It’s that time of year again. “Best of lists” here we go! Actually this year I kind of got lazy and just did 2 lists… One is a list of every theatrically released movie I saw, in order from best to worst. And two is a list of other stuff I loved that came out this year from every area of entertainment. Let start with #2
15 Things From 2016 That Kept Me Entertained (In no particular order)
- The Raveonettes Anti-Album – Technically this album comes out in 2017, but every month of 2016 The Raveonettes released a new song, for the eventual album release in January 2017. It was a fun, exciting way to keep putting out new music, and it just so happens to be some of the best songs of their career as far as I’m concerned.
- Butch Walker – Stay Gold – I’ve loved Butch Walker since the days I used to work at Sony Music and this is probably his best release in almost 10 years. He rules and this album rules.
- Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor’s Guide To Earth – Apparently I like country now. I blame Ryan Adams and Jason Isbell, but Sturgill Simpson is the most country album I’ve probably ever listened to and I love it.
- Inside – One of the most mind-blowing video-games ever made. It’s really no surprise since it’s the follow-up (sort of sequel but not really) to Limbo which is easily one of my Top 10 favorite video-games ever made. This game is insane and beautiful and haunting and I’ve been dying to play it for my 3rd time already…
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End – The conclusion to the Uncharted series. It was a perfect ending. One of the best games in the series, and they really managed to tie it up perfectly. No game tells a story like Uncharted and this finale did not disappoint. Now lets hope they make more.
- Horace & Pete – Louis CK’s gamble of a TV series that was produced with his own money and released only on his own website. It is one-of-a-kind, hilarious and heartbreaking, and one of the best things I saw all year. Leave it to Louis to try something completely new and unlike anything else I’ve ever seen.
- Silicon Valley – A great new season to one of the best shows on TV.
- Ash Vs Evil Dead – Another of my favorite TV shows got a great new season as well. The season finale was a little bit of a let down, but I can’t wait to see where it goes in Season 3.
- Vice Principals – A new show from Danny McBride and Jody Hill. It started off… different and not quite what I was expecting. But then it got weirder and weirder and darker and darker and it’s just amazing. I can’t wait for the next season.
- Stranger Things – Honestly I’m a little burned out from Stranger Things-mania, but it really was a fun, exciting show. And the score definitely influences some of the synthier moments on my new album Head Like Fire.
- The People VS OJ Simpson – Who would have thought this mini-series would be so perfect and so compelling? Great performances and an insane amount of tension considered we all knew what would happen. This was a huge surprise and I loved it.
- American Horror Story: My Roanoke Nightmare – I don’t know that I ever truly liked American Horror Story. From the first season I’ve done nothing but complain about it, and I downright hated a few of the seasons. But this was definitely my favorite one and a really fun, inventive story made it one of the best TV moments of the year.
- The Night Of – Awesome show. I kind of hope it doesn’t come back though. It’s perfect as is. I think it is coming back. Ah, whatever. Great show.
- Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt – I love this show. I love everything about it. And I loved the new season.
- The Election – I don’t know if you heard, but there was a presidential election this year. My guy lost in the primaries. A con-artist won the whole thing. It was a major shit-show. But hey, I like to laugh and it was non-stop gold. Lets hope these next 4 years foster some great music and movies haha. And who knows… Maybe he won’t be so bad. Maybe…
And now, on to the movies. For me, movies are my year, and this was a pretty big year for movies for me. I saw a lot of them. And I managed to list them all out (not counting made-for-TV/Video movies or older movies that I saw for the first time). In order of how much I liked them. Here’s the list with no added descriptions or anything because it’s time to go make some New Years Eve snacks. Enjoy, and don’t tell me it was a bad year for movies! Every year is a great year for movies!
- Swiss Army Man
- 10 Cloverfield Lane
- The Nice Guys
- Anomalisa (Technically a 2015 Movie that didn’t open until 2016 here)
- Nocturnal Animals
- The Jungle Book
- Manchester By The Sea
- The Lobster
- Hacksaw Ridge
- La La Land
- The Neon Demon (saw At home)
- Moonlight
- Sausage Party
- Deadpool
- Hail, Caesar!
- Miss Sloane
- Fences
- American Honey
- Green Room
- Midnight Special
- Lion
- The Accountant
- Loving
- Don’t Breathe
- Don’t Think Twice
- Ghostbusters
- Bloodfather
- Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice
- Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (saw at home)
- Neighbors 2 (Saw at home)
- Allied
- Passengers
- Sully
- The Witch
- The Brothers Grimsby
- Captain America: Civil War
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
- The Girl on the Train
- Arrival
- Bridget Jones Baby (saw at home)
- Doctor Strange
- Hell or High Water
- Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
- TMNT: Out of the Shadows
- Bleed For This
- Demolition
- The Conjuring 2
- Zoolander 2
- Yoga Hosers (saw at home)
- Everybody Wants Some
- Independence Day: Resurgence
- The Birth of a Nation
- War Dogs (saw at home)
- Mojin
- Gods of Egypt (saw at home)
- Suicide Squad
- The Magnificent Seven
- The Legend of Tarzan
- Ben Hur
Movies I didn’t get to see that I plan on seeing ASAP: The Monster, Kubo, Jackie, Silence, The Founder… And I’m sure a ton more haha.
See you all next year!
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David Rosen is an award-winning music composer. He composes original music for films, commercials, jingles, video-games and all other kinds of media projects. He has a vast music library of original tracks available for licensing and is also available for custom compositions. Contact him on the ABOUT page for pricing and availability for your next project.