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AFI's Top 10 Movies of 2016 - 'La La Land' & 'Arrival' Are on Their List

by Alex Billington
December 9, 2016
Source: AFI.com

We're now well into the awards season, so here we go with more best of the year picks. The American Film Institute (AFI) announced (via AFI.com) the official selections of AFI Awards 2016 – the awards season event favored by artists and entertainment executives for its intimacy and collaborative recognition – that records the year's most outstanding achievements in film. They've named 10 "Movies of the Year", including La La Land, Arrival, Moonlight, Hell or High Water, Silence, Sully and Disney's Zootopia. A diverse and impressive set of selections for 2016, proving there are indeed plenty of great films this year. Congrats to all.

AFI Movies of the Year for 2016:
Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
Silence
Sully
Zootopia

AFI Special Award for 2016:
O.J.: Made in America
(Special awards given to outstanding achievements in the moving image that do not fit into AFI's criteria for the other honorees. For the TV winners, see here.)

The AFI is the same place that manages the "Best Movies of All-Time" lists that have become a popular part of pop culture. In years past, they've selected films like Mad Max: Fury Road, The Force Awakens, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Tree of Life, Boyhood, Interstellar, Whiplash and many others. The AFI has a strong influence on Hollywood (as well as deep connections within the industry) and many of these films may go on to win Oscars and/or plenty of other awards this year. (Don't be surprised if Zootopia sneaks in and wins Best Animated Feature.) I'm just happy to see Arrival and La La Land on here! Two of my favorite films this year. The rest of them are also all outstanding films, too. Have you seen all 10 of these selections?

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Reader Feedback - 16 Comments

I have not seen FENCES yet, but MOONLIGHT, MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, ARRIVAL were the tops for me.

DAVIDPD on Dec 10, 2016

Jungle Book should be on every list...

kitano0 on Dec 10, 2016

I dunno. It was very enjoyable, and all, but I can't see myself sitting again through it.

tarek on Dec 10, 2016

I can relate...felt the same way about "Birdman"...didn't get all the way through "Slumdog Millionaire"...

kitano0 on Dec 10, 2016

Kind of a meager year for quality films this year in my opinion. Most of the ones I was looking forward to turned out to be disappointments. Arrival was a refreshing one though.

cuckoozey on Dec 10, 2016

Which ones disappointed you?

grimjob on Dec 10, 2016

Mostly: 10 Cloverfield Lane Green Room The Neon Demon Don't Breathe Triple 9 The Witch Everybody Wants Some

cuckoozey on Dec 11, 2016

Wow, these disappointed you? I'm sorry to hear that... What did you like then? A few of these you mentioned are damn good, not sure the disappointment but to each his own.

Alex Billington on Dec 11, 2016

Thanks Alex. I know, most of those ones I listed were very well-received. I just felt for the most part they each left me flat. Guess I'm getting cranky in my old age. However, I did enjoy: The Wailing Midnight Special The Boy Hush Zootopia and the aforementioned Arrival Admittedly, I haven't seen a couple of the ones in AFI's list so I am looking forward to them...

cuckoozey on Dec 11, 2016

Yeah Neon Demon, Triple 9 and Cloverfield were way disappointing for how much I was looking forward to them. I thought Green Room was good fun. Haven't seen those others.

bumboclot on Dec 12, 2016

Eh, I sort of disagree. Lots of the big Hollywood blockbusters (especially during the summer) were bad. But the end of the year delivered with some spectacular films that made up for those. Some of them I love so much they may end up on my favorite films of all-time list. There's some really fantastic films from this year, you just have to find them (and watch them!).

Alex Billington on Dec 10, 2016

*Holds out hope for discovering some hidden gems*

cuckoozey on Dec 11, 2016

Legit list...although Civil War should be on there

Kenobi on Dec 10, 2016

Hell or High Water was so damn good! I'm still finding that I like it more and more as the months go by. (Ben Foster should be our Michael Caine) After seeing the 'talkie' version of the LaLaLand trailer, I think it might enjoy it more than I thought I would. Arrival let me down, no one can learn a 'language' that fast, I couldn't hang with it. And I didn't take a shine to Manchester by the sea, sorry. I hope Silence is good though. Great 2016 for movie watching though!

Whichhalfofthewit on Dec 10, 2016

Was Sully really that good? I am feeling very hesitant to watch a well known story...

ari smulders on Dec 11, 2016

Well I haven't seen any of these but the big summer movies were really poor this year. Hopefully Star Wars is good and we will see some great blockbusters next year! Certainly there are enough of them coming out next summer. As for this list, I'm looking forward to Arrival, Manchester, Moonlight and LALA Land. Gosling is the man.

bumboclot on Dec 12, 2016

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