Here we are again. After a year hiatus, the Best of the Year is back on the blog. 2015 was a great year for films. I saw 155 total films (a complete list of which can be found here) and very few of them I didn't enjoy in one way or another. In this post, you will find my Top 25 films of the year and I must say it was really difficult to narrow those down, as there were so many films that deserve to be talked about. So, why don't we just take a few moments and talk some Honorable Mentions:
This year we got some really solid "blockbusters" or at least bigger films: Ant-Man, Whitey Bulger biopic Black Mass, Michael Mann's misunderstood Blackhat, Steven Spielberg-directed Bridge of Spies, Concussion, Guillermo Del Toro's Crimson Peak, Pixar's Inside Out, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Best Picture nominee and Ridley Scott-directed The Martian, Mission:Impossible Rogue Nation, the new Christmas classic The Night Before, Southpaw, Spectre, Spy, and The Walk all impressed at Megaplexes across the world.
Indie cinema was also on point all year long with films like Ramin Bahrani's 99 Homes, Spike Lee's Chi-Raq, Olivier Assayas' Clouds of Sils Maria, Dope directed by Rick Famuyiwa, Thomas Vinterberg's Far From the Madding Crowd, actor Joel Edgerton's directorial debut The Gift, Paul Weitz' Grandma (which features a brilliant performance by Lilly Tomlin), Heaven Knows What, Infinitely Polar Bear, the Woody Allen-directed Irrational Man, Ryan Gosling's directorial debut Lost River (that's right, I dug it), Gaspar Noe's NC-17 rated Love, Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy directed by Bill Pohlad, Mississipi Grind, Mr. Holmes, Edward Zwick's chess biopic Pawn Sacrifice, The Stanford Prison Experiment, Oren Moverman's Richard Gere-starring Time Out of Mind, crime thriller Two-Step, Wisconsin's own Uncle John, Craig Zobel's follow-up to his fantastic Compliance, Z for Zachariah (starring Margot Robbie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Chris Pine), and a double dose of Noah Baumbach-directed films with Mistress America and While We're Young.
From around the world make sure you check out The Assassin, Blind, Breathe, Girlhood, Hard to Be a God, Jauja, Phoenix, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, Saint Laurent, Timbuktu, Tokyo Tribe, Tom at the Farm, 138 minute, single shot Victoria, Studio Ghibli's When Marnie Was There, White God, and Wild Tales.
Finally, three types of movies really had a great year: horror, westerns, and documentaries. Creep, Spring, Unfriended, The Visit, We Are Still Here, and What We Do in the Shadows all scare up a good time. Bone Tomahawk is a great combination of horror and western. The Keeping Room, The Salvation, and Slow West all breathe new life into the once dying western genre. If docs are more your thing, you can't go wrong with Best of Enemies, Cartel Land, Going Clear, The Hunting Ground, Paul Thomas Anderson's Junun, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, Listen to Me Marlon, The Look of Silence, My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, The Nightmare, Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, What Happened, Miss Simone?, Winter on Fire, and The Wolfpack.
Aright, enough of that. Let's get on with it. After the jump are my 25 favorite films of 2015.
25. MACBETH // Justin Kurzel
24. COP CAR // Jon Watts
23. BROOKLYN // John Crowley
22. IT FOLLOWS // David Robert Mitchell
21. ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL // Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
20. EDEN // Mia Hansen-Løve
19. TANGERINE // Sean Baker
18. GOODNIGHT MOMMY // Severin Fiala & Veronika Franz
17. JOY // David O. Russell
16. CAROL // Todd Haynes
15. BEASTS OF NO NATION // Cary Fukunaga
14. THE END OF THE TOUR // James Ponsoldt
13. EX MACHINA // Alex Garland
12. '71 // Yann Demange
11. MOMMY // Xavier Dolan
#10
The Big Short
We kick off this years Top 10 with a film directed by...Adam McKay? Yes, the director known predominantly for his comedic films such as Step Brothers and Anchorman has made one of the best films of the year. A look inside the recent housing collapse, the film is both entertaining and informative. One thing that the film does is that it doesn't dumb things down for the viewer. What I mean by that is that the reasons why the housing market collapsed is very complicated and the film doesn't make it any less complicated, but I love the way McKay chose to try and explain it to the audience. It's some of the most clever uses of cameos in recent memory. As far as the main players, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, and Brad Pitt are all fantastic. They're all part of the reason this movie really snuck up on a lot of people to become what it is.
#9
Steve Jobs
And now for the biggest disappointment of 2015: the fact that none of you saw Steve Jobs. The film did terrible at the box office, but why? Featuring an amazing script by Aaron Sorkin, directed by Oscar Winner Danny Boyle, and starring Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Jeff Daniels, and Seth Rogan, there was no reason for this movie to fail. But it did, well, financially anyway. The film itself is a unique biopic experience about a man that effected many of our lives. It has Sorkin's patented "walk-and-talk" formula, but the dialogue is so rapid and sharp that the movie moves at a breakneck speed. The actors delivery of the lines and Boyle's direction make this one of the year's best, whether you saw it or not.
#8
Sicario
Given some recent events, the Mexican Drug Cartel is a hot topic, but, no, you will not find any Sean Penn in this film. Prisoners and Enemy director Dennie Villeneuve takes you over the border and to a world that many people haven't been to. The film is a rather bleak look at the war on drugs, with no real hope in sight. Maybe that's a realist view on the whole situation. Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro are complete badasses and if that doesn't sound good enough to you, nothing will.
#7
Straight Outta Compton
I'm not going to spend any time selling on this one. Witness the strength of street knowledge and see it because damn that shit was dope.
#6
The Revenant
Fresh off a Best Picture win last year with Birdman, director Alejandro G. Iñárritu returns with yet another top contender for the big prize of the year. The Revenant is a difficult film. There's a lot of people that flat out don't like the film for various different reasons. Whatever those reasons are, I can't argue against them because they may be justified. Those problems just don't bother me. I think the film is very existential and doesn't care how you feel about it. Obviously it has great central performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy, which are both well worth the price of admission, but it's really the direction of Iñárritu and the cinematography of Emmanuel Lubiezki that shines here. The film is like one giant canvas that displays beautiful paintings at every turn. It's those factors that make the film a stunning artistic achievement.
#5
The Hateful Eight
Anytime there is a new Tarantino movie, you can almost guarantee it's going to be among my favorites of the year. He has never let me down in the 23 years he's been making feature films and he certainly didn't start with The Hateful Eight. While I will say that this is no where near Quentin's best work, it still has the sharpness and wit of the rest of his filmography. I would also say that the film may be Tarantino's most mature work yet. All tend to have a lot of dark humor that is usually pretty laugh out loud, this one has a lot less of that. It's a lot more like a thriller filled with mystery and intrigue. It really is unlike anything Quentin has done in that respect.
#4
Creed
Of all the movie franchises in the world, who would have thought that Rocky, the ultimate underdog story, would be going on movie #7, but here we are and damn is it a good one. Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan team-up once again, coming off the success of Fruitvale Station, to bring us something that, despite it's standing within a franchise, feels incredibly fresh. Sure the movie follows all the basic tropes that the previous six Rocky movies did, but it also makes it abundantly clear that it's its own thing. Jordan is great in the lead role, but the real revelation here is Sylvester Stallone. Returning to the role that made him a star almost 40 years ago, Stallone becomes the real emotional core of a film that already has plenty of emotion in it. It's going to be great to be able to say Academy Award Winner Sylvester Stallone soon. It must also be said that Creed was the only film this year that made me want to stand up and cheer in the theater in the middle of the movie.
#3
Room
What makes a film great? Usually, it has to start with a story that transforms into a great screenplay. In the case of Room, the jumping off point was Emma Donoghue's best-selling novel about a woman and her young son held in captivity. It was Donoghue herself who adapted the novel into a screenplay, earning an Oscar nomination in the process. Next, you need a competent director behind the camera. Lenny Abrahamson, (whose last film, Frank, was one of my favorites of last year) was that person. His stamp is evident in every frame of the film and he too earned as Oscar nod. Finally, you need actors who can bring the screenwriters words and the director's vision to life. Here, you have Brie Larson and 8 year-old phenom Jacob Tremblay. Those two play the central characters of the film and the chemistry between the two is a truly amazing display. Larson gained an Oscar nom while Tremblay was a major snub. Nonetheless, all these pieces fell into place and helped the film to a Best Picture nomination, as well as a spot on my favorites list.
#2
Spotlight
Tom McCarthy had an interesting year. Earlier in 2015, he released the Adam Sandler-starring The Cobbler, which I haven't seen, but by all accounts is, well, not good. Then, here he comes directing one of the best movies of the year and a front-runner for Best Picture, Spotlight. This is a film that is very performance driven. All the leads give impeccable performances. From Michael Keaton to Mark Ruffalo to Rachel McAdams to Liev Schrieber and on down the list, everybody brought their best stuff to the table for this one. The subject matter is of course very difficult to endure, but McCarthy's direction, the sharp script, and the performances make it well worth your time.
#1
Mad Max: Fury Road
Insanity. Pure insanity. That's what the best film of 2015 is. As much as I love George Miller's original Mad Max Trilogy, in theory there was absolutely no way he could resurrect the franchise 30 years later. It shouldn't work, but it does spectacularly. The entire film is one giant "HOLY SHIT!" moment. It's a film that grabs you by the balls and refuses to let go. It's a film that you feel rather than watch. I could go on and on. All this begins and ends with Miller. His decision to return to this world after so many years and bring us pure cinematic magic is mind-blowing. The guy is 70 years old. Most 70 year olds should be sitting on a couch reading a newspaper, not making movies with a dude who shoots fire out of a guitar. It defies all logic. Also, in a movie that could have easily been dumb mindless action, we are given characters to actually care about. Tom Hardy does a great job taking over for Mel Gibson in the role of Max, but the one who truly owns this movie is Charlize Theron. Her turn as the valiant warrior Furiosa gives the character a lot of depth that I'm not sure would have been there with any other actress. I can't give this film enough praise. It's almost an impossible task. This movie goes beyond being my favorite of the year; it is firmly cemented as one of my favorites of all-time.
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