0
Posted January 7, 2017 by Yuri Mangahas in Movies/TV
 
 

The Best of 2016 – In Movies!

GP Manalo
Contributor for Movies, TV and Animation | IG: @geepeemanalo

Best Blockbuster Film: The Nice Guys

According to Google Search this qualifies as a Blockbuster film of 2016 so I’m gonna go around it and say Yes this is a contender to my colleagues’ choices. With that said, despite its cluttered plot I’ve very much so enjoyed Shane Black’s newest Dark-Buddy Cop Comedy about a death of a porn star solely based on the performances by its three leads. Ryan Gosling being far from the suave hero that we have grown accustomed to him but a sleazier and pathetic type, but it was Gosling’s physical performance that does in fact bring the laughs in this one and does provide his character’s charm in some way. Russell Crowe being the charismatic tough guy we’ve come to love from him but the stand out being Gosling’s daughter in the movie played by Angourie Rice who is pretty much the bright-eyed brains that stole the show. It’s a mix of good laughs, an interesting enough mystery, with a fantastic cast. If you haven’t watched it yet, do so! You’ll definitely be entertained.

Breakthrough of The Year: Sing  Street

This movie came out of nowhere and deservedly so it does truly qualify as “The Biggest Surprise of 2016” for me. Director John Carney once again (after his underrated entries being 2014’s Begin Again and 2007’s Once) makes a pitch perfect “sort-of musical” only this time it falls under a Coming of Age story. In some way it is a more unique stab at the genre as it tells the story of a young man trying to turn his troubles with his family breaking apart, foul school priests and bullies, and a mysterious manic pixey dream girl that harmonizes altogether through his songs as he forms this band of his. Showing how songs can be inspired by different artists and even so the experiences of what the artist is going through. It’s a “Happy Sad” thing, a term that describes the process of capturing the kind of music Conor and his older brother (as played brilliantly by both Ferdia Walsh-Peelo and Jack Reynor), that would also describe the overall experience of the film as it shows how a series of unfortunate events could get through so many people together, or even so the joyous feeling of being in love whilst being trampled along the way. It’s a delightful film, and whatever there is a movie that would make me say “that guy I hated so much in that one movie stole the show in this other movie” (that guy being Jack Reynor from that terrible recent Transformers entry) is a great one in my book.

Best Animated Project: Kubo and The Two Strings

The moment the film opens it already has your full attention as our lead declares to its audience: “If you must blink, do it now. Pay careful attention to everything you see and hear, no matter how unusual it may seem.” And from that moment you are treated with amazing visuals that is truly revolutionizing for the stop motion animation that we’ve come to expect from Laika but also a compelling story.  It’s quite deceiving as it takes you from a familiar plot line only to drift to another route. It is as if the creators behind it trust its audience to the film’s rather dark and complex narrative (think Coraline except they actually took one eye off of a kid off screen). The ending and how the evil was fought was actually the best example for it, and it was if not the most satisfying endings in any children’s animation film.

Best TV Show: Luke Cage

Marvel has always had a knack of having diverse genres than just labeling them as Superhero Movies. Luke Cage being an exploration of the Blaxploitation genre is definitely a satisfying sight to see Marvel’s take on it. Although it may be clever to see some artistic cues to the genre based from its aesthetics and music there is something more noteworthy to the show as a whole and it is how they turned a silly looking character back in the 70s to be taken seriously and even be so a relevant model to modern times. They did the groundwork pretty well in establishing Cage himself in last year’s Jessica Jones, but here they’ve delved deeper just to how complex of a character Luke Cage is, and of course doubles the charm as well. It’s great to see that there are limits to the powers of being invulnerable, it’s great to how the plot spirals further, and even so how one’s actions could affect so many. All elements were done effectively and it had a great cast and showrunner to work with to make all of these work.

Worst Film of The Year: Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Road Chip

I’ve never watched that many bad movies this year, but I do remember this one making me feel numb for a long period of time as I left the theater and also sighing the entire time. And to think this was only the second movie I watched at the beginning of the year. Despite the fact that this was the movie where I really saw it was trying its best to improve upon past installments but they felt more like short commercial breaks than the hour long shit show we put ourselves into. A s*** show of confused adult jokes (Again, why the f*** is there a John Waters reference?), poop jokes, fart jokes, fat jokes, and what you expect on horrible kid movies.


Yuri Mangahas

 
Yuri is magnanimously juggling between two managerial jobs: A technical manager position for an advertising/copy-writing company, and an associate editorial position for a fashion and lifestyle magazine. Nevertheless, he still finds time taking photos and seeking for geek nirvana.