The biggest Kiwi film of all time was a set of brilliant mismatches - Ricky and Uncle Hec; goofy Taika Waititi and crusty Barry Crump; going bush to the sophisticated sounds of Leonard Cohen and Nina Simone; a film of in-joke tributes to Kiwi films which then outdid them all. But boy, it sure kind of worked, didn't it?
-Russell Baillie
It might have started feeling like a genre movie set in familiar territory, being a heist thriller which, with its Texas setting, resembled a good 'ol boy version of Heat. But Hell or High Water rose way above any expectations of this being just another heist movie. Chris Pine and Ben Foster were great as bank robbing bros learning on the job while Jeff Bridges' scene-stealing gruff Texas Ranger reminded us this was a modern Western too.
-Russell Baillie
Britain's master of social realism struck again with this utterly devastating film about two people who meet when trying to get assistance from the UK welfare system. Director Ken Loach shows no mercy to the nightmarish bureaucratic system, but his characters are full of compassion and humanity. This is one of the most relevant films of the year - no matter where you live.
-Francesca Rudkin
Even before it won the best picture Oscar in February, this film secured its place on this top 10 list for, among other things, being a rarity - a film about newspapers in which newspaper reporters act like reporters. There aren't many of those in cinema history (and there's likely to be less now that newspapers act less like newspapers). Its depiction of how the Boston Globe investigated years of sexual abuse by the city's Catholic clergy and its cover-up wasn't only a potent ripped-from-the-headlines true story but a great ensemble drama too.
-Russell Baillie
A live action family film inspired by "old school" Spielberg-like classics and with a little CGI magic woven in, this flick charmed young and old with its story about a friendship between a young boy and a dragon. A return to simple and heartfelt storytelling, Pete's Dragon had it all; humour, action, drama and adventure, but this beautifully paced, gentle film also paused to admire the natural world, and was accompanied by a quirky soundtrack featuring the likes of Leonard Cohen. Great storytelling with an edge.
-Francesca Rudkin
Deadpool tore up the rule book for making superhero movies and proved success isn't always about budget - ideas and dick jokes can work too. Producer and star Ryan Reynolds would probably have loved more budget for this potty-mouthed, ultra-violent, and fourth wall busting anti-superhero superhero film, but you wonder if the result would have been as thrilling.
-Francesca Rudkin
No one knew they needed a movie about competitive endurance tickling in their lives until David Farrier came along and made it. It can't have been easy for the former TV3 reporter-of-the-weird to keep this humdinger of a story secret, but what unfurls in Tickled is a deep dive into online trolling that goes from funny to scary to downright horrific over a tense and fraught 90 minutes. Watching the story continue as Farrier and his movie-making partner, Dylan Reeve, took the film on tour was almost as riveting.
-Chris Schulz
Amy Adams has had a stellar year with turns in Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals as well as this quiet and contemplative sci-fi. A stylistic and smart deliberation on time and loss, Arrival was much more than your typical alien-landing story, and ended with a curveball you didn't even know was in play.
-Francesca Rudkin
It's not really a horror film - the bogeymen in Green Room, after all, are a gang of Nazi skinheads which have a young band holed up backstage at an Oregon club after the group witness something they shouldn't have. But this terrific punk rock reinvention of Deliverance became increasingly horror-flick terrifying as it played out, helped by riveting performances from Patrick Stewart, as the cranially-qualified head of the skins, and fellow former Trekkie, the late Anton Yelchin as one of the band.
-Russell Baillie
The year of Kiwi feel-good cinema didn't start and finish with Wilderpeople. This doco about the hit te reo pop song which first got stuck in our heads back in 1984 was as uplifting as that chorus. Nut substantial too as it recounted the song's creation by the unlikely writing partnership of Dalvanius Prime and Ngoi Pewhairangi, the Patea Maori Club's time in the spotlight, and what the hit meant to a generation who sang along, swung a poi or breakdanced to it.
-Russell Baillie
Review: It’s a festive favourite. Should it be?