Kimber Myers' Top 10 Films Of 2016 - Page 2 of 2

Annette Bening, Greta Gerwig and Elle Fanning, 20th Century Women5. “20th Century Women”
With his latest autobiographical film, Mike Mills has created a family of characters who feel as though they’ve existed for years before the film begins and they will continue living their lives after its credits have ended. Part of the praise goes to the filmmaker’s script and direction, which are both so suffused with warmth and a come-as-you-are vibe that you simply want to stay a while. Mills has great affection for these characters, and it’s hard not to feel the same way. “20th Century Women” ostensibly centers around teenage boy Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) and features a nice supporting turn from Billy Crudup, but it’s the three women in his orbit who made the biggest impact on me: single mother Dorothea (Annette Bening, never better in a career where we have to keep saying that) and two boarders in her home, Abbie (Greta Gerwig) and Julie (Elle Fanning). The coming-of-age story is a common one in literature and cinema, but this film feels like something new thanks to the presence of these characters who could feel like tired tropes, but instead feel like real people. I wanted to join them in the sun-filled life in Santa Barbara they inhabit in 1979, but if that can’t happen, I just want all of Gerwig’s perfectly slouchy blouses.

La La Land

4. “La La Land”
While Damien Chazelle’s third film offers the barest of sketches of anyone beyond its two central characters and a surreal version of Los Angeles where people randomly burst into song, “La La Land” evokes authentic emotions from its audience – and it does so with apparent ease. It’s just as hard not to giggle with delight at its joyful dance numbers and witty banter  as it is to blink back the tears from its emotional climax. And, oh, that finale. Few films packs as much feeling into their entirety as this one does in just a few minutes with style to spare. And though the concluding minutes elevate the two hours that precede them, the rest of the film perfectly balances its modern setting and its classic predecessors. Additional thanks goes to the strong performances from Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, whose role here and in “The Nice Guys” demonstrates that he should do more comedy. “La La Land” is a film that sticks with you, and not just because you can’t get songs like “City of Stars” and “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” out of your head.

Colin Farrell and John C. Reilly, The Lobster

3. “The Lobster”
I may use Yorgos Lanthimos’s oddball English-language debut about a man forced to find a partner as a litmus test for future friendships. If you are turned off by its weirdness, deadpan humor and spikes of violence, then maybe we should just nod at each other at parties and move along. (I just checked with my boyfriend, and while he didn’t love it, he did like those three elements, so we can continue to date, which is nice even in a world where you aren’t forced to couple or be turned into an animal). Like my beloved “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “The Lobster” isn’t just a love story told in a new way. Instead, it’s a film that comments on the nature of love and relationships: how we choose who we date and marry, how we change who we are to fit what they desire and the societal structures that govern it all. Its two-part structure bothered some critics who preferred the first half, but the second section grows on you with multiple viewings, providing complements and counterpoints to the ideas presented earlier in the film.

Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner, Arrival

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.

Alex Hibbert and Jaden Piner, Moonlight

1. “Moonlight”
Throughout its three parts, longing courses through Barry Jenkins’ sophomore film like a river, carrying us along with it. It’s nearly impossible not to get swept up in the slow-moving current of emotion; weeks after seeing it for the second time, I still start to well up each time I hear the notes of Nicholas Britell’s themes for each age of Chiron, played by Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes. Each actor is a revelation, communicating the film’s soul with a look, but the others entrusted with more dialogue – Mahershala Ali, Janelle Monáe, Naomie Harris and André Holland – complete the year’s strongest cast. “Moonlight” follows the character as a child, a teen and a man, struggling to reconcile his hidden identity as a black gay man with the world around him. Part of the film’s appeal is that the perspective is rare within mainstream cinema, but even if gay black narratives were as common as straight white ones at the movies, this drama would stand out for its contemplative tone, the careful attention it pays to its characters and the rich images of James Laxton’s cinematography.

Honorable Mentions:
There was plenty of real-life horror in 2016, but the cinematic offerings of scares were exceptional. “The Witch,” “Green Room,” “Under the Shadow,” “10 Cloverfield Lane,” “The Invitation,” “The Wailing,” “Don’t Breathe” and “The Love Witch” demonstrated the variety present in the genre, while often being truly terrifying in their own way.

This was also a strong year for documentaries, with “O.J.: Made in America” completing a feat that still seems unlikely: adding new depth and context to a story that we should have had enough of after the trial itself and FX’s excellent “The People vs. O.J. Simpson.” After 467 minutes, I still wanted more. Other docs that I loved included “City of Gold,” “Weiner,” “Cameraperson,” “Life, Animated,” “De Palma,” “My Love, Don’t Cross That River,” “13th,” “We Are X,” and “I Am Not Your Negro.”

Other standouts this year were “A War,” “Embrace of the Serpent,” “My Golden Days,” “The Fits,” “Dheepan,” “A Bigger Splash,” “Love and Friendship,” “Kubo and the Two Strings,” “Sand Storm,” “Bridget Jones’s Baby,” “American Honey,” “The Handmaiden,” “The Edge of Seventeen,” “Miss Sloane,” “Jackie,” and “Things to Come.”

Basically, see movies. See all the movies. Even the ones that aren’t good probably aren’t the worst way to spend your time. Except for “Mother’s Day,” “Shut In” and “Nina,” which deserve all of the critical ire and then some. If all else fails, the absolutely delightful “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” will be a cure for whatever ails you.