Under normal circumstances, this post is the easiest I have to write each year.
Going to the pictures between 2-3 times a week and seeing virtually every new release my local cinema has to offer means I'm usually able to watch a wide variety of films and form an opinion on them accordingly at the end of the year. Throughout the twelve months I make a note of standout films and performances, scores that I love and cinematography that makes me swoon. As such, by the time December rolls around compiling my thoughts into a vague list of favourites is pretty simple. However, this year it's been extremely difficult and has taken ages for me to come to a final decision as there weren't many films - if any - that stood out to me in the way that the likes of Brooklyn and Carol did last year, or The Grand Budapest Hotel and Interstellar did back in 2014.
I've gone through all of my ticket stubs for the last year, rewatched numerous trailers and finally narrowed down my choices for the best films of 2016. As ever, I've been pretty strict and only included films that I've actually seen, and that have a U.K. release date during 2016, which is annoying as the best films I've seen this year don't come out till January (Manchester by the Sea, La La Land, A Monster Calls...).
