The "Unofficial" Films of 2016 (Take One)

2016 is over and 2017 has begun although it has been a very lackluster year for me personally as I didn't get to see a lot of films this year as many of them came and went. Here are several films of 2016 that I hope to see: Elle, La La Land, Jackie, Rogue One, Moonlight, Kubo and the Two Strings, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Things to Come, Endless Poetry, Voyage of Time, Train to Busan, The Red Turtle, Paterson, Julieta, Gimme Danger, American Honey, Certain Women, 20th Century Women, A Monster Calls, One More Time with Feeling, The Handmaiden, The Salesman, Loving, Hell or High Water, Toni Erdmann, Captain Fantastic, Personal Shopper, Green Room, I, Daniel Blake, Lovesong, Finding Dory, Moana, It's Only the End of the World, and Swiss Army Man. Here are the best films of 2016 that I've seen so far....

1. The Neon Demon

2. Nocturnal Animals

3. Love and Friendship

4. 13th

5. Arrival

6. Manchester by the Sea

7. Midnight Special

8. Everybody Want Some!!

9. O.J.: Made in America

10. Hail, Caesar!

11. Captain America: Civil War

12. Deadpool

13. Doctor Strange

14. Before the Flood

Best Short/Ads: Kenzo World/My Mutant Brain & Team Thor. Honorable Mentions: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Swap, & Eddie the Eagle. Worst Film of 2016 (so far): The 5th Wave.

© thevoid99 2017

The Year-End Reflection of 2016

WORST FUCKING YEAR EVER!!!!!!! That is what I have to say about 2016. It was a shit year. A year that I wish never existed. Fortunately, it will end in hours but we’re headed for some uncertainty into what is ahead. Especially as the world is pretty much thrown into chaos and there is so much to worry about. Still, the sins of 2016 look like it will be repeated or exaggerated considering the bullshit that is looming. It was a shitty year filled with too many deaths, too many chaos, a lot of divide socially and politically, wars all over the world, and lots of stupid decisions.

In the year of 2016, I saw a total of 400 films in 252 first-timers and 128 re-watches as it wasn’t entirely surprising but disappointing considering the year itself as I didn’t see a lot of films theatrically as I only saw 12 films in 2016 in the theaters as one of them was a re-watch. It is very likely I won’t reach that personal goal of 500 films a year as I’m not going to attempt in 2017. Fortunately, one of the highlights this year has been my Blind Spot Series as here is the final ranking for my Blind Spot films of 2016:

1. The Exorcist

2. Das Boot

3. The Killer

4. Come and See

5. Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy (Pather Panchali - Aparajito - Apur Sansar)

6. Roman Holiday

7. Yi Yi

8. John Ford’s Cavalry Trilogy (Fort Apache - She Wore a Yellow Ribbon - Rio Grande)

9. News from Home

10. A Brief History of Time

11. Seven Beauties

12. A Trip to the Moon

The Blind Spots were definitely inspiring as I saw a lot of great films in different genres while many of the first-timers I saw this year were really good. Some of which are surprising as well as some gems that people should encounter. Instead of fifty, I’m going to whittle it down to 25 as it is due to the fact that there were many that stood out as most of the films I saw were from 2010 and so on so those films won’t be in the list. So here is a list of 30 films that I really liked that saw that came out before 2010:

1. Les Rendez-vous d'Anna

2. Halloween

3. Santa Sangre

4. Night and Fog

5. Schindler's List

6. Red River

7. Speedy

8. Watership Down

9. Salaam Bombay!

10. Cross of Iron

11. The Tales of Hoffmann

12. Woman in the Dunes

13. Crumb

14. Touki Bouki

15. Shane

16. Woodstock

17. Roar

18. Cape Fear

19. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

20. Cabaret

21. The Street Fighter

22. Lifeforce

23. Gertrud

24. From the Life of the Marionettes

25. The Driver

26. Fight Club

27. Ordet

28. La Cage Aux Folles

29. Stray Dog

30. Smokey and the Bandit

Well, that is all I’m going to say for 2016. There hasn’t been a lot of good things that happened this year. Sure, the Chicago Cubs finally won the World Series and I got to see Kraftwerk but too much bullshit happened. I lost my cat this year. Still don’t have a new water heater while my kitchen sink is in the fritz again. Plus, there was so many people that died this year that meant a lot to me like Prince, Muhammad Ali, George Michael, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Garry Shandling, Alan Rickman, Michael Cimino, Abbas Kiarostami, and so many others. Yet, none was bigger than David Bowie who probably meant more to me than anyone as he helped me find myself and so many others. I think all there is to said is this… fuck 2016 and fuck off for good. I wish I could say happy new year but I’m not really up to it as I’m just filled with too much dread. For everyone that wants to say good times are coming. All I can say is this… fuck you and fuck off.


Let’s just hope for 2017 to do much better and get some power back into our hands just to do things right in a world full of wrongs.

© thevoid99 2016

Blog News 12/22/15: Blog Plans for 2016

2015 is coming to an end as the time has come into what should happen for the next year. 2016 won't be as big as 2015 as it means that I'm kind of scaling things back a bit as I've done numerous projects in 2015 as some of it is unfinished such as the Twin Peaks marathon as well as a review on The Story of Film series. I'm definitely having those finished for 2016 and just get them out of the way. After that, no more marathons with the exception of the annual Cannes Film Festival marathon. 2016 will mean that I'm going to slow things down a bit and not having to push myself to do something.

Having done an essay of sorts on Quentin Tarantino definitely has me thinking about reviving the Favorite Film Essay series as I have a few ideas of what films I might write about. I'm not sure if it will return but it is up in the air so it might return after a long hiatus. As for my music and wrestling blogs, the former might come back due to the upcoming releases of acts like Nine Inch Nails, David Bowie, PJ Harvey, Radiohead, and M83 as well as the Cure comping back on the road for a U.S. tour in 2016. The latter however I would say is dead because I've lost interest in wrestling thanks in part to WWE's bullshit brand of sports entertainment.

Having just fulfilled my 2015 Blind Spot obligations as I'm going to get ready for the 2016 Blind Spot Series. It is clear that there's a bunch of films I want to see as I have a lot of them in my DVR so I made a list of films that is in my DVR that I'm definitely going to see. There is also a list of 50 films that hope to see for next year in the hopes I want to do. Some of the choices are made are based on the most recent edition of 1001 Movies to See Before You Die list as here is what I hope to do for 2016:

• Do more films of the French New Wave as well as complete the films of Jean-Luc Godard from the New Wave Period as well as the Six Moral Tales of Eric Rohmer.

• More films in the genre of horror from the classic Universal Studio films to the films of Alfred Hitchcock.

• Find and watch films from established New Hollywood filmmakers like Robert Altman and Brian de Palma as well as films from the late 60s and early 70s that would be part of that new movement.

• More films by women filmmakers like Chantal Akerman, Lina Wertmuller, Kelly Reichardt, and Lucrecia Martel.

• Films by the old-school filmmakers like John Ford, Howard Hawks, Billy Wilder, and Otto Preminger in order to get a broader view of the world of cinema.

Now that I've profiled 50 filmmakers as my piece on David Lynch is finished but currently in the editing stage for a possible January release. The time has come to make the announcement on the next batch of filmmakers in the series. This time around, I've decided not to get into anymore big filmmakers having done a four-part piece on Lynch. Still, there are names that are important to the world of cinema as it's diverse but also filled with films that are considered some of the best. Here are the 12 filmmakers that I'm going to profile for the Auteurs series for 2016:

January-Alejandro Amenabar

February-Steve McQueen

March-Terry Zwigoff

April-Spike Jonze

May-Rahmin Bahrani

June-Bob Fosse

July-Richard Linklater

August-Jeff Nichols

September-Alejandro Jodorowsky

October-John Carpenter

November-David Fincher

December-Sam Peckinpah

Here is a list of the films by these filmmakers I'm going to watch for the year as two of them are likely to be two-part series considering their importance to the world of films. That is pretty much what is ahead as I'm just hoping for a good year in 2016.

© thevoid99 2015

2016 Blind Spot Series

With the year coming to close as I have one final film to watch for this year's Blind Spot Series as it will be Howard Hawks' 1932 film Scarface. Now that another series is about to end, another is starting to come as I'm once again shaking things up. This time around, the films I'm choosing aren't just some films that are now becoming available in the presentations that they deserve but also the kind of films that I've been hearing about but have never seen. My choices aren't just based on films that I wanted to see but also on filmmakers that I don't know much about and such as well as films that made an impact on cinema. Usually, it would be for a film a month for the series but having done a trilogy this year and doing a 10-part film series two years before. I decided that list would include not one but two trilogies as it will be sixteen films for 2016 instead of the usual twelve. Here are the 10 films and 2 trilogies that I will do for 2016:

Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy (Pather Panchali - Aparajito - Apur Sansar)

Das Boot

Come and See

Roman Holiday

A Brief History of Time

The Killer

John Ford's Calvary Trilogy (Fort Apache - She Wore a Yellow Ribbon - Rio Grande)

Yi Yi

A Trip to the Moon

News from Home

Seven Beauties

The Exorcist

© thevoid99 2015