Movies and TV of 2016

2016 was an interesting year for movies. A number of big blockbusters came out, but it was the indie movies that were the real winners, though it appears general consensus is hard to pinpoint one particularly "big" movie.

In any case, here are quick thoughts and my rankings for the movies I saw circa 2016.

Favorites
Kubo and the Two Strings - Hands down favorite movie. Amazing craftsmanship, production design and musical score, among others, help overshadow any story or character issues. It's message on the importance of memory and storytelling is beautiful (especially compared to self-indulgent Hollywood stories).

The Handmaiden - Fantastic movie. It's like Hitchcock meets Paul Verhoeven meets feminism. Beautiful visuals and music.

Moana - Incredibly vibrant movie with luscious visuals and good humor, if occasional a little too post-modern. Enjoyable songs, with great messages and themes throughout the film.

Sing Street - It may be relatively cliche, but the overwhelming charm, 80s setting and fantastic soundtrack make it a near-instant classic. Also has probably the best song of the year: Drive it Like You Stole It.


Very Good, with minor flaws
The Hunt for the Wilderpeople - Great performances by Sam Neill(!), Julian Dennison (the kid!) and Rima Te Wiata (Bella!), with plenty of charm and goofiness. The dynamic between Neill and Dennison are great, losing only a little steam towards the end.

Don't Breathe - Great filmmaking throughout. Some excellent shots, interesting enough characters and solid tension.

Moonlight - Profoundly sad love story. Took a little time to fully sink in, but haunting.

La La Land - Didn't care for most of the musical numbers or Hollywood nostalgia, but loved the growth of the characters during the film. Great maturity.

Train to Busan - Doesn't add much to the zombie genre, but is a great ride.

Kung Fu Panda 3 - The weakest of the three, but still great music, visuals, style and message

Deadpool - Very fun characters and relationships help elevate the mundane plot, but is also helped by it being partly a satire.

The Mermaid - STEPHEN CHOW!!! It's a great return-to-form for Chow, plus more modern elements.

The Lobster - Quirky, creative and very original. The third act may be a smidge on the weaker side, but that final scene!

Swiss Army Man - Incredibly inventive film with some inspiring sequences, but it's weirdness may be polarizing - occasionally simultaneously good and bad.

Arrival - The philosophy presented in the film, combined with the direction, cinematography and music elevate an otherwise cheesy plot (global crisis) with hit or miss acting/characters.

Green Room - Not the most interesting characters, but once the film and tension gets going it does not let up. Even up to the last shot. Incredibly excellent job of tension.

Finding Dory - Incredibly well made, very sentimental, but also strangely almost completely superfluous

The Jungle Book - Gorgeous visuals help elevate an otherwise shallow nostlagia trip with some nice genuine emotional beats.

Zootopia - The relationship between the two leads plus social commentary help the film stand out, even if some of the jokes fall flat and the message is a bit garbled by the end. Zootopia is the more adult version of KFP3.

The Wailing - Interesting Korean horror regarding exorcisms and various religions. It starts as a comedy then slowly gets darker and darker.

Hell or High Water - Great relationships and dialogue save an otherwise paint-by-numbers plot. The movies screams TEXAS, but not in a bad way (similar to Fargo in MN). Nice commentary on land/history.

13th - Insightful documentary on the connections between slavery and the US prison system. The narrative could maybe have been structured better, but lots of information.

Enjoyed, but flawed
Batman vs Superman: Extended Cut - Acknowledging its made some disagreeable creative choices with regards to characters, the plot makes sense and may have received some undeserved hatred. Certainly better than Man of Steel or Suicide Squad.

Nocturnal Animals - Great cinematography, music, performances and ending, but it was missing something to really gel for me.

Star Trek Beyond - As the third entry, the film solidifies the series' direction of action-adventure. Entertaining, but fluffy, with zero new ideas (and a number of half-assed ones, like the new female character).

Captain America: Civil War - One of the more enjoyable Marvel movies, but very, very messy. Bit too self-indulgent at times.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates - Crass and sophomoric, but knows what it is and has a number of funny (and cring-worthy) moments.

Under the Shadow - An interesting story, with nice visuals, but not as compelling as the comparable The Babadook.

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping - Pretty much what you'd expect from an Andy Samberg/Lonely Island satire on pop music, but well done, with good creativity and music.

Sausage Party - An almost South Park-level of satire with great commentary on religion/faith, but significantly marred by an overly crude and sophomoric script.

The Siege of Jadotville - Pretty entertaining war-action movie telling a lesser-known perspective from a real-life event, though lacking a bit on story and character development.

Lights Out - Completely serviceable horror with nice visual design.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - It's fine. Not Burton's best or worst. Could have used more runtime and fleshing out of ideas/characters. Lead actor (Asa) could have been better and Sam Jackson could have been better utilized. 

The Nice Guys - Somewhat closer to the "meh" side. Russell Crowe is a bunch of fun, along with the daughter (though she has a few off moments), whereas Ryan Gosling is uneven. The film borders on a boring, been-there-done-that Shane Black story, though has nice moments and ideas. A lot of great trailer moments don't actually fit in the movie. Needed better editing for story and film.

Magnificent Seven - Probably more interesting if this is one's first exposure to this story, otherwise it adds nothing new to the narrative/genre. Good music and some elaborate, if not overly long, action sequences are the highlights, with some nice character moments when you can hear the dialogue.

Doctor Strange - Inventive visual sequences weren't enough to elevate a cliched script and origin story. Benedict Cumberbatch didn't work for me as Strange, though he was great in the end credits sequence. Lots of forced humor that didn't work.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - A number of interesting ideas and elements weren't enough to save this from an odd, if not inconsistent, choice of tone (not a fan of Yates). I did love Colin Farrell as the villain (more roles like this please).

Didn't Enjoy
The Witch - Started very promising, almost like Kubrick, but I didn't care about any of the characters. Interesting ending, but fairly standard witch movie.

Keeping Up with the Joneses - Interesting characters and relationships aren't enough to save an incredibly cliched and predictable plot. There are some good ideas, for which I would be either open to a sequel or perhaps a TV series.

Gantz: O - Mostly impressive animation, though the humans are on the weaker side. The dialogue is very weak to average, with a number of dumb/forced creative choices. Also, it's pretty sexist.

War Dogs - Probably wanted to be Wolf of Wall Street, but failed. Too slowly paced with unlikable characters.

Midnight Special - This felt like an incomplete, pretentious movie.

High-Rise - Started interesting, then falls apart. Never quite achieves the highs it wants to.

50 Shades of Black - Funny, but forgettable and generic.

Ghostbusters - Starts out OK, but becomes less funny after the first-third. Unearned action sequence at the end, combined with a messy plot/bad writing hurt the movie. An unfortunate misfire for the talented lead actresses.

Now You See Me 2 - Better off rewatching the first, which was dumb-but-fun.

Batman: The Killing Joke - The original content is the most interesting part, then taking a big dive when it goes into an accurate adaptation of the comic. We never really follow any one character, which hurts.

Joshy - Forgettable indie melodrama.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - The weak characters prevented me from being invested in the story, which could probably shave a good 40 minutes and not miss anything.

Suicide Squad - Hard to care about any characters, let alone the plot. The tone is uneven and the editing is sloppy. Becomes more consistent towards the end, but it lost me by then.

Spectral - Found the film to be very flat and bland. The name of the villains made me roll my eyes.

X-Men: Apocalypse - Can't spell "Apocalypse" without "POS"


2016 movies I've yet to see, but want to:
Elle
Don't Think Twice
Hidden Figures
The Edge of Seventeen
20th Century Women
Tickled
Justice League Dark
Lion
Jack Reacher 2
Secret Life of Pets


As for TV shows, I didn't watch much, but here are the highlights:

The Expanse: Season 1 - It may have technically started in 2015, but this was a great first season. First few episodes move the plot forward quickly, then do a better mix of plot and character afterwards.

Luke Cage: Season 1 - Great style, characters and music. Really enjoyed this, even if I wish they had extended the first story arc a bit longer, if only to get more of one character.

Black Mirror: Season 3 - Easily the best season of the series yet. San Junipero is a great episode of television, though I did have issues with the two characters falling in love so quickly. The season opener was a bit weak, but each subsequent episode gets better and better.

Lady Dyanmite: Season 1 - Delightful. The season's a bit uneven, but the highs are incredibly high. The lows are fairly enjoyable, as well.

South Park: Season 20 - First two episodes were brilliantly hilarious, then the show got a bit too real for awhile, while also scrambling to match the then-current political events, but brilliantly picked things back up again towards the end

Westworld: Season 1 - I was compelled while watching, but ultimately ended the season underwhelmed. Some really great episodes, but the show mostly worked via storytelling gimmicks that fall apart upon reasonable analysis.

Game of Thrones: Season 6 - The last episode was the real money episode, otherwise it was a slow season (though certainly better than S5) with some nice moments scattered throughout.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Season 2 - While the first season had rough moments, it was pretty fun, on the whole. However, with season 2, I gave up after four episodes.

2016 shows yet to watch:
Atlanta
Insecure

Lady Dynamite season 1 review

Netflix's Lady Dynamite is a delight. Pilot's a bit rough, second ep is better, third is when it hits Maria Bamford-Mitchell Hurwitz/Arrested Development gold. It may occasionally get too meta and Hollywood-focused, with the last few episodes losing a little steam and the timeline being very, very strange, but the word play, visual gags and incorporation of mental disorders are pretty great. I hope it's the beginning of something great.

There's some great acting, too, particularly Mary Kay Place and Ana Gasteyer, with a bunch of great cameos. Bamford herself is particularly entertaining, as is Fred Melamed.

Also, the ending musical cue of every episode has the potential to be up there with Curb Your Enthusiasm's end cue.

Very much RECOMMENDED, though it may not be everyone's cup of tea.

Under the Shadow movie review

Quick review:
A middle-eastern supernatural horror movie set in the 1980s and in the same vein as The Babadook? Having greatly enjoyed The Babadook, color me intrigued.

When a friend first referred me to Under the Shadow, I was instantly captivated by the premise, even going so far as watching it the same day (thanks, Netflix). There were many intriguing elements in the film, despite coming up a bit short by the end. However, on the whole, I enjoyed the film, despite leaving the experience with more questions than answers, and would RECOMMEND it to someone who's interesting in the subject matter. At the very least, there's some great insight into the Iranian culture at the time.

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Warning: More in-depth SPOILER-filled thoughts below

First things first, I greatly enjoyed The Babadook. It was different enough as a horror film to merit intrigue (e.g. the story direction changing halfway through), encapsulating a terror-ific overall experience, despite an arguably good or bad ending. Under the Shadow has a fairly similar premise of a mother trying to take care of her problematic child, but there are some key differences:

1. The father is still in play, even though he's transferred to another city
2. The story is much more linear, per se (follows one character)
3. The story tries to play with reality, to mixed results

To continue with the listing format, here are two things Under the Shadow does well:

1. Shideh (Nargas Rashidi) - She's a compelling character, with an intriguing backstory: she wants to assert her independence, but is stuck in a culture that limits her freedoms, not to mention leaving open the question of to what extent she's pursuing her own goals or those of her mother.
2. The cinematography - Shadow is a gorgeous movie. It's crisp and vibrant, yet still colored in a way that works for both the Iranian, 1980s and horror settings.
3. The depiction of war-torn Tehran - As someone who's has limited exposure to that experience and perspective, it was great to see it told on the screen, even in a fantastical way. Despite living among the horrors of war, it was still a fairly human story, at least until the supernatural elements kicked in.

Here's one thing I'm neutral on:

1. The pacing - Shadow is on the slower side, but building up nicely towards the end. I would have enjoyed a bit more supernatural teasing earlier, but the film was focusing more on character, relationships and other elements

Here are a few things I thought could have been better:

1. The playing with reality - The film could have delved much more with the idea of whether what Shideh was experiencing was real or not. As the film progresses, it clearly delves more into the supernatural, which is fine, but the earlier portions feel like a red herring and/or missed opportunity for the viewer (or to me, at least), even if it's meant for the character to disbelieve; yet her belief never really played a factor in the film.
2. Dangling character direction - As great as the setup for Shideh is, it's never really paid off. She's still stuck in the same directionless situation at the end as during the beginning, she doesn't become a better parent (per se) or pick a new career. As such...
3. It's anti-climactic - Even though there's a fairly elaborate ending sequence, it feels rushed, with the film rather abruptly ending, leaving me wanting more in a bad way.
4. The focus on Shideh and Dorsa - Something about the amount of time spent on these two, particularly Shideh trying to find the tell, felt like it took away time better spent elsewhere, whether getting to the horror faster or focusing on other ideas.

And finally, here are a couple more positive final thoughts:

1. I love the idea raised in the film of using supernaturally-tainted weapons for war, such as the implication of the missile in the apartment. It's such a fantastic concept, though would have been a different story than the one told
2. Will there be a sequel? - The film leaves a pretty open end to their fate, with both Shideh's mother's medical book and Dorsa's doll's head remaining in the apartment. Will the jinn follow them to her step-parents house? If the story continues, the Shadow has the potential to become an AMAZING start to an ongoing horror series, ideally a trilogy. Even if I was a bit underwhelmed, I would still like to see another chapter in this story.

Sky High movie review

Spoiler-free review for the top portion, while some more spoilery-comments below*...

For YEARS I have wanted to see Sky High and, thankfully, it was worth the wait. I had grown a bit skeptical due to the relatively low IMDb rating (currently at 6.2, the equivalent of "fun-but-flawed" leaning more towards flawed), but it turns out this is closer to the live action Josie and the Pussycats movie (itself a rather delicious satire of both pop culture and consumerism, among others) where people may just not have been in on the joke.

Suffice to say, Sky High is pure camp fun that almost perfectly blends superheroes and teenage Disney (Channel) sensibilities, complete with elements of coming-of-age, family dynamics, comedy, action and the right amount of commentary on both class and gender power dynamics. There's even some brilliant material on ageism. It touches on lots of topics, yet handles each of them deftly to the point of leaving very few, if any, dangling threads. I would have loved to see more material on certain elements, but I view it more as a positive of wanting more of the world, rather than a critique.

I fully am of the mind that, had Disney continued the trend of Sky High and Enchanted, they could have had a nice renaissance of building tongue-in-cheek worlds to appeal to slightly older audiences, instead of spending BILLIONS on acquiring Marvel (though it's netted well for them).

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED if you're looking for a fun, campy Saturday afternoon (or any time) movie. In a way, it's a genuine classic, if not cult classic.

*Some more SPOILERY comments below.....

Things I liked:

• Kurt Russell may have been perfect in this, with Kelly Preston doing an admirable job, as well
• Mary Elizabeth Winstead - Pretty much everything about her in this was fantastic: the casting, the music that plays when Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) sees her, her general villainous storyline ESPECIALLY her backstory
• Bruce Campbell, 'nuff said
• The cheesy dynamic between Magenta and Zach, complete with the "happy ending" 
• Every contrived plot moment to allow the "sidekicks" to use their powers
• Steven Strait going from villain to thoughtful stranger-turned-friend
• All the many nods and Easter Eggs to comics/superheroes
• Michael Giacchino's cheesy musical score - it's not really memorable, but works perfectly 

Things that could have been better or are odd, but rolling with anyway:

• Will Stronghold - Angarano was serviceable, but his storyline was rather par for the course. It was both interesting and nice that he developed one of his powers part way through, particularly to advance the story, though there could have been more emotional weight to the idea of never gaining powers building to a reveal at the end (but would have been a different story). As well, while some of the relationship elements were fun, others were a tad too cheesy; or at least, the ending of him and Layla kissing at the end (remember: they're 14ish years old)
• The dynamic between Royal Pain and her "dad" was very strange/didn't make much sense

Despite any flaws, Sky High was such a fun time that I wish we had more of the world and voice. Although apparently as of November 2016 a sequel may be in the works!

The Wailing movie review

I'll preface that I'm not familiar with every Korean horror movie of the past 10-15 years, but I will say two things from the ones I have seen of the past 10+ years: 1) they are interesting, and 2) they are not afraid to go to dark places.

The Wailing is another great entry along those two lines. With beautiful cinematography (and some gorgeous shots), the film starts practically as a comedy before steadily progressing into darker and darker territories, raising new questions and doubts on the path towards a beautiful crescendo of an ending. It's a type of horror I don't often see in American horror films, which, in my experience, are typically either shock scares or a steady sense of dread.

The movie does a great job of blending the practical with the supernatural/religious, providing enough treats and morsels of hints that fully roped me in, anxious to see what would happen next and how everything would be resolved. Maybe one of the greatest parts of the film is how this is pretty much all unveiled through the knowledge/perspective of the lead character, which is why the film is able to take such great twists and turns. There is also some very interesting race commentary, though that's all I'll say on that.

It may not have had the ending I wanted, but it had the ending I needed, overall earning a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED status from me. One of the nicest compliments I can say about The Wailing is that, for 2.5 hours, it flew by and left me wanting more.

The Lobster movie review

I rather enjoyed The Lobster - it is fun and quirky in many of the right ways. I thoroughly enjoyed the discordant dystopia presented in the film, particularly in the first act. Featuring/hiding animals throughout the rest of the movie was a wonderful touch. On the whole, the acting was also fantastic, with almost everyone having very dry, awkward personalities that fit the tone of the movie brilliantly. Colin Farrell continues his renaissance with another great choice (everyone does really well).

The movie is far from perfect, though, as I hav two gripes with the film (SPOILERS if you haven't seen it):

1. It's a bit long in the tooth - As the film is rather unique, it became challenging to stay with the voice towards the end. Had the pacing improved, it may have remedied the issue and helped with rewatchability. Then again...

2. The final act - While the very end of the movie is executed excellently, I would have loved if the third act went in a different direction: do more commentary on romance and societies by having a minor twist where the loners are an additional layer of the society controlling people's love lives, with Léa Seydoux's character actually working for a company trying to control society (same one that owns the hotel). The current dark revenge ending was fine, but it felt like a missed opportunity. It would have also been great to see some of the fallout from the loner's mission to the hotel, but what was done (to expose the lies relationships are built on) was nice.

In either case, The Lobster gets a solid RECOMMENDATION for its originality, ideas and humor.

Midnight Special movie review

If I ever needed an example of a movie that's a giant fart, I now have it: Midnight Special

I actually liked that the film had realistic dialogue and rather than heavy exposition, the actors actually got to act/emote to show their implied history, relations and emotions. The music was also nice.

However, the characters were much closer to bland than interesting. The boy, Michael Shannon and Kirsten Dunst were kinda interesting, but mostly it was the mystery surrounding them.

The film is a parental character movie masquerading as sci-fi. I personally don't enjoy movies that feature specific genres and don't actually use them; they rarely work for me (Looper is another one that missed the mark).

There were lots of great elements and ideas that ultimately amounted to a limp chase movie. As for the ending? Ugh...

Batman: The Killing Joke movie review

Batman: The Killing Joke was disappointingly mediocre...

The new opening was interesting, telling a nice story fleshing out Batgirl and her relationship (both figurative and literal) with Batman. I didn't even mind the implied sex between the two. However, the overt sexualization of Barbara left a bit to be desired...

Some of my main issues with the movie:

1. Who's story is this? Batman is the third most important character behind both Batgirl and The Joker, with no character receiving a proper arc/throughline, so the story feels disconnected. As they had decided to mess with source material by adding a new prologue, I would have loved if they embraced it more to modify the structure overall and taken some more risks (e.g. start with the Batman confronting Joker scene at the beginning, then flesh out relationships and characters more). While some may complain that Batgirl lacks agency (both in this and the source material, which is a topic for discussion), if anything, Gordon is the afterthought plot device in this film

2. The tone - Something about the story wasn't connecting with me/sucking me in, trying so hard to be dark that it took away from the story. I'd argue the film never really has a chance to breathe and live on its own once it starts adhering to the source material. The choice in tone even impacts the voice acting, which also felt disconnected, like it was missing something or just wrong. As legendary as both Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill are, their voices felt out of place.

3. The visuals - Brian Bolland has such an iconic take on the Joker, yet the movie wasn't able to properly emulate it. The art styles change throughout the movie in a way that's unfortunately distracting. Sure, there is changing art direction in the source material, but it didn't translate very well.

On a side note, I was very curious how the film would handle the recently "controversial" ending, in which some believe Batman finally kills the Joker. Had the film been adjusted to center more on Batman's experience and how the Joker was actually pushing and testing Batman, or that the events impacted him more than Joker's target of Gordon, especially the new additions with Batman's relationship to Batgirl, it would have been so wonderfully bold if DC had Batman finally break and kill the Joker.

Overall, the new Batgirl prologue is interesting and could be a fun-yet-dark supporting episode for Batman Beyond, but after that you're probably better off reading the source material. I'd rank this on the lower end of the DC animated movies, particularly for Batman stories. For reference, two of the ones I really enjoyed were Under the Red Hood and Dark Knight Returns; I did not like Year One.

My 5 highly recommended wrestling matches

I was fortunate to help be in the pilot episode of a wrestling video series discussing top five favorite matches. The top three will probably long be in my top five, though the bottom two were tough to pick. There are so many great matches to recommend.

Check out the conversation below.

Green Room, Someone Marry Barry and Ghost Town movie reviews

Quick reviews of recently watched movies:

1. Green Room - Fucking intense, one of the best of 2016. A slow build thriller that continues to push the limits of tension up to the very end. Patrick Stewart can be a great villain. Make sure you have audio adjusted so you can hear things clearly. Definitely RECOMMENDED, somewhere between good and great. (Available on Amazon Prime)

2. Someone Marry Barry - A very funny, yet contrived movie about two obnoxious assholes who fall in love. There are actually some nice life lessons to gleam and the characters are fun, if you're willing to let go of questioning things and role with the film tropes. Casually RECOMMENDED. (Available on Netflix)

3. Ghost Town - There are some fun ideas/moments, but other movies do it better. It's difficult when two of the leads (Ricky Gervais and Greg Kinnear) are assholes, not to mention the third, Tea Leoni, falls into the female love interest trap. NOT RECOMMENDED unless you're really intent on seeing the movie. (Available on Netflix, expiring soon)