Of course, a particular film, which is the latest addition to the greatest Sci-Fi saga in history, will be soon viewed but not in the year of release due to various reasons. As I've said to many people in person, if you spoil that film to me I will find you, and I will Liam Neeson you.
What follows are the 12 films of 2016 that I watched in the reverse order of my preference.
12 - London Has Fallen
Director: Babak Najafi
Stars: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman
Synopsis: Sequel to Olympus Has Fallen, this action redux was enjoyable despite predictability and ridiculousness. Gerard Butler adequately fills the roll Schwarzenegger and Stallone developed and is only slightly less one-dimensional than those two. Plenty of explosions and machine guns, plenty of poking fun at itself, little to no re-watch value.
Reflective Rating: 3/10
Twitter Rating: 5/10
For those of you who don't follow me on Twitter, I typically tweet out a 10-scale rating within a few hours of completing a movie. Keep in mind, these tweets are in-the-moment and I don't always do them.
11 - Pete's Dragon
Director: David Lowery
Stars: Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford, Karl Urban
Synopsis: Boring. Couldn't keep the kids' attention which really makes me wonder why we sat through it. I think BDH is an underrated actress and she was quite good but otherwise a forgettable Disney afterthought.
Reflective Rating: 4/10
Twitter Rating: N/A
10 - The Jungle Book
Director: Jon Favreau
Stars: Bill Murray, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong'o, Ben Kingsley, Scarlett Johansson, Christopher Walken, Garry Shandling
Synopsis: Same old story. Breathtakingly beautiful CGI. Expected more from the A++ cast though Walken's performance as King Louis was great. It also struggled to keep the attention of my toddlers and its been a pretty solid year for movies so it comes in at 10th.
Reflective Rating: 6/10
Twitter Rating: N/A
9 - Hail, Caesar!
Director: Coen Brothers
Stars: Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Ralph Viennes, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Jonah Hill
Synopsis: I'm not sure how to describe this movie. A week in the life of a 50s Hollywood executive, but not any normal week. Tatum's turn as a Gene Kelly-type is particularly puzzling yet delightful. The film as a whole was a bit disappointing and lacked the perfection of other Coen Bros material. (I think Fargo may be one of the greatest representations of north-Midwestern culture ever filmed) It still was full of memorable and hilarious scenes.
Reflective Rating: 7/10
Twitter Rating: 6/10
8 - Zootopia
Director: Byron Howard
Stars: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, JK Simmons
Synopsis: A clever Disney spin on the challenges of multiculturalism. A highly charged political film starring talking animals. Bateman is so good and the overarching themes of the film are important and well communicated. Unfortunately the concluding song left a terrible taste in my mouth due to its lameness and Shakira-ness.
Reflective Rating: 7/10
Twitter Rating: 6/10
7 - Star Trek Beyond
Director: Justin Lin
Stars: Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto, Idris Elba (busy year!), Ben Kinglsey, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin
Synopsis: Meh. The villains of the reboot series have been so disappointing and Elba's was no different. I don't count Cumberbatch's Khan because of the ambiguity of the character in case you'd just shouted his name. Here's hoping they come up with some ridiculous reason for Pine's crew to encounter the Borg and resurrect this once hopeful but ultimately kind of lame series. On a bright note, Zachary Quinto was born to play Spock, every bit as much as Leonard Nimoy was, rest his soul.
Reflective Rating: 7/10
Twitter Rating: N/A
6 - Deadpool
Director: Tim Miller
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, TJ Miller, Ed Skrein, Morena Baccarin
Synopsis: Truer to the comic than was expected. Certainly a funny movie, but not one a kid should watch (and my mother would chime in "or an adult!" and she'd probably be right.)
Reflective Rating: 7/10
Twitter Rating: N/A
5 - Finding Dory
Director: Andrew Stanton
Stars: Ellen DeGeneres, Kaitlin Olson, Albert Brooks, Ed O'Neill, Idris Elba
Synopsis: Sequel to the fantastic Finding Nemo, this movie felt slower. Likely because it all took place in the same general area, and the audience doesn't suffer from Dory's memory loss. An enjoyable film and hopefully closure for the Nemo universe.
Reflective Rating: 7/10
Twitter Rating: N/A
4 - The Angry Birds Movie
Director: Clay Kaytis
Stars: Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Bill Hader, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Peter Dinklage, Sean Penn, Keegan-Michael Key
Synopsis: Surprisingly good. Admittedly, pretty dumb but what do you expect from a movie spawned from a phone app starring Sudeikis? I also think Josh Gad has a nearly limitless potential, but I kind of want him to stick to stupid sidekick characters cuz he nails them.
Reflective Rating: 7/10
Twitter Rating: N/A
3 - Kung Fu Panda 3
Director: Alessandro Carloni
Stars: Jack Black, Bryan Cranston, JK Simmons, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, David Cross, Kate Hudson
Synopsis: I love the original KFP and enjoyed but wasn't thrilled with part 2. I figured the characters would live out their usefulness in mini-series' and holiday specials. Then this awesome movie came out. Simmons was the best animated villain of the series and maybe ever (seriously, his theme music alone is boss). Black and the A+ ensemble of voices managed to produce even more original laughs and I'd actually entertain a 4th. Ok, maybe not, but this was a good flick.
Reflective Rating: 8/10
Twitter Rating: N/A
2 - Anthropoid
Director: Sean Ellis
Stars: Jamie Dornan, Cillian Murphy, Charlotte Le Bon
Synopsis: I'll not say much, because this film flew under the radar a bit and I'm guessing not as many have seen it. I will say however, its one of the best war films I've ever seen. It slides in nicely along side Saving Private Ryan, A Bridge Too Far, Enemy At the Gates, and the Band of Brothers series telling the story of the heroes of WWII. I also really enjoy Cillian Murphy's work and look forward to his appearance in Nolan's upcoming WWII film Dunkirk (my most anticipated of the new year).
Reflective Rating: 10/10
Twitter Rating: 9/10
1 - Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Director: David Yates
Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterson, Colin Farrell, Don Fogler, Ezra Miller,
Synopsis: The only movie I hit the theater for this calendar year. I'll watch every single one of these they decide to make, and likely love them all. Redmayne and Farrell were both excellent additions to the Harry Potter universe. It fits snugly with the other HP films, particularly the feel of 5, 6, and the 7s.
Reflective Rating: 10/10
Twitter Rating: N/A (I guess I didn't do a whole lot of these this year).
The other movies I watched this year and Twitter rated but weren't released in 2016 were:
The Giver 9/10
The Revenant 8/10
Spectre (James Bond) 7/10
The Big Short 10/10
The Martian 7/10
Bridge of Spies 8/10
Goosebumps 4/10
Sicario 7/10
Love and Mercy 8/10
Have a Happy New Year and thanks for reading.
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