The Best Films of 2015

Well, seeing as though everybody else has had their "best of the year" list out since December, I guess I should get off my lazy behind, and get one out also, shouldn't I?  As always, I have a good excuse.  As a regular paying filmgoer, I choose to hold off on this list until I can see as many of the year's films as I can.  And since many of the big end of the year films usually expand slowly (sometimes very slowly) into wide release around January-February, I choose to wait.

As usual, I will be naming my favorite film of the year, followed by what I felt were the great films of 2015.  The great films can be anything that truly grabbed my attention, so they can be dramas, comedies, kid's films, whatever.  Then I'll be listing the "honorable mentions" (the runner ups), followed by my 10 favorite actor and actress performances of the year.  Aside from Best Film, all of these choices will be listed in no particular order.

So, with that out of the way, let's get down to the important stuff - the movies.


THE BEST FILM OF 2015

THE BIG SHORT - As 2015 drew to a close, there were three films that I was considering putting at the top spot of the year.  It was a close call, but in the end, I chose The Big Short, because it was the most original film I saw last year.   Here is easily one of the most entertaining movies I've seen all year, and it's about a subject that should in all fairness leave the audience feeling sad and angry - the 2008 global financial crisis.  The Big Short does succeed at informing us on what happened behind the scenes at the banks, as well as the small handful of people who saw the housing market crash coming up to three years before it did.  But, it does so much more than succeed at being informative and well-researched.  It's also surprisingly the funniest film I've seen in 2015.  Director and co-writer Adam McKay has not just chosen to make a factual drama about the events, although he does succeed at that when he needs to.  He has also thrown in some gallows humor, some amazing performances, as well as some unconventional film choices, such as having characters break the fourth wall and directly address the audience, or use celebrity cameos who suddenly pop up for no reason to explain some of the technical jargon that Wall Street people use in their everyday business.  The unorthodox approach is what makes the film so memorable and engaging to watch.  Yes, we can sense that McKay cares very deeply about the subject matter.  This was most likely a passion project for him.  But he also goes out of his way to entertain as he informs, and ends up creating one of the smartest Big Studio films of 2015.  Not only is this a great comedic drama, but it will leave you with a little chill at the end when you realize that nobody has learned their lesson from the events that are portrayed here.  That's a scary note to end on, but a necessary one.  This is simply a brilliant movie.



THE GREAT FILMS OF 2015 (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

CAROL - Some critics have accused Carol of being too cold and distant with its romance between its two central female figures.  In fact, some have said that very issue is why the movie, despite getting many Oscar nominations, missed out on the big prize of Best Picture.  I would challenge that notion, and say that this is not a cold movie, but rather an intentionally reserved one.  Its two characters are forced to be guarded with each other because of the era they live in.  They are not so much cold, as it is quiet, restrained and absolutely beautiful.  In the film, the two women who fall in love are afraid, and a lot of that fear comes from the culture, and how no one would accept them.  But the brilliance of Carol is that the emotions can be felt by just about everyone, and it doesn't just have to be because of social prejudices.  There is always a fear of misunderstanding in every relationship, and that movie taps entirely into that nervousness during the early going.  Are you going too far with your emotions?  Will the other accept?  You feel like you are constantly being judged, and I think a lot of that is felt by the younger of the two women, played by Rooney Mara.  It's this quietness and intimacy that really appealed to me.  The movie does have its moments of passion, but it doesn't need to shock or throw in our faces these heavy feelings that these characters are going through.  These building emotions, mixed with the tension that they could be caught at any minute, creates a more gripping sensation than some recent thrillers that I could name.  It is a movie filled with passion, anguish and triumph, but it never rubs our face in it, or feels like it is playing it for dramatic effect.  Carol juggles the joy and anguish of relationships better than just about any recent movie that I can think of, and it does so without any forced moments or scenes that feel staged.

EX MACHINA -  Here is easily the most challenging and thought provoking film covering the subject of artificial intelligence, and how technology starts mimicking human emotion..  While a lot of the movies covering the subject rely on special effects to captivate the audience, this film takes a quiet, claustrophobic and unsettling approach, and truly makes us wonder if the human characters, or the robot at the center of it all, is truly in control of the situation.  Ex Machina not only asks these kind of questions, but gives itself and the audience time to truly think about what it is asking.  And yet, this is not a movie that is so challenging that it alienates its audience.  The narrative is straightforward, and doesn't veer off the central premise.  What makes the movie fascinating to watch is how both of the human characters react to Ava, the robot at the center of the story, and brought to life in a remarkable performance by Alicia Vikander .  To Nathan, the creator, Ava is just another machine, and a step to a much more advanced model.  Once he has gotten the information from Caleb (the man doing research work with the machine), she will most likely be destroyed, and he will start working on his next more advanced model.  As for Caleb, he sees Ava almost as a prisoner.  He begins to sympathize and perhaps even relate to her.  He becomes lost in the illusion that is Ava.  For almost its entire running time, writer-director Alex Garland creates a tense atmosphere with very little.  As we watch Caleb and Ava's conversations through a glass wall that separates them, we almost start to share Caleb's sense of wanting to set this robot free.  Much like the experiment that Nathan is performing, the film asks us the audience to let go of our preconceived notions, and see Ava as a living being.  This is the kind of movie that quietly gets under your skin without you noticing it.  As you think back on the film, you start to see the movie's manipulations and how it has played you, and you are grateful for the experience of having a movie that truly took you by surprise.

THE GIFT -  Very few movies have the ability to surprise me with their plot, but The Gift surprised me greatly.  This is a tense feature directorial debut of actor Joel Edgerton (who also wrote the screenplay, and co-stars in the film), and it shows that he not only has the ability to build tension, but also genuinely throw his audience for a loop.  This is a movie that pulls the rug out from under us in the best way.  It starts out effective but predictable, and about halfway through, turns into something truly exciting.  The Gift starts off as a well-made thriller about a down on his luck man obsessed with a well to do couple (one of them an old acquaintance from his high school days), but becomes a completely different movie just when we think we've figured it out, and are certain it's going down a predictable route.  I frankly was caught completely off guard.  I'm going to have to be very vague here at the risk of spoiling things, but the direction that Edgerton's screenplay goes is a very dark and disturbing one that turns everything on its head.  Even when I thought I knew exactly where the movie was going, I was still greatly enjoying the film thanks mostly to the performances.  I seriously don't think I have seen Jason Bateman give a better performance than here as the increasingly frenzied husband, Simon.  While mainly known for comedic roles, this is not his first shot at a dramatic part, but it is easily his best effort yet.  He's great at expressing the frustration his character feels as his life slowly but surely falls out of control all thanks to this man from his past that he wants to stay buried in his past.  This was a small thriller that not many noticed during the past summer, but those who did got an experience like no other. 

INSIDE OUT -  Pixar's Inside Out is not the first movie that has attempted to visualize abstract mental ideas, but it's easily the best at doing so.  It's appropriate that the movie is filled with a range of emotions, and will likely have audiences laughing one minute, and tearing up the next.  In fact, the movie is so complex and rewarding in its emotions, I have a feeling that this will be a much bigger hit with adults than with kids.  Oh sure, kids will enjoy it, and there's nothing here that's inappropriate for them.  They just will get a much greater appreciation for the film when they watch it with their own children years from now.  At its basic core, Inside Out could be labeled as a buddy road trip movie, with Joy and Sadness having to work together to get home.  But that would be selling this particular movie short, which is filled with originality and complexity.  The film's director, Pete Doctor (Up), is not just making a simple adventure film, although that is how it will come across to small children.  He has essentially created a visual metaphor on how people handle depression, as well as what happens inside us all when life uproots us from what we are comfortable with.  This is a very different film for Pixar, which are usually rooted in some kind of reality.  Yes, the world outside of Riley's head is mundane and normal, but the outside normal world serves as a subplot at best in the film.  The focus here is on the dream-like world inside the mind.  There are no villains obviously, since everyone inside the world of the mind wants Riley to be happy.  But at the same time, the movie continues the virtues that all the great Pixar films have, and that is to entertain just about everyone in the audience.  Adults will find themselves laughing at the same jokes as their kids, but for different reasons.  Ultimately, the movie tells children that it is okay to be sad sometimes.  So many parents tell their kids to be happy, or that things are not as bad as they seem.  They try to suppress any other emotion besides happiness, which in a way, is what is happening in Riley's control center during the first half of the film.  Looking back on the film, I realized that this is almost a representation of how most children are raised, or how parents encourage their children to be.  We fear or perhaps do not understand feelings like sadness, and so we push it aside.  Inside Out teaches us the valuable lesson that there is to be a balance within us.  Not only is this a wonderful message for children, but it's an even better one for adults who are struggling with depression, or may feel life piling on top of them and they cannot handle it.

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD - This is not just a successful reboot/sequel of a franchise that's been dormant for 30 years, it's the very definition of high octane summer entertainment, mixed with some of the most stylish direction I've seen in a blockbuster in a while.  For those of you who were wowed by the implausible and downright ridiculous CG-aided car stunts in Furious 7, this is the real deal, and you have no idea what you're in for.  Here, at long last, is a non-stop action movie that doesn't come across like a hyperactive video game, or an extended technical demo.  In returning to the characters and world that he created with the original Mad Max film back in 1979, co-writer and director George Miller gives us a vast world that seems real and lived in.  It's full of imagination, wonder, interesting characters, and action sequences that put pretty much everything that compares to it to shame.  The movie is essentially a nearly two hour long chase (with a 15 minute sequence in the middle where the characters stop and rest), but what keeps the movie fresh is that Miller has filled his movie with enough visual wonder and stunts we haven't seen before to fill two summer blockbusters.  And unlike your typical Michael Bay film, there is weight, consequence and a sense of drama to the characters involved with the action.  This movie is a true cinematic miracle - It's the fourth entry of a film series, and yet it feels as vibrant and alive as the first film in many action franchises.  Mad Max: Fury Road feels gritty and raw, because the movie was done with practical effects, instead of CG animation.  This gives the film a sense of realism you just do not get in most big budget movies.  Even more stunning, even though the movie is rapidly shot and edited, every image is crystal clear.  There's not a single instance where the audience finds themselves trying to keep up with the action, and wondering what they're looking at.  This is a downright beautiful film, filled with some of the best stunt driving and stunt work I have ever seen, and a sense that the action is taking place in a world that is lived in and fleshed out.  I don't know quite possibly how to stress just what a rush of adrenaline Mad Max: Fury Road is.  It's the kind of action movie where you just forget about everything around you, and are completely absorbed.  It's thrilling, visually amazing, and exciting as hell.

THE REVENANT - This is not just one of the great films of 2015, but also possibly of the decade.  It's a harrowing film unlike any other, because of the way that co-writer and director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (2014's Best Picture winner, Birdman) has decided to shoot and tell his story.  In order to film his "one man vs. the elements of nature" survival story, Inarritu went against the odds and shot the entire movie in difficult settings.  Rather than recreate the harsh winter landscapes with studio sets or CG, he filmed everything on location in some of the most barren and bitter landscapes he could find.  He shot the film using only natural lighting, and drove the cast and crew almost to the edge of their efforts.  The effect pays off in spades, as the audience is completely transported into the action.  This movie feels completely real.  We see Leonardo DiCaprio up there on the screen, struggling for survival, and we believe it.  The tone of The Revenant is quiet and almost dream-like.  The dialogue is very sparse, as DiCaprio says very little at all in the entire film, giving a powerful physical performance.  He is driven by flashbacks of his son, as well as his wife, who also died a few years ago when their village was attacked and their house burned down.  Equally dreamlike is the cinematography by  Emmanuel Lubezki, who films the vast winter landscape with a clear eye for beauty, but never forgets the danger as well, which leaves us constantly on edge.  This is one of those movies that makes you feel cold just by watching it.  The towering and shadowy trees of the dense forests that Hugh trudges through in his quest for survival also seem to take on a life of their own through Lubezki's camera work.  They seem to blot out the sun and the moon at times, giving the audience a sense of total isolation.  DiCaprio's performance shows so much courage and intensity.  We see his determination to survive, and it inspires us as well.  The reason why his character does not say much is because he spends a majority of the film in a state where he simply can't form comprehensible words.  And yet, his performance shows us everything we need to know.  The movie is also never depressing.  Yes, it can be brutal and extremely violent, but it never becomes a slog or a torture to watch.  There is always a small glimmer of hope, and that's what keeps the film from sinking into a pit of despair, and keeps the audience riveted and wanting to know what will happen.  Anyone who wants to study successful minimalist storytelling should view The Revenant.  It's so skillful and masterfully made, I wouldn't be surprised if it became important to study for future filmmakers.

ROOM -  I did not read Emma Donoghue's 2010 best selling novel that inspired Room, and for once, I am glad I did not.  This is a movie that deserves to be seen unspoiled.  It is a small film of tremendous power, wonderful performances and high emotion.  This could not have been an easy story to bring to the screen, and Donoghue (who wrote the screenplay as well) deserves praise for writing such a successful adaptation of her own work.  This is an up close and personal film that brings us into the world of Joy (Brie Larson), a woman in her mid-20s who is raising her five-year-old son Jack (a wonderful Jacob Tremblay) alone.  The movie depicts them leading a fairly normal life of cooking, playing and watching TV together, but something is immediately off about their surroundings.  As we quickly learn, they are both prisoners in a soundproof shed that rests in the backyard of a man known only as "Old Nick" (Sean Bridges).  This is a movie divided in two parts, the first where Joy and her son are in captivity, and the second set somewhere I will not reveal for the sake of spoilers.  It is at this point that Room becomes a very different movie, but one that is still effective.  It is no longer about Joy trying to create a normal life in captivity, rather the focus turns almost entirely to Jack.  He has served as our narrator for the first part of the film, but when it reaches the second, we see what's happening entirely from his point of view.  A new opportunity and life opens up for both of the characters, and the film becomes a dramatic evaluation of how these two characters handle the change in everything around them.  From the unforgettable performances of Larson and Tremblay, to the way the movie allows us to see most things through the eyes of the innocent Jack, this is an unforgettable and absorbing film, and one that deserved more attention than it got during its short run in theaters.  Hopefully Larson's almost inevitable win for Best Actress this Sunday will give the film the attention it deserves.

SPOTLIGHT - What surprised me the most about the film is that this is not so much about the investigation into the sexual abuse scandal surrounding the Massachusetts Roman Catholic Church, as it is about the process of that investigation, and the process of journalism in general.  The real threat here that the characters face are deadlines and roadblocks that stand in the way of these characters uncovering more of the truth.  What I appreciated is the small, realistic touches that the movie puts throughout.  The main characters in the film seem like regular people doing their jobs.  This is a story that easily could have led to a lot of melodrama and courtroom scenes in the Hollywood telling, but co-writer and director Tom McCarthy plays things much simpler and honest.  The movie hardly ever leaves the newspaper building, except for when one of the reporters has to interview a former victim or a lawyer.  While the abuse scandal is constantly the subject of conversation, it is not the focus of the film itself.  This movie deals more with the frustrations these reporters faced during the investigation.  The interest and drama that Spotlight creates is about the process of getting the story, and the interviews.  Even with big acting names like Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo in the cast, nobody really ever gets to take more of the attention from anyone else.  This is an ensemble picture through and through, and each member of the investigative team gets a number of individual moments.  It's a fantastic cast, though, and definitely one of the best acted films of the year.  Spotlight is a pitch-perfect drama in just about every way you can think of.  This movie is one of those small cinematic miracles where everything truly comes together to create a satisfying film.  It's always a wonder to see it happen, and you find yourself wondering why it doesn't happen more often when it's over.  Whatever the case, this is a movie that demands attention and deserves to be seen.

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON -  Here is probably one of the most energized and entertaining movies I saw last summer.  Straight Outta Compton contains not one single action sequence or special effect, yet it is leagues more exciting than most of the action movies we've had so far this season.  Those who dismiss this as your typical "behind the music" bio-picture are missing the point.  This is as raw and as alive as any movie I have seen this past year.  The movie tracks the humble beginnings, rise, eventual break up and aftermath of one of the most influential gangsta rap artists, NWA, whose debut album (which shares the title of the film) not only helped legitimize rap music, but brought it into the forefront of controversy and media attention.  This is an eye-opening and ambitious dramatization which kicks off in 1986, when the founding members of the group were teens who dreamed of escaping their dreary lives, and the daily abuse and suspicion of the LAPD, which given some recent events, gives the film a sadly current tone, rather than the history lesson it should be.  Straight Outta Compton really does not deviate too far from the music biography playbook, but the energy of the performances and the direction of F. Gary Gray keeps things from feeling overly familiar.  This is a movie that feels like it has been well thought through in just about every area.  The casting is spot on, with many of the actors resembling the real faces of who they are playing.  The directing style is kinetic and energized, but never confusing or overly stylized.  Most of all, the movie just creates a wonderful sense of time and place.  Even if it's not entirely perfect, it works to such a high degree that we forget everything and just enjoy.

WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE - This animated import from Japan's famous Studio Ghibli is a mystery at heart, but it unfolds slowly and with a certain deliberate ease.  Like a novel you would read on a summer afternoon, the pacing is languid but engaging.  This is a haunting family film that, like the best films in the genre, can be enjoyed by adults and kids on a different level.  Much like the 2009 animated feature Coraline, or Studio Ghbili's own Spirited Away, the film deals with a young girl who is pulled from her own usual world, and into the supernatural.  However, unlike those films, the story here is not an adventure.  It's the somber, leisurely story of Anna, a lonely and isolated young girl who strikes up a friendship with the mysterious girl Marnie, who may or may not be an apparition, or perhaps a forgotten part of the past.  Director Hiromasa Yonebayashi (The Secret World of Arrietty) is never in a hurry to give us answers to his mystery, except for the end, when the answers suddenly seem to come flying at us one after another.  This makes the film somewhat bottom heavy, and I do wish the answers to the mystery had been kind of spaced out a little bit more, but it does not hurt the film or the story he is trying to tell, which itself is based on a 1967 novel by Joan G. Robinson.  The pacing is slow but never boring, and actually finds a way to build our interest by the way it rolls out the information a little at a time for most of the film.  And just like all Studio Ghibli films, the animation and attention to detail is absolutely stunning, making it worth seeing on the big screen just for the visuals alone.  Unlike the last Ghibli feature to be released in the U.S., the gorgeous The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, this is a more traditionally animated film, but that doesn't make the look of it any less stunning.  When Marnie Was There is a beautiful and somber film that I think children can really appreciate.  It speaks to the social anxieties that many children around the age of the main character face, and also delivers a compelling mystery that is sure to captivate them.


HONORABLE MENTIONS

Paddington, Kingsman: The Secret Service, McFarland U.S.A., Focus, Chappie, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Cinderella, It Follows, The Longest Ride, The Harvest, The Age of Adaline, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, While We're Young, Far From the Madding Crowd, Insidious: Chapter 3, Spy, Love & Mercy, Minions, Ant-Man, Trainwreck, Paper Towns, Southpaw, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Shaun the Sheep Movie, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., American Ultra, No Escape, The Visit, Black Mass, Hotel Transylvania 2, Sicario, The Intern, Everest, The Martian, Steve Jobs, Goosebumps, Bridge of Spies, Burnt, The Peanuts Movie, The 33, Secret in Their Eyes, The Good Dinosaur, Creed, Krampus, Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Sisters, Joy, The Hateful Eight


MY TOP 10 PERFORMANCES BY AN ACTOR (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

Christian Bale in The Big Short
Jason Bateman in The Gift
Steve Carel in The Big Short
Paul Dano in Love & Mercy
Johnny Depp in Black Mass
Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant
Joel Edgerton in The Gift
Michael Fassbender in Steve Jobs
Mark Rylance in Bridge of Spies
Jacob Tremblay in Room


MY TOP 10 PERFORMANCES BY AN ACTRESS (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

Cate Blanchett in Carol
Emily Blunt in Sicario
Brie Larson in Room
Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara in Carol
Rachel McAdams in Spotlight
Daisy Ridley in Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens
Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl
Alicia Vikander in Ex Machina
Kate Winslet in Steve Jobs

So, those are my favorites of 2015 in a nutshell!  Hopefully, as we go further into 2016, we will get many more bright moments to come in the cinema.

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