Complete Grades 2016

Here is the list of every 2016 movie I saw, alphabetical by grade.

A+
La La Land

A
American Honey
Arrival
Manchester By the Sea

A-
Green Room
Hell or High Water
Nocturnal Animals

B+
Captain America: Civil War
The Edge of Seventeen
Fences
The Invitation
The Lobster
Rogue One
Sing Street
The Wailing

B
A Bigger Splash
Captain Fantastic
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
The Light Between Oceans
The Neon Demon
The Shallows

B-
10 Cloverfield Lane
Cafe Society
Don't Breathe
Everybody Wants Some!
The Girl on the Train
Jane Got a Gun
The Meddler
War Dogs

C+
The Fits
Florence Foster Jenkins
Nerve
The Nice Guys
Sully
Swiss Army Man
Triple 9
The VVitch

C
Central Intelligence
Criminal
Deadpool
Demolition
The Finest Hours
How to Be Single
Keanu
Money Monster
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
The Purge: Election Year

C-
Hail, Caesar!
Suicide Squad
X-Men: Apocalypse

D+
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice
The Bronze
Maggie's Plan
Midnight Special

D
The Boss
Dirty Grandpa
Knight of Cups
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
Ride Along 2

D-
31

F
The Forest

Top Ten Best Films 2016

10. The Edge of Seventeen - I will never not relate to awkward and angsty teenage girls. This movie feels like it could have been directed by John Hughes. It feels retro and modern and timeless, all at once.

09. The Invitation - I remember watching this and having an overpowering sense of dread. I had no idea what was going to happen and the slow burn feel of the first half is well rewarded with that gut punch ending.

08. The Lobster - The weirdest, darkest, funniest movie of the year is a love story about a man who must find love in 45 days or he will turn into the animal of his choice. The first half is stronger than the second, but it's still a movie you'll be thinking about for months. In a world where there are so many sequels and reboots, at least someone has an original idea.

07. Hell or High Water - This feels like it's a movie from that rebellious late sixties / early seventies period, and if this movie was made back then it probably would have starred Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper. Who doesn't love a good old, well written story about bank robbers??

06. Nocturnal Animals - It's like a Hitchcock fever dream - beautifully filmed and endlessly unsettling, violent and gorgeous and strange and warped and absolutely killer. This is fine, tense story telling.

05. Green Room - The first good movie I saw in 2016, it's been squarely in my top 5 since March. This is such a kick ass thriller, about a punk band who witnesses a murder and their fight for survival after wards, that I tell everyone I know to watch it. RIP Anton Yelchin.

04. Arrival - What we need more of in film is smart sci fi written for adults, not silly comedies that make light of it. Arrival is probably the smarted and most well crafted movie of the year. It left me mesmerized and dazzled with it's complicated, yet simple story.

03. American Honey - My boyfriend says this movie is terrible because it's not "about" anything. I disagree and say it's about everything. It's about being young and wild and free and lonely and curious and in love and jealous and feeling desperate to find a place or a group of people that make you feel okay about yourself. This movie is gorgeously filmed, and it's like if Terrence Malick directed a Larry Clark movie.

02. Manchester By the Sea - My favorite thing about Manchester is how easy it could have delved into melodrama. This movie could have had so many scenes where characters just screamed and cried and they surely would have been guaranteed their Oscars. But so much of what makes this movie feel like a punch to the gut is that so much of it is off camera and we are left with the results, and they are quiet and reserved, but no less effective.

01. La La Land - The first perfect movie I have seen since The Social Network. This is a big, loud, joyous musical and an intimate little love story. How can a movie feel so full of life and joy that it has you smiling from the very first second, and then leave you crying with gut wreching bittersweet agony in the end? That is the power of La La Land. And I am STILL singing City of Stars to myself everywhere I go.

Best Lead Actor 2016

05. Jake Gyllenhaal in Nocturnal Animals - Gyllenhaal has been making exciting, daring choices for years now (I still think his performance in Nightcrawler is one of the best performances ever), and Nocturnal Animals is no different. He plays two characters - a struggling author, and the character within his novel whose whole world is falling apart - and he does it with ease.

04. Viggo Mortensen in Captain Fantastic - There is a reason Viggo is getting a ton of attention for a small movie few people heard of - it's because he is intense and hilarious in it. He plays the father of six kids whom he teaches off the grid, and then the way they cope with being in society. It's a great little movie, and a great performance.

03. Ryan Gosling in La La Land - What can't Gosling do? He can act, he can sing, he can dance, he can be funny, he can be intense, he can be charming, he can be a cocky ass... and he can play jazz piano!? Give him all the awards.

02. Denzel Washington in Fences - If you want to see the finest pair of acting performances in a movie this year, go see Fences. If you want to see a powerful film about family and and struggle and disappointment, go see Fences. If you want to see Denzel play a man so unlikable, and yet respectable, go see Fences.

01. Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea - As a feminist, I find the allegations against Casey Affleck unacceptable. There is no excuse for that kind of behavior. But as a fan of film, I can't deny that his performance in Manchester By the Sea, as a man swallowed and emptied out by grief, is one of the best and most powerful of the year. It's a subtle, small, un-showy role, so naturalistic you feel like you are watching a documentary instead of a scripted movie. This performance feels raw and lived in, and despite what you think of the man and his actions, you can't deny the power of the performance.

Best Lead Actress 2016

05. Hailee Steinfeld in The Edge of Seventeen - Teen comedies don't get enough credit, nor do the performances that come from them, but this is an iconic performance. Steinfeld may look like a supermodel in real life, but she pulls off awkward and angsty teen so, so well.

04. Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins - Overrated, she is not. In fact, Streep is arguably (not really) our greatest living actress, and this movie sort of proves why. Here she plays the world's worst opera singer, and while the movie isn't exactly groundbreaking or amazing, she heightens it to being entertaining and charming.

03. Amy Adams in Arrival - Adams can do no wrong in my book, and she is mesmerizing as a linguistic expert who is struggling to communicate with an alien race in the smartest sci fi movie of the year.

02. Emma Stone in La La Land - I was just having a conversation about Emma Stone. The person said he doesn't take her seriously as an actress because most of her work has been comedic. I disagree. I think no one else could have played this role except for Emma, with her pitch perfect comedic timing and adorable charm. She can sing! She can dance! She can be cute and sexy and is endlessly lovable! What can't Emma do!?

01. Sasha Lane in American Honey - I honestly can't believe this girl never acted before. Her performance and screen presence is absolutely mesmerizing. She is a force of nature, a wild child, a spark of light. This movie is nearly 3 hours long but  I would have watched 3 more hours of her.

Best Supporting Actress 2016

05. Rachel Weisz in The Light Between Oceans - As a grieving mother, she is the heart and soul of this movie, which maybe feels a bit melodramatic at times, but her performance is never anything less than perfection.

04. Rachel Weisz in The Lobster - Starring as the love interest in a romantic dark comedy may not sound like it is ripe for solid acting performances, but when the movie is as bizarre and wonderful as The Lobster, and the performance is a textured and complicated as Weisz', then you've got yourself an exception to the rule.

03. Jena Malone in The Neon Demon - One of the weirder movies of the year... Without giving anything away, I will say that Malone has a certain scene that took a ton of balls, and she nailed it. I have always been impressed with actors who are gutsy and fearless, and so that is why Malone earns a spot on my list. But trust me when I say the Oscars wouldn't touch this performance with a ten foot pole.

02. Michelle Williams in Manchester By The Sea - One of the things I love so much about Manchester By The Sea (and there are many things I love) is how restrained it is. They easily could have given Williams a huge sobbing emotional breakdown scene, but they didn't. And the fact that she is still on this list is a testament to how great she truly is.

01. Viola Davis in Fences - There is a certain scene in this movie, and it's about 5 minutes long, that is, I think, the best 5 minutes of acting in the entire year. And those 5 minutes belong entirely to Viola Davis. She is extraordinary, and as good as her scene partner Denzel Washington is, Viola Davis makes you forget all about his existence. She is strong and she is fierce, and the Oscars might as well already engrave her name on the Best Supporting Actress statue because she more than deserves it.

Best Supporting Actor - 2016

Honorable Mention - Hugh Grant in Florence Foster Jenkins

05. Jeff Bridges in Hell or High Water - Bridges could probably play a grumpy Texas ranger in his sleep, but that doesn't actually make his performance of a grumpy Texas ranger any less impressive. He is the witty heart of the first half of the movie and the emotional backbone of the second half.

04. Michael Shannon in Nocturnal Animals - There is something about great performances as Texas rangers going around this year, because Shannon knocks it out of the park as the morally questionable detective investigating a kidnapping in this bizarre, wonderful film.

03. Ben Foster in Hell or High Water - I have loved Foster's scene stealing work for as long as I can remember. I still vividly remember his eerie work as a Renfield-esque character in 30 Days of Night. But Hell or High Water, as an ex-con bank robbing troublemaker, might be his best work yet.

02. Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Nocturnal Animals - While everyone on the internet couldn't stop buzzing about Shannon, I couldn't stop buzzing about Taylor-Johnson, whose performance as a kidnapping, murdering mad man is like a live wire, so tense and so explosive, it elevates every moment he is on film.

01. Ralph Fiennes in A Bigger Splash - I didn't LOVE this movie (I did like it though), but I still think Fiennes work as the ex lover of a rock star is the best performance I saw in all of 2016. From his subtle manipulations to his bravura lip syncing performance, he steals every scene and elevates this movie from MEH to MUST WATCH.