The Toronto Raptors’Patrick Patterson loves movies. Off the basketball court, it’s one of the few places he considers his “sanctuary.”

If you want to talk basketball, he’s cool with that. If you want to talk movies, he’s even better.

The Sun caught up with the Raptors forward before the team headed out on its six-game road trip to find out what his favourite films of 2016 were, why he stayed away from Independence Day: Resurgence, how he become a fan of Zac Efron and who spoiled Rogue One for him.

Patrick, we know you watch more movies than any of the other players in the NBA. What was the year’s best?

I really liked Moonlight. Deepwater Horizon was phenomenal. Surprisingly, I liked La La Land. I usually don’t like movies that have a Grease aspect to them. The singing and the dancing, I’m not really big on that. But it shocked me how much I liked Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone – they were both phenomenal. I also really loved Nocturnal Animals. Tom Ford did an absolutely amazing job. I was blown away when I saw that movie. Arrival was also great. And I was a big fan of Mark Wahlberg’s performance in Deepwater Horizon.

The biggest movie of the year was Captain America: Civil War. What did you think of it?

It was great, but I can’t see that getting any type of award, though. A Marvel movie getting an award? I don’t see that happening. Granted that was the best Marvel I’ve seen. You had Black Panther and Spider-Man in there; that was great. It really set up the future films.

DC also got in the game with Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad. Were you a fan of those?

They were both letdowns.

We know you love the Pixar films. Did Finding Dory live up to your expectations?

When you have an animated movie that does so well and lives on for years and people still can quote lines from it, to make the second one you have to kill it. Finding Dory, granted it was good, but comparing it to Finding Nemo? Nah. It didn’t beat the first one... it’s tough to match Finding Nemo. When they make Incredibles 2, I hope it’s as good as the original Incredibles.

Why did you avoid Independence Day: Resurgence?

If Will Smith refused to be in it, then you know it’s not going to be any good. Once he said he wasn’t going to make it, I said, ‘I’m not going to watch it.’ Turns out I made the right choice on that one.

Do you think Dirty Grandpa was one of Robert De Niro’s worst films?

I actually found it amusing. It was a lot better than the boxing movie he did with Stallone – Grudge Match – that was horrific. Dirty Grandpa actually made me start to become a fan of Zac Efron. I never really cared for him, but seeing him in Dirty Grandpa and then in Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates and then the trailer for Baywatch, I’m actually starting to become a fan of his.

Speaking of Baywatch, The Rock was named the top grossing movie star of 2016. What do you make of his rise to stardom?

He did Central Intelligence, he’s got Baywatch coming out, another Fast and the Furious, Jumanji. It’s kind of crazy how much he works. But he’s killing it at the box office. People love him. He’s starting to remind me a little bit of Nicolas Cage. Nicolas Cage has so many movies that we’ve never heard of that are out on Netflix and Hulu. You’re in a hotel and see on demand, there’s another movie with Nicolas Cage you’ve never heard of. I see the Rock getting to that level just because he makes so many movies. But the big difference is, his movies are great.

I know you’re a Star Wars fan. Did you like Rogue One?

I haven’t seen it yet, but shout out to Terrence Ross for ruining it for me. He told me the ending and he spoiled some other things from the movie. He got mad because I ruined Civil War for him and I guess he decided to pay me back.

You wrote in the Players’ Tribune about not wanting Space Jam 2. Why are you so against a sequel?

My thing is, with Space Jam 2, you’ll have LeBron, KD, Russ, Steph – guys who are relevant now to kids. But what are you going to do with the cartoon? You can’t use Looney Tunes. Kids today don’t understand Looney Tunes... You can’t disrespect the original Space Jam. And who’s going to play Bill Murray’s part? Chris Pratt? To me, Space Jam surpassed everyone’s expectations. And they want to ruin a legacy like that?

What are you excited for in 2017?

The new Star Wars comes out in 363 days. I’m also excited for Power Rangers. I’m a ‘90s kid and Power Rangers was my thing. The white Power Ranger was my favourite. Baywatch, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man: Homecoming. There’s a lot of movies coming out that I’m excited for. But I hate waiting. You have to wait for months for these movies to come out. Then again, it gives me something to look forward to.

Twitter: @markhdaniell

MDaniell@postmedia.com