2016 – The Year in Review – The Year in Films & TV

In 2016, I watched only a paltry 9 films in the theaters. I know, it’s pretty lame, for someone who claims to love movies so much.

But times have changed! People watch films on their phones, on a train, waiting in the airport for their flight to board, etc. Several neat streaming services came into their own this year. HBO Now, Mubi, and FilmStruck, to name a few. I watched some great stuff (and some of my favorite films of the year) via such services.

I have modified my tradition of separating films into lists defined by when they were released and instead offer a list of 16 films that I tremendously enjoyed viewing for the very first time in the year 2016.

1. Old Joy
2. Silence
3. Wendy and Lucy
4. Saving Private Ryan
5. Bill Cunningham New York
6. Phoenix
7. The Witch
8. The Sunset Limited
9. Woyzeck
10. 99 Homes
11. River of Grass
12. Omohide poro poro (Only Yesterday) in Japanese with English subtitles
13. Training Day
14. Song of the Sea
15. The Invitation
16. Psychohydrography

LEGEND:

Regular = movie watched on a TV or other device
BOLD = denotes theatrical viewing
Italic = denotes a “mini series” or “television movie”
Underlined = denotes a short film (30 minutes or less)

Old Joy, Wendy and Lucy, and River of Grass are all Kelly Reichardt films which were shown as a part of a themed retrospective on Mubi. In 2016, her new film, Certain Women, hit limited distribution in theaters however I didn’t manage to catch it. Seeing so many of her films in short succession has given me a new appreciation for the form of narrative storytelling that allows the viewer to simply experience the characters having interactions with one another. Old Joy takes the cake for best film I saw for the first time in 2016. Two friends whose lives have diverged over time reunite for a camping trip into the Columbia Gorge. A spare, simple, elegiac film that touches on the truest hopes and pains of a deep friendship. I found it moving amidst a year of failed relationships amongst a few of my dearest friends.

Martin Scorsese’s long-gestating passion project Silence was released in NY and LA in time for Oscar consideration on 12/23/16 and I made a concerted effort to go and see it. My showing was in a screening lounge at The Landmark in Los Angeles on that date. One couple walked out in the middle of the film. The guy returned for his big gulp of soda a few minutes later. I stayed. I was blown away.

Saving Private Ryan was a first-time viewing for me in 2016. An incredible film that has informed and inspired practically every other war film since. Amazing. Utterly amazing.

Bill  Cunningham passed away in 2016 and after his death, Mubi presented the documentary Bill Cunningham New York ~ wait for the interview where the filmmaker starts to ask personal questions. It’s a true moment of revelation.

Another retrospective that I very much enjoyed watching was of many of Werner Herzog’s films, also shown on Mubi. His collaborations with Klaus Kinski remain the stuff of legend for filmmakers. Woyzeck is perhaps their best joint effort. Kinski is the madman who was never tamed nor cured. Their working relationship ended after Cobra Verde.

Below is a complete, alphabetized list of all 109 Films, Short Films, TV miniseries, and shows I took in throughout 2016:

LEGEND:

Regular = movie watched on a TV or other device
BOLD = denotes theatrical viewing
Italic = denotes a “mini series” or “television movie”
Underlined = denotes a short film (30 minutes or less)

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. 99 Homes
3. America (2013)
4. American History X
5. Anomalisa
6. Arrival
7. Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt
8. Bernie
9. Bill Cunningham New York
10. The Black Stallion
11. Burn After Reading
12. Captain America: Civil War
13. The Comb
14. The Conjuring
15. The Crossing Guard
16. The Decline of Western Civilization
17. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
18. The Decline of Western Civilization Part III
19. Die Hard
20. Documentary Now! Season 1
21. Elf
22. Extraordinary Tales
23. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (in 70MM)
24. Finding Dory
25. Futurama: Bender’s Big Score
26. Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs
27. Futurama: Bender’s Game
28. Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder
29. Galaxy Quest
30. Game of Thrones: Season 6
31. The Great Dictator
32. The Grinch
33. The Hateful Eight
34. The Heartbreak Kid
35. Home Alone
36. An Honest Liar
37. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
38. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
39. Indecent Proposal
40. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
41. The Invitation
42. It’s Such a Beautiful Day
43. The Jungle Book (2016)
44. Jupiter Ascending
45. Kentucky Fried Movie
46. Kung Fu Panda
47. The Ladykillers (2004)
48. The LEGO Movie
49. Liar Liar
50. The Little Prince
51. Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no shiro (Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro) English Dub
52. Mad Max: Fury Road
53. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
54. Mad Max 3: Beyond ThunderDome
55. Making a Murderer
56. Master of None: Season 1
57. Meeks Cutoff
58. Moonrise Kingdom
59. The Muppet Christmas Carol
60. My Side of the Mountain
61. Sin Dios ni Santa María (Neither God Nor Santa Maria)
62. The Night Of (Season 1)
63. Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (Nosferatu the Vampyre)
64. Old Joy
65. Omoide no Mânî (When Marnie was There) English Dub
66. Omohide poro poro (Only Yesterday) in Japanese with English subtitles
67. Peaky Blinders (Season 1)
68. The Peanuts Movie
69. Phoenix
70. Pitch Perfect 2
71. Psychohydrography
72. Raiders of the Lost Ark
73. Ratatouille
74. Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies
75. River of Grass
76. Rocket Man
77. Rome: Season 1
78. The Room (with Rifftrax!)
79. Saving Private Ryan
80. The Secret of Kells
81. Sen to Chihiro no kakimakushi (Spirited Away) English Dub
82. A Serious Man
83. Sherlock: The Abominable Bride
84. Silence
85. Song of the Sea
86. South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut
87. SpongeBob SquarePants: the Movie
88. SpongeBob SquarePants: Sponge out of Water
89. Spy
90. Star Trek Beyond
91. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
92. Stranger Things: Season 1
93. The Sunset Limited
94. Swiss Army Man
95. Tectonics
96. Training Day
97. The Two Sights
98. Up
99. Velvet Goldmine
100. Vulgar Fractions
101. Wendy and Lucy
102. Westworld: Season 1
103. When Harry Met Sally
104. The Witch
105. World of Tomorrow
106. Woyzeck
107. Wrong
108. X-Men: Apocalypse
109. Zootopia