Thursday, January 5, 2017

Melissa Uhrin's Favorite Movies of 2016

by Melissa Uhrin
2016 was a hell of a year.

I dropped the ball on beating my 2015 movie-watching total and came in at a measly 300-ish this year. Which is fine, and made it a bit easier to whittle down my top ten, but let's see if I can't get back on track for 2017.

I enjoyed a lot of movies this year, but these are the winners as far as what I loved, what stuck with me the longest and what I am most looking forward to revisiting soon soon soon!
10. For The Love of Spock

While my movie watching was lacking this year, I did however accomplish a couple things. Rewatching Star Trek TOS, Star Trek TNG and making it halfway through Star Trek DS9 helped me to rediscover my dormant Trekkie and now I can't get enough. This documentary delves into the beginnings of the Star Trek universe and the unexpected popularity of the alien character, Spock and turns into a moving tribute to the man inside the Vulcan, Leonard Nimoy.

9. The Handmaiden

The first of three Korean films to make my list. I fell in love with the beautiful story full of twists and turns, but even more so the beauty of the visuals that filled the screen.
8. Hunt for the Wilderpeople

What I loved most about this movie was the humour and charm of the two main characters. Fantastic performances by both Sam Neill and his foster child played by Julian Dennison ensured that this comedy would find a place on my top ten.

7. Sing Street

Ah!!! I love musicals. Well, some of them. ...actually not many, but I LOVED this. Because it's not really a musical? More of a music-filled comedy that is full of a few of my favourite things: music, friendship and the '80s.
6. Train to Busan

There are zombies on a mother-fucking train and no Samuel Jackson in sight. The second Korean film to make my list has all the blood and gore I had expected, with the bonus of a powerful daddy-daughter story at its heart.

5. Gleason

This story has all the sticky feelers that dig deep and don't let go easily. It filled me with love and admiration for a man and his perseverance to live with an all-consuming disease. Beautiful, powerful and full of heart.
4. Green Room

I watched this months ago and am always on the verge of a revisit, but something else seems to catch my eye as I am easily distracted. It has stuck with me, a couple spectacularly vivid scenes in particular, but the performances are what made this movie for me.

3. 10 Cloverfield Lane

Because John Goodman is the fucking man.

2. The Wailing

Loved it the first time, and have loved every viewing since. The only film on this list I watched more than three times in a very short time span. The story is haunting and yet beautiful, the acting is powerful and this movie has not left my thoughts for months. I am in love with Korean cinema.
1. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

GAH! When you are in love with a world, you need not see its flaws. The magic that I came to depend on for comfort flows through this movie and brings me more of what I am constantly craving. I honestly struggled to keep it from being at the top of the list, but I would be lying to myself if I placed it anywhere but number one. It was my favourite movie of the year -- not the best, but my absolute favourite and will be the most revisited for years to come.

Happy New Years everyone, looking forward to a movie-filled 2017!

14 comments:

  1. My top ten of 2017
    Sing street
    Midnight special
    Room
    Eddie the Eagle
    Green room
    Mr Church
    The Wailing
    Zootopia
    Deadpool
    The siege of Janesville

    Honorable Mentions
    Fantastic beasts and where to find them
    The shallows
    Kubo and the Two Strings

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    1. It's hard to tell that "CauseTheresNowhereElseToPutIt" is my husband Daryl because he is has a weirdo name on here, but I think he wanted his list to be close to mine... 'Cause he's sappy like that haha

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    2. Ahhhh, gotcha. Perfectly understandable!

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    3. Haha, I was thinking, "wait, does a bot have a top ten list? Even stranger, it's using proper grammar and spelling?!" But then I saw the picture and location, haha.

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    4. But what are Pandaryl's Pix? And he better not just say bamboo. Everything's bamboo with that guy.

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    5. Anything with Sing Street at #1 and from a Canadian is very welcome.

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  2. Great list Melissa! Any list that excludes La La Land at this point get props :P

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    1. Haha "goofy face" - just joking. I haven't seen it. I'm sure it's charming as all hell.

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    2. I managed to see 150 of the movies released in theaters this year, and I don't think ol' Triple L would make it into the top 100 of those for me. I love that we all get to like what we like and not like what we don't.

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    3. Believe me, I do too! I'm just not too keen on the idea of saying a list is automatically better just because it excludes a movie that is showing up a lot. But now I sound like I'm taking this too seriously. I know it was a joke. :) (Also, this is a great list!)

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  3. Hahaha! Poor John.

    I would assume that some more of the year's biggest and best films would also have been included in my list, however the year has come to a close and I missed out on a few.

    I would assume La La Land would have been near the top, as would have Jackie, but it is what it is!

    So many movies, so little time!

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