Greetings! Welcome to the second ever Watched This Year. In this post, I’ll be listing every film I viewed in 2016, regardless of initial release. It’s helpful to keep track of everything I saw and an easy way to compile all of my ratings and thoughts in one place. Every link will take you to a relevant post that contains my critiques and appraisals and – as always – please drop by my letterboxd for more precise ratings, as I am a little restricted due to the inability to award half-stars on here.
I stated in my previous Watched This Year that I wanted to double the amount of films I saw and I’m pleased to reveal — I did just that! Last year, I only managed to get through 43 movies, compared to 88 this year. I also stuck solely to English-language films last year, whereas this year over a quarter of my viewings were in a language other than English. I have always been keenly interested in foreign cinema and am particularly fond of East Asian movies, so I am very happy to have redeemed myself somewhat, though still tremendously disappointed to have neglected them in 2015.
Next year, I would like to push for over 100 movies and continue to dedicate a lot of time to foreign cinema. Come back in twelve months for the results.
Previous: Watched This Year: 2015
| Film | Rating |
| 10 Cloverfield Lane (Dir. Dan Trachtenberg) | ★★★★☆ |
| 3-Iron (Dir. Kim Ki-duk) | ★★★★☆ |
| A Bittersweet Life (Dir. Kim Jee-woon) | ★★★☆☆ |
| A Bride for Rip Van Winkle (Dir. Shunji Iwai) | ★★★★★ |
| A Hard Day (Dir. Kim Seong-hoon) | ★★★★☆ |
| Anomalisa (Dir. Charlie Kaufman) | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Dir. Zack Snyder) | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Blue Valentine (Dir. Derek Cianfrance) | ★★★★☆ |
| Bottle Rocket (Dir. Wes Anderson) | ★★★★☆ |
| Captain America: Civil War (Dir. Joe Russo and Anthony Russo) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Captain Fantastic (Dir. Matt Ross) | ★★★★☆ |
| Children of Men (Dir. Alfonso Cuarón) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Christmas in August (Dir. Hur Jin-Ho) | ★★★★★ |
| Confession of Murder (Dir. Jeong Byeong-Gil) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Deadpool (Dir. Tim Miller) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Death Billiards (Dir. Yuzuru Tachikawa) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Doctor Strange (Dir. Scott Derrickson) | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Don Jon (Dir. Joseph Gordon-Levitt) | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Eye in the Sky (Dir. Gavin Hood) | ★★★★☆ |
| Faults (Dir. Riley Stearns) | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Green Room (Dir. Jeremy Saulnier) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Hail, Caesar! (Dir. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Hunt for the Wilderpeople (Dir. Taika Waititi) | ★★★★☆ |
| I Am Not a Serial Killer (Dir. Billy O’Brien) | ★★☆☆☆ |
| I Saw the Devil (Dir. Kim Jee-woon) | ★★★★☆ |
| Imperium (Dir. Daniel Ragussis) | ★★★☆☆ |
| In the Heart of the Sea (Dir. Ron Howard) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Kubo and the Two Strings (Dir. Travis Knight) | ★★★★☆ |
| Kung Fu Panda 3 (Dir. Alessandro Carloni and Jennifer Yuh) | ★★★★☆ |
| Little Witch Academia (Dir. Yoh Yoshinari) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Me Before You (Dir. Thea Sharrock) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Memories of Murder (Dir. Bong Joon-ho) | ★★★★☆ |
| Mother (Dir. Bong Joon-ho) | ★★★★☆ |
| New York, I Love You (Dir. Natalie Portman, Shunji Iwai, et al) | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Nocturnal Animals (Dir. Tom Ford) | ★★★★☆ |
| Now You See Me (Dir. Louis Leterrier) | ★☆☆☆☆ |
| Pawn Sacrifice (Dir. Edward Zwick) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Picnic (Dir. Shunji Iwai) | ★★★★☆ |
| Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974 (Dir. Julian Jarrold) | ★★★★☆ |
| Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1980 (Dir. James Marsh) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Dir. Gareth Edwards) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Side Effects (Dir. Steven Soderbergh) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Silenced (Dir. Hwang Dong Hyuk) | ★★★★☆ |
| Sing Street (Dir. John Carney) | ★★★★☆ |
| Smashed (Dir. James Ponsoldt) | ★★★★☆ |
| Snowpiercer (Dir. Na Hong-Jin) | ★★★★☆ |
| Starry Eyes (Dir. Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer) | ★☆☆☆☆ |
| Straw Dogs (Dir. Sam Peckinpah) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Suicide Squad (Dir. David Ayer) | ★☆☆☆☆ |
| Sully (Dir. Clint Eastwood) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Swiss Army Man (Dir. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) | ★★★★☆ |
| Symbol (Dir. Hitoshi Matsumoto) | ★★★☆☆ |
| The Chaser (Dir. Na Hong-Jin) | ★★★★★ |
| The Grand Budapest Hotel (Dir. Wes Anderson) | ★★★★☆ |
| The Handmaiden (Dir. Chan-wook Park) | ★★★★☆ |
| The Host (Dir. Bong Joon-ho) | ★★★★☆ |
| The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Dir. Terry Gilliam) | ★★☆☆☆ |
| The Jungle Book (Dir. Jon Favreau) | ★★★☆☆ |
| The Little Prince (Dir. Mark Osborne) | ★★★★☆ |
| The Man from Nowhere (Dir. Lee Jeong-Beom) | ★★★★☆ |
| The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Dir. Guy Ritchie) | ★★★★☆ |
| The Neon Demon (Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn) | ★★☆☆☆ |
| The Peanuts Movie (Dir. Steve Martino) | ★★★☆☆ |
| The Place Beyond the Pines (Dir. Derek Cianfrance) | ★★★☆☆ |
| The Prestige (Dir. Christopher Nolan) | ★★★☆☆ |
| The Royal Tenenbaums (Dir. Wes Anderson) | ★★★★☆ |
| The Shallows (Dir. Jaume Collet-Serra) | ★★★★☆ |
| The Spectacular Now (Dir. James Ponsoldt) | ★★★★☆ |
| The Station Agent (Dir. Tom McCarthy) | ★★★★☆ |
| The Terror Live (Dir. Kim Byung-woo) | ★★☆☆☆ |
| The Wailing (Dir. Na Hong-Jin) | ★★★☆☆ |
| The Witch (Dir. Robert Eggers) | ★★★★☆ |
| The Wolverine (Dir. James Mangold) | ★★☆☆☆ |
| The Woodsman (Dir. Nicole Kassell) | ★★★★☆ |
| Tokyo Fist (Dir. Shinya Tsukamoto) | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Train to Busan (Dir. Yeon Sang-Ho) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Triple 9 (Dir. John Hillcoat) | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Tunnel (Dir. Kim Seong-hoon) | ★★★★☆ |
| Undo (Dir. Shunji Iwai) | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Warcraft (Dir. Duncan Jones) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Warsaw ’44 (Dir. Jan Komasa) | ★★★★☆ |
| While We’re Young (Dir. Noah Baumbach) | ★★☆☆☆ |
| X-Men: Apocalypse (Dir. Bryan Singer) | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Your Name (Dir. Makoto Shinkai) | ★★★★☆ |
| Youth in Revolt (Dir. Miguel Arteta) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Z for Zachariah (Dir. Craig Zobel) | ★★★☆☆ |
| Zootopia (Dir. Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Jared Bush) | ★★★☆☆ |
As I wrote about every film throughout the year in my Watched This Month posts, there aren’t any brief comments like last time. Looking at the ratings, my most loved films this year are A Bride for Rip Van Winkle, Christmas in August and The Chaser. My most viewed director is Bong Joon-ho, with me having watched four of his features in 2016 — Snowpiercer, Memories of Murder, The Host and Mother — and Ha Jung-woo is my most viewed actor, after watching The Chaser, Tunnel, The Terror Live and The Handmaiden. Much love for South Korea. I wonder what films are waiting to be discovered in 2017. Please feel free to leave any recommendations! I hope my writing has been satisfactory this year and as always — thank you dearly for stopping by.
Morning, Roo 
One thought on “Watched This Year: 2016”