Another year, another top ten list. As always, there are a few films missing, not because I didn’t like them, but I didn’t get a chance to see them. Anomalisa, The Walk, Room, Bridge of Spies, and others just seemed to pass me by.
Films that just missed the cut into my top ten are Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Inside Out, Love & Mercy, Ant-Man, What We Do In The Shadows, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Cop Car.
Probably my biggest disappointment this year was Fantastic 4. It was awful, and just so unfortunate. The talent in front of and behind the camera was there, everything just seemed to fall apart with it. It was a movie that wasn’t meant to be I suppose.
Without further adieu, enjoy!
10. STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON
Directed by F. Gary Gray
F. Gary Gray’s biography of the most influential rap group ever is an interesting film, in that the message these revolutionists were trying to impact on our culture is still something that is being fought for daily on the streets of Ferguson, Baltimore, and Chicago. It’s a twenty year-old story that is still very much relevant today. N.W.A. changed the music industry with their words. Their impactful, brave, and angry (for a damn good reason) words. The cast of unknowns are incredible as their real-life counterparts, especially Jason Mitchell as Eric “Easy-Z” Wright. It’s a career making performance, and he steals every scene he is in, commanding attention. I’m eager to see what he has planned next.
9. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie
Every time a new Mission: Impossible movie comes out I always say it was better than the last one. Again, this time is no different. Christopher McQuarrie has created a spectacular spy thriller that almost feels like it’s on a smaller scale than other entries in the series but is not hurt by that at all. The opera sequence alone is one of the best constructed scenes of the year, with tension constantly building, breathtaking stunts, and the sexiest single shot in 2015 cinema. I had no idea who Rebecca Ferguson was until this movie, but you can bet that I will be following her career closely from here on out.
8. SICARIO
Directed by Denis Villeneuve
This brutally honest depiction of the drug war we unsuccessfully fight as a country has never been more exciting or thrilling on screen. I was surprised at the smaller scope of this story, taking on a specific unit going through the backdoor of the operation to take it down, rather than a broader representation. It’s unfortunate though, that while a woman is the lead in the story, instead of her being the most interesting character in the film, they chose to make her the weaker of the leads, used by the men in the film to their advantage. I had hoped for more from Emily Blunt's character, and in the end, got one of the most pushed around characters of the year... was that the point?
7. THE REVENANT
Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu
This brutal, bloody, and beautiful depiction of frontier life in the early 1800’s is the most gorgeously shot film of the year. Amidst all of the torn flesh, spit, and flame, the screen is filled with mesmerizing snow-covered landscapes, and subtle moments of silence. While the majority of awards-talk from the film centers around DiCaprio’s performance, and it is great, I believe director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki deserves the majority of the credit on why this film is so successful. His work is exceptional, he knows just how to move the camera, sometimes so close the actor’s breath fogs the screen, other times following the action so closely that you are literally ducking arrows while sitting comfortably in the theater. Many times while watching I felt I was there, climbing that snowy mountain, shivering in the cold, eating that raw bison liver. This was a truly special experience this year that immersed the audience into the setting better than any other film in 2015.
6. EX MACHINA
Directed by Alex Garland
Alex Garland has been one of my favorite screenwriters for quite some time now. Sunshine is one of my all time favorite films, and I have been looking forward to seeing how he would handle directing a film. For his first effort he hit it out of the park with sci-fi tale of what makes one human. The cast is spectacular, specifically Alicia Vikander, whose beautiful, artificially intelligent Ava plays with the audience just as much as the characters she shares the screen with.
5. SPOTLIGHT
Directed by Tom McCarthy
Working in television news, I always find it interesting to see how “we” are portrayed in television and films. While Aaron Sorkin is a very clever and intelligent writer, no one in real life talks like his characters do, news or not. This film is probably the most accurate representation of the mundane normalcy of day to day new coverage. Even when the story is as big and important as the one the Spotlight team uncovered, it’s never as flashy and glamorous as many assume.
4. IT FOLLOWS
Directed by David Robert Mitchell
This slow burn of a horror film takes the genre and squeezes out every bit of atmosphere it has onto the screen. It’s expertly directed and shot. The synth score mixed with the dilapidated setting of the metro Detroit area works perfectly. If it wasn’t for the last act where it falters a bit, this could have been my favorite movie of the year. It’s so close, but the third act goes off the rails a bit before setting up a solid quasi-cliffhanger ending. Either way, this is the best horror film in years, and has mood like no other film this year.
3. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Directed by George Miller
Hats off to seventy year-old director George Miller for making not only the most badass action packed film of the year, but probably straight up, the best action film of the twenty-first century so far. For a franchise as old as it is, with a gap between sequels as long as it had, it should not be as good as it is… but it absolutely is. Charlize Theron owns the film wholeheartedly, stealing every scene she is in, including those with the title character, played by a near mute Tom Hardy, heavily suggesting that the film should be renamed Furiosa. All in all, it’s the most fun I had at the movie theater this year.
2. THE MARTIAN
Directed by Ridley Scott
After some lackluster pictures and a huge disappointment in his last sci-fi outing, it’s nice to see Ridley Scott kick it back into high gear and deliver a solid, entertaining crowd pleaser that doesn’t down the dumb for its audience. Matt Damon acts his ass off in a near-solo performance that surprisingly doesn’t get bland or repetitive, and the smart script from Drew Goddard based on Andy Weir’s novel keeps the audience engaged, adding the perfect amount of humor to what could have been a real dour experience.
1. CREED
Directed by Ryan Coogler
At initial idea, this would seem like an uninspired cash grab. One last effort at glory for Stallone to throw a punch in the ring. Fortunately, fans of the forty year-old franchise were given one of the best directed, best acted, and most emotionally inspiring films of the year. Coogler directed the film with such energy that you feel like you are in the ring with the characters; while Sylvester Stallone, reprising the iconic Rocky Balboa for the seventh time, delivers the best performance of his career. I never expected this film to sit atop my list at the end of the year, but here it is. I look forward to revisiting this film a lot over the years.
There it is, comment back on some of your favorites of the year and let me know what you are looking forward to this year. The top ones for me are Midnight Special, The Nice Guys, Captain America: Civil War, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Hail Caesar!, Zoolander 2, Deadpool, Triple 9, X-Men: Apocalypse, The BFG, Suicide Squad, Doctor Strange, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Assassin's Creed, and Passengers.
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