Cinema
2016 was the year of the Oscar for cinema The Spotlight case, but even more it was the year ofOscar to Leonardo DiCaprio, which ended a very long wait, characterized by 4 unsuccessful applications and an infinite theory of Memes on the subject.
From a revenue point of view, it was once again the year of superheroes and cartoons, which dominated the world box office. Eight of the ten highest-grossing films of the year fell into one of these two categories, with a podium of Captain America: The Civil War, Finding Dory e Zootropolis. The other two films in the top ten are the live action remake of The Jungle Book and Fantastic Beasts and where to find them, which is a film attributable to one of the most successful cinema brands in recent decades: Harry Potter.
2016 was also the year of the expansion of one of the most loved cinematic universes ever, that of Star Wars, which is no longer limited to the canonical films, the seven, which will become nine, of the main saga, but expands to spin offs and parallel stories like that of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
In Italy, the 2015-2016 season gave birth to some very interesting products. On all the two rulers of the night of the David di Donatello: Perfect strangers, awarded as best film and kissed by notable receipts, and They called him Jeeg Robot, which seems to have given new life to Italian genre cinema.
The Christmas period, then, could have seen the end of an all-Italian epic, that of the cinepanettoni, which have grown dramatically in number, but not in quality. The public seems to have understood this, as evidenced by the receipts below par.
Aunt expected releases for 2017, from the second chapter of the itchy trilogy of Fifty shades of gray, the live action remake of The beauty and the Beast, the sequels of Guardians of the Galaxy need Fast and Furious. The new movie of Cristopher Nolan Dunkirk and the eighth chapter of Star Wars.
The biggest wait, however, is probably the one for two sequels that come decades after the originals: Trainspotting 2 e Blade Runner: 2049, in which Ryan Gosling will opposite Harrison Ford.
Music
2016 was not a lucky year. From David Bowie a George Michael, Via Prince e Leonard Cohen, there are many music giants who have passed away over the last year.
Bowie and Cohen, at least, left one last trace of themselves respectively with Blackstar e you want it darker, extreme testimonies of their greatness.
One of the big news of the year was the Bob Dylan Nobel Prize. In addition to being desired by the Swedish Academy, Dylan is the first singer-songwriter to ever be awarded the Nobel.
In terms of sales, the usual suspects dominated, i.e. the trio formed by Adele, Beyonce and Drake. Following, among others, Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Coldplay. Nothing new under the sun, basically.
Next year, there is great anticipation for the return to the scene of great old men like i Depeche Mode and Deep Purple. Among the planned releases there are also new albums by Arcade Fire, Marylin Manson and Kasabian.
Books
The best-selling book of the year in Italy was Harry Potter and the Curse of the Heir, followed, in the form of a theatrical text, of the adventures of the wizard created by the genius of JK Rowling, who has now become a family man.
Behind him some Italian titles jostle, such as 7/7/2007, new investigation by the deputy commissioner Rocco Schiavone, told by Antonio Manzini, La paranza dei bambini by Roberto Saviano and Caffè amaro, by Simonetta Agnello Hornby. Among the best-selling titles also The art of being fragile by Alessandro D'Avenia, Now by Chiara Gamberale and In your eyes, by Nicholas Sparks.
Among the best-selling books of the year there is also a comic book, very busy to boot: it is about Kobane Calling, by Zerocalcare, a young Roman cartoonist who achieved a well-deserved success via the web and was also awarded in bookstores.
Winning the Strega Prize, in the usual queue of controversies that traditionally accompanies the most coveted prize in Italian publishing, was "The Catholic school", by Edoardo Albinati, torrential novel about training in a Roman institute.
