2016 Midyear Review: Best in Film

Michael Fairbanks’s Top 5:

5. Miles Ahead

Don Cheadle makes a stunning directorial debut here, his rich performance the only thing that overshadows the audacious and introspective look into jazz legend Miles Davis’ life in which the camera is as spontaneous as the musician it depicts

4. 10 Cloverfield Lane

With a stellar cast and spine-tingling direction, this film wrings more thrills out of the geography of a small bomb shelter than any blockbuster with twice the budget has been able to muster.

3. The Nice Guys

Shane Black weaves together an uproarious 70s set murder caper while creating a buddy-cop duo every bit as iconic as his pairing from Lethal Weapon in the process with Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe.

2. Zootopia

Perhaps the most creative film that Disney Animation has ever produced. Drops us into its animal inhabited city with stunning visuals and a surprising social insight that gives it a mean emotional punch.

1. Deadpool

This film not only captures the absurd and vulgar affectations of its looney main character but goes even further by giving him such genuine heart and humanity that it makes endless slaughter irresistible and borderline adorable. It’s a dying breed of blockbuster, fueled by invention and emotion while still providing all the action one could ask for.