2016 movies - Personal review and Awards -

Notes: In this age, when we are getting closer and closer towards a major super-hero overdose, this movie was actually what this genre needed. Indeed, basically the makers rejected both the dark and gloominess delivered by DC and the brainless popcorn entertainment produced by Marvel and they went for something really different delivering one of the most messed-up and entertaining super-hero features out there. Sure, there was indeed an origin story, also a rather generic romance and even some pretty badass action scenes, but, at the end of the day, they hardly cared for the plot, neither was I, and instead, they focused on the hilarious jokes and oneliners delivered by the Merc with a Mouth which was a great move.

For those who don't know, in a festival, the Grand Jury prize honors a great movie which just missed the biggest prize.

Notes: First of all, even though I really liked this movie, it is still a shame that the 2nd best movie of the year didn't manage to reach a higher rating and it shows how weak this year was.

Anyway, First of all, the whole thing was just gorgeous to look at but I wouldn't expect less from a Studio Ghibli production. Same thing about the soundtrack, it was just mesmerizing, and I always enjoyed a movie without any dialogue. Eventually, it was one of the most poetic movies I have seen for a very long time. And, yet, I have to admit that the whole thing kind of lost me when the turtle became a woman. I do understand that the makers had to do something otherwise it would have been just another tale about a stranded guy on a desert island but I wasn't completely sold. Still, it remained a rather fascinating animated picture.

Notes: Even though Ben Affleck was pretty good in 'Batman v Superman', Ryan Reynolds in 'Deadpool' was actually even better and, after spending so many years showing in some huge critical and commercial flops, he seemed to finally redeem himself with this movie.

Notes: This year, I had the pleasure to see Isabelle Huppert in 2 different movies, she was quite amazing in both movies, especially in 'Elle', and therefore she was the best actress I saw this year.


L'avenir


Elle

Notes: At last, after 10 long years, Paul Verhoeven finally came up with a new directing effort and I was really eager to check it out. Obviously, the critics won't miss the fact that that it was rather misognist as the women seem to almost enjoy to be brutalised to the point that they might even fall in love with the perpetrator but Verhoeven has never been a subtle director in this area. Eventually, what won me over was this fascinating main character, perfectly played by Isabelle Huppert who is still one of the best French actresses. Indeed, during the whole thing, you are never sure if you should despise this manipulative ice queen bitch or admire this attractive incredibly sharp woman. I also loved the fact that the whole thing was never about finding who did the deed and it keeps going on in some unexpected very dark corners after you found out who it was. The only major problem I had is that there were probably too many characters with their own agenda and, as a result , they kept adding layers upon layers of various conflicts and intrigues and it was just too much too handle for this movie. Still, even though it wasn’t flawless, I thought it was really captivating and I hope we won't have to wait another decade to see something new from this fascinating director.

Notes: Even though 'Moana' was decent and at least miles better than the terribly overrated 'Zootopia', the best movie in this category was easily 'La tortue rouge'. Indeed, not only it was gorgous to look at but this tale just way more original than anything else provided by any other animated features released this year.

Notes: Even though I don't think that 'Suicide Squad' was as bad as many seemed to think, it was still not the most fun I had this year. Indeed, the most fun movie was easily 'Deadpool' which was just so damned entertaining and quite often hilarious.

Notes: Eventually, I have to admit that I was quite impressed as it turned out to be one of the best Star Wars features I have seen and easily a big improvement on 'The Force Awakens' . Indeed, it was quite spectacular, the characters were interesting enough (this robot K-2SO was above all just really awesome) and the damned thing was simply really entertaining. Furthermore, I liked the fact that they took a darker approach, for example, by showin the shaddy aspects of the Alliance and how some of them must have done some terrible things for the 'cause'. Still, it wasn't completely flawless. Indeed, there were probably too many characters so none of them really had the time to be properly developed. Above all, at the end of the day, the story was actually nothing really amazing. I mean, basically, it was just about some guys trying to steal some blueprint so it wasn't really supposed to be some epic tale, even if the makers tried obviously to blow it completely out of proportion. Anyway, even if it wasn't perfect, it was still a damned fine blockbuster.

Notes: Even though this movie was one of my highest priorities for 2016, it turned out to be a huge commercial and critical failure but I still wanted to check it out since I'm a big fan of Alex Proyas. Unfortunately, this movie turned out be indeed a massive disappointment. I mean, the whole thing looked really neat but, unfortunately, pretty much nothing else really worked in this movie. First of all, this movie received some big criticism for whitewashing the characters but I don’t really believe in this argument. Indeed, in my opinion, it is really naive to think that they could release such a blockbuster with some unknown Egyptian or Arab actors. So, even though the ethnicity of the actors was not really the issue here, it doesn’t change the fact that the cast was actually rather weak. Aside from the cast, the story was also really underwhelming. I mean, the whole thing about the prince who needs to fight against his uncle to get back his throne has been done to death by now and usually way better than in this movie.

Notes: Following the footsteps of Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence and Shailene Woodley, Chloë Grace Moretz decided she should also have her own franchise based on a Young Adult novel, which wasn't really a bad decision career-wise. The only point was that the whole thing turned out to be pretty weak, I'm afraid. However, I don't thing that Moretz should be really blamed though. I mean, she was really charismatic and she did what she could with this material but there was not much that could be really done. Basically, the main thing that bothered me, except for the many plot-holes, was the lack of development of the characters and the whole concept was just really poorly developed.