Best Director 2016
Some years, a Best Director list doesn't always line up with the Best Films of the Year...that's not the case for me this year as you'll see many of these films highlighted again in the biggest category of the awards.
Honorable Mentions
(in alphabetical order)
Clint Eastwood - Sully
Liza Jenkins - Elvis & Nixon
Denis Villeneuve - Arrival
And the Top Five...
#5 - Garth Davis - Lion
Although the film falters a bit for me in its second half, the first half of Lion which plays a lot like a silent foreign film is exquisitely handled. Davis also pulls a great debut performance out of young Sunny Pawar which anchors the film from its outset.
#4 - Barry Jenkins - Moonlight
Jenkins' triptych movie manages to take three different stages from a young man's life in which that young man is played by three different actors and succeeds in making us believe that we're watching the same person growing up. The film moves along at a fast clip as well which helps keep this intimate tale interesting.
#3 - Martin Scorsese - Silence
Silence is not without its faults. Its pace is sometimes snail-like and it does feel as if at least twenty minutes could've been excised without doing much harm to the piece. That said, Scorsese took this passion project for himself about the spread of Christianity and crafted an elegant, yet gritty period piece that fully realizes the 1600s Japanese environment in which it takes place.
#2 - Derek Cianfrance - The Light Between Oceans
Your mileage may vary with this one, but I think Derek Cianfrance did something special with The Light Between Oceans. While many may find its first two-thirds mind-numbingly boring, to me Cianfrance takes a deliberate slow-paced approach in order to make us in the audience feel the seclusion and mundaneness that two main characters feel living alone on an island separated from everyone they know. His direction added to the character development of this piece and although it derails a bit in its final third, I found his work extraordinarily interesting.
#1 - Damien Chazelle - La La Land
An ode to classic Hollywood, Damien Chazelle's La La Land is just a lovely piece of filmmaking. Although not perfect -- frankly, it could've used a bit more music -- Chazelle and his team have crafted an original movie musical that feels modern, yet reverent to the past. Through a rhapsody of gloriously Technicolor hues and stunningly gorgeous lighting along with beautiful costumes and production design, Chazelle managed to plaster a smile on my face throughout most of this flick.
Previous RyMickey Award Winners
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