2016: SOME GOOD STUFF IN A YEAR OF ABSOLUTE SHIT

[UPDATED FEB 18, 2017]

2016 has left a lot of us feeling like Anya Taylor Joy's character towards the end of The Witch. Bloodied, confused and about to sell our soul to the Devil in disguise. To me, it's a perfect piece of art reflecting the world around it. And it came out of nowhere. Just like Immortan Trump. A lot of great people died this year. A lot of ordinary people also died, in murders and massacres. Yea, it sucked. But there were GOOD things too. WE made it through alive (*knock on wood*). The Cubs won the World Series, and brought me incredible joy. Fuck, even my Miami Dolphins made the playoffs. How about that? Anyway, here is where I segue into my year-end list of favorite things. If you care, agree, disagree, leave a comment.

 (NOTE: 2017 Films I have yet to see but intend to:  Sully, The Wailing,  Silence, Jackie, and others I'm not even aware of yet. I saw a lot of movies this year --most at home-- and am lucky to have seen so many).

FILM

Top 10

1. The Witch...The Witch announces itself as "A New England Folktale." A post-script reveals it was put together using genuine incidents and dialogue taken from books and diaries from the 1600s. From those materials we see a Puritan nightmare that transcends the horror genre to become a meticulous period piece, an exploration of faith and family, and the temptation of evil. Beautiful, haunting and a miracle. And I haven't even mentioned Black Phillip.

2. Green Room...a rip-snorting, tension filled roller coaster ride about a punk band held hostage by Neo-Nazis, lead by a sinister Patrick Stewart. At times nerve-wracking, and jaw-dropping. Not for the squeamish but it has an ironically beautiful final scene.

3. Hunt For The Wilderpeople...Immensely charming and oddball adventure set in new Zealand, directed by Taika Watititi (What We Do In The Shadows, and the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok), with a great performance by Sam Neill.

4. Arrival...sensational, humanistic sci-fi that ends up being a moving, personal story. And I love me some Amy Adams. Meticulous and thoroughly absorbing with amazing FX, and an original take on alien visitation.

5. The Invitation...I haven't seen a sneakier movie in a long time. A couple is invited to a dinner party held by his ex-wife. For some reason all the doors are locked. John Carroll Lynch plays a creepy guy. 3rd act is amazing and the final shot will haunt you.

6. Moonlight...I've never seen anything like it. Constantly surprising, beautifully photographed and brilliantly executed story of a young, gay black man through 3 stages of his life. No better acting this year. Potent and moving.

7. The Lobster...single people are isolated and must find a new mate in 45 days or be turned into the animal of their choice. Deadpan and absurd. John C. Reilly is in it, too, but Colin Farrell has never been better.  It's either as good as it sounds to you or as bad as it sounds to you.

8. Hell or High Water...a simple but expertly written and directed modern day western. Exhilarating and relevant.

9. Elle (France)...Paul Verehoeven returns after 10 years to make this pitch black comedy of manners about an alpha female who gets raped, and decides to deal with her rapist in her own way. Isabelle Huppert deserves the Oscar, hands down.

10.  I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House...a really slow burn that's not for everyone. But if you like ghost stories you could do worse. It's so hypnotic and beautiful by the end I was genuinely unnerved.


Runners up:

11. Midnight Special
12. Deadpool
13.Swiss Army Man
14. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
15. The Nice Guys
16. Hacksaw Ridge

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE: February (aka the Blackcoat's Daughter)....Directed by Osgood Perkins, who also wrote and directed I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House. Oh, and he's also the son of the late Anthony Perkins. February is a Canadian film that played the festival circuit in 2015 and 2016. It's been re-titled The Blackcoat's Daughter and will be released officially in 2017. I was lucky enough to see it and it's an amazing, heart-stopping horror film. Top 10 material. Can't wait to see it released and receive it's due.

Also liked (soft rankings):

Manchester By The Sea
Fences
10 Cloverfield Lane
The Eyes of My Mother

High-Rise
Dr. Strange
Train To Busan (S. Korea)

Don't Breathe

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

The Purge: Election Year

Lights Out

10 Cloverfield Lane

The Neon Demon

Captain America: Civil War

Blair Witch
The Monster

Star Trek Beyond

X-Men: Apocalypse

Batman Vs. Superman

The Magnificent Seven (2016)
I Am Not A Serial Killer

Zootopia
The Conjuring 2

Ouija: Origin Of Evil

Brother's Grimsby

Hardcore Henry

The Shallows

Ghostbusters

Sausage Party

Didn't Like:

31...hands down worst movie I saw in 2016. The absolute nadir of what's already a shitty body of work by "visionary director" Rob Zombie. It's barely a student film. Confusing, needlessly vulgar, pointless and dumb. Rob Zombie's DGA card should be revoked.

Hail, Ceasar!...on the kinda flip-side, I would never call this a bad movie. It's just the rare Coen Brothers movie that did not connect with me. Found it arch and annoying. But it's the Coen's so it'll get a reconsideration at some point.

La La Land...I don't HATE it but I didn't really enjoy it either. It's eager to please but I didn't connect with it at all. Not really a musical guy anyway but I didn't find anything really special here.

Shelley
The Autopsy Of Jane Doe

The Boy

The 5th Wave

Suicide Squad

Finding Dory

Zoolander 2

Independence Day 2

Batman: The Killing Joke

Evolution (2016 France)

TEENAGE FANCLUB, OCT 21 2016

MUSIC

Teenage Fanclub - Here...It helps that I saw them in concert for the first time in 25 years and they rocked the place. But they also released a lovely album that shows growth and maturity while still being energetic and fun. TFC are truly a band I can grow old with, and I love them for that. Sure, I'd love them to crank up the guitars like it's 1991 again, but that's not who they are now. Besides, the old guys cranked 'em at the concert. Everything fucking Flows.

Frightened Rabbit - Painting of a Panic Attack...A lot of people thought this was a lesser work, and while it's no The Midnight Organ Fight it's still a rich and beautiful album that has stuck with me all year.

Jeff McDonald- Jeff McDonald...Redd Kross front man McDonald made this solo album between 1993 and 1996. It was never properly released. Even now it was a limited release which is a shame because it's a doozy of a record.

The Julie Ruin - Hit Reset.....I love Julie Ruin's first album but they really coalesce into a tight, full-throated unit here. Not a bad song on the thing

Case-Lang-Veirs -- Case-Lang-Veirs...Neko Case, KD Lang and Laura Veirs make beautiful, godly noise.

Weezer - The White Album...best Weezer album in a long time.

Kristen Kontrol - X-Communicate...ex leader of my beloved Dum Dum Girls goes new wave with style and originality.

Lucy Dacus - No Burden...best debut I heard all year. Girl's gonna be a star.

p.s.eliot - 2007-2011...full collection of material from Katie (Waxahatchee) and Allison Crutchfield (Swearin') is beguiling

Suede - Night Thoughts...underrated Brit-Pop survivors keep surviving. "No Tomorrow" Is one of my favorites singles of the year

The Big Believe - Illuminate...perfectly crafted indie pop. "You Already Are" is another of the year's best songs.

Chris Cohen - As If Apart...songs as puzzles that are unsolvable but linger with melody and wit.

David Bowie - Lazarus...one of the greatest going away presents ever conceived

LATE TO THE PARTY BUT ROCKED MY 2016:

The Courtneys - Courtneys (2013)...This would be in my top 5 had I discovered it before. Vancouver girls delivering blistering sun-drenched guitar pop. New album in Feb 2017 on Flying Nun.

The Shop Assistants - Anything Will Happen (1986)....Edinburgh, Scotland. 1980s guitar pop reminds me of The Primitives. Maybe better. How'd I miss this one??

TV

Broad City S3...2016 is the year Broad City became my favorite current TV show.

Daredevil S2...messy season but the Punisher stuff was awesome and it ended on a high note

The Exorcist S1...fantastic expansion of the story. Hope we get Season 2.

Idiot Sitter S1...Love Jillian Bell and she's a riot here.

Luke Cage S1...Bogs down midway through but Mike Colter and Rosario Dawson carry it through the second half.

Orange Is The New Black S4...Gets better and better. Lori Petty shined.

Ash Vs. Evil Dead S2...nothing more fun on TV. The ultimate Evil Dead sequel.

Stranger Things S1...I don't worship this like a lot of people do but I did like it.

Bob's Burgers S6...A machine of pure excellence at this point. Can anyone name a bad Bob's Burgers episode???

Archer S7...weakest season so far. Lacked the snap and energy of prior seasons but still better than most shit on TV.

BOOKS & GRAPHIC NOVELS (Not limited to 2016 releases):

A Head Full Of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay...I wrote about this here: Maybe The Devil Made me Do It, Maybe

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks...as disturbing and un-put-downable as I'd heard

Under The Skin by Michel Faber...a different beast than the amazing movie but great because of it.

This Book Is Full Of Spiders by David Wong...Not as fun as John Dies At The End, but a more disciplined and coherent novel.

Coldheart Canyon by Clive Barker...a Barker classic I somehow overlooked.

Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley....completely charming graphic novel from the creator of Scott Pilgrim

Battling Boy by Paul Pope...Ripping start to this series with great art also by Pope

The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb...Best Batman story I've ever read. So far

Wilson by Daniel Clowes...minimalist and moving, can't wait to see the film with Woody Harrelson next year.

Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon...I still have a lot of X-Men to read (currently digging through the Claremont era) but this will surely rank high. It was rollicking fun.

Good luck to us all in the New Year. We're gonna need it.