Year-End Lists

Craig Jenkins: 15 Best Albums of 2016, as published by New York Magazine’s Vulture

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017]

1. Blond
   Frank Ocean
2. Blackstar
   David Bowie
3. Lemonade
   Beyoncé
4. We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service
   A Tribe Called Quest
5. The Life of Pablo
   Kanye West
6. A Moon Shaped Pool
   Radiohead
7. The Weight of These Wings
   Miranda Lambert
8. Yes Lawd!
   NxWorries
9. American Football
   American Football
10. American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story
    Kevin Abstract
11. Coloring Book
    Chance The Rapper
12. A Seat at the Table
    Solange
13. Puberty 2
    Mitski
14. Redemption
    Dawn Richard
15. Cardinal
    Pinegrove

Dan Chiasson: 8 Best Poetry Books of 2016, as published by The New Yorker

[see also 2018 • 2017 • 2015]

• A Woman of Property
  Robyn Schiff
• Gap Gardening
  Rosmarie Waldrop
• Collected Poems

  1950-2012
  Adrienne Rich
• The After Party
  Jana Prikryl
• Night Sky With Exit Wounds
  Ocean Vuong
• Falling Awake
  Alice Oswald
• House of Lords and Commons
  Ishion Hutchinson
• Envelope Poems
  Emily Dickinson

Christopher Orr: 35 Best Movies of 2016, as published by The Atlantic

[see also 2018 • 2017 • 2015 • 2014]

1. Arrival
   Denis Villeneuve
2. La La Land
   Damien Chazelle
3. Manchester by the Sea
   Kenneth Lonergan
4. Hell or High Water
   David Mackenzie
5. The Lobster
   Yorgos Lanthimos
6. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
7. The Handmaiden
   Park Chan-wook
8. Zootopia
   Byron Howard and Rich Moore
9. O.J.: Made in America
   Ezra Edelman
10. Loving
    Jeff Nichols
11. Hail, Caesar!
    Joel & Ethan Coen
12. Sing Street
    John Carney

Honorable Mentions (Alphabetically)

• The Birth of a Nation
  Nate Parker
• Captain America: Civil War
  Anthony and Joe Russo
• Don’t Think Twice
  Mike Birbiglia
• Elle
  Paul Verhoeven
• Elvis & Nixon
  Liza Johnson
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
  David Yates
• Fences
  Denzel Washington
• God Knows Where I Am
  Jedd Wider and Todd Wider
• Green Room
  Jeremy Saulnier
• Hacksaw Ridge
  Mel Gibson
• The Jungle Book
  Jon Favreau
• Kubo and the Two Strings
  Travis Knight
• Life, Animated
  Roger Ross Williams
• Love & Friendship
  Whit Stillman
• Moana
  Ron Clements and John Musker
• A Monster Calls
  J.A. Bayona
• The Nice Guys
  Shane Black
• Operation Avalanche
  Matt Johnson
• Rogue One
  Gareth Edwards
• Tallulah
  Sian Heder
• 10 Cloverfield Lane
  Dan Trachtenberg
• Weiner
  Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg
• The Witch
  Robert Eggers

The Wild Honey Pie: Top 30 Albums of 2016

[see also 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017]

1. Blackstar
   David Bowie
2. Masterpiece
   Big Thief
3. Coloring Book
   Chance The Rapper
4. My Woman
   Angel Olsen
5. What Will Destroy You
   Kyle Morton
6. Next Thing
   Frankie Cosmos
7. Freetown Sound
   Blood Orange
8. Skin
   Flume
9. Puberty 2
   Mitski
10. Light Upon the Lake
    Whitney
11. Care
    How to Dress Well
12. Views
    Drake
13. 22, A Million
    Bon Iver
14. Sirens
    Nicolas Jaar
15. A Moon Shaped Pool
    Radiohead
16. The Party
    Andy Shauf
17. We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service
    A Tribe Called Quest
18. The Colour in Anything
    James Blake
19. Blond
    Frank Ocean
20. Psychopomp
    Japanese Breakfast
21. Human Performance
    Parquet Courts
22. Skeleton Tree
    Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
23. Atrocity Exhibition
    Danny Brown
24. A Seat at the Table
    Solange
25. Slugger
    Sad13
26. Ruminations
    Conor Oberst
27. Emotions and Math
    Margaret Glaspy
28. Requiem
    Goat
29. Moth
    Chairlift
30. You Want It Darker
    Leonard Cohen

Brooklyn Vegan: Top Albums of 2016

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017]

1. My Woman
   Angel Olsen
2. Slow Forever
   Cobalt
3. Lemonade
   Beyoncé
4. We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service
   A Tribe Called Quest
5. Puberty 2
   Mitski
6. Cody
   Joyce Manor
7. Atrocity Exhibition
   Danny Brown
8. Blackstar
   David Bowie
9. Nattesferd
   Kvelertak
10. Cardinal
    Pinegrove
11. Malibu
    Anderson .Paak
12. Teens of Denial
    Car Seat Headrest
13. A Seat at the Table
    Solange
14. Skeleton Tree
    Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
15. Blond
    Frank Ocean
15. Endless
    Frank Ocean
16. You Want It Darker
    Leonard Cohen
17. Hopelessness
    ANOHNI
18. Paradise Gallows
    Inter Arma
19. 22, A Million
    Bon Iver
20. Blood Bitch
    Jenny Hval
21. A Good Night in the Ghetto
    Kamaiyah
22. Goodness
    The Hotelier
23. Midwest Farmer’s Daughter
    Margo Price
24. A Moon Shaped Pool
    Radiohead
25. Freetown Sound
    Blood Orange
26. Running out of Love
    The Radio Dept.
27. A Sailor’s Guide to Earth
    Sturgill Simpson
28. Rheia
    Oathbreaker
29. Commontime
    Field Music
30. Love & Hate
    Michael Kiwanuka
31. Light Upon the Lake
    Whitney
32. Singing Saw
    Kevin Morby
33. Still Brazy
    YG
34. Hypercaffium Spazzinate
    Descendents
35. Blank Face LP
    Schoolboy Q
36. Potential
    The Range
37. FLOTUS
    Lambchop
38. Void Beats / Invocation Trex
    Cavern of Anti-Matter
39. A Coliseum Complex Museum
    The Besnard Lakes
40. American Football (LP2)
    American Football
41. Let Them Eat Chaos
    Kate Tempest
42. Eyes on the Lines
    Steve Gunn
43. Sirens
    Nicolas Jaar
44. Human Performance
    Parquet Courts
45. City Sun Eater in the River of Light
    Woods

Entertainment Weekly: The 20 Best Books of 2016

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2015]

1. The Nix
   Nathan Hill
2. When Breath Becomes Air
   Paul Kalanithi
3. Homegoing
   Yaa Gyasi
4. LaRose
   Louise Erdrich
5. All the Single Ladies

   Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation
   Rebecca Traister
6. The Vegetarian
   Han Kang. Translated by Deborah Smith
7. The Girls
   Emma Cline
8. The Sun Is Also a Star
   Nicola Yoon
9. Lab Girl
   Hope Jahren
10. Evicted

    Poverty and Profit in the American City
    Matthew Desmond
11. The Mothers
    Brit Bennett
12. The Sport of Kings
    C.E. Morgan
13. Shirley Jackson

    A Rather Haunted Life
    Ruth Franklin
14. The Gene

    An Intimate History
    Siddhartha Mukherjee
15. Barkskins
    Annie Proulx
16. Dark Money

    The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
    Jane Mayer
17. Modern Lovers
    Emma Straub
18. Sweetbitter
    Stephanie Danler
19. Today Will Be Different
    Maria Semple
20. Here Comes the Sun
    Nicole Dennis-Benn

Entertainment Weekly: 10 Best TV Shows of 2016

[see also 2017]

1. O.J.: Made in America
2. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
3. The Americans
4. The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
5. Atlanta
6. Better Things
7. Rectify
8. The Good Place
9. Search Party
10. Westworld
11. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
12. American Crime
13. Black-ish
14. Mr. Robot
15. Documentary Now!
16. Better Call Saul
17. Roots
18. Lady Dynamite
19. Stranger Things
20. Horace and Pete

Paste Magazine: 25 Best TV Shows of 2016

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017]

1. The Americans
2. Stranger Things
3. Atlanta
4. BoJack Horseman
5. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
6. The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
7. Veep
8. Better Call Saul
9. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
10. Halt and Catch Fire
11. Westworld
12. Fleabag
13. Game of Thrones
14. Black Mirror
15. Silicon Valley
16. Last Man on Earth
17. Transparent
18. Steven Universe
19. Rectify
20. American Crime
21. Documentary Now!
22. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
23. The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore
24. Jane the Virgin
25. Insecure

Jonathan Rosenbaum: Top 10 Films of 2016, as submitted to the IndieWire Poll

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

1. Paterson
   Jim Jarmusch
2. Cemetery of Splendor
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
3. Everybody Wants Some!!
   Richard Linklater
4. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
5. Arrival
   Denis Villeneuve
6. The Love Witch
   Anna Biller
7. Indignation
   James Schamus
8. Hell or High Water
   David Mackenzie
9. Certain Women
   Kelly Reichardt
10. Miles Ahead
    Don Cheadle

Elizabeth Lund: 5 Best Poetry Collections of 2016, as published by The Washington Post

[see also 2018 • 2017 • 2015]

• Blackacre
  Monica Youn
• Blue Laws

  Selected and Uncollected Poems, 1995-2015
  Kevin Young
• Garden Time
  W.S. Merwin
• Look
  Solmaz Sharif
• ShallCross
  C.D. Wright