Top 10 Characters of 2016

2016 brought out the worst in people.

Too many arguments tore apart friendships, too many social media paragraphs brought vitriol to the surface, and too many people died. We lost artists. We gained fear. We became a nation that had to be reminded that black lives matter. Predicting the future is impossible, but I'm sure 2016 will be seen as a turning point in our history. It's tough to see the good in a year like this one.

2016 brought out the best in artists.

As an audience, we were treated to one of the best years of film in recent history. Beyond that, we were handed heart-wrenchingly beautiful music. From Chance the Rapper to Childish Gambino, Bon Iver to A Tribe Called Quest, Clipping to Kendrick, and this track that threw my heart in a blender and promptly pressed purée.

I've been going back and forth on making a list of my favorite and least favorite of the year, so let's start here. These are my favorite characters in film for 2016. I didn't have any guidelines for the characters - some show up for 15 minutes, others have entire movies to themselves. There are spoilers in these descriptions, and I haven't seen every film, but as of right now, here they are.

10. Robert Katende - David Oyelowo - Queen of Katwe

Queen of Katwe deserved a larger audience. Not just because it's a well made film, but because it's an important one. Starring Madina Nalwanga as Phiona in her first role (ever), the film includes an all black cast, one which never needs a white person to come in and save the day. As Phiona's teacher, Robert Katende, David Oyelowo shines. His love for the children he mentors bleeds into every scene. His passion for chess, a game of strategy and thinking ahead, helps guide the theme of the film without overshadowing Nalwanga. By using chess as an equal playing ground for the young and old, big and small, rich and poor, Robert's lessons go beyond knight, king, and queen - they become important reminders about self confidence.

9. The Ancient One - Tilda Swinton - Doctor Strange

The backlash surrounding Tilda Swinton's casting as the Ancient One was fascinating to watch. On one hand, a white actor is taking the role of a traditionally Asian character. With Emma Stone in Aloha and Scarlett Johansson's casting in next year's Ghost in the Shell, white-washing was in the public's eyes. On the other hand, the character came is rooted in racist stereotypes. Do we need another mystical Asian monk who can teach our character how to use his newfound powers? However you feel about the casting of Tilda Swinton, her performance remains phenomenal. Swinton commands the screen with an ease and gravitas that could quickly be taken for granted. Whether she's facing off with Mads Mikkleson or taking on one of the best death scenes in recent memory, the Ancient One brought reality to a universe that contorted the real world and sometimes brushed it off like an unnecessary sidebar.

8. Ricky Baker - Julian Dennison - Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Hunt for the Wilderpeople was one of my favorite surprises of 2016. I've been a fan of Taika Waititi since What We Do In The Shadows, so I tried to stay away from any news about his new film. Near the beginning of the film, I wasn't enamored with Ricky Baker. He didn't have the instant charisma that some of the other characters on this list had. But as Ricky and Hector, played by Sam Neill, fight their way through the wilderness, I started getting it. He's a kid who dreams of being a gangster - so much so that he names his dog Tupac. In the most unconventional way, he gets to live out his dream: he's a rifle-toting outlaw on the lamb from the fuzz with his own catchphrase (albeit one that's been used a thousand times), "Shit just got real." Getting to see Ricky's understanding of the true joys in both the everyday life and the thug - skux - life was beyond terrific.

7. Jillian Holtzman - Kate McKinnon - Ghostbusters (2016)

This is an interesting challenge. How do you separate an intriguing character from an overall uninteresting film. Step 1: Hire Kate McKinnon. She brings joy to a film that needs it desperately. Holtzmann feels as if she's the only character who truly loves what she does. While the film was ultimately uneven, finding unfiltered satisfaction from capturing ghosts might be one of the few things in the new edition of Ghostbusters that makes it stand on par with the original.

6. Brenden - Jack Reynor - Sing Street

The brother that left shoes too big to fill. The one that peaked in high school. On the surface, Brenden is a character we've seen enough times to know what to expect. But John Carney's writing and Jack Reynor's performance round out the character to someone with regrets, passion, and love. It's not so much when he appears on screen, but how he interacts with others. His love for his brother and continued contribution to his success comes across as far more genuine than many of those other brothers we've seen before.

5. Erwin - Hayden Szeto - The Edge of Seventeen

It was hard to pick one character from The Edge of Seventeen, a testament to both Kelly Fremon Craig, the writer/director and the actors. In the end, Szeto's Erwin, a character that in less capable hands could easily be written off as "quirky friend #3," won out. While it's his ridiculous comedic timing that makes Erwin so instantly charming, it's his grounding in reality that sets him apart. He has insecurities: he's unsure of himself, he's unsure of his art, he's unsure of the girl he likes. Making Erwin's defining quality "passionate" and not "quirky" is the decision that sets him apart from all the "quirky friend #3's" of the world.

4. Manny - Daniel Radcliffe - Swiss Army Man

Putting a dead body on an island seems like a weird premise for a film. Pairing that dead body with a suicidal stalker seems even weirder. Keeping most of the film on that island seems downright absurd, even silly. But somehow, magically (okay that's it I'm sorry, no more Potter jokes), Daniel Radcliffe breathes life into the insecurities of a dead body trying to learn how to live. The film is a dive into what makes humans human, and what's so great about life. It's important to remember how easily this character could've been overly creepy or overly dramatized. But we become enamored with life as Manny learns to be enamored with it. For that, Daniel Radcliffe's performance as a dead body is one of my favorites of the year. And that, folks, is something I wasn't expecting to say in 2016.

3. Mia - Emma Stone - La La Land

Damien Chazelle is frighteningly good at creating characters. In Whiplash, he gave us Fletcher, a teacher with only one job: finding, challenging, and cultivating the next great. In La La Land, he's given us two interesting characters in a love story. However, Mia stands out for her ability to love. It's not only her love for Sebastian: it's her love for what she does. Her passion for acting not only catapults her to fame, but it inspires Sebastian to do the same. I could write paragraphs on how stupidly in love I am with this film, this character, and this new voice in filmmaking, but it feels like a disservice to Emma Stone's performance and Mia's story to write anything else other than this song.

2. Chiron - Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes - Moonlight

I managed to avoid all the trailers for Moonlight, and relied entirely on word of mouth. Also - this poster might be my favorite of the year. I had no idea the kinds of emotional intimacy I was going to be treated to. More than that, I was blindsided by the three entirely similar and entirely different actors playing Chiron. His journey from Lil to Chiron to Black is one of the most devastatingly well made stories of the year. It's not one of acceptance, or even one of forgiveness, but it's a story of love and lack thereof. One that hangs on Chiron's ability to tell the story with what he says and, more importantly, what he leaves out.

1. Lee Chandler - Casey Affleck - Manchester by the Sea

Don't ask me why, but I've seen Manchester by the Sea 3 times. It's not an easy film to watch. It's heartbreaking. It's personal. It's all anchored by Casey Affleck. The pain of loss, the pain of remembering, the pain of moving on, it's so far beneath the surface of Lee that it verges on too subtle. But somehow Affleck manages to bring a contained performance that showcases these emotions without it ever feeling like a showcase. It's a terrifyingly personal film, rendered useless without Affleck's nuanced approach to the character, making Lee Chandler my favorite character of 2016.

A Giant Day

I’ve just arrived home from the ninth year of San Diego Comic Con.  Nine years of lines. Nine years of panels. Nine years of hot dogs that cost about the same as college textbooks. But, most importantly, it’s nine years of passion. Every person who attends Comic-Con is passionate about something, something that elicits joy, awe, or maybe even hatred (*cough* Zack Snyder *cough*). Those who know me know that I’m a bit too excited about films, so Comic-Con is like a welcome base, filled with rebel weirdos who feel the same crazy amount of excitement about comic book films I do. 

But, this post isn’t about the essence of Comic-Con, that’s for another time. This is about something far more insane. 

This is about the time I stood inches away from Brad Bird. 

It was Friday morning. Waking up feeling like I had hit the snooze one too many times, I got ready to head down to the convention exhibit hall at about 9:00 AM. I made my way through the sea of body odor, Harley Quinns, and Pokémon Go users to get in the line for Mondo to snag these incredible posters from Mike Mitchell (@sirmitchell), when I found out I needed to get in line at 11:30 AM. This was terrific because there was a panel starting at 10 AM that I wanted to see called “The Giant’s Dream: Documentary Screening & Chat with Brad Bird.” 

The Iron Giant is my favorite film. It’s a perfect story. The film’s resounding message “You are who you choose to be,” is one of passion, love, and above all, hope. I’ve watched this film approximately 17,000 times - it never fails to fill me with goosebumps and tears.

9:45 hits and I started to wonder if I could make it to the screening. I raced up the stairs, looked for the room, found it, and made my way to the door. I realized there were two gentlemen I was going to run into if I didn’t slow down. So I slowed down and turned to let the two men go before me. To my shock and awe, I saw Michael Giacchino, the best film composer of this generation of filmmakers. I’ve met Michael Giacchino a couple times. Each time he’s happy to speak with his fans, and always kinder than he needs to be. I started to speak with him.

Then I looked a little further left, and my stomach dropped through the floor.

I’ve worked at a few film festivals and a podcast where I worked directly with celebrities, so I don’t usually get starstruck. This was different.

There, standing less than a foot away from me, was the author of my childhood. I’m not someone who has trouble speaking my mind or being too quiet (in fact, the opposite is true in most situations).

Brad Bird.

I couldn’t speak. 

Brad Bird stood less than 12 inches from me, and suddenly I was a nine-year-old boy who just found a giant metal robot. I had about 3 hours worth of things to say to him, and I couldn’t put together 3 words.

A few seconds later, a couple fans ran up to him and started asking for his autograph, the last thing on my mind. So, I turned to Michael Giacchino, thanked him for his incredible work, and made my way to my seat. As Giacchino and Bird made their way to their seats (2 rows in front of me), I thought about what had just happened. Did I just make the biggest mistake of my life? Did I miss out on telling him everything I needed to tell him? 

Then I remembered why I was at Comic-Con. Why everyone is at Comic-Con. We all came because we’re excited about something, something that elicits emotions from us. In that moment, I said everything I needed to say. The silence meant more to me than a handshake or a picture or an autograph. The feeling of pure awe and pure joy said more about his work than any amount of hours spent gushing over it could. 

As the panel ended and we dispersed, I made my way back down to the exhibit hall. I met up with my friend who had waited in line for me at the Mondo booth (yes, I got the posters). I went on with Comic-Con as usual. Too many things about this year's Comic-Con are already disappearing memories. But the pure joy of seeing Brad Bird? That’ll stick around for quite some time.

Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice

I despise Batman V Superman almost as much as Zack Snyder despises Batman & Superman.

(Just a heads up, this contains plenty of spoilers)

For those who don’t know me personally, I’ll let you in on a little secret - I’m not a fan of Man of Steel, Zack Snyder’s attempt at a Superman origin story. It’s visually stunning at points, Henry Cavill is a near perfect choice for Superman but overall, Snyder missed the message that was written right on the Man of Tomorrow’s chest. It started to become clear in Man of Steel that Zack Snyder and David S. Goyer’s definition of a hero might be different, if not downright wrong. If MoS hinted at that fact, Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice hammered it into the viewers until all we could do was cry for help - a cry Snyder’s Superman and Batman would undoubtedly ignore in favor of hitting something harder. 

There’s a lot going on in Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Subtlety. With a running of over two and a half hours, you can feel the attempt at a sequel struggling against the corporate need to set up future properties. At its core, Batman V. Superman is about people who don’t agree looking to resolve their disagreements through fighting, disregard for human life, or flat out murder. Batman is upset with Superman because he believes that Superman is a god that could destroy humanity in a second. Superman is upset with Batman because Batman is a vigilante who thinks he’s above the law. Lex Luthor is upset with Superman because Superman poses a threat. However, those ideas are so far from clear because, on the fringes of the film, there are far too many other ideas fighting to be explored that take time away from an already convoluted and unintelligible fight between the two biggest characters in superhero pop culture, a fight that doesn’t happen until well over an hour into the film.

There are no spectacular performances holding these fringes together. There isn’t a standout in the film - at least not a positive one. Granted, most of this is attributed to terrible writing and weak directing. Each character settles around uninteresting (Affleck’s Batman and Cavill’s Superman) or fatally under developed (Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman), with the exception of Jessie Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor, whose over-the-top insanity hits you over the head with the nuance and subtlety of a sledgehammer. 

Fans of Wonder Woman have been waiting over 75 years to see the Amazonian princess brought to the big screen in all her live-action-feminist-fighting-glory. Fans could’ve waited a little longer, because Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman is nothing more than token feminism brought to convolute the already sloppy plot. She introduces the rest of the Justice League in the laziest introductions of a superhero team in memory. She goes from wearing black-tie gowns to bronzed-battle armor with no character development in between. This lack of character development and focus on universe building is, again, one of the biggest problems with Batman V Superman.

Let’s talk about that core of the film again. Batman fighting Superman. This isn’t a new idea, it’s happened many times in the comics. The definitive version of this battle comes in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, in which a weary Batman takes back his city from gangs, and becomes the Dark Knight once again. The President is upset with Batman’s reign of terror over the city and sends Superman to stop him. 

Frank Miller treats this fight like a war; Zack Snyder, a boxing match. In the boxing match scenario, the fight isn’t even close. Superman can incapacitate Batman in a matter of seconds. Which begs the question, why doesn’t he? In BvS, Lex Luthor has kidnapped Martha Kent and made Batman’s head the ransom. A reasonable version of Superman would stop the fight immediately and explain to Batman why the fighting would just be feeding into Lex’s master plan. But then again, this isn’t a reasonable Superman. Like many things in this film, the fight looks wonderful, but makes no sense.

Snyder picks and chooses which sections of his favorite comic books to use, and this lack of attention to context results in characters making unmotivated choices that defy any sort of logic and reason that exist in the fictional world.

From a purely technical standpoint, this film is a mess. The poor editing results in long stretches of the film where no urgency is felt, even though approximately seventeen different subplots are going on. BvS loses itself in its need to set up the reset of the film and the rest of the DC Universe’s future franchises and, as a result, we never get enough time with any one character to understand their motivations or to care for them. The latter weakness becomes one of the films’ worst parts - the ending of this film begs the audience to care for the characters (with a healthy amount of Jesus imagery thrown in for good measure) to no avail. There’s no reason to care about the character due to the fact that they’ve done nothing to illicit any sort of compassion. Why would you? These are not admirable characters. 

Zack Snyder and David Goyer make the argument that violence and murder is preferable to taking the high road. Batman kills people. Not just any people, henchmen. If Batman can justify killing low life thugs, what’s the point of having Batman villains like the Joker? Surely the Joker deserves death much more than a low level thug, right? It’s in these choices Batman loses his credibility as a hero. Batman and Superman can be better than us, hence the term superhero. Most superheroes give society an ideal to strive towards - they give us hope that someone can rise above us and make the right choice, especially when it’s not the easy one. This Superman seems to be fresh out of hope, but fully stocked in personal vendettas and revenge - Superman is called to the main fight via the Lois-signal (one of the few humans Superman seems to actually care about) triggered by Lois Lane being in some immediate danger (SIDEBAR: The sexism in this film is insane. Not only is Lois Lane reduced to a damsel in distress multiple times, Martha Kent is reduced to a damsel in distress as well. Wonder Woman is brought in for the completely unnecessary and mind-numbingly generic final battle, but for what? She’s a deux ex machina plot device exhibiting no real character traits besides her fighting ability and her stunning visuals - a trait Snyder has consistantly chosen over real substance. END OF SIDEBAR). 

This Batman is also running low on hope, but would love to offer you paranoia and fear mongering. The only reason Batman doesn’t kill Superman (!!!!) is because Superman and Batman’s mothers share a name. If you think that’s an odd choice, aren’t you in for a surprise. Zack Snyder is introducing Batman and Superman to a new generation of children, one that will be wondering why their superheroes aren’t working to protect humanity by providing an example of what to strive for, specifically the Last Son of Krypton. 

Snyder’s disdain for everything Superman stands for is evident in the way he destroys Superman’s fight for truth, justice, and the American way. 

Recently, in an interview, it was revealed that a photographer killed at the beginning of the film is actually Superman’s beloved pal and sometimes sidekick, Jimmy Olsen. In the interview, Snyder explained his choice by saying, “we don’t have room for Jimmy Olsen in our big pantheon of characters, but we can have fun with him, right?”

That’s a quote, folks.

Zack Snyder believes killing off one of Superman’s only supporting characters is having a little bit of fun with him. 

This lack of love and respect for the characters he’s introducing to the public, and the lack of remorse he feels for that lack of love and respect, is offensive and tragic. More than anything, I’m sad that Batman V. Superman exists. It takes a lot for a person to despise something someone else loves, and treat it with the utmost disrespect. 

For Zack Snyder, it’s a bit of fun.