8. Weiner

During an infamous interview in the middle of ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner’s disastrous 2013 mayoral campaign in New York, MSNBC anchor Lawrence O’Donnell asked him, “What is wrong with you?” It was an overblown, overwrought question, but it will occur often to viewers of this political documentary, an enticing, can’t-look-away portrait of a campaign that initially soared on the strength of Weiner’s combative charisma, then crashed when he was caught lying about his sexting habits for a second time.

Why Weiner — and his fascinating wife, Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin — let directors Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg keep filming during the painful aftermath is a mystery for the ages. Luckily for us, they did, and we get to see this darkly funny, terrifying close-up of the mania and mayhem that drives a modern political machine. —K.M. (Photo: Sundance)

7. The Lobster

You’ve never experienced anything quite like Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos’s out-there romantic drama about a man (Colin Farrell) who is forced to stay at a hotel where he has 45 days to find a mate or be turned into whatever animal he likes.

What follows is a bizarre satiric portrait of dating rituals, cultural assumptions and expectations, and the push-pull between loneliness and togetherness, all of it infused with both absurd drollness and disarming melancholy. Akin to a surreally awkward alterna-reality version of The Bachelor, it’s a film overflowing with bleak, biting black humor. — N.S. (Photo: A24)

6. Sing Street

The music and culture of the 1980s are too often used in film as a punchline or a cheap nostalgia grab. Not so with Sing Street, about a Dublin teenager (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) who forms a band to escape his dreary home life and maybe win over his dream girl (Lucy Boynton).

With every synth-pop and new-wave record he imitates, Conor figures out another piece of the person he wants to become. Director John Carney (Once;Begin Again) masterfully tells another musical tale of the city, with original songs that convincingly double as forgotten ’80s gems. — G.W. (Photo: The Weinstein Company)

5. Captain America: Civil War

So loaded with capes that studio insiders nicknamed it Almost Avengers, Marvel’s latest washed away the bad taste of Batman v Superman and delivered a worthy superhero smackdown, instantly establishing itself as one of the best MCU entries.

Nimbly directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, Civil War touches on some Big Themes, including the nature of heroism, but is ultimately all about pitting Avenger against Avenger in epic ways.

We also meet two formidable newbies — Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and the crowd-pleasing Spider-Man (Tom Holland) — who promise great things ahead for the Marvel machine. — Marcus Errico (Photo: Disney)

4. The Witness

In 1964, Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death in Queens, N.Y., while 38 witnesses watched from their apartments.

That’s how the legend goes — but it’s not the full story, as Genovese’s younger brother Bill discovers in this startling documentary.

In following Bill’s quest for truth, the film sheds unexpected light on the myth of the apathetic bystander but doesn’t ignore the shadows that lurk behind all the dead ends. —G.W. (Photo: FilmRise)

3. Zootopia

“Police procedural” isn’t the most intuitive genre for a Disney animated movie about cute animals. (Whoops, did we say “cute”?

Sorry, Officer Hopps, didn’t mean to offend!) But this is an unusually ambitious family film, about an animal society whose citizens must rise above species-specific discrimination and stereotypes.

Despite this heavy premise,Zootopia is one of the year’s funniest films, not to mention the best buddy-cop movie in years. — G.W. (Photo: Disney)

2. Green Room

Vibrating with the intense energy of a punk-rock album, director Jeremy Saulnier’s siege thriller is a sustained exercise in tension, one that has its roots in the films of John Carpenter, while also playing its own distinct tune.

Brilliantly executed practical effects blend with stellar performances — particularly by the late Anton Yelchin as the film’s hero and Patrick Stewart as its heavy — and a narrative that never loses its momentum. With Blue Ruin and now Green Room, Saulnier is clearly on the path to creating his unique version of the classic “Three Colors” trilogy. — E.A. (Photo: A24)

1. Deadpool

Ryan Reynolds and his merry band of misfits blew up the box office and the superhero genre with this aptly irreverent, R-rated take on Marvel’s mutant mercenary.

From the bleepin’ brilliant opening sequence to the pitch-perfect post-credits tag, Deadpooldelivers the chimichangas. And we mean that in the very best way. — M.E. (Photo:Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation)

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