Retrospective 2016 – A Year in Film

December

Should auld acquaintance be forgot…

Image sources: Disney, Warner Bros., Vertigo & 20th Century Fox

Although typically a slower month, representing the “calm before the storm” of meatier releases in the run-up to awards season at the start the following year; December of 2016 proved to be a more interesting than usual holiday season at UK cinemas. Aside from more typical seasonal releases like ‘Office Christmas Party’ and Disney’s Polynesian animation ‘Moana’; we were also treated a crop of powerful biographical dramas like Clint Eastwood’s “Miracle on the Hudson” adaptation ‘Sully’ and Oliver Stone’s spy whistleblower flick ‘Snowden’, as well as the Vinny Paz boxing biopic ‘Bleed For This’ and gritty slave rebellion story ‘The Birth of a Nation’.

With a Rebel Yell, we cried more, more, more…

Image sources: Lucasfilm

Mid December, or what should become known as “Star Wars” week saw the release of probably the most anticipated film of the year and the second movie of the Disney era of the franchise, ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’. The Gareth Edwards movie also marked the beginning of the prequel/spinoff group of standalone films know as the “Anthology Series”, with this one being set just before the events of the original film of the franchise ‘A New Hope’. And with the few weeks of box office results, coupled with the success of ‘The Force Awakens’ in 2015 and all the surrounding merchandising, Disney’s astronomical $4 billion purchase of Lucasfilm is beginning to look like the bargain of the century.

Those We Lost

Image source: Warner, MGM & Wire Images

Unfortunately the year ended as it began on a low, with the passing of American tv & film actor Alan Thicke (69) (Growing Pains, Raising Helen) as well as vintage Hungarian actress and tabloid celebrity Zsa Zsa Gabor (99) (Moulin Rouge, Death of a Scoundrel). But the film industry was truly rocked by the end-of-year family tragedy and double death of “Princess Leia” herself Carrie Fisher (60) (Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, The Blues Brothers), followed one day later by her mother and “Golden Era Hollywood” star Debbie Reynolds (84) (Singin’ in the Rain, The Unsinkable Molly Brown).

Once again the year in film has proved to be an eclectic mixture of releases, in a record year at the box office with surprises and disappointments galore, as well as the passing of some major figures in the industry as is unfortunately the case every year, but with the music industry taking a particularly big hit this time around. Let’s hope 2017 is at least as productive and please let us know what were your highlights and lowlights in 2016.

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