Greetings fellow film fan,
I’m sure most of you will agree that 2016 was an otherwise miserable affair in respect of our broader interests in politics and pop culture. But in the all-important arena of DVD releases, it turned out to be a stronger year than 2015 overall, though admittedly its strength lay mostly in an abundant first half.
Maintaining the diversity of films in the face of declining video outlets remains our big challenge going forward, and we may have to rely more heavily on directly importing film festival titles, as we were forced to do with our #2 ranked film of the "year", 2014’s Wild Tales. So have those "multi-zone" players at the ready to enjoy our full range of future releases...
Ironically, our Top 50 ranking is not by popular vote or even vaguely democratic, but instead broadly applies a rule of thumb that the very best films match their exceptional courage or concept with exceptional craft. Aside from the list being a bit of film-nerd fun, we hope it offers you some reliable guidance or at least stimulates some debate.
So whether you agree or disagree with our rankings, we’d love you to add your own star-rating and review/comment on any film to our website, or add any of those listed here to your personal wishlist when logged in to your My-Aro account.
AROVIDEO TOP 50 DVDS RELEASED IN 2016:
|
1. The Revenant
Purely cinematic, immersive frontier adventure
|
2. Wild Tales
Magnificent Argentinian revenge anthology(Region 2 only)
|
3. Room
Superb captivity drama featuring an amazing child performance
|
4. Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Priceless smash-hit Kiwiana comedy
|
5. 45 Years
Impeccable British drama of subtlety and profundity
|
|
6. Anomalisa
A masterful miracle from the spotless mind of Charlie Kaufman
|
7. The Big Short
Razor-sharp satire set in the world of high finance
|
8. 99 Homes
Prescient(!), gripping US thriller of real estate opportunism
|
9. The End of the Tour
Perhaps the best portrait yet of Gen-X pop cynicism
|
10. Zootopia
Another delightful Pixar Animation that is pixel perfect
|
|
11. Deadpool
Gleefully badass super-hero satire
|
12. The Witch
Rigorously authentic gothic folk tale
|
13. The Lobster
Deliciously offbeat arthouse satire
|
14. Victoria
Audacious thriller shot in a 2 1/2 hour single take!
|
|
15. Spotlight
Exemplary journo drama & Best Picture Oscar-winner
|
|
|
16. Son of Saul
Unflinching, Oscar-winning Holocaust drama
|
17. Tale of Tales
Dazzling Euro-fairytale for grown-ups
|
18. The Nice Guys
Terrific action-comedy of lovable rogues in 1970s LA.
|
19. High-Rise
Phantasmagoric fever dream timewarped in 1970s Britain
|
20. The Wolfpack
Astonishing true story of six boys raised in seclusion
|
|
21. Tickled
Riveting expose of curious kinks and moral corruption
|
22. The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Sublime tale of puberty blues in the 70s
|
23. Grandma
Memorable Indie comedy with a cranky Lily Tomlin
|
24. Truth
Juicy media scandal drama w/ Cate Blachett
|
25. Trumbo
Resonating tale of Hollywood blacklist
|
|
26. The Martian
Broadly appealing sci-fi blockbuster
|
27. Kubo & The Two Strings
A-grade animated wonder from LAIKA studios
|
28. A Perfect Day
Perfectly pitched tale of peacekeepers in the Balkans
|
29. Best of Enemies
Gore Vidal & Bill Buckley thrillingly face-off in this retro-doc
|
30. Weiner
Squeamish doco inside a traumatic political campaign
|
|
31. Love & Friendship
Sophisticated, witty Jane Austen banterfest
|
32. Rams
Distinctive, droll Icelandic tale of sheepfarmers
|
33. Tangerine
Bold tragi-comedy set in the LA trans community
|
34. The Invitation
Taut, paranoid dinner-party psycho-thriller
|
35. Green Room
Dynamic thriller set in the US punk scene
|
|
41. The Assassin
Drop dead gorgeous Martial Arts mysticism
|
42. Z For Zachariah
Compelling post-apocalyptic parable shot in NZ
|
43. Everest
Bracing dramatisation of the fateful Rob Hall expedition
|
44. Carol
Resplendent 50s lesbian drama
|
45. Sing Street
Infectious Irish New-Romantic comedy
|
|
46. A Bigger Splash
Idyllic Italian indulgence from the dir. of I AM LOVE
|
47. Steve Jobs
Dynamic biopic of the tech legend
|
48. Brooklyn
First class Irish-American romance
|
49. The Belier Family
Uplifting, Cesar-winning French comedy
|
|
50. Embrace
Inspiring feminist manifesto for our times
|
|
These also made the not-so-short list for the Best of 2016 ~
In Drama (UK/Ire): Suffragette, The Danish Girl, Macbeth, Queen & Country, The Lady in the Van, Youth. In Drama (US): Sully, Creed, Joy, The Walk. In Drama (US indie): Krisha, Queen of Earth, James White, Nasty Baby, Experimenter, The Stanford Prison Experiment, Everybody Wants Some!. In Comedy/Romance: Bridget Jones’s Baby, Florence Foster Jenkins, Learning to Drive, Eddie the Eagle, Ghostbusters, The Intern, Sausage Party, Hello, My Name is Doris.
In Documentary: Sherpa, Meru, How to Change the World, Where to Invade Next, The First Monday in May, Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, Iris, The Hunting Ground, The Black Panthers, City of Gold, She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry, The Look of Silence, He Named Me Malala, Cartel Land, Dark Horse: The Story of Dream Alliance. In Foreign language: Suburra, The Clan, Our Little Sister, Tehran Taxi, Tanna, Girlhood, Marguerite, Courted, We Are the Best, The Wonders, Tangerines, My Mother, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, Labyrinth of Lies, Phoenix, Umrika.
In Action/Crime: The Hateful Eight, Bridge of Spies, Sicario, Eye in the Sky, Jason Bourne, Spectre, Legend, Bone Tomahawk, Black Mass, Money Monster, Our Kind of Traitor, Mississippi Grind. In Sci-Fi/Fantasy: Captain America: Civil War, Suicide Squad, Midnight Special. In Horror: Crimson Peak, Don’t Breathe, 10 Cloverfield Lane, We Are Still Here. In Young Adult: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt 2, Nerve. In Family: The Jungle Book, April and the Extraordinary World, Finding Dory, The Good Dinosaur, The BFG, The Secret Life of Pets, Goosebumps, Anne Of Green Gables, The Boy and the Beast.
In Music: Straight Outta Compton, Miles Ahead, The Beatles: Eight Days a Week, The Wrecking Crew, Mavis!, I Am Thor, Beware of Mr. Baker, Lambert and Stamp, Oasis: Supersonic. In NZ: The Rehearsal, 25 April, Crossing Rachmaninoff, Chasing Great, Ever the Land, Born to Dance, Three Wise Cousins. In Oz: The Dressmaker, Looking for Grace, Goldstone, Holding the Man. And from the Edge: Goodnight Mommy, Mommy, The Duke of Burgundy, Swiss Army Man.
And finally, the "small screen" provided the following debut or one-off premium TV shows: Show Me a Hero, Togetherness, Billions, Narcos, The Night Of, The People Vs. OJ Simpson, Mr. Robot, Preacher and 11.22.63 from the US, The Night Manager, The Last Panthers, Unforgotten, Doctor Foster, War and Peace, The Last Kingdom, and Victoria from the UK, plus Euro-hits Occupied, The Shadow Men, Witnesses, and further seasons of the super-popular Un Village Francais...
If all that’s not enough, be sure to browse our AroVideo Top 50 Films of 2015 newsletter.
