#jacob tremblay
Good Boys (2019) dir. Gene Stupnitsky
As has probably been apparent, I haven’t really been as on it with my blog recently as I have been in other years…heck, I’m even thirteen days late posting my end of the year things. One of my resolutions is to get me arse into gear with my writing and cinema trips, so expect better bloggy things in 2017.
Until then, you’ll have to put up with a minimal effort best of 2016 list, because honestly I haven’t seen enough films this year to justify a top ten; here’s just some of the ones I missed that I really wanted to see: Triple Nine, Passengers (I know, sorry), Spotlight, The Witch, The Light Between Oceans, Train to Busan, Arrival and a ton of others. Also, barely any blew me away enough to warrant a top five. So here’s my top two of the year, which is feeble I know but these are the only two wow films I’ve seen. I’ve gone for A and B rather than 1 and 2 because I can’t decide which I liked better.
A. Room.
I saw this way back at the start of 2016, and was blown away by just how powerful and affecting it was. I loved how it still managed to build tension in the escape scene even though we all knew what was going to happen and it made me feel deeply saddened but also really uplifted. And you couldn’t spot two finer leads in any film this year; Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay absolutely nailed it.
B. Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
A proper review of this will be coming soon, but the last films I saw of the year was easily one of my favourites. I’m hoping Thor: Ragnork will reignite my Marvel fire because Taika Waititi is such a talented director and he has created a fantastically uplifting kinda-buddy movie that is a joy from start to finish. I really like how it’s so low-key (low-key performances, low-key humour, quiet settings) but when all of these things are put together it creates a really special little gem of a film.