RANKED: The 10 best movies of 2016

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2016 was a horrible year for countless reasons, but one of the few positives was going to the movies. Rotten Tomatoes reports a record number of Certified Fresh movies released in 2016, and Disney’s $7 billion global take at the box office set a new industry record.

So needless to say, there were a lot of great titles in the running for my 10 best this year.

It was hard, but here they are — the films that confirmed why I love going to the movies so much (plus a couple that I felt needed to be mentioned).

10. “Jackie”

This haunting look at Jacqueline Kennedy in the aftermath of the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy, is a beautifully constructed retelling of the end of Camelot and the realization that the First Lady is far from the timid person she was portrayed as by the press. Natalie Portman delivers one of the best performances of her career, playing Jackie with a precision that lifts the movie to another level. 

9. “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”

The first standalone “Star Wars” movie was hyped to have a more mature “Dirty Dozen”-like feel and it was just that. “Rogue One” has an originality that gives you a sense of finality when you get to the end. There’s still a lot of reminders that you are inside the confines of the “Star Wars” universe, whether it be characters that show up or locations where scenes take place, but the high stakes of the movie brings an excitement that can be lost at times when watching the main franchise films. 

8. “Moonlight”

Told over three chapters in the life of a young man living in Miami, Barry Jenkins’ beautifully touching portrait of the complexities of life is a movie you have to experience if you are a film lover. The direction, acting, camera work, and score are all at a high level, while the storytelling is some of the most powerful you’ll see all year.