By Megan Ruge Living and arts editor
This past year movies have come and gone. Many of them earning large box office outcomes and many of them falling behind as some of the worst films of the year. No matter what we think of films that came out of 2016, the films that broke the box office are now on DVD and these are the best ones to check out.
The first film on the list comes from the makers of “Despicable Me.” The film “The Secret Life of Pets” is a rated PG animated film about the day-to-day life that pets live when their owners are away.
The film takes us through the world pet owners never see, the friendships that our domestic animals form when we are away and what actually goes on when the pet owners close the door.
The film follows the story of a dog named Max who lives in New York City with his loving owner. They have each other and that’s all they need, until Katie, Max’s owner, brings home another dog, a dog in need of a home. This dog comes with some serious baggage and starts to stir up trouble for Max.
When things get out of hand between Max and his new roommate, they get lost in New York. It is up to Max’s pals to find out what happened and where he’s been to return him home safely.
The next film on our list is “War Dogs.” This 2016 film is a comedy based on the true story of two men, David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, who won a $300 million contract from the Pentagon to help arm America’s allies in Afghanistan.
It all begins when the guys find a small governmental in with arms dealing, but when they make the deal with the Pentagon everything gets way out of hand.
Throughout the film, Packouz and Diveroli get in way over their heads and they realize exactly what they got themselves into.
Though the story is based off the deal that these arms dealers made with the U.S. Army, the film is fictionalized and dramatized to provide a more humorous and entertaining story line.
The movie is a comedy and is rated R for crude language, drug use and some sexual references.
The next film to talk about is “Bridget Jones’s Baby.” This movie arrived on the tail of yet another 2016 trend trail, the “years later” sequel. Also on this trail were movies like “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.”
The first Bridget Jones movies tell the story of Bridget finding herself and her ultimate happily ever after. In the very first film, Bridget decides to keep a diary of all of the honest thoughts, opinions and dirty things that she is thinking. During the film, Bridget’s boss takes interest in her, but so does a handsome stranger.
In the second film, Bridget has met her true love, or so she thought.
Things begin to feel awkward and forced between Bridget and her lover, and on top of that, she is adjusting to a new job and suffers on a vacation that is anything other than relaxing.
Now, years down the road, Bridget is back and she has finally broken up with the man she chose so many years ago.
Now single and in her 40’s, Bridget meets a man who sweeps her off her feet, an American that is everything her lover was not.
Bridget finds herself pregnant and, in an unexpected twist, she’s only 50 percent sure who the father is. “Bridget Jones’s Baby” is humorous and is rated R for language, sexual references and some nudity.
So many films met expectations this year and made a lasting impression. Each genre had its own outlier that triumphed overall. Now that we have moved into the new year, we can look back and thank 2016 for the movies it provided us with. All three of these films can all be found at a Redbox near you for rental.
