handmaiden is so much more ambitious than any of his previous works and reaches to combine historical drama, feminism along with his horror roots. It also is perhaps the most gorgeous film of the year. Rich and lustful, matching the moods of its story. The plot involves a pickpocket who becomes a maiden to the Lady Hideko in Japanese occupied Korea in the 1930’s. Tamako, the pickpocket, is quickly pulled into an intricate plot with a fake count who hopes to marry the Lady Hideko and then have her committed to an asylum so he can claim her fortune. Every time you think you know what exactly is going on in this film, another plausible twist happens and rather than being over plotted or manipulative, it is a thrilling ride.

8. Knight of Cups ****

No film disturbed me more this year than Knight of Cups. After seeing the film, I was unable to sleep and just sat writing notes about observations in the film. I couldn’t get the film out of my head for days, even weeks. Nothing about it is conventional. I am not sure I ever want to see it again, and yet, there was an exhilaration in seeing a film that I had no idea what was coming in the next frame. Ultimately though, after much thought… I have come to believe that Knight of Cups is a tale of loss, temptations to attempt to fill that void, and spiritual healing… I think that is why it touched me in such a personal way. Terrence Mallik continues to shun any notion of traditional filmmaking and with this movie now completely departs from any expectation of film. I had no idea what shot was going to come next, let alone what was “going on” in most of the film. Yet, there is something special and unique about a film that I literally have no idea what is coming next. There is a thrill to encountering something new. Despite its length which is a problem, the movie still wove its way into my psyche and wouldn’t leave. There must be something here.

9. The Lobster ****

You know it’s an odd year when the best movie of the summer is not a blockbuster, but a small independent film from one of the great but strangest modern directors, Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos whose Dogtooth is one of the strangest masterpieces of modern times. Here, Yorgos has a more conventional narrative, if it can be called that, in The Lobster, a story that takes place in a dystopian future where humans have forty five days to find a lover while staying a hotel or be transformed into an animal of their choice and released into the wild. It is a story about relationships and how we view ourselves. I didn’t expect to be so moved by this story which sneaks up on you and makes you consider your own perspectives on love and life.

10. Take me to the River *** ½

One of the most unnerving films I’ve seen in years, Matt Sobel’s directorial debut leaves a mark and demonstrates a young artist coming into his own. It is also builds to being one of the most disturbing films of the year. It begins as a family reunion, full of moments of comedy and, at first, the film seems happy with simply capturing these natural moments of life. It feels like a piece that is wandering until the darker implications begin to build and the movie turns almost surrealistically into very serious questions of sexuality and family connections. It is a rare debut.

Runners Up: Loving *** ½, Nocturnal Animals *** ½, Elle *** ½, Zootopia *** ½, Moana *** ½, The Edge of Seventeen *** ½, Midnight Special *** ½, Hell or High Water *** ½

Best Actor: Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes, Moonlight

Runner Up: Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea

Best Actress: Amy Adams, Arrival

Runner Up: Viola Davis, Fences (I refuse to place this nomination in supporting. She is a co-lead in this film)

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight

Runner Up: TIE: Liam Neeson and Issei Ogata, Silence

Best Supporting Actress: Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea

Runner Up: Naomie Harries, Moonlight

Best Cinematography: James Laxton, Moonlight

Runner Up: Emmanuel Lubezki, Knight of Cups

Best Score: Allen and Kathryn Kluge, Silence

Runner Up: Johann Johannsson, Arrival