Top Ten Films 2015
The Year of the Old and the New…
Of course this notion can be applied to ever year, but with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and my feelings surrounding the movie, in reflecting upon 2015 the year seemed like a transition point, a coming together and beautiful blend of the old and the new.
The old (or the familiar if there is a negative connotation with “the old”): A number of franchises were reborn (Star Wars, Rocky (aka Creed); great established directors found their form again (Spike Lee, George Miller, Zhang Yimou); a company which seemed relegated to recent misfires and sequels, Pixar, again found its footing with Inside Out. Famous actors got showcases (Lily Tomlin in Grandma, Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay in 45 years, Angela Bassett in Chi-Raq). Quentin Tarantino brought back 70 mm for the first time in decades.
Yet… there was a wonderful blend of new: New talents emerged (directors Patrick Wang [The Grief of Others], Alex Garland [Ex Machina], Lenny Abrahamson [Room]); the old felt new again with Lee’s Chi-Raq (combining the ancient Greek play with modern America) and Mad Max: Fury Road, a sequel but in all the right ways. A new star was discovered in the incredible talent of Jacob Tremblay from Room. It was also “new” that this year featured so many great roles for women. I hope it’s a sign the film industry is beginning its long overdue change.
This feeling of old and new was crystalized in watching Star Wars:
“NO SPOILERS: Seeing Star Wars the Force Awakens was a surreal experience. I have seen the original series so many times that I associate the 20th Century Fox logo music with seeing Star Wars and while I knew 20th Century was no longer distributing these films... it was so strange for the movie to begin without that famous music from 20th Century and instead just the Lucasfilm logo... it was the suggestion of something new... of something different, and then, the traditional beginning of Star Wars occurs and suddenly we are combining the new with something familiar, something comfortable, something that is steeped in tradition. As the opening crawl began, I realized while reading it... this is NEW! I've never read this before! Even when the prequels came out, people knew the end of them before they opened. The crawl is one of the best written in Star Wars and immediately it was something new again... then the shot pans down through space just as it does in every Star Wars movie and we are again in something familiar.”
With that… the best of 2015! (Note: I am horrific in my attendance of documentaries this year and feel awful that I am missing so many great documentaries that others have been recognizing, but that means I have something to watch during dump season)
1) Anomalisa ****
Charlie Kaufman has done it again… it is simply amazing. In a world of sequels, remakes, adaptations, here remains cinema’s original filmmaker. Charlie has made a career out of exploring the true final frontier: the human mind. Whether in the incredible Being John Malkovich where a portal into the mind of John Malkovich is discovered (in that film the main character is a puppeteer who uses puppets very similar to Anomalisa), or a writer suffering from writer’s block in Adaptation, or someone trying to protect his memories from erasing in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, or in his most daring movie, a set of a director that symbolizes the way the brain works in Synecdoche, New York. Here in Anomalisa he has done it again. Like Joyce’s The Dubliners, this movie is about isolation and depression. A motivational speaker checks into a hotel and descends into depression, searching for a true connection to someone to end the utter isolation of his life. Like Joyce, Kaufman loves epiphanies… however, unlike Joyce’s epiphanies in The Dead, or Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, or Ulysses, Kaufman’s epiphanies are unfortunately not permanent nor, ultimately, life changing. Anomalisa is one of the few films to feel truly alive (ironic considering the stop motion and subject matter), and without a doubt the single most moving experience of the year.
2) Spotlight ****
I’ve always liked writer/director Todd McCarthy. His small independent works have been mainstays on my top ten lists. Films like The Visitor, which gave the great character actor Richard Jenkins a leading role worthy of his talent, or The Station Agent, which introduced me to Peter Dinklage. His films have always had the feeling of being “small” and I mean that as a compliment in an industry that produces too many loud and big films. So… and I am ashamed to admit, I didn’t know Tom had the ability to direct Spotlight. What makes Spotlight like Tom’s other films is that it is certainly real. He excels in making films about shy quiet people struggling in the real world. The directing of actors is amazing, which again, is something I expect in a McCarthy film. And finally, he brought a deft touch to a very difficult subject. With The Visitor he tackled illegal immigration in a brilliant way and here he takes on the sex abuse scandal of the Catholic Church. But, where his other films were small, Spotlight is a large ensemble piece, brilliantly brought together by a group of actors whom I would give the Oscar to if one existed for best ensemble cast. Standouts include Michael Keaton whose struggle with his own soul is one of the movie’s great moments. The movie is a tribute to investigative journalism which is much needed, but a dying enterprise. Spotlight is an indictment not only of the Catholic Church and those who covered up the sex abuse scandal, but also of our willingness to look the other way and of allowing journalism in modern times to begin to fade. This is the best newspaper procedural since All the President’s Men.
3) Mad Max: Fury Road ****
George Miller has done it again (do I hear a refrain?!). Miller’s original Mad Max elevated the action film genre by bringing style to it so many years ago and eventually that gave birth to the great 90’s action films. My hope is that Mad Max: Fury Road is finally an answer to Michael Bay and will give birth to the next era of action films. There is a visceral feeling throughout Fury Road that lends an authenticity to its audaciousness. Using as many real effects as possible and making real heroes who are injured and seeking redemption, Miller places us squarely on his magical ride of a film. The movie continues this year’s incredible tradition of great female roles as well with Charlize Theron’s Furiosa one of the great creations of the year. Her journey towards redemption inspires Mad Max to find his own redemption.
4) Chi-Raq ****
Chi-Raq is a hot mess, and yet, one of the most daring and challenging films in Spike Lee’s career (That’s saying something). From choosing to base the movie on the ancient Greek comedy Lysistrata to choosing to write the movie in verse, Lee’s daring chances pay off in an emotional tour-de-four about the urban warzones in America. For those who know my tastes, I dislike musicals, and yet this “musical” like Dancer in the Dark uses its musical numbers to express in such a manner that I can’t imagine it being done differently. Like his masterpiece Do the Right Thing, Lee doesn’t offer solutions but asks us to be honest about the problems of our society.
5) Inside Out ****
With the exception of Charlie Kaufman’s works, Inside Out may be cinema’s best exploration of the mind. In fact, a psychologist has suggested that it be taught in all psychology courses. But that’s not why this movie is so important. In a world of social media where children feel compelled to create online happy persona, this movie suggests that it is okay to be true to how you feel, even if it’s sad. In the best casting of the year, all five emotions (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, and Fear) realize that they must work together in order to help Riley deal with the hardship of leaving all your friends behind.
6) The Assassin ****
When I heard that the great Taiwanese director Hsaio-Hsien Hou was making a martial arts film, I moaned. Not again. At first the reinvention of the martial arts film was something to behold. Ang Lee led the charge with one of my favorite films of all time Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Then, the great Zhang Yimou offered up his version: Hero. While Hero is a masterpiece, Zhang continued with new martial arts film after martial arts film. By the time House of Flying Daggers premiered, the genre seemed to have lost its new found exhilaration and so it has languished… until now. I should have known that Hsaio-Hsien Hou was not going to give us a traditional modern martial arts film with flying acrobats but instead… something much more calm, something much more beautiful. The Assassin, a rare pro feminist story of a princess turned woman warrior who is forced to assassinate her cousin, exists and pulses with beauty more than with action, but what a welcome change.
7) TIE: Room **** and Ex Machina ****
Two great works from independent directors, operating with limited budgets, actors and location, and yet, pushing cinema more than their “successful” peers.
Room is the hardest movie to recommend this year because I would understand why some would say it is unwatchable. The story of a woman held captive for years in a single room where every night “Old Nick” comes to rape her. The story is told through the perspective of her son, Jacob Tremblay (in the best performance of the year… sorry Leo), and it is in his perspective that the movie transforms not simply into a story of horror but one of philosophy. Never before have I seen the Allegory of the Cave so well utilized and yet, the reality of his mother and his plight is not escapable. A truly challenging film to watch.
On the other hand, Ex Machina begins almost like a Hitchcockian thriller and then it too morphs into something far more philosophical. The best movie ever perhaps to deal with AI (that’s saying something Kubrick!), Ex Machina causes us like the best science fiction films not only to question the importance of technology but of our own place in the world.
8) 45 Years ****
It is said there are no good roles for woman over fifty in Cinema. Thankfully over the last couple of years, we have seen staring vehicles for great actresses like Julie Christie in Away from Her. This year, Charlotte Rampling finally receives her dues. This is a heartbreaking movie. As an elderly couple prepares to celebrate their anniversary an unknown infidelity of the past comes to haunt them in the present. Andrew Haigh’s deft touch allows Rampling and her co-star, Tom Courtenay, to shine in this almost Bergman like plunge.
9) Coming Home ****
After several forays into martial arts films and other epics, Zhang Yimou, China’ great director, returns to the smaller more personal films that made his career (To Live is one of my favorite films of all time). Coming Home is a showpiece for his former wife and incredible actress Gong Li who plays a woman whose husband was arrested as a political prisoner and sent to a Labor camp only to return years later to discover an accident has robbed his wife of much of her memory. She remembers she has a husband and that he is going to eventually come home, but she doesn’t recognize him anymore. Lu, her faithful husband, then attempts to reawaken his wife’s memory. This is a touching melodrama beautifully shot and ultimately an allegory for a past that China has too quickly forgotten in a march towards progress.
10) The Grief of Others ****
Sometimes top ten spots are used to showcase an underrated movie or talent… this year, my choice of the tenth best year of the film is meant to showcase the enormous talent of Patrick Wang, an independent American director. Patrick’s In the Family was a masterpiece I missed in 2011 only to catch up to it years later. I won’t make that mistake again. The Grief of Others at times plays like a conventional melodrama and certainly is not the equal of In the Family. But, it is Patrick’s attention to detail and his gift for working with actors that elevate this at times cliché story of a family attempting to overcome the loss of a child. He has an incredible patience with his camera, lingering on conversations in real time, taking the cliché out of a story that has been told all too often. His use of inner monologues I thought would drive me insane, but instead pulled me deeper into his characters. A talent to watch.
Runners up: Brooklyn ****, Carol ****, Straight out of Compton ****, Creed ****, I Smile Back ****, Tangerine ****, The Big Short *** ½, Star Wars: The Force Awakens *** ½, The End of the Tour *** ½, The Revenant *** ½, Sicario *** ½, It Follows *** ½, Shaun the Sheep *** ½
Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Runner Up: Jason Segel, The End of the Tour
This has been a year for incredible female performances in movies that have showcased not only a number of break out performances or talent fulfilling their incredible promise, but also showcased a number of older actresses receiving rare opportunities to dazzle audiences again. Now if only we could begin to start working on female directors getting their credit and opportunity.
Best Actress: Brie Larson, Room
Runner Up: Cate Blancett, Carol; Teyonah Parris, Chi-Raq; Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn; Sarah Silverman, I Smile Back; Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years; Lily Tomlin, Grandma, Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road, Gong Li, Coming Home, Shu Qi, Assassin.
Best Supporting Actor: Jacob Tremblay, Room
Runner Up: Sam Elliot, Grandma
Best Supporting Actress: Rooney Mara, Carol
Runner Up: Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Best Cinematography: Ping Bin Lee, The Assassin
Runner Up: Daniel Mindel, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Score: Terence Blanchard, Chi-Raq
Runner Up: Carter Burwell, Carol
Best Editing: Margaret Sixel, Mad Max: Fury Road
Runner Up: Tom McArdle, Spotlight
Best Production Design: Judy Becker, Carol
Runner Up: Colin Gibson, Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Original Screenplay: Charlie Kaufman, Anomalisa
Runner Up: Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
Best Adapted Screenplay: Emma Donahue, Room
Runner Up: Patrick Wang, The Grief of Others
Best Director: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Runner Up: Spike Lee, Chi-Raq
Best Animated Film: Anomalisa
Most Overrated Film of the Year: Love and Mercy
Biggest Disappointment of the year: The Hateful Eight
Runner Up: Tomorrowland
Worse Film of the Year: TIE: Chappie and Jupiter Ascending
As always for another perspective, I recommend the best film critic I know, Peter Canavese. His top ten can be found here: http://grouchoreviews.com/features/256 (Please like him on facebook and follow him on twitter and subscribe to his youtube channel.
Also the great critics at Rogerebert.com continue to do Roger proud and their lists can be found at rogerebert.com
Finally, hopefully this new year will bring something new from Ben Sigrist and myself. Hopefully stay tuned for that.
