Those of you who know me well know that I watch A LOT of movies. As a kid, going to the theatre was a family past-time, and my parents were my number one movie-watching buddies. To this day, it remains one of my favorite ways to escape reality and share time, experiences, and thoughts with those I care about most.
I started collecting ticket stubs when I was young, but it was an inconsistent endeavor and I’m pretty sure I’ve thrown all of them out by now. Only in the past couple of years have I become more strict about collecting. Now that I buy most of my tickets online, I still make sure to get them printed at the theatre when I arrive. For me, each ticket, each movie, was a memory of what I saw, who I was with, what I felt, what I thought, and what I did all throughout that day. It became a diary of sorts - that centered my life around the stories and worlds that I wanted to live in or tell myself.
It only recently occurred to me to keep an actual list of all the movies I’ve seen in one full year. I started doing so back in 2015, but like my ticket collecting, it was a half-hearted hobby, and I logged only the titles of the films I saw. So, in 2016, I set out to create a more detailed account and began tracking the theatres I attended, the date, the time, and who I saw it with. I later tacked on my own critic and enjoyment ratings, because, ya know, everyone has an opinion and I wanted to remember mine.
Anyway, pardon the self-indulgent writing, but without further ado, here’s the list, in chronological order, of all the new films I’ve watched in theatres from January to December in 2016:
The Hateful Eight: 70 mm Roadshow
The Revenant
The Danish Girl
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Deadpool
Zootopia
10 Cloverfield Lane
The Witch
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
The Jungle Book
Captain America: Civil War
X-Men: Apocalypse
WarCraft
Finding Dory
The Purge: Election Year
Ghostbusters
Start Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad
The Secret Life of Pets
Jason Bourne
Kubo and The Two Strings
Don't Breathe
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Boo! A Madea Halloween
Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back
Doctor Strange
Arrival
Moana
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
La La Land
Collateral Beauty
Assassin's Creed
And here’s a breakdown of all the films, prioritized in order from best to worst in their respective categories:
BEST 5 MOVIES (must watch, they were awe-inspiring and revelational)
La La Land
Moana
Arrival
Don’t Breathe
Kubo and The Two Strings
WORST 5 MOVIES (don’t bother, my brain was either shut off or died at some point)
Suicide Squad
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Ghostbusters
Assassin’s Creed
X-Men: Apocalypse
HONORABLE MENTIONS (perfect or not, I kinda just really like them, so...)
The Revenant
Captain America: Civil War
Zootopia
Collateral Beauty
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The Hateful Eight: 70 mm Roadshow
10 Cloverfield Lane
Deadpool
BEST MOVIE OF 2016: La La Land
WORST MOVIE OF 2016: X-Men: Apocalypse
MISSED MOVIES (I really wanted to watch them, but didn’t get to)
Nocturnal Animals
Moonlight
The Handmaiden
Fences
The Huntsman: Winter’s War
Looking back on the year, I’ve come to realize that although I’ve become decidedly disillusioned by superhero movies and most animated films (namely Pixar’s films - sorrynotsorry), they will, most of the time, be well-produced and well-told stories, with enjoyable characters, and overall satisfying experiences. Regardless, that alone does not make them outstanding pieces of cinema.
Superhero movies have become the blockbuster, tent-pole films of our generation, and while I’m glad Marvel has figured out a way to make them popular and profitable (with the exception of Fox’s X-Men franchise and DC, who both REALLY still need to get their shit together - still holding out hope fro Wonder Woman tho...), they’ve also now raised the bar for themselves. Nothing short of a genre-breaking/redefining superhero movie will stand out in the massive and masterfully crafted cinematic universe that they’ve created. Video game movies though, apparently, still have a lot to learn (PLEASE don’t fuck up the Tomb Raider reboot!)
As far as animation goes, Pixar, for me at least, seems to be suffering the same stigma - all their movies are amazing and super well-made, but not really memorable. With that in mind, it’s ironic to me that the villain in my favorite film of theirs, The Incredibles, foreshadowed their current fate when he said: “When everyone’s super... NO ONE will be...” In contrast, although Disney’s movies aren’t exactly perfectly produced, it at least appears that they’re taking risks in the messages and themes of the stories they’re telling. They’re pushing and poking boundaries with cultural representation and social subject matter. Granted, their handling of such topics is still somewhat clunky and controversial, but I appreciate that their voice is evolving and adjusting to the modern world and diversity of people around it.
Now that I think about it, it is that clarity, freshness, and uniqueness of voice that is probably the greatest common factor shared among my top 5 moves of the year. Whether it’s through style, themes, message, character, or literal language and vocals (or lack there of), each film expresses its story with a voice so clear that it rings out, distinct above the din of drama, and echoes still, strong as ever, inside my heart and mind.
Also, as I mentioend before, movies are one of my favorite ways to spend time with those I love while enjoying something I'm passionate about. So here's a short list of my friends and loved ones who've accompanied me the most on these cinematic adventures:
TOP 5 MOVIE BUDDIES
Sean (33 times)
Raad (11 times)
David (7 times)
Stacey (7 times)
Daniel (6 times)
I don't know if I could ever thank Sean enough for basically watching every single movie with me this past year! The one film we didn't see together he still showed up to the theatre afterwards to wish me a happy birthday. THANK YOU, my Sean and stars! XOXO
Every now and then, my boyfriend will have these really random moments where he says or does something completely out of the blue. Sometimes they’re funny, sometimes they’re complete nonsense, but all of the time they’re just very uniquely him. They became such a frequent occurrence that I naturally decided to start recording them in hopes of one day making a little comic strip and sharing it with the world. I figured it would serve as really great drawing practice and be a cute way to chronicle and remember exactly What He Said.