John Waters Shares His List of the Top 10 Films of 2016
by Alex Billington
December 1, 2016
Source: Art Forum
It's that time again! With the end of the year approaching, everyone begins revealing their own Top 10 best of the year lists. One of our favorite lists that kicks off this time is from filmmaker John Waters' - his Top 10 favorite films from this year. For 2016, Waters has chosen yet another (expected) eclectic mix of films, including Paul Verhoven's controversial Elle, Todd Solondz's divisive Wiener-Dog, as well as David Farrier & Dylan Reeve's outstandingly creepy documentary Tickled, among some other oddball picks. A few years back his top film was Spring Breakers, and last year it was a film titled Helmut Berger, Actor. I always like hearing about Waters' favorites because he has such unique taste and his quick comments are fun to read.
Waters includes a short one/two-sentence explanation with each pick, so head to ArtForum to read all of his thoughts on his Top 10 of 2016. I've included a few of his comments in quotes below for some of the films where he said some interesting things. Without further ado, here are John Waters' Top 10 Films of 2016:
1. Krisha (dir. Trey Edward Shults) "This hilariously harrowing portrait of a family reunion ruined by an alcoholic relative and too many dogs is told with verve and lunacy and features a top-notch performance by Krisha Fairchild, the director’s own aunt. Other people’s hell can sometimes be so much fun."
2. Tickled (dir. David Farrier & Dylan Reeve)
3. Everybody Wants Some! (dir. Richard Linklater) "The best accidentally gay movie ever made by a known heterosexual director features the most talented and sexy ensemble cast of the last decade."
4. Roar (dir. Noel Marshall)
5. Wiener-Dog (dir. Todd Solondz)
6. Elle (dir. Paul Verhoeven) "Do daughters of mass murderers like to get raped? In France they sometimes do, and only Isabelle Huppert could play this hetero-deviant, Claude-Chabrol-meets-Radley-Metzger character with feminist dignity. Isn’t she the best actress in the whole wide world?"
7. Julieta (dir. Pedro Almodóvar)
8. Like Cattle Towards Glow (dir. Dennis Cooper & Zac Farley) "Arty teenage death, Gallic rimming, and a maddening passion for punk penises make this Eric Rohmer–like porno a real French tickler for the fucked-up literary set."
9. Valley of Love (dir. Guillaume Nicloux)
10. A Quiet Passion (dir. Terence Davies) "The grim curse of Emily Dickinson’s poetic talent has never been shown with such depressing clarity. If you can’t enjoy suffering along with her, you should be dead too."
What do you make of Waters' Top 10 list? How many of these has anyone else even seen? As always, his list is full of some of the most oddball picks but nonetheless damn good films. I haven't even heard of a few of these (such as Like Cattle Towards Glow) and a few of them are my favorites as well (such as Everybody Wants Some!). Another one of his very interesting picks is Roar, which is actually a 1981 film with real lions and tigers that was re-released by Alamo Drafthouse last year. Waters explains why he chose it: "I finally got to see Tippi Hedren’s real-life snuff movie starring her entire family that was made in 1981 but not released in the US until 2015. Watch, slack-jawed, as Tippi is scalped and her daughter Melanie Griffith mauled by the wild-animal extras who turn out to be the real stars of this nutcase action film." Hard to argue with that.