this list is refreshingly devoid of the kind of arthouse empty theater garbage that used to dominate the lattes. i'd ride for every film on our best picture list, even the ones i didn't love like mad max, which is obviously spectacular filmmaking that i just thought was weak storywise. but i'm proud of us for moving away from the snob circle jerk and awarding films that actual people have actually seen.

anyone could make a case for any of our best pic noms as a top ten film. no one can make a case for the academy's list. brooklyn? bridge of spies? room? the martian? i saw all these movies. i enjoyed all these movies. but who on planet earth thinks these are among the ten best movies made in 2016? this is more like a list of movies it'd be safe to take a date to. oscars so white was the perfect cover for how embarrassingly bland the academy's picks were this year.

EDIT: just realized we completely snubbed straight outta compton. how does that happen on okayplayer?