Best movies I've seen so far this year (halfway through the year)

GET OUT
99% Rotten Tomatoes

The best horror/psychological thriller of the year. So well made, tense, exciting, and features Rod, the smartest character in a horror movie maybe in movie history. I was on the edge of my seat with excitement the whole time.

BAND AID
84% Rottentomatoes

At times it's a bit too much on the nose, but this was still an achingly funny movie about a couple learning to cope with a miscarriage by forming a band. The music is wonderful and the director Zoe Lister-Jones also stars in the lead role with such a raw talent.

TONI ERDMANN
92% Rottentomatoes

Technically it came out last year but it wasn't released in America until January. Quirky as they come - this was a 3 hour German comedy in which a jokester father tries to get to know his uptight daughter by donning a wig and fake teeth and following her around on a work trip under the disguise of "Toni Erdmann." It's absolutely bonkers.

I, DANIEL BLAKE
92% Rottentomatoes

Another release from last year that didnt hit the states until this month. A down on his luck widower faces problems applying for work after suffering a heart attack. He befriends a single mom with two kids who is also on the brink of poverty. It's a commentary on a failing government system as well as the basic rights of human dignity.

THE RED TURTLE
94% Rottentomatoes

A beautiful animated film told with no dialogue that is as much mysterious as it is gorgeous to look at. A man is deserted on an island and kills a turtle that lurks around the island. He then encounters a mysterious woman and begins a new life with her. What is reality and what is not?

MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI
100% Rottentomatoes

Another animated European gem about orphans living in a small halfway house, eagerly waiting for their adoption. It's a love story and also a story that is full of hope. The animation and style is bizarre but once you look past it the movie is a masterpiece.

LOGAN
93% Rottentomatoes

The best superhero movie of the year, maybe one of the best ever. It's a gritty finale to this X-Men staple. Set in the near future, the world is stripped down and the plot is essentially that of a Western with clear cut villains and action. It's a remarkable achievement.

A QUIET PASSION
93% Rottentomatoes

This is the best-written movie of the year so far, no doubt. It's the story of Emily Dickinson as she lives out the later years of her life, writing her poetry and dealing with the ever-aging family she shares a home with. Cynthia Nixon is perfect, but it's the writing that stars. Each and every scene is perfectly written, absolutely necessary for the story, and packs layers and layers in the most simply dialogue. It's a joy to hear the English language so cleverly used.

YOUR NAME
98% Rottentomatoes

This is the most impressive anime I have ever seen. Hands down. It's a weird story about a boy and girl who mysteriously switch bodies and live out each others lives, even though they have never met and don't know anything about the other. The movie starts off as a 'Freaky Friday' like comedy and ends with an emotional punch that left me devastated, tears running down my face.