Movie montage: 25 best films of 2016

by W. Andrew Powell
La La Land

Do you know what I love the most about the Oscars? It’s not really the awards for me, but the frame that it puts around the year in cinema. It’s about the love of movies, and in particular I love the way their montages make films come to life again, like you’re seeing them for the first time. They’re fresh, exciting glimpses into the real heart of cinema–those heart-racing, action-packed, emotional core moments that keep us going back for more stories time and again.

In David Ehrlich’s video that he published earlier this week, he captures some of the best moments that made film so powerful in 2016, and sometimes in a new light, or with a song that just perfectly sums up the whole experience.

While I’ll wholeheartedly disagree with the order of his list, and even some of his selections, it’s still a fantastic homage to film, and the first two-and-a-half minutes is a really fun ride in particular, but his countdown is spectacular from start to finish. Best of all, it features some of my favorite songs from the year, including “City of Stars” by Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek, & Justin Paul from La La Land (this song gives me goosebumps it’s so perfect–there is no better song from the year), Swiss Army Man‘s “Montage” by Andy Hull & Robert McDowell, and, yes, even Meat Loaf singing “I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” (which was featured in Sausage Party).

I also appreciate that Ehrlich included a couple of moments from the phenomenal Sing Street, among a few other greats films of 2016 that didn’t make his list.

The countdown also features some of the most stunning films of the year. I’m not really a fan of naming one be-all and end-all “best of the year” film, because I don’t think that’s really fair or even possible to sum up, but Ehrlich gets a lot right here. Between La La Land, Sunset Song, and Moonlight, these are some of the most moving, exceptional, and beautiful films of the year. There are others to talk about, but these three are truly some of the best films the year had to offer.

Without further ado, here’s Ehrlich’s 25 best films of 2016.

Also, after watching this, I can’t help but hope someone will re-edit La La Land after it comes out with only Meat Loaf songs. Don’t get me wrong, I love composer Justin Hurwitz’s work–his work is the heart of the film in many ways, on top of the work by the stars of course–but it’s still kind of perfect in a lot of ways.

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