If you missed any of these you have some bingeing to do over the holiday break. In no particular order (because we loved them all), here are the best of 2016.

Black Mirror, Netflix

If you haven’t heard about Black Mirror, writer Charlie Brooker’s dark, amusing vision of humanity’s tech-addicted future, you better check your laptop battery. Like a modernized British version of the Twilight Zone, each episode features completely different cast members, themes and scenarios, but they all pose the same question—what does the “real” in “reality” really mean?

Black Mirror Costume Designer Interview

http://laist.com/2016/10/27/pastel_black_mirror_nosedive.php#photo-1

 #A.I.UhOh #TechWreck #Reflections

---

 Stranger Things, Netflix

 Based in early ‘80s Indiana, Stranger Things follows the mysterious disappearance of a 12-year-old boy and the local missions to find him. His mother and the police pursue two different angles, his friends launch their own search with a local psychic, and wouldn’t you know it, a government cover-up emerges. With a perfect Stephen King/John Carpenter/Steven Spielberg vibe and the synth soundtrack to match, Stranger Things is Netflix at its best.

Stranger Things Synth Soundtrack

#NetflixThings #DreamStreams #DufferBrothers

---

 

Luke Cage, Netflix

In 1972, Luke Cage became the first black title character of a Marvel comic book, and in 2016, the newest member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As a New Yorker imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, Cage is forced to undergo government experiments that leave him with super strength and bulletproof skin. Upon release, he returns to Harlem to protect neighbors and merchants from local crime lords and other less than considerate elements of society.

Luke Cage Official Trailer

#MarvelLiveAction #NYCSuperhero #Netflix

---

 

Lemonade, HBO

More than just an hour-long music video, Beyonce’s Lemonade was a surprise HBO “visual album” that broke new advertising ground while setting the bar for modern album release techniques. Assembled by seven different directors, the art house worthy Lemonade revolves around themes of sisterhood, Christianity, ethnic identity and marriage failure, a timely subject given the year’s Jay-Z infidelity rumor mill.

Lemonade’s Best Moments

---

 

 Atlanta, FX

Atlanta stars Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino), as a broke, apartment-less college dropout trying to make up with his parents and ex-girlfriend while pursuing a management role with his rapper cousin “Paper Boi”. Dramatic at times, hilarious at others, often both at the same time, Atlanta provides an engaging look at the grey area between street life and rap life, and the entrepreneurs that straddle both realms.

---

 

Game of Thrones, HBO

It’s year 7 and HBO’s Game of Thrones is still gaining momentum—the series has broken its own viewership records each season, claimed 38 Primetime Emmy awards, and now, has become the network’s most watched show ever. Based upon Geroge R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books, this serial epic follows the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros’ family dynasties as they war for the control of the region’s Iron Throne. Only two seasons until the legend concludes, so get in the game already! 

 George R.R. Martin Feature Interview

#ThroneZone #StreamDream #HBOOriginals

---

Zootopia, Disney

Following the proven modern Disney formula of computer-animation that kids love and witty dialogue that keeps parents engaged, Zootopia is all ages fun with a 98% Rotten Tomatoes rating. Starring the voices of Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman as a rabbit rookie cop and con-artist fox, the movie follows the duo’s investigation of a conspiracy emerging within a huge, muti-species animal city. Roger Ebert gave it a thumbs-up, Forbes called it “the best Disney film since “Beauty And The Beast’”, and its streaming numbers agree with them both.

Zootopia Clip Collection

#AnimationNation #DisneyStudios #ZooCrew

---

 

Deadpool, 20###sup/sup### Century Fox

2016 was the year of the superhero movie, and Marvel Comics’ Deadpool was a big reason why. Ryan Reynolds stars as former Special Forces op and current mercenary Wade Wilson, who after being kidnapped and experimented upon by wicked scientist Ajax, becomes Deadpool, a fast-talking and quick-healing antihero. In liege with two other mutant superhero buddies, Deadpool sets out to stop Ajax, and just maybe find his long-lost love along the way.    

Deadpool Trailer

#MarvelCinema #ReynoldsRealm #DeadLife

---

 

13th, Netflix

Director Ava DuVernay’s harrowing doc studies the role of race in the U.S. 

criminal justice system, starting with the passage of the constitution’s 13###sup/sup### Amendment (which outlawed slavery), and progressing towards the racially imbalanced jails of the present day. Featuring sobering interviews with political leaders, historians and activists intercut with years of archival footage, The 13th lays clear the evidence of a century-plus of cultural oppression via mass incarceration.

13th Netflix Trailer

#JusticeForAll #ImprisonedLiving #EqualityNow 

---

The Edge of 17, STX Entertainment

This modern-day Sixteen Candles coming-of-age comedy features Hailey Steinfeld as Nadine, an awkward high school junior with an all-star older brother who just happens to fall for her best friend Krista. This traitorous move serves to disrupt Nadine’s entire life, until she meets a new boy and life brightens. Woody Harrelson co-stars as a cynical (but ultimately, considerate) history teacher who is in the process of curing his own depression.         

The Edge of 17 Cast’s High School Experience

#Seventeenage #HighSchoolLife #EdgeOfYourSeat

---

 

Rogue One, Lucasfilm Ltd.

Rogue One, the first Star Wars spinoff movie, follows a new storyline featuring characters not appearing in any of George Lucas’ primary films. Its plot, which takes place prior to the events of the original 1977 film, follows Rebel forces’ attempts to thwart the construction of the Empire’s Death Star weapon. Though not directed by George Lucas, Rogue One is a project of his production house, Lucasfilm Ltd., and like most studio’s projects, it deserves to be seen on the big screen.

 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Trailer

http://usat.ly/1RZEeHg

#TheForce #PreStarWars #LaterVader