The Best Movies Of 2016

With the end of 2016 fast approaching, the time has come for us to look back at the year that was and pick out those movies that, for us, stood out head and shoulders above all others. Yes, it’s Top Five time, and after you check out what lads loved from  this year, be sure to tell us what your favourite movies of the year are in the comments below.

Vic's Picks

Deadpool - Just good old fashioned fun with a strap on! Superb!

The Young Offenders - Hilarious, touching and incredibly refreshing for Irish film

Captain America: Civil War - The airport scene! The airport scene! The airport scene!!!!!!

Swiss Army Man - Something so bizarre and demented and unique!!

The BFG - Not a complete return to form for Spielberg, but had enough elements to remind us what the master does best

Tom’s Picks

Don’t Breathe - After bringing us the amazing Evil Dead remake a few years back, director Fede Alverez returns with this incredibly brutal, twisty turny home invasion flick. Ladling on the tension from the opening frame, the overwhelming sense of claustrophobia will put you on the edge of your seat early, and by the time Stephen Lang’s bad ass Blind Man enters the frame, all bets are off. 

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - Taking us back to a galaxy far, far away just before A New Hope kicks off, Gareth Edwards brings a war movie aesthetic to the classic franchise, and knocking it out of the park in the process. Opening up the universe in a way I feel has never being done before, this is a masterful piece of film making that will leave any Star Wars fan beyond happy. The third act alone is worth the price of admission.

The Witch - This self proclaimed New England Folk Tale is unlike any other horror movie that has come our way in recent years. Staying incredibly true to it’s 17th Century setting, you are immediately put on edge and you will only pushed farther as the story goes darker and darker, leading to an over all disturbing experience that won’t be leaving you any time soon.

Moana - Disney Animation Studios continues the roll it started with Tangled, delivering one of the most entertaining and sublimely animated movies of the year. I dare you not to be fully invested in the titular princess’ quest to save her island home, crossing paths with the alway charismatic Dwayne Johnson’s Maui, a David Bowie impersonating giant crab, and Fury Road inspired coconut pirates, all set to a soundtrack full of toe tappingly catchy songs.

Deadpool - The little super hero movie that could, Deadpool finally exploded onto our screens in 2016 after years of development. Chock full of snarky, irreverent humour, and featuring Ryan Reynolds in the role he was born to play, this slice of R-Rated super hero goodness is just what a genre that many fans are getting tired of needed.

Martin’s Picks 

Hell or High Water - David McKenzie’s pensive, compelling thriller cuts a swathe through vast, expansive Texan landscapes and dying backwater towns. McKenzie manages to say something worthwhile about the state of contemporary America with a story that has no good guys, no bad guys and a great, big desert of moral grey area. With another career defining performance from Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water dragged that most American of genres, the western, into the modern day, guns blazing.

Green Room – Nail biting, highbrow hicksploitation from director Jeremy Saulnier. Evokes the feeling of Assault on Precinct 13 with hardcore punks and Nazi skinheads. Dirty, disturbing and often desperately funny. Also, a big fat reminder of what a fucking tragedy it is that the world lost Anton Yelchin this year. Thanks again 2016.

Paterson – Jim Jarmusch surprised us with two films this year – one disappointed (Stooge’s doc Gimme Danger), while the other proved to be the director’s best work in years. Paterson is uniquely poetic, quietly moving and relishes in nothing more than the random orderings and repetitions of everyday life. Rarely has a movie where practically nothing happens been this uplifting, devastating and inspirational.

Nocturnal Animals - A consistently gripping thriller with a relentlessly bleak, often absurd blend of emotion and aesthetic. Two layered narratives, distinct in every way from performance to form, directed with an ultra-cool, hyper-stylised hand by Tom Ford. Amazing performances from Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Shannon.

The Witch – Perhaps the scariest movie America’s produced since The Shining, and conjures up much of the same droning, hypnotic dread as Kubrick’s classic, albeit with an entirely different

subject. This tale of a 17^th Century puritan family in a New England woodland is dark, diabolical and genuinely disturbing. A horror movie as horror movies should be – one that sticks with you long after the credits roll.