The 10 Best Films of 2016

Jan 2, 2017
top 10 best films 2016

Regardless of how awful your 2016 was, there’s no denying last year has produced its fair share of great films. This year has been an interesting time for Philippine cinema, as independently-produced content is slowly getting into a larger scale market than it used to thanks to the uprising of local film festivals and theaters making these accessible. Blockbusters and the bigger budget films still reigned the market unsurprisingly, but the lesser-known content easily takes the crown in terms of winning the hearts of moviegoers. 

Here are my top 10 best films of 2016. There’s a lot to be considered here that I fairly enjoyed, such as the Coen Brothers’ satire on ‘50s cinema ‘Hail Ceasar’, Brillante Mendoza’s Cannes-winning ‘Ma’ Rosa’, Eduardo Roy, Jr.’s ‘Pamilya Ordinaryo’, and the Harry Potter prequel ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them’. Not to mention the sweet Metro Manila Film Festival entries 'Die Beautiful' and 'Vince & Kath & James'. But all has to be narrowed down to just 10. Let’s start.

10. 10 Cloverfield Lane (Dan Trachtenberg)


top 10 best films 2016

This spin-off to the found-footage disaster film Cloverfield is a self-contained thriller that interestingly relies on the intrigue between its characters in a room than its bigger threat outside. It is puzzling, intense, and features a towering performance by John Goodman, who needs to be recognized in major award ceremonies.

(Read review here)

9. Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis (Lav Diaz)


top 10 best films 2016

The film that won the Alfred Baeur award at the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival, this 8-hour Lav Diaz epic stunned me right from the first frame up to its emotionally-gripping finale. Despite featuring plenty of undertones, this is a film that allows its audience to speak for themselves, and not the film bragging to speak for them. It may not be as strong as Diaz’s recent endeavors Norte, The End of History and From What Is Before, but this is immersive and fearless, just as what you might expect from him.

(Read review here)

8. Everybody Wants Some!! (Richard Linklater)


top 10 best films 2016

Richard Linklater’s “spiritual follow-up” to his cult classic Dazed and Confused may have gone too far with its nostalgic tropes, but its ultimately fun characters and the director’s knack for great dialogue all makes up to make it a worthy addition to his filmography.

7. Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford)


top 10 best films 2016

Like the book Amy Adam’s character was reading in the film, ‘Nocturnal Animals’ is a real page-turner. It strays away from a more straightforward and settles for a multi-layered narrative, adding another level of enthrallment in an already captivating story.

6. Captain America: Civil War (Anthony and Joe Russo)


top 10 best films 2016

In this era where action blockbusters are desperately competing on who has the most number of explosions, ‘Captain America: Civil War’ presents a war that is rather small scale. The action kicks in here and there, but the real battle happens when two characters are rambling on their respective ideologies in a room, an effective step-back from all those superhero tropes. ‘Civil War’ also has one of the greatest action sequences captured on film: a 15-minute superhero brawl reminiscent of every kid’s hobby of pitting different action figures to one another.

(Read review here)

5. Star Na Si Van Damme Stallone (Randolph Longjas)


top 10 best films 2016

This overlooked gem from the CineFilipino Film Festival 2016 does not fall short of becoming sweet. ‘Star Na Si Van Damme Stallone’ might’ve resort to unexpected dark territory a few times, but this film is full of charm and buoyancy, capturing a genuine look of a mother raising a child with Down syndrome.

(Read review here)

4. The Lobster (Yorgos Lanthimos)


top 10 best films 2016

The Lobster’ presents a fascinating complex look at the mechanical state of love and law, effectively supported by director Yorgos Lanthimos’ trademark use of dry humor. It’s one of those films that keep getting better and better on repeated viewings, poised to become a future classic.

3. Sunday Beauty Queen (Babyruth Villarama)


top 10 best films 2016

Sunday Beauty Queen’ floored me. Babyruth Villarama’s documentary on the lives of OFWs (Overseas Filipino Worker) in Hong Kong is a triumphant love letter to the unrecognized plight of Filipinos and to what extremes the power of cinema can deliver. 

(Read review here)

2. The Handmaiden (Park Chon-Wook)


top 10 best films 2016

I remembered watching ‘The Handmaiden’ in a packed theater during the QCinema International Film Festival, where it was the opening film. I remembered gushing with the flock of audience from time to time when the plot starts to peel itself more. I also remembered feeling lost after watching it, realizing how this film transfixed me in its gloomy environment fueled by revenge and sex. This film is unforgettable, and definitely up there with ‘Oldboy’ as one of Park Chon-Wook’s greatest works.

1. The Nice Guys (Shane Black)


top 10 best films 2016

The Nice Guys’ is confused on where it is. In this era of spectacles and superheroes invading the film market, here we have a movie that seems like a classic ‘70s film that wasn’t released in 1970s. This is the best Shane Black has ever done in his filmmaking career, which comes off as a surprise since ‘Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang’ was gold, and topping it is a far-fetch, but it successfully did. Criminally overlooked, there will be a point sometime a year or two where this film would be given the recognition it deserved, joining the ranks of the classic action/ comedy films in Hollywood cinema.

(Read review here)





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