2016 was a wild year, from Disney’s rise to Hollywood dominance to runaway hits Moonlight and Manchester by the Sea, not to mention a colossal flop or two. Our intrepid critics sifted through small-budget indies and studio blockbusters to create our critic’s picks for 2016.
January
In the Shadow of Women
Rams
Sweaty Betty
The Treasure
February
A.K.: The Making of Kurosawa’s Ran (Marsh)
Already Tomorrow
Bad Hurt
Boom Bust Boom
Cemetery of Splendor
Colliding Dreams
Embrace of the Serpent
Knight of Cups
They Will Have To Kill Us First
A War
March
City of Gold
Everybody Wants Some!!
Fireworks Wednesday
Francofonia
Krisha
The Little Prince
My Golden Days
Notfilm
Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday
River of Grass
A Space Program
Too Late
Transfixed
April
The Family Fang
A Touch of Zen
A Hologram For The King
Hockney
Streit’s: Matzo and the American Dream
Sworn Virgin
Tale of Tales
Above and Below
Green Room
The Jungle Book
La-Bas
The Measure of a Man
May
Chevalier
Holy Hell
Kaili Blues
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising
O.J.: Made in America
Weiner
The Lobster
Love & Friendship
A Monster With A Thousand Heads
Sunset Song
Band of Outsiders
Dheepan
Dragon Inn
Looking for Mr. Goodbar
June
Argentina
Cosmos
My Love Don’t Cross That River
Tickled
Germans and Jews
Tikkun
Approaching the Unknown
The Final Master
The Fits
July
At the Fork
Men Go to Battle
Under the Sun
Don’t Blink
Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie
Ants On a Shrimp
The Childhood of a Leader
Don’t Think Twice
For The Plasma
Hooligan Sparrow
Summertime
Gleason
Hollywood Beauty Salon
Homo Sapiens
Into the Forest
Miss Sharon Jones
August
The Land
Neither Heaven Nor Earth
Little Men
The Tenth Man
Will You Dance With Me
Elevator to the Gallows
Disorder
Hell or High Water
Ixcanul
Kubo and the Two Strings
Lo And Behold
Morris From America
Spa Night
When Two Worlds Collide
Howards End
Mia Madre
Morgan
September
As I Open My Eyes
Cameraperson
Chan is Missing
Demon
London Road
Bridget Jones’ Baby
Command and Control
Tanna
The Vessel
The Age of Shadows
Closet Monster
Deepwater Horizon
A Man Called Ove
Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children
Sand Storm
October
13th
Being 17
Blue Jay
Newtown
Phatasm: Remastered
Under The Shadow
Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience
Aquarius
Asura: City of Madness
Certain Women
Kevin Hart: What Now?
Tower
Fire At Sea
The Handmaiden
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Moonlight
A Stray
The Uncondemned
November
Loving
Arrival
Elle
The Love Witch
The Monster
The Watermelon Woman
Daughters of the Dust
I Am Not Madame Bovary
Manchester By The Sea
The Red Turtle
Allied
Always Shine
Evolution
Baden Baden
December
I Am Not Your Negro
Fences
The Lion In Winter
Neruda
The Tree of Wooden Clogs
Hidden Figures
I, Daniel Blake
Julieta
Silence
Toni Erdmann
This article appears in Dec 22-28, 2016.
