Here we are again: another cinematic year has passed and another awards season has arrived! And what a year has it been! Superhero blockbusters, smart sci-fi's, great dramas, odes to musicals and funny comedies; there was something for every type of movie-goer. And here we are now presenting yet another list with favourites from 2016.
But first, let's have some honorable mentions, because not every film can be part of a top ten list. But this does not mean that I haven't enjoyed watching some other films too and after all, many were the movies that were loved by audiences and many may deserve awards for the innovative and original stories they presented. So, let's take a look at some of them: Swiss Army Man, the story of a farting dead body (played by Daniel Radcliffe) and a suicidal man (Paul Dano) may easily be the strangest movie ever created but despite its peculiarity, it ends up being a feel-good film about life. Captain America: Civil War, one of the best superhero films of the past years, makes our beloved characters fight for things they believe in without feeling rushed or slow giving everyone the screen time they deserve (the only question being why this wasn't called The Avengers). Two films about human rights and equality in the US: Free State of Jones starring Matthew McConaughey, a deserter who starts an uprising in Mississippi as he leads a group of fellow deserters, runaway slaves and women against the Confederate Government. Also, Loving, the true story of an interracial couple living in Virginia, who had to be tried at the US Supreme Court in order to remain married in their birth state.
Other films that deserve to be mentioned even if they did not end up in the favourites list are the touching stories of Lion, an Indian boy who gets lost and ends up getting adopted by an Australian couple and Patriot's Day which narrates the shocking events of the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. Moreover, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, the small film from New Zealand starring Sam Neill and introducing Julian Dennison was a pleasant, funny and moving surprise that you should definitely check out. As for Mel Gibson's newest Hacksaw Ridge starring Andrew Garfield, we cannot help but wonder where has Gibson been for so long as he is still in form. Finally, one should not forget the risky new attempt by Martin Scorsese, Silence; the film about two priests (Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver) who travel to 17th century Japan to find their mentor is not an easy film for casual movie-goers and it is nothing like the usual work of Scorsese, but it is a beautiful film.
So, now that the honorable mentions are out of the way, let's begin!
BEST ACTOR
This has been a rather difficult choice but soon I came to the conclusion that one of the reasons I liked Captain Fantastic so much was the serene performance by one of the stadiest (in quality) actors that Hollywood and its indie sectors have to offer. Viggo Mortensen never acts loudly and he is never too "out there", but his internal acting and the way he speaks his lines as he actually believes every single word no matter the role, make the audience feel for the characters he portrays. As we follow Ben's arc in Captain Fantastic we see the internal struggle that this person goes through and that difficult task cannot be achieved if the actor is not competent enough. This year will most likely not be Viggo's year but hopefully let's cross our fingers that soon the Academy will recognise his talent and devotion to his craft.
Runners-Up
- Denzel Washington for Fences. A truly theatrical performance which once again showed Washington's great range as an actor.
- Tom Hanks in Sully. Hanks is always good but this role reminded me of film parts that would offer him Oscar Nominations in the 90's.
- Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea. The most likely winner of this year's awards, Affleck surely deserves the Oscar for his amazing performance as a tragic everyday man.
- Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool. It is rare for an actor to be born to play a particular role, but if such a thing exists, Reynolds was made to be Deadpool.
BEST ACTRESS
If there is one thing to keep from Pablo Larrain's rather mediocre film Jackie, that definitely is Natalie Portman's compelling performance as Jackie Kennedy. Never having seen Jackie on tv and not being familiar with her persona as it was shown at the media, I cannot know if Portman has copied every move and expression from this famous lady. However, what stayed with me after watching the devastating moments of a wife losing a husband and trying to cope with the aftermath of such a tremendous event, was Portman's amazing ability to get her feelings across to the audience and make it suffer along with her.
Runner- Up
- Emma Stone in La La Land. One may think that this role was not challenging enough but here Emma acts, sings and dances as she would do on stage and that is what will probably give her the Oscar on Sunday night.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
The greatest snub of this year's nominations, an actor who is far from my favourites but managed to prove that he is capable of some great acting as the main villain in Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays a sadistic abductor and rapist with such ease that it is terrifying. Whether he is aided by the great Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Shannon who bring out the best he has to offer, or not, his chilling performance is one of the year's best and don't let the nominations tell you anything different.
Runners-Up
- Michael Shannon in Nocturnal Animals has always been a tremendous actor and this role is no different.
- Ben Foster in Hell or High Water. That's what we call underrated. Ben Foster consistently delivers amazing performances and yet he still remains unrecognised.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
How many times does Viola Davis have to cry in order to win the damn award? Having been nominated for Doubt (2008) and The Help (2011) this year hopefully the gold award will be hers. Fences is a movie for the actors and both of the protagonists seem to give their all in the film adaptation of the play that won them both a Tony Award. Viola Davis thrives as an African-American woman struggling to make her marriage work in the 50's. The scene that most will remember is the one which will probably also be shown at the Ceremony with her crying and shouting at Denzel Washington, but her subtle looks at her screen husband and her contemplating smiles as he orates monologue after monologue are far more indicative of her talents.
BEST MUSICAL SCORE
Two were the scores that I managed to pick out from so many films and apparently both were nominated for an Oscar (though, one will be the winner and we all know which). Justin Hurwitz's La La Land and Thomas Newman's Passengers.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
This is the first time that I am going to address the Documentary category as two movies which have not been nominated have been two of the most shocking documentaries I've ever seen. The first is Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America, a film about a black musician who approaches and befriends members of the Ku Klux Klan in order to manage to convert them (more about it you can read here). The second is Before the Flood, Leonardo DiCaprio's documentary about climate change and what we can do to prevent it before it is too late. DiCaprio released the film for free on the National Geographic youtube channel and if you haven't watched it yet, run.
BEST DIRECTOR
I have loved Damien Chazelle since 2014 with his excellent Whiplash but this year more people recognised his talent. His ode to classic Hollywood where every scene is either a tribute to the oldies or a canvas of colour will win him the gold statue. La La Land, this simple story of boy-meets-girl in L.A. would not be the film it is, were it not for Chazelle and his passion for music and the arts. What was also proven with La La Land is that he is able of bringing to the screen both small stories of boys who hunt their dreams despite all odds as well as huge modern musicals that pay homage to the greatest films Hollywood has produced.
Runners-Up
- Mel Gibson for Hacksaw Ridge. This war movie was Gibson's great comeback after 10 whole years and it showed that Mel's still got it. What a surprise would it be if he won?
- Tim Miller for Deadpool. Another snub -though a more expected one as why would the Academy reward someone for a superhero movie?-, Deadpool was a result of love and passion for a project that had to come out despite all odds. All its collaborators deserve credits and its director is one of those. Too bad that Miller won't return for the anti-hero's second adventure.
FAVOURITE FILMS
10. Hidden Figures
The superhero film in our list is actually an antihero film. Whoever was familiar with Deadpool was crossing their fingers that the movie would do justice to his craziness, indiscretion, looseness and lack of manners; qualities that don't even begin to describe this character. Deadpool, played by Ryan Reynolds (who, as I told you before, was made for this role) is a man who has attained some abilities due to bad lack and does not consider himself a hero. He is just a man with a plan to regain his looks and go back to the woman he loves. But before he does that, he has to brutally kill some people (unlike his fellow Marvel protagonists such as the X-Men), humourously deliver hilarious lines and of course shamelessly break the 4th wall - that is, he speaks directly to the audience acknowledging that he is in a movie-. The funniest comic book film to date is an R-rated comedy/adventure for adults that manages to make the audience laugh out loud more than once.
This Italian film that stole my heart back in September during the Athens Intarnational Film Festival is a funny yet emotional journey of two women who meet in a phychiatric clinic and together they escape and try to live a normal day outside. It is a modern-day Thelma and Louise kind of roadtrip, led by two great actresses (where is Valeria Bruni Tedeschi's Oscar nomination I wonder?) who achieve to make their characters rather approachable and likable despite their personal and emotional problems. La Pazza Gioia (or Like Crazy as it's been translated in English) is a feel-good film directed by Paolo Virzí and it is one of the best that 2016 had to offer.
What more is there left to say for the film that has reached the record for the most Oscar nominations of all time (along with All about Eve (1950) and Titanic (1997) all of which have been nominated for 14 Academy Awards)? I have even tried to find what it is that has made La La Land so successful here. So, in case you've been hiding in a cave for the past two to three months or even if you've avoided watching this year's sensation, La La Land is the story of Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress who goes unsuccessfully to audition after audition, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a jazz pianist whose dream is to open a jazz club in L.A. These two meet and fall in love in the city of stars while trying to make their dreams come true. But there is more to La La Land than its simple story: Damien Chazelle's movie is an ode to the classic Hollywood musicals that we've grown up loving. It is also a tribute to the arts and the artists who make sacrifices so that they can achieve their dream goals. Whether you like it or not, La La Land is a good movie, well-directed and acted, full of music and colour but what it does best is showing us that whatever it is you want, may that be personal or professional, you have to work for it and really love it.
At first sight Hidden Figures is exactly what the Academy asks for in a movie as Theodore Melfi's adaptation of Margot Lee Shetterfly's novel addresses everything from racism and segregation issues, to sexism and equal rights. This, however, does not make it a not deserving movie, but an educating, motivating, inspiring one. Starring three great African-American actresses Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe it tells the utold and still irritably unbelievable true story of the black women who were working in NASA during the early years of the space program. What is unbelievable to a simple sensible human being is that these women's qualifications and working experience were not considered a given even though they were the "calculators" who would send John Glenn in orbit or who would prevent an accident from happening in space. It is frustrating to watch as a black female scientist has to walk for 20 minutes in order to go to the bathroom or drink coffee from a different coffee pot than her fellow white male colleagues. A really marvellous, entertaining and engaging film, Hidden Figures is this year's The Help and that is no small achievement.
09. Arrival
As I told you here, Dennis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Sicario)'s newest film managed to impress me with its original approach to a multiply addressed subject. Arrival is the story of an awarded linguistics professor (Amy Adams) who is given the task to communicate with -and thus learn the language of- aliens who have landed on various parts of our planet. But at the same time it is much more than that, as it plays with time and the way life works. It is a movie that following its predecessors (Interstellar and The Martian) asks the questions science makes and simultaneously it makes a social comment on humanity and its faults.
08. Deadpool
The superhero film in our list is actually an antihero film. Whoever was familiar with Deadpool was crossing their fingers that the movie would do justice to his craziness, indiscretion, looseness and lack of manners; qualities that don't even begin to describe this character. Deadpool, played by Ryan Reynolds (who, as I told you before, was made for this role) is a man who has attained some abilities due to bad lack and does not consider himself a hero. He is just a man with a plan to regain his looks and go back to the woman he loves. But before he does that, he has to brutally kill some people (unlike his fellow Marvel protagonists such as the X-Men), humourously deliver hilarious lines and of course shamelessly break the 4th wall - that is, he speaks directly to the audience acknowledging that he is in a movie-. The funniest comic book film to date is an R-rated comedy/adventure for adults that manages to make the audience laugh out loud more than once.
07. Indignation
Based on a novel by acclaimed author Philip Roth and directed by James Shamus, Indignation is a look on America in the 50's. Here, our protagonist Marcus (Logan Lerman) is a Jewish student who tries to distance himself from everyone and everything that threatens to define him; his family suffocates him, his university demands specific social and academic achievements and his classmates critisise without thinking. This is a film for every person who has felt that they do not belong anywhere and need to find themselves first, before commiting to people, religions, governments and professions. What is more, Indignation has some of the most beautiful dialogues I've seen lately as well as one of the best scenes in cinema: the conversation between Marcus and his University Dean. See more about it here.
06. La Pazza Gioia
This Italian film that stole my heart back in September during the Athens Intarnational Film Festival is a funny yet emotional journey of two women who meet in a phychiatric clinic and together they escape and try to live a normal day outside. It is a modern-day Thelma and Louise kind of roadtrip, led by two great actresses (where is Valeria Bruni Tedeschi's Oscar nomination I wonder?) who achieve to make their characters rather approachable and likable despite their personal and emotional problems. La Pazza Gioia (or Like Crazy as it's been translated in English) is a feel-good film directed by Paolo Virzí and it is one of the best that 2016 had to offer.
05. Sully
Clint Eastwood's latest film is, in my opinion, his best film after many years; since Gran Torino (2008) to be exact. It tells the true inspiring story of Sully aka Chesley Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) a pilot who due to his experience and abilities managed to land a commercial plane on the Hudson River in New York and saved the lives of every crew member and passenger. What is incredible though, is that he did not follow the official airline guidelines and for that he and his co-pilot Jeff Skiles (Aaron Eckhart) had to be investigated. Clint Eastwood creates a movie that keeps you to the edge of your seat in spite of the fact that you know how the story has ended, and with a charismatic protagonist such as Tom Hanks, he has made one of his best.
04. La La Land
What more is there left to say for the film that has reached the record for the most Oscar nominations of all time (along with All about Eve (1950) and Titanic (1997) all of which have been nominated for 14 Academy Awards)? I have even tried to find what it is that has made La La Land so successful here. So, in case you've been hiding in a cave for the past two to three months or even if you've avoided watching this year's sensation, La La Land is the story of Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress who goes unsuccessfully to audition after audition, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a jazz pianist whose dream is to open a jazz club in L.A. These two meet and fall in love in the city of stars while trying to make their dreams come true. But there is more to La La Land than its simple story: Damien Chazelle's movie is an ode to the classic Hollywood musicals that we've grown up loving. It is also a tribute to the arts and the artists who make sacrifices so that they can achieve their dream goals. Whether you like it or not, La La Land is a good movie, well-directed and acted, full of music and colour but what it does best is showing us that whatever it is you want, may that be personal or professional, you have to work for it and really love it.
03. Hell or High Water
From the first time I watched this small modern-day western I felt that it would be in my top 10 end-of-the-year list. Hell or High Water is gritty and raw, yet full of emotions. It is the story of two brothers, Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster) who resort to a controversial scheme in order to save their family's farm. What they do ends up in a manhunt led by Sheriff Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) who is a rather clever man. What you read, may seem uninteresting to you but believe me when I say that this is one of the best films of the last years, a thoughtful, tragic and brilliantly-acted western.
02. I, Daniel Blake
Speaking of tragic, I feel so glad that I managed to catch this small British film by social realist director Ken Loach (Kes (1969)) just before I was making my top 10 list. I, Daniel Blake is a sctrict comment on today's society and its way of functioning. It is the story of Daniel Blake (Dave Johns), a carpenter who suffers a heart attack and has to stay out of work for a while so he requires state welfare which is never given to him due to the impersonal bureaucracy. He soon meets a single mother of two and they both try to make ends meet as they hopelessly fight this Kafkaesque detached and disinterested system. I, Daniel Blake shows how the system, as it is today, can lead any person to their limits without taking into account simple sensible details that make us human. It is a film that may make you feel helpless and sick in the stomach but at the same time it is an important movie that every thinking person should watch.
01. Captain Fantastic
So, here we arrive to my number one for 2016: Captain Fantastic. This small indie film directed by Matt Ross and starring the always wonderful Viggo Mortensen is a film that I've ended up loving because it is a thought-provoking film about what is, what could be and what should be. It is the story of Ben and his family who all live in the woods far from society and its established rules. Ben and his wife raise their children in an honest way, always being direct and never hiding behind what could be considered unaccepted by the majority of people. They offer their children the best of education and information -from quantic engineering to philosophy and from law to hunting- yet they face the raised eyebrows and disapproval of everyone they know.
Captain Fantastic plays with what is considered right and questions it constantly. And when you think that it tries to establish something different, it even questions that, too. Ross' film is a road trip and every good roadtrip movie has characters that try to find themselves and contemplate about what they have done and where they should be. Viggo Mortensen is also the perfect man for this role, as his serenity and matter-of-fact way of portraying his characters give a more honest feeling to the whole film. Captain Fantastic is a poignant movie, one of my favourites of the past years and one you should definitely watch as soon as possible.
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