2016 movies - what were your favorites?
Here's some lists of the top movies of the year (I have a lot to catch up on):
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/top/bestofrt/?year=2016
http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a47757/best-movies-to-watch-2016/
https://www.wired.com/2016/12/best-movies-2016/
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/07/movies/the-best-movies-of-2016.html?_r=0
Seems like Moonlight is ranked pretty high on a bunch of lists:
I saw Moonlight. It was a slow-moving, well-acted, and thought-provoking movie. It was definitely the kind of serious movie that will get very high critical praise and awards, but may not appeal to the average movie-goer for fun-loving excitement and easy relatability of the characters.. I would give it 4 stars.
Liked Certain Women and look forward to Manchester by the Sea and Paterson (Jim Jarmusch).
Here's a couple that have made a few lists that are streaming on Netflix - thumbs up from me.
Sing Street:
13th:
Weiner is on SHOtime at the moment.
Julieta was broody and intense. Fences was a big, long downer but well-acted. Not a Star Wars fan and Rogue One didn't do anything for me. I'm looking forward to seeing Lion and Elle in the next few days.
I loved La La Land - hype and all. Speaking of Ryan Gosling, I also loved The Nice Guys - a movie that didn't get a lot of hype but is excellent.
I disliked La La land. I mean I REALLY disliked it. Not sure why. I kept rolling my eyes. Neither the Goz nor Emma Stone are great singers or dancers. Didn't care for Arrival either. Bah Humbug.
Moonlight
Manchester By The Sea.
Saw La La Land on a TV screen, there were problems with sound not in sync but we found it so terribly boring that we stopped watching in the middle.
we loved Sing! Came out of the cinema happy, and then he took me out for dinner! (This is almost unheard of in recent times)
I've read online discussion on whether there are "the usual racist themes in character types"; if you truly want to go that deeply into a superficial story, you can find all kinds of inaccuracies and slanders. We've downloaded the soundtrack, we've got the very happy memories and I'm trying to track down Squid Power to light my house 
(It would be more reliable than some of what the landlord installed)
Weiner was an interesting character study of him and Huma, but already somewhat outdated, because it didn't include the latest sexting scandal of the underage woman this year, nor the followup FBI investigation, election issues and breakup of the marriage. Nevertheless, a revealing and well-done documentary, as far as it went.
we saw la la land yesterday in mountainside ( what a great theatre)- we both really enjoyed it.
Saw Rogue One on Christmas Day. Very, very entertaining and well-done in all respects. (I'm a fan but not an avid one - didn't see some of the later ones.) Then saw a few days ago Hidden Figures in the movies too. Excellent! If you think it might work on the small screen too you might be right but some of the scenes (although few of them) work much better in the movies and besides movies just immerse you more too. Go see it! I plan to see Fences too. I actually saw it on Broadway in the 80's with James Earl Jones. The fact that Wilson wrote the screenplay too makes me think it must be as good as the play. (A shame this talented man died so young at 60 of liver cancer.)
We just saw Red Dog: True Blue. Loved it.
Sure, it's sentimental and there are some things you might not understand if you weren't living here at the time (for example, School of The Air outback radio classes, or the Royal Flying Doctor Service, or the bizarre thought of Lang Hancock playing banjo with a neighbour after dinner, or mumbling about how weird he thinks his daughter is - that's Gina Reinhart, the resources/cattle station/media queen) but the soundtrack is classic Aussie Summer Rock. The dog(s) [I think there were 3 dogs acting] were really good.
Yep, a great yarn. 
Saw Manchester by the Sea, which is very intense, dark, depressing; but beautiful photography, acted very well. New England grit and landscape reminded me of some characters and scenes in Mystic River.
Jasmo said:
Weiner was an interesting character study of him and Huma, but already somewhat outdated, because it didn't include the latest sexting scandal of the underage woman this year, nor the followup FBI investigation, election issues and breakup of the marriage. Nevertheless, a revealing and well-done documentary, as far as it went.
I agree with this. Still liked it, as it showed a politician in ways you usually would not see. He seemed so determined just to keep going no matter what. It's not a negative portrait of him, though. Shown campaigning, he expresses inspiring ideas to his various constituents, and I was thinking what a shame it was that he had these demons because he would have been a terrific mayor. Then later I was reading how he was Chuck Schumer's protege' and was just a crony establishment Democrat caring about donor support more than helping people. So the film portrayal is flattering because you feel sorry for him and he's way more of a sleazebag.
Also, saw Manchester By the Sea, partially because I grew up close by (Beverly). The accents mostly sucked, except for a few actual natives thrown in. At one point, one of the characters switches to what sounds like a Long Island accent, and I was thinking, "Oh, did this one move there from somewhere else?". I was so focused on looking at the scenery and listening to the annoying accents that I had trouble following the plot. Many of the characters looked similar, and I had difficulty telling them apart tt. Casey Affleck does a great job, though. The others, not so much. I thought Michelle Williams was lousy and overrated and maybe miscast too. Her big emotional scene seemed more ike a fashion shoot to me.
Manchester By the Sea was slice of life. Not much dramatic arc. Very gray and dreary. That said, it was done very well...just found the subject and characters' lives depressing for the most part. Lion, I found more satisfying, although the beginning seems a bit tortuous for the length of time it runs. Yesterday we saw Fences. It is very theatrical in that monologues are long, and the way it is structured. But, the character portrayal of the main character seems very complex and highly believable. All of the acting was superb. Looking forward to seeing Hidden Figures. I am assuming it is an uplifting story. I could use some uplift this season!
The NY Times link about had Stephen Holden's top 10 - here's his full ranking for top 20:
http://yearendlists.com/2016/12/stephen-holden-20-best-movies-of-2016/
I streamed 2 of these over the weekend that I would recommend - Krisha and Embrace of the Serpent:
On Krisha, the audio and soundtrack incredibly heighten the tension and anxiety that Krisha is experiencing to a point where it makes the viewer a bit uncomfortable.
Embrace of the Serpent is really beautiful - perfect in black and white.
The Green Room and Hell or High Water were pretty good - but would recommend the others first.
just saw Arrival and thought it was very good. Really thought-provoking and a killer twist/ending.
kibbegirl said:
What Happened, Miss Simone (Netflix)
The Jinx (HBO)
I didn't see The Jinx but I too would like to recommend What Happened, Miss Simone.
I was really looking forward to La La Land - and wanted to run screaming out of the theater about halfway through. If it gets Best Picture over Moonlight, I will be very annoyed.
Saw Lion and La La Land recently. I was expecting so much more from La La Land due to the hype.
Lion was excellent - the pace was a little slow - but it will definitely be a contender.
Rogue One is probably next on my list.