The Top 10 Movies Of 2016 (So Far)

We’re halfway through 2016, and what have we got to show for it? Well, this list for one!

Our movie critic has put together his list of the year’s best films (when really, he should be getting his tax return ready – it’s EOFY!).

At the end of December, I said 2015 hadn’t been a “bad year for the movies… it just wasn’t a particularly good one”. Is it too early to say things are looking up for 2016?

Well, probably, because there’s still another six months to go and we’re yet to contend with The Legend of Tarzan and Underworld: Blood Wars. But still! Forget what the Oscar pundits say - that the best pictures come out at the end of the year – because it’s going to be tough topping some of the flicks that have hit cinemas thus far.

Scroll through my ten faves of 2016 to date and put the memory of dumpster-fires Gods of Egypt, Now You See Me 2, Warcraft, X-Men Apocalypse, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Zoolander 2 and Batman v Superman behind you.

(BTW, though great movies like Anomalisa, The Big Short, Carol, Spotlight and The Hateful Eight all came out earlier this year, they are technically 2015 releases, based on when they debuted in the States. So, they’re banned from the list! Harsh, I know.)

10. Captain America: Civil War

The thirteenth (!) entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe hit the reboot button in exhilarating fashion, pitting Captain America against Iron Man, with their pals forced to pick a side. Even Black Panther and Spider-Man got in on the action. After Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the Cap showed us what a super-brawl should really look like: fun, thrilling and with actual consequences for future instalments.

9. Midnight Special

Next time someone asks why there’s no more magic at the movies, point them towards Midnight Special, the rare piece of faith-concerned filmmaking that’s inquisitive, insightful and exhilarating. Michael Shannon delivers another powerful performance as the father of a young boy (Jaeden Lieberher) wanted by a cult and the FBI alike for his ability to seemingly predict the end-of-days. It has one hell of an ending.

8. Finding Dory

Like Marvel, Pixar escapes their ‘sequel slump’ with a beautiful, funny and – obviously – tear-jerking follow-up to Finding Nemo. This time, it’s Ellen DeGeneres’ forgetful Dory who goes missing while seeking her long-lost parents. She follows her gut to a Marine Life Institute where she meets other fish living with disability, making this a touching, inclusive parable that’ll mean so much to so many. Also, those sea lions.

7. Everybody Wants Some!!

Richard Linklater’s spiritual sequel to Dazed and Confused takes place in 1980 and follows some college baseball bros over the weekend before class begins (and when, presumably, their perpetual party ends). Shaggy and loose (unlike the characters’ shorts) this hilarious ensemble comedy treats us to ambling conversation and constant one-upmanship among the housemates. There are worse groups to hang with.

6. Chasing Asylum

Eva Orner’s devastating doco about Australia’s asylum seeker policy would be considered a must-see if it had solely corralled the testimonies of refugees and detention centre whistle-blowers. What makes it a stunning, unforgettable and highly-disturbing work of advocacy is the surreptitiously-filmed footage from Nauru and Manus Island, which is more upsetting and revealing than you might have ever imagined.

5. The Meddler

Rom-coms aren’t dead. They’re just retired. Lorene Scafaria’s heart-warming, highly-autobiographical The Meddler stars Susan Sarandon as a widow who moves to L.A. so she can be closer to daughter Lori (Rose Byrne), making it her mission to improve everyone’s life; from Lori’s friends to her Apple Genius buddy and a divorcee (J.K. Simmons). Sparks fly, and I mean from the audience towards the screen. I cried.

4. A Bigger Splash

Tilda Swinton not-talking may be no one’s idea of a good time, and yet, that’s precisely what A Bigger Splash is. Swinton plays a rock star resting her voice with her boyfriend (Matthias Schoenaerts) on a remote Italian island, until her ex (Ralph Fiennes, in the performance of the year) crashes with his sultry maybe-daughter (Dakota Johnson). Heed the title. Director Luca Guadagnino isn't afraid of going big during the climax.

3. The Witch

Evangelical colonials move to the woods in the hopes of getting closer to God. They meet the other guy instead. In a year where The Conjuring 2 legit killed a man, no movie is yet to out-scary Robert Eggers’ The Witch. This film has everything: sinister, whispering goats; bloody cow milk; broken eggs containing baby bird corpses… and I’ve not even listed the terrifying visage from its final scene. Enjoy?

2. Bad Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising

Bad Neighbours 2 opens in gross-out fashion, with a character vomiting into the mouth of another, and ends as one of the sweetest (and wokest) comedies we’ve seen. Director Nicholas Stoller –with returning stars Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne and Zac Efron, and series newcomer Chloë Grace Moretz – does the impossible, creating a sequel funnier and smarter than the original. Finally, a fave that isn’t problematic.

1. Hunt for the Wilderpeople

It doesn’t get lovelier, or more rollicking, than Taika Waititi’s gutbusting Hunt for the Wilderpeople, a New Zealand export Australia should try to claim as its own ASAP. (Kidding: the Kiwis deserve the credit here.) Sam Neill and teenager Julian Dennison are a dynamic comic pair, playing two outcasts on the run from the police (and a dogged social worker). Don't be an egg. Live the “skuxx life” and see it already.

Tell us, what's your favourite film of the year so far?