Corey's Top 10 Movies of 2016

10. Swiss Army Man

An uplifting tale of a suicidal man and the farting corpse that saved his life. This first cinematic blast of absurdity from the Daniels team is literally unlike anything you've ever seen. Completely polarizing and uncompromisingly original, it's also lucky enough to have a career-best perf from Daniel Radcliffe. He really sells those farts.

9. Weiner

An equal parts delicious and horrific look behind the curtain of the dumpster fire that was ex-congressman Anthony Weiner's 2013 NYC mayoral run. Filmmakers Josh Kriegman (once an aid to Weiner in D.C) and Elyse Steinberg were given spectacular and abnormal access to Weiner's home life and campaign backroom, putting together an essential document of political failure. We live in an era where ego, spin and lies are facts on the ground before the truth can get out of bed.

8. I Am Not Your Negro

Raoul Peck's essay on the state of racism in America as told through the words of the great James Baldwin is an urgent call to arms; the most pressing documentary of the year. Using an unfinished manuscript of Baldwin's for narration (through the powerful voice of Samuel L. Jackson) and unearthed archival footage of the author speaking to issues still deeply felt and experienced by many Americans, Peck fashions a cinematic argument that is as infuriating as it is inspiring.

7. The Witch

Though it divided mainstream audiences and horror heads alike, Robert Eggers' first feature creeped the hell out of me. A decidedly slow burning, but incredibly detailed and unnervingly tragic tale of a family's haunting in rural 17th Century New England, Eggers lays the dread on thick, leading up to a shockingly violent conclusion, after which you may never look at goats in the same way ever again.

6. Arrival

Quebecker Denis Villeneuve's streak of world-class genre exercises continues with Arrival, a refreshingly intelligent, surprisingly emotional and lovingly crafted sci-fi suspense odyssey. Amy Adams is in top form here as Dr. Louise Banks, a linguist tapped by the Pentagon to engage with extra-terrestrial beings who've mysteriously touched down on Earth. Grounded in real world geopolitical intrigue and unafraid to plumb the depths of the mind and the heart, Villeneuve again delivers a technical marvel that proves he's got the steadiest cinematic hand in Hollywood. Bring on Blade Runner 2049!

5. Green Room

But as far as genre exercises go, Jeremy Saulnier's gory neo-nazi punk rock thriller is as expertly calibrated as they come. By carefully ratcheting up the tension and letting the absolute shit hit the fan when you're not expecting it, Saulnier proves that he is the real deal, creating a stomach-churning but wholly satisfying escape-from-hell flick that should stand the test of time. Also has the last memorable leading turn from Anton Yelchin, one of 2016's most dearly departed casualties.

4. 13th

Ava DuVernay’s fiercely argued teardown of the racial prejudices in the American criminal justice system and the cyclical forces of establishment politics that threaten to repeat past injustices, is the best documentary of the year. With budgetary and editorial carte blanche (thanks to financier Netflix) and interviews from heavyweights on both sides of the ideological aisle, DuVernay constructs an incredibly engaging narrative of how the legal system has ravaged the bodies and minds of African-Americans since reconstruction.

3. The Red Turtle

Belgian director Michael Dudok De Wit, working with legendary Japanese animators at Studio Ghibli, create a wordless fable for the ages with The Red Turtle, a stunningly gorgeous and deeply felt experience that will leave you emotionally raw. A man washes up on a deserted island and forges a life-long relationship with the titular red turtle - that’s all you need to know. So truthful in its exploration of the human heart and real about the connections that sustain it that, for the first time in ages, I cried in a movie theatre.

2. The Lobster

Love and relationships are incredibly weird and, at times, push us to bouts of illogical, unexplainable behavior. Well, if that doesn’t make sense to you, then maybe you need to take on Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest descent into deranged banality, The Lobster. In a world where the failure to court a partner results in the forced transformation into an animal of one’s choice, Colin Farrell (sporting one of film’s best moustaches) and Rachel Weisz must navigate a choppy, evil society that reflects on the worst of ours. Delightfully twisted but meticulously composed, this is a truly great anti-romantic anti-comedy

1. Moonlight

Barry Jenkins’ second film, despite all the accolades and laurels that the critical community has heaped on it, is still an absolute treasure; a beautiful philosophical journey and reflection on class, race, sex and identity. Hidden behind the three tumultuous periods in Chiron’s life growing up black and gay in modern Miami - as played by three unknown, but enormously generous actors - is a masterclass in colour and composition, editorial patience and sumptuous sound design. At my screening of the film during TIFF 2016, a man stood up during the Q&A to tell Jenkins “we wouldn’t have sat down from that standing ovation if you didn’t tell us to.” That man was Jonathan Demme. Another couple notes on Moonlight: here’s hoping Mahershala Ali wins for this one; he’s got a towering and tough role, executed brilliantly. Also, any film that’s got The Supreme Jubilees on the soundtrack just...wins.

Corey's Top 10 Movie Flicks of 2015

10. Best of Enemies

In the midst of the amorphous blend of politics and reality television that has - and will continue to - engulf the 2016 US presidential race, Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon's look at ABC's revolutionary debates between conservative William F. Buckley and liberal Gore Vidal is an eye-opening reminder of the staying power of sensational politics. 

9. Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

Another all-too unsettling reminder of cyclical history, Stanley Nelson Jr.'s documentary of the rise and fall of the much-aligned but mostly misunderstood (and violently broken) Black Panther movement that gripped America in the 1960s is electric, angry and honest. Worth watching, if only for the fascinating parallels to today's Black Lives Matter movement.

8. Spotlight

Instantly (and rightfully) heralded as this generation's All The President's Men, Tom McCarthy's journalistic procedural of the Boston Globe's 2001 explosive expose on the Catholic Church's cover-up and complacence of an epidemic of sexual abuse slow-burns its righteous and contemplative energy and offers up tremendous ensemble acting. Yes, Spotlight is critically adored and important, but it is also demanding of our philosophical curiosity and attention. 

7. The Big Short

Adam McKay has always been willing to infuse his absurd comedies with sly political commentary, but with The Big Short, he finally lets his finely sharpened political claws draw blood. A furious and very funny indictment of the financial institutions, regulators, snake-oil salesmen and greed-mongers that nearly took down the world economy with shit-laden securities, McKay and Co's unorthodox film about the unorthodox men that saw through the finance world's pre-2008 parade of delusion is a surprisingly crackerjack entertainment. Memorable, fuming performances from Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling. 

6. Phoenix

In this year's most measured, complex and controlled performance, Nina Hoss commands the screen as a unrecognizable survivor of the Nazi death machine in German director Christian Petzold's wonderful World War II drama, Phoenix. A story of confused identities, allegiances and emotions, this deceptively simple, yet emotionally lush and gripping movie builds to a jaw-dropping climax that you will not see coming. 

5. Amy

With Amy, Asif Kapadia establishes himself as a bonafide documentary auteur, with a style all his own (that utilizes archival footage and voiceover) and a keen eye for what makes us all so tragically human. This, the best documentary I saw in 2015, is a brutally raw exploration of the demons that powered Ms. Winehouse's voice and songwriting, and ultimately led to her untimely demise. Having plumbed the depths of every frame of video and every paparazzi's flash, Kapadia finds the moments that endear us to the lost singer; the passions and convictions we never knew, or perhaps, never thought to notice. 

4. Anomalisa

The word "meticulous" gets bandied about by the film world often when describing particularly well-made films. But there is no other film - animated or live-action - from 2015 that deserves such a descriptor like Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson's stunning Anomalisa. The exceptionally slow art of stop-motion animation and detailed facial and kinetic puppetry bring to life the simple story of a depressed author's serendipitous encounter with a woman, unsparing in its wealth of real, raw emotion. There has not been (and perhaps will not ever be) a more beautifully awkward sex scene in an animated movie. 

3. Sicario

Easily the most ulcer-inducing movie experience of the year was thanks to Denis Villeneuve's Sicario, a thoughtful, beautifully rendered suspense flick. Villeneuve, a good Canadian boy whose careful, (*ahem*) meticulous film craft has catapulted him to the top tier of directors specializing in mature, R-rated fare - he will soon do Blade Runner 2. In this one, Emily Blunt is dragged into a classified mission to take down a powerful Mexican drug cartel, or is she? A ripping flick complete with powerful, expertly designed set pieces and a stellar turn from a near-wordless Benicio Del Toro.

2. Ex-Machina

28 Days Later scribe Alex Garland's first foray into directing is a mind-bender of the highest order; a science fiction that blends real anxieties about artificial intelligence, the evolution of our symbiosis with machines and the sexual allure of it all. Alicia Vikander puts in dominant, captivaing work as an android whose mad genius creator (Oscar Isaac) sets her up as a test subject for Domnhall Gleeson's wide-eyed programmer. Unexpectedly intelligent in the best ways possible, Ex-Machina signals the arrival of a badly needed voice in the world of original, ambitious cinema. 

1. Mad Max: Fury Road

The most pure, thrilling, enjoyable cinematic experience of the year, George Miller's magnum opus is the best action flick of this century so far. Adrenaline pumps like nitrous oxide through my veins as I watch this movie. It is complete sensory nirvana as George Miller fills every frame with colour, dirt, grime, fire and the roar of machines coming directly at us. We even give a crap about the plight of our heroes, played with assured, confident badassery by an unstoppable Charlize Theron and a primitive Tom Hardy. Singular images and moments from this movie are so original and crazy but make total sense given the dirty, post-apocalyptic universe; every detail is grounded by sound creative logic. Please: Hollywood and Mr. Miller, make more of this. Thanks.