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The 10 Best Performances Of 2016 (So Far)

Because of how the cinematic calendar is laid out, it tends to be that many of the best film performances come in the second half of the year. Studios and the distributors just love to get in on the end-of-year awards season race, and the best way to do that is to release the Oscar contenders in the usual peak September to December period.

10) Toby Jones – Tale Of Tales

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Matteo Garrone’s Tale of Tales is a fairytale like no other, a portmanteau of sex, gore and grim fantasy that finds Salma Hayek devouring the heart of a sea monster, and a randy Vincent Cassel romping his way through a magical realm of crones turned into beautiful young women. Arguably the best of the film’s three strands though is that which stars Toby Jones, as a bored manchild king rearing a flea until it’s of gigantic proportions.

It’s Jones, in his overgrown toddler naïveté, who so elevates the Highmountain segment of the movie. It’s a blackly comic turn that gets Garrone’s comedy-horror approach better than no other in the (impressive) cast. The apologetic look on Jones’ face when an ogre wins his King’s daughter in a competition of his own design is priceless.