Monday, 2 January 2017

The Whovian Avenger's Best (and Worst) of 2016

As long-time readers may be aware, I've been prone to producing a set of awards to celebrate the best and worst films that I've seen over the course of the year. Last year things didn't go quite to plan due to technical difficulties, but with a larger array of movies under my belt, it felt like the best option to try again and allow certain films to be namechecked. Now, the ordering will be the same as last year's Academy Awards, but with a few different awards sprinkled in to make things a little different. So! Let's get started with...

Best Original Screenplay
And the nominees are...
And the winner is...
Swiss Army Man is one of the most ingenious and new ideas that 2016 brought about in a year filled with adaptations and sequels, and what tops the whole thing off is just how great a screenplay it is. It's smart, funny, and genuinely creative throughout the first two acts, and whilst the very end is a little lacklustre, its ability to muster up dozens of theories is something to be commended.

Best Adapted Screenplay
And the nominees are...
The Big Short managed to do what few films can do - make economics interesting for the general moviegoer. With its balance between a slew of characters and how it presents the world they reside in, it succeeds in creating a solid film that's hard to believe really happened - let alone happened so recently.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
And the nominees are...
And the winner is...
Now, I know what you're going to say: "Really, The Jungle Book??", but the amount of effort it takes to turn a computer-generated character and turn it into a fully fledged character which you can get attached to is high - why do you think Andy Serkis gets so much credit for his numerous performances against green screens? - and Lupita Nyong'o absolutely nails it.

Best Costume Design
And the nominees are...
Too often have the team behind the beloved Harry Potter franchise managed to win over audiences with their distinct and memorable costumes, and the first entry in the universe-expanding is no exception. From the instantly recognisable look of leading man Newt Scamander to the formal attire needed for the underground scene, this film is chockablock with delightful outfits.

Best Production Design
And the nominees are...
  • Doctor Strange
  • Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
  • Swiss Army Man
  • The Jungle Book
  • Zootropolis
And the winner is...
Yes, this is a world filled entirely with computer-generated imagery... so what? It's still got some of the best design work going round this year and is absolutely beautiful as a result.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
And the nominees are...
And the winner is...
Star Trek Beyond is a film that has gone about mostly forgotten by the mainstream audience, and it's a great pity because its outstanding work on its alien species and space age design was at its best; highlighting all the new and nostalgia for the brand's 50th anniversary with the work n such characters as Jaylah and Krall.

Best Cinematography
And the nominees are...
And the winner is...
There just something about the visual look to Swiss Army Man that really looks beautiful. Directing duo The Daniels had already become key directors with their work on music videos, but with a bigger scale to play with they go all-out with some stunning cinematography - and for a couple of newbies doing this well, they truly deserve some applause.

Best Film Editing
And the nominees are...
  • Creed
  • The Big Short
  • The Jungle Book
  • The Neon Demon
  • The Revenant
And the winner is...
What a gorgeously produced movie. Whilst it is prone to being a tad seizure-inducing, the editing of this film is a crowning achievement for director Nicholas Winding Refn, and is the icing on the cake for a surreal viewing experience.

Best Sound Mixing/Editing
And the nominees are...
  • Arrival
  • Captain America: Civil War
  • Creed
  • Finding Dory
  • The Revenant
And the winner is...
A film based on deciphering language may sound like a wasted reason for awarding it, but the distinct and truly alien sound effects blended together with the terrifyingly tense tone surrounding both the army base and the rest of the planet is reason enough to award this stunning movie the best sound editing/mixing credit 

Best Visual Effects
And the nominees are...
And the winner is...
As great as it was to see Peter Cushing being brought back to life or the all-out acid trip that Benedict Cumberbatch embarked on, the creation of an ultra-realistic jungle and dozens of different species is something to be astounded by - and once Oscar season rolls in, I imagine it'll be just the same there.

Most Underrated Film of 2016
And the nominees are:
And the winner is...
Why Eddie the Eagle? Well, for a film with arguably the most generic plot going round, it's just so surprising that it was as fun an experience that it ended up being. With a solid leading duo with Hugh Jackman and Taron Egerton and a feel-good tone throughout, it's simply a fun enough film that's gone largely forgotten as the year went by.

Most Overrated Film of 2016
And the nominees are:
And the winner is...
Nocturnal Animals has been praised by almost every critic out there, and I can kinda see why. It has some great performances and some great direction by Tom Ford...but that's all I can really say about it. Its numerous narratives don't quite blend together as well as you'd think, and it ultimately ends in an anti-climatic way. It's hardly the worst film on this list, but for a film that's likely going to earn some Oscar glory I'd consider it the most overrated.

Best Animated Feature
And the nominees are:
And the winner is...
Surprise! Bet you thought it would Finding Dory, didn't ya? Luckily for the Mouse House, their crowning achievement of the year is being praised by practically everyone and made it very difficult for the rest of the animation landscape to surpass it in quality. With a brilliant story, lovable characters and a great moral, it made people forget about Frozen for a little while and embrace the anthropomorphic world.

Best Supporting Actor
And the nominees are:
  • Alan Rickman - Eye in the Sky
  • Chadwick Boseman - Captain America: Civil War
  • Jeff Bridges - Hell or High Water
  • John Goodman - 10 Cloverfield Lane
  • Sylvester Stallone - Creed
And the winner is...
What a surprisingly terrifying performance from John Goodman. The infamous actor absolutely makes this surprising movie even better thanks to his unforgettably scary role; you never know whether to trust him or not and to properly achieve that is commendable.

Biggest Surprise of 2016
And the nominees are:
And the winner is...
Popstar is a comedy that made me laugh more than once, which is enough to make it a surprise; but for a movie to make me laugh uncontrollably whilst producing some memorable tunes and characters? That's what I call a huge surprise. While 10 Cloverfield Lane may have come out of nowhere and Ghostbusters didn't end up being terrible, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping was an outright success, and one I highly look forward to revisiting.

Biggest Disappointment of 2016
And the nominees are:
Was there any doubt that this would be the biggest disappointment? The film everyone was looking forward to regardless of their opinion on Man of Steel and their promoted allegiance to whichever superhero cinematic universe turned out to be outright bad, with problems a-plenty. Hell, it barely avoids being one of the worst films of the year. And yes, I've seen it again since - it's still pretty bad.

Best Original Song
And the nominees are:
  • Drive It Like You Stole It - Sing Street (Sing Street)
  • Heathens - Twenty One Pilots (Suicide Squad)
  • I'm So Humble - Conner4Real ft. Adam Levine (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping)
  • Montage - Andy Hull and Robert McDowell (Swiss Army Man)
  • How Far I'll Go - Auli'i Cravalho (Moana)
And the winner is...
Sing Street is another one of those surprise success stories that was sweet and charming, but it's through its numerous musical interludes that this movie truly thrives - and none quite so enjoyable as this midpoint 50s riff. The 80s are reborn in a pleasant earworm way.

Best Original Score
And the nominees are:
  • Henry Jackman - Captain America: Civil War
  • Junkie XL - Deadpool
  • Michael Giacchino - Zootropolis
  • Stephen Bennicks - Room
  • Thomas Newman - Finding Dory
And the winner is...
The original film had such a beautiful score going for it, but Newman's successor adds new levels of emotion and heart to the pre-existing underwater world, with only a few small delves back into the first film's music for some key tones. It's the one soundtrack I've been listening to all year without fail so one would be mad not to give it the win here.

Best Director
And the nominees are:
  • Denis Villeneuve - Arrival
  • Jon Favreau - The Jungle Book
  • Lenny Abrahamson - Room
  • Nicholas Winding Refn - The Neon Demon
  • Scott Derrickson - Doctor Strange
And the winner is...
When the Oscars nominations were announced last January, many were surprised by Abrahamson's inclusion in the best director category. But when you watch the film, you can understand why - he does a magnificent job in creating the small world of Room and the vast new world of humanity. 

Best Actress (Mainstream)
And the nominees are:
And the winner is...
Ellen DeGeneres may have already won over audience hearts the first time around, but she excels even further with her own sequel, bringing about in-depth emotion and comedy into her performance reprisal and reminding us just why we love Dory so much.

Best Actress (Dramatic)
And the nominees are:
  • Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl
  • Amy Adams - Arrival
  • Amy Adams - Nocturnal Animals
  • Brie Larson - Room
  • Meryl Streep - Florence Foster Jenkins
And the winner is...
Amy Adams has had a banner year at the movies (if you forget her unnecessary role in Batman V Superman), but between her work in Arrival and her performance in Nocturnal Animals, it's Arrival that presents her best acting to date. Her fear of the unknown; her obsession with the task at hand; her willingness to go above and beyond in her goal of deciphering...her role as Louise Banks is arguably the best female character we've had all year.

Best Actor (Mainstream)
And the nominees are:
  • Chris Evans - Captain America: Civil War
  • Dwayne Johnson - Moana
  • Mark Rylance - The BFG
  • Ryan Gosling - The Nice Guys
  • Ryan Reynolds - Deadpool
And the winner is...
For a guy to sacrifice years of his life on a single project is ballsy. For him to do such a stellar job in what could easily be an unbearable role and get so much credit that he's now a Golden Globe nominee? That's straight-up astounding. But that's just how good Ryan Reynolds is, as he breathes life and soul into a comic book movie that few people thought would work but turned out pretty great.

Best Actor (Dramatic)
And the nominees are:
  • Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl
  • Jacob Tremblay - Room
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Snowden
  • Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant
  • Steve Carell - The Big Short
And the winner is...
Jacob Tremblay was never going to get an Oscar nomination for his role in Room, but he truly deserved one. He's not only the best child actor working today,  but he's also just a superb actor period; few could steal a movie from a performance like Brie Larson's., but young Tremblay is just so good that he does exactly that - he's just that good.

Worst Picture
And the nominees are:
Was there ever any doubt? Grimsby was the film that outright broke me; an 83 'experience' that disgusted, depressed and angered me in ways that I highly doubt Sacha Baron Cohen and company wanted it to. While Dirty Grandpa bored me and Norm of the North terrified me, Grimsby made me want to quit watching films forever. Nice one, guys.

Best Picture
And the nominees are:
  • Captain America: Civil War
  • Deadpool
  • Finding Dory
  • Hell or High Water
  • Hunt for the Wilderpeople
  • Room
  • Sing Street
  • Spotlight
  • The Nice Guys
  • Zootropolis
And the winner is...
You already knew this thanks to my recent top ten of the year list, so for actual details look no further than here, but unless you can't be bothered - it's no 10/10 movie (no film was in 2016), but it's certainly the closest we've gotten to one.

You can read my entire ranking of films for the year here, and I'm already seeing potential entries to 2017's rankings through the likes of upcoming movies such as La La Land, but until the first reviews for the year turn up - here's hoping for a great year at the movies!
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