Best movies in 2016

1. The Wailing

Once again, it's a Korean movie that saves a rather shallow cinematic year dominated by sequels and remakes in Hollywood and depressive dramas in Europe. "The Wailing" is an atmospheric, dramatic and unpredictable horror movie with an epic length of more than two and a half hours that convinces with a mysterious story, creepy settings and superb acting performances. The movie is available on BluRay and DVD in North America, so go and get it!

2. Hacksaw Ridge

"Hacksaw Ridge" is an unusual anti-war movie portraying a charismatic war hero who refuses to carry weapons for religious beliefs yet manages to save the lives of his fellow soldiers during the unusually brutal Pacific War. Despite being overly melodramatic at times, the movie has a peaceful message and shows us the horrors of war from a completely new point of view.

3. Chasse-Galerie

This French-Canadian fantasy film tells a famous tale of the Ottawa region where a group of woodcutters working in a remote forest make a deal with the devil in order to see their families back home during winter time. The film convinces with gorgeous settings, a tense plot and a frosty atmosphere.

4. Arrival

This intellectual science-fiction movie stands out due to a philosophical story focused on linguistic analysis instead of the usual invasion scenarios. The clever story line comes around with an intelligent twist where the limits of space and time vanish.

5. Don't Breathe

This horror movie doesn't need any supernatural elements or gore effects to convince and focuses on a tense atmosphere and unusual story about three thieves who make the mistake to try to rob out a blind war veteran who has turned into a twisted psychopath. The roles of perpetrators and victims are questioned and reversed multiple times as the movie comes around with a serious surprise in the second half. The creepy settings in the desolate city of Detroit only enhance this film's gripping atmosphere.

6. Allied

This spy thriller in the key of "Casablanca" and "Shiri" convinces with great settings in multiple countries that show us diversified facets of the Second World War. Despite a predictable twist, the superb acting performances by Marion Cotillard and Brad Pitt make this movie more entertaining and emotional than your average dramatic action-thriller.

7. Yoga Hosers

This film is probably the most remarkable movie on my list. Most critics and viewers really despise this flick but I really enjoy it and believe that this has the potential to become a comedy-horror cult film in the key of the "Evil Dead" series in a few decades. Kevin Smith's second instalment in his trilogy about Canadian culture after the gripping body horror movie "Tusk" is much more light-hearted and amusing. It tells the story of two bored female teenage clerks who fight against an army of miniature Nazi soldiers made of sausage and sauerkraut hiding under their trashy convenience store. This movie is a geeky over-the-top fun ride you won't forget anytime soon.

8. The Purge: Election Year 

The third part of the dystopian science-fiction series adds even more social criticism to the franchise and fits the actual nasty Election Year dominated by emotional debates between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump unsettingly well. This realistic touch rates this movie up while the rest is dominated by enjoyably fast-paced action sequences but average acting performances.

9. The Magnificent Seven

This kind of movie wouldn't have made it onto my top ten list in the past few years which speaks volumes about an overall disappointing cinematic year. This film is a remake of the great western "The Magnificent Seven" with top class actors like Yul Brynner and Eli Wallach back in 1960. Even that movie was already a remake of the epic Kurosawa Akira classic "Seven Samurai" in 1954. This remake features international stars of diversified backgrounds. The new verison convinces with intense and orignal action scenes. Even though it doesn't have the intellectual depth of its predecessors, it's an entertaining movie for western fans. 

10. Jason Bourne

Matt Damon is back as CIA's most dangerous former operative "Jason Bourne". In this weakest part of the franchise so far, the main character tries once more to find out more about his past. This film feels like a weak summary of the previous four instalments and I'm surprised to say that I would have prefered another movie with Jeremy Renner in the key of "The Bourne Legacy" than this rather uninspired reboot of the franchise. This film is only interesting for die-hard fans of the franchise.

Honorable mentions: 11. The Age of Shadows, 12. Girl on the Train, 13. The Forest, 14. Inferno, 15. Ride Along: Next Level Miami.

Movies I'm looking forward to in 2017: Before I Fall, Dunkirk, Geostorm, Ghost in the Shell, Keep Watching, Kong: Skull Island, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Life, Murder on the Orient Express, Patient Zero, Split, The Great Wall, The Lost City of Z,  The Mummy, Tulip Fever, Underworld: Blood Wars.