THE TOP 10 MOST ANTICIPATED FILMS OF 2016 REVISITED

1- ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY: After those awful Star Wars prequels, pretty much any new Star Wars would look like the greatest movie ever made. But I'm glad to say that so far, Disney is 2 for 2. This new one, another prequel, is very entertaining. There's no light sabers or Jedi in it and, honestly, I didn't even notice or care. *** (out of ****)

2- BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE: I'm probably one of the few people on Earth that enjoyed this film. But, c'mon, Ben Affleck is a perfect Batman. Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman was awesome. It was big and dumb but a good popcorn extravaganza nonetheless. And admit it; Nolan's Batman films were not comic book films. This is a comic book film. ***

3- MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIARS: Haven't seen it yet. Reviews were average. It does look awful, however. And perhaps it's time to finally admit that Tim Burton lost his touch.

4- FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM: Yes, it's fantastic. I think the reason is obvious; J.K. Rowling wrote a great script. Which shouldn't be a surprise, as her post-Potter work, The Casual Vacancy and The Cuckoo's Calling, were both great. This film is fun but also dark and has the best last shot of any film in 2016. ***1/2 

5- THE NICE GUYS: Perhaps the most entertaining film ever made. I rarely laugh out loud at anything but I'm still chuckling at that "hat rack" line. This was, obviously, super unoriginal, but just so much fun it didn't matter. Too bad it was kind of a bomb because I want ten sequels. ***1/2

6- HAIL, CAESAR!: A dud. The Coen's haven't made a good movie in years. This was just dull and went nowhere, although the musical number in the saloon is mildly amusing. *1/2

7- X-MEN: APOCALYPSE: Reviewed. **1/2

8- CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR: Entertaining in spots but surely one of the lesser Marvel films. New Spider-Man, Tom Holland, stole the show. Which bodes well for the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming. **1/2

9- STAR TREK BEYOND: A shocking disappointment. How do you fuck up a Star Trek film with this stellar cast and a decent story? I guess blame J.J. Abrams, who left this franchise to do Star Wars: The Force Awakens. New director Justin Lin, famous for directing some of the Fast & Furious films, really dropped the ball on this. A lot of this film is just an incoherent, special f/x blur. *1/2 

10- SUICIDE SQUAD: Another mega-disappointment and probably the worst film of 2016. Margot Robbie is great as Harley Quinn but they didn't give Jared Leto's Joker enough to do and the script is atrocious. I loathed director David Ayer's last picture, Fury, so I guess I shouldn't have expected him to work wonders in the capes genre. Still, a competent writer/director like Joss Whedon could've easily knocked this out of the park. *