See this poll on: https://poll.fm/9590640/embed
Give others the chance to vote.
Share this poll, because the more votes the better.
Create your own.
Opinions! We all have them. Find out what people really think with polls and surveys from Crowdsignal.
closed
I have two daugthers whom I am attempting to turn into cinephiles. For the past 12 and 21 years respectively, I have pushed many different movies onto my girls Sydney and Lindsey. For this, I am pulling an Adam and putting my top votes on two movies......Sing Street and The Witch.
I watched Sing Street with Sydney during the summer on a projector outside of our home, full on drive-in style on a screen measuring a good 20 feet. I wish the sound setup were better, but it did not diminish the excellent original music. What a fantastic time we had watching the movie. I am a strong believer of the conditions under which films are watched can change one's opinion on the film itself, right or wrong, just the way it is. The conditions this night were perfect...the movie, very nearly, even without the setting.
Earlier in the year, with great anticipation, Lindsey and I finally got the chance to see The Witch. Horror fans we have become together, we watched the trailer for this movie in 2015. It was one of the best trailers we have ever seen. We watched this movie, sometimes almost forgetting to breathe, even as others in the feature were not on board. I believe we hard audible comments like "what" and "OK, I guess". Some argue this movie did not put them in the time and place, but we both were transported to our New England home, but via the fear stricken puritan 1600's.
Ultimately I will remember both movies for their quality, but more so, I will remember them for the shared experiences with my daughters. I did vote for The VVitch in the end, but I will hold each with equal fondness.
I'm actually a bit shocked by this list. I have absolutely no interest in "Sully", I thought "Everybody Wants Some!!" was unbearable and awful looking, "Hail, Caesar" ridiculous and boring, "The Lobster" a cold and sterile exercise – but most of all I'm more than baffled by Adam's championing of "Sing Street". I can see people enjoying this flimsy movie with bad wigs and unconvincing, superficial family relationships for nostalgic reasons – but movie of the year material? Really??
Since I haven't seen neither "The VVitch" nor "Moonlight", my vote goes to "Green Room".
On unrelated note (writing here so you'll read it), how about a review of my favorite movie of 2016, Jackie? Along with a sacred cow for Oliver Stone's JFK?
First of all, I want to highlight how proud I am of myself. This is the first time I have seen all the movies in the poll and therefore the first time I can really cast my vote with a clear conscience.
Out of all of them, "The Lobster" "Sing Street" and "Moonlight" captured me completely but I have to go with Moonlight and I'm still not sure if comparing them is fair. They're so different.
"The Lobster" is a smart out-of-reality representation of all of us that moved me in a way only certain episodes of Black Mirror do. At the end, however, I hate to admit it loses my vote because cynical views of society are becoming mainstream and I can't have something like that be my pick.
"Sing Street" made me feel happy and I am sure it will become a "That Thing You Do!" type movie. AKA I will watch it every time it is on or whenever I happen to find it on my streaming service. At the end, though, many movies make me feel happy, I'm in the search for something more.
"Moonlight" is my pick and although I could talk about it for hours, about how it made me feel and how it captured me it comes down to one single reason. The craft, I can see the craft in every directorial choice, in the acting accomplishments, in the graceful simplicity of the story. In 2017 I just want one thing, to live in a world were Bary Jenkins is making another movie.
The Oscars may sail out by the sea, but however it will be, it ain't gonna be the same.
I may want to pick The VVitch, as Black Phillip makes me itch, but I ain't gonna pick a dame.
We'll be searching high and low, in the Green Room or below, but it's a crying shame!
And The Lobster ain't no fish, and Everybody Wants Some dish, but I gotta stick with No Dames!
No Dames!
(But you haven't yet seen Moonlight)
No Dames!
(Or a half a dozen films!)
No Dames!
(You might even love that Sing Street!)
But Sing Street's got no tap!
Noooo taaaaaap.
Having just re-watched it last night, it's "The Witch" in a landslide for me. I'm telling you, if Paul Thomas Anderson made a horror movie, this is what it would look like. For all the love given out to horror movies in the past few years (deservedly so), I think this is the crowning achievement of them all. It's dark and upsetting and painful and eerie and about family and faith and tragedy and doubt. It's a tough watch, but it's so rewarding.
Very curious to see what this poll would look like if "Manchester by the Sea" and "La La Land" and "Silence" had already been reviewed. Maybe ANOTHER future poll?
It's Sing Street for me! I'm guessing you removed it as an option because you never officially reviewed it? I had a smile from beginning to end. Loved it!
Part of me wanted to cast my vote for The Witch, giving love to a great horror movie that shook me to my core. Then there's Green Room, a smart, gripping thriller from a director I'll always open my wallet for after Filmspotting turned me on to Blue Ruin.
It was never really a contest, though. With apologies to the incredible Yorgos Lanthimos, my vote has to go to Moonlight. It's a film so beautiful and tender that it challenged my belief that no movie or piece of art is truly perfect.
Moonlight beat out The Lobster in my Letterboxd top ten for the year, so while Antonio Campo's Christine still sits as my personal number one I have no issues throwing my vote behind Moonlight. I think Moonlight and The Lobster both beautifully look at the human condition, but for me I think there is so much more humanity on display in Moonlight. Both films feature characters who can't display affection for different reasons, but I never believed in the relationships in The Lobster the way I did in Moonlight. That probably is missing the point of The Lobster, but, and I know this is a bit of a cop out, my reaction to Moonlight was far more visceral than my reaction to The Lobster. I was left cold by Lanthimos, but Barry Jenkins and his cast left me feeling optimistic and in 2016 I think that counts for more.
This is one of the few places on the internet where I don't feel like I have to come to Hail, Caesar!'s rescue. Easily my favorite film of the year. Confession time: I walked out of the screening back in February and bought another ticket and walked right back in to the theater to watch it again (despite the mumbling from others walking out of the theater). In my opinion, it's been a great year for film and I loved 5 of the 8 options above (sorry to The Lobster, The Witch, and Sully), but this year for me is defined by the Coens' film.
Because there was no "other" option, I picked "The Lobster" but I really can't narrow it down to just that one. Among the movies you have reviewed and liked, I would have to include "Morris From America", "Loving", and probably "Arrival" although I want to take a second look at that one. A few other nearly perfect movies that come to mind that you didn't review are "Hell or High Water". "Little Men", and "Les Innocentes".
Full disclosure, I didn't see all of these movies. I actually stopped watching The Witch when the baby was taken away in the beginning of the film (I couldn't handle it). Once I became a dad 4 years ago, I no longer found anything enjoyable in movies/tv shows abducting kids.
But THE GREEN ROOM is amazing! It gets everything right on the money. From the pretentious hardcore kids who secretly love Simon and Garfunkel, to the matter-of-factness of skin head leader (BTW, I have never been around skinheads, I am not a skinhead myself, nor do I have any desire to be one, but I am pretty sure this is how they act). Like Blue Ruin, we are in the hands of a director who knows how to use violence in a awesome way to tell his story while simultaneously uping the STAKES and creating tension.
The final line of dialogue is a perfect punctuation to this great little indie horror gem.
When I saw the choices, I thought I was going to have to choose between The Lobster and Hail, Caeasar!... and then I remembered how I felt when I walked out of the theater at 2 am after seeing Everybody Wants Some!! If you had asked what the best movie of the year was, I might have a different answer, but that emotional high from Linklater's film might still clouding my judgement in this poll.
2016 has been prosperous for film, but my favorite of the year has to be Hail, Caesar!
A sarcastic and ironic, yet sincere embrace of old Hollywood by the team of filmmakers that have brought the best of that era back to the big screen for decades. The Coens gave us fans a definitive work within their distinctive style; the banter is as pointless yet poignant as ever, the camera movement is effective more than anything else, the editing is precise, the cinematography is beautiful, and the memorable cast is balanced with ease. The film also served as a coming out party for Alden Ehrenreich, who is more than welcome to star in the next decade of Coen brothers films. The "would that it were so simple" scene is sure to be quoted among Coen fans with the frequency of a "beverage here", or a "funny-looking guy" there.
I've seen all but two of these, and while Moonlight and Everybody Wants Some were great, it's The Lobster in a runaway. The sense of discovery that comes from watching a Lanthimos movie is unparalleled. The best cast of the year, the best narration in years, and an ending for the ages. It's not only my favorite movie of the year, it's my favorite movie since Freddie Quell sat down with Lancaster Dodd in The Master.