2016 Movie Honorable Mentions

As promised, a list of ten honorable mentions from 2016.  A little more varied than the top ten list, some of these were ones that just missed being in the top ten and others are lesser known films that deserve some more love.  Because it's a list of ten, I won't wax too verbose on the merits of each one.  Unlike my list of top ten favorites, these aren't necessarily a list of what I enjoyed the most this year, but rather a list of movies that I felt should get attention.

In no particular order:

Midnight Special

Midnight Special could ostensibly make the list from the opening shot alone, with the car driving along at night.  Michael Shannon might be at his best when he works with Jeff Nichols, and as much as this can be touted as an adult sci-fi, MIdnight Special resonates beautifully when you realize it's more an allegory about fatherhood rather than a story about a kid with extraordinary abilities.
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One More Time with Feeling

A second biographical documentary only two years after the initial one would have seemed excessive from anyone else, but Nick Cave is a god amongst men and his 20,000 Days on Earth was a work of art both visually and lyrically.  This time directed by Andrew Dominick (of the sublime The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), it's no less visually compelling nor meaningful...but this time also shrouded with Cave's recent grief over the loss of his child.  How do you continue making art in the face of that?  Or is it an imperative to do so?  Even Cave is uncertain, as cameras roll and even as he says, "it's not something that happened to me, it's something that happened to him."


The Fits

A story about coming of age, a story about struggling to fit in, as well as the social alienation one navigates in the private and mysterious arena of female adolescence.  The Fits is a tour de force performance from Royalty Hightower, and culminates in a transcendent final act that leaves you both entranced, trembling, and speculative.


American Honey

Somehow Andrea Arnold, born and bred in England, has captured the ennui, the free-spiritedness, the search for acceptance, as well as the disavowal of identity of youths in the Midwest.  Shot in a boxy 4:3 that emphasizes the visual portraiture of a stunning Sasha Lane, Arnold has created a movie that has a light-filled heartbeat that leaves room for life's mysteries at the tempo of its extemporaneous soundtrack.


Our Little Sister (Umimachi Diary)

Hirokazu Koreeda does joyful fare just as well as his tragedies and Our Little Sister is about the ties of family as expressed through an appreciation of four very different lives.  Set into motion by the adoption of their 13 year old half-sister, there's a quiet rhythm that threads all of the sisters together as they learn to grow while honoring the memories of the past.


​Jackie

Yes, this is Natalie Portman's movie from start to finish, but it's just as much Pablo Larrain's stark vision and his faithful interpretation on the importance of appearance and its literal and figurative mirrors.  Combined with Mica Levi's astonishing and eerie score, the film becomes the stuff that legends are made on...or at least a collective history people lean on.


Silence

I struggled with whether to include this on the Honorable Mentions list, so take its inclusion with a heavy dose of salt.  Martin Scorsese's Silence is not something I'd recommend to hardly anyone, and after seeing it I have very little desire to ever watch it again.  With that said, it has some of the most beautiful scenes from the year with its subliminal fog and supreme editing skills.  Andrew Garfield has a naive hurt he channels better than anyone, and the movie touches on heavy themes while unveiling a dark chapter of Christianity's past.  Silence will hurt, but perhaps more than any other film this year, it's one that becomes an experience more than a piece of entertainment.

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The Wailing

One of my favorite horror films in a while -- I enjoyed Train to Busan a bit more, but feel like ​The Wailing has a bit more to chew on.  Hong-Jin Na's Cannes outing has striking cinematography, a sophisticatedly murky narrative, and a confident handling of what to include in the frame.  The laughs break up the tension as well as build it up, and the story will keep you guessing long after its conclusion.


Hail, Caesar

Watching this , Brothers outing for the third time last night made me think that I probably should have had it in my top ten list rather than Everybody Wants Some!!!, but what's done is done.  Hail, Caesar is a joy to watch and perhaps all the more enjoyable because with every outing, I find myself delighting more in how much other people delight in it.  A winning cast that is able to carry a scene with one expression, it's just a joy to behold.  It's a caper and perhaps can be considered "Coen Brothers Lite", but it's also a love letter to the old movie industry.


Nocturnal Animals

Man, what a heavy year (and not just for film).  As I finish up the Honorable Mentions with this one, I have to say...as visually sumptuous as these all are, you definitely shouldn't do a marathon of them.  Nocturnal Animals is a tough watch, impeccable directing aside, for a number of different reasons.  But the color motifs, the performances, and the idea of unreliable narrator as cinematographer make it an imperative for the list.


And that closes out 2016 movie lists.  If you see (or have seen) any of these, I'd love to hear your thoughts!  Cheers.