Half Way Point: Best films of 2016... So far.

Anthropomorphism for the win?!

So we're roughly half-way through the year at this point and already we've had films that were unexpectedly good, and films that were hugely disappointing. For sure, I do think as we enter the Autumn and Winter, the cinematic quality will start to shine and this list, that I'm about to do, will indeed change. Be that as it may, it's still worth looking at films that have come out this year and seeing which, in my own opinion, have delivered in the highest proportions. So without further a due, let's see the films that I've chosen. (Just to note. This is my own list with my own opinions of films. You can freely drop a comment down below to say which film you've liked this year. I'm not going to put films that were nominated the last film awards. For example, even though I watched The Revenant this year, it won't be part of this list being that it was nominated for previous and various film awards. Keep in mind, I haven't watched EVERY-SINGLE FILM. So don't get disappointed if I haven't mentioned 'this and that film'.) ENJOY!

High Rise - Ben Wheatley 

Early on this year, before its official release date, I went to see Ben Wheatley's High-Rise at the HOME Theatre in Manchester and it was definitely money well spent. Echoing the likes of what Stanley Kubrick did with his films, Wheatley manages to uphold a rather unexpected subtle humorous offering which blends the social/dystopian themes of  freedom and constriction with performances from the likes of Tom Hiddlestone and Luke Evans who both give slick performances that you, as the audience member, can never decipher if they individually are going to do something of the abnormal. It's a film that feels like a painting in motion, with the tower block morphing and giving us visual inclinations of what it to come. Indeed, if you haven't seen High-Rise yet, I do urge you all to check it out!...

The Witch - Robert Eggers

It's not often that I highly rate 'Horror' films, being that most of the bunch in this day and age turn out to be exactly the same with jump-scares, found-footage camera work and plot lines that aren't 100% engaging. It was certainly refreshing then, when I stumbled across The Witch, a thought-provoking suspense of a film that is also visually compelling. What I found from this film that many don't hone into, is how the horror and the torment come into fruition with the family of the film, who are indeed the victims of this haunting yet supernatural affliction. It is the family throughout that's manipulating the outcome of the film and isn't something you see on a normal basis with horror's/thrillers. While I don't think The Witch will end up being the top of the tree near the end of the year, being that there's more highly-anticipated releases to come, It is a filmic piece to watch in the way it differentiates from the norm...

Zootopia/Zootropolis - Bryan Howard and Rich Moore

The first of many animated features on this list of mine, Zootopia (or Zootropolis for us lot) is 'drawn' piece of filmic work that has more to it than meets the external eye. At the forefront of it all, Zootopia might just look like another cog to the compendium of the Western animation dominance, but it nicely delivers a nice and mature messages on racial stereotypes, gender stereotypes, friendship and drugs. It's surprising to say the least how this film was so much deeper and so much more mature than I expected it to be, being that Western animation can often just have classic story-telling of the protagonist vs. antagonist. It's a layered film; having sequences that the main demographic can be entertained by, but also having emotional motifs which in turn show just what sought statement Western animations are having in the cinematic industry in this day and age...

Deadpool - Tim Miller

Granted, there's no denying really that the 'Superhero' genre of films of today is what makes the most monetary gain at the box-office which in turn see's the bigger film studios receive their check for the year and many people point out how these sought of strains of films are saturating the film market. While on one level, I would agree that we are seeing a ridiculous amount of these comic-book adaptations each year, I do have to confess also that Deadpool has been one of the better Superhero films of this, unlike Batman V. Superman which disappointed in miserable proportions. Without a doubt, Deadpool is the funniest Marvel feature ever to grace the silver-screen and deserves to be up their as one of the better films by the end of this year with it's simple story-telling and entertainment that is fulfilling, both for the romantic viewer and the viewer who craves action set-pieces...

When Marnie Was There - Hiromasa Yonebayashi

An animated-feature that I recently reviewed, it would have been criminal if I hadn't mentioned Ghibli's potentially last cinematic offering in the form of Yonebayashi's When Marnie Was There. Despite it having a rather different outlook compared to past Ghibli works, When Marnie Was There continues the Ghibli trend in a much heartfelt manner. With two main female leads that juxtapose between themselves, opening up a rather mysterious and subtle supernatural mystery, and animation that not only is seamlessly pleasing for the eye, but contributes to the more tense and emotional sequences of the story. While I've always said that this won't necessarily be the last time we see of Ghibli, in that we'll probably see them with another full-length feature in a couple of years, When Marnie Was There is whimsical piece of art that correctly sweeps over you in an emotional way and can be considered as the perfect goodbye... for now...

Hail Caesar - Joel and Ethan Coen

Having watched their past films in the forms of Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Inside Lleywn Davis and No Country For Old Men, I was eager, when watching the first trailer, to watch Hail Caesar of this year. While it's not one of their best films to date, what is really interesting to see from the Coen brothers with Hail Caesar, is how they view cinema as a whole which, in turn, is why I have put this film on the list. The commentary on the daftness and craziness of film-making, with this film being set primarily at a fictional film studio, was just something that I liked about this film; whether it was Colin Firth's character funnily directing Alden Ehrenreich's cowboy-eccentric character or Channing Tatum doing an overblown dance routine. It was a film that I never got bored of throughout its entirety and it is a film that I could watch multiple times...

Captain America: Civil War - Russo Brothers

I mentioned before when I was talking about Tim Miller's Deadpool that Batman V. Superman was a huge disappointment due it's expectancy that it upheld throughout its early marketing. Thankfully, this was not the case for Captain America: Civil War which delivered on what was expected of it. It was an improvement on its older brother, The Winter Solider, which was also a good film and definitely honed in on the political/human side of being a hero and what the consequences are when they make these heroic acts. The amount of heroes that are in it as well, with a new-arrival for Black Panther who was definitely likeable once you see him in his first action sequence and Spiderman returning successfully since Tobey Maguire who owned that role before-hand, you could argue that this film could have been another Avengers. Non the less, it is fun, entertaining and engaging, unlike some other Superhero films... Right Zack Snyder?

The Boy and the Beast - Mamoru Hosoda

The final film on the list and the 3rd animation  that I'll be discussing, is Mamoru Hosoda's The Boy and the Beast, a film which see's a young boy slips into the beast where he is raised by a bear-man; very much a plot echoing the likes of Jungle Book. While I think his work of Wolf Children is his most superior animated conjuring, Hosoda, alongside Makoto Shinkai, is slowly becoming the key-figure head in this new age of Japanese film animation and his recent film of The Boy and the Beast, in the future, could be considered as important piece to look at. Why? Well, down the fact of its animation, which blends both drawn and CG effects together and story-telling that is re-imagining a well known tale of the Jungle Book, something that Ghibli did in their works; re-adapting and re-imaging books in an anime style. Like Zootopia, Hosoda's recent work has something to offer for every individual and it will be intersting now to see what sort of future we'll see in Japanese animation with the likes of Hosoda and Shinkai at the top of the tree...

Right, and that about ends my little list of the films I've enjoyed watching this year so far. For sure, by the end of this year, I expect this little list of mine to have changed since there are more highly anticipated films to be released such as the Harry Potter spin-off, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the Star Wars spin-off Rogue One, The Neon Demon which will be released soon into cinemas and many more films that will make the list. There are even films that I still need to watch such as Finding Dory, The Conjuring 2 and Jungle Book of which have all received well-rounded reviews from critics. As I said in the introduction of this Blog Post, if any of you have a film that you feel should be on this list of mine, please tell me down in the comments section! I'm really interested to know what films you've liked this year so far! Anywho, thank you to everyone who has read my latest Blog Post. I should be back later this week with a review of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. So until then, I shall see you soon! Have a good week! Adieu!! :)

Alex Rabbitte