You had to know where to look to find the great films of 2016 — many of which haven’t made their way to Birmingham yet or simply avoided local cinemas altogether. It’s thanks to the Sidewalk Film Festival several of these played in the city at all (full disclosure: I am on the festival’s staff, so I’m partial, admittedly), as there is still no dedicated art cinema in the city, or, lacking that, even regular bookings of independent films at local multiplexes.
I’m not naïve. Theaters need to book big studio products because those regularly make money. And indeed, there were some fine examples; you’ll see several on this list. But this was not a great year artistically for the big studios. We saw that, unfortunately, reflected on the bulk of our local screens. It remains a struggle to see most independent films in Birmingham, while products like the odious “Suicide Squad” or “Independence Day: Resurgence” book multiple screens in our local theaters for weeks. That’s the business. It’s more tolerable when the big-budget franchise pictures are good. This year, they largely were not. (And of the handful of big studio movies on this list, a few were outright flops, largely rejected by audiences.)
I expect this list is filled with titles many readers may not have heard of. I wrote fewer full reviews of many of these films, simply because they never became available for people to actually see them, and because I did not see many of these until months after their initial release.
Check out some of these lesser-known films, because as lousy as 2016 may have been, there were plenty of great movies in the margins. It was quite a task to pare this list down to 30 (which is a pretty big number); I had to leave off some tremendous, inspiring work — films like the darkly funny, kaleidoscopically mad “High-Rise,” or the touching coming-of-age comedy “Morris From America,” or the brilliantly tense “Green Room.” But I think that the best films of 2016, in my reckoning, are diverse enough in tone, style and content that everyone can find something to love.
Now, with all that said about most of my favorite films of 2016 being largely small independent movies that were barely released, let’s start this top 30 list on a nicely ironic note…
30. “Captain America: Civil War” (directed by Joe and Anthony Russo)
Many of the blockbusters of 2016 tried to make their audiences feel like children again, but few inspired that child-like awe while still treating their audiences like adults. “Captain America: Civil War” is my favorite of the year’s blockbusters because it’s the most thematically rich and mature, though yes, this is the one about Marvel superheroes punching one another. Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. face off on both sides of an ideological divide that grows personal, as Captain America refuses government oversight and the traumatized Iron Man grows weary about playing the role of autocrat in a complicated world. A refreshingly intimate conflict ensues over an epic superhero punch-’em-up, a story about guilt, loss and the burdens we carry. It is also the only movie in 2016 featuring Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and the best screen Spider-Man (Tom Holland) yet, which means that, out of deference to the child within, it must make this list.
Standout performer: The movie is effectively stolen by Paul Rudd, whose Ant-Man returns as perfectly deployed comic relief.
Standout scene: Two battling superhero forces face off at an abandoned airport in an epic-length fight scene that brought countless geek dreams to vibrant life.
29. “Tower” (directed by Keith Maitland)
In August 1966, the University of Texas was held hostage by a sniper atop the campus’s famed clock tower for a little more than an hour and a half. The shooter killed 16 people and wounded nearly 40 more. It was one of the first mass school shootings in the country’s history, before this phenomenon would be considered commonplace, before such acts of violence were seemingly accepted as the price that must be paid to live in American society. “Tower” would be a great documentary even if the acts it depicted were not so sadly of the moment, so infuriatingly current and raw. Drawing from interviews with many of witnesses and survivors of that day, director Keith Maitland’s film is told in nearly real time through rotoscope-animated recreations, an almost comic book style that lends an unbearable and gripping immediacy to this 50-year-old tragedy.
Standout scene: The film’s climax — not only the height of the film’s tension, but the moment in which you realize the film is never going to mention the shooter’s name, a beautiful choice that puts the focus squarely on the heroes of that day.
28. “Gleason” (directed by Clay Tweel)
Former NFL player Steve Gleason learned within weeks from one another that he would be a father, and that he was suffering from the early stages of the neurodegenerative disease ALS. He then set out to chronicle his life for his unborn son through video journals, for fear that when his son was old enough to get to know his dad, he would no longer be around. These journals form the backbone of the intimate, heart-wrenching and life-affirming documentary “Gleason,” which follows Steve, his wife, Michel, and their young son as Steve’s physical condition deteriorates, but his spirit and resolve grow. Gleason, through his charity work, has become more than just a sports hero; as this wonderful film shows, he’s an inspiration.
Standout scene: Steve and his father have a painful heart-to-heart about their religious differences, in a scene so powerful and private one can scarcely believe it was captured on camera and allowed to be used.
27. “Sunset Song” (directed by Terence Davies)
The great Terence Davies adapts Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s beloved Scottish novel in this visually lush, epic yet personal story of a young woman’s coming of age in the years immediately before World War I. Agyness Deyn stars as Chris Guthrie, who struggles with overwhelming hardship in the beautiful but harsh Scottish land to which she feels a close connection. She pushes back against her overbearing, strictly religious father (Peter Mullan) and finds new kinship and romance with a young man from her village (Kevin Guthrie), and as the years go by, she discovers a new power and strength within. “Sunset Song” showcases the difficulties of being a poor woman at the turn of the century and is unflinching in many of its depictions. But far from wallowing in misery, Davies has shot his film in glorious, vivid color in the beautiful twilight, and his classical style brings to vibrant life this old-fashioned drama that will break your heart.
Standout performer: Deyn, whose central role is vital to the film’s success, breaks your heart with merely the changing of expressions on her face.
Standout scene: A centerpiece at a wedding, in which Davies pulls off a gasp-inducing trick shot during a moment of high emotion that may require you to rewind the film and take a second look.
26. “American Honey” (directed by Andrea Arnold)
Andrea Arnold’s shaggy epic portrait of lust, dreams and unbridled youth is painted on the grand canvas of the American Midwest, a road trip set to a propulsive soundtrack of hip-hop and sheer exuberant energy. A restless teenager (newcomer Sasha Lane) sets off with a van full of other youths selling magazine subscriptions across the country, growing close to an ambitious but troubled young man (Shia LaBeouf, at his best) as the group visits America at its wealthiest and most impoverished, at its lowest and at its most hopeful. “American Honey,” shot in a boxy aspect ratio, is a grand blur of color and sensation unlike any other narrative film this year, sustained less by any sort of plot than the grand, wild, untamable passions and energies that characterize youth.
Standout performer: Lane, who carries the movie on her shoulders, turns in an astonishing, confident first-time performance as the headstrong Star.
Standout scene: Star is seduced by the lifestyle of the magazine salespeople in a Kmart checkout line, all set to Rihanna and Calvin Harris’ “We Found Love.”
25. “Kate Plays Christine” (directed by Robert Greene)
Less a strict documentary than an essay on the ethics of a certain type of docudrama filmmaking, Robert Greene’s film defies easy explanation, but proves to be one of the most indelible filmgoing experiences of the year. The film follows the actress Kate Lyn Sheil as she prepares to take the role of Christine Chubbuck, the infamous newscaster who committed suicide on the air in 1974. As Sheil tries to learn more about Chubbuck and submerges herself in the dark mindset of her character, she and Greene begin to ruminate on the responsibility of artists handling such subject matter, and the line between depiction and exploitation. Sticky questions, but as Sheil transforms herself into Chubbuck, the process is nothing short of hypnotic and disturbing.
Standout scene: For me, the controversial final 10 minutes, which serve as a dark “punchline” of sorts for Greene’s ultimate thesis — and struck me as shattering.
24. “The Handmaiden” (directed by Park Chan-wook)
Explicit and twisty in the most delightful fashion, “The Handmaiden” is the insidious Korean erotic lesbian con-artist thriller you didn’t know you needed. Nothing is quite what it seems at a vast estate in Japanese-occupied Korea in the 1930s, as a new handmaiden (Kim Tae-ri) is hired to attend to a Japanese heiress (Kim Min-hee). Little does the heiress know that the handmaiden is involved with an elaborate con to get the heiress’ fortune. Of course, there are plenty of other secrets to be discovered, and no one is quite who they claim to be. Rest assured you have no idea where “The Handmaiden” is going as the movie folds in on itself, scenes are replayed from different angles, flashbacks show hidden motivations and new contexts are explored. Park Chan-wook has crafted a lavish, beautiful film with hidden perversities, but despite its many twists and turns, “The Handmaiden” doesn’t lose touch with its affecting emotional core.
Standout performer: As the heiress Lady Hideko, Kim Min-hee is gifted with a layered, complicated and hilarious role, and she goes for its many difficult turns with gusto.
Standout scene: Without spoilers, at one point, the patriarchy is violently dismantled, so to speak.
23. “April and the Extraordinary World” (directed by Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci)
This animated French export is a film of limitless imagination and tremendous beauty, constructed with glorious hand-drawn animation that brings to life an alternate history France filled with hidden secrets. Set in a dystopian steampunk 1941 Paris, we follow a young woman named April and her talking cat, Darwin, as they are drawn into the vast conspiracy that has halted human progress, stolen away the best and brightest scientists from across the world and kept society stuck in the steam age. Moving at a breakneck pace from one thrilling set piece to the next, this is a wondrous film filled with beautiful details and true wonder that creates a unique world — something most American films, animated or not, were unable to manage this year.
Standout performer: The English-language dub of the film features Tony Hale as the voice of the very sassy Darwin, a perfect match and one of my favorite vocal performances in this year’s animated offerings.
Standout scene: April and several others find themselves trapped in a very unusual house — and when it’s time to make a quick escape, they call upon one of the house’s unique properties.
22. “The BFG” (directed by Steven Spielberg)
We need to stop taking Steven Spielberg for granted. One of our greatest living filmmakers crafted a magical children’s fantasy, made with exquisite craft, and nobody showed up for it. This has to be a movie that finds its audience at home, a light as air story, adapted from Roald Dahl’s beloved novel, in which a lonely orphan (Ruby Barnhill) befriends the friendly giant (Mark Rylance) who delivers dreams to the sleeping people of the world. Dahl’s darker sensibilities are naturally softened by Spielberg’s more optimistic lens, but the result is a film of gentleness and nuance, a film that moves at a much slower pace than most children’s entertainment and finds true emotion in lingering. It’s easy to be swept up in the magic of the film’s special effects and general sweet nature, and it is a testament to Spielberg’s unfussy cinematic mastery that he makes it seem so easy.
Standout performer: Rylance, whose expressive, melancholy face, augmented by special effects work, do just as much as computer generated wizardry to bring the BFG to life.
Standout scene: A late-night trip to the source of all dreams is brilliantly crafted by Spielberg, composer John Williams and director of photographer Janusz Kaminski.
21. “Sing Street” (directed by John Carney)
John Carney’s ebullient coming-of-age musical-comedy follows an aspiring singer-songwriter who tries to attract a local girl by starting a rock band in mid-1980s Dublin. A partially autobiographical story from the writer-director of “Once” and “Begin Again,” “Sing Street” is one of the year’s great feel-good pictures, filled with ’80s style, great characters and a soundtrack of one catchy tune after another. No matter how miserable our surroundings — and, indeed, the economically depressed Dublin is miserable for our teen protagonist Conor, played by Ferdia Walsh-Peelo — music has the power to transform us and to make our problems fade away. “Sing Street” is beautiful and sincere, a fine representation not only of musical craft but of the artistic drive in general.
Standout performer: Conor’s frustrated burnout older brother, as played by Jack Reynor, serves as a musical mentor and, at key moments, a necessary voice urging his brother to actually go down the path he once blazed.
Standout scene: Even if our protagonist’s reach exceeds his grasp, we see the music video of his dreams, a grand dance sequence set in his school auditorium.
20. “The Nice Guys” (directed by Shane Black)
In 1970s Los Angeles, smog and the porn industry were at an all-time high, gasoline was strictly rationed, and common decency and morality were hard to find. Set amid the soundtrack of the decade and the backdrop of faded dreams is, believe it or not, this hilarious private eye film noir comedy, another grand slam from writer-director Shane Black that may not have found its audience in theaters, but will surely grow as beloved as Black’s other action-comedy work. Ryan Gosling stars as an alcoholic private eye and Russell Crowe as a brute-force fixer who make a reluctant team on the search for a missing young woman, a case that takes them through the dark underbellies of L.A. subculture in a wildly off-kilter screwball comic mystery. Come for the plot, which is incidental ultimately; stay for Crowe and Gosling’s comedic chops and any number of sharp, dark jokes that just get funnier and funnier. “The Nice Guys” has the potential to become a cult classic comedy on the level of “The Big Lebowski,” with which it shares more than a few similarities.
Standout performer: While I love Gosling’s intensely physical comedic performance, the standout is Angourie Rice, who plays his character’s intensely moral, capable young daughter.
Standout scene: A climactic chase and frantic attempt to recover a film canister of some interest convince Gosling’s character he may be indestructible.
19. “Knight of Cups” (directed by Terrence Malick)
The great cinematic poet Terrence Malick returns with an experimental drama that serves as something of a reflection on the emptiness of modern culture and the search for a spiritually fulfilled life. As has become custom for Malick, he eschews anything close to conventional film structure; “Knight of Cups” tells the barest hint of a story about Hollywood screenwriter Rick (Christian Bale) and a series of relationships with various women that change his life in different ways. This will not work for everyone. But I found “Knight of Cups” to be truly provocative and probing, a plaintive work of philosophy and theology that tries to find a path toward righteousness in a decadent world. Whether you buy into what the film is selling or not, it is a stunning work of filmmaking, filled with unshakable images and moments that form a fragmentary but beautiful whole. In other words, just another Terrence Malick picture.
Standout performer: There are few conventional performances in “Knight of Cups,” but Cate Blanchett has a handful of thunderous scenes as Rick’s ex-wife that are among the film’s most memorable.
Standout scene: The sequence that details the brief relationship between Rick and a married woman played by Natalie Portman.
18. “Elle” (directed by Paul Verhoeven)
Isabelle Huppert is a force of nature in Paul Verhoeven’s provocative and shocking dark comic thriller, a sharp stick in the eye of timid viewers whose performance will unsettle and astound in a film of extraordinary daring. Huppert plays a middle-aged executive who is raped by an unknown assailant as the film begins. But her response seems unusual — and as we grow to understand what makes Michele tick, we watch as she grows strangely fascinated with her rapist and enters a perverse cat-and-mouse game with him. But who is the cat, and who is the mouse? This is a film that, by all accounts, should not work. Verhoeven is playing with something truly incendiary and disturbing. But discovering the layers to Michele, as communicated by Huppert’s icy reserve and sharp wit, is one of the year’s most profound pleasures; the comic aspects of “Elle” grow pronounced as this strong female character, surrounded by patriarchal dupes, fights back against a society that would dare pigeonhole and limit her. Powerful, darkly funny, twisty, perverse, unforgettable.
Standout performer: Huppert’s is likely my favorite performance of the year.
Standout scene: In which a character’s plan comes together in climactic fashion.
17. “Indignation” (directed by James Schamus)
The world is unfair, death is inevitable and encroaching, and the proper response to this is righteous anger, says this adaptation of Phillip Roth’s novel, the directorial debut of screenwriter James Schamus. The young actor Logan Lerman, so impressive in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and “Fury,” gives his best performance yet as Marcus Messner, a working-class Jewish kid who enrolls at an Ohio college in 1951, as the Korean War wages and provides an ever-constant existential threat. Perturbed by the college’s required chapel attendance and struggling to focus on his studies, Marcus is drawn to Olivia Hutton (Sarah Gadon), a more sexually experienced young woman who shakes Marcus to his core and whose relationship with him sets off a disastrous chain of events. The aesthetically precise and polished filmmaking is key not only to depicting the repressed politeness of the 1950s Midwest, but the rage barely contained underneath it.
Standout performer: Lerman and Gadon, together, are an explosive pair; it seems hardly fair to separate them.
Standout scene: A mid-film centerpiece conversation between Marcus and the dean of his college, played by Tracy Letts, is a verbal battle of wills that might be the year’s single best scene.
16. “Krisha” (directed by Trey Edward Shults)
A woman on the brink of collapse takes center stage in this intimate, almost horrific depiction of one family’s most disastrous Thanksgiving ever. Writer-director Trey Edward Shults makes his directorial debut with this gripping drama made on a shoestring budget, with a cast made up largely of his own family — including the jawdropping performance at its center from Krisha Fairchild, Shults’ aunt, playing a character that shares her name and disappearing into a haunted, troubled role. Estranged from her family for many years after spending a lifetime struggling with addiction, Krisha has come home, hoping to reconnect with her son (Shults) and her sisters. But relapse looms when things don’t go as planned. Shults’ camera swoops and spins and loops through a typical suburban home in some moments, while in others transforming the clean, lit hallways of the same house into something like a horror movie setting. Shults has drawn from John Cassavetes, Terrence Malick and David Lynch in crafting “Krisha,” and he has made something extraordinary and unique in doing so, the voice of an exciting new young filmmaker.
Standout performer: Krisha Fairchild, whose work is wounded and frightening in equal measure.
Standout scene: In grand slow-motion, like a car crash, a roasted turkey takes a great fall.
Check back tomorrow for Part 2, featuring Nos. 15-1.