{"id":8831,"date":"2016-12-31T16:42:19","date_gmt":"2016-12-31T16:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/?p=8831"},"modified":"2017-06-20T13:29:04","modified_gmt":"2017-06-20T13:29:04","slug":"my-top-10-movie-picks-for-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/?p=8831","title":{"rendered":"My Top 10 Movie picks for 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By Ray Bennett<\/p>\n

In a year that has featured many fine films with splendid performances by women, the movie I enjoyed the most was Denis Villeneuve\u2019s \u201cArrival\u201d starring Amy Adams (pictured).<\/p>\n

In my review from the Toronto International Film Festival, I said: \u201cScience-fiction movies that threaten to depict creatures from outer-space generally leave me cold but Denis Villeneuve\u2019s \u201cArrival\u201d presents a plausible \u201cwhat if?\u201d grounded in a contemplative question for humankind with another standout performance by Amy Adams.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdams, who wears no makeup and looks the least glamorous she could possibly be, conveys the linguist\u2019s thought processes so clearly that she renders fanciful notions credible and dubious hypotheses possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

As I reported, the big talking point at TIFF2016<\/a> was the sheer number of films that featured high-profile performances by women including Emma Su\u00e1rez and Adriana Ugarte (\u201cJulieta\u201d), Natalie Portman (\u201cJackie\u201d), Nicole Kidman (\u201cLion\u201d), Emma Stone (\u201cLa La Land\u201d), Rosamund Pike (\u201cA United Kingdom\u201d), Rachel Weisz (\u201cDenial\u201d) and Adams again in Tom Ford\u2019s \u201cNocturnal Animals\u201d.<\/p>\n

There were many others throughout the year including Kate Beckinsale in the excellent Jane Austen adaptation \u201cLove and Friendship\u201d, Emily Blunt in \u201cThe Girl on the Train\u201d, Helen Mirren in the suspenseful drone drama \u201cEye in the Sky\u201d, Meryl Streep as the caterwauling \u201cFlorence Foster Jenskins\u201d, Annette Bening as a wise mother in \u201cTwentieth Century Women\u201d and the cast of NASA tale \u201cHidden Figures\u201d. Not to mention Felicity Jones catapulted to major stardom in \u201cRogue One\u201d.<\/p>\n

Not a golden year, perhaps, but (while several titles are still to be released) not a bad one either.<\/p>\n

Performances I enjoyed the most this year included, as best actress, Amy Adams in both her films, Kate Beckinsale, Emily Blunt, Rosamund Pike and Meryl Streep; as best actor, Casey Affleck (\u201cManchester by the Sea\u201d), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (\u201cSnowden\u201d), David Oyelowo (\u201cA United Kingdom\u201d), Ryan Gosling (\u201cLa La Land\u201d); as supporting actor, Michael Shannon (\u201cNocturnal Animals\u201d), Ben Foster (\u201cHell or High Water\u201d), Hugh Grant (\u201cFlorence Foster Jenkins\u201d), and George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich and Ralph Fiennes (all for \u201cHail, Caesar\u201d); Nicole Kidman (\u201cLion\u201d), Haley Bennett and Rebecca Ferguson (\u201cThe Girl on the Train\u201d), Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Mon\u00e1e (all for \u201cHidden Figures\u201d), Scarlett Johansson *\u201dHail, Caesar\u201d).
\nPedro Almodovar\u2019s \u201cJulieta\u201d had my favourite score of the year, by Alberto Iglesias and I also especially enjoyed the scores for \u201cArrival\u201d (J\u00f3hann J\u00f3hannsson) and \u201cJackie\u201d (Mica Levi).<\/p>\n

Here are my Top 10 Film Picks for 2016:<\/p>\n

Arrival<\/p>\n

Julieta<\/p>\n

Love and Friendship<\/p>\n

Hell or High Water<\/p>\n

Manchester By the Sea<\/p>\n

Hail, Caesar<\/p>\n

The Girl on the Train<\/p>\n

Snowden<\/p>\n

Florence Foster Jenkins<\/p>\n

La La Land<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ray Bennett In a year that has featured many fine films with splendid performances by women, the movie I enjoyed the most was Denis Villeneuve\u2019s \u201cArrival\u201d starring Amy Adams (pictured). In my review from the Toronto International Film Festival, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,8],"tags":[4435,1824,2927,4406,2632,1192],"class_list":["post-8831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment","category-film","category-music","tag-arrival","tag-amy-adams","tag-casey-affleck","tag-michael-shannon","tag-nicole-kidman","tag-toronto-international-film-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8831"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9100,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8831\/revisions\/9100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}