It’s the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017, which means awards season is right around the corner, and I’m throwing in with the awards bunch this year.
Of the I’m sure hundreds of films that were released this past year, I’ve seen 22. I hope to get around to watching more (The Nice Guys, The Jungle Book, Hell or High Water, to name a few), but this “awards show” will only focus on the 22. Just bear that in mind.
Also bear in mind that these are my personal opinions and crap so don’t get mad that Suicide Squad is my favourite film of the year. It’s not. But I got you, didn’t I?
Here are the categories:
Most Disappointing
‘On the Fence’ Award
Most Surprising
Best Film I Haven’t Seen (Yet)
Best Movie Magic
Best Comic Book Movie
Best Animated Film
Best Film
Let the games begin!
Most Disappointing
This award goes to the film that looked excellent or that I was very excited for and ended up being terrible or just underwhelming.
Winner: Suicide Squad
For the record, as of now, I don’t think of Suicide Squad as the terrible film a lot of other people think of it as. It’s fun and does have its merits, but it’s really just a big hot mess. And that sucks because the trailers were great. They suggested that we’d be getting a dark, fun film featuring some of DC’s best rogues, and they didn’t seem to spoil anything incredibly noteworthy either. Well, the truth is, there’s nothing incredibly noteworthy to spoil. I’ve told a few people that I could see the script for Suicide Squad having never made it past the early treatment phase. The studio just took the skeleton plot and rushed it into production. While the characters are memorable and, for the most part, well-acted, the story and writing are garbage.I’m afraid that I give Suicide Squad a rewatch, any enjoyment that I thought I’d have will plummet, and having that feeling towards a film doesn’t help it in any way.
Congratulations, Suicide Squad, you’re my most disappointing film of 2016!
The ‘On the Fence’ Award
This award goes to the film that I’m sort of fifty-fifty on. I didn’t hate it, but didn’t love it either.
Winner: Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice
If there’s a spectrum of film criticism, with the far left being “Perfect” and the far right being “Horrible,” Batman v. Superman is smack-dab in the middle. There are parts of this film that I think are brilliant, but there are also parts that really prevent the film from being really good. For every Batman warehouse fight scene, there’s scene with Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor mugging. We get introduced to Wonder Woman, but we also get introduced to the rest of the Justice League in an incredibly forced scene that grinds the story to a halt. It’s a film that tries its hardest to be a superhero flick and a thought-provoking epic at the same time, and it both succeeds and trips over itself multiple times. It’s the most polarizing movie I think I’ve ever seen. I’ve heard that the extended cut makes things better, but I’d pretty much have to dedicate a day to watching it since it’s 3 hours long. I think it does warrant a rewatch, though, and maybe after that my feelings toward the film will be more definitive.
Congratulations, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, you’re the film of 2016 that has me totally on the fence!
Most Surprising
This award goes to the film that I wasn’t expecting much out of going in, but ended up being better than I expected.
Winner: The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven is a remake of the 1960 original film, as well as every film that inspired it and every film inspired by it. If you’ve seen any film with the premise of “Band of heroes protect town from villains,” you’ll know how the story goes with this film. There’s nothing “new”",” and it doesn’t attempt anything “new” either. And yet, I had a blast watching this. The action scenes are exciting, the characters, though underdeveloped, are fun and there’s some great visuals. It’s more enjoyable than it really should have had the right to be, and I think it’s a perfect popcorn flick.
Congratulations, The Magnificent Seven, you’re the film that surprised me the most in 2016!
Best Film I Haven’t Seen (Yet)
This award goes to the film that I’m hearing really great things about and am anxious to see, but just haven’t gotten the chance to yet.
Winner: La La Land
Aaaaaaaggggggghhhhhh. This isn’t playing at any of my local theaters, and I’m dying to see it. There are so many reasons why I really want to see this. It’s directed by Damien Chazelle, the director of Whiplash, a film I watched for the first time this past summer and was completely blown away by. That alone could place La La Land on my radar, but it’s breathtaking visuals and, from what I’ve heard, amazing soundtrack, also have me itching to see it in the theater. Hopefully, it’s playing in my area within the next few months.
Congratulations, La La Land, you’re the best film from 2016 that I haven’t seen yet and it’s killing me!
Best Movie Magic
This award goes to the film that I thought had the best visual effects, CG or practical, and used them creatively.
Winner: Doctor Strange
I guess, in the case of Doctor Strange, “Movie Magic” could apply to straight up sorcery in addition to visual effects, huh? Anyways, I think Doctor Strange’s visuals alone were worth the price of admission. From the small things like the “discs” that manifest around the sorcerors’ hands when they’re casting spells to the big action set pieces like the chase through Mirror Dimension New York to just pure VFX bliss like Strange’s first trip through the multiverse. Director Scott Derrickson was able to show us things we’d never seen before while also telling a decent story at the same time, and he and all the effects artists on the film deserve massive pats on the back. like what the one they’re getting from me now. And not too massive that they’re backs break or anything.
Congratulations, Doctor Strange, I thought you had the best “movie magic” of 2016!
Best Comic Book Film
This award goes to the best film based on a comic book. Pretty self-explanatory.
Winner: Captain America: Civil War
While I, personally, enjoyed Doctor Strange a bit more, Civil War is the overall best film Marvel released this year. It does everything I think an adaptation of Civil War had to do. Make us have reasons to root for both sides? Check. Include a bevy of superheroes? Check. Acknowledge each character’s motivations for choosing their side. For the most part, check. End the film with lasting consequences for the characters? Check. Civil War is the perfect blend between blatant fan service and fantastic storytelling. It’s not, in my opinion, the best Marvel film yet, but certainly one of their best.
Congratulations, Captain America: Civil War, you were the best comic book film of 2016!
Best Animated Film
This award goes to the best animated film of the year. Still pretty self-explanatory.
Winner: Kubo and the Two Strings
It’s a real shame that Kubo did so poorly at the box office this past summer, because it’s an absolute gem. Not many films can totally captivate me within its first few minutes. Kubo and the Two Strings did. It’s a brilliant film with a brilliant story and brilliant animation and brilliant characters and a brilliant score. It’s brilliant, and easily one of my favourite animated films of all time, as well as of 2016.
Congratulations, Kubo and the Two Strings, you were my favourite animated film of 2016!
Best Film
Do you really need an explanation for this one?
Winner: Arrival
Before seeing Arrival I had heard a lot of good things about it, but wasn’t sure I would enjoy it as much as many others obviously did. I walked out having really enjoyed it, but it wasn’t until I got to see it a second time that “enjoying” it became “loving” it and developing a newfound appreciation for it. It’s a beautiful story about language, time, and what humans can accomplish when we work together. It blew my mind, had me at the edge of my seat, and plucked at my heartstrings. It is my favourite film of 2016.
Congratulations, Arrival, you’re…aaah you get it already.
Here are the other films from 2016 I saw, but didn’t find a place for in the awards:
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Sing Street
Star Trek Beyond
10 Cloverfield Lane
Zootopia
Finding Dory
Hail, Caesar!
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Eddie the Eagle
Midnight Special
X-Men: Apocalypse
Pete’s Dragon
Kung Fu Panda 3
Deadpool
Have a happy new year! Time to get started on my 2017 hitlist!
Noah
No comments:
Post a Comment