The Best and the Worst of 2016 – Motion Picture Maniac

The Best and the Worst of 2016 – Motion Picture Maniac

by Motion Picture Maniac Motion Picture Maniac

2016 absolutely sucked, not just because we had, what felt like, twice as many bad films as usual, but more celebrity deaths than one can count and the UK and US trying to out-do each other in the “see who can make the worst political decision ever” competition. But alas, we are here just to talk about the films we had this past year, and usually I would stick to top 10 lists but it seems 2016 was so prolific I had to go for dreaded top 20’s instead of 10’s; not sure if that means the year was extra good, or extra bad.

TOP 20 BEST FILMS OF 2016

I’ve heard wonderful things about Moonlight, Patriot’s Day, Manchester By The Sea and Silence but they are yet to come out in UK just yet, so don’t go thinking they’re not on the list because I didn’t like them or any such nonsense, I just haven’t seen them so I can’t comment. Either way, here are my personal favourite films of 2016, if you don’t like them – tough!

  1. Everybody Wants Some!!
  1. The Girl With All The Gifts
  1. Moana
  1. Café Society
  1. Anthropoid
  1. Hush
  1. The Neon Demon
  1. Brotherhood
  1. Deadpool
  1. Zootopia
  1. 13th
  1. Finding Dory
  1. Hell Or High Water
  1. Arrival
  1. Deepwater Horizon
  1. Captain America: Civil War
  1. Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice – Ultimate Edition (I’m not sorry)
  1. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
  1. American Honey
  1. I, Olga Hepnarova

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

The Conjuring 2

Midnight Special

Sully

Hail Caesar

Doctor Strange

 

DISQUALIFICATIONS

These titles were released in 2016, but IMDB, for whatever reason, decided to count them as 2015 releases, I choose to put them in their own list not to put them down but rather as an excuse to include as many good films as possible, if I included them in the main list I would have to remove some other titles already on there, and even if the disqualifications are better than those films I would have to take off the list to make room, I would still rather do it this way so none are left out, honourable mentions are difficult enough to pick out.

Knight Of Cups

Eye In The Sky

Son Of Saul

Green Room

The Witch

 

BOTTOM 20 WORST FILMS OF 2016

Now for the other list, the 20 movies this year that made me question my existence and hate myself for sitting in front of as they played out, like I said before, this was a bad year for films, I tried to keep it to 10 slots but it couldn’t be done, better luck next year.

  1. Dirty Grandpa
  1. The Boss
  1. Fifty Shades Of Black
  1. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2
  1. God’s Of Egypt
  1. Allegiant
  1. Pete’s Dragon
  1. The Choice
  1. Alice Through The Looking Glass
  1. Ice Age: Collision Course
  1. Mother’s Day
  1. The Other Side Of The Door
  1. Swallows And Amazons
  1. Equity
  1. Me Before You
  1. Ballerina
  1. Dad’s Army
  1. Nine Lives
  1. Norm Of The North
  1. Miracles From Heaven

NOTE – Miracles From Heaven is the worst film of the year for me because, despite not having production values as horrid as some of the other films on the list, religious propaganda just rubs me the wrong way, especially when it’s as arrogant and pompous as this and not just badly made (which it is).

 

DISHONOURABLE MENTIONS

The Boy

Risen

Now You See Me 2

Keeping Up With The Joneses

The Forest

 

BEST LINES IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER

*Everything he says* – Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool

“I need to get her out of me” – Bella Heathcote in The Neon Demon

“Be careful not to choke on your aspirations, director” – James Earl Jones in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

“To commit suicide you need a strong will, my child. Something you certainly don’t have” – Klara Meliskova in I, Olga Hepnarova

“If God is all powerful, he cannot be all good, and if he is all good, he cannot be all powerful” – Jesse Eisenberg in Batman V Superman (again, I’m not sorry)

“I hope he comes all over your car!” – Sasha Lane in American Honey

“You’d think there were ten of me” – Ben Foster in Hell Or High Water

“I am just a dumb bunny but we are good at multiplying” – Ginnifer Goodwin in Zootopia

“Never tell a soldier he does not know the cost of war” – Alan Rickman in Eye In The Sky

“Suck it, bipeds” – Ed O’Neil in Finding Dory

 

TOP SURPRISINGLY GOOD PERFORMANCES

Shia LaBeouf in American Honey

Gal Gadot in Batman V Superman

The Rock in Moana

Jamie Dornan in Anthropoid

Jai Courtney in Suicide Squad

Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Nocturnal Animals

 

MEMORABLE SCENES

Darth Vader rebel massacre – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Church shootout – Anthropoid

Granny’s peach tea – Batman V Superman

Airport royal rumble – Captain America: Civil War

Alone at the morgue – The Neon Demon

Truck murder – I, Olga Hepnarova

Bye-bye baby – The Witch

They arrive – Arrival

Alan Rickman’s final scene – Eye In The Sky

The pit – Son Of Saul

 

FAVOURITE SOUNDTRACKS

Hans Zimmer & Junkie XL – Batman V Superman (notably “Is she with you” & “This is my world”)

Cliff Martinez – The Neon Demon

Johann Johannsson – Arrival

Robin Foster – Anthropoid

Opetaia Foa’i, Mark Mancina & Lin-Manuel Miranda – Moana

Michael Giacchino – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (I know some people aren’t too fussed, but I most certainly was, especially the track “Your Father would be proud”)

Phil’s 2017 Preview & Look Back At 2016 Predictions…

Phil’s 2017 Preview & Look Back At 2016 Predictions…

by Phil Hobden Quick Review Year In Review

Phil’s Quick look at what’s wetting his whistle for the upcoming year in films…

Well 2016 was a bit… odd.  With most of the big films not quite hitting the mark, especially comic books films.  2017 looks like more of the same – big budget super heroes, franchises, remakes and sequels.  Here’s the films I’m most looking forward to in 2017.

 

Most Excited:  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Marvel continues to do solid work, with Doctor Strange being a highlight of 2016.  Also Guardians was, simply put, bloody terrific.  Oh and have you seen THAT trailer.  Baby Groot? Atomic Bomb? Yup. Sold.

 

2. Star Wars Episode 8
Lucasfilm in the hands of Disney have given us two very good Star Wars films in the shape of The Force Awakens and Rogue One.   With the original cast (mostly) returning, more promised on the origins of Kylo Ren and Rey as well as a full return to the movies of Luke Skywalker… Episode 8 should be pretty special.

 

3. War For The Planet Of The Apes
Rise was great.  Dawn even better.  And now War.  Based on THAT trailer and a synopsis which promises the final showdown between ape and man (which should lead to the end of the world/Charlton Heston) this could be one of the best films of the year.

 

 

4. John Wick Chapter 2
John Wick was old school, martial arts awesomeness.  John Wick 2 promises a LOT more of the same.  I have my seat booked.

 

 

5.  T2: Trainspotting
Trainspotting remains one of the best films of the 90’s and one of the best British films ever. Whether T2 follows the source material of Porno or not is still to be seen but either way with the cast returning and Boyle back behind the camera this should deliver a great film.

 

Bubbling Under: Baywatch (Excellent Trailer), Lego Batman (It’s Lego. Batman. Done), Spiderman: Homecoming  (this could go either way to be honest but I’m hoping…), Silence (Scorsese. I’m in), Alien: Covenant (come on it HAS to be better than Prometheus!), The Dark Tower (could be the King adaptation we’ve always waited for), Kingsman: The Golden Circle (Original was amazing, same team).

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Stinker Of The Year: Transformers: The Last Knight
The previous 3 Transformers films have each rated in AT LEAST the bottom 3 of year they were released (some even rock bottom). Looking at the trailer for the fifth (yes FIFTH!) Michael Bay Transformers film does little to convince me that this will be anything but an utter mess.  It’s a bit like shooting fish in a barrel sure but come on there has to be ZERO chance of this being any good.


Also Dreading: Wonder Woman (The trailer is lacking, the film just doesn’t grab me), Blade Runner 2049 (Silly title, a sequel we just don’t need), Power Rangers (Urm not needed, not wanted), Logan (Want tone wrong but so far these films have just not worked), XXX: Return Of Xander Cage (Diesel is back. Nobody cares), Cars 3 (1 & 2 weren’t great) , The Mummy (Tom Cruise. A Mummy. I’ll pass).

 

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So how did I do last year?

This is the time of the year when I look back at my picks of the good, the bad and the ugly from 2016 and see how close I was (or as it often is the case, how far!)…

For the best: I tipped Captain America Civil War, Creed, Finding Dory, Deadpool & London Has Fallen as my most anticipated of 2016. Somewhat of a mixed bag with Creed & Deadpool sitting close to my top 10 with Creed my film of the year for a few months near the start of 2016.  Finding Dory was good but not good enough.  London Has Fallen, well that ended up being one of the worst films of the year for me.  As for Captain America Civil War? It promised a lot but fell short of the far superior Winter Solider from a few years back and Marvel’s very own Doctor Strange which was the best superhero film of the year.

 

As for the Stinkers? Point Break was terrible as expected and landed firmly in my bottom 5 for 2016. Batman Vs Superman was actually pretty fun (if flawed), The Hateful Eight overrated as I expected but there were worse films in 2016, Ghostbusters was forgettable, Warcraft was everything that’s wrong with game movie adaptations and the combination of sequels Divergent Allegiant & Independence Day Resurgence showed that both franchises have zero fun left in them and even less commercial appeal.  Only Star Trek Beyond rose above the dross as a truly fun film (until the silly somewhat overblown ending).

 

So here’s to 2016… see you again next year!

Moana – A Quick Capsule Review

Moana – A Quick Capsule Review

by Phil Hobden Quick Review

Phil’s Quick Capsule Review:
Moana is one of 2016’s best films.  And in a year that produced several pitch perfect animated films that’s saying something.  Charming, great songs and beautifully made, it has a wonderful story at it’s heart along side some winning performances  (Not least then Rock who even gets his own song).  Disney are on top form at the moment and it’s no surprise that this has been one of their best years.  A must watch for adults and children.

Best Bit: The Rock sings!

Buy, Stream, Avoid: Buy

If You Liked this Try: Little Mermaid, Frozen, Finding Dory

IMDB Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★

 

Author: Phil Hobden

Phil’s Best & Worst of 2016… So Far (Updated: 30th September 2016 )

Phil’s Best & Worst of 2016… So Far (Updated: 30th September 2016 )

by Phil Hobden Quick Review

Best Films of 2016… So Far.

So this is my semi-regularly updated of the BEST and WORST of 2016’s movies, in my very humble opinion.

Best Films Of 2016… So Far:

  1. The Nice Guys (9/10)
  2. Room (8/10)
  3. The Big Short (8/10)
  4. Green Room (8/10)
  5. Deadpool (8/10)

    Honourable Mentions:     Creed (8/10); Where To Invade Next (8/10); Midnight Special (8/10); Spotlight (8/10); Eddie The Eagle (8/10); Zootropolis (8/10), Zero Days (8/10), Money Monster (7/10), Star Trek Beyond (7/10), Batman Vs Superman Dawn Of Justice (7/10), Finding Dory (7/10); Eye In The Sky (7/10); Captain America Civil War (7/10); Blood Father (7/10); Angry Birds (7/10); The Shallows (7/10)


Worst Films Of 2016… So Far:

  1. Point Break (3/10)
  2. Central Intelligence (3/10)
  3. The 5th Wave (3/10)
  4. Kickboxer Vengeance (3/10)
  5. Cabin Fever (4/10)

Dis-Honourable Mentions: Divergent Allegiant (4/10); Triple 9 (4/10), Bastille Day (4/10); London Has Fallen (4/10); Independence Day Resurgence (4/10); Dad’s Army (4/10); Huntsman Winters War (5/10); Warcraft (5/10); Gods Of Egypt (5/10); Suicide Squad (5/10); Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Out Of The Shadows (5/10); The Neon Demon (5/10); Zoom (5/10)

 

The Sharknado Award for Films So Good They Cant Be Rated:

Sharknado The Forth Awakens

Great Films of 2015 I didn’t see in 2015

Honourable Mentions: The Lady In The Van (8/10); Straight Outta Compton (8/10); The Survivalist (8/10); The Seven Five (8/10); 99 Homes (7/10)

 

Finding Dory – A Quick Capsule Review

Finding Dory – A Quick Capsule Review

by Phil Hobden Quick Review

Phil’s Quick Capsule Review:
Pixar has been hit and miss with sequels.  For every Tory Story 3 there’s been Cars 2 or Monsters University.  However whilst Finding Dory doesn’t hit the heights of Nemo, it IS a good film that manages to both entertain and charm. In fact I’d say that what it lacks in belly laughs it more than makes up for in life lessons… of course whether that’s what you WANT from a Nemo sequel might be a point of debate but ultimately there’s loads to like here and fans of the originally certainly wont be disappointed.

Best Bit: Octopus + Van

Buy, Stream, Avoid: Stream

If You Liked this Try: Finding Nemo, Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur

IMDB Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★

 

Author: Phil Hobden

Phil’s 2016 Preview & Look Back At 2015 Predictions…

Phil’s 2016 Preview & Look Back At 2015 Predictions…

by Phil Hobden Quick Review Year In Review

Phil’s Quick look at what’s wetting his whistle for the upcoming year in films… Yup 2016 is going to be a BIG year.

 

Most Excited:  Captain America: Civil War
Marvel have done pretty good overall.  And Captain america Winter Solider was one of their best.  With the Russo brothers returning, added Spiderman and the prospect of Capt and Iron Man beating 7 bells out of each other I have really high hopes that Marvel can bring it back after the slight disappointment of 2015.

 

2. Creed
Rocky. It’s Rocky. I say again.  It’s. Rocky. Okay but in all seriousness the trailer, the concept… this could be special and early reviews, coupled with Stallone’s Golden Globes nomination indicate that it is just that.  Technically a 2015 film for the US but we poor saps in the UK don’t get it until 2016.

 

3. Finding Dory 
Pixar have had a bit of truer to form this year with the rather excellent inside Out and the rather fun Good Dinosaur so a sequel to what is still considered to be one of the best films whilst they are flying this high could be something really quite special.

 

4. Deadpool
R rated comic book action film with blood, swearing and Ryan Reynolds – this could be the antidote to the PG rated Marvel films of the past few years.

 

5.  London Has Fallen 

Okay come on Olympus Has Fallen was the surprise gem of a few years ago, so if nothing else London has Fallen will be a slice of stupid fun.  Expect more OTT action, more OTT acting and more OTT bad guys.

 

Bubbling Under: Untitled Fifth Bourne Film (Jason Bourne is back) Suicide Squad (this could go either way to be honest but I’m hoping…), Star Wars Rogue One (Could this work?  The first real Star Wars spin off), Nice Guys (Shane Black back in non-Marvel territory) , Hail! Caesar! (Coen Brothers taking on the Old Hollywood studio system), Live By Night (Affleck back behind the directors chair for the first time since Argo), Green Room (Horror film coming HIGH off the festival circuit)

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Stinker Of The Year: Point Break
Fuck you Hollywood.  Point Break is about one of the most perfect action crimes films ever made. And you want to reboot it.  In the wold of ‘Extreme Sports’.  Yup Hollywood is creatively bankrupt and this is the proof. Worst still? You make me wait until another year to see it officially making this the first ever Stinker Of The Year to be nominated across TWO years!

Batman Vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice (Man Of Steel was crap.  The trailer is crap.  It’s going to be near three hours long ), The Hateful Eight  (Tarantino is done for me), Ghostbusters (a film NOBODY wants), Star Trek Beyond (terrible trailer) , Warcraft (Terrible trailer again) , Independence Day Resurgence (the sequel nobody wanted, twenty years after the original that lets be honest was pants ), Divergent Allegiant (the first two were pretty bad)

 

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So how did I do last year?

This is the time of the year when I look back at my picks of the good, the bad and the ugly from 2015 and see how close I was (or as it often is the case, how far!)…

For the Best:  I tipped Age Of Ultron,  The Force Awakens, Pitch Perfect 2, Fury Road and Spectre as my Most Anticipated of 2015.  Well Ultron was a bit of a let down for me (although critically it was mostly well  received).  Mad Max was another one loved by most except me.  Pitch Perfect 2 was very good, just missing out of my top 10, but with only The Force Awakens ending up in my Top 10 films of the year. As for Spectre the less said about that the better…

As for the Stinkers?  Well Point Break ended up being added to the 2016 list and Terminator: Genisys was pretty much as bad as expected. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, Hunger Games & Maze Runner Sequels I didn’t even get to.  Jupiter Ascending was much better than I expected but still pretty weak and Jurassic World was added to my list of mostly meh! blockbusters!  Thank god then for Fifty Shades Of Grey which lived up to my worst fears and then some.  Just horrid.

 

So here’s to 2015… see you again next year!