Year-End Lists

J.R. Jones: The Best Films of 2016, as published by The Chicago Reader

[see also 2017 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Embrace of the Serpent
   Ciro Guerra
2. Manchester by the Sea
   Kenneth Lonergan
3. Don’t Think Twice
   Mike Birbiglia
4. The Witness
   James D. Solomon
5. London Road
   Rufus Norris
6. The Club
   Pablo Larraín
7. Son of Saul
   László Nemes
8. Microbe & Gasoline
   Michel Gondry
9. Tower
   Keith Maitland
10. Weiner
    Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg

Runners-up

11. Seasons
    Jacques Perrin & Jacques Cluzaud
12. The President
    Mohsen Makhmalbaf
13. Anomalisa
    Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson
14. Moonlight
    Barry Jenkins
15. 45 Years
    Andrew Haigh
16. Hello, My Name Is Doris
    Michael Showalter
17. The Measure of a Man
    Stéphane Brizé
18. Hell or High Water
    David Mackenzie
19. Gleason
    Clay Tweel
20. Equity
    Meera Menon

Leah Pickett: Top Ten Films of 2016, as published by The Chicago Reader

1. American Honey
   Andrea Arnold
2. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
3. Arrival
   Denis Villeneuve
4. La La Land
   Damien Chazelle
5. The Handmaiden
   Park Chan-wook
6. O.J.: Made in America
   Ezra Edelman
7. The Witch
   Robert Eggers
8. 13th
   Ava DuVernay
9. The Lobster
   Yorgos Lanthimos
10. Manchester by the Sea
    Kenneth Lonergan

Honorable mentions

• The Edge of Seventeen
  Kelly Fremon Craig
• Hell or High Water
  David Mackenzie
• Southside with You
  Richard Tanne
• The Love Witch
  Anna Biller
• Christine
  Antonio Campos
• Don’t Think Twice
  Mike Birbiglia

NME: 50 Best Albums of 2016

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It
   The 1975
2. The Life of Pablo
   Kanye West
3. Chaleur Humaine
   Christine and the Queens
4. Konnichiwa
   Skepta
5. 99.9%
   KAYTRANADA
6. Blackstar
   David Bowie
7. Is the Is Are
   DIIV
8. Post Pop Depression
   Iggy Pop
9. Coloring Book
   Chance The Rapper
10. Blond
    Frank Ocean
11. Lemonade
    Beyoncé
12. Human Ceremony
    Sunflower Bean
13. My Woman
    Angel Olsen
14. Trick
    Jamie T
15. Made in the Manor
    Kano
16. Atrocity Exhibition
    Danny Brown
17. Views
    Drake
18. Love You to Death
    Tegan and Sara
19. Paradise
    White Lung
20. Joanne
    Lady Gaga
21. Malibu
    Anderson .Paak
22. A Moon Shaped Pool
    Radiohead
23. Love & Hate
    Michael Kiwanuka
24. Skeleton Tree
    Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
25. Blossoms
    Blossoms
26. Ellipsis
    Biffy Clyro
27. Landlord
    Giggs
28. Requiem
    Goat
29. Let Them Eat Chaos
    Kate Tempest
30. For All We Know
    NAO
31. Wild World
    Bastille
32. WALLS
    Kings of Leon
33. Midwest Farmer’s Daughter
    Margo Price
34. I, Gemini
    Let’s Eat Grandma
35. How to Be a Human Being
    Glass Animals
36. Cashmere
    Swet Shop Boys
37. Soft Hair
    Soft Hair
38. Take Control
    Slaves
39. Revolution Radio
    Green Day
40. Anti
    Rihanna
41. A Seat at the Table
    Solange
42. Light Upon the Lake
    Whitney
43. Hopelessness
    ANOHNI
44. Do Hollywood
    The Lemon Twigs
45. Teens of Denial
    Car Seat Headrest
46. Adore Life
    Savages
47. Boy King
    Wild Beasts
48. Body War
    Show Me the Body
49. Never Enough
    Public Access T.V.
50. 22, A Million
    Bon Iver

Scott Tobias: Top 10 Films of 2016 as submitted to the Village Voice Film Poll and the Indiewire poll

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Manchester by the Sea
   Kenneth Lonergan
2. Toni Erdmann
   Maren Ade
3. Silence
   Martin Scorsese
4. The Handmaiden
   Park Chan-wook
5. Paterson
   Jim Jarmusch
6. Right Now, Wrong Then
   Hong Sang-soo
7. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
8. Jackie
   Pablo Larraín
9. Elle
   Paul Verhoeven
10. Aquarius
    Kleber Mendonça Filho

This list contributes to:

• Village Voice Film Poll: Top 50 Films of 2016

Complex: 50 Best Albums of 2016

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Lemonade
   Beyoncé
2. Coloring Book
   Chance The Rapper
3. We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service
   A Tribe Called Quest
4. The Life of Pablo
   Kanye West
5. Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight
   Travis Scott
6. Blond
   Frank Ocean
7. A Seat at the Table
   Solange
8. Anti
   Rihanna
9. Blank Face LP
   Schoolboy Q
10. 22, A Million
    Bon Iver
11. Untitled Unmastered
    Kendrick Lamar
12. Atrocity Exhibition
    Danny Brown
13. Jeffery
    Young Thug
14. Malibu
    Anderson .Paak
15. Views
    Drake
16. Slime Season 3
    Young Thug
17. 99.9%
    KAYTRANADA
18. Islah
    Kevin Gates
19. Still Brazy
    YG
20. Lil Uzi Vert Vs. The World
    Lil Uzi Vert
21. A Good Night in the Ghetto
    Kamaiyah
22. Yes Lawd!
    NxWorries
23. The Divine Feminine
    Mac Miller
24. Ology
    Gallant
25. Telefone
    Noname
26. I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It
    The 1975
27. The Colour in Anything
    James Blake
28. 24K Magic
    Bruno Mars
29. COLLEGROVE
    2 Chainz
30. SremmLife 2
    Rae Sremmurd
31. Lil Boat
    Lil Yachty
32. My Woman
    Angel Olsen
33. SEPT. 5TH
    dvsn
34. Blackstar
    David Bowie
35. Aa
    Baauer
36. iiiDrops
    Joey Purp
37. Honor Killed the Samurai
    Ka
38. Endless
    Frank Ocean
39. Savage Mode
    21 Savage & Metro Boomin
40. Starboy
    The Weeknd
41. Emily’s D+Evolution
    Esperanza Spalding
42. Big Baby D.R.A.M.
    D.R.A.M.
43. Joanne
    Lady Gaga
44. blackSUMMERS’night
    Maxwell
45. Freetown Sound
    Blood Orange
46. Puberty 2
    Mitski
47. Always Strive and Prosper
    A$AP Ferg
48. Major Key
    DJ Khaled
49. Dangerous Woman
    Ariana Grande
50. Majid Jordan
    Majid Jordan

Michael Robbins: 4 Best Poetry Books of 2016, as published by The Chicago Tribune

[see also 2018 • 2017 • 2012]

• Works & Days
  Bernadette Mayer
• A Woman of Property
  Robyn Schiff
• Still Dirty
  David Lau
• The White Stones
  J.H. Prynne

Maria Popova: 16 Favorite Books of 2016

[see also 2018 • 2015]

1. The Lonely City

   Adventures in the Art of Being Alone
   Olivia Laing
2. Hope in the Dark

   Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities
   Rebecca Solnit
3. Upstream

   Selected Essays
   Mary Oliver
4. Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space
   Janna Levin
5. Time Travel

   A History
   James Gleick
6. The View from the Cheap Seats

   Selected Nonfiction
   Neil Gaiman
7. Hold Still

   A Memoir with Photographs
   Sally Mann
8. Anger and Forgiveness

   Resentment, Generosity, Justice
   Martha C. Nussbaum
9. Unforbidden Pleasures

   Rethinking Authority, Power, and Vitality
   Adam Phillips
10. The Course of Love

    A Novel
    Alain de Botton
11. The Gutsy Girl

    Escapades for Your Life of Epic Adventure
    Caroline Paul
12. Hidden Figures

    The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race
    Margot Lee Shetterly
13. Becoming Wise

    An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living
    Krista Tippett
14. The Abundance

    Narrative Essays Old and New
    Annie Dillard
15. When Breath Becomes Air
    Paul Kalanithi
16. Pinocchio

    The Origin Story
    Alessandro Sanna

Cahiers du Cinéma: Top Ten Films of 2016

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Toni Erdmann
   Maren Ade
2. Elle
   Paul Verhoeven
3. The Neon Demon
   Nicolas Winding Refn
4. Aquarius
   Kleber Mendonça Filho
5. Slack Bay
   Bruno Dumont
6. Julieta
   Pedro Almodóvar
7. Staying Vertical
   Alain Guiraudie
8. Struggle for Life
   Antonin Peretjatko
9. Carol
   Todd Haynes
10. Le Bois dont les rêves sont faits
    Claire Simon

Darren Hughes: 10 Favorite Films of 2016 (as posted on Twitter along with a list of films yet to be released in America)

[see also 2021 • 2010s • 2018 • 2017 • 2015 • 2014 • 2012]

1. My Golden Days
   Arnaud Desplechin
2. Aquarius
   Kleber Mendonça Filho
3. No Home Movie
   Chantal Akerman
4. Cemetery of Splendor
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
5. In the Shadow of Women
   Philippe Garrel
6. Mountains May Depart
   Jia Zhang-ke
7. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
8. The Fits
   Anna Rose Holmer
9. Elle
   Paul Verhoeven
10. Certain Women
    Kelly Reichardt

Village Voice Film Poll: Top 50 Films of 2016 (as published by The Village Voice, comprised of votes from 124 critics)

[see also 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
2. Manchester by the Sea
   Kenneth Lonergan
3. Toni Erdmann
   Maren Ade
4. Paterson
   Jim Jarmusch
5. O.J.: Made in America
   Ezra Edelman
6. La La Land
   Damien Chazelle
7. Elle
   Paul Verhoeven
8. The Handmaiden
   Park Chan-wook
9. Cameraperson
   Kirsten Johnson
10. Certain Women
    Kelly Reichardt
11. Cemetery of Splendor
    Apichatpong Weerasethakul
12. No Home Movie
    Chantal Akerman
13. The Lobster
    Yorgos Lanthimos
14. Arrival
    Denis Villeneuve
15. Hell or High Water
    David Mackenzie
16. Silence
    Martin Scorsese
17. Jackie
    Pablo Larraín
18. American Honey
    Andrea Arnold
19. Love & Friendship
    Whit Stillman
20. Things to Come
    Mia Hansen-Løve
21. I Am Not Your Negro
    Raoul Peck
22. Happy Hour
    Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
23. Everybody Wants Some!!
    Richard Linklater
24. Right Now, Wrong Then
    Hong Sang-soo
25. 13th
    Ava DuVernay
26. 20th Century Women
    Mike Mills
27. The Fits
    Anna Rose Holmer
28. The Love Witch
    Anna Biller
29. Green Room
    Jeremy Saulnier
30. Fire at Sea
    Gianfranco Rosi
31. Loving
    Jeff Nichols
32. The Neon Demon
    Nicolas Winding Refn
33. The Witch
    Robert Eggers
34. Hail, Caesar!
    Joel & Ethan Coen
35. Sing Street
    John Carney
36. Tower
    Keith Maitland
37. Fences
    Denzel Washington
38. Aquarius
    Kleber Mendonça Filho
39. Knight of Cups
    Terrence Malick
40. Weiner
    Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg
41. Sunset Song
    Terence Davies
42. Hunt for the Wilderpeople
    Taika Waititi
42. The Edge of Seventeen
    Kelly Fremon Craig
44. Sully
    Clint Eastwood
45. The Other Side
    Roberto Minervini
46. I, Daniel Blake
    Ken Loach
47. My Golden Days
    Arnaud Desplechin
48. Embrace of the Serpent
    Ciro Guerra
48. The Nice Guys
    Shane Black
50. Julieta
    Pedro Almodóvar

This list summarizes other lists, including these:

• Village Voice Film Poll: Miriam Bale: Top 14 Films of 2016
• Village Voice Film Poll: Scott Tobias: Top 10 Films of 2016