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Nya's Favorite Movies of 2016

I happen to be terrible at movies. Generally if it's not a superhero movie or like Pixar/Disney I don't watch it. Well at least not in theater.  This year, I went back and watched tons of movies that the world just expects you to have seen (like I had never seen Independence Day, Diehard or even the original Ghostbusters). So I can say I honestly saw at least 50 movies this year, old and new. I want this list to focus on newer movies so while not all of them are 2016 releases, these are my favorite movies of last year.


10. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - I feel like this might trigger some people because how could this movie be this low. It's a fantastic movie, I don't take anything away from this film however, I'm having a hard time caring about it. It covers a small portion of an arc we have already completed. The Death Star blows up, the Empire is defeated and we have moved on to the next arc in the story. Why do I care about these characters who are not memorable and went on a suicide mission for the Death Star plans? I knew they'd all die, I knew they'd get the plans and knowing too much of the future events took the suspense out of this movie. I felt like I had already seen the movie. So yeah, good movie, obsolete.


9. Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice Ultimate Cut - This is one of those movies that I find more problems with the more I watch it, however I stand by this movie not being terrible. It's misguided, overambitious but it's still good. The theatrical version of the movie is bad in my opinion but I think the full three hour version makes it a lot better though it did add one more issue. That being said, still enjoyed it and I think the world is way harder than this movie than they need to be.


8. Anthem of the Heart - I pretty much got what I expected with this anime movie, it was very solid without stepping into that great territory. The concept was interesting and the movie has lots of touching moments plus it is well animated. Long story short it's about a girl who's words hurt the people around her and thus her ability to talk is sealed away...but not her ability to sing. So it's about her trials an tribulations of essentially being a mute in her school, community and family environments.


7. Batman the Return of the Caped Crusaders - I gotta say, I ended up enjoying movie way more than I should. Me and my father watched this together and it was a riot. We laughed so hard and it was nice to have him around to point of some of the references and callbacks to the original Adam West Batman series. I'm not go to tell anyone this is a must see but man, it was hilarious.


6. Justice League vs Teen Titans - At the time, this movie was like the best thing ever because I assumed this was the closest thing I'd ever get to the Teen Titans show and Young Justice. We know now Young Justice is finally coming back but at the time of this film was basically me accepting the end of animated Titans and I enjoyed this movie to this fullest. Seeing Raven, Beast Boy and Starfire was great. Thought this was a great DC animated film overall, it's one of the better ones for sure.


5. Kubo and the Two Strings - As a fan of Paranorman and Coraline (I haven't seen Boxtrolls yet) when this movie was being marketed I was excited. It's got that Japanese influence which I'm familiar with because of my love of manga and anime so the movie didn't feel foreign at all. I very much found this to be the peak of stop motion animation (at least to date) and the amount of work the whole team put into making this movie shows during the film. Great voice acting, action, very aesthetically pleasing, solid story and a good soundtrack to boot. I definitely recommend this.


4. Zootopia - This is a clever movie. I thought that the positive message it attempts to portray is very relevant and works on a surface level. I won't go into detail about why on a deeper level it doesn't totally work but this is a good movie none the less. It's about not being prejudice and discriminatory and things not always being as they seem so in that regard it's great. Good for the kids, inspiring story about overcoming the odds and overall just a fantastic movie. Watch it.


3. Hana to Alice: Satsujin Jiken - Otherwise known as The Case of Hana and Alice was the one movie I didn't expect to be this good. It's just great, comedic fun. I admit, the animation and style is not for everyone but I am totally okay with different animation styles especially if the narrative is good. The story is about a girl who moves into a new school and sits at a desk where a previous student passed away. So they don't immediately treat the new kid nicely so, she decides to solve the mystery of how and why this student dies. Loads of excitement, funny and overall just a great experience.


2. Kizumonogatari I: Tekketsu-hen & Kizumonogatari II: Nekketsu-hen - Kizumonogatari is chronologically the first arc in the Monogatari series (well technically not anymore with Wazamonogatari's Princess Fair story) and they are making three movies for the arc. Two of those came out and I gotta say, these movies have some of the best Japanese animation ever and it's insane how good this movie look. The action is great, the cinematography and directing is still phenomenal and you just can't go wrong with this series. It's just exceedingly clever though I wish they would more of the main characters inner monologuing because it helps the viewer understand the true meaning behind a lot of his erratic, sporadic actions.


1, Moana - Yea, Moana is my fave movie of 2016. It blew me away while I was watching it then all of a sudden it was done. The time FLEW by it was such an experience. Best animated movie I've seen, the hair and water amazing looking and you may not know this but those things are actually quite difficult to animate. The songs in the movie are all awesome, there's not one bad song and for a movie that focuses on essentially two characters on a vast ocean the world is still rich and full of life. Moana is one of the greatest Disney leads and each action she takes is in line with her aspirations and goals. Maui is also a character I found to be relatable despite being a demigod. The movie is full of Hawaiian mythology, Polynesian culture and in fact most of the cast (if not all I can't remember) has Polynesian blood in them. I think this marks the first Disney movie completely devoid of white people and honestly, that's refreshing. I think it's so cool these Pacific Islanders got this kind of representation in a movie this grand. If you haven't seen it, it's definitely time.

So that's my list, I hope everyone had a good holiday and new years.

Written by: Nya Hemmingz
Follow me on Twitter at: @LolitaZenpie

4 Comments

  1. When is a good time to talk about Rogue One being a good movie that made you go "What the fuck" at the end?

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  2. I haven't seen any of those movies... I gotta catch up.

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