Sandy Kenyon's top 10 movies of 2016
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- With just days remaining in 2016, we take a look back at the best films to hit the box office this year. From big-budget blockbusters like "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" and "Suicide Squad" to sci-fi dramas like "Arrival" and award-worthy projects in "Manchester by the Sea" and "La La Land," 2016 was another successful year at the box office.
Walt Disney Studios, part of the ABC7's parent company, was the clear winner this year, expected to finish with around $2.6 billion domestically and a jaw-dropping $7 billion worldwide in ticket sales, thanks to the success of Pixar, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm.
Entertainment reporter Sandy Kenyon has his list for the top 10 movies of 2016.
10. Fences
"Both Denzel Washington and Viola Davis earned Tony awards for playing these roles on Broadway in August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, and look for them to earn Oscar nominations for their big-screen reprisals. They are that good."
9. Sully
"Every New Yorker should see 'Sully,' which celebrates one man's heroism and how the best of our city came to help him."
8. Hidden Figures
"'Hidden Figures' tells the story of the unsung women who helped the US space program reach the moon, and the characters played by Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae are all based on real people. Their triumph, overlooked for so many years, will make you want to cheer."
7. Hacksaw Ridge
"Hacksaw Ridge is an old-fashioned war movie that is so well made, it will engage any viewer who enjoys that type of action. Andrew Garfield is perfectly cast as Private Desmond Doss, who refused to bear arms against our enemies in World War II and was awarded the Medal of Honor.
"It's easy to see why a pariah like director Mel Gibson would want to embrace Doss, a man who had the courage of his convictions, and the result is a wholeheartedly positive experience."
6. Moonlight
"The film moves at the pace of real life. This sort of pacing can be slow for some movie watchers, but for those with patience, there is magic in this 'Moonlight.'"
5. 13th
"What was supposed to open a new chapter in American history -- the 13th Amendment -- after the Civil War instead led to widespread racism, and the film looks at a judicial process that puts far more blacks than whites behind bars."
4. Arrival
"Amy Adams is calm and compelling, holding audiences' attention through a brain-twister of a plot that unfolds at a leisurely pace. 'Arrival' has earned almost unanimous praise from critics as a 'thinking person's sci-fi movie.'"
3. Patriot's Day
"The new drama about the bombings at the Boston Marathon is one of the best movies of the entire year thanks to the best performance of Mark Wahlberg's career an ensemble of great actors around him."
2. Manchester by the Sea
"This film finally allows one of our most talented actors to step outside of the huge shadow cast by his big brother, as Casey Affleck makes his own bid for greatness playing a janitor who unexpectedly gets appointed guardian to his nephew in Massachusetts.
"The film, which debuted at the New York Film Festival, is tough to watch at times. But ultimately, it speaks to the importance of family and the ties that bind us together in the face of tough times."
1. La La Land
"It's being called 'the season's most dazzling movie experience,' and 'La La Land' is the early favorite to win Best Picture at the Oscars. There are better singers than Ryan Gosling, and better piano players and dancers too. But in Emma Stone, he has found the perfect partner. And together, they make magic like nobody else.
"The film is about what happens when the right people fall in love at the wrong time. If you have ever loved and lost and wondered what might have been, then this skillful revival of the lost art of the Hollywood musical will be just right for you."
