James Tisch January 3rd, 2017 - 12:01 PM
We’re continuing with our look back at what the cinema had to offer us in 2016. Yesterday, the mxdwn staff picked their least favorite films of 2016. We pick things up today on a cheerier note: the movies that surprised us the most in the last twelve months. The films mentioned below may not be grand works of art, but all achieved something for our staff an elusive quality that can be hard (if not sometimes impossible) to find in modern-day filmmaking: they managed to exceed our expectations for the better. Take a look at some of the films that defied our expectations.
ALLIED
Allied focused more on the romance of it’s two characters instead of relying too much on action sequences to keep its audience enthralled – a huge bonus since leads Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard deliver brilliant performance in this wartime thriller. Director Robert Zemeckis is great behind the camera and the costumes are fantastic.
-Rick Rice
DON’T THINK TWICE
Read our review.
Since it’s a movie about improv, it’s easy to dismiss as being completely unwatchable but it’s a lot more than that. It’s very honest and moving at times and at other times, it’s truly funny. Plus the cast is perfect.
-Alyssa Merwin
THE DRESSMAKER
Read our review.
Jocelyn Moorehouse (How to Make an American Quilt) directs this pitch-black, Aussie-soaked period melodrama centering around a talented dressmaker (played with delicious verve by Kate Winslet) who returns to her isolated outback home in order to unlock a mystery from her childhood. That logline may not entice as anything altogether special, but Moorehouse and co-writer P.J. Hogan (Muriel’s Wedding) cement this tale with such an unusual and inspired degree of wildness and weirdness that the end result is bonkers, by which a total nutty delight. From Winslet’s cocksure opening line – “I’m back, you bastards” – to Judy Davis’ devouring of the scenery and anything else in her way, The Dressmaker, for all its campy pleasures, gorgeous costumes and loopy logic, was a welcome and unfortunately underseen bit of cinema this past year.
-James Tisch
THE EDGE OF SEVEENTEEN
Read our review.
Here is a movie that could have been just another high school film but The Edge of Seventeen has so much more on its mind. Fueled by a star-making performance by Hailee Steinfeld, The Edge of Seventeen tackles issues of self-loathing and acceptance in funny and heartfelt ways.
-Matthew Passantino
Kelly Fremon Craig wrote a teen dramedy to define a new generation while nodding and respecting former resounding truths and conventions. Her film is surprisingly emotional and poignant, clinging to the values of family and friendship and the way they can feel irreparably severed when filtered through the hormonal teenage mind. The film is equally hilarious and pushes teen comedy boundaries with its R-rating and exceptionally smart-mouthed protagonist. Hailee Steinfeld reminds audiences of her ability to dominate focus through her wide emotional range and appropriate charm.
-Rachel Lutack
HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE
Hunt for the Wilderpeople was truly failed by its marketing department. In spite of director Taika Waititi’s resume, the trailer made this movie look bizarre and pointless. The actual movie was a note-perfect take on an (adopted) father/son bonding story, only with wilderness. And tons of wildly inventive comedy. Thankfully, in the end, the film earned a fairly impressive art-house take of $5 million domestically show good taste can sometimes win out.
-Raymond Flotat
THE NEON DEMON
The Neon Demon, like a lot of Nicolas Winding Refn movies (Drive, Only God Forgives), was quite controversial and divisive among film critics. And while some aspects were a bit much, The Neon Demon is a sleek, stylish thriller that greatly benefits from the fact that every single shot is a visual masterpiece which just conveys Refn’s ideas and questions about beauty standards and female relationships in an image-obsessed society. Unlike some of his other movies, Refn actually puts meaning, an end goal and character development into his movie, and Elle Fanning’s performance solidifies the question, “Is Dakota Fanning the sister of the movie star Elle Fanning?”
-Kristen Santer
SING STREET
Small films about creating art can be cheesy when done wrong, but here is a love letter to the 1980s and the garage bands that have been fewer and fewer since. That love of songwriting and overcoming financial hardships make for a small gem of a movie.
-Nathaniel Mathis
STAR TREK BEYOND
Read our review.
After the clunky, and overly dark Star Trek Into Darkness, hopes weren’t especially high for Beyond, especially as news of its fraught production history slowly made their way online. But low and behold, Star Trek Beyond proved not just to be a great summer action movie, but also a great Star Trek movie. Helped dramatically by Simon Pegg’s excellent writing, the film captures the spirit of the series in a way the first two films of the reboot never quite managed. Director Justin Lin brought some Fast and Furious style mayhem to the series, but kept the focus where it’s meant to be: on the great relationships between Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty. It also has the best use of a Beastie Boys song this year.
-John Wedemeyer
ZOOTOPIA
Read our review.
Usually when you go to see a Disney movie, you expect some impressive animation and likable characters in a story that follows a handful of classic tropes (see every Disney Princess movie ever). And while Zootopia succeeded in the first two, it surpassed every one of my expectations in the third. What originally looked like an animal buddy cop film soon turned into a critique of numerous social issues like prejudice, class status, xenophobic political rhetoric and even police brutality. These are all issues that our society still struggles with today and to see a Disney film of all things address them in a manner that both kids and adults could understand was genuinely shocking. That and it made one of the funniest metaphorical jokes I saw all year long: everyone in the DMV is as slow as a sloth.
-Henry Faherty
Agree? Disagree? Sound off in the comments.
Also be sure to check in all week for continued Best of 2016 coverage. Previously covered:
