With annual box office running at near-record levels – possibly even record-breaking on the back of standard tickets nudging up to $21 – Australians clearly remain keen to head to the movies.
But even as streaming services get more of a foothold, Hollywood studios again proved again to be better at marketing than delivering great films in 2016.
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Blockbusters heading to Australia in 2017
The number of celebrities making their way to our shores next year means it will be a very big year for Australian produced film.
In a year bookended by Star Wars – the strong The Force Awakens at the end of last year then the patchier Rogue One followed by the sad loss of Carrie Fisher – superhero blockbusters kept rolling out like shiny expensive cars on a production line.
But if Deadpool was a flash of wit and originality and Captain America: Civil War had its thoroughly enjoyable moments, there was too much that felt familiar in X-Men: Apocalypse, Suicide Squad and Doctor Strange.
In creating a forest full of realistic-looking animals, Jungle Book showed how impressive digitally created visual effects have become but they were often wasted when it came to climactic battle scenes between superheroes and villains.
The best movies were largely made outside the Hollywood studio system and released during the awards seasons.
While not a strong year at the box office for Australian films, there was quality in the AACTA Awards-sweeping Hacksaw Ridge, the documentary Sherpa, outback western Goldstone, timber town drama The Daughter and island romance Tanna. At year's end, the canine prequel Red Dog: True Blue is a crowd-pleaser and there is a hit on the way with Lion, which premiered before its release next month.
Should Hacksaw Ridge and Lion both land Oscar nominations in the new year - especially if they are both up for best picture - it will be an exceptional time for Australian film.
1. What were they thinking?
In box office terms, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was a huge hit that took a massive $US873 million around the world. But for such a highly anticipated release, a key movie in the DC comics universe that should have renewed interest in the Caped Crusader and the Man of Steel and kick-started enthusiasm for new superheroes, it was the year's biggest dud. Leaden, implausible and witless.
2. Surprise packet
Starring Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool was a surprise packet.
The year's biggest surprises were Deadpool, a fresh abrasive comic take on the superhero movie, and Hell or High Water, a spare modern Texas western about two brothers robbing the banks that threaten to kick them off their family farm. One of the year's best scenes was a deadpan posse of SUVs chasing the bank robbers.
Texan brothers played by Ben Foster and Chris Pine rob the branches of the bank threatening to foreclose on their family land in Hell or High Water. Photo: Lorey Sebastion.
Another surprise – spoiler alert for anyone who hasn't seen Rogue One yet – was Peter Cushing's revival on screen more than two decades after his death. Along with Fast & Furious 7's resurrection of the late Paul Walker and Captain America: Civil War's ageing down of Robert Downey jnr, it showed how much potential there is for filmmakers to recreate actors.
3. Courting controversy
After a decade of Hollywood exile, Mel Gibson's return to directing was always going to attract scrutiny.
The strength of Hacksaw Ridge, his intense drama about a conscientious objector who became an unlikely hero in World War II, seems mostly to have overcome what producer Bill Mechanic calls "the Mel haters". It performed respectably without being brilliant at the box office – $US64 million in North America and $7.9 million in Australia – and is featuring in the Hollywood awards season with three Golden Globe and two Screen Actors Guild nominations. The next test will be whether Oscar voters have forgiven Gibson enough to reward the film.
But this was small beer compared to the controversy that consumed Nate Parker's American drama The Birth of a Nation, an impassioned take on a slave rebellion in 1831 that he wrote, directed and starred in. After screening to acclaim at Sundance in January, it was seen as a serious Hollywood awards contender that would right the #OscarsSoWhite wrongs. As The New Yorker has reported: "Shortly after the closing credits rolled, Fox Searchlight Pictures bought the film for $US17.5 million, a festival record. Reports were ecstatic: there were tears and pealing ovations, and a sense that cinematic history was being made." But after ugly revelations about Parker's involvement in an alleged sexual assault as a college student and the woman's subsequent suicide, the movie dropped out of not just awards consideration; in Australia it's not even getting a cinema release.
Nate Parker, centre, in a scene from The Birth of a Nation. Photo: Jahi Chikwendiu
4. Shining stars
Released last year, Mad Max: Fury Road won six Oscars from 10 nominations this year. And, given George Miller's steely determination to make such a visionary action film despite countless setbacks over 12 years, it still seems puzzling that he did not get best director as well ahead of Alejandro González Iñárritu for The Revenant.
Returning home after awards glory: Mad Max: Fury Road Oscar winners (from left) Margaret Sixel, Lesley Vanderwalt and Damian Martin with George Miller. Photo: Peter Rae
The crusading journalists' drama Spotlight was deserving winner of best picture. Deadpool was the best comic book movie. Hunt for the Wilderpeople was a genuine charmer from New Zealand that raises hopes for what director Taika Waititi can do with the next Thor movie. Hacksaw Ridge and Hell or High Water were both brilliantly intense cinematic experiences. And at year's end, musical La La Land was dazzling.
One of the year's best films ... Julian Dennison in Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
In a year when light relief was often needed, one of the most indelible moments was Johnny Depp's knockout performance in that classic short film You Shouldn't Bring Your Dogs into Australia.