Dubious achievements at the movies in 2016

2016 was a busy year at the movies — and here are a few highlights and lowlights. To the list of Dubious Achievements in Cinema! › Best performance in a lost cause: Kristen Stewart in “Cafe Society,” Daniel Radcliffe in “Now You See Me 2,” Kevin Hart in “Ride Along 2,” Andrea Martin in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2,” T.J. Miller in “Office Christmas Party,” Matt Smith in “Pride & Prejudice & Zombies,” Tom Hiddleston in “High-Rise,” Danny Glover (and the rest of the merry cast) in “Almost Christmas,” Robert De Niro in “Hands of Stone,” Renee Zellweger in “The Whole Truth.” ›

Best chemistry: Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyers in “Southside With You,” Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in “La La Land,” Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton in “Loving,” Hailee Steinfeld and Hayden Szeto in “The Edge of Seventeen,” Denzel Washington and Viola Davis in “Fences,” Susan Sarandon and J.K. Simmons in “The Meddler,” Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz in “The Lobster,” Molly Shannon and Jesse Plemons in “Other People.” ›

Worst chemistry: Benjamin Walker and Teresa Palmer in “The Choice,” Will Smith and Naomie Harris in “Collateral Beauty,” Josh Duhamel and Alice Eve in “Misconduct.” ›

Funniest chemistry: Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling in “The Nice Guys,” Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn in “Bad Moms” (particularly in the scene in which Bell imitates a male body part, which really should win her some sort of Oscar), Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele in “Keanu.” ›

Best chemistry to no avail: Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence in “Passengers.” ›

Best breakout: Janelle Monae (though she’s hardly unknown) in “Moonlight” and “Hidden Figures,” Kate McKinnon in “Ghostbusters,” Logan Lerman in “Indignation,” Julian Dennison in “Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” Krisha Fairchild in “Krisha.” ›

Best popcorn movies: “La La Land,” “Finding Dory,” “Doctor Strange,” “Captain America: Civil War,” “Ghostbusters,” “Sully,” “Bad Moms,” “Florence Foster Jenkins,” “The Tunnel,” “Deadpool” (though not for the whole family). ›

Most swoonworthy costumes: “The Handmaiden” ( designed by Sang- gyeong Jo), “Love & Friendship” (Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh), “Allied” (Joanna Johnson) and that glittery cape that turns into a flock of golden birds in “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” (Colleen Atwood), which really needs to fly right into my closet. ›

Best performance by an animal: It’s got to be that adorable, action-hero “Keanu” kitty, right? (Or, to be precise, the seven very telegenic tabby kittens who alternated in the role.) Honorable mention: that traveling dachshund in Todd Solondz’s “Wiener-Dog,” whose performance is so soulful it almost doesn’t matter that the movie doesn’t work. ›

Best superhero: Doctor Strange. In Benedict Cumberbatch’s capable hands, the magical man of mystery transcends his comic-book roots and becomes a character with plenty of genuine dramatic heft. ›

Best villains: The cackling Samuel L. Jackson in “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children,” the deliciously evil Charlize Theron in “The Huntsman: Winter’s War,” the volatile, jittery Josh Hamilton in “Take Me to the River.” And let’s not forget this doubleheader from “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”: Darth Vader, with pure evil swirling around him like his long black cape, and The Grand Moff Tarkin — who’s so bad, he defies death itself in the form of the reanimated Peter Cushing (who cast off this mortal coil way back in 1994). ›

Most disappointing villain: Toby Kebbell’s lame Messala in the gassy remake of “Ben-Hur,” Orson Krennic, a crabby apparatchik hopelessly overshadowed by Vader and Tarkin in “Rogue One.” ›

Best drunk: Emily Blunt, slurring through a voice as thick as syrup in “The Girl on the Train.” ›

Best kid performance: High-school division: Madina Nalwanga in “Queen of Katwe” and Lucas Hedges in “Manchester by the Sea.” Middle-school division: Royalty Hightower in “The Fits.” Barely-in-gradeschool division: Sunny Pawar in “Lion.” Family division: all those vivid kids in “Captain Fantastic.” ›

Best cameo: Sting, very briefly, almost saved “Zoolander No. 2,” and a special guest, who I won’t name, momentarily enlivened “X-Men: Apocalypse.” And how was it that Hugh Grant, who isn’t actually in “Bridget Jones’s Baby,” almost managed to steal the entire movie in just one very rakish photograph? ›

Slyest scene-stealing: Ralph Fiennes in “A Bigger Splash” and Julianne Moore in “Maggie’s Plan” ›

Best dancing: Sorry, Ryan and Emma: Channing Tatum, in a brief but glorious tap-dancing moment in “Hail, Caesar!,” suddenly demonstrated that he could give Gene Kelly a run for his money. ›

Saddest go o d - bye: Alan Rickman’s last on-screen performance, as a military officer in “Eye in the Sky.” “Never tell a soldier,” he says, in those quiet, deliberate tones that seem to pull us into a velvet box, “that he does not know the cost of war.” ›

Best reason to look forward to 2017 at the movies: Helen Mirren in “Fast 8.” No, seriously, Helen Mirren is in “Fast 8.” They can’t pop the popcorn fast enough.