It's that time of year again! I inaugurated this some time ago, and Klep usually gets the jump on me, but here we go.
First of all, the list:
http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/year/2015Although we use that source every year, I think this may be a better list:
http://www.movieinsider.com/movies/-/2015I think there are some things messed up about that list as well, so you can find other lists online, including Wikipedia's, which is fairly comprehensive.
For reference, here is the rotten tomatoes top 100:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/top/bestofrt/?year=2015Before I give my top list, here are the films I've seen that were released in 2015:
Match
Ex Machina
The Avengers: Age of Ultron
Jurassic World
Focus
San Andreas
Mad Max: Road Fury
Inside Out
Amy
Black Panthers: Vanguard of Revolution
Straight Outta Compton
Beasts of No Nation
Bridge of Spies
Spotlight
The Martian
Black Mass
Spectre
Creed
In the Heart of the Sea
The Big Short
Chi-Raq
The Revenant
Star Wars
Steve Jobs
Hateful Eight
I saw a good deal of films this year, with most in the last few months.
The Big Picture Overall, the films released this year were pretty good, but there were no high notes that reached the level of Boyhood, Birdman or Intersteller this year.
Aside from Star Wars, the big block blusters dissapointed. I had the highest hopes for Spectre, which dissappointed the most because because Christoph Waltz is awesome, and the Sam Smith song was insane, and the other Daniel Craig Bond films were so good. The Avengers and Jurassic World were also middling fare. In fact, I thought Jurassic World, aside from Chris Pratt's performance, was actually worse than Jurassic Park 3.
Also, everyone, including all of the critics, somewhat surprisingly, are on the Mad Max bandwagon. To me, Mad Max was this year's Grand Budapest Hotel - highly stylized, amazing technical achievement, but narratively unsatisfying. Well done, but overrated.
On the acting front, there was many terrific performance, but I'd say that Leo Dicaprio is a mortal lock for Revenant. It may be one of the single greatest non-Brando performances I've ever seen.
That said, my two favorite films of the year were Sci-Fi. Here we go:
1) The MartianThis film was just superb. It felt real throughout, was perfectly performed - never overacted, and perhaps even a bit understated. It was gripping yet exhilarating. This was an unforgettable film.
2) Ex Machina This was the first Oscar Isaac film I saw, and when I watched HBO's Show Me a Hero, I didn't even realize it was the same actor!
This movie was thought provoking and pitch perfect in so many of the ways that The Martian was, but much sparer. Although the issues addressed are different, they, to me, are mapping out similar territory. Brilliant film. Loved every minute, including the end.
Props to Chris Pikula for recommending this.
3) Creed I loved almost everything about this film. First of all, I"m a huge fan of Fruitvale Station. In the 2013 list, I ranked it as the best film of the year (
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=46000.0). Same director and star here, but opening up new territory in a 1970s franchise. Also, the actress from Dear White People, Tessa Thompson, is here, and she's just terrific. This film was entertaining, gripping, and, although formulaic in some respects, also novel in others. The completely unspoken, but powerful, subtext here is race - and the way in which the Italian Stallion treats Apollo Creed's son as a surrogate son, etc. There is real tension, real drama, and real power here because of the capable cast and director.
4) Match Match is really an analog to Creed. Patrick Stewart gave a flawless performance in a spare film that, I understand, is based off a play.
5) The Big ShortEveryone should see this film.
Runners Up I don't really feel strongly about the rest of the films, but I really liked Bridge of Spies, Chi-Raq, Star Wars, Inside Out, Amy among others.
Chi-Raq is probably not for everyone, but it tackles an important issue, and, imo, is a daring and courageous experiment. I bought it, but I'm a sucker for greek plays.
I think I liked Bridge of Spies more than it was good; but there were elements that were so excellent it was difficult to be objective. I didn't expect to like it nearly as much as I did.
NWA was pretty good, but it was a little romantic (by that I mean it treated it's subjects a bit too partially).
There were films like Beasts of No Nation and The Revenant which, for me, were more about the performance or the technical achievement than the narrative, but were still entertaining films. Boy did Oscar Isaac and Tom Hardy have good years. Domhnall Gleeson, too. Sheesh.