While you’ll see a whole hell of a lot of STAR WARS and MARVEL in the lists below, surprisingly there were a great number of films showing up in our Top 10’s that took us by surprise! There were a lot of Indie instant-classics, no shortage of great animated films, and a few dramatic and whimsical masterpieces we didn’t even review on our website. Granted, this IS a nerd website made by nerds for nerds. But that doesn’t mean we don’t like other types of movies dammit! So without further ado, get to know Jason Furie, Mark Espinosa, Sean Wheeler, and Mike McG a little better by seeing what we loved in 2016!

JASON FURIE

  1. SWISS ARMY MAN
  2. ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY
  3. 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE
  4. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
  5. X-MEN: APOCALYPSE
  6. MOONLIGHT
  7. LA LA LAND
  8. THE WITCH
  9. DEADPOOL
  10. DOCTOR STRANGE

I was not prepared for SWISS ARMY MAN. This film blew me away. Now, I know not everyone connected with this film the way I did, but ya know sometimes a movie just comes along and speaks to you. It was just perfect to me. And of course there are 4 movies in my list based on Marvel superheroes. CIVIL WAR was the best AVENGERS film yet, Cyclops is back in action with the X-MEN, DEADPOOL redefined what a comic book could be, and DOCTOR STANGE was really…err, strange. And having a STAR WARS film lead by strong women leading a multicultural team of Rebels where just about everyone dies was a bold move by DIsney for an X-Mas release. 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE was perfect sci-fi, THE WITCH was eerie as all hell (Black Phillip!), and MOONLIGHT and LA LA LAND struck me hard in the feels. All said and done, it was a great year (in film) for nerds and film snobs alike!

MARK ESPINOSA

  1. MOONLIGHT
  2. ARRIVAL
  3. ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY
  4. DEADPOOL
  5. MOANA
  6. THE NICE GUYS
  7. THE WITCH
  8. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
  9. ZOOTOPIA
  10. MIDNIGHT SPECIAL

This list is always a difficult for me.  It feels especially difficult in light of certain … political realities. I tried to focus on films that were rays of sunshine for me over the past year. Films that surprised the hell out of me. I’m really curious to see what movies are like in 2017.  We are in for some pretty dark shit.  Best to take this moment to look back at all the pleasant surprises in our lives.  All the things that delighted and educated.  A cartoon about animals overcoming stereotypes.  A princess finding a new purpose on the ocean. A devil goat. A bumbling private detective thrown into a situation that is way out of his league. Spider-Man. There’s no shame in enjoying the simple things.  If they make you smile and forget about the troubles of your life, then who cares what anyone else thinks. 

SEAN WHEELER

  1. LA LA LAND
  2. ARRIVAL
  3. THE WITCH
  4. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
  5. FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
  6. ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY
  7. DEADPOOL
  8. KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
  9. HIDDEN FIGURES
  10. THE NICE GUYS

2016 was not a great year for movies, but neither was it terrible.  Hollywood threw its weight around with various levels of success: financial, critical, or otherwise, and while we are seeing some new players enter the game, Amazon for instance, they’re just as wealthy as the major studios and only time will tell if they will hold to a higher artistic ideal or if they’ll fall into the temptation of success over quality. On the plus side, some genre’s that were thought obsolete (Musicals) or terminally stale (Horror) have found themselves reinvigorated by passion projects that have paid off with both critical and financial success.  Hopefully these will serve as an example to up coming filmmakers to follow their dreams and make the kinds of movies they have a passion for.

MIKE McG

  1. MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
  2. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
  3. THE NICE GUYS
  4. THE WITCH
  5. ZOOTOPIA
  6. DEADPOOL
  7. 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE
  8. STAR TREK BEYOND
  9. GREEN ROOM
  10. DOCTOR STRANGE

It was a pretty daunting and busy year, all things considered.  I tried to make my way to the theaters as much as possible to escape from the suckiness of the real world.  Thankfully, I found solace in some big-event movies as well as a few smaller releases.  Unfortunately, a lot of the prestige pictures (LA LA LAND, SILENCE, ARRIVAL) came a little late for me to catch them before the end of 2016 and officially count them on the list.  Consider them the runner-ups to 2016’s runner-ups (mentioned in the videos):

Head over to the Mike McG Youtube Channel, Subscribe, and check out his “Top 10 Video Log” and “Worst 10 of 2016”!

In case you missed it: Top 12 Films We Didn’t Review in 2016 But Are Amazing!

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