Here again I present my favourite films of the year. As usual it's important to remember that this isn't the BEST films of the year, rather the movies that I've found the most entertaining; not necessarily the best crafted, most awards worthy, or most powerful dramatically, as a professional film critic might see them. Personally I'm looking for a re-watchablity factor in all these films (do I want to purchase it on Bluray for future multiple viewings?) There's a longevity factor to consider as well; I might love the film now but will I still love it in a year from now, or ten years time? Finally there's that highly subjective personal factor that means a film might have a look, or theme, or a story, or characters that talk to my tastes as an individual, more than it might to others who have viewed these films.
20/ Pride
& Prejudice & Zombies
Extremely
entertaining period action horror with a strong cast, a kick ass female lead in
Lily James, comedy gold from Matt Smith and some impressive world building.
19/ Joy
Jennifer
Lawrence (predictably) excels in this funny & exciting underdog dramedy.
18/ Supersonic
The Oasis
documentary that traces the first three years of the band from formation to
Knebworth.
The boys are
just as talented & as fuckwitted as you could have dreamed. Fascinating,
funny & depressing in equal measure.
17/ Sully
Hanks &
Eckhart are great as the pilots who landed a passenger jet on New York’s Hudson
River.
While not
particularly deep, the re-enactments are as sphincter puckering &
frightening as they get.
16/ DePalma
Absorbing
documentary as controversial auteur film maker Brian DePalma tals you through
every one of his movies. Some great anecdotes & behind the scenes tales.
15/ Hush
Small scale
but exciting horror as a deaf woman’s remote cabin is besieged by a nutter.
Well
written, paced & performed. It’s always refreshing when character
development and logic participate in a horror film.
14/ The
Witch
Atmospheric
period horror as an exiled family are terrorised by devilish fuckwittery.
Drenched in
unease and dread, with an ambiguity that only serves to unsettle the viewer
even more.
13/ Star
Trek Beyond
While
possessing too many familiar story elements (crashing Enterprise, pop culture
resolutions & vengeful baddie with superweapons) to be truly exceptional,
this third entry was a step up from Into Darkness. Great FX, very well scripted
& refreshing for it not to be using its legacy as a crutch. Fun.
12/ Me
Before You
Game of
Throne’s Emilia Clarke is just as funny and adorable as you knew she could be
in this unapologetically sentimental romantic dramedy. It’s also impressively
apocalyptically sad too.
11/ Deadpool
Ryan
Reynold’s super explicative spectacular. Brilliant condensed story structure,
filthy, hilarious humour, memorable characters & that glorious trademark
breaking of the forth wall.
Funniest
film of the year.
10/ Doctor
Strange
While Marvel’s
latest superhero introduction suffers from an all too familiar origin story
structure, it’s got enough batshit originality and tripiness to elevate it from
the crowd. Tons of imagination, a typically grand cast and a surprising amount
of humour. Also great to see our hero out wit, rather than out punch, his
opponent.
9/ Goodnight
Mommy
An
unsettling & intense off-kilter horror mystery that’s tense and unsettling
the more it progresses.
Freaky and
creepy.
8/ Zootopia
Disney’s
animation actually outshined their Pixar stable mates in this fantastic buddy
cop, comedy adventure. Involving characters, multi layered social commentary,
visually imaginative and genre savvy make this a surprise classic. Oh, and the
funniest scene of the year.
7/ Train to
Busan
Just when
you thought the zombie genre had nothing left to offer, this little gem comes
along. Intense action in a snowballing survival narrative, a welcome expansion
of zombie mythology, a strong ensemble, and a touching central narrative that
binds the escape drama together.
6/ 10
Cloverfield Lane
Gripping
& intimate, hostage drama that evolves into genre bothering science
fiction.
Three great
performances from the leads, cinematically shot, beautifully scored & a
logically evolving mystery.
5/ The Big
Short
Take a dull
subject matter and inject it wit, delivered by an a-list cast with forth wall
breaking fits.
Funny and
depressingly true.
4/ The Nice
Guys
The buddy
movie is alive and well in Shane Black’s brilliant action, crime comedy.
Two brilliantly
mismatch partners with Crowe & Gosling, memorable dialogue & scenes,
all served up with razor sharp humour, violence and 70’s cool.
3/ Captain
America: Civil War
One of
Marvel’s best to date as the Russo Brother follow up the excellent Winter
Soldier with the brilliant psychological thriller. All the characters are well
served, despite the huge ensemble, and it’s thrills are generated from
character fission, not just the one on one super heroics. The intros od Spidey
& Black Panther are impeccably handled while a beautifully balanced script
keeps the complicated plot flowing smoothly.
2/ Arrival
A smart,
relevant, cine-literate science fiction piece about the importance of
communication both on the micro and macro levels. Thought provoking, subtly
performed, beautifully crafted and surprisingly moving.
1/ Rogue
One: A Star Wars Story
Star Wars
returns with a bang in this gritty men on a mission war story. The FX are
stunning, the photography old-school beautiful, the score epic and the action
relentless. A more low key cast than Star Wars is used to impresses with a
steely Felicity Jones flying the flag for stiff upper lip space warriors. Only
a CGI fan servicing mask disappoints. A wonderful return to form for this
beloved space opera saga.
Bubbling Under: Room, High Rise, Green Room, The Wave, Spotlight.
