Video Game Review: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

PlayStation 3

Back in my teenage years, my favorite genre of game was far and away the JRPG. It was the 90s and I played as many of them as I could get my hands on. Final Fantasy 7 through 9. Then I went back and played some of the older Final Fantasies. There was Xenogears. Breath of Fire. Grandia. The Shining Series. The Oasis series. Albert Odyssey. I had my hands full with them.

Over the years the genre has seen a massive decline in popularity. It was beginning to seem as if I hadn't played a decent JRPG in ages. If I ever wanted to play a good one, I had to go back and play an old game on an older console. Had the JRPG become a lost art?

Not quite. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch delivers a solid, old school JRPG experience to the PlayStation 3.

I had heard about this game for a while before finally getting around to it. I thought its cartoony graphics looked really intriguing. I had read a few reviews for the game, which were all favorable. When I saw it on sale for a ridiculously cheap price on the PlayStation Network, I decided to make the jump and purchase the game.

I didn't actually get around to playing the game until over a year after I bought it. My Gamefly subscription had just ended, and I was now in the mood to play a longer game like an RPG. So I decided to finally give Ni No Kuni a go.

Immediately I was blown away by the game's graphics and presentation. It is more like you are steering your character through a living, breathing anime world than playing a video game. The graphics and animation are stunning. The voice acting is great. The game pulls you in with an interesting story line.

Right away I thought: this could be the amazing JRPG experience you didn't even realize had been missing from your life for over ten years. I had forgotten how much I loved the genre. I was ready to dive into this game and play my life away.

Let me tell you a little bit about the game's story. There are two parallel worlds running next to each other. One world is a normal kind of world, very similar to our own. The other world is a world of fantasy and wonder. Magic, dragons, kings, witches, robots, all kinds of crazy stuff. The fantasy world is under threat of a man named Shadar, who is using his evil magic to damage people's emotions and wreck their lives.

A boy named Oliver in the "real" world is pulled into the magical world to save the day. Each world has a "soulmate" in the opposite world. This means that one person's soul is connected to someone similar to them in the other world. What happens to one soulmate affects the other.

Oliver's mom has just died, and he finds out that she has a soulmate in this new world of magic. And she is in danger. So if Oliver can just save the soulmate, he may save his mom from death in his world. He embarks on a magical quest to stop Shadar and save his mother. This is just the very basic version of the story. There are many different subplots throughout the course of the game. Expect some big twists and turns. I'm not going to explain everything that happens, though. I ain't got time for that shit.

As I mentioned before, the graphics are terrific. It feels like an interactive anime in many ways towards the beginning of the game. Put that together with the game's slick presentation, its lively musical score, and some decent voice acting, and everything gets off to a very nice start.

If I was going to grade this game based on my first couple of days with it, it would get an A+, for sure. I was immediately pulled in by it. In addition to being a visual masterpiece I found the game to be extremely fun to play, too. Combat isn't exactly traditional JRPG turn based, but it is close enough. You aren't just limited to a corridor or a dungeon like every Final Fantasy game these days. There is a world map to roam. Cities to visit. People to talk to. Actual stuff to do.

Everything in the game is bright and colorful. The environmental design of the game is brilliant. It is one of those games that you stop to look around in awe every once in a while. Each city has its own unique look or visual theme. There is a huge cast of supporting characters. Everything feels very alive.

One thing that really makes the game feel so alive is its music. I kept admiring the musical score when I was playing this game. So many catchy little tunes. Some grand, sweeping orchestral numbers. This game's music really adds to its personality. I have several favorite tunes from the game, but this one is my favorite:

As I mentioned before, I was ready to give this game an A+ based on my first few days with it. It had the graphics of the Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (but sharper and much more advanced). Characters and imaginative story line straight from am L. Frank Baum novel. And a musical score that could have come from a Walt Disney movie. I loved it.

Over time, however, my opinion started to change a little bit.

I still ended up liking the game in the long run, but I feel as if it started off strong and then tapered off a bit. I wasn't a huge fan of where the story line went. It feels very much tailored to little kids rather than adults. There are some plot twists and a few interesting moments, but nothing too Earth shattering. Mainly you just walk from one city to the next, run errands for people, do good deeds, repair people's emotions who were touched by Shadar, and collect stuff.

In a nutshell you are just traveling the world, doing good. Kind of like Romanian philanthropist Herkermer Homolka in the movie Congo. Exactly like him, in fact.

The story line is very basic and dull the first three quarters of the game. Its all about taking down Shadar and helping people. Doing good gets boring after a time. Especially when you factor in all the grinding and leveling up you have to do. The game is not easy, by any stretch of the imagination. In between each city you travel to, you must fight enemies. Lots and lots of enemies. It seemed like I had to spend more time fighting and leveling up in this game than I did in any other RPG I had played in the past.

So many fights are unavoidable. Sometimes its like "aaaaahhh just let me through. I know where I'm going, all I want to do is run through here! Why do I have to fight something every ten steps???" It gets old after a while.

The game's story line never does get much better. In the last quarter of the game, after you think you've won, things finally take a drastic turn from the direction they were headed. But even with the game's "big twist", I still found the story to be severely underwhelming.

I guess I am spoiled by stuff like the Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, and Lost. I like dark, somewhat twisted things. I love big bombshells, shocking plot twists. Stuff that makes you think. The game's story line is too simple and cutesy for me. Even though things take a turn near the end, I had already stopped caring about the story line long before then.

I feel as if a fantastic story line is essential to making a great RPG. It is what motivates you and keeps you playing. What makes you not want to put down the controller, even after you've been playing for nine hours straight. After the first few days of playing, Ni No Kuni lost that hold on me. Sometimes I would go for days, one time even longer than a week in between playing sessions. It needed that killer story line as motivation to keep going. Especially when the game is so difficult and you find yourself having to do a lot of frustrating grinding all the time. The game becomes much less fun to play, and fast.

It seems like I am doing a lot of complaining about the game. But really, I enjoyed it overall. Even though you have to fight a lot, at least the battle system is done well. You can move around the screen in all directions while battling your enemy. You can switch back and forth between different characters, each with their own special tactics. You can only control one character at a time, but you can tell the other players how to play. Either with the default 50/50 attack/defense settings, or all out attack or all out defense. I have read several complaints about the computer controlled characters doing stupid things like using up all their magic immediately. Some of these complaints are legit, but they didn't bother me much. I just made sure I was well stocked on items at all times.

The sheer creativity level of the game is worth the price of admission. The look and the feel of the game. The game's environments. Its music. The different places you can travel to. In many ways this game is a throwback to RPGS of the old times.

And there is so much stuff to do. So many tasks to run, people to help. I find that what kept me playing most nights was running errands or completing tasks. I'd finish one, and be like "just one more!" but even then I'd keep playing. So while the game's story line may not have been interesting enough to keep me going, at least the title's game play mechanics were.

I'd recommend this to anyone who is a fan of old school style RPGs. Or even anyone who is a fan of RPGs in general. It is not a perfect game, but it was enough to renew my interest in a genre I had long given up for dead. Don't come for the game's subpar story line. Come for its crisp graphics, gorgeous environments, sprawling world, epic musical score, and fun quest system. Its a lovely game, but as far as story line goes, it didn't quite have the huge impact on me that I was looking for.

Overall:

B

Dan's 2016 Movie Ranking: #30 to #21

The ranking rolls on. Today's installment pushes us from the top 30 to the top 20. Enjoy!

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#30

I was a big fan of the book. Normally I don't expect movie adaptations to be as good as the source material, but I was hoping for a pleasant surprise here. A pleasant surprise which I did not get.

I am not saying this is a bad movie. Not by any stretch of the imagination. It wouldn't have made it to #30 if it was bad. It just wasn't as good as the book. I expected a lot of hard hitting emotional moments, and for some reason they didn't come for me. This movie had a lot of sad moments and I am sure it made a ton of people who watched it cry their eyes out, but for some reason it didn't have much of an effect on me.

I could be that I was spoiled by the book. It could be the movie's fault for not doing things right. Maybe I am just a heartless bastard. I enjoyed the movie overall and would recommend it to anyone, but it just didn't have the emotional impact I was hoping for. I really wanted to love the movie and have it in my top 5. Instead it will have to settle for top 30.

#29

This movie's Cinderalla run on my list is finally over. I will admit that this is not a world changing movie. It won't win any awards, probably didn't gather much critical acclaim. But it is fun and that is all I care about.

A group of strangers from all walks of life find themselves falling through the sky towards a strange alien world. Some make it to the surface safely. Some.... splat! The survivors quickly band together and find themselves being hunted by a pack of Predators. In movies past, the Predators have hunted on Earth. In this movie, they bring their prey to an alien world, drop them off, and hunt them.

It is interesting seeing the cast of characters in action. They are all predators themselves, actually. Soldiers, criminals, even a sexual predator. Not necessarily all good people. They are forced to band together to combat their stalkers and find a way off the planet.

Lots of action. Some good sci-fi moments. Shout outs to the original Predator film. I found this movie to be a lot of fun. I recognize its flaws and realize that this is probably too high a ranking for this film, but I don't care. I liked it.

#28

This low-ish ranking doesn't necessarily reflect my opinion on Star Wars: A New Hope. It is a great movie, the movie that got me hooked on Star Wars to begin with. You've read this a few times already on this ranking, but I will say it again. It is simply that I have seen the movie too many times. I love the movie, but you can only watch something so many times before you start to not enjoy it as much anymore.

I only watched this because I had just watched Rogue One and I wanted to see how the two tied together. Very well, as a matter of fact. But if it was not for Rogue One, I probably wouldn't have watched this for a few years, simply because I am TOO familiar with the movie.

#27

This movie is based on a short story by Stephen King of the same name: Big Driver. I had just finished reading the story when I heard about the movie, so it was only natural that I check the movie out.

Surprisingly, this was actually a good adaptation. Hollywood has this way of messing up Stephen King's work when they move it to the big screen. But I liked this. It is a loyal adaptation. Even though this was made for TV (the Lifetime Network, lol) it isn't watered down at all. There's violence, there are dead bodies. The tone isn't quite as dark as the short story, but close enough.

The movie is about a woman who is brutally raped and left for dead in a drainpipe (next to the bodies of some other not so fortunate past victims). She wakes up and uses her sleuthing skills to track down the man and take her revenge on him. There are some clever twists and turns along the way. It is a fun movie and I would suggest it to anyone into this kind of thing. It's a wee bit forgettable in the long run, but still I enjoyed it while I watched it.

#26

I have heard a countless number of jokes and references to this movie over the years, but until 2016 I had never actually seen it. Now I have.

It is a pretty simple story for anyone who has been a regular fan of thriller movies for the past 20 years. A group of guys go on a rafting trip through hillbilly country. Guys fight hillbillies, people get hurt and die, guys flee. The premise is familiar enough, but the execution of the movie is what makes it stand out.

It is a very well done movie. The film's creepy tone is set early on in the film with the now infamous banjo playing scene. The movie really takes a turn for the disturbing during the guys' first run in with the dangerous hillbillies out in the wild. The whole intimidation/rape scene is enough to make anyone squirm uncomfortably in their seat. And from then on the movie is one big adrenaline rush as the protagonists try to escape to safety.

I enjoyed Deliverance but I do not think it is a flawless movie. There are some very slow parts. The characters are not the most likable group of guys. The whole concept of the film is something I have seen 100 times before. I am sure that, given the age of this film, this was one of the first movies of its kind. But it still doesn't change the fact that I didn't see it until 2016. I've seen Wrong Turn, The Hills Have Eyes, and several other movies with dangerous hillbillies who hunt people. So the shock value of Deliverance has lost a little bit with me.

I can appreciate, though, that this was a mold breaking movie when it originally came out.

#25

I had just finished binge watching all 6 seasons of Walking Dead before season 7 when I decided to watch this movie. I had zombies on the brain, apparently.

I had seen this movie before, but it had been years since my last viewing of it. So a lot of the jokes and scenarios in this movie were fresh with me, as if I were seeing them for the first time. This movie works in multiple ways. It works as a comedy and it works as a zombie flick. And that is important because if it had failed in either aspect, it probably wouldn't have been a big a hit as it became.

The film has a lot of great characters, and it is fun watching them play off of one another. My favorite part of the whole movie has to be when they go to Bill Murray's house and run into him there. That whole sequence of events is just hilarious to me.

There is never a dull moment in the film. Something funny or something violent is happening every minute. And that is good for a guy with a short attention span like me. My only complaint has to be that the movie is too short. I don't believe it is even an hour and a half. It is like one big tease. I wanted more!

#24

This is a movie that gets destroyed by both critics and fans alike. I don't know why so many people hate this movie. I never read any of the Dredd comics, so I guess coming in with no expectations helps. Sure the acting isn't necessarily great, but it doesn't have to be in a movie like this.

This movie is all about over the top action and suspense, with a little bit of humor thrown in on the side. If you put away your critic hat and just sit back and watch the movie for what it is, you will find that it is actually a really fun movie. I liked the characters. I found the story line to be pretty engaging and fun. I never got bored. Sure it can be a little cheesy in parts, but I find that it adds to the film's charm. I liked it a lot.

This movie is all about fun. Don't be snobby. Relax and enjoy it, people.

#23

I'm not generally a big fan of war movies, but Saving Private Ryan has always been one of my favorites. If you are looking for realistic representations of combat, you need look no further. This movie has some of the most intense and brutal depictions of combat you will see in a movie.

One of the films first scenes, the storming of Omaha Beach at Normandy, is one of the most intense film scenes you will ever witness. That scene alone makes the movie worth the price of admission. It is very brutal and will leave your heart racing.

The movie has a lot of other great battle scenes as well. And that is my top complaint about the film. There is so much fighting it actually starts to get boring after a while. And I feel that the story line often takes a back seat to all of the fighting going on.

It is a great movie, I just didn't feel as emotionally attached to the characters as I should. Most of them die throughout the course of the movie, and eventually its just like "oh there goes another one." These deaths I feel should hit you a lot harder. Platoon I feel does a great job of connecting you with the characters. This one, not so much.

#22

This is one of those "films about nothing" that for some reason or another seems to work. An estranged brother visits his family in California, and takes his brother with him on a sight seeing trip to a bunch of locations famous for being associated with the Manson killings. The main goal of the trip is for bonding purposes.

The two brothers end up going back and forth between quarreling and loving one another. You find out that there is history between the two. As the film progresses, you find out that the weirdo brother has been obsessed with the Manson killings and is looking to join up with other people who are obsessed and are trying to restart "the family". The good brother sees that this is dangerous and attempts to talk him out of it.

Its a family drama for the most part. There is some humor in the movie, there are emotional moments. The tone of the film reminds me of Little Miss Sunshine for some reason. If you liked that movie and are also interested in Manson stuff, like me, you should enjoy this film. It is an under noticed gem.

#21

Just because this is ranked ahead of A New Hope doesn't mean that I think it is the better movie. I just want to be clear about that! Simply put, I had a better experience watching this move in 2016. So it ranks higher.

I've seen A New Hope a countless number of times. This movie I have only seen 3 or 4 times. So it is newer and fresher for me. Easier to enjoy.

It doesn't hurt that I find this movie to be the best of the prequel trilogy, easily. The action is better. Its not as corny (well, it can be in parts). The story finally starts making sense. And the darker tone of the movie in general is better than the childish/goofy tone of the first 2 films.

I had fun watching this. I only kind of half-watched A New Hope. Thats why this gets the higher ranking.









Top 20 in my next update. Here are the movies that are still in the hunt:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
American Sniper
Creed
The Revenant
No Good Deed
The Night of the Living Dead
Coming to America

American History X

Darkman

Quills

Platoon

Green Room

Captain America: Civil War
10 Cloverfield Lane
The Shallows
Funny Games
The Nightmare
The Rock
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Dan's 2016 Movie Ranking: #40 to #31

The ranking continues as we move into the 30s and one step closer to our eventual winner.

No big introduction this time, we are just going to get started.

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#40

The reviews for this movie were tremendous. Just tremendous. Absolutely spectacular.

But I've never been too familiar with the character of Deadpool, so I was not as excited about the movie as everyone else seemed to be. Still, though, I was intrigued. I wanted to see how an R-rated Marvel film would work with violence and raunchy humor and sex, so the wifey and I decided to go see it in the theater.

I thought it was pretty good. It is definitely a refreshing change from a lot of the superhero movies out there. The movie has a lot of genuine laughs. The violence and gore level is over the top, which I approve of. And no matter how naughty he is or what bad things he does, you just can't help but love and root for the character of Deadpool.

My only problem with the movie was in its very basic, almost overly simple story line. Yeah I know you don't really watch superhero movies for their intricate plots, but as far as the story goes there is nothing I haven't seen here a countless number of times before. Yeah, the humor and violence makes it seem like a fresh idea, but at heart the plot of this movie is really nothing original. I think I even nodded off once or twice in the theater, which is never a good sign. I have a feeling that if and when I watch this movie again, I will like it a lot more now that I know what to expect of it. But for now it is stuck with its 40 ranking.

#39

Every few years or so I have this desire to fire up the Lord of the Rings movies and watch them all in short order. I like the movies, but I think I need to take a break for a while. Like, at least 5 or 6 years.

My problem is that the movies don't seem new or fresh anymore. I know what everyone's going to do, what everyone is going to say before they say it. And then I pull out my phone and stop paying attention. I tend to enjoy movies more when they are new or when I haven't seen them in a long time and I am like "oooh I forgot about that!". And I am nowhere near that level with the LoTR films.

Great movies, don't get me wrong. It is just that I am to the point where I am TOO familiar with them and it is severely affecting my enjoyment of the films. I put this one right below Return of the King because I enjoyed that film slightly more than this one.

#38

Everything I wrote in my comments for Fellowship of the Ring applies here. This movie gets the slightly higher ranking because I enjoyed it a tiny bit more than Fellowship.

The next time I get the urge to return to Middle Earth, I will watch the Hobbit movies since I am much, much less familiar with that series than this one.

#37

I am always on the lookout for disturbing movies and when I heard about this film I knew it would be right up my alley. The movie is about a woman who returns home to her twins after having reconstructive facial surgery. The twins think that something about their mom has changed, especially when she starts acting erratically. She punishes one of the twins much more severely than the other when he does something naughty. The other one it is like doesn't exist to her.

They begin to suspect that this woman is not their mom, that someone has replaced her while she was away. So they tie her up and torture her. Let's just say that some of these scenes are very uncomfortable. Which I like because I am weird!

There is a big twist in the end. You could tell there would be a twist, you just don't know what it will be. I felt a little let down by the twist, but I suppose it is an effective one because it catches you by surprise.

I wanted to like this movie more than I did, but there are some slow parts. And I really didn't find it very scary at all. I plan to watch this again someday and see if knowing the twist in advance will make me like it more or less.

#36

I originally watched this movie late in 2015. I am too lazy to do the research, but I am pretty sure this movie made the top 5 in my ranking that year.

I watched the film again in early 2016 and needless to say, I did not have as good a time with it the second time around. Not to say that I suddenly dislike the movie, but it was a case of watching it too soon after my initial viewing. I feel that if I had waited a year or two it would have ranked highly again. But watching it just a few months apart was a poor decision.

It took me a while to get into the film. I was a little bored at first and started playing games on my phone. It wasn't until halfway through the movie that I suddenly started paying attention again. And I had a great time from that point on. The action scenes in this movie are amazing, as are the atmospheric effects. It is one of the best filmed movies I have seen.

Fury Road would probably rank higher if I had actually paid attention during its first half. Thus, the mixed feelings and the relatively low ranking. I still think this is a fantastic movie, I just can't bring myself to rate it any higher than this based on how I basically only really watched half of it.

#35

When I was a little kid I was terrified of this movie. Especially the part with the skinned bodies hanging in the trees. Obviously the movie doesn't scare me anymore, but every time I watch it I always think back to how much I was afraid as a kid.

Predator runs into some problems that a few other movies on this ranking have encountered: I am too familiar with the film. It is tough to hold my attention when I know what is going to happen before it happens, what is going to be said before its said. I prefer new experiences rather than rehashing the same ones over and over again.

Why do I watch movies multiple times then? Nostalgia I guess.

I still had a pretty good time with Predator. It is a very intense film with a lot of great actors in it. I actually had more fun watching the first half of the movie than I did the second. I liked seeing all the actors struggle to cope with their situation. I liked watching them freak out while being hunted by the Predator. It is the second part of the movie when Arnold goes all commando that I tuned out a little bit. Not enough dialogue, some slow moving scenes. 

All in all I think this is a really great movie. But again it suffers the same fate of several other films on the list: overfamiliarity. 

#34

Here is another one of those movies I have seen a countless number of times in my life. While I usually tend to get tired of movies that I have seen multiple times, Forrest Gump never seems to lose its charm. I always seem to notice something I have never noticed before. Mostly involving the film's plethora of clever historical references.

The movie is filled with moments that either make me smile, laugh, swell up with pride, or tear up. It is truly one of my favorite movies of all time.

But unfortunately we are doing a ranking of my most enjoyable movie watching experiences of 2016, not of all time. It is true, I have seen this movie a countless number of times before. A lot of the movie's big emotional moments don't really hit home for me anymore, especially since I know what is coming. I do tend to tune out while watching movies I have seen before. While I tried not to do this during Forrest Gump, it did happen a few times.

If I had to rank my favorite movies ever, this would probably be in the top 10. But as for 2016, I just had to rank other movies which I have experienced for the first time (and thus, held my attention better) ahead of this.

#33

I started watching all of the Friday the 13th movies back in 2015.  So you won't see the first Friday the 13th making the list, since I didn't watch it in 2016. Its sequel was the first one I watched this year. In 2016 I watched all the way up to #8: Jason Takes Manhattan.

I think that of all the Friday the 13th films I watched in 2016, this one was the best. It was the first movie in the series to actually feature Jason as the main antagonist. He doesn't have the hockey mask just yet, so it is a little unusual seeing him with a sheet or a pillowcase on his head. But I like it. This was before he became the cliched horror movie villain that everyone is familiar with.

I guess in a way this is like a "lifetime achievement award" for the series, this movie making it this far in the ranking. There is nothing particularly groundbreaking about the series (at least looking at it from today's perspective). Slasher films like this are quite common.

But seeing as how this is the second film in the series, it is original for its time. When you watch one of its sequels you know what to expect. But this one broke the mold.... a little bit. Like I said, this is kind of a lifetime achievement award for the series. This film makes my top 50 but the rest do not. But I will still give the rest of the films a shout out in this write up, because I did enjoy them.

#32

Netflix usually produces some quality original shows and movies, so when I read the premise of this film I was immediately intrigued. It is kind of like a Groundhog Day/Edge of Tomorrow sort of thing. A man wakes up right before his home is invaded. He dies in the attack, but then wakes up at the same precise moment he woke up the first time. His home is invaded, he is killed, and then he wakes up in bed again. This cycle repeats itself through out the film.

Eventually through trial and error he is able to fight off the attackers. He discovers that they are after the ARQ in his house. The ARQ is a super powerful device he created that offers an unlimited source of power. It is worth a lot of money, and there are multiple factions that will stop at nothing to get their hands on it. It is also what is causing the time loop.

This is a very, very clever movie with a lot of great sci-fi elements to it. They don't dumb things down for the viewers, you have to pay attention and put some of the pieces together yourself. I thought ARQ was a ton of fun, however towards the end it becomes a little convoluted with technobabble. And I don't like the ending either, as it is WAY too open ended for my tastes. I am not a fan of open ended endings. I like a clear concise solution to the problem at hand. Not "oh maybe this worked. Maybe it didn't! You'll never know!!!"

So that soured the film a little bit for me. I'll probably have to watch it again someday and see if I like the ending more knowing what is coming. But for the most part I enjoyed the film. Great premise, and a lot of fun. With a better ending this could have ranked a lot higher.

#31

You are probably thinking that this is a WTF choice for me to have so high on the ranking. If you had told me at the start of 2016 that the Little Rascals would nearly crack my top 30, I probably would have laughed.

But here it is. I thought this was a really good movie. I had seen it back when I was a kid, but not since then. I liked it then and I like it now.

I don't know if I just have a poor sense of humor or what but I dislike comedies and normally they don't make me laugh at all. But this movie I found to be quite hilarious. The characters are great. A lot of the jokes are stupid, but really funny at the same time. This movie is super politically incorrect. If it was made in the present day, it would have been boycotted and ripped apart, probably. And that is part of why I found it so hilarious, I think. The humor in the film is so "omg I can't believe they just said that!"

And I love it for that. It is no cinematic masterpiece but I still had fun with it.

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That's it for now! Expect an update within the next few days.


Still in the hunt:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
American Sniper
Room
Manson Family Vacation
Big Driver
Creed
The Revenant
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
No Good Deed
The Night of the Living Dead
Deliverance
Zombieland

Coming to America

American History X

Darkman

Quills

Platoon

Saving Private Ryan

Green Room
Captain America: Civil War
10 Cloverfield Lane
The Shallows
Funny Games
The Nightmare
Judge Dredd
The Rock
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Predators
Star Wars: A New Hope

Dan's 2016 Movie Ranking: #50 to #41

Just a disclaimer if you are reading one of these posts for the first time: This is a complete ranking of the 50 best movies I watched in 2016. It doesn't mean that these movies came out in 2016. Not at all. Only that I watched them in 2016.

Also, this ranking is solely based on my pure enjoyment of these films in 2016. I am not ranking them based on historical significance or how much I used to like them. This is only based on my 2016 viewing. So while Star Wars: A New Hope may be one of my favorite movies of all time, that doesn't necessarily mean it is going to be #1 in the ranking. I've seen it a million times before, and chances are I probably had a better time watching something else in 2016. It could end up being ranked below something like Green Room, for example. It doesn't mean I think Green Room is a better film. Just that I had a better time watching it in 2016.

Clear? I certainly hope so.

Let's begin.

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#50

This movie gets a lot of critical acclaim, and I can see why. The production values of the film are excellent. The film makers did a great job recreating the wild west and making it very believable. The acting is for the most part pretty spot on.

It is a fine film, but it didn't really "do it" for me. I didn't think the plot was too original. I am not a big Western guy but every time I watch one it seems to be pretty much the same thing. Former bad-ass comes out of retirement to lay down the law. That's pretty much what happened here. I liked the film, I just wasn't jumping out of my seat over it. Hence, the low ranking.

#49

When I initially heard the premise of this film, I thought it had potential to be either really good or really boring. The movie follows Tom Hardy, who is driving a car. And talking on a phone. That's the whole movie - him in his car talking on the phone.

Despite the fact that this sounds pretty dull, I found the movie relatively entertaining. He is trying to juggle multiple crises all at the same time. His work needs him, his family needs him. And a woman that he accidentally knocked up is about to give birth to his illegitimate child. It is interesting watching him make decisions and observe how he handles all of this going on. Again, I wasn't TOO blown away by the movie, otherwise it would have ranked higher. But I enjoyed it.

#48

I had heard mixed reviews coming into this movie. A lot of people online hated it. Critical reviews were all over the place. People I know in person seemed to love it. Despite being a hardcore fan of the original films. I am not opposed to the idea of an all female Ghostbuster crew. So I came into this with an open mind.

I had a good time with the movie. It was funny, it respected the original and wasn't completely stupid, the special effects were nice. I liked it. 

But as the year went on, I found that the longer and longer time passed, the more I forgot about the movie. In fact, writing this now I can barely tell you what the plot of the film was. I couldn't name a favorite moment. I liked the movie, but obviously it didn't leave a huge impression on me. And that is important when it comes to these year end rankings I create.

#47

I had the same conundrum with this movie that I had with Ghostbusters. I love the original Evil Dead films (and Army of Darkness). I had read very, very mixed reviews. But I tried to keep an open mind coming into it.

This is a good movie and I was pretty entertained by it. It was respectful to the original Evil Dead movies. It didn't try to be funny (probably would have come off stupid or a cheap imitation if it did). The basic story mirrors the first Evil Dead film, but this movie does its own thing at the same time. It is super gory, super in-your-face. I don't scare easily, if at all (aside from jump scares) so I can't really say the film was scary. But I loved the darker tone. 

Ultimately I found it to be entertaining, but forgettable in the grand scheme of things. When I think of Evil Dead I will always think of the original films, not this. Not to say I didn't like this, though. Because I did.

#46

It is perhaps Stephen King's single best book he has ever written. I read It early in the year, and when I finished I immediately wanted to watch the TV movie/miniseries of it to see if it was as good as I had remembered. It is not. 

I used to love this adaptation of the book. It is about a group of adults who were friends as kids, who return to their hometown to fight a malevolent creature that preys on the souls of children. The story jumps back and forth between present day, where the friends are reuniting, and the past, where the kids had their initial encounters with the creature they simply call It. The casting is good. The kids look pretty much exactly as they are described in the book (except for Bev). Tim Curry is amazing as Pennywise. The whole film has an eerie feel to it that really adds to the horror of the It creature.

My problem watching it after reading the book, though, is how terribly abridged the story feels. So many key plot points are gone or simply grazed over. The book is over 1000 pages and takes a long time to read. But everything just seems to pass SO quickly in this adaptation. If this had been a ten episode miniseries (which would disqualify it from the ranking) they would have been able to do a more thorough job with the story. But it is a 4 hour, 2 parter. Simply not enough time to tell everything. And it does indeed feel very rushed. 

I do like the miniseries. But I can't help but feel this would rank much higher if I hadn't just read the book. 

#45

I knew very little about this movie when I started watching it. I had read that it was about a woman with mental illness, but that's all I knew coming in. I think I had this confused in my mind with Still Alice, which is about a woman with Alzheimer's. So I expected Jennifer Aniston to be forgetting things and acting all psychotic half the time. Which she doesn't.

She is eccentric in this movie, but not in a disturbing way. She likes to sleep with guys. She spends money on weird extravagances. She drags her housekeeper out on adventures with her. She is very brash and upfront with people. Demanding. Almost too brutally honest. You can tell by the scars on her face that something bad has happened to her in the past, and that her eccentric behavior is a way of coping with whatever had happened. 

I watched this at the very beginning of the year, so I lot of the plot details have escaped my mind. I'm pretty sure she meets a guy that she genuinely cares for, but her behavior drives a wedge between them. Through their relationship you find out what happened to her in the past (spoiler: her only son was killed in the car accident which left all the scars on her face) and eventually she finally begins to accept things and move on with her life.

Good movie, some emotional moments. I think the fact that I saw this way back at the beginning of January and I don't remember much about it is holding the film back in my ranking. But I do remember liking this much more than I thought I would.

#44

I was on a big JFK assassination kick earlier in the year. Of all the movies and documentaries I watched surrounding his death, the one the intrigued me the most was JFK: The Smoking Gun.

This one definitely throws the most thought-provoking facts at you. How the assassination itself with the trajectory of the bullet seems nearly impossible. It highlighted a lot of facts that didn't add up. Like people hearing a different number of shots. How some people smelled the gunpowder of a freshly fired weapon. Which they wouldn't have been able to smell if indeed Oswald up in the window was the only shooter.

This documentary also throws the most theories at you. Some oddball, some plausible. It is information overload with this documentary. Which I didn't mind at all. Some of the other documentaries I watched were slower, or only focused on one aspect of the assassination. This one was all over the place. And it really made me think.

Interesting stuff here, for sure. I would recommend this to anyone with even a passing interest in the Kennedy assassination.

#43

Before watching this, I had read that the movie was terrible. I thought the previews for the movie looked pretty interesting, but because of the poor reviews I put off watching it for a long time.

But being the big gamer geek that I am, I wasn't going to let the bad reviews deter me from ever watching the film. And when I finally did get around to watching the movie, I didn't think it was that bad at all. I enjoyed it.

The basic idea of the film is that aliens are attacking Earth, using representations of classic video game characters as their "weapons". For example, they send ships from Galaga to attack a military base. They drop a giant Pac-Man into New York city to go up and down the city streets and eat everything in its path, etc.

When the government finds out what is going on, they realize the only way to fight these aliens is with video game technology of their own. So they recruit a bunch of ace video game players (Adam Sandler being the main character of the film) to fight the aliens using their own tactics.

I found this movie to be quite fun. It's funny. The plot is cute. I liked the characters (Peter Dinklage is always a treat). The special effects are terrific. But I really liked the nod to all the classic video games. The film is like a love letter to people who grew up in the 80's playing classics like Galaga, Centipede, Q-Bert, Pac Man, and Donkey Kong. 

No, the film is not a cinematic masterpiece. But it is fun. And that's really all I look for in a movie is if it is fun or not. If it entertains me. And this one definitely did.

#42

Being a big fan of the show Survivor, I guess it was only natural that I was going to like this movie. Circle is basically like a very compact do or die version of the show.

The movie starts with a group of 50 strangers standing in a circle with no memory of how they got there. They each have a red dot they must stand upon. If they move off the dot, they die. Every few minutes, an ominous tone begins. It is a countdown and when the tone ends, one person dies. Eventually the group finds out that based on their arm movements, they are actually voting on which person kicks the bucket. 

Thus begins the Survivor-esque game. If you are a fan of the show, you know that you must outwit, outplay, and outlast to win the game. And that is exactly what one person does. I won't spoil the journey for you though.

The movie is filled with a very diverse cast of characters from many different walks of life. Every age and ethnicity is showcased here, and it is fascinating to see how they all interact and deal with this bizarre situation. The move is nearly 100% conversation based, so without the interesting characters and character interaction, this film would be a dud. But it is definitely not.

Fans of the show, check this out. I am not too overly thrilled with the ending as it leaves a lot of unanswered questions, but maybe we will get a sequel some day.

#41

Call me morbid but I am a fan of movies with lots of death, blood, and torture. When I read the description of this film, my attention was immediately grabbed.

The basic idea of the film is that a group of people have been invited to a dinner party where they will play a game with a chance to win a lot of money. But they don't know what the game is. Once they all agree to play, however, there is no backing out.

It turns out that the game is a sick and morbid one. Players must choose between two options. Would you rather ___ or ____? And neither choice is a very appealing one. Initial choices involve hurting yourself versus hurting someone else. The naive contestants, thinking they will all leave this alive, at first make the politically correct decisions.

But as the game amps up and people start dying, it becomes every man or woman for themselves. 

I like the premise of the movie. It has a great cast. Jeffrey Combs is always super amazing and creepy in everything he appears in. Robin Lord Taylor (Penguin from Gotham) is great in this as well. Porn star Sasha Grey is even a character in the movie. I wouldn't say this is as good as some of the early Saw movies, but it is comparable. For a movie that got little to no press, and I didn't even hear about until it hit Netflix, I thought it was pretty good.

2016 Movie Ranking: Forming the Top 50

So as you all know (or may not know depending on if you have been following this blog or not) I have been slowly working my way up to this moment. I have been keeping track of every movie I've watched in 2016, and each month I have been selecting 5 movies to advance to my ultimate year end ranking. In this year end ranking, I will rank these movies from worst to first, depending on how much I enjoyed watching them.

12 months, 5 movies a month. That brings us to a total of 60 movies. Not that I have anything wrong with the number 60, it is a fine number. But I think 50 has a better ring to it. So I am now going to rank my 50 favorite movies watched in 2016.

But what about those other 10 movies, you may ask? I am going to eliminate them right off the bat. Some movies made my top 60 that didn't deserve to make the top 60. They only made it because of a lack of other options. For example, in July I only watched 6 movies. So 5 of them were automatically going to advance even if I felt like they didn't necessarily deserve it. So now is a time to trim the dead weight.

I won't draw this out or make it dramatic or anything. I am just going to cut them with only a brief explanation. The movies that made my top 60 but will NOT advance to the top 50 are:

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (fell asleep during this, missed some things which made it hard to follow. Planned to rewatch but never did)

The Visit (run of the mill horror movie)

Elysium (looks nice, but cliched plot and forgettable characters)

Snowpiercer (nice concept, but kind of hokey)

Crimson Peak (only made the top 60 because of a lack of other choices)

Krampus (ditto)
Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter (decent movie, but nothing really sets it apart from all the other Friday the 13ths)

The Martian (too distracted and couldn't get into it. I'll probably like it more if I ever rewatch it)

Edge of Tomorrow (seen it before, not as good the second time)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (my least favorite LoTR movie)

I wish I could say that those cuts were tough, but they really weren't. That leaves us with 50! Wait, let me count....

Yeah, 50!

Tomorrow I will begin ranking the remaining films. 10 more will be cut, 40 will move on. Which film will win my ultimate year end ranking? Stay tuned.


Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Cake
American Sniper
Predator
Friday the 13th Part II
Locke
Evil Dead
Room
Manson Family Vacation
Deadpool
Goodnight, Mommy
Unforgiven
Big Driver
Pixels
JFK: The Smoking Gun
It
Creed
The Revenant
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
No Good Deed
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Night of the Living Dead
Mad Max: Fury Road
Forrest Gump
The Little Rascals
Deliverance
Zombieland

Coming to America

American History X

Ghostbusters (2016)

Darkman

The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

ARQ

Quills

Platoon

Saving Private Ryan

Green Room
Captain America: Civil War
10 Cloverfield Lane
Circle
Would You Rather
The Shallows
Funny Games
The Nightmare
Judge Dredd
The Rock
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Predators
Star Wars: A New Hope

2016 Movie Ranking Countdown: December

OK, here we go. 2016 is over and it is nearly time to begin my year end movie ranking. I have been keeping track of every movie I watched in the year 2016, and each month I have been selecting 5 movies to advance to my ranking while eliminating the rest from contention. Since there are 12 months in the year and I have been advancing 5 movies each month, that means that I will wind up with 60 movies when all is said and done. Once I have made my December selections, I will eliminate 10 of these movies right away, leaving me with 50. I will then rank these movies from 50 to 1 based on how much I enjoyed watching them.

But before I do that, I must make my December selections. I watched 14 movies in December. 5 will move on, 9 will be eliminated. Let's get down to it.

---

I got sick in early December and I decided that it would be a good time to see how long it would take me to get through the TV show Firefly and its companion movie, Serenity. Now I have seen the show and the movie multiple times before and I enjoy them both immensely. But I was looking for something that I knew would make me feel good and help me through my illness, so that's why I decided to give it another go.

The movie picks up after the events of the TV show. The crew of Serenity discovers that River knows a secret that could doom the Alliance. They created the Reavers and destroyed an entire planet's civilization in the process. The movie is one big cat and mouse chase between the crew of Serenity, the Alliance forces dispatched to bring River in, and the Reavers themselves.

It is a solid movie and it ties up a lot of loose ends, answers a lot of questions that the show had posed during its brief run. A lot of the humor and the heart of the show are missing here, however. I felt the movie was a little too focused on action. It also felt a bit gloomy at times as the crew is forced into a do or die situation.

All in all though it was a pretty decent way to wrap up the series. I wish things had ended on a slightly more positive note, but at least we got answers to all or most of the questions we didn't get during the show's brief television run.

Is it good enough to make my top 5 for the month? It is going to be close. If I was going based on how I felt about the show it would be a lock. But I am trying to separate show from movie as this is a movie ranking and not a show one. We will see when all is said and done.

I wanted to watch something different from the usual Hollywood blockbuster or sci-fi/horror genre that I am so fond of. I am not a huge fan of old black and white movies, but I had heard good things about Laura. Plus it was really short so I figured it was worth the risk.

Despite the movie's overwhelmingly positive reviews, I did not like it. I thought it was pretty boring. A lot of the characters just talk and ramble on. I found myself pulling out the phone and playing Candy Crush while the movie played in the background. I quickly lost track of everything that was going on.

I didn't like it at all. I'm sure if I had paid closer attention I might have enjoyed it more - but I didn't. This was a big snoozefest for me that has no chance of making my top 5 for the month.

My wife and I wanted to watch something fun and Christmas themed for the holidays, so we gave this a chance. Honestly, Shatner's presence sold us on the film. If he was not in it, we probably would have skipped over it and tried something else.

But we actually ended up really liking the movie. It is an anthology of scary Christmas stories. Kind of in the same vein as something like Creepshow or Trick r Treat. But more campy and silly rather than scary.

It is not an earth shattering movie. It is not going to win any awards. And it doesn't really stick with you after you are done watching it. But it is really entertaining while you are watching it. It is pure, unabashed fun. It doesn't try to be anything more than what it is. It is a good time and that's all there is to it.

Back in January I watched the first 2 Predator movies, and had planned to watch this shortly thereafter. But for some reason, I never did. We got alllll the way to December before I finally remembered oh yeah I wanted to watch this. So I did.

Again, just like with A Christmas Horror Story, this is not a movie to be taken too seriously. It won't win any awards. It probably didn't get a lot of critical acclaim. But it is FUN and that is really all I am looking for when I watch a movie.

There was never a dull moment this entire film. There is a big, diverse cast. I liked the sense of mystery and the feeling of "wtf is going on?" that the characters were experiencing. Whereas the original Predator movie had the Predator stalking its human prey here on Earth, this movie brings the human prey to a different world. An alien hunting preserve, so to speak.

It is fast, it is fun. Its action packed. And there were a ton of nice little shout outs to the original Predator movies. I enjoyed this a lot. Whether or not it will make my top 5 against such stiff competition remains to be seen.

I've already caught a fair amount of grief on social media for my critical remarks about this movie, but I didn't really enjoy it all that much. I had heard it was a fun Christmas movie, but honestly this film could have been set at any time of the year and it wouldn't have changed the story much. Maybe it is just because this is set in LA where there is no snow or cold weather, so it didn't feel very Christmas-y to me. I don't know.

Aside from that, the movie was just okay in my opinion. Yes I like the character of John McClane. I like the limo driver, the cop, and the bad guy Hans Gruber. So there are some nice characters here. But I did find the story a little dull and slow moving. I'm not saying that this had to be nonstop action but there were definite lulls in the story where I found my attention drifting away.

Maybe this is something you just had to grow up watching to truly appreciate. I mean, it was okay and I didn't hate it. But I didn't think it was spectacular. The same premise has been done in other movies that I have enjoyed much more. It probably won't make my top 5. In fact I can guarantee it won't.

Maybe I will come back in another couple years and give it another shot knowing what to expect. Could be I was just not in the right mood to watch it this time around.

I used to love this movie when I was a kid. I haven't seen it in probably over 20 years, but when I noticed this on Amazon Prime I had to give it a shot. The nostalgia factor was great. So many jokes, characters, and action scenes that I had completely forgotten about.

This movie just oozes classic charm. No it is not as iconic as something like Home Alone or Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - but it comes close. I'm sure I will get mocked for saying this but I enjoyed this movie much more than I did Die Hard!

It is a lot of fun. Yes it is really goofy and stupid in parts, but it has heart. I had a lot of fun watching this.

I am a huge fan of the original Independence Day movie. I remember when that movie first came out, it opened to mixed or negative reviews. So when I read that most critics were giving this movie terrible marks, I still maintained an open mind.

But as much as I wanted to like this movie, it is terrible. It retains none of the classic charm of the original film. It takes itself too seriously at parts. In other parts, it is cringe worthy in its stupidity. Yes the special effects are really great, but you can't just throw nice looking alien technology and battle scenes at people and expect them to be entertained.

What a disappointment this was. I didn't like it one bit.

At first glance this doesn't really appear to be my type of movie, but I remember reading about Big Eyes in an issue of Entertainment Weekly a year or so ago and being intrigued by the real life story behind the film. The movie is based on the true story of a woman who painted pictures of kids with big eyes. Apparently the popularity of these paintings took off and they were big back in the 50's and 60's. But back then women weren't taken seriously as artists, which allowed her controlling husband to come forward and take all the credit for her work.

Eventually they separated and she came forward with the truth. There was a big lawsuit over who should get the money and artistic credit for the paintings. Her ex-husband was proven to be a con man and a fraud. The movie is basically a retelling of these events. I am not too familiar with the back story so I don't know how historically accurate it is.

But I did enjoy the film. It is done by Tim Burton so expect his signature style to be applied to the movie. It is not too over the top and is a little subdued by his standards. But I didn't mind that at all. I liked what he did with the movie.

The movie didn't blow me away, but it didn't bore me either. I had a decent time watching it. I am not sure if it will crack my top 5, but if you are considering giving this movie a go I would not discourage you from doing so.

I've seen this movie 2 or 3 times, but those viewings all came a loooooong time ago. I was familiar with the basic premise of the film but watching it in 2016 was almost like watching it for the first time.

I was genuinely surprised at how much I liked the movie. I expected it to be good, but not this good. For a movie that is over 2 hours long, there is never a dull moment. The story line is pretty good, the action scenes are very well done. But what makes this movie go is its cast. Nicolas Cage is the obvious weak link here (and his sex scene in this movie is cringe inducing) but the supporting cast is phenomenal. Obviously Sean Connery is a great actor, but I don't think Ed Harris gets enough credit for his work over the years. He is really, really good here.

The movie is a thrill a minute, and I can imagine that I sat there watching this whole thing with a giant smile on my face. I loved it. It is a lock to make my top 5 for the month. Seeing as how I am going to be writing more about this movie when I do my top 50 year end ranking, I will stop now and not go into too much more detail. But this is a great movie and a serious contender to make my top 5 for not only this month, but the whole year.

I have seen this movie before, but I wanted to check it out one more time in preparation for my eventual watching of Finding Dory. It is one of the better Disney/Pixar movies out there, in my opinion. I like that there is no singing in it, as movies where the characters spontaneously bust out into song irritate the crap out of me.

The movie is gorgeous to look at, particularly on Blu-Ray on a big TV screen. The story line is a blast, and the whole movie is populated by creative and fun characters. I like how the movie begins, tugging at your heart strings a little bit. What's with Disney and dead parents, though?

The movie is one big adventure that never gets boring. For a kids movie, I really enjoyed this a lot. And kids movies are not my favorite genre by any stretch of the imagination. But this was good.

My quest to watch every Jason movie continued with Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan.

If you've seen any of the other Jason movies, you should know what to expect here. Jason terrorizes a bunch of randy teens on a ship which is headed to Manhattan. The first half of the movie follows your basic Friday the 13th formula. I wasn't too impressed by it. It isn't until the ship arrives in Manhattan that the movie changes gears and becomes a lot more enjoyable.

It is funny seeing Jason and the supporting characters adapt to their new surroundings. Even though Jason is surrounded by thousands of potential new victims, he pursues the remaining kids from the ship relentlessly through the city. And not only do the kids have Jason to worry about, they have to deal with other criminals and lowlifes getting in their way as well.

All in all I did like the movie. It is one of the better Friday the 13ths. The second half of the film was definitely good enough to make me forget about the so-so first half. Still, the movie is a long shot to make my top 5 for December considering that there are 3 Star Wars movies coming up.

I had been looking forward to this movie for a long time. I did manage to come in to the film completely unspoiled, which was definitely the right decision on my part. I mean, I knew what the basic premise of the movie was (the Rebels stealing the plans for the Death Star) but I didn't know any details.

I had a really good time with this movie. There are a lot of Easter Eggs, a lot of nice shout outs to lifelong fans of the movies. I love how it seamlessly ties into A New Hope. If you are a pure, unadulterated Star Wars fan like me, this movie will probably be a real treat for you.

Which isn't to say it is a flawless movie. There were some convoluted plot points that were difficult to follow, in particular early in the movie. I didn't know who a lot of the characters were, or what their connections were with one another. Things aren't really spelled out too well for the viewer. I can imagine this being hard to follow if you are a casual fan. But things iron themselves out eventually.

Great action, great special effects, great battle scenes. And the tone of the film is very dark, too. Don't expect a happy go lucky or lighthearted Star Wars film. This movie definitely has its fair share of heartbreaking, emotional moments.

The movie is well worth the wait, and well worth seeing in the theaters. And as I said it is a real treat for lifelong Star Wars fans such as myself. I expect this to make my top 5 for the month, but we'll see how I feel when looking back over everything I watched in the month.

Seeing as how Rogue One ends right where A New Hope begins, it only made sense for me to watch a New Hope immediately after coming home from watching Rogue One in the theater.

It is funny how watching that movie made me look at a New Hope in a different light. I have seen this film sooooo many times in my life that I thought it had lost all enjoyment for me, but that wasn't the case this time around. It was like watching a continuation of Rogue One, almost as if these two films were one long movie put together.

And it works really, really well watching these two movies in tandem like this. It is true that I have seen a New Hope hundreds (?) of times before, and it is true that it may not make my top 5 for the month because of this. But watching it right after watching Rogue One did make me appreciate this movie in a way that I hadn't in a long time.

I was on a roll with watching Star Wars movies, so of course I was going to continue with The Empire Strikes Back. Just like with A New Hope, however, I have seen this movie a countless number of times. So many times that it has begun to lose its appeal for me.

I only half watched the first chunk of the movie. I've seen it all a hundred times before. It wasn't until the characters arrived in Cloud City that the film began to regain my attention again. Lando's betrayal and eventual redemption. Luke and Vader's epic fight. Vader's bombshell. It is all so iconic and riveting to watch.

And the second half of the movie contains perhaps my favorite single scene from any Star Wars movie out there.

"I love you."

"I know."

The whole scene with Han getting frozen in carbonite is cinematic perfection. Not just the famous dialogue between Han and Leia. Chewie's growling, the musical score. That pulse pounding sense of anticipation and dread. Everything.

A lot of people say this is the best Star Wars movie, and I certainly can't argue with that. The fact that I didn't pay much attention during the first half of the film hurts it chances to make my top 5, but the amazing second half of the film puts it right back in the race.

---

I have given my thoughts on all 14 movies watched in December. Now it is time to pick the 5 that will move on. Without further adieu, the 5 which will be moving on are:


The Rock
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Predators
Star Wars: A New Hope


Was there any question that the 3 Star Wars movies wouldn't make it? Actually, it was close with A New Hope. But I just couldn't justify putting something like a Christmas Horror Story, Finding Nemo, or Serenity above it.

So the year is complete. I have selected my 5 favorite movies from each month, and I now have my top 60 favorite movies watched in 2016. These movies are as follows:

Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Cake
American Sniper
Predator
Friday the 13th Part II
Locke
Evil Dead
Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter
Elysium
Snowpiercer
Room
Manson Family Vacation
Deadpool
Goodnight, Mommy
Unforgiven
Big Driver
The Martian
Pixels
JFK: The Smoking Gun
Crimson Peak
It
Creed
The Revenant
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
No Good Deed
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Krampus
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Night of the Living Dead
Mad Max: Fury Road
Forrest Gump
The Little Rascals
Deliverance
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Zombieland

Coming to America

American History X

Ghostbusters (2016)

Darkman

The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

ARQ

Quills

The Visit

Platoon

Saving Private Ryan

Green Room
Captain America: Civil War
10 Cloverfield Lane
Circle
Would You Rather
The Shallows
Funny Games
The Nightmare
Edge of Tomorrow
Judge Dredd
The Rock
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Predators
Star Wars: A New Hope

In my next blog post, I will trim the 10 movies I find to be the least deserving from the list, making this a top 50. And then I will begin my countdown. Are you excited? You should be.