The year is just about done.
134 movies were watched and reviewed by yours truly this year. While normally "Best of the Year" status is reserved for films that originally rated a B+ or higher, there were a couple of films that in hindsight, stuck with me through the year and they deserved to be part of the festivities.
So we've already visited the bottom of the heap, now let's flip and look at the Top 10% of the movies that I saw at home, or on rare occasions, the big screen!
These are the films that I enjoyed watching the most, and in just about every case, wouldn't mind owning and/or watching again in the future.
13) The D.U.F.F.
The designated ugly fat friend is the latest entry in the high school ugly duckling genre which has provided countless entries over the years. When done well, they become revered classics that are beloved by generations. When they aren't that great, they get chalked up to a pale imitation of "insert your favorite high school movie". The DUFF was a film that I hadn't heard of prior to the release on DVD. I read a quick synopsis, figured this was either going to be great or lame, and took a gamble. In my original review, I stated that aside from some language that keeps this from being an instant classic to be enjoyed for generations to come, it was still a pretty good film.
I still stand by that assessment. Take out some of the harsher language/innuendo, you've got a great coming of age/high school/ugly duckling/boy meets girl/etc. etc. genre classic. As it is, it was still pretty darn funny.
12) Let's Be Cops
The concept is sound, two guys pretend to be cops, heck, Police Academy turned a similar idea into a franchise! Two likeable leads (Johnson & Wayans) who pretend to be cops to try and pick up girls, but then enjoy the power and respect they receive while in uniform. Naturally, a real case lands in their laps and they end up having to do more than just pretend. When it was over, I was pretty much ready for a sequel. Months later, I still am.
11) What We Do In The Shadows
When you have a mockumentary about vampires on your Best of the Year list, you have to give all the credit to the actors and filmmakers who put forth this labor of love. As with many mockumentaries, it helps when those behind the camera are also in front of it, to make sure their vision and passion is on both sides of the film. It bodes well that horror comedies are becoming more popular and being made with more frequency. I'm always pleased when I make these lists and find one that makes the cut. This year, the vampires weren't alone.
10) St. Vincent
A fine dramedy by way of Bill Murray as a cranky bastard of a neighbor who ends up taking care of a new kid in town. The two bond in a weird anti-Karate Kid kind of way. When the school assembly takes place at the end of the film, all of the storylines are resolved with a big weepy bow attached for good measure. Well done by all involved, and I was really pleased with how enjoyable this film really was.
9) Touchback
When you take football movies and sprinkle it with a bit of It's A Wonderful Life, you wind up with Touchback. A high school star quarterback gets to go back and relive his final game. This time, he can make sure he doesn't get injured and lose his scholarship and path to fame and fortune. Then he realizes, that's how he met his wife. But surely he can have the fame and get the girl too, right?
8) The Final Girls
The best thing about the horror comedy genre, is you're usually expecting very little, to nothing at all from it, that you can often be blown out of the water by how good they really are, especially when they take everything you love about horror movies, and make you laugh at and with it. So too, The Final Girls. I'd heard nothing about it, read the little blurb and thought, why not? I even gathered the kids around, and they enjoyed it as well. When a movie can appeal to both fans of horror and kids that have seen very little horror films (I know, I'm a horrible parent, I'm working on it!) then you know you've done something right. Bravo.
7) Spare Parts
Cue the inspirational true story about a teacher and his students genre. Perfect! Spare Parts takes the tried and true underdog sports team formula and uses it on a bunch of high schoolers who want to start a robotics team. It checks all the boxes and yet these films never get old. Further proof that moviegoers like me at least, love a movie with an upbeat finale. That it really happened...somewhat kinda sorta... like the movie implied, that's the proverbial icing on the cake.
6) Avengers: Age of Ultron
Boy did this one suck, am I right? If anything, Avengers 2 simply failed to live up to the lofty expectations of the first one. No harm, no foul. If anything, Age of Ultron failed by delivering a jokey robot who wasn't nearly as menacing as he should be. If you want a humorous villain, bring back the charismatic Loki. A robot shouldn't have a weird smugness to them. They should be cold, calculating machines. Fix that, and I think this movie would have been improved greatly. That said, I still really liked it. Otherwise, I wouldn't be typing this up right now, would I?
:)
5) The Book of Life
I didn't see enough animated films this year to devote a year end best of list this time. That's a shame, because many of the animated films often have more heart and better storytelling than many of their live action counterparts. Reel FX hit one straight out of the park with this beautifully animated classic that was a joy from start to finish. They took a story and made it better by using the puppets of the characters to tell the story and the looks of the characters never once suffered, though I'm sure it would have been easier to animate if they looked real instead of with the joints and grain of wooden puppets. The movie had a ton of heart, and was a very pleasant surprise.
4) Furious 7
While not quite hitting the same heights of 5 or 6, the 7th installment of the franchise wasn't bad. It was a bittersweet farewell to Paul Walker that permeated the film throughout and it was hard to enjoy how much fun the movie was. Take that real life tragedy away, and 7 would easily have been total popcorn insane fun. But knowing that this is it for the crew, well, that sucks a lot of the fun away from the film even if you don't realize it. Repeat viewings probably won't have quite the same effect, and luckily Tyrese Gibson is along for the ride to ease the pain with a lot of laughs.
3) Big Hero 6
This is where an annual animated list would have likely whittled Book of Life off the end of year and left Big Hero 6 as the only animated film to make the cut. This was the first movie of the year to make it into the Best of the Year contention. When the dust settles, it's still right here near the top. Not too shabby for an obscure Marvel comic idea that was made into a movie. This movie, like The Incredibles, is a great example of a superhero movie that you owe it to yourself to see, even if you don't have kids. Trust me, you'll love it.
2) Kingsman: The Secret Service
When my wife is willing to watch the same movie the very next day just so the kids can watch it and enjoy the film, you know it's a good movie. Kingsman was that movie. Judging a movie by the trailer is sometimes risky, but the Kingsman trailer looked like it would be a great action/spy film that was just crazy to watch. Yeah, pretty much sums up the film. Colin Firth became the most unlikely of all action heroes/spies in the history of cinema. Yet as you watch the film, he completely nails the part and makes the movie that much better and believable because of his participation. I'm not sure how a sequel is going to play out, but all I know is I'm ready to see it!
1) Ant-Man
For the umpteenth year, Marvel Studios clocks in with my favorite film of the year. Yay Marvel! So why Ant-Man? A better question is, why not Ant-Man? First, it's a superhero film (from Marvel) so you know it's got to really suck to not be on this list. Check! Second, it's got one of my favorite other genres wrapped in the story as well: The heist film. Check! I had a blast, Paul Rudd was great as Scott Lang, and so too was Michael Douglas as Henry Pym. I was very pleased with the direction the film took us, and loved the entire supporting cast. And yes, I was ecstatic when they announced a sequel for 2018.
But before we get to that, we've still got a few years to go, and the films for 2016 are already stacking up to be reviewed. See you back here next week for the first new reviews of the year!
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