End of Year 2016

Happy first day of 2017!  Here's hoping that it's better than 2016.

It's time now for my annual top ten movies of the year.  Last year's list (2015) was harder to rank the top half.  This year's top three were absolute no-brainers.  The second half was much harder.  I also didn't see as many new releases as I would have liked, only 20 for the whole calendar year.  I know I'm missing a bunch of kick-ass films but I just didn't get to them in time.  So here are the top ten of the ones I did see.

10.  Finding Dory -- For a sequel, this is not a bad movie.  But if I had seen more this year, it probably wouldn't have made the cut.

9.  Doctor Strange -- Magic in the Marvel universe.  This was a little more of a low-key film by itself but I have to respect the amount of influence it brings to the overall multiverse.  Plus, it gave me more Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, and Chiwetel Ejiofor and you can't put a price on that.

8.  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story -- I thought this was really well done.  And not just for the technological achievements, which blew my freaking mind.  It was well-handled as a standalone, delivering all the character and feel of a Star Wars movie without being mired in repetition.

7.  The Nice Guys -- This movie was hilarious.  I love Shane Black.

6.  Star Trek Beyond -- And Star Trek is back on top for me.  After the wretched disappointment of the second entry, it took a herculean effort to get back into my good graces.  I love this cast so much and they all work so well together.  Losing Anton Yelchin was a horrible blow (damn you, 2016!) but I still believe they can pull off another entry.  I wouldn't have said that in 2015.

5.  The Accountant -- This was the biggest surprise on the list for me.  I really liked this movie.  I even got over Ben Affleck being in it.

4.  Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them -- I finally understand why people get all gaga for Harry Potter thanks to this movie.  I felt transported by it to a place where magic abounded if you only knew how to see.  Totally on board for this franchise.

3.  Captain America:  Civil War -- Like I said, no brainer.  There was so much awesomeness in this movie.  Black Panther, Bucky and Falcon, Giant Man, Spider-Man, so many fight scenes, Vision and Scarlet Witch.  Ugh.  Love love love.

2.  Moana -- This might have only edged out Civil War because I saw it most recently but I loved the fuck out of this movie.  It was amazing.

1.  Deadpool -- Duh.  Best movie of the year.  I will fight anyone who says otherwise.

Okay, now that we've rehashed the old, let's take a look ahead to see what we have to look forward to in the coming year.

Split --Jan 20-- It's an M. Night Shyamalan which should be enough to send anyone running for the hills but the previews actually look kind of good.  Ehhhhhhh.

xXx: The Return of Xander Cage --Jan 20-- Shut up.  I can't believe this is actually getting made.

John Wick: Chapter Two --Feb 10-- Fuck. Yes.  I am totally down.

The Lego Batman Movie --Feb 10--  OMG, yes.  All the yes in the world.

The Great Wall --Feb 17-- I love Zhang Yimou but I do not have very high expectations for this.

Logan --Mar 3-- Be still my heart.

T2:  Trainspotting --Mar 3-- I have no idea if this is going to be any good.  The original Trainspotting is legendary and they got all the original cast back, but it's been 20 years.

Kong: Skull Island --Mar 10-- You had me at Hiddleston.

Beauty and the Beast --Mar 17-- Disney is going full throttle with live-action adaptations.  So far, I'm not mad at it.

Power Rangers --Mar 24-- I can't tell if this is going to be hilarious or horrendous.

Ghost in the Shell --Mar 31-- I really loved this anime.  I feel very conflicted about this.

The Fate of the Furious --Apr 14-- This is a really stupid title.  I still haven't seen Furious 7, though.

Guardians of the Galaxy, vol 2 --May 5-- Already has my money.

King Arthur:  Legend of the Sword --May 12-- /heavy sigh  We're doing another King Arthur movie? Really?  Have we learned nothing?  At least it's got Charlie Hunnam so it'll be pretty to look at.

Alien:  Covenant --May 19-- Okay, Ridley Scott.  Blow me away.

Pirates of the Caribbean:  Dead Men Tell No Tales --May 26-- Jack Sparrow is about the only role I can stand Johnny Depp in anymore.

Baywatch --May 26-- I physically shudder at the thought of this film.  I know it has The Rock and Zac Efron and it's supposed to be very tongue-in-cheek but I'm leery of that description since I balls-out hated 21 Jump Street.

Wonder Woman --Jun 2-- Come on, DC.  This is honestly your best chance to salvage any goodwill.

The Mummy -- Jun 9-- I've seen the trailer.  I'm not terribly impressed but it might be worth it.  Too soon to tell.

Cars 3 --Jun 16-- The trailer for this looks hella dark.  I was not a fan of the Cars series but this might be worth watching.

Despicable Me 3 --Jun 30-- Could be cute.  Hopefully better than Minions.

Spider-Man:  Homecoming --Jul 7-- Already has my money, despite Spider-Man being one of my least favorite superheroes.  I need to see what Marvel is going to do with it.

War for the Planet of the Apes --Jul 14-- Aww yisssss.

Dunkirk --Jul 21-- Ugh, this is going to be so painful and depressing to watch but it's Christopher Nolan so I'm going to anyway.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets --Jul 21-- This looks really interesting.  It's been a couple of years since Luc Besson did a movie and this looks like he has gone all out.

The Dark Tower --Jul 28-- I really hated this source novel.  I couldn't get through it to save my life.  But I love Idris Elba.  Do you see my dilemma?

Annabelle 2 --Aug 11-- WTF?  Why does this movie exist?  And it got a prime blockbuster spot, too! What the hell?!

It --Sep 8-- Okay, I was totally on board with this when it was Cary Fukunaga and Will Poulter but now both those people are gone and replaced with people I've never heard of so my enthusiasm, suffice to say, has waned.

Flatliners --Sep 29-- Hey, look!  Another remake.

Blade Runner 2049 --Oct 6-- This has the potential to be just godawful if handled incorrectly.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle --Oct 6-- I am so excited about this.

Thor:  Ragnarok --Nov 3-- Absolutely.

Justice League --Nov 17-- This could totally suck but I'm hoping for a nice surprise.  Like, that DC fires Zack Snyder and hires someone who isn't so desperate to prove he's an artiste.

Murder on the Orient Express --Nov 22-- It will be interesting to see how this does, considering how dated the source material is.  Then again, it's reintroducing Poirot, which I can't be mad about.

Star Wars:  Episode VIII --Dec 15-- People are probably already standing in line for this.

Jumanji --Dec 22-- I'm trying really hard not to be mad about this.  Trying, and failing.

Pitch Perfect 3 --Dec 22-- Yes!

The Greatest Showman --Dec 25-- This is a biopic of P.T. Barnum, so I understand if a lot of you are going "what?" right now.  I've always been interested in the man, though, so I'm totally on board.

Well, that's a lot coming up for the year.  I don't know how many I'll get to, but as usual, I will spend my year watching everything I can and blurting out my opinions in blog posts for your amusement.