Every year, my fellow movie reviewers and I bemoan the current state of cinema only to realize that, when it’s time to compile our year-end 10-best lists, we’re spoiled for choice.
This year has been particularly gratifying, if only for its sheer diversity — not only in terms of gender and ethnic representation in front of and behind the camera (Oscars won’t be nearly So White in 2017), but in terms of categories and platforms, with filmmakers reinvigorating classic genres with imagination.
Enough throat-clearing! Here’s a highly personal list of this year’s best movies.
1. “Moonlight” Barry Jenkins’s adaptation of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s original story about a young man coming of age on the streets of Liberty City in Miami pulsed with life. Jenkins’s elegant visual approach provided a flawless frame for some of the most indelible performances of the year, including by Mahershala Ali as an improbably tender drug dealer and Andre Holland as a highly evolved diner cook.
2. “Manchester By the Sea” In case you didn’t cry enough during “Moonlight,” writer-director Kenneth Lonergan had you covered with this beautifully crafted drama about a man coming to terms with his tragic past. Written with Lonergan’s mix of observant humor and melancholy, the film starred Casey Affleck in a performance all the more breathtaking for its subtlety.
3. “Hell or High Water” A contemporary Western about a couple of bank robbers eluding a crafty sheriff on the rawboned plains of Texas. Brilliantly written by Taylor Sheridan, perfectly executed by director David Mackenzie and featuring stunning performances from Jeff Bridges, Ben Foster and Chris Pine.
4. “The Confirmation” This funny-sad drama about a flawed divorced dad spending a pivotal weekend with his son, who’s about to be confirmed. Written and directed by Bob Nelson, this quiet gem has the scruffy, rough-edged charm of Nelson’s previous script, for “Nebraska.”
5. “O.J.: Made in America” Ezra Edelman’s epic documentary about O.J. Simpson defied expectations that it would only rehash what we already knew. Instead, Edelman created a sprawling yet meticulous portrait not just of the man, but of Los Angeles, collegiate and professional sports, celebrity, race and American culture.
6. “Cameraperson” In this deeply personal essay film, Cinematographer Kirsten Johnson creates a collage of footage from past projects, as well as personal material with her family, to meditate on art, trauma, documentary ethics and the surpassing power of simply bearing witness to one another’s pain.
7. “La La Land” Damien Chazelle (“Whiplash)” single-handedly sets out to save cinema with this throwback of a song-and-dance musical. As a couple of kids looking to make it in showbiz, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling keep right in step with the tonal shifts of a movie that indulges our most romantic, sweet-toothed pleasure centers while paying attention to pathos as well. Yum.
8. “Lemonade” Beyonce proves to be a scholar of cinema history and a canny curator of present-day art in a “visual album.” Sensuous, confrontational and drenched with unapologetic rage and beauty, this was an example of visual language at its most expressive.
9. “13th” Ava DuVernay’s documentary about the U.S. Constitution, criminal justice, racism and history qualifies as must-see viewing, touching on the animating political and philosophical issues of our era.
10. “Southside With You” The thought of a filmmaker making his writing-directing debut with a speculative romantic comedy-drama about Barack and Michelle Obama’s first date is fraught at best. But Richard Tanne stuck the landing by capturing its characters and their time and place in late-’80s Chicago with insight and impressive authenticity.
