5. “The Lobster”
Anyone familiar with “Dogtooth“or “Alps” might have assumed that the latest film from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos would be a strange, surreal, slyly farcical experience. Still, “The Lobster” is both more ridiculous and affecting than either of his prior two efforts — a bizarre black comedy about loneliness, relationships and romantic expectations and pressures that consistently upends expectations. In the story’s absurdist alterna-world, a man who’s recently been dumped by his wife (Colin Farrell, in full-on mussed-hair-and-glasses schlub mode) checks into a hotel where he’s given an ultimatum: find a new mate within 45 days, or be turned into the animal of his choice (spoiler alert: he opts, in the worst-case scenario, to become a lobster). There, he endures all manner of ridiculous challenges and meets likeminded desolate souls (John C. Reilly and Ben Whishaw) before fleeing to the nearby woods to join a cult of anti-partnership radicals, one of whom (Rachel Weisz) he falls in love with, damn the tumultuous consequences. Employing amusingly off-kilter aesthetics — sudden slow-motion, meticulously asymmetrical framing — Lanthimos delivers an oppressive satire which targets both monogamy and singlehood with equally scathing precision, as well as with a deadpan wit that’s so bleak, it’s sometimes difficult to know where the comedy ends and the tragedy begins. —Nick Schager
4. “La La Land”
Few would’ve imagined this would be the film that director Damien Chazelle would come up with following his breakout sophomore feature “Whiplash.” Where that film was an abrasive take on the cutthroat world of a jazz academy, his third feature “La La Land” ditched the cynicism for something more hopeful — a fact made abundantly clear from the first notes of the euphoric opening number. The story centers on dreamers Mia (an illuminated Emma Stone), an aspiring actress, and purist jazz pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), who’s itching to build his own club. Stone and Gosling shine in capturing their characters’ ambitions and desires, but even more impressively, in this modern-day, original musical, composed expertly by Justin Hurwitz, Chazelle and co. have managed to homage the MGM musicals of old while simultaneously feeling fresh and vitally modern. From Hurwitz’s compositions, several of which you’ll find yourself humming hours later, to the richly textured production design by David Wasco and the cascading vibrant yellows, purples and blues of Linus Sandgren’s cinematography, “La La Land” is a Technicolor technical marvel too. As it doubles down on the notion of daring to dream, something the film embodies and a message that seems curiously needed right now, “La La Land” feels blissfully unburdened by real life, a hymn to the virtues of pure escapism: For a little while, everyone gets to be weightless and dance among the stars. —Allyson Johnson
3. “Paterson”
As a follow-up to one of the most absorbingly sophisticated vampire films in recent memory (“Only Lovers Left Alive”), Jim Jarmusch, beloved indie filmmaker of the supercool, zero-fucks-given variety, has made what might be his greatest film ever. All the signs, symbols, patterns and impeccably loopy conversations in “Paterson” point to Jarmusch seemingly finding his Holy Grail and creating a multi-layered cinematic gemstone about the true essence of art and one of the most endearing reflections of the purity of an artist’s nature. It also manages to be a stunningly effective story of an entire town in New Jersey, a grand comedy of errors littered with cultural references, one of the greatest examples of film structure and pace in 2016, and a brilliant showcase for Adam Driver’s enormous talent. As a leading millennial actor who has been cast in some big roles in the last few years, Driver turns the low-key part of the bus-driving poet into his greatest role yet, fitting the Jarmuschian universe like a glove. The story of the daily routines of Paterson (Driver), his girlfriend (Golshifteh Farahani, a beam of sunshine), and their bulldog (Nellie, R.I.P. scenery-chewer) in Paterson, New Jersey, as they come across an array of memorable characters and situations, it’s a perfectly packaged tiny feel-good masterpiece that will warm your heart just as its execution will, gently, blow your mind. —Nikola Grozdanovic
2. “Arrival”
Even though Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi film centers on first contact with a mysterious alien race whose giant UFOs hover over various parts of the world, this meditative and melancholic movie couldn’t be further from loud, action-driven blockbusters like “Independence Day.” Instead, “Arrival” places a premium on quiet, strategically interrupted by Jóhann Jóhannsson’s clever score and Olivier Calvert and Michelle Child’s sound design. The strong screenplay from Eric Heisserer (who terrified audiences earlier this year with the hit “Lights Out”) focuses on the efforts of a talented linguistics professor (Amy Adams, in a career-best role) to communicate with the visitors. The intricacies of language and communication rarely get this much attention off-campus, but the intellectual heft of the film never gets in the way of its heart. It’s a rare find at the multiplex: a genre film that’s as cerebral as it is moving, particularly in its exploration of the power of a mother’s love. It raises questions — both associated with the complex plot as well as larger philosophical ones — that stick with you long after Max Richter’s sublime, awe-filled “On The Nature Of Daylight” ushers in the final credits. “Arrival” would have been a triumph for its cast and crew in any year, but with its themes of the dangers of xenophobia, the value of working together and the very faint possibility of a brighter future for humankind glimmering on the horizon after all, its timing for late-2016 is perfect. —Kimber Myers
1. “Moonlight”
Barry Jenkins‘ tender miracle of a film swept our 2016 poll by such an overwhelming margin that it’s tempting to issue some hyperbolic statement about how it singlehandedly redeems this unfunny punchline of a year. But that kind of bombast would do a disservice to the unassuming power of this quiet film, one that understands that a whisper might not carry as far as a shout, but can burrow much deeper into the hearts of those listening. “Moonlight,” with its astonishing ensemble, particularly the central trio of Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes, tells with infinite, clear-eyed compassion the story of a young man’s painfully relatable voyage through childhood, teenagerdom and early adulthood, delivering a refreshingly multifaceted portrait of black masculinity that feels especially valuable right at this moment. It may not be able to “fix” 2016, but, as a bad year comes to its close full of dread for worse to come, “Moonlight” is a brave and lovely reminder of what is worth fighting for: not just in connecting us to each other via the desperately human story of struggling self-fulfillment that it tells, but in the very fact that Jenkins, with backing of production companies A24 and Plan B, got to tell it in such a magnificently uncompromised, deeply personal, midnight-beautiful manner. —Jessica Kiang
This list, being assembled via the ruthless application of mathematics, is more than usually unforgiving, and this year, as ever yielded some very near misses — films that probably were on earlier iterations of the lineup but that got pushed out as more individual responses arrived. They included three about which we can safely say timing worked against them — Robert Eggers‘ “The Witch” and Trey Edward Shults‘ “Krisha” both almost made it on, but since many of us saw them during their festival rounds in 2015, they just weren’t quite top of mind for enough of us. Conversely, not very many of us have yet seen “Moana,” as family animations are slightly out of our wheelhouse and tend to be things we catch up with later — nonetheless, the two or three people who did see Disney‘s latest sang its praises so volubly that it nearly placed anyway. Oddball Sundance hit “Swiss Army Man,” from debut directing team Daniels; and Ava DuVernay‘s riveting documentary “13th” also scored just barely outside the top 25.
A little further down but contending at one point or another were Keith Maitland doc “Tower“; Jia Zhang-ke‘s “Mountains May Depart“; John Carney‘s “Sing Street“; Robert Greene‘s “Kate Plays Christine“; Mike Birbiglia‘s “Don’t Think Twice“; Karyn Kusama‘s “The Invitation“; Taika Waititi‘s “Hunt for the Wilderpeople“; Kelly Reichardt‘s “Certain Women“; Kelly Fremon Craig‘s “The Edge Of Seventeen“; David Lowery‘s “Pete’s Dragon“; Lucile Hadzihalilovic‘s “Evolution“; Whit Stillman‘s “Love And Friendship“; Sophia Takal‘s “Always Shine“; and Raoul Peck‘s archive documentary “I Am Not Your Negro.” All of these we also recommend highly as representative of the best that 2016 (a bad year for the world but a pretty great one for film) had to offer.
Any surprises or disappointments in there for you? Let us know what you think of our lineup in the comments below, and keep an eye out for more end-of-year features arriving daily between now and Christmas, and for our individual lists coming along after that.