My Favorite Movies and Music of 2016

Still from Waking Life (2001)

With 2017 now beginning, I conduct my annual ritual of listing out my favorite things I have seen and listened to in the past year.  These are entirely subjective picks, based on my tastes and what I pay attention to, but if you like similar stuff to me hopefully you'll find these good recommendations.  Read on, if you're interested.

Movies

Best Watched
2016 was a fantastic year for movies for me. I saw many great films, old and new, which I can't list all of here.  Two of these movies I even give a of 9 out of 10, my highest rating.  Most my favorites fit in with the "humanist" type of film that I primarily enjoy, exploring different aspects of the human condition.  Here are my top ten favorite out of about 67 feature films that I watched for the first time this past year:

1. Waking Life (2001)
2. Moonlight (2016)
3. The Danish Girl (2015)
4. Room (2015)
5. Right Footed (2015)
6. Manchester by the Sea (2016)
7. Southside With You (2016)
8. Once (2007)
9. Dazed and Confused (1993)
10. Brooklyn (2015)

Waking Life (2001)

Best New Movie

I am typically pretty selective of the movies I go see in theaters, so as usual I didn't see a ton of films that were released this year.  However, I tried to seek out the ones that I was most interested in, and as such I think I've seen several of the very best.  I've included some films that were first released in 2015 but did not get a theatrical release in the US until this year (as noted).  These may not technically be 2016 films by some standards, but I put them on my list as they are being considered for this year's US award season.  Here are my top ten out of 15 new feature films I watched this year:

1. Moonlight
2. Manchester by the Sea
3. Southside with You 
4. The Lobster (2016 US theatrical release)
5. Everybody Wants Some!!
6. Knight of Cups (2016 US theatrical release)
7. Hail, Caesar!
8. Shifting Sands: On the Path to Sustainability
9. Cafe Society
10. Peace Has No Borders

Moonlight     

Worst Watched

Since I can't resist, here are the five movies I saw this year that I liked the least.  None of these are terrible films, just ones that I didn't like much compared to the others (no offence).

1. Cruel Intentions (1999)
2. The Neon Demon (2016)
3. Forgetting Sarah Marshal (2008)
4. Sleeping with Other People (2015)
5. Anomalisa (2015)

Cruel Intentions (1999)

Television

I'm not a big watcher of shows, at all, however occasionally I'll see something I'm interested in a stick to it.  This year there was one show (a miniseries, actually) that I watched all the way through, Woody Allen's Crisis in Six Scenes (released on Amazon this year).  Despite many negative reviews, it easily stands up to the rest of his work for me, and I highly recommend it.

Crisis in Six Scenes

   

Music

Best New Album

2016 was not the best music year for me.  Few of my very favorite artists released new material and I struggled to find new albums and songs I really LOVED.  However, many of the artists I like that released new albums this year put forth pretty solid efforts, and some some pulled through with really great records.  My top two albums though were by bands I had never heard of before this year.  Here are my top 10 favorite 2016 albums (or EPs) out of a total of 29 that I listened to this year:

1. City Club by The Growlers
2. Born to Burn by Lake of Fire 
3. Blackstar by David Bowie
4. Day Breaks by Norah Jones
5. PersonA by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
6. Breakin' Point by Peter Bjorn and John
7. June (EP) by Film School
8. True Sadness by The Avett Brothers 
9. Big Mess by Grouplove
10. Peace Trail by Neil Young

City Club by The Growlers 

Best New Album Cover
As album artwork is something that I greatly appreciate and find to be an important part of the record itself, here are my top favorite album covers from new albums I've listened to this year:

1. City Club by the Growlers (see image above)
2. Born to Burn by Lake of Fire
3. Blackstar by David Bowie
4. Blonde by Frank Ocean
5. New Skin by CRX

Best Album Not From 2016
Though the majority of the albums I checked out this year were new releases, I did discover some older albums that I really loved.  Here are my top five favorites of these:

1. Greendale (2003) by Neil Young and Crazy Horse
2. Loaded (1970) by The Velvet Underground
3. Graceland (1986) by Paul Simon
4. Electr-O-Pura (1995) by Yo La Tengo
5. Trashtopia (2015) by Soddy Daisy 

Greendale (2003) by Neil Young and Crazy Horse

Best New Song

This year there was no real clear standout favorite new song for me.  However, there were many great ones, and going through some of the best I've come up with the following list of what are probably my top ten favorites.  If you follow me on Spotify, you can check out my playlist of these songs, titled Top Ten Songs of 2016. 

1. I'll Be Around by The Growlers
2. Welcome To Your Life by Grouplove
3. Peace Trail by Neil Young
4. OBLIVIUS by The Strokes
5. One Dance by Drake featuring WizKid and Kyla
6. With You Tonight by Summer Moon
7. Angela by The Lumineers 
8. Why? by Rooney featuring Soko
9. June by Film School
10. Fool You've Landed by Mumford and Sons featuring The Very Best and Beatenberg

I'll Be Around by The Growlers

Best Song Not Released in 2016
I didn't make a list of my top older songs that I discovered this year (that would be even more difficult to decide) but one in particular stands out."Oh! Sweet Nuthin'", the last track on The Velvet Underground's 1970 album Loaded is a soaring 7 minute anthem about the romance of having few material goods, and a perfect finish to Lou Reed's tenure with the band.  It also connects with me on a deep level.

Oh! Sweet Nuthin' (1970) by the Velvet Underground 

    

Things I'm Looking Forward to in 2017

2017 is already shaping up to be another great year for movies and music.  In particular, on the music side several of my very favorite artists have announced plans for or have hinted at new releases in the coming year.  If 2016 was perhaps a bit below average for my musical interests, 2017 looks to more than make up for the lull.  Here are the top ten likely releases I'm looking forward to seeing in the new year:

1. New Arcade Fire album, likely to be released in late spring or early summer.
2. New Real Estate album, likely to be released in the first half of 2017.
3. Richard Linklater's new film, Last Flag Flying, currently slated for a 2017 release.
4. Likely new album from Vampire Weekend.
5. Likely new album from Los Angeles band Film School.  
6. Terrence Malick's new Austin-music-scene drama, set for release on March 17.
7. Alex Garland's new scifi-thriller, Annihilation, set for a 2017 release.
8. Likely new music from MGMT.
9. Debut album by The Strokes bassist Nikolai Fraiture's new band, Summer Moon. 
10. Chris Nolan's new WWII drama, Dunkirk, set for release on July 19.

Arcade Fire warming up for a big 2017 at a festival in New Orleans in October.