2016 was a clusterf*** of a year in so many ways, but the VISUAL ENTERTAINMENT industry was firing on all cylinders. Musically it failed to repeat the highs of 2015, with fewer high profile releases but there was still a great deal to enjoy.

 

With that in mind I have composed (and I actually have this time) a series of lists covering the following:

 

1) Top 10 TV shows

2) Top 10 Movies

3) Top 10 Albums

4) Top 30 Songs

 

I'll try and be BRIEF and get this done within a few weeks, but I can't and probably shouldn't make any guarantee's. As a little reminder, here is my 2015 top 100 songs.

 

01 Madonna - Ghosttown

02 Carly Rae Jepsen - When I Needed You

03 Madonna - Wash All Over Me

04 Chvrches - Clearest Blue

05 TiGERTOWN - Papernote

06 Polina Gagarina - A Million Voices

07 Allie X - Sanctuary

08 Brandon Flowers - I Can Change

09 IIIII - People (Feat. Adele Kosman)

10 Natalie Imbruglia - Instant Crush

 

11 SVE - My Religion

12 Kylie Minogue - Every Day's Like Christmas (A Stock Aitkin Waterman Remix)

13 Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do

14 Dolly Style - Hello Hi

15 Little Mix - Black Magic

16 Brandon Flowers - Lonely Town

17 Benjamin - Young & Restless

18 Erika Selin - Break Me Up

19 Years & Years - King

20 Marina And The Diamonds - Savages

 

21 SVE - BLKNBL

22 Sam Bruno - Search Party

23 Brandon Flowers - Can't Deny My Love

24 Susanne Sundfør - Delirious

25 Bonnie Anderson - Unbroken

26 Carly Rae Jepsen - Your Type

27 Madonna - Joan Of Arc

28 Say Lou Lou - Wilder Than The Wind

29 Giorgio Moroder - Don't Let Go (feat. Mikky Ekko)

30 Merely - Scandinavia

 

31 Brandon Flowers - Untangled Love

32 Jessica Andersson - Can't Hurt Me Now

33 Sam Feldt - Show Me Love

34 AlexWinston - We Got Nothing

35 Marina And The Diamonds - Froot

36 Carly Rae Jepsen - All That

37 Awa - Obvious

38 K.I.D - I Want You To Know (Zedd Rework)

39 Midnight Boy - Don't Say No

40 Kelly Clarkson - Invincible

 

41 Il Volo - Grande Amore

42 Rachel Platten - Stand By You

43 Madonna - Rebel Heart

44 Carly Rae Jepsen - Warm Blood

45 Brandon Flowers - Still Want You

46 Madonna - Messiah

47 Gareth Emery & Alastor - Hands (Feat. London Thor)

48 Karin Park - Stick To The Lie

49 Chvrches - Leave A Trace

50 Elina Born & Stig Rästa - Goodbye To Yesterday

 

51 Låpsley - Hurt Me

52 Linus Svenning - Forever Starts Today

53 Years & Years - Shine

54 Madonna - Addicted

55 Gwen Stefani - Used To Love You

56 Kasper Bjørke - Apart (Feat. Sísý Ey)

57 Borgeous - They Don't Know Us (Piano Version)

58 Say Lou Lou - Everything We Touch

59 Koven - Get This Right

60 Madonna - Devil Pray

 

61 Mørland & Debrah Scarlett - A Monster Like Me

62 Elize Ryd & Rickard Söderberg - One By One

63 Jaymes Young & Phoebe Ryan - We Won't

64 Ellie Goulding - Army

65 Phoebe Ryan - Dead (Louis Vivet Remix)

66 Samantha Urbani - 1 2 3 4

67 Chvrches - Keep You On My Side

68 Shamir - Call It Off

69 Shura - White Light

70 Troye Sivan - WILD

 

71 Giorgio Moroder - Déjà Vu (feat. Sia)

72 The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face

73 Ellie Goulding - Something In The Way You Move

74 Chvrches - Empty Threat

75 Loïc Nottet - Rhythm Inside

76 Rachel Platten - Fight Song

77 OMFG - Ice Cream

78 Jason Derulo - Want You To Want Me

79 Carly Rae Jepsen - Love Again

80 Florence + The Machine - Delilah

 

81 Shura - 2 Shy

82 One Direction - Perfect

83 Ellen Benediktson - Insomnia

84 Elle King - Ex's & Oh's

85 RYDER - Ruins

86 Ellie Goulding - Lost And Found

87 VS - Loner

88 Grimes - Flesh Without Blood

89 Maya Payne - If Only

90 Jerome Price - Me Minus You

 

91 Tourist Holding On - (Feat. Josef Salvat & Niia)

92 Aminata - Love Injected

93 The Weeknd - Often

94 Hayden James - Something About You

95 Miike Snow - Heart Is Full

96 Carly Rae Jepsen - Run Away With Me

97 Purity Ring - Bodyache

98 Madonna - Inside Out

99 Kassandra - Run

100 Fleur East - Sax

 

 

Yasss at 'Ghosttown' being your #1 of 2015. It has to be her best from recent years and comfortably holds its own against classic Madonna ballads - something I think it did from the first few times I listened to it but was hesitant to admit in case my stan hat was overhyping things. 'Wash All Over Me' remains one of the Rebel Heart best too and similarly has the potential to go down as a Madge classic.

 

I had no idea you had took to 'Every Day Like Christmas' so much! It's great in its original form but the SAW remix just gives it that extra magic. '100 Degrees', 'Christmas Wrapping' and 'White December' probably rank above it for me now though, but it still remains solid Christmas song from Ms. Minogue!

There's something I wanted to ask you Qween, are you an actual member of any of the world's royal families?

 

About your list, a lot of these songs I don't know, you are clearly in the indie/rock and alternative camp on buzzjack. I clearly have much to learn about modern music :D.

 

Btw did Mø not make any songs in 2015 that would make your list for that year? :lol: Secondly Sax is my favourite from the list I would say.

Edited January 4, 20178 yr by 🚡🚟🍥-♨🎪🚘🎉🍥

ghost town and i can change were both high up my year-end top 10 for 2015, classic singles that should have charted.

Yasss at 'Ghosttown' being your #1 of 2015. It has to be her best from recent years and comfortably holds its own against classic Madonna ballads - something I think it did from the first few times I listened to it but was hesitant to admit in case my stan hat was overhyping things. 'Wash All Over Me' remains one of the Rebel Heart best too and similarly has the potential to go down as a Madge classic.

 

I had no idea you had took to 'Every Day Like Christmas' so much! It's great in its original form but the SAW remix just gives it that extra magic. '100 Degrees', 'Christmas Wrapping' and 'White December' probably rank above it for me now though, but it still remains solid Christmas song from Ms. Minogue!

 

Interesting you singled out both of those tracks, Ghosttown has held very firm for me over the course of 2016 and has definitely settled in as a modern Madonna classic. It's easily the best song she's done since Hung Up and, if I'm being really honest about it, from a plain musical stand point it's probably more accomplished than that too though obviously I still vastly prefer Hung Up. Every Day's Like Christmas, on the other hand, did not come out of the 2016 Christmas season half as well, perhaps because I overplayed it or perhaps because At Christmas outshone is considerably along with many of the covers on the re-release. It's still going to get many a play each festive SEASON, but if I were to redo the above list now it would be about 50 places lowers.

Looking forward to this! Loved 'I Can Change' last year!

I'm looking forward to this too!

TV shows:

 

2016 was one of the best years for TV we've had, some amazing debuting series on all platforms, especially on the comedy side of things, but sadly it saw a number of staples of my viewing s

#10 iZombie (The CW)

 

 

Like so many of the best TV shows iZombie has a very simple premise, but one which allows it great scope for both comedy and drama. Rose McIver is the real star of show, in a performance just as good as Tatiana Maslany on Orphan Black, she has to portray at least one new version of herself every week thanks to the adoption of the personality and memories of the owners of the brains she eats. But she's a GOOD zombie innit. She uses it for crime fighting and general do-goodery.

 

The real reason why the show rises above the format and has cemented itself as one of my favourite TV shows is because of how irreverent it is. It's based on a comic so that's probably not unexpected, but they show has some absolutely killer intertitles before and after breaks, which need to be paused and studied. They had humour so meta it would fit in perfectly on Arrested Development and, especially in season 2, they have an amazing ear for ironic music choices and some frankly incredible food porn. There's one particular fantastic scene which finds them digging up a huge field looking for decaying bodies set to music from Les Miserables.

 

Oh and how could I forget the MVP of Season 2, STEVEN WEBER. The man brings all the nuance and subtlety to his role as evil Max Rager CEO Vaughn Du Clark as would several hand grenades but the gregarious nature of his performance is why it all works so perfectly. The show is borderline insanity and his self serving, ego-maniacal bast*rd of a character is just the right sight of Roger Moore Bond villain to work and spar perfectly with Liv for most of the season.

HBO predictions: Westworld, Game Of Thrones, True Detective

Netflix: Orange Is The New Black

 

I think that's all I have for Top 10 TV Show predictions

 

 

When I looked at the title of iZombie, I thought it was an iPhone app where you get to zombify yourself :kink:

Edited January 7, 20178 yr by DalekTurret32

#9 - Full Frontal With Samantha Bee (TBS)

 

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I think we can all agree 2016 turned out to be a f***ing disaster politically. Samantha Bee was there with her biting wit and plentiful cynicism to bring light and humour to it all, however. For most of the year Trump provided an endless supply of easy jokes but the beauty of Full Frontal is that it goes beyond the obvious and actually nails important issues which would otherwise go totally unnoticed. It's like The Daily Show (obviously given she's an alum) except written from the perspective of a WOMAN, which naturally makes it a better fit for my highly honed sense of humour.

 

Sam doesn't hog all the best bits for herself either, she has a team of reporters who are just as dry and damn hilarious as she is and the interviews of unknowing patsies are among the funniest sketches on the show. Her genuine passion, however, to fight for what is right, equality, tolerance and fairness for all lifts this above a simple late night comedy show to something that little bit more special.

#8 - The Goldbergs (ABC)

 

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The funniest sitcom on network TV, BY FAR.

 

The Goldbergs is part autobiographical and based on the family life of its producer, Adam Goldberg, in the 80's. The first couple of seasons focused mostly on the hilarious differences between then and now, technologically and in the many ways our thinking has radically changed since then. Seasons 3 and 4, which aired during 2016, have moved to a much more character focused show. It's still a sitcom so changes aren't always carried over from episode to episode and it's still off the chart insane most of the time, but there are so many moments of real pathos in the mix and it's got a lot of important messages to convey about life in 2016 not being all that different for women and mothers than it was 30 years ago, sadly.

 

Obviously Wendy Mclendon-Covey is the MVP in every scene she's in. Her electric personality and inexhaustible array of facial expressions allow her to be both gregarious and human all at once. She's hyper-real in every sense of the word which is often the source of the best comedy in the show, but her delivery of fairly run of the mill one liners with conviction and sincerity totally unbecoming the line is what makes her one of the best comedy creations on TV. The rest of the cast aren't quite as good, but they still carry individual storylines very well and make for a show I'm always excited to watch a new episode of.

#7 - Veep (HBO)

 

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In a year where the real America said f*** YOU to the most eminently qualified presidential candidate they've had in decades largely because she was female, so too did the fictional American portrayed in Veep. Selina Meyer, however, was President for a short time filling out the term of her running mate but Season 5 focused mostly on the minutiae of the electoral deadlock at the end of season 4. Having lost it's creator Armando Iannucci it was easy to think the show would have fatally stumbled this year but it absolutely did not and that's testament to the actors and writers who have such a grip on what makes the show tick at this point it functioned like a perfectly well oiled machine.

 

The comedy came thick and fast as always, with Jonah getting a very satisfying storyline watching him f*** up a golden opportunity as only Jonah can and Selina's undermining those around her finally coming back to bite her in the ass as she first loses the presidency and has to resort to grovelling to become Veep again and then losing everything as she is outflanked by the most ludicrous woman in existence, Laura Montez. Only the Republican's could openly field a woman who FAKES her Hispanic accent and vastly overplays her heritage through marriage to win, it's only SLIGHTLY more ridiculous than the truth after all.

 

The real kicker of the season and a moment so totally Veep, yet fairly depressing at the same time, apparently Selena did win the election? Maybe? Who knows. All we know is Veep is back in 2017 for a probable final lap of comedy gold.

omg might watch the goldbergs from that description!!! love wendy mclendon-covey :wub:

#6 - Supergirl (CBS/The CW)

 

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I can't possibly pretend that Supergirl isn't a deeply, deeply flawed show. Particularly in it's first season on CBS it tried to be all things to all people, part female empowerment tale, part generic superhero show, part gritty drama (it failed miserably at this last aspect) but all with the gloss and shine of the 50's era comic books.

 

So why is it here? Well largely because of the strength and utter joy of Supergirl herself. Melissa Benoist just GETS HER so well, she's the perfect mix of effervescent, childish, naive fun and ass kicking, serious do-gooder when she needs to be. Coupled with a sterling relationship with Cat Grant, the acid tongued media magnate, in the first season and the show had a winning formula. Sadly Callista wouldn't follow the show to Vancouver where it films now that its moved to The CW but the tone of Season 2 has made up for that. It's very focused, with major character development including a very touching and deftly handled coming out story and politically forthright (tackling the US election, immigration, fear of the different and tensions surrounding the LGBT community head on) opinions often only found in Cable or Netflix shows.

 

It's telling, also, that whilst The Flash has dipped massively after a stellar first season as it tries to go 'darker' that the bright colours, both figuratively and literally, of Supergirl hold far more appeal. For me superheroes have always been about viewing what is best about humanity and what we can be through the prism of one individual with an extraordinary skill set. It's not that Supergirl could exist, it's that the world in which she lives could exist and that's the really exciting thing. In the year of Trump it's even more important than ever that we remember that humanity can, and will be, great again. We just happen to be f***ing terrible right now.

omg might watch the goldbergs from that description!!! love wendy mclendon-covey :wub:

 

YES. Anyone who loves her will not be disappointed as the whole show is built around her. Sadly Youtube is pretty rubbish in terms of clips from the show but REST ASSURED that she kills it.

#5 - American Crime (ABC)

 

 

So, ABC have managed to bag the spot as my favourite network show of 2016. American Crime is designed to compete with the prestige drama on HBO, Showtime, AMC and Netflix. It's gritty and real and doesn't shy away from the often horrific lives people lead. Season 1 was fine, run of the mill, TV but it felt very consciously like it was trying to say something and be something that the material just didn't really live up to.

 

Season 2, the 2016 airing, was among the most affecting things I have ever watched. Perhaps the subtle and deft portrayal of coming out and male rape was what made it hit closer to home for me than the terrorist storyline in the first season but everything felt sharper, more on point and more REAL. Connor Jessup, in his role as perpetually gay teenager, does some excellent work in a very quiet way. His character is very reserved and doesn't really react much to things, but in his subtle movements you realise he is hurting immensely and nobody around him really cares as they are battling away for their own little sense of self importance.

 

The main subject matter of the season, male rape, is one not often looked upon by TV for obvious reasons. The show starts off with the generic ''it doesn't happen'' line, leading up to one of my favourite TV scenes of the year at the end of the third episode. The police are reading the results of the rape kit to the head of the school (played with ICY precision by Felicity Huffman) where the rape took place and they inform her that foreign DNA was found and everything drops out on her face of utter horror. Partly it's fear of losing her job and status, partly it's horror of the language used, partly the realisation that he wasn't lying, that male rape can and does happen and also that she has tried to discredit and destroy the victim for weeks. The screen goes black and leaves us mulling it over too, as up until this point the reality of the case had been left open ended. Indeed, the specifics of the crime are never explicitly revealed as whether or not it happened the victim suffers, the accused suffer, everyone suffers and that's what the season is really about. One small thing can snowball and destroy the lives of tens, maybe even hundreds of people as happens here. Nobody involved is ever the same again.

#4 - Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)

 

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I don't think I need to try and convince the internet as to why Kimmy is the best comedy currently on TV (or STREAMING, should I say). The cast is perfect, well almost perfect bar the sometimes irritating Lillian as the producers don't really seem to know what to do with her anymore. Much like Arrested Development before it, Kimmy is a show made for binge watching and rewatching and rewatching. There are layered jokes, brilliant recalled moments from previous episodes, an ever expanding array of nicknames for the central character and some of the most absurd situations ever witnessed on TV.

 

The main draw, for me, is obviously Jacqueline, aka Jenna Maloney aka Jane Krakowski. The character, at this point, seems as much an extension of her as it is anything else having played essentially the same person for a decade now. Jane nails the deadpan, she nails the emotion, she nails the pathos and she nails the killer facial expressions that make Jacqueline one of the wittiest, bitchiest people this side of Alexis Colby. She's also deeply lonely and emotionally empty, which the second season mines for both humour and a high degree of pathos. Indeed season 2 has a lot of heavily emotional scenes. The final episode features Kimmy finally getting to confront her mother whilst stuck in a rollercoaster, with which her mother is obsessed. It provides a nice metaphor for their relationship, there are ups and downs but really her mother won't change so Kimmy ends up stuck going in circles repeatedly, until she decides to get off and move on with her life.

 

We will hopefully get the move on with her life very soon, though given Ellie Kemper's pregnancy we may have to wait until later than the usual late spring release. All the more time to rewatch (for a 5th time) then.

#3 - Westworld (HBO)

 

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Let's be honest, this one was obvious. Westworld arrived with massive anticipation.It has long been gestating and is HBO's greatest chance at 'a new Game Of Thrones' once that show ends, presumably in 2018. It's not really all that similar but they share similar DNA. Vast, sprawling landscapes, fantastic cinematography and a finely honed directorial and stylistic sensibility that often comes when engaged in such enormous world building.

 

I toyed with having this both higher and lower within the top 10. It was must watch TV, hugely engaging and always intriguing and had a very satisfying payoff. However I don't really feel like I NEED more of it. I can wait until its back quite easily, which is both a testament to how satisfying this season was and also my struggle to see where the story can possibly go. The latter was true for much of this season though, 10 episodes doesn't amount to much for a sitcom but with an HBO show like this it's often around 12-14 hours of TV, so as much as 40 sitcom episodes.

 

Story wise it's labyrinthine in the best possible way. I can't and don't want to say much in case it spoils it, not that anyone is going to actually read what I'm writing here anyway. Thandie Newton owned every scene she was in with a raw intensity and determination that wowed me more than anything else in the show. Evan Rachel Wood has the flashier role, and has gained all the awards attention, but Thandie's Maeve is the beating heart and soul of the show and a large portion of the out of park storyline for the season rested on her shoulders. Supremely confident, she strides around naked for the majority of her scenes, yet feels in total control and command of the situation. A choice which I'm sure was deliberate, though perhaps also in part because HBO does love TITS N MINGE.

#2 - Game Of Thrones (HBO)

 

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If I had composed this list based on single episodes, then The Winds of Winter, the shows sixth season finale would be an easy number one. Among the best single episodes of any show I have ever watched. The whole world seemed to be clamouring over themselves to praise Battle Of The bast*rds, the previous episode, but it was the finale with it's enormous set piece opening and finely calibrated staging that wowed me. The music, composed afresh for the scene, is also a near series best. Combining some familiar cues from the show with haunting organ and choral aspects Ramin Djawadi created an incredibly moving, pacey, tense piece which is both equal to and greater than the visuals on screen, a not insignificant task.

 

Whilst the finale, quite literally, blew up several seasons worth of story this sixth season saw the most narrative movement the show has ever known. The past few seasons have been setting the stage for a final climax, but up until the final episodes of this season it felt like it couldn't possibly be coming any time soon. The world George and the producers have created is so rich and dense that a 10 episode season seems to cover only a fraction of what it ought to, but such is the nature of TV. In the year of the woman, 2016's Thrones saw its various female characters largely emerge on top in one way or another. Queen Cersei finally sat on the iron throne she had so long craved and so long deserved, even if to get there she had to do unspeakable things. Like a Westerosi Hillary Clinton she knew what she wanted and, unlike in real life, had the cutthroat to go out and make it happen. Dany also made meaningful strides and after seasons in the desert is finally on her way to, surely, claim the throne for herself in the shows endgame. Sansa finally freed herself of Ramsey in the most wonderful display of justice witnessed all year and Arya finally escpaed our 2 season nightmare in the house of black and white and once again IS someone, thank f***.

 

It's difficult to know where the show will go in season 7, now that the show is ahead of the books, everyone is on the same page which is refreshing and makes it all feel like even more of an event. We have to wait until summer 2017 for the next season, which is also sadly truncated at 7 episodes, but Thrones rarely disappoints so the wait will be worth it. After all we waited 6 bloody years for winter to come!

 

So, what could have taken the number one spot?