TOP 12 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2016: #12-10 + Honorable Mentions

2016… was an odd year for film. Now, for the record, I don’t mean that in terms of the films that we got this year. I mean more in terms of ‘how’ people viewed the year in regards to the films that came out. By the time that summer was over, there were countless articles online expressing severe disappointment with this year’s line of summer blockbusters. Now, as I’ve stated before, I thought that this year’s summer film slate was perfectly fine, though, clearly, I’m in the minority on that. But then that negative stance started to go away once this year’s award contenders started to come out. Thus, most of the ‘year in review’ posts that I’ve seen recently are now saying that, overall, this has been a great year for film. I mean, it’s sort of a complete 180 considering what the consensus was like a few months ago, right? Anyway, I too agree that 2016 was a great year for film. But, again, I’m one of those people who thinks that it was great for most of the year, not just the final third. If anything, a lot of these films served as a temporary reprieve for when it came to having to deal with some of the terrible things that happened this past year (e.g. all the major celebrity deaths that are no doubt going to produce the longest ‘In Memoriam’ segment in Oscars history at this year’s show, politics, etc.). So, with all that said, it’s time to end this gut-punch of a year on a good note with my annual ‘Top 12 Favorite Films of the Year’ list. Now for those of you who are new to this site, the reason why I do a ‘Top 12’ list instead of a ‘Top 10’ is simple. While it was originally done as a joke to tie into the fact that I started this site in 2012 (Get it, 12 films for 2012?), it’s basically become my thing ever since. That’s because doing a Top 12 list allows me to cover more of the great films that I saw this year compared to if I had done a Top 10.

As always, though, I must start things off by listing the usual disclaimers that I make every year when it comes to this list. First, I must warn you that this entire list will be one big spoiler post. I will be discussing key moments from these films in considerable detail, so just be sure to tread carefully if you haven’t seen any of these films prior to reading these posts. Don’t worry, I will provide links to my ‘non-spoiler’ reviews throughout these four posts for you to use if you want to avoid any spoiler talk. Second, as with any year, I’ve not seen every single film that’s come out in 2016. So, if you’re wondering why films like Silence, Hell or High Water, or American Honey aren’t here, odds are that either I haven’t seen them or they just didn’t make the list. And yes, on that note, most of the films in my list will be of the ‘blockbuster’ variety. I apologize in advance to those who prefer films from the indie scene, but for now, that’s just not my thing. Don’t worry, though, for I do have a few indie hits here and there on this list, at least more compared to last year’s list which was pretty much all blockbusters. Finally, as always, please be respectful of each other’s opinions. I recognize that some of the choices on this list are going to be rather controversial given their overall critical and audience reception. And that’s perfectly fine; after all, film is a subjective thing. Just don’t be a jerk and give others (or me, for that matter) flak for liking a film that you didn’t like and vice versa. With all that out of the way, it’s time to kick off Rhode Island Movie Corner’s four-part series of my Top 12 Favorite Films from 2016. This is Part 1 of 4 and today I’ll be listing films #12-10.

But first, as always, let’s start with my Honorable Mentions. And because there were a lot of great films this year, I have 7 to mention…

HONORABLE MENTIONS

BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (ULTIMATE EDITION)

Again, let me be clear, the three-hour ‘Ultimate Edition’ of the film that was released on Blu-Ray. I’m not referring to the 151-minute cut that was released in theaters, even though I’m one of the rare people who did like that version of the film. Still, there’s no denying that the Ultimate Edition of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice improved upon many of the Theatrical Cut’s faults, especially in terms of the story. Some scenes in the Theatrical Cut felt rather disjointed in terms of how they were edited and how certain plot-points felt under-developed. Thankfully, that wasn’t as big of an issue with the Ultimate Edition, which adds in the missing scenes that better explained the plot. Granted, the Ultimate Edition won’t change the minds of everyone who disliked the Theatrical Cut. Certain elements of Zack Snyder’s direction that some fans may have been iffy on are still there. However, like Man of Steel, I feel that this film gets way too much flak. Whereas many saw it as a gloomy and messy story, I felt that it was a visually spectacular superhero epic with awesome action sequences and excellent character moments, including the death of Superman and, yes, even the infamous ‘Martha’ moment. Seriously, consider the context of that moment and you’ll see why it’s such an emotionally powerful scene. It’s a shame, then, that the ‘Ultimate Edition’ of the film wasn’t the one released in theaters, apparently because Zack Snyder just didn’t have the clout to have the full three-hour cut be used. Newsflash, Warner Bros, we would’ve been totally fine with having to sit through a three-hour film just so that we could know that this was the version of the film that Snyder intended. If you want your DC Extended Universe to truly succeed following the franchise’s rough 2016, you’re going to need to have more faith in your directors.

THE BFG

The one and only Steven Spielberg gave us an incredibly charming family-friendly adventure this year in the form of The BFG, an adaptation of legendary author Roald Dahl’s classic novel of the same name from 1982. Under the Disney banner, Spielberg does a fantastic job of recreating the delightfully wacky visuals of Dahl’s writing on the big-screen. There’s quite a lot of visual effects in this film and they’re all excellent. And while fans of the book may be disappointed to find that the film doesn’t really embrace the darker elements of the story (I admittedly wouldn’t know having never read the book), the story is still a charming adventure that is full of heart, especially thanks to the lead duo of Sophie and the BFG. Newcomer Ruby Barnhill makes an excellent screen debut as young Sophie while Mark Rylance (in his second outing with Spielberg after his Oscar-winning turn in Bridge of Spies) makes the BFG a character that truly lives up to his title as the ‘Big Friendly Giant’. Really, the only thing holding this film back, in my opinion, is that the villainous giant characters who oppose our two heroes were rather underdeveloped. Plus, the ending in which the evil giants are defeated by the British army also felt rather anti-climactic. But, despite all that, this is easily one of the best family films to come out in recent years. It’s a shame, then, that it didn’t really do so well at the box-office; it made its budget back but just barely. With that said, do yourselves a favor and check out this highly-underrated Disney flick. Speaking of Disney…

PETE’S DRAGON

Of all of Disney’s recent live-action remakes, this one is notable because it’s not based on one of the studio’s animated features. Instead, it’s based on a 1977 live-action/animated hybrid musical that may have initially received mixed reviews but has since gone on to amass a sizable cult following. And I bet that this new version will attract a similar fan-base in the years to come. It’s a different spin on the story of a young orphan named Pete and his best friend, a green dragon named Elliot. For one thing, it isn’t a musical and while that meant that some fans of the original viewed this as ‘Pete’s Dragon in name only’, director David Lowery gives us an endearing fantasy story that mixes child-like imagination with solid themes that older audiences can appreciate. And just like how The BFG benefitted greatly from the lead duo of Sophie and the BFG, the heart of Pete’s Dragon mainly stems from the duo of Pete and Elliot. Oakes Fegley carries a lot of the film by himself as Pete while Elliot proves to be one of the most endearing CG-created characters in the history of film. These two are such a great duo that I guarantee you that the ending, in which the two sadly go their separate ways, will bring a tear to your eye. Pair them with a solid supporting cast that includes Bryce Dallas Howard and Robert Redford and you have yet another great 2016 effort from Disney. Not only that, but this also continued the studio’s hot-streak with their live-action remakes. They managed to go 2 for 2 this year with their big live-action remakes, once again proving that the many upcoming remakes on Disney’s slate do have the potential to be excellent. What about that other one, you ask? Well, that one’s coming up much later in the list.

EDDIE THE EAGLE

This was definitely one of my biggest ‘surprises’ of the year. Eddie the Eagle, on paper, is just your standard sports flick with the usual tropes of the genre; the grumpy mentor, the training montage, the moment where it looks like all is lost but then a miracle happens that allows the main character to keep competing, etc. However, this film is so damn charming that you can kind of ignore the similarities to other sports films. That is because, as cliché as it may sound, this is not your typical sports story. Michael ‘Eddie’ Edwards was not your typical all-star athlete. While he was the first British Olympic ski jumper in nearly six decades, he finished last in the two main events that he participated in at the 1988 Winter Olympics. However, his likability and ‘never say die’ attitude made him a fan favorite and that translates well into the film adaptation, even if it’s not a 100% accurate representation of its true story. Taron Egerton, fresh off his star-making turn in Kingsman: The Secret Service, does an excellent job in the role and makes Eddie an incredibly endearing protagonist. He also works well with Hugh Jackman, who stars as Eddie’s coach, albeit not Edwards’ real-life coach. Together, they form a great student-coach relationship and the film maintains a solidly light-hearted atmosphere throughout with some great bits of humor peppered in here and there. My favorite humorous moments in the film are when Eddie successfully completes one ski jump and then decides to immediately try a larger ski hill after just one jump. In conclusion, Eddie the Eagle may be a traditional sports film but you will find yourself cheering Eddie on once the finale rolls around.

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE

I’m just going to be frank here… I will NEVER forgive the internet for what it did to this film. Despite being the follow-up to one of the BEST superhero films of all-time, X-Men: Days of Future Past, this film got totally shafted by the internet in terms of hype. Yeah, I get that this was the year of Batman v Superman, Captain America: Civil War, and Suicide Squad, but pretty much ever since the internet first started to relentlessly mock the first photo of Apocalypse for looking like the villain from the first Power Rangers film, X-Men: Apocalypse suddenly became the ‘forgotten’ entry in 2016’s superhero slate. And that’s a damn shame because I’d argue the film is great. Is it as great as Days of Future Past? No, but I think that it’s not too far off in terms of quality. It’s just another highly satisfying X-Men adventure with excellent action sequences and great character moments. I don’t really agree with the arguments claiming that this film lacks emotional depth and is too overloaded with action sequences. After all, this film is called X-Men: Apocalypse, not X-Men: Minor Incident. And as for emotional depth, the emotional moments with Magneto (e.g. when he loses his wife and daughter) are quite powerful. Sure, I get why some felt that the story was too predictable for what was the ninth entry in the X-Men franchise, but the always great direction from Bryan Singer (the unsung hero of the superhero genre, I might add) makes up for it. And the excellent new representations of classic characters like Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Nightcrawler proves that this series still has the potential to continue in exciting new directions. Hell, I liked this film more than Deadpool… yeah, I said it!

HACKSAW RIDGE

Mel Gibson returned to the director’s chair this year for the first time in a full decade after his previous effort, 2006’s Apocalypto. And he returned to directing with a bang thanks to the ‘true story’ war film Hacksaw Ridge. The film tells the story of Desmond Doss, an Army soldier who attracted a considerable amount of controversy when he refused to carry a gun into battle due to his religious beliefs. He was branded a coward but he soldiered on (no pun intended) as a conscientious objector and ended up becoming a hero when he saved countless lives during an intense skirmish in the Battle of Okinawa. Admittedly, some parts of the opening are a bit cheesy, namely, the parts where Desmond romances his future wife Dorothy, but that all changes once the action sequences roll around. The battle at Hacksaw Ridge, a tall cliff face that the U.S. Army had to climb to reach the Japanese forces, features some of the best war sequences ever put to film. These super-intense bits of action really showcase Gibson’s talents as a director when it comes to shooting action sequences. But, through it all, the film also gives a great protagonist to latch onto during all this in Desmond. Excellently played by Andrew Garfield, Doss’ convictions make him a sympathetic character through and through. Plus, it could be said that we could all learn from this man who did his duty as a member of the U.S. Army in a way that wasn’t the norm. After all, in doing so, he became the first (and, to date, only) conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor. Because of this, Hacksaw Ridge is one hell of a comeback for Mel Gibson as well as being one of the best war films in recent years.

DOCTOR STRANGE

Yes, folks, this is one of the rare occurrences where an MCU film just barely missed out on being in my Top 12. However, that’s not to say that it wasn’t a great film… because it was. Doctor Strange is yet another excellent entry in the MCU. Sure, the story may have been a bit standard at this point in the superhero film genre but, at the same time, the things that it introduces in the Marvel Cinematic Universe tease exciting possibilities for future films. The film serves as our introduction to the mystical side of the MCU and, thus, results in plenty of awesome visuals. The MCU films have always done a great job when it comes to visual effects but with this film, the visual effects team truly went above and beyond with the visuals, producing some of the most surreal but visually beautiful action sequences in the entire franchise. And of course, like with any MCU film, the writing is solid, the humor is well-handled, and the cast is excellent. Benedict Cumberbatch does a fantastic job in the title role and Chiwetel Ejiofor, while perhaps a bit underutilized as Karl Mordo, is set-up terrifically to be the villain that he’s known to be in the comics. Tilda Swinton does manage to overcome a decent amount of the negative buzz that stemmed from the ‘whitewashing’ controversy surrounding her casting in the role of the Ancient One with an admirably dignified performance while Mads Mikkelsen proves to be one of the better MCU villains as Kaecilius. Granted, I wouldn’t say that he’s one of the absolute best MCU villains but he does get more material to work with compared to others, including the one that he almost played, Malekith from Thor: The Dark World. Yeah… he was better off in Doctor Strange. So, in conclusion, thanks to this film, Marvel Studios’ hot streak continued once again and the titular sorcerer proved to be a welcome addition to the MCU.

And now, finally, it’s time to get onto the list. Kicking things off at Number 12 is the second of Disney Animation’s pair of 2016 releases. It’s a rare occasion for the studio to have two major animated films come out in one year and an even greater achievement considering how great both films turned out (and yes, the other one’s coming up later in this list…)

12. MOANA

The best thing about Moana is that it does a fantastic job of representing the primary culture of its setting; Polynesia. It’s very clear that the filmmakers made a considerable amount of effort to accurately translate Polynesian culture to the big-screen and it shows. Moana is brought to us by the duo of John Musker and Ron Clements, the same duo who brought us some of the studio’s biggest hits of the Disney Renaissance, including The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. And while this is their first computer-animated film, the transition that they make from traditional animation to computer animation is a smooth one. The animation is as great as you’d expect from Disney and there are even a few bits of traditional animation thrown in here as well, mostly via Maui’s sentient tattoos. As for the story, it’s an entertaining ocean adventure that’s bolstered by the film’s excellent titular heroine, Moana. Newcomer Auli’i Cravalho makes a fantastic screen debut in the role, making Moana a likable and spunky protagonist through and through. However, I must ask, is it possible for us to praise Moana without crapping on previous Disney heroines in the process, particularly the Disney princesses? I mean, I’ve been seeing this quite a bit in regards to how some critics have been addressing her in their reviews. There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding the fact that Moana is a Disney princess without a love interest. Yeah… so? Elsa didn’t have a love interest in Frozen. Neither did Merida from Brave, for that matter. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that they let Moana fully be the hero of her own story, and she’s a great protagonist to boot. But just because most of the other Disney princesses ended up in relationships doesn’t mean they’re terrible by comparison.

Anyway, Moana is paired excellently with the film’s other main character, Maui, the charismatic demi-god voiced by the king of charisma himself, Dwayne Johnson. These two work off each other very well, especially when it comes to Moana having to constantly keep Maui’s ego in line. And while Maui does start off as an egotistical protagonist who’s mainly looking to reclaim his former glory, he does learn to become more selfless as the film goes on. As for the film’s side characters, admittedly they’re not as prominent compared to other Disney films because the focus is more on Moana and Maui. Still, there are a few memorable side characters here and there, including a villainous crab named Tamatoa (voiced by Jemaine Clement) who sings an unforgettable David Bowie-esque song called ‘Shiny’. Speaking of music, as one would expect from a classic Disney film, the film’s soundtrack is excellent. In this case, the soundtrack was handled primarily by the one and only Lin-Manuel Miranda (you may have heard of his Broadway sensation, Hamilton) and, dare I say, I think that this soundtrack even managed to surpass Frozen. To name a few of the soundtrack’s best songs, there’s Moana’s solo ‘How Far I’ll Go’, an emotionally-fueled anthem, ‘You’re Welcome’, which perfectly encapsulates the character of Maui and is also pretty much the perfect song for someone like ‘The Rock’ to sing, and, as mentioned before, the glam rock inspired tune ‘Shiny’. With all this in mind, Moana is yet another excellent addition to the Disney animated canon that keeps the studio’s current hot streak running strong. But, if I had to compare this to the other Disney animated film of the year, I’ll admit that I prefer that one by a slim margin. But, again, both films are fantastic.

Ok, I’ll admit, some of you probably guessed ahead of time that this next one would be on the list somewhere…

11. ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY

Disney’s new line of Star Wars films started off on a great note last year with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was a whirlwind success with both critics and audiences (*someone brings up the ‘it’s too much like A New Hope’ argument* I SAID WHIRLWIND SUCCESS, DAMN IT!). But as for this year’s franchise outing, Rogue One, it too had a lot to live up to. It was to be the first installment of a new series of spin-off films set within the Star Wars universe, allowing for new stories that didn’t adhere to the typical story structure of the saga films. Thankfully, this new line of films started off on a great note with Rogue One. Directed by Gareth Edwards, it went into the details surrounding one of the crucial plot-points established in the opening crawl of A New Hope; how the Rebel Alliance acquired the plans to the Death Star. And how did they do it? It was all done by a ragtag team led by Jyn Erso, the daughter of one of the Death Star’s key engineers, Galen Erso. Admittedly, the film takes a bit to get going, namely due to it jumping around to multiple planets quite a few times in just the first few minutes. But, once the main cast of characters is fully assembled, that’s when the film finally starts to pick up the pace. And while I can’t really say that this film has the franchise’s best cast of characters, the cast is still solid throughout. Felicity Jones does an excellent job in the role of Jyn, finding a nice mix between the spunk that Daisy Ridley brought to the role of Rey in The Force Awakens and the roguish nature that always defined Han Solo. She’s backed by a solid supporting cast that includes Diego Luna as Captain Cassian Andor, who serves as a nice contrast to Jyn being the Rebel soldier who is sometimes forced to follow orders that he doesn’t agree with, Alan Tudyk as the film’s main droid K-2SO, a far more sarcastic droid compared to the other major droids of the Star Wars universe, and Donnie Yen as the badass, Force-tuned, blind warrior Chirrut Ȋmwe. He also gets the best line in the film when one of Saw Gerrera’s soldiers puts a bag over his head. (“Are you kidding me? I’m blind!”)

Sure, some characters don’t get as much to work with compared to others, namely the ‘main villain’ of the film, Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn), who’s basically just ‘there’ for the most part, but, again, the cast is solid throughout. And while I will give the edge to The Force Awakens in terms of it having a better story and cast of characters, there are some legitimately effective emotional moments in this film. A lot of them come courtesy of Jyn’s father Galen, played by Mads Mikkelsen. There are two specific scenes that I’d like to point out in regards to this. One of these is the scene where Jyn listens to the message in which Galen reveals the secret flaw of the Death Star, a vulnerability in the station’s main reactor that Luke utilized when he destroyed it in A New Hope, while also reaffirming that he still loves his daughter. The other moment is his last scene in the film where he finally reunites with Jyn (his ‘Stardust’, a pet name that comes into play later when Jyn and Cassian use it to find the Death Star plans) but dies soon after. On that note, this film did have a major hurdle to overcome being that it’s primarily set before the events of Episode IV: A New Hope. Considering that none of these main characters appear in that film, it may have been easy to figure out going in that, spoilers, they all die at the end. But, to the film’s credit, it did manage to do just enough to make the ‘Rogue One’ crew an endearing group, particularly during the final battle. You get to see the sacrifices that every character makes so that they can successfully steal the plans to the Death Star, from defecting Empire pilot Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) having to go out into the action to get the equipment needed to transmit a message to the Rebel Alliance to Chirrut walking out, while right in the middle of an intense fire-fight, to pull the master switch that allows them to transmit said message. 

On that note, for a film that started off on a slow note and had what some may argue was just an ‘ok’ second half, it’s all worth it just for this film’s finale. The final battle on the paradise-like planet of Scarif, in which the ‘Rogue One’ crew embarks on a suicide mission to retrieve the Death Star plans, is easily the best part of the film. If there’s one major advantage that I’d give this film over The Force Awakens, it is that it has arguably some of the best action sequences in the entire franchise. The third act is worth the price of admission alone. These scenes are well-shot, well-edited, and deliver one hell of an epic space/land battle. And then there’s the big scene with Darth Vader. Yes, the iconic Sith Lord makes a brief appearance in this film, an appearance which mainly comes into play during the finale when he boards a Rebel ship and slaughters a whole group of rebel soldiers to try and retrieve the Death Star plans. Some may be disappointed that he isn’t in this more (he’s only in it for like four minutes or so) but, thanks solely to this scene, we can now forget about that one time where he once said that he didn’t like sand… or that time he yelled ‘NOOOO!!!!’… or the other time he yelled ‘NOOO!!!’, bottom line, Darth Vader was made badass again. On that note, some have warned that this film may be too intense for younger viewers, probably due to things like that big Vader scene or the intense results of the Death Star using its weapon. Whereas in A New Hope the effects of the weapon were seen from afar, here we see them up close. In other words, you truly see the devastation unleashed by it. But, if you ask me, I don’t think the action was ‘that intense’. Don’t get me wrong, some of the fire-fights are undeniably intense, particularly during the finale, but not necessarily to the point where they’re graphic or anything. I’d say it’s suitable enough for, I don’t know, kids 8 and up?

Finally, I should probably address the ‘elephant in the room’ that is the CGI-based recreations of characters from A New Hope; specifically, Grand Moff Tarkin, as played by the late Peter Cushing, and a young Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia. This has easily been the most polarizing aspect of the film, with some questioning the ethical nature of bringing back a character as played specifically by an actor who had been dead for years. At first, that was solely the case with Tarkin, given that Peter Cushing passed away in 1994, but with the tragic passing of Carrie Fisher a few weeks ago, now the same question could arguably be raised with Leia as well, However, personally, I wasn’t too bothered by it. The reason why I say that is because we now live in an era where visual effects are fully capable of effectively re-creating actors in a certain state via CGI. Just look at what Marvel Studios did when they de-aged Michael Douglas for Ant-Man. But, also, in the case of Tarkin and Leia, it isn’t like this is anything new. There have been plenty of times in the past where filmmakers had to use CGI to replicate a recently deceased actor. Other cases of this include Oliver Reed in Gladiator and Brandon Lee in The Crow. Granted, those were more cases of having to do it for ‘recently deceased’ actors, which isn’t the case with Peter Cushing as Tarkin, but the point remains. And for the most part, the visual effects used to recreate Tarkin and Leia were solid. Sure, perhaps more in the case of Leia than Tarkin but still a good attempt nevertheless and, in a way, the final scene with Leia now has a touchingly poignant effect to it in the wake of Fisher’s passing. So, in conclusion, that’s Rogue One. It may not be perfect but it’s still a well-made entry in the Star Wars franchise that exemplifies the great potential that these upcoming spin-offs have.

Just a quick heads-up; my Number 10 pick may be a bit controversial given who directed it as well as the real-life event that it focuses on. Just throwing that out there…

10. 13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI

Yep… a Michael Bay film lands a spot in my Top 12 list. Most unorthodox! Well, as I’ve said many times in the past, I am a fan of most of Bay’s films. I’m not one of those many people on the internet who think that he’s the worst director in the industry… far from it. And this film is a prime example of Bay at his best. 13 Hours tells the true story of what happened on September 11, 2012, when an American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya was attacked by Libyan militia. Obviously, this incident attracted a lot of political controversy back here in the States. However, I think that Bay made the right decision by not focusing too much on the political aspect of the incident. Instead, he focuses on those who were there when it happened, namely the six-man security team of Tyrone S. Woods, Jack Silva, Mark ‘Oz’ Geist, John ‘Tig’ Tiegen, Kris ‘Tanto’ Paronto, and Dave ‘Boon’ Benton who put their lives at risk defending those stuck at the compound. And while the film is still very much your usual dose of Bayhem (in other words, the action is focused on more than the story and characters), the six main leads, led by John Krasinski in an against-type role as Jack and James Badge Dale, who’s been a great supporting actor in films like The Walk and Iron Man 3, in the lead role of Tyrone, all work off each other very well. And I’ll admit, there was a legitimate scene where I got a bit teary-eyed; the scene where Tyrone and Glen Doherty (Toby Stephens) are killed during the final assault on the compound. Yes, there’s a tear-jerker moment in a Michael Bay film; you don’t hear that brought up a lot, now, do you? In short, like 2014’s American Sniper, this isn’t a story about the politics; it’s about the men who were there. That needs to be remembered.

That’s the end of Part 1. Thanks for following along and be sure to check back tomorrow for Part 2, in which I’ll be listing films #9-7.

Favorite Films of Summer 2016- As Voted by You!

And now, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the one post that I guarantee you won’t see much of elsewhere on the internet; a post that unabashedly celebrates the films that came out this past summer. Obviously, as I’ve noted before, the common sentiment towards this year’s line of summer releases has been that of disappointment. But to be honest I feel that this notion has been a bit too exaggerated. I mean come on, this summer hasn’t been THAT bad when it comes to the films that came out during it. It seems to me that a lot of this has been due to the fact that there have been a few underperformers at the box-office. Quality-wise, though, the films have been perfectly fine. Though with that said, I guess expectations have been another thing that contributed to this general consensus as well. After all, overt expectations for films have almost always hurt them in the long run (Phantom Menace, anybody?). But anyway, with this poll, the goal was to reflect upon this summer’s films in a positive manner, especially when compared to pretty much everywhere else on the internet at this current time. And now that the poll is closed, it’s time to list all the films that you, the fans, voted for. Numbers wise, this was our biggest year yet with 58 votes going to 20 different films. I’d like to thank all of you who voted as well as those who shared my initial tweet that first announced the poll, which very much helped spread the word about it. So now, without further ado, these are the films that you, the fans, voted for as your favorite films from this past summer.

9 FILMS EARNED 1 VOTE EACH

THE NICE GUYS

This is one that I’m kind of kicking myself over not having any time to go see. The trailers were very appealing to me and it looked to be a very fun buddy cop comedy. Fittingly enough, this was brought to us by one of the most famous filmmakers of the buddy cop genre, Shane Black, writer of the original Lethal Weapon and fresh off of directing Marvel Studios’ 2013 billion-dollar grossing blockbuster, Iron Man 3. The Nice Guys, however, did not reach Iron Man 3 levels of success at the box-office, just barely making its budget back. However, it was certainly one of the most well-received films of the summer, receiving much praise for its writing and the chemistry of its two leads. Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling star as an enforcer and private eye, respectively, who team up to investigate into the supposed suicide of a famous porn star. Their investigation even leads them into uncovering a potential government conspiracy. Like I said, based solely on the trailers, it looked to be a very fun ride with some great humor courtesy of Shane Black, who as a writer has been well known for snappy dialogue (just look at Iron Man 3 or the scene in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang when Robert Downey Jr.’s character accidentally shoots a witness because he miscalculated the chance of the live round in his gun being fired). Highlights from the trailer included a scene where Gosling’s character is talking to a woman whose husband is apparently missing and yet in reality he’s been dead for some time as Gosling notices his ashes up on the fireplace and a scene where Gosling and Crowe are trying to get rid of a body and they just dump it over a fence right into the middle of a wedding party. This film is now out on Blu-Ray and DVD so based on what I’ve heard, you should check it out. I’m certainly going to see it first chance I get.

ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Obviously Disney’s live-action Alice films have had their critics and it’s safe to say that these critics have been extremely vocal in their dislike of the films. However, at the same time, these films clearly have their fans as well. I’ve realized that this clearly must be one of the reasons why 2010’s Alice in Wonderland somehow managed to gross over a billion. And while this year’s sequel, Alice Through the Looking Glass, hasn’t been as successful commercially, grossing just under $300 million, I’m sure that most fans of the original probably liked this film just as much amidst all of the negative reviews. And as someone who did like the first film, I’m not afraid to admit that I liked this film too; in fact, I liked it more than the first film. With that said, believe me when I say that this is by no means a perfect film. Like its predecessor, the plot is rather ridiculous and the film’s extensive use of CGI, with pretty much everything in Underland being shot against a green-screen, can prove to be rather overwhelming at times. But at the same time, the film is a perfectly harmless adventure through the crazy world of Underland. And as excessive as they may be sometimes, the CGI is excellent and the film has a really solid art style. In fact, one of the big reasons why this one is superior to its predecessor is the fact that director James Bobin (director of Disney’s last two Muppets films) gives the film a much brighter color scheme and doesn’t pull any punches that would make one question the film’s PG rating. It also helps that Alice is a much stronger protagonist in this film, a confident heroine compared to the girl who kept questioning herself in the previous film. In short, Alice Through the Looking Glass is nowhere near as bad as some critics say it is. Again, it has its flaws and it sure isn’t going to win over people who didn’t like the first film but it’s still fairly entertaining.  

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN

I think it’s safe to say that The Legend of Tarzan has been a solid crowd-pleaser for most audiences. And I’m glad to hear that because I’ll admit that prior to its release, I feared that it would be one of the big box-office bombs of the summer. Thankfully it wasn’t (in a summer that ironically did have a few underperformers), as its current worldwide gross is just under $360 million. So at the very least, I’m glad to see that this hasn’t been a complete disaster for director David Yates, who of course directed the last four Harry Potter films as well as the upcoming spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. And while most critics were rather ‘meh’ on his first 2016 film, it’s actually a pretty darn entertaining new take on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic character. The film as a whole is a fairly old-fashioned action adventure flick right down to its simple chase plot and it seems like the cast and crew had a fun time making it. The cast is solid from top to bottom, from Alexander Skarsgard, a solid Tarzan, to Margot Robbie as Jane, who manages to overcome the character’s usual status as a ‘damsel in distress’, and Christoph Waltz, who’s solid in the role of the main villain Rom. But the big standout of the bunch is Samuel L. Jackson as real-life historical figure George Washington Williams. Jackson gets a lot of the best lines in the film and has excellent camaraderie with Skarsgard. In short, The Legend of Tarzan is a simple adventure story but a very enjoyable one and overall is a solid adaptation of the Tarzan character.

THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR

Clearly the Purge films are continuing to be a solid success for Universal. While the first Purge, released in 2013, may have gotten generally negative reviews from critics, it was a solid commercial hit on its small $3 million budget. This resulted in a sequel the following year, The Purge: Anarchy, which many agreed was, at the very least, a superior sequel. And now this year saw the release of the third Purge film, The Purge: Election Year, which by the way is a very fitting title for its 2016 release. This new film sees Frank Grillo reprise his role from the last film as ‘Sergeant’ Leo Barnes, who now serves as the head of security for senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell), who’s running for President on the platform of finally getting rid of the annual Purge once and for all. However, this results in her political opponents attempting to get rid of her during the next Purge. I haven’t seen any of the Purge films but from what I hear, while they may be rather silly and not all that well-written at times (I’ve heard that this one in particular had some rather questionable dialogue), at the very least they do contain some interesting social commentary. And one of the key things about the sequels that allowed them to be better-received than the first film is the fact that while the first film was set primarily in a single home, the sequels have branched out into the streets to showcase more of what goes on during the Purge. So now the question is, what’s next for this franchise? Is there going to be another film? I know a lot of people have been saying that they should do a prequel that explores the early days of the Purge but who knows?

Fun Fact, this was actually filmed in Woonsocket, pretty close to where I live. In fact, one night while they were shooting, I was this close to potentially getting a glimpse of it being filmed. However, they closed off the main street where they were filming so no luck there.

THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS

And now we go from one Universal hit to another. This time, it’s from their primary animation studio, Illumination Entertainment. It’s safe to say that Illumination has become one of the biggest animation studios today up there with Pixar and Dreamworks, at least commercially. They’ve had big hits with their Despicable Me films, with the second film nearly breaking a billion worldwide and the spin-off, Minions, actually managing to reach that mark. And as for their newest film, The Secret Life of Pets, it’s been yet another big hit for the studio having grossed over $720 million worldwide. And overall, reviews for it have been pretty darn solid. I haven’t seen the film yet but the trailers for it were pretty interesting, namely the teaser trailer which consisted of a bunch of pets and what they really did when their owners left (e.g. listen to music, use a mixer as a massaging device). The film primarily centered on a Jack Russell terrier named Max (Louis C.K.) who starts to get jealous when his owner Katie (Ellie Kemper) brings home a new dog, a mongrel named Duke (Eric Stonestreet). The two end up out in the streets of New York where they have to deal with a rabbit named Snowball (Kevin Hart) and his gang who are trying to get rid of all humans for abandoning them. Again, I haven’t seen the film but it seems like a pretty charming and fun animated flick. Plus, it probably also helps that this film doesn’t follow Illumination’s usual method of relying heavily on Minion-like characters. In short, it looks like this one proved to be a solid non-Disney animated hit for families this summer and that’s always a good thing in my book.

GHOSTBUSTERS: ANSWER THE CALL

(Note: In case you were wondering, yes the ‘Answer the Call’ tagline from the marketing is now part of the title)

Well we’ve all heard about this one now, that’s for sure. From the moment it was first announced, this new installment of the Ghostbusters franchise was met with extreme hostility from trolls on the internet. Why? Well aside from the fact that it was a ‘reboot’ of sorts of the franchise, it was mainly due to the fact that the film oh so dared to star women in the lead roles. Yes, you’re reading that right folks, it’s 2016 and yet this film was met with extreme sexism from angry fanboys who immediately wrote the film off without ever seeing it. Yeah… it was pretty stupid and to be honest, once the angry fanboys started to get really hostile to the point where they started to attack star Leslie Jones, they truly cemented themselves as completely immature trolls. So anyway, what of the film itself? It’s perfectly fine. It’s obviously not as good as the original but of course that’s a tough act to follow. Aside from a few scenes that do parallel moments from the original, this new film does manage to stand on its own as a unique entry in the franchise. It certainly helps that the film stars a talented quartet of actresses in the lead roles who have excellent camaraderie with each other and do manage to make their characters a very endearing team. Sure not all of the jokes hit but the hit-miss ratio is still pretty solid and the visuals and action sequences are very much what you’d probably expect from a new entry in the franchise. Bottom line, this film, director Paul Feig, and his cast of talented actresses did not deserve all of the s*** that they got online whatsoever from people who just couldn’t handle the fact that this film was made. Seriously, you never saw that kind of hostility directed towards any other remake/reboot ever. Bottom line, give Ghostbusters: Answer the Call a chance. It won’t win over everyone but for god’s sake internet, grow up!

NINE LIVES

Oh I can hear the cinefiles now, “Really, this film got a vote?”. And they’d be right; Nine Lives did get a vote despite being perhaps the worst-reviewed film of the summer. But from what I’ve heard from some of my friends who are either film critics or work at a theater, the film has actually been doing rather well with its target audience; younger viewers. So with that in mind, I can’t rag on this film that much. So what is this film, then? Well, it stars Kevin Spacey as a workaholic father who has distanced himself from his family, namely his daughter (Malina Weissman) and his wife (Jennifer Garner). But that begins to change when he finds himself within the body of a cat that he had bought from a pet shop that was intended to be a birthday gift for his daughter. Yeah I’ll just be honest with you folks… I had no interest in this film. To me it just looked like a film that was straight out of the 90’s. And I have the feeling that most critics felt the same way. This film currently sports an 8% on Rotten Tomatoes with the hilarious consensus of “Not meow, not ever”. You do have to love it when Rotten Tomatoes consensuses get that descriptive (just look at the film Left Behind from 2014). But like I said before, from what I hear it seems as if younger audiences are liking it okay. For the record, this isn’t intended to be an argument in favor of the film by any means. But if the film’s target audience likes it, then who am I to judge?

WAR DOGS

With a very flashy poster that’s reminiscent of the 1983 classic Scarface, War Dogs certainly showed its teeth as a biopic telling the story of Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz, a pair of arm dealers who managed to land a $298 million government contract so that they could supply weapons for U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Jonah Hill and Miles Teller star as Diveroli and Packouz, respectively, in the newest film from director Todd Phillips, who directed the Hangover trilogy, and based on ‘Arms and the Dudes’, an article written by Guy Lawson and published in Rolling Stone. For the record, though, apparently this film wasn’t exactly ‘historically accurate’. Instead, certain events in the film were based on co-writer Stephen Chin’s own experiences while in Iraq, most notably the scene in which Diveroli and Packouz drive through Iraq in order to get their weapons to their clients. Still, according to critics, the film was a pretty decent affair that certainly had some solid social commentary on modern America and the war in Iraq/Afghanistan. I haven’t seen the film but it did look rather interesting, namely thanks to its premise. And overall, the film looked like the arms dealer equivalent of The Wolf of Wall Street, which is fitting seeing how both films star Jonah Hill. Miles Teller and Hill seemed to have solid camaraderie and apparently, based on what I’ve heard, Hill in particular really stands out. How it fares as a comedy, I’m not sure, but it seemed to be a particularly interesting kind of film considering the talent involved.  

KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS

In the world of animation, Laika has been keeping the art of stop-motion animation alive through their films. And overall the films have been doing really well critically to the point where all of them so far have been nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. And based on its impressive 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I think it’s safe to say that Laika’s latest film, Kubo and the Two Strings, will continue the studio’s Oscar nomination streak. Directed by Travis Knight, President/CEO of Laika, the film tells the story of a young Japanese boy named Kubo (Art Parkinson) who must find a magical suit of armor that had once been worn by his father in order to defeat vengeful spirits. Joining him along the way are a talking monkey (Charlize Theron) and a beetle-like samurai (Matthew McConaughey). I haven’t seen the film yet (in fact I’ll admit that I haven’t any of Laika’s films… yeah, yeah I know I should fix that) but based on the trailers, suffice it to say this is a really gorgeous animated film. I’ve always been a fan of stop-motion animated films, from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas to the shorts and feature film that starred the classic duo of Wallace and Gromit and this looked like another fantastic entry in the world of stop-motion animation. And according to critics, not only is the animation superb but the story is sophisticated and unafraid to go dark sometimes. Bottom line, this seems like a Grade A animated film based around an absorbing adventure set in ancient Japan.

3 FILMS EARNED 2 VOTES

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS

In RIMC’s inaugural end of summer poll back in 2014, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles landed a vote despite the generally negative reception that it got from critics and the fairly large amount of skepticism from fans over the various controversies surrounding the Michael Bay-produced re-imagining of the franchise. But despite that, it did manage to be a pretty sizable hit at the box-office resulting in this year’s sequel, Out of the Shadows. And as it turns out, it manages to outdo its predecessor by earning not one but two votes. It certainly shows that, at the very least, while the film still received generally negative reviews from critics, fan reception was a bit more positive this time around. The primary reason for this is simple; this felt much more like a TMNT film. Whereas the first film was way too serious for a film centered around giant mutated talking turtles, this film knows how silly it is and just rolls with it. Plus, instead of focusing more on the human characters like in the first film, this film focuses on who it should be focusing on; the Turtles. But even with that said, the addition of fan favorites like Casey Jones (played enthusiastically by ‘Green Arrow’ himself, Stephen Amell) and the duo of Bebop and Rocksteady (played by Gary Anthony Williams and WWE’s Sheamus, respectively, who are certainly major standouts) certainly help make this a much more fitting take on the heroes in a half shell. And sure, at the end of the day this is still a fairly mindless CGI-heavy action flick but at the very least, I have the feeling that TMNT fans will probably appreciate this one a lot more than the first film. Will there be a third film? It’s uncertain at the moment, namely due to the fact that this new film wasn’t as big of a hit at the box-office compared to its predecessor. But hey, if they do make a third film and it’s more like the second film, that’d certainly be a good thing.

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE

What do you get when you take the extremely charismatic Dwayne Johnson and pair him with comedy superstar Kevin Hart in a film? You get Central Intelligence, directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, director of 2004’s comedy hit Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story and 2013’s surprise comedy hit We’re the Millers. The film sees Hart star as an accountant who reunites with an old high school classmate of his (Johnson), who he learns now works for the CIA. This then results in the two of them teaming up in order to stop a terrorist plot. Even with the film’s silly tagline which states that ‘Saving the World takes A Little Hart and A Big Johnson’ (yes that’s the tagline), from what I’ve heard this was actually a pretty solid comedy. According to most critics, the biggest selling point was its lead duo of Johnson and Hart. As I said earlier, Dwayne Johnson is one of the most charismatic actors in the business and has proven to be an excellent comedic talent as well thanks to films like Pain and Gain. And while I’ll admit that I’m not that big a fan of Kevin Hart, he certainly has a sizable fan-base that has helped make him one of the biggest names in comedy right now. Really the only negative thing that I’ve heard about the film is that the writing doesn’t really match up quality-wise with its two leads. Still, it looks like Central Intelligence was definitely one of the most popular comedies of this past summer.

THE BFG

The BFG had a star-studded pedigree when it came to the talent involved. First off, it’s a Disney film. Second, it’s based on the novel of the same name by legendary author Roald Dahl. And finally, it’s directed by the one and only Steven Spielberg. And combined, these forces come together to produce an incredibly charming family flick. Spielberg very much succeeds in bringing the imaginative world of Dahl’s work to life on the big-screen. It’s certainly an effects-heavy film but said effects are excellent, especially when it comes to scale represented by the main character Sophie being small compared to everything in Giant Country. But at its core, the film very much wears its heart on its sleeve, especially thanks to the lead duo of Sophie and the BFG. Newcomer Ruby Barnhill is excellent as Sophie, showing much maturity for her age. And then there’s the BFG, played by Mark Rylance, fresh off of his Oscar-winning turn in Spielberg’s last film, Bridge of Spies. He’s once again excellent here and the BFG proves to be as big and friendly as his nickname suggests. Admittedly some parts of the plot are a little underdeveloped (namely the villainous giants that oppose Sophie and the BFG) and fans of Dahl might be disappointed that the film doesn’t really go to the dark places that its source material did. Regardless, it’s an extremely endearing adaptation of a classic story that’s as well-made of a film as you can always expect from Steven Spielberg.

AND VICE VERSA (THIS SEEMS TO BE A PATTERN WITH THIS POLL), 2 FILMS EARNED 3 VOTES

STAR TREK BEYOND

There was a lot of pressure on Star Trek Beyond to do a better job of appealing to long-time fans of the franchise after 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness was met with heavy criticism from fans (a bit overblown if you ask me but that’s another story). So with that said, did it succeed? Well, I’m not really sure. Because while the plot is certainly very Trek-y, the film itself was basically the same kind of fast-paced sci-fi action extravaganza as its two predecessors. But of course, if you’ve following this blog for a while, you’ll know that this doesn’t bother me in the slightest as a ‘Kelvin’ era super-fan. Yep… I absolutely adored this film. To me it delivered on everything that I’ve loved about these newer Trek films even with a change in direction. Justin Lin proves to be an excellent successor to J.J. Abrams and delivers yet another exciting and energetic sci-fi action flick with great action sequences and visuals. But of course, at the heart of this new Trek series is, as always, the film’s excellent ensemble cast. They have excellent camaraderie together, resulting in some great humorous moments (my favorite being when Spock is pressured over the details surrounding the necklace he gave Uhura). The returning cast is great once again but the same can be said for some of the film’s new additions, namely Sofia Boutella as the badass warrior Jaylah and Idris Elba as the film’s solid villain Krall. And like the previous two films, there are some solid scenes of emotional depth. I can’t really say that the emotional depth is as strong as it was in the previous two films but it’s still there at just the right moments. Simply put, this is my favorite film from this summer and is currently my favorite film of the year.           

JASON BOURNE

From 2002 to 2007, Matt Damon starred as amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne in the Bourne trilogy, which was a huge hit with both critics and audiences. With the finale of the trilogy, 2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum, providing a pretty darn conclusive finale to the story, it seemed as if Damon and director Paul Greengrass were done with the franchise. There was an attempt to continue the series via a spin-off in 2012, The Bourne Legacy, but that didn’t end up going anywhere. And then, out of nowhere, Damon and Greengrass returned for another film in the franchise and so we have Jason Bourne. And while reviews for the film have been fairly mixed at best, it’s still a pretty darn entertaining spy thriller. It brings back a lot of the series’ trademarks, namely Greengrass’ handheld camera, fast editing style and as a result, it features some excellent and tension-filled action sequences. The writing, though, is a bit of a different story. Admittedly it seemed questionable to do another Bourne film after Ultimatum’s ending basically tied up all the series’ loose knots. And admittedly the stuff that this film adds to Bourne’s backstory (namely the truth behind his father’s death, which was what led him to volunteer for Treadstone) doesn’t really add much to the overall lore. Plus, the film’s primary subplot revolving a conspiracy involving a tech magnate doesn’t really matter that much in the long run. Still, with some great action sequences and Damon once again doing a fantastic job in the role of Bourne, Jason Bourne is a solidly entertaining spy thriller. It may not reach the same heights as the original trilogy but it’s still a fun time to be had.

3 FILMS EARNED 4 VOTES

MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES

So apparently from what I’ve heard, this film is actually sort of based on a true story that occurred in 2013 in which a pair of brothers put out an ad on Craigslist for dates to their sister’s wedding. It’s certainly not your average ‘true story’ now, is it? Anyway, Adam DeVine and Zac Efron star as the titular Mike and Dave Stangle, respectively, a pair of brothers who tend to cause a lot of ruckus at their family gatherings. Because of this, they’re told that they have to bring ‘respectable’ dates to their sister’s wedding in Hawaii to keep them from getting into any trouble. Their solution? Put an ad out on Craigslist, which goes viral to the point where they end up on The Wendy Williams Show. Their ad ultimately ends up getting the attention of best friends/slacker party girls Tatiana (Aubrey Plaza) and Alice (Anna Kendrick). But as Mike and Dave soon find out, their dates turn out to be just as trouble-making as they are. This is one that I’ll admit I wasn’t really that interested in. Despite a talented cast led by DeVine, Efron, Plaza, and Kendrick, it kind of looked like a run of the mill Wedding Crashers style comedy to me. And according to most critics, that was basically it. Despite its fairly unique concept (which, again, was actually a ‘true story’ that apparently was even crazier than what happened in the film), the film’s humor was rather weak despite the best efforts of its cast of leads, who at the very least seemed to work off of each other very well. But seeing how this film was one of the highest voted in this poll with four votes, at the very least it looks like most audiences liked it okay.

SUICIDE SQUAD

The extremely negative reviews for it did not stop fans from checking out what was probably the most anticipated film of the summer. With its terrific marketing and unique premise of being a superhero film based entirely around the villains, this seemed like it would be a big hit and at the very least, it is from a commercial perspective. Critically, however, is another story and I’m sure that there were probably quite a few people who were rather disappointed by the film. As for me… I enjoyed it. I mean sure, it’s not perfect and like the theatrical cut of Batman v Superman, it seems as if this was another case of a DC film that had received a questionable editing job, namely evident through the fact that apparently there were a lot of scenes involving the Joker that were cut. However, despite that as well as some underdeveloped parts of the plot (namely the villains), Suicide Squad is still a pretty darn fun and unique entry in the superhero genre. We really haven’t seen a film like this before focused entirely on the villains and as a result, it’s pretty interesting to see this film attempt to find the humanity in a bunch of characters who are normally seen as villains to superheroes like Batman and the Flash (and yes, I refer to those two specifically because they made cameos in the film). And overall the film does succeed for the most part, while also featuring an excellent cast highlighted by Will Smith’s solid turn in the role of Deadshot and Margot Robbie’s, as anticipated, scene-stealing turn as Harley Quinn. So simply put, like the theatrical cut of Batman v Superman, this film definitely isn’t as bad as its low RT score suggests and I am genuinely eager to see another film centered around the so-called ‘Worst Heroes Ever’.

SAUSAGE PARTY

Just like Deadpool made quite a big splash earlier this year as an R-rated superhero film, Sausage Party has gotten quite a lot of buzz as an R-rated animated film. Oh sure, on the surface it may seem like a Disney film with its cartoonish designs and colorful animation. But believe me, this ain’t no Disney film. It’s a hard R-rated animated film full of sex, violence, pot, and a whole lot of food puns. Brought to us by the duo of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, this film’s humor is exactly what you’d expect from their line of work. And overall, the film is quite the hilarious romp throughout with an impressively solid gag-to-laugh ratio. Sure, at the end of the day this is still a pretty darn silly film that admittedly relishes a bit too much in its R rating at times. But at the same time, the film actually can be rather smart at times, namely through its social commentary on religion and the beliefs that spur from it. But of course, there’s no denying that this film is completely crazy from beginning to end. Case in point, the film’s ending. Again, I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it but those who have will know exactly what I’m talking about and needless to say it has to be seen to be believed. I got the chance to see this film at SXSW before it was even finished. That meant plenty of scenes that weren’t fully animated yet. Because of this, I decided not to do a review of it when I did my SXSW Recap post. But once it came out for real last month, I finally got the chance to see it in its finished form and overall I will say that I enjoyed it. It’ll be interesting to see if this will result in more R-rated animated films down the road.

THIS YEAR’S ‘RUNNER-UP’, WITH SEVEN VOTES

FINDING DORY

It seems that when it comes to Finding Dory, the sequel to Pixar’s 2003 classic Finding Nemo, people were either A.) Really excited for it because of the original film or B.) Really skeptical about it due to Pixar’s track record with non-Toy Story sequels. Thankfully, the latter’s fears were not realized as Finding Dory is another excellent addition to Pixar’s prestigious filmography. Focusing on the first film’s breakout character Dory, once again excellently voiced by Ellen DeGeneres, the film wisely doesn’t copy the same plot of Finding Nemo. Instead, it follows Dory on her journey to reunite with her parents, who she got separated from many years ago. The end result is a film that very much captures the same heart and emotional depth of its predecessor. And also like its predecessor, it features some of Pixar’s absolute best animation to date. Seriously, I’d argue that the Finding films are some of their most beautifully animated through the ways in which they bring the world of the ocean to life. As noted earlier, Ellen is once again excellent as Dory, as is Albert Brooks who returns as Marlin. Newcomer Hayden Rolence seamlessly replaces Alexander Gould as Nemo and the film has plenty of great and lovable new characters, including the grumpy but good-hearted octopus Hank (Ed O’Neill) and Dory’s old friend Destiny (Kaitlin Olson). In short, Finding Dory is proof that Pixar is capable of producing quality sequels to their films.    

AND FINALLY, THIS YEAR THERE WERE TWO FILMS THAT LANDED THE MOST VOTES WITH BOTH EARNING 9 EACH. ONE IS A FILM YOU’LL TOTALLY EXPECT AND THE OTHER ONE MIGHT SURPRISE YOU. THEY ARE…

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

The superhero genre has been under increasingly high pressure these past few years as a result of that damn fatigue argument that somehow got started back in early 2015. Heck, I fear that this argument has been causing a lot of trouble this year as there have only been two superhero films that have received generally positive reviews. Well, at the very least, one thing’s for certain; Marvel Studios ain’t going anywhere. They proved that and then some with their 13^th (yes, 13^th) feature, Captain America: Civil War, which kicked off Phase 3 of the MCU on the best note possible. While the film does take inspiration, and its name, from the Civil War storyline in the comics, it is not a direct adaptation, which was probably for the best considering the polarizing reception of the comic. Instead, the film bases its story within the lore of the MCU as well as everything that’s happened so far in the franchise. As a result, the emotional depth in this film is fantastic, resulting in epic and emotional character moments for many of the characters, particularly Iron Man and Cap during the film’s emotional gut-punch of a finale. And while the film’s massive ensemble cast raised the question of why it was being called a Captain America film, Winter Soldier directors Joe and Anthony Russo made it all work and delivered some excellent action sequences along the way; arguably some of the best in the MCU to date. Add in some excellent debuts from Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther and Tom Holland as the MCU’s Spider-Man and you have a fantastic entry in the MCU that once again asserts Marvel Studios’ status as the kings of the superhero genre.

BAD MOMS

And now here’s the one that you probably didn’t expect to be one of the highest-voted films in this year’s poll; Bad Moms. Starring a large ensemble cast and directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, the writers behind the original Hangover, the film follows a bunch of moms who decide that they’ve had enough with being over-worked and underappreciated. This then leads to them going out and having some fun for once in their lives. Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn star as the lead trio of moms who decide to be ‘bad moms’ for once while Christina Applegate, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Annie Mumolo star as the mothers who ‘oppose’ them as members of their kids’ school’s PTA. This is another comedy that I’ll admit I wasn’t really interested in but even with that said, I could tell that this film would probably be a big hit. I could just tell that this would do well for various reasons, namely due to its cast of talented actresses. And from the looks of it, they had a lot of fun making this film with Kunis, Bell, and Hahn working off of each other incredibly well based on the trailers. The premise also sounded really fun as well, even though some critics felt that the film didn’t really do as much with it as it could’ve. Regardless, this film was a solid commercial hit and did do pretty well with critics. And based on the fact that it received the same number of votes as Captain America: Civil War, it clearly was a hit with audiences.  

And there you have it; your picks for your favorite films from Summer 2016. Be sure to sound off in the comments below if there was a film that you liked that wasn’t amongst this selection of summer films. 

The BFG (2016) review

Disney’s newest live-action flick, The BFG, certainly has a lot of prestige behind it in regards to its behind-the-scenes talent. Of course it all starts with its director, Steven Spielberg, the man who needs no introduction as he is quite arguably the most famous director in the entire film industry, having helmed numerous classics in his nearly six decades long career from the Indiana Jones films to Saving Private Ryan. This film, which also serves as his first directorial effort under the Disney banner, even sees him reteaming with one of his former collaborators, the late Melissa Mathison, who wrote Spielberg’s 1982 family classic, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which this new film definitely shares a few similarities with. But the other big ‘star’ of the picture is the author of its source material; Roald Dahl. Dahl of course was one of the most famous children’s authors of all time, having penned numerous classics such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda. This new film in particular is based off of his 1982 book of the same name, which centers on a young girl named Sophie and her adventures with a benevolent big-eared giant who is named the ‘Big Friendly Giant’, or ‘BFG’ for short, hence the title of the story. Previously there was a British animated TV adaptation of the story in 1989 but this is the first time that a live-action version has been made. And with the combined forces of Spielberg’s filmmaking mastery and Dahl’s imaginative writing at hand, The BFG is a very charming and imaginative family flick that very much wears its heart on its sleeve.

 

The film opens with a young girl named Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) living in a London orphanage. One night, while she is still awake even at 3:00 in the morning, she looks out of her bedroom window and sees a giant across the way. Said giant ends up coming to the window and snatches her up from right out of her bed. He then proceeds to take her to his home in the magical realm of Giant Country. But while Sophie initially fears that he’ll eat her, the giant, who refers to himself as the ‘Big Friendly Giant’ (Mark Rylance), proves to be just as friendly as his name suggests and is shown to only eat a disgusting vegetable known as a snozzcumber. During her time spent with the ‘BFG’ (the nickname that she ends up giving to him), Sophie learns that he is a dream-catcher. He catches dreams from another magical part of Giant Country and then proceeds to give them to sleeping children all over the world. Unfortunately for Sophie, while the 24-foot tall BFG proves to be a nice giant, there are also bad giants in Giant Country as well. Namely, a group of giants that are twice the size of the BFG, led by ‘the Fleshlumpeater’ (Jemaine Clement), that do eat ‘human beans’ and constantly bully the BFG around, as he is ‘a runt’ compared to them. This leads to Sophie and the BFG looking to find a way to stop the villainous giants before they can eat any more ‘human beans’, which soon results in them getting some royal help from the Queen of England herself (Penelope Wilton).

This is one really nice-looking film as far as the visuals are concerned. Obviously a lot of it was done with CGI, namely in scenes set in Giant Country in which Sophie is the only major ‘human’ character while all of the giants are created via motion-capture. And yet even with that said, the film does do a nice job of blending its ‘real’ and ‘digital’ elements together. Of course, being a Spielberg film, it’s certainly very well-made from a technical perspective. It’s well-shot by his go-to cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, well-edited by his go-to editor Michael Kahn, features the usual solid score by John Williams, etc. But what about Spielberg’s method of adapting Dahl’s original story? I bring that up because prior to his death in 1990, Dahl was never a big fan of most of the film adaptations of his books due to the deviations that they made to his stories, most notably/infamously the 1971 adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, dubbed Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I’ll admit that I haven’t read The BFG so I can’t really comment on how faithful of an adaptation this is. Though from what I hear, Spielberg did tone down some of the darker elements of the story (e.g. the villainous giants aren’t as frightening as they are in the novel), something that Dahl has always been known for as a writer. But even with that said, Spielberg does still manage to give the film quite a lot of heart and charm while also very much translating the zany imagery of Dahl’s story to the big screen, resulting in plenty of creative visuals throughout. Really the only thing that holds this film back is that the plot is a bit aimless though to be fair I guess that was the case with the book as well.

The BFG sees Spielberg reteaming with Mark Rylance, who starred in Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies last year and won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor (and deservedly so I might add for those still bummed that he beat out Sylvester Stallone) for his work as Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. This time around Rylance stars in the title role of the BFG and once again he is fantastic. While the role does require him to do a lot of motion-capture work, he works with it just as well as Andy Serkis does on a regular basis and very much succeeds in making the BFG a very endearing character and one that very much lives up to his title as a ‘big and friendly’ giant. As Sophie, this film marks the film debut of Ruby Barnhill and she makes a pretty darn excellent first impression. Conveying a great amount of maturity and spunk for her age, she also does a really good job in regards to making her interactions with characters created via motion-capture feel as real as possible. Rylance and Barnhill work off of each other extremely well and you can definitely sense the great friendship that emerges between them. Because Sophie and the BFG are the main focus of the film, other characters aren’t really given as much to do. The ones who arguably get stunted the most are actually the villainous giants. Sure they may seem intimidating, and for the most part they are in terms of how they tower over both Sophie and the BFG, but the film really doesn’t do much with them, which is probably an example of how the film eschews plenty of the story’s darker elements. And of the lot, the only one who gets any major amount of screen-time is Jemaine Clement’s Fleshlumpeater.  

The BFG is Steven Spielberg’s first live-action family flick in quite some time, as he’s come quite a long way since his days working on E.T., now helming Oscar-winning adult dramas like Bridge of Spies and Schindler’s List. One could say that this film is very much reminiscent of E.T. in terms of its overall light-hearted tone and charm. In this case, it certainly helps that Spielberg gets to use the imaginative worlds and characters of Roald Dahl and while the film may not entirely please fans of the book due to its more toned-down nature, it still very much captures the fantastical imagery of Dahl’s story to a fault. And while there may be some plot issues, namely in the form of its underdeveloped villains, the film itself is exactly what you would expect from a Spielberg in terms of how well-made it is on pretty much every level, from the visuals to the editing to the cinematography and so on and so forth. Clearly Spielberg set out to make a very charming and imaginative family film a la E.T. and he very much succeeded in that regard. As a result, families will no doubt get a kick out of Spielberg’s latest offering. Heck, pretty much any Spielberg film is worth checking out in theaters if you ask me. As for this film, I have the feeling that kids will probably get more out of it than adults but no matter what, it’s still very much a whizz-popping good time for all.

Rating: 4.5/5