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"Top Ten 2015"
On 1/16/2016 at 12:37:01 AM, IngenRaptor started the thread:
Is this board even active enough to do top tens?
Here's mine. Finally had a chance to catch up on a bunch of films over the last month.
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
Sicario
Ex Machina
Steve Jobs
Bridge of Spies
World of Tomorrow
Listen to Me Marlon
The Hateful Eight
Phoenix
Msg #1: On 1/16/2016 at 7:18:57 AM, PaulSF replied, saying:
The Force Awakens
The Walk
Jurassic World
The Martian
Crimson Peak
Mad Max: Fury Road
Tomorrowland
The Hateful Eight
Bridge Of Spies
Creed
Guilty pleasure winner: Joe Wright's Pan. What a thing.
Msg #2: On 1/20/2016 at 4:25:52 AM, PaulSF replied, saying:
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Msg #3: On 1/23/2016 at 4:05:57 PM, Raptor Vinny replied, saying:
Mad Max: Fury Road (first by a mile, honestly)
The Big Short
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Hateful Eight
Ex Machina
Tomorrowland
Chappie
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
Jurassic World
Kingsmen: The Secret Service
Saw and it was good but didn't care enough for:
Inside Out
The Martian
Spectre
In the Heart of Sea (not as bad as people are saying)
Avengers: Age of Ultron
The Revenant
Crimson Peak
Concussion
Saw it, meh:
Bridge of Spies
Creed (Stallone ruled though)
Krampus
Have yet to see:
Jupiter Ascending
Steve Jobs
The Walk
Msg #4: On 1/27/2016 at 2:51:49 AM, Cameron replied, saying:
I had made a top 15
15. Tomorrowland: This will be an unpopular choice. This film wasn't received by critics or by audiences, but it struck a chord with me. It's an original concept, which gets bonus points, and I like that it's about dreaming. Yes, it can get a bit too preachy at times, and there is a lot of things in it that don't work, but there are also some that do. This is a film that different people can interpret in different ways. It's a film about dreams not being held back, that in a strange way also shows why sometimes things actually do need to be reigned in. If I'm one of the few people who really enjoy this film, that's fine.
14. The Final Girls: This was just a really fun parody of classic slashers films. Great comedy and a really neat concept, it shows that satire and parody still can be viable forms of film making when done by the right people. As someone who watches a lot of horror and slasher films, this was right up my alley.
13. The Martian: I enjoyed this film, and it's definitely very good, but it doesn't quite speak to me as much as it does to a lot of people. Damon gives an incredible performance that carries the film, but the supporting cast is wasted to a degree, with just not enough screentime. In fact, every time it cut to the people other than Damon, it lost momentum for me, it was interupting the best parts of the movie. So a bit of issue with the flow of the film is what has it lower on my list.
12. The Revenant: I will probably get some flack from people for this being so low. I really enjoyed the film, however, I do feel it was longer than it needed to be, and some of the scenes came off a tad pretentious in my opinion. Leo's performance was great and the directing was fantastic, the two highlights of the film, the lack of artificial lighting really gave the film a uniqueness about it. Really dug the film, but it just didn't speak to me like the director's previous Film Birdman did.
11. Ant-Man: This was a really fun addition to the MCU. Rudd nailed it, and the supporting cast was excellent. The aspect of it being a heist film really gave it a nice touch. The humor was on point. I do knock it down slightly for pretty much being the exact same plot as the first Iron Man. It doesn't bug me that much, as comic stories tend to get repeated a bit. The villain was the main weakness of the film. A really fun flick though and one that turned out way better than I was expecting.
10. Kingsmen: The Secret Service: This was that movie of the year that I had no real positive expectations for at all that surprised me and ended up being awesome. From the previews, I thought this looked like a rather generic movie, but it ended up being one of the more fun experiences I had watching a film all year. It's a nice homage to the Roger Moore era Bond films, but doing it better than the majority of those did. Colin Firth showed something quite different than his usual fare in this, and nailed it, showing he could have pulled off James Bond if he had ever been pegged for that. Samuel L. Jackson is a hilarious villain, his lisp being something that could have so easily failed and been awful, but he managed to make it work. A great mix of humor, extremely violent action and clever dialogue, this is a movie that came out of nowhere.
9. Avengers: Age of Ultron: A lot of people talked a bit negatively about this one, being disappointed in it, and not liking it as much as the first one. To a degree, I can agree, and understand. The first film had a lot going for it. It was the first time seeing the characters get together. It had a great villain in Loki. This film had to follow that almost universally loved first film and try to top it. Is it better than the first? Maybe not, though I enjoyed it as much, if not more. Once again the cast is in fine form, the chemistry between them off the charts. It was quite possibly the funniest movie I watched all year, for me at least. The action was fantastic. It further developed many of the characters. Seeing Hawkeye finally get some screen time was really cool, and they did a great job. The Natasha/Banner relationship was something I liked seeing, it made sense to me, and the two actors did a great job making it believable. Ultron being funny was jarring at first, but I loved the humor, and it ended up working for me, in part due to James Spader killing it as the voice. Joss Whedon had to try to top the first film, develop the characters more, build towards future movies, both more Avengers title and standalone films, and introduce new characters. It's a lot of stuff to juggle, and I doubt anyone could have done it better. The fact that he made such a fun superhero flick out of all of this is something to behold for me. I loved every second of this film, and it was one of the best times I had in a theater all year.
8. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation: Somehow, this ended up being what is, in my opinion, the best film of the series, which I did not see coming. Both a great summer blockbuster and a surprisingly smart spy thriller, this film has Tom Cruise at his most insane and at his best, doing even more incredible stunts than ever before. Rebecca Ferguson introduces a layered character who is equal parts badass and beautiful, and has a lot more depth to her than you'd think. The twists and turns in the movie come often, but never feel undeserved or like a gimmick, they legitimately keep you guessing. The fact that a fifth film in a series can be this good is just incredible, and I'm glad the director is returning for the next entry. It's the first time someone will direct two films in the series, and it is well deserved.
7. Inside Out: Pixar is back. This movie was just a treat to watch. One of the most original concepts I've seen in quite some time, it delivers a true family film experience. Anyone of any age can sit down and enjoy this movie. There are jokes for different groups of people, there is a great heart to the film, and it delivers a fantastic message to children. They could have easily taken the quick and easy route and made sadness the antagonist of the film, but showing that all the different emotions are important and contribute to making you who you are was just a wonderful message.
6. Ex Machina: This was an indie movie I had a lot of interest in from the moment I heard of it. I went in mostly blind, having only seen a short trailer. The effects work on the robot for the budget of the film was very impressive. Gleeson and Issac both give fantastic performances, but Alicia Vikander came out of nowhere and more than held her own. The movie pretty much just centres around the three of them, and the concepts it goes over and the dialogue used in exploring them are nothing short of phenomenal. The ending is incredibly depressing, but it makes you think a lot. This movie stayed with me for days. If you haven't seen it, check it out, it's on Netflix here in Canada at least. Go in mostly blind if you can, and just get wrapped up in what happens.
5. The Gift: Joel Edgerton writes, directs and stars in the movie that surprised me the most out of anything in 2015. The trailers made this out to be a completely generic thriller that we've all seen a million times before. But it's really quite clever, and the marketing didn't give away much at all. Jason Bateman gives the best performance of his career, disappearing into this role making you forget about his usual comedy roles entirely. This film takes your idea of who the good guy is and turns it on his head, expertly weaving reveals and exposition at a perfect pace. Decisions that seemed like convenient writing at the beginning of the movie become clear and flesh out in the second half, leading to an ending that left me stunned and exhausted. While not a horror film, this movie was very unsettling, and creeped me out more than any other film in the entirety of 2015. This is quite possibly the most overlooked, under rated movie of the year.
4. Spotlight: Spotlight is about the people who broke the story about the priests in Boston molesting the children that broke in 2001. What I loved about this film is that it didn't get bogged down in the events of that, and it focused on the investigative journalism that it took to break the case. It easily could have turned into a preachy piece but they avoided that. Everyone in the film gives incredible performances, nicely nuanced except for a couple of times where someone breaks down a bit. This makes all of the characters seem real and genuine. The movie is pretty much all just talking, but you get wrapped up in every word.
3. Sicario: This movie made me feel dirty. It got under my skin like no movie did throughout the entirety of 2015. It showed both the clueless aspirations of someone wanting to do good in the world, and the ugly, cold reality of how the world can operate, and the lengths some people will go to. I can't say much about this movie, as it's difficult to explain what it is about, or how it tells it's story. But by god was it an incredibly made film. I felt like I needed a shower after watching this one. The cinematography by Roger Deakins is hands down the best I saw this year. No more can really be said, you need to see this movie yourself to understand.
2. Creed: Creed is incredible. Ryan Coogler follows up his fantastic first film, Fruitvale Station with this, and it's easy to see why Marvel has snatched him up for Black Panther. He directs the film with tons of heart, getting gritty, real performances out of all of his stars, with Michael B. Jordan showing he is a superstar in the making, and Stallone giving arguably the best performance of his life, only competing against the original Rocky film, in which he plays the same character. The vulnerability, yet determination both Jordan and Stallone bring to their characters is incredible to witness, and they play off each other so well. Adonis Creed is searching for himself, and Rocky Balboa is searching for a reason to keep pushing on in life, and in each other they find what they need. The boxing scenes are visceral, and you feel as if you're in the audience, feeling every punch thrown. There are tons of little homages to the original Rocky, but not so many they detract from this film. As a lifelong Rocky fan, this film was everything I wanted it to be, being right there with the first film in the franchise in terms of quality. But if someone has never seen a Rocky film, this works on it's own merits and stands on it's own as a fantastic film.
1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Star Wars: The Force Awakens is exactly what I both wanted and needed this movie to be. It harkens back to the time of the original Star Wars trilogy, giving us action, adventure and suspense. It brings back some classic Star Wars characters in a great way, while also introducing a phenomenal set of new ones to carry the franchise forward into the future. The effects look incredible, and the movie moves at a great pace, allowing both for great action and a surprisingly large amount of emotion. It's both a fantastic blockbuster in it's own right, and a brilliant beginning to the new trilogy of films that will be coming.
Msg #5: On 1/27/2016 at 9:17:37 PM, Raptor Vinny replied, saying:
Added Kingsmen and Ex Machina to my list. Took Revenant off.
Ex Machina was really good. I liked that it treated the audience with intelligence. Spoilers... The ending didn't really do enough though. It just kinda... ended. I think it needed something more philosophically about the AI's intentions. Also the main character didn't really seem to care that he'd been tricked. How did he not realize if the AI was playing him the whole time that it wouldn't just lock him in to stop him from telling the whole world about what happened? He's just a smartass about it and doesn't even care. And the other guy was beating on the one AI and ignored the other. I get that he thinks the other one is subservient to him but like... they were just standing there in front of him whispering to each other. Kinda took me outta the movie even if its nitpicking and not a plothole.
Msg #6: On 2/22/2016 at 5:12:34 PM, PaulSF replied, saying:
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