Now that the first six months of 2016 are over with, it’s time to discuss what we thought about the films of 2016 so far. It’s been an odd year with some big disappointments and mostly comic book movies and kids movies dominating the box office. I’ll start with my favorite/best films and then give you my biggest disappointments, surprises and so on.
Best/Favorite So Far (in no particular order):
Deadpool – Both myself and asst. editor Rocky Maxwell thought it lived up to expectations and then some. Probably the most fun I’ve had at the theater this year. From the amazing opening credits to the post credit scene, Ryan Reynolds and gang knocked it out of the park with the Merc with the Mouth.
Midnight Special – To talk about the film might spoil it, but it’s one of the better sci-fi dramas in years. Michael Shannon continues to be one of the best American actors in the game, but it’s the young actor playing his son in the film that shines and steals the movie. Writer/director Jeff Nichols adds another fantastic film to his resume.
Captain America: Civil War – Not as good as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but still fun. It’s more of an Avengers film to me than Cap movie because of the big cast, but it’s that cast that makes it enjoyable. Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man steals every scene he’s in and the Spiderman cameo worked for me as well.
Keanu – I’m shocked this didn’t do better at the box office. Key & Peele’s TV show was a big hit yet the film didn’t do gangbusters at the theater like I thought it would. It’s outright hilarious and has the cutest kitten in the history of the world in it. I had an absolute blast with it and can see myself watching it over and over again.
Everybody Wants Some!! – Richard Linklater’s soul-spirited unofficial sequel to Dazed & Confused captures early 1980’s life perfectly. With fantastic music, terrible clothing and characters you can relate to, it’s equal parts sports movie, college party movie and coming of age story. I loved it.
The Neon Demon – Now I don’t know if this is actually one of my favorite films of the year, but it’s one of my most talked about. It’s definitely the best directed, best scored, best colored, best framed, best blocked and best looking film I’ve seen all year. The ending is completely out of nowhere and I don’t think I understood it, but there’s so much I loved about it that it has to be up here.
Swiss Army Man – Known as the farting corpse movie starring Daniel Radcliffe and Paul Dano, I call it the Harry Potter Penis Compass Movie. It’s completely absurd, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Radcliffe continues to impress me and distances himself from Harry Potter. The score is fantastic. The direction is fantastic and you never quite know what it is you’re watching. I totally dug it.
Sing Street – Director John Carney goes back to Ireland to tell the story of 1980’s Irish kids putting a band together. The music is catchy. The characters are human. The brother storyline hits way too close to home. You’ll be singing and smiling throughout the movie.
The Nice Guys – Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe combine for one of the best buddy comedies in years. It’s shocking that the pair hadn’t worked together because of the great chemistry between them. Shane Black directs a smart comedy that more people should have seen.
The Lobster – The darkest comedy of the year is also one of the funniest. I literally laughed out loud throughout the movie. Another completely absurd film, Colin Farrell, John C. Reilly and Rachel Weisz deadpan an entire movie. The dancing, eating, the actual premise of the movie is completely over the top and I totally enjoyed it.
Best TUGG Release (Pre-sold special event type films)
Range 15 – This made by military vets for military vets zombie film is a favorite of myself and asst. editor Rocky Maxwell as well. It’s violent and offensive and completely politically incorrect and I loved it. It’s a record breaking TUGG film and I hope it gets further distribution so more people can see it.
Best Netflix Exclusive Release
The Do-Over – Adam Sandler’s best film in years. It’s another film that Rocky and I both enjoyed. David Spade plays a reserved character for the first time probably ever and it works because of it. It’s raunchy, but Sandler remembers to add the heart past films like The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates had.
Worst/Most Disappointing Films:
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice – I walked out physically mad at the movie. I went in with low expectations because I don’t like Zack Snyder films and somehow it was even worse than I thought it would be. I have zero hope for Justice League.
X-Men: Apocalypse – A complete CGI-fest, the worst X-Men movie since X3. Oscar Isaac is wasted as is his character Apocalypse. A cast of amazing actors couldn’t save this loud, big, bang, boom dud.
Hail, Caesar! – The Coen Brothers are hit or miss for me and this was a miss. I didn’t hate it, but I was disappointed in it. There are so many pointless characters in it that do nothing to push the film forward. Jonah Hill and Scarlett Johnasson weren’t necessary at all. And I know people who went crazy over Channing Tatum’s dance routine, but yeah, no thanks.
The Witch – People told me how much they loved this movie. They told me how scary it was. I walked out wondering what they were talking about. It’s not scary. The kids are annoying as is the mother. Nothing really gets explained and I never want to see it again.
Knight of Cups – Speaking of never seeing again, I’m officially done with Terrence Malick. The Tree of Life did nothing for me. To The Wonder is bad and somehow he managed to make me not like a Christian Bale film. There is absolutely no point to this movie. It’s pretty women with Christian Bale walking around doing a voiceover. That’s it. Ugh.
The Legend of Tarzan – I don’t know if I’m disappointed in this because I had low expectations to begin with, but it wasted Christoph Waltz, did nothing with Margot Robbie, Sam Jackson plays himself in 2016 and Alexander Skarsgard plays John Clayton III more than Tarzan in it. It’s a giant CGI-fest of wasted money.
Underrated And/Or Better Than I Expected:
Hello, My Name is Doris – The nicest surprise of the year so far. Sally Field is absolutely adorable and hilarious in this hidden gem. I was expecting them to really mock older people and sure there’s some Facebook and not understanding today’s world jokes in it, but it’s more sweet than mean.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot – I wasn’t expecting to like this for whatever reason, but it was way better than expected. Tina Fey is funny and has great scenes with Margot Robbie and Martin Freeman. I haven’t liked many of Fey’s movies so maybe that’s why I wrote this off before seeing it.
Triple 9 – I seem to be the only person that liked this crime drama. A great cast including Norman Reedus, Aaron Paul, Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson and more make it better than just another generic action flick. Kate Winslet doing an accent wasn’t necessary, but I liked the movie.
Hardcore Henry – A first person shot action flick, the movie is like a live action video game. It’s not quite as crazy as I thought it would be, but the final fight scene is pretty bananas. I hope people check it out on home video/streaming.
Central Intelligence – I don’t know why I wasn’t expecting to like this, but I thought it was quite funny. I love The Rock, but Kevin Hart’s movies haven’t done much for me in the past which is weird because I love his stand up. I didn’t love the whole bullying storyline, but I found myself laughing more than I thought I would.
The Boss – Speaking of laughing more than I thought I would, I genuinely laughed at this movie at times. I love Melissa McCarthy as a person, but haven’t enjoyed her movies like Tammy and Identity Thief. It’s not great or anything, but I expected to hate it if I’m being honest. Peter Dinklage and Tyler Labine probably helped my enjoyment of it.
10 Cloverfield Lane – Probably my biggest surprise of the year. I didn’t love Cloverfield and really didn’t know what to expect from this. John Goodman is amazing and has a great Kathy Bates in Misery vibe to him. Mary Elizabeth Winstead continues to impress me every time I see her.
Movies I Missed But Wish I Saw:
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping – I’m not the biggest Andy Samberg fan in the world and the trailers for this did absolutely nothing for me. But people have told me it’s actually funny and I’m shocked at that. I’ll have to check it out later on DVD or streaming.
Green Room – I don’t know why I missed this, but everyone is telling me it will be one of my top 10 films of the year. I like Patrick Stewart and it’s sad this will be one of the late Anton Yelchin’s last films.
Miles Ahead – I like both Don Cheadle and Ewan McGregor so I know eventually I’ll catch this Miles Davis biopic.
The Shallows – I don’t expect this to be great, not at all actually, but I think it’s a good summer popcorn flick. I was on my way to see it before my bus drove right by me. Because of public transportation I missed Blake Lively versus sharks!
Best Documentaries:
De Palma – A fantastic documentary about director Brian De Palma. He’s not shy about his successes or failures. It’s much more than just a film about Scarface and Carrie, it’s pretty much a what to do and not do in Hollywood.
Elstree 1976 – A documentary about the actors behind the masks of Star Wars characters? Yes please. It’s also about actor hierarchy and knowing your role in a film and position in life. Plus David Prowse (the man physically in the Darth Vader outfit) talks about his beef with George Lucas.
VHS Massacre – From Troma comes this look at the decline of physical media especially VHS tapes. It talks about video stores and how DVD and franchises crushed independent stores. It also explains how that effected independent film distribution and getting your movie watched. Really fascinating.
Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan – An inside look at the man himself including his creatures and how he made them and the films they appear in. As someone who isn’t a fan of CGI (if you can’t tell by this article), seeing the master of stop-motion animation at work and his creatures was highly interesting and educational.
The Nerds Templar 