25. Straight Outta Compton
I had to watch this one a couple times before adding it to my list. It was between this, and Love and Mercy as the music biopic to include on the list. I chose this because it has a deeper message on what the music business really was like for those that came from the more dangerous neighborhoods of America. It showed how anyone can achieve success, and it had one of the best ensembles of the year. I honestly didn't see any actors in the movie. I felt like I was watching the REAL thing happening with REAL characters. F. Gary Grey did an EXCELLENT jobs with his direction and casting of the characters. Even if this did beat out Love and Mercy (which was also excellent), at least Paul Giamatti can't be mad seeing as he played a manager in both movies, lol.
24. The Revenant
It's one of the best made movies of the year when it comes to planning out the shots this movie had, and the grueling atmosphere the actors dealt with to show off their realistic madness. It is one of those movies however that I wouldn't watch again immediately. It does feel kind of slow as the movie builds, but it still pays off nonetheless. Does it have the best cinematography of 2015? Hell yeah! Is it one of Leo's best performances? Absolutely. To some audiences, it's a hard to watch movie. It's like Apocalypse Now meets The Grey set in the 1820s. I do urge anyone who loved this movie to put it MUCH higher on their list than where I put it.
23. Furious 7
I know this might seem weird including this on my list above two much better shot movies, but this is my list and let me explain. The people behind this franchise know exactly what they're doing. This movie basically satirizes most action movies that come out today. It's over the top, it's hilarious, but still keeps that serious tone in check (which makes it funnier). You also have Kurt Russell in the movie, which makes this movie twice as good as he KNEW what he was signing up for. He always knows how to have fun with any role he's given and NAILS it in this one. The movie even gets serious at the end when it honors Paul Walker as this being his last movie, which is another reason of why I'm including it on this list. R.I.P. Paul.
22. Carol
This movie was so good in its first hour and ten minutes that I honestly thought it might make my top 10 on this list. It showed off its magnificent cinematography, production design and costume which director, Todd Haynes, has such a gift for. The best parts are Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara's chemistry they have together. They were both perfect for this movie. Why so low on the list then? Probably because (without spoilers), the plot changes drastically at the end than where it honestly could've gone. I know it was in the book, but you can still make a great adaptation no matter how much it differs from the original source material. It doesn't distant itself too far from the ending I wanted (seeing as I still loved this movie), but there is some interference by certain characters in the movie which I felt were irrelevant from the start of it. It had a nice and original plot going for it, but then changes to something else I believe was made just to campaign for more Oscars. Either way, it made my list, and it deserves a shout out.
21. Steve Jobs
The thing I loved about this movie is that it doesn't just explore the amount of ego Steve Jobs gained throughout his career, but also how much his relationship with his closest peers decreased throughout his career. Aaron Sorkin strikes again with this brilliant screenplay that is nothing but intellectual dialogue. Some will definitely find this movie to be boring as the characters do nothing but talk throughout the whole movie. It's like a play basically. Michael Fassbender gives the performance of his career as Steve Jobs as Seth Rogen does as well playing Steve Wozniak. Wozniak, might be a more minor character in the movie, but probably the most pivotal part as he basically is the main one in all three acts to point out (or you could say narrate) all the flaws that Steve Jobs carries. It's basically told from Wozniak's point of view in how he always saw him, whether it's based on real life or fiction. Either way, it was great entertainment for me. Kate Winslet also deserves a shout out for her performance as well. :)
20. Digging for Fire
This is definitely an underrated gem that nobody saw in 2015. It's worth checking out, especially if you're someone who just got married or just had a kid. It explores the struggles and reliefs for those who are married and also those that aren't. It shows off the differences in one's character in who they are when they're with their spouse, and when they're not. The movie, 'Men, Women & Children' (my number 11 of 2014) sort of did the same thing (which also starred Rosemarie DeWitt in that plotline). This one however explores all the boundaries. Oh, and there's also a subplot about digging for a possible dead body in a stranger's backyard. I'm not going to tell you how it ends.
19. The Night Before
I swear to God, this movie was made specifically for me to enjoy. I completely understand those who probably wouldn't enjoy the movie, seeing as humor these days is very subjective. I am however thankful that an R rated Christmas comedy with three of my favorite actors working today exists. It's also great because it pokes fun at all the Christmas tales I hated when I was a kid. It spoofs them perfectly, and this made a great early Christmas gift for me personally.
18. The Good Dinosaur
This was probably the most surprising movie of the year. I honestly thought this would be bad as it had as many production problems as Cars 2 had. Different directors, numerous re-writes, yet they made a surprisingly better version of what is basically The Land Before Time meets The Lion King. I have no problem with that at all. It also has a great score which I love to listen to weekly. Seeing as this is only the first among three animated movies to make this list, I'll go ahead and say it was a pretty great year for animated movies.
17. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
Once again, Tom Cruise 1-ups himself when it comes to doing his own stunts. He also continues to produce some of the best action movies of today. I love that they brought back all the best characters from all four previous movies as well as introduce another great new character, played wonderfully by Rebecca Ferguson. The action is as great as the story and characters and is not worth missing if you're a fan of this franchise.
16. Bridge of Spies
After years of hoping that Spielberg and Hanks would work again on another movie, I'm glad to say I finally got my wish. They both deliver brilliantly on this Cold War epic, written by The Coen Brothers (yes, you read that correctly). As like Steve Jobs, there is mostly just dialogue in this movie and not much action. The amazing thing is that, Tom Hanks still comes off like a total badass in this movie, playing as a lawyer negotiating a trade between American and Russian spies. He still has that charm, with Spielberg still being a great storyteller behind the camera. Keep it up!
15. Me, Earl & the Dying Girl
Another coming of age drama that once again hits all the notes it needs to hit in order to be great and original. It has the kind of plot that I would sort of write. It's basically about two movie nerds that befriend a girl in high school with cancer. The movie could honestly go anywhere with that type of plot, but it thankfully goes places that sends heartfelt messages to the audience on the importance of friendship and what could possibly happen if you decide to back away from the friendship you've built. This is also the type of plot that could've honestly been done with any age group when thinking of it. I'm just glad they had it with high school characters. I will also say that the climax features one of the year's best scenes. Definitely worth checking out.
14. The Walk
I'm surprised how under the radar this movie became, because it received great feedback. Robert Zemeckis still has not lost his touch when it comes to the Forrest Gump feel in showing how you can achieve anything you dream of. It's even more amazing when you realize this movie is based off a true story. It's basically a narrative version of the great documentary Man on Wire, but it doesn't leave out any details nor makes it too Hollywood. I'm glad this movie got made, and was surprised how well Joseph Gordon-Levitt pulled off the role of, Philippe Petit. It also has a nice Ocean's Eleven feel to it in the second half of the movie.
13. 99 Homes
The thing that this movie did so well is that it actually captured the feeling of loss and greed. That is something The Big Short forgot to do, although I did thoroughly enjoy that movie as well. It also features two of the year's best performers, especially Michael Shannon as a corrupt businessman profiting off of peoples losses in real estate. The plot really builds up nicely when he decides to bring Andrew Garfield's character, who had just lost his real estate, under his wing. It truly shows the emotional struggle that Garfield's character goes through and which side he eventually chooses when it comes to living the life he always wanted to live.
12. Room
Honestly, it's better to watch this movie without knowing what it's about at all. You'll probably enjoy it more. All I can say is that it's well directed, Brie Larson gives a performance as great as her overlooked movie 'Short Term 12', and it's quite shocking to watch. It is R rated, and there are some hard to watch scenes. I'm still not saying what they are, but they are great enough to make this movie my number 12 of 2015. Trust me, that's pretty damn good.
11. The Hateful Eight
I would say that Samuel L. Jackson carries this movie, but that would be an insult to all the other great actors in this glorious setting that Tarantino constructed. It was hard to avoid the spoilers for this after the script got leaked online, but I've gotta say, the wait was worth it. The dialogue is snappy, the performances are fun and hilarious, and the shots of everything are beautiful. Seeing the roadshow version in 70mm that featured an overture and intermission made me feel like I really was watching an old western from the 60s, only with much more graphic violence. For a three hour movie, this thankfully felt a lot shorter. It takes time to build up of course, but then it eventually turns into a who-done-it situation, kind of like the game/movie, Clue. It was also great to hear Ennio Morricone's chilling score, as well as unused tracks from previous movies he had scored for.
10. Ex-Machina
This is probably the closest I've seen to a Stanley Kubrick movie since A.I. I wouldn't be surprised if THIS was the movie that Stanley was originally visioning. Either way, Alex Garland makes a great substitute with this being his first film. It shows the truly haunting images that could occur in reality. It explores the ethics and emotions we as humans go through when it comes to communication with the machinery we create. All three actors in this movie show off their best work, especially newcomer Alicia Vikander, who plays the robot, Ava. Oscar Isaac's character also shines light as it is probably the closest fictional character to possibly resembling Stanley Kubrick himself when it came to creating something only he could truly understand.
9. Mad Max: Fury Road
I had no idea what to expect when walking into this movie, and whether it would live up to the previous Mad Max movies or not. Thankfully it became one of the best Mad Max movies, as well as one of the action movies of this decade. I was amazed how much detail could be included in just one simple story. It shows off the world more than it does the plot, because the plot is just about driving somewhere then just driving back; yet there is still SO MUCH HAPPENING within. The characters are well developed, the action scenes are mind blowing, and you come to understand the world as you witness each struggle the characters are going through. George Miller easily becomes a top contender as one of the year's best directors, as he used practical effects in just about every scene in this movie. It all looks incredible and it's not worth missing out on.
8. Spotlight
The thing I love so much about this movie is that this movie is about a team and not just one certain main character. It's about this team of writers of a newspaper who work hard and struggle to uncover a secret that's been happening for the past three decades. Every actor in this ensemble piece works well with the other. There are no cliches of one hating the other, or one preferring a certain character over another. There's no unnecessary conflict that occurs within the team, which makes the plot advance faster and the movie itself move 10 times faster. Tom McCarthy did an EXCELLENT job with with writing and direction. He doesn't waste any time at all getting to the point that the movie represents. If you liked the movie All the President's Men, you'll LOVE Spotlight.
7. The Martian
For the first time in thirty years, Ridley Scott brings us a movie that is very re-watchable. This two and a half hour movie flies by with all that goes on. It is Cast Away meets Apollo 13 in this Sci-Fi thriller of astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) who gets trapped on Mars after a terrible. It's then up to NASA to decide how to handle the situation and relies on Mark's team of astronauts to go back and save him while Mark struggles to survive on Mars with the resources he has. Like Spotlight, this is another team movie where everyone works together to advance the plot. The only difference is that this movie has a main character, played by Matt Damon. That makes this movie even better because he's easily the best part of the whole movie. I hope Ridley Scott learned his lesson after making this, because the only way you can make a great movie is if you have a great script with fresh ideas and original atmosphere. That is something his last 15 movies or so have had very little of, to me at least.
6. Inside Out
Welcome back, Pixar! I know I already mentioned The Good Dinosaur lower on the list, but this movie was the one that FINALLY gathered our attention. It does everything that we've wanted to see in a Pixar movie for the past five years. After having to suffer through Cars 2 and Brave, this was the breathe of fresh air that made up for it. It's also one of the most emotional movies of 2015 because it shows us a terrific visual representation of why we require each emotion in our lives. We can't always be happy (or "joyful") to help ourselves out in need. We need sadness, or fear, sometimes disgust, and even anger to get certain points across. It also shows what we go through when we eventually hit puberty and certain life situations that can be a struggle to deal with. The ending makes me cry every time. This is easily a top contender for the best animated feature of 2015 (or so I thought).
5. Kingsman: The Secret Service
Talk about the first big surprise of the year, which I honestly thought wouldn't be in my top 5 by the time the year ended. I was not expecting Matthew Vaughn to top his movie Kick-Ass, but when I saw the church scene in this movie, he not only surpassed Kick-Ass, he destroyed it! That scene features everything I want in an action movie, one long take, actors doing their own stunts, and the best use of a classic rock song I've ever heard in any action flick period. It also gave us great memorable characters that are as funny and clever as you can get. I loved Taron Egerton as our main character who's probably the most likable a-hole that I've seen in any movie. Colin Firth makes a great mentor to our main character. The best part though easily is Samuel L. Jackson as Valentine, the most hilarious villain I've seen in quite sometime. He's basically just a psycho who's rich and wants to kill off 90% of the whole world, yet he hates doing any killing himself because he can't stand the sight of blood. He also has a hilarious lisp. Jackson's performance in this is probably the most overlooked of the year, but I'm still glad that this movie did get great reception. I can only hope we get more movies as funny, clever and action packed as this one. :)
4. Sicario
In this intense thriller, which is basically Zero Dark Thirty meets Traffic meets Training Day, Emily Blunt gives the performance of her career as Kate Macer who's invited to work on a special forces team, where she learns how different they operate compared to her. She also learns about Alejandro (played wonderfully by Benicio Del Toro) who's also working with the special forces and how he differs from everyone else as well. It is nail-biting from beginning to end. The cinematography, sound and editing deserve Oscar nominations for the amount of intensity shown. This is easily the best piece of work Denis Villeneuve (director of Prisoners) has directed so far.
3. Creed
As a huge fan of director, Ryan Coogler (director of Fruitvale Station), I was excited for this movie the moment I read his name on IMDB for this project. Seeing him and Michael B. Jordan deliver ANOTHER great character study with Stallone reprising his role as Rocky Balboa was a dream come true. THIS is how you reboot a franchise Hollywood! Take lessons from Ryan Coogler. It was great to see Rocky pass on the torch to somebody else finally without him getting back into the ring himself. We saw that already in Rocky Balboa, and it ended beautifully. Looking at this movie, this is kind of similar to what Rocky V (Stallone's least favorite Rocky movie) was trying to be when it came to Rocky training a newcomer. Thankfully, writer-director Ryan Coogler knew how to finish the job correctly and how to possibly end the whole Rocky franchise for good. Well done!
2. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Watching this movie was probably the most fun I've ever had in a long time. It has EVERYTHING that I personally wanted to see in the Star Wars universe. New great lead characters, new droids that actually advance the plot instead of interfere, Han Solo is back, and a great new set of villains. The character of Rey especially is so great as a lead female, that she puts Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road to shame. The movie is two hours and fifteen minutes long, but it felt like less than an hour watching it. It moves SO QUICK! So much happens and I was not bored by this movie at all. I've watched the movie three times now, and it only continues to get better every time. You might be thinking that it's too high on the list and will address that it's basically a remake of Episode 4, but I disagree. It might have certain parallels in story arcs, but the new characters are nothing like the old ones. I can also include that when I watch a film, I always worry about the characters more than the plot itself. If the characters are that engaging, then you can write in whatever plot you want as long as it works for the characters and their motivation. In this movie, it most definitely did. You could say the same thing about Mad Max as well. Either way, I enjoyed this movie SOOO MUCH that I commend J.J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy for giving us a film that us Star Wars fans wanted for the longest time. #InJJWeTrustFOREVER
1. When Marnie Was There
The minute I finished this movie, I said to myself "Okay! Year's over! This movie wins! Everything else is runner-up!". That statement still remains true to this day. I was still at least two months away from Star Wars being released, and I already knew this masterpiece about the deepest meaning of friendship and being thankful for what we have, could not be topped. I am fully aware that no one saw this movie as it had a VERY limited American release, which is shameful because the company that made this also was behind such critically acclaimed movies as Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. Studio Ghibli is the name behind all those pieces of work, and this film was possibly the last they ever made as they have currently shut down their studio without any news on whether they'd make another. They are basically the Japanese Pixar to where they make animated films for all ages, but focus on story and characters first. This one did even more than most Ghibli movies do. They are usually known for making movies with strong characters mixed with (beautifully drawn) mystical elements like flying castles or spirit creatures. In this one, it is just human characters throughout the whole movie featuring one small possible mystical element that we the audience don't know even exists in the movie or not. Here's the plot:
The plot is about this girl named Anna who has been going through social anxiety for most of her life. She is an orphan who lives with her guardian who sends her off to smaller town in the country to try and help her overcome that anxiety and give her a better feeling in life. When in the town she discovers this big house and befriends this girl named Marnie who supposedly lives in that house. They become best friends as not only do they begin to enjoy life together, but also discuss their personal issues on what they're both going through. Their relationship becomes so in-depth that we begin to see all the sad events in their life as well. They become SO close to one another that Anna even questions if Marnie is just a figment of her imagination.
I'm not going to say what it is, but what I can say is that it pays off BIG TIME. I have never cried this much to a movie in a very long time (aside from Inside Out and Star Wars). It explores so much of the characters thoughts and struggles that I very rarely see in movies made today. It affected me because there are at least a few people I know personally that have gone through the same issues the main characters go through in the movie. It also shows the most passionate representation of friendship between two female characters that I've ever seen in any movie ever (Anne of Green Gables aside). It's nearly everything that I've wanted to see in a movie when it comes sadness, friendship, family, and honoring the environment you are in. It is EASILY the best movie of this year and also a top-tier contender for the best of the decade. It may not personally affect most audience members like it did me, but I still highly recommend you see this movie to gather what you can from it. It is a movie that I will never forget, and hopefully the world will not either.
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