16 Must-See Movies For 2016

1
January

Anomalisa

January
Charlie Kaufman, who wrote Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, is behind this bizarre, brilliant stop-motion animation about a man who sees everyone in the world as identical, until he meets a woman who is startlingly different. Like the best Kaufman, beneath its weirdness is some heartfelt human emotion.

2
26th February

Eddie The Eagle

26th February
The British public loves a sporting underdog and there was no sporting star less hopeful than Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards. Edwards dreamed of going to the Winter Olympics as a ski-jumper and he wasn’t going to let his lack of natural talent stop him.

3
12th February

Zoolander 2

12th February
15 years after the original, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson polish up their Blue Steel again. This time, lots of pretty celebrities – Miley Cyrus, Biebs – are being murdered and Derek Zoolander and Hansel take it upon themselves to solve the crime. There are buttloads of famous people – Benedict Cumberbatch, Penelope Cruz, Lewis Hamilton – in it.

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4
29th February

Spotlight

29th February
The true story of a Boston newspaper team who exposed a paedophile scandal in the Catholic Church. If you like a good, old-fashioned talky drama then this is a belter, with a faultless cast.

5
29th July

Bourne 5

29th July
After the clunking disappointment of The Bourne Legacy, which tried to continue the Bourne franchise without Jason Bourne, Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass, director of films 2 and 3, have been tempted back. The plot is described as dealing with a “post-Snowden world”, so expect cyber security issues, and lots of inventive fighting again.

6
20th May

20th May

The Nice Guys

20th May
In 1970s LA, a struggling private eye (Gosling) teams up with a detective (Crowe) to investigate the disappearance of a girl and the death of a porn star. Their mission leads them to a huge conspiracy involving some very powerful people. It’s written/directed by Shane Black (Lethal Weapon), one of the best dialogue writers in the business.

7
29th April

Captain America: Civil War

29th April
This is the start of a big story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The government wants to regulate superheroes, which splits the specially-powered into two factions: one against regulation, led by Captain America; the other led by Tony Stark who wants to cooperate with the authorities. That means lots of Avengers’ in-fighting.

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8
4th February

Deadpool

4th February
Cynical about comic-book films? This might be the comic-book film for you. In this lower-key Marvel production – its budget is a fraction of Captain America’s – Reynolds plays a man who submits to advanced cancer treatment and winds up a heavily disfigured, sarcastic, violent, pansexual super(anti)hero.

9
19th May

X-Men: Apocalypse

19th May
They’ve done the ’60s, the ’70s and now the X-Men are into the 1980s. Big hair, big shoulderpads and a big villain in the form of Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac), an ancient mutant who has arrived in modern times to destroy the world. It’s likely to be the final outing for Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, so make the most of it.

10
7th October

7th October

The Girl On The Train

7th October
Paul Hawkins’ thriller was arguably the must-read novel of the year. It’s the story of a depressed drunk (Blunt) who builds a fantasy life for a couple she watches every day from the train, then gets sucked into their lives when she notices something amiss one day.

11
5th August

5th August

Suicide Squad

5th August
Can you have a superhero film without any heroes? In this oddity a gang of villains are blackmailed into taking on a secret government mission. Those villains include Will Smith as marksman Deadshot and Margot Robbie as the loopy Harley Quinn. Jared Leto plays the villain of all villains, the Joker.

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12
18th November

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

18th November
It’s set in the Harry Potter world but there’s no chance of the boy wizard appearing because this takes place in 1920s New York. Newt Scamander (Redmayne) is a wizard who travels the world collecting magical creatures. For the benefit of cinematic drama, lots of them escape. JK Rowling has written the script.

13
15th July

15th July

Ghostbusters

15th July
It’s the ’80s favourite reworked and recast with an all-woman team. This, as you can imagine, made certain men of the internet fall over, bless them. Those women include the extremely funny Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, and it’s directed by Bridesmaids’ Paul Feig, so let’s ignore the Twitter misogynists, shall we?

14
12th February

12th February

Point Break

12th February
If you weren’t around in the ’90s and watch the original Point Break now, you might wonder why so many people of a certain age go nuts for it. But the new version hopes to capture the same sense of adrenalised, silly fun, with Bracey as an undercover cop hoping to bust a gang who commit corporate heists that usually involve extreme sports.

15
26th February

Hail Caesar

26th February
The Coen brothers get together lots of glossy film stars for a farce set in the golden age of cinema. Clooney plays the biggest film star of his day, who is kidnapped during production of a historical epic, sending the studio into a panic. If you’re a cinema nut then this is packed with nods to old school Hollywood that you will adore.

16
25th March

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

25th March
There’s a lot riding on Warner Bros’ biggest film of the summer. Not only does it put together the two titans of the DC comics universe, who disagree on the correct way to fight crime. It’s also the launching point for Wonder Woman and sows the seeds for a whole load of Justice League films.

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