2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

The Top 10 of the Year

1. Heartstone/Hjartasteinn - Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson + Best Animal Movie of the Year + Best Debut of the Year + Best Icelandic Movie of the Year + Best  Nature Movie of the Year + Best Youth Movie of the Year

2. O.J.: Made in America, documentary - Ezra Edelman + Best American Movie of the Year + Best California Movie of the Year + Best Epic of the Year

3. Captain Fantastic - Matt Ross + Best Independent Movie of the Year + Best Drama of the Year

 

4. Hunt for the Wilderpeople - Taika Waititi + Best Adventure Comedy of the Year + Best Family Movie of the Year + Best New Zealand Movie of the Year

5. Arrival - Denis Villeneuve + Best Adaptation of the Year + Best Science Fiction Movie of the Year

6. Love & Friendship - Whit Stillman + Best Comeback Actress of the Year: Kate Beckinsale + Best Huge Hit Movie of the Year + Best Period Movie of the Year

7. Moonlight - Barry Jenkins + Best Mega-hit of the Year + Best LGBT Movie of the Year + Best Poster of the Year + Best Coming-of-Age Movie of the Year

8. Slack Bay/Ma Loute - Bruno Dumont + Best Absurd Comedy of the Year + Best French Movie of the Year

9. Aquarius - Kleber Mendonça Filho + Best Brazilian Movie of the Year + Best Character Study of the Year + Best Political Movie of the Year

 

10. Hell or High Water - David Mackenzie + Best Car Movie of the Year + Best Heist Movie of the Year + Best Texas Movie of the Year

 

Other great movies (in alphabetic order):

After the Storm/海よりもまだ深く (Umi yori mo Mada Fukaku) - Hirokazu Kore-eda + Best Japanese Movie of the Year

The Autopsy of Jane Doe - André Øvredal + Best Horror Movie of the Year + Best Low-Budget Movie of the Year + Best Gore Movie of the Year + Best Witch Movie of the Year 

Florence Foster Jenkins - Stephen Frears + Best True-Story Movie of the Year

Hacksaw Ridge - Mel Gibson + Best War Movie of the Year + Comeback of the Year: Mel Gibson

The Jungle Book - Jon Favreau + Best 3D Movie of the Year

Kung Fu Panda 3 - Alessandro Carloni, Jennifer Yuh Nelson + Best Comedy of the Year

La La Land - Damian Chazelle + Best Musical of the Year

Lion - Garth Davis + Best Australian Movie of the Year

Looking: The Movie, TV movie - Andrew Haigh + Best TV Movie of the Year + Best San Francisco Title of the Year

Loving - Jeff Nichols + Best Big Flop Movie of the Year + Best Historical Movie of the Year + Best Virginia Movie of the Year

Nocturnal Animals - Tom Ford + Best Crime Drama of the Year + Best Los Angeles Movie of the Year + Most Stylish Movie of the Year

Snowden - Oliver Stone + Best Biopic of the Year

Zootopia - Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush

Good, recommendable movies (in alphabetic order):

The Conjuring 2 - James Wan

Finding Dory - Andrew Stanton, Angus MacLane + Best Blockbuster of the Year

Ghostbusters - Paul Feig

 I, Daniel Blake - Ken Loach + Best English Movie of the Year

In the Blood/I Blodet - Rasmus Heisterberg + Best Copenhagen Movie of the Year

Lights Out - David F. Sandberg

Little Men - Ira Sachs + Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year + Best New York Movie of the Year

The Lost City of Z - James Gray + Most Undeserved Flop of the Year + Best Adventure of the Year + Best Jungle Movie of the Year + Best Ensemble of the Year

Manchester by the Sea - Kenneth Lonergan + Best Massachusetts Movie of the Year

Midnight Special - Jeff Nichols

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Tim Burton

The Neon Demon - Nicolas Winding Refn

Passengers - Morten Tyldum + Best Space Movie of the Year

Paterson - Jim Jarmusch + Best New Jersey Movie of the Year

Sausage Party - Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon

Shin Godzilla/シン・ゴジラ (Shin Gojira) - Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi + Best Kaiju Movie of the Year + Best Tokyo Movie of the Year

Star Trek Beyond - Justin Lin 

Their Finest - Lone Scherfig + Best Moviemaking Movie of the Year

Wiener-Dog - Todd Solondz + Most Under-Appreciated Movie of the Year + Best Dramedy of the Year + Best Dog Movie of the Year


The Bottom 10 of the Year

 

1. Inferno - Ron Howard

 

2. The Great Wall/长城/Cháng Chéng - Yimou Zhang

3. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - Gareth Edwards + Most Undeserved Hit of the Year

4. A Monster Calls - J.A. Bayona + Most Deserved Flop of the Year

 

5. The Magnificent Seven - Antoine Fuqua

 

 

6. In a Valley of Violence - Ti West

7. London Has Fallen - Babak Najafi + Most Tasteless Movie of the Year

8. The Handmaiden/아가씨 (Agassi) - Park Chan-wook

9. Alice Through the Looking Glass - James Bobin + Most Expensive Flop of the Year + Worst Sequel of the Year

 

10. Sully - Clint Eastwood

Other failed, poor and/or mediocre movies and TV-series (in alphabetic order):

13 Hours/13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

Café Society - Woody Allen + Best Romcom of the Year
Hail, Caesar! 

Hidden Figures - Theodore Melfi + Most Overrated Movie of the Year

House of Cards - season 4, VoD - Beau Willimon 

Indignation - James Schamus

The Nice Guys - Shane Black 
Pete's Dragon

The Shallows - Jaume Collet-Sera

Warcraft - Duncan Jones
X-Men: Apocalypse 

[63 titles in total]

Notes:
 

The third update of the 2016 lists adds 22 titles which make great upheaval in both the Top and Bottom lists:
The year's best is new entry Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson's divine Icelandic youth drama debut Heartstone; with new entry Ezra Edelman's epic US-skewering sports/crime documentary O.J.: Made in America taking silver; and Matt Ross' emotionally riveting Captain Fantastic bronze. The list goes on with new entry Taika Waititi's hilarious family adventure Hunt for the Wilderpeople; Denis Villeneuve's sensational sci-fi drama thriller Arrival; Whit Stillman's cynically hilarious period adaptation Love & Friendship; Barry Jenkins' triumphant gay coming-of-age drama Moonlight; new entry Bruno Dumont's highly original absurd comedy Slack Bay; Kleber Mendonça Filho's soulful political drama Aquarius; with new entry David Mackenzie's tough heist thriller Hell or High Water rounding off the list. Leaving the Top 10 in this edition are Ken Loach's indignation-fueled social realism drama I, Daniel Blake, Stephen Frears' delightful Florence Foster Jenkins, Jeff Nichols' soulful, beautiful historical romance drama Loving, Garth Davis' hugely affecting true-story drama Lion and Oliver Stone's highly topical biopic Snowden. 

Other noteworthy films of the year include a new Japanese Godzilla movie (Shin Godzilla), a very naughty American animation comedy (Sausage Party),  André Øvredal's terrifying The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Alessandro Carloni and Jennifer Yuh Nelson's hilarious Kung Fu Panda 3, Jon Favreau's magical The Jungle Book, Mel Gibson's forceful true-story war movie Hacksaw Ridge and Andrew Haigh's touching, romantic TV movie Looking: The Movie. Also of note; a cool, super-hyped musical (La La Land), a violent, sophisticated crime drama (Nocturnal Animals), a realistic, poignant youth drama (Little Men) and an ambitious, impressive Amazonia epic (The Lost City of Z).
The worst movie of the year is new entry Ron Howard's muddled nonsense sequel Inferno; with new entry Yimou Zhang's jarring period actioner The Great Wall taking silver and Gareth Edwards' tentpole blockbuster for Disney, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story bronze. The Bottom 10 list goes on with J.A. Bayona's amazingly misguided family fantasy flick, the disastrously bleak A Monster Calls; new entry Antoine Fuqua's mind-numbing western remake The Magnificent Seven; new entry Ti West's smaller but also failed western A Valley of Violence; Babak Najafi's senseless terrorism actioner sequel London Has Fallen; new entry Park Chan-wook's art house erotica bore The Handmaiden; James Bobin's career-stopping, hugely expensive flop Alice Through the Looking Glass; with new entry Clint Eastwood's disappointing flight miracle drama Sully rounding off the list. Leaving it in this edition is Duncan Jones' somewhat lukewarm computer game adaptation Warcraft.

The big name stars who fronted flops this year include Melissa McCarthy (Ghostbusters), Johnny Depp (Alice Through the Looking Glass), Chris Pine (Star Trek Beyond), Denzel Washington (The Magnificent Seven), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Snowden), Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe (The Nice Guys), Charlie Hunnam and Robert Pattinson (The Lost City of Z) and Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender (X-Men: Apocalypse).

The big hits were dominated by non-star led animation and a tentpole with a newcomer (Felicity Jones in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, but after these the stars fronting lucrative wins include Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (La La Land), Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring 2), Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures), Jack Black (Kung Fu Panda 3) and Dev Patel (Lion).
Among the first-rate filmmakers who also churned out sub-par efforts in 2016 are Bryan Singer (X-Men: Apocalypse), Woody Allen (Café Society) and Ethan and Joel Coen (Hail, Caesar!).

On the 2017 Oscars:

Jimmy Kimmel hosted the awards for the first time, doing fairly well and bringing lightness and laughs to much of the evening.
The biggest winner was La La Land with 6 Oscars. It tied with All About Eve (1950) and Titanic (1997) the record for most nominations ever with 14. It won Best Director (Damian Chazelle, youngest ever, at 32), Actress (Emma Stone), Score (Justin Hurwitz), Song (City of Stars), Production Design and Cinematography (Linus Sandgren). Moonlight became the first all-black cast movie and the first LGBT movie to win the Best Picture Oscar, besting Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion and Manchester by the Sea. It also won Mahershala Ali the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, becoming the first Muslim to win an Oscar. It also won for Best Adapted Screenplay (Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney). Manchester by the Sea won Best Actor (Casey Affleck) and Best Screenplay (Kenneth Lonergan). Fences won Best Supporting Actress (Viola Davis). Hacksaw Ridge won Best Sound Mixing and Film Editing, Arrival Best Sound Editing, Suicide Squad Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Best Costumes and The Jungle Book Best Visual Effects. Asghar Farhadi's The Salesman won the Best Foreign Film Oscar ahead of Land of Mine, A Man Called Ove, Tanna and masterpiece Toni Erdmann. O.J.: Made in America won Best Documentary, and Zootopia Best Animation. The short film Oscars went to The White Helmets (doc.), Sing (live action) and Piper (animated).
Honorary Oscars went to Jackie Chan, Anne V. Coates, Lynn Stalmaster and Frederick Wiseman. 
The historic happening at the awards was a mix-up at the most crucial moment, when Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, saluted for the 50th anniversary of Bonnie and Clyde, were to hand over the Best Picture award. A wrong envelope was passed to them, which made them first give the statuette to the La La Land people, before, two long minutes later, crew members stormed on-stage and reversed the win to its rightful recipients, Moonlight. The bizarre event was an embarrassment for the whole production but also made the win and entire show much more talked about globally than it otherwise would have been. 

 

IMDb user's most popular movie titles of 2016:

1. Moana
2. Me Before You
3. Terrifier
4. Office Christmas Party
5. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
6. Deadpool
7. La La Land
8. Hell or High Water
9. The Handmaiden
10. Sing

Biggest flops of the year:

[The loss is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films. Marketing costs and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other auxiliary profits) are not taken into account]  

1. Ghostbusters - 52.36 mil. $ range
2. Alice Through the Looking Glass - 50.24 mil. $ range
3. Star Trek Beyond - 47.64 mil. $ range

4. The Magnificent Seven - 33.58 mil. $ range
5. Snowden - 25.12 mil. $ range

6. The Nice Guys - 24.92 mil. $ range
7. A Monster Calls - 24.12 mil. $ range
8. The Lost City of Z - 22.32 mil. $ range
9. 13 Hours - 22.24 mil. $ range
10. X-Men: Apocalypse - 16.44 mil. $ range

= Combined losses: 318.98 mil. $

Biggest hits of the year:

[The gain is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films. Marketing costs and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other auxiliary profits) are not taken into account] 

1. Zootopia - 259.48 mil. $ range
2. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - 222.4 mil. $ range
3. The Jungle Book - 211.6 mil. $ range
4. Finding Dory - 211.4 mil. $ range
5. La La Land - 148.4 mil. $ range
6. The Conjuring 2 - 88.12 mil. $ range

7. Hidden Figures - 69.36 mil. $ range
8. Kung Fu Panda 3 - 63.48 mil. $ range
9. Lights Out - 54.52 mil. $ range
10. Lion - 44.12 mil. $ range

= Combined profits: 1,372.88 mil. $
 
2016 titles still on the watch-list:

Baskets (TV-series), King Cobra, Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World, Spa Night, Undrafted, Chuck, Afterimage, Harmonium, Karate Kill, Killing Ground, Red Christmas, The Red Turtle, Sing, Jim: The James Foley Story, My Life as a Zucchini, Life, Animated, Fire at Sea, The Road Movie, Dark Crimes, Elvis & Nixon, Handsome DEvil, Sing, Office Christmas Party, Me Before You

Previous annual lists: 

    
2023 in films - according to Film Excess 

2022 in films - according to Film Excess 

2021 in films - according to Film Excess 

2020 in films - according to Film Excess 

2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

2019 in films - according to Film Excess 
2018 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2018 in films - according to Film Excess  
2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2017 in films - according to Film Excess
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2016 in films - according to Film Excess

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV] 
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2014 in films - according to Film Excess

2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI] 
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2013 in films - according to Film Excess    
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV] 
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess   

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess   

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  

2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
2001 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

2000 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  

1998 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

1996 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

1995 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

1994 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

1993 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

1992 in films - according to Film Excess

1991 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

1990 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

What do you think of the 2016 lists?
What movies of the year would make it to your Top and Bottom 10 lists?
What essential title/s are missing on the watch-list?