These are the films that I not only think are great and will stand the test of time, but they are films that got under my skin, made me want to see them again, continued to linger in my mind and reminded me why I love cinema.
My top ten films
Released in Melbourne, Australia, in 2016
1. Room (Lenny Abrahamson, 2015)
Released January
2. Son of Saul (Saul fia, László Nemes, 2015)
Released February
3. Elle (Paul Verhoeven, 2016)
Released October
4. Arrival (Denis Villeneuve, 2016)
Released November
5. I, Daniel Blake (Ken Loach, 2016)
Released November
6. Kubo and the Two Strings (Travis Knight, 2016)
Released August
7. Goldstone (Ivan Sen, 2016)
Released July
8. Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford, 2016)
Released November
9. Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015)
Released January
10. Spear (Stephen Page, 2015)
Released March
Honourable mentions
Fifteen more films I loved this year, listed alphabetically:
Brooklyn (John Crowley, 2015)
Released February
Embrace of the Serpent (El abrazo de la serpiente, Ciro Guerra, 2015)
Released July
Girl Asleep (Rosemary Myers, 2015)
Released September
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (Taika Waititi, 2016)
Released May
La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)
Released December
The Measure of a Man, (La loi du marché, Stéphane Brizé, 2015)
Released June
Mustang (Deniz Gamze Ergüven, 2015)
Released June
Paterson (Jim Jarmusch, 2016)
Released December
Sherpa (Jennifer Peedom, 2015)
Released March
Sing Street (John Carney, 2016)
Released July
Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015)
Released January
Sully (Clint Eastwood, 2016)
Released September
Sunset Song (Terence Davies, 2015)
Released September
The Nice Guys (Shane Black, 2016)
Released May
Weiner (Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg, 2016)
Released September
Special mention
Most of the other notable films I saw this year will be released in Melbourne in 2017, so I’ll include them on next year’s list rather than here, but I do want to give a special mention to the following films screened at festivals that to my knowledge are not currently scheduled for release in Australia.
Certain Women (Kelly Reichardt, 2016)
Kate Plays Christine (Robert Greene, 2016)
Kedi (Ceyda Torun, 2016)
My Life as a Zucchini (Ma vie de Courgette, Claude Barnes, 2016)
Notes on Blindness (Pete Middleton and James Spinney, 2016)
This list was compiled for the upcoming Senses of Cinema 2016 World Poll
CINEMA AUTOPSY 