Very Best Movies of 2015
Honourable mention:
Spring
The monster-love story seems somehow beautiful and natural. Our protagonist goes on holiday after the traumatic death of a loved one and meets someone who is very different from anyone he’s ever met before; perhaps even more different than he initially suspects….
10. Coherence
A disarmingly low budget production that explores a sci-fi premise in a simple yet original way. Starting with a dinner party, a comet seems to cause bizarre phenomena and tensions rise as the night goes on. I absolutely love this film and it only gets better every time I watch it.
9. Big Hero Six
A Pixar-esque animated superhero movie. A group of science students use their unique inventions to become a group of superheroes. Funny, charming, beautiful with some very heartfelt emotional moments. I found this both funnier and more satisfying than most Marvel films (which I often judge mostly by how funny they are) and it is shocking to me that there still hasn’t been a sequel to this film. Didn’t it win an Oscar? Seriously, what stopped them making a sequel? Fortunately this is a solid stand-alone story.
8. Inside Out
When I first saw the promotional material of the emotions coming to life, I wasn’t convinced, but I think this is one of the better Pixar films. There are a lot of great gags, but there’s also room for some really interesting discussions on how the representative world of the mind in the film relates to the workings of a real human mind. Sure Joy is annoying while Sadness is really sweet, but that’s essentially the point. Both funny and clever. Well worth checking out.
7. Wild Tales
An awesome anthology film of some crazy stories. Comparisons have been made with Quentin Tarantino, which doesn’t really fit as a compliment, but I can see what they mean. There’s a bit of a Pulp Fiction feel in places since the stories often move in extreme and surprising directions involving some gritty violence and dark themes. The final story involves a wedding that goes out of hand in the most hilarious way. Wild Tales is a superb black comedy.
6. The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Is it controversial to call this Guy Ritchie’s best movie? Henry Cavill is fantastic as Napoleon Solo. Armie Hammer is also excellent as his Russian counter-part. Alicia Vikander only adds to the fantastic chemistry as a relative of some other persons of interest. The scene where Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer are arguing about Alicia Vikander’s outfit is the sort of scene no other film would even attempt. Also Hugh Grant is great in this movie.
5. Mr. Holmes
About a year ago I discovered, much to my surprise, that less than 15,000 people on Letterboxd had apparently seen this excellent portrayal of an elderly retired Sherlock Holmes and his relationship with the young son of his housekeeper. Ian McKellan is utterly incredible in this role. One particularly impressive scene involves Sherlock feeling quite ashamed of himself while he is encouraged to reveal what he knows from the evidence, as it catches someone in an embarrassing but understandable lie. Director Bill Condon previously worked with Ian McKellan on Gods and Monsters, which I also love, but I think this is even better.
4. Mad Max: Fury Road
George Miller returns to make another Mad Max movie and nobody was expecting the best Mad Max movie ever. It has been argued that Fury Road is a game changer, but I don’t think that’s true. I don’t think other filmmakers have any idea how to even begin imitating this unique cinematic experience. Many films have clearly been inspired by Mad Max 2 and filmmakers have long been interested in providing epic action sequences. However, Fury Road takes the extreme Mad Max vehicular action sequences to such a spectacular level that few other than George Miller himself would have been crazy enough to attempt it. Naturally Fury Road has no shortage of visual effects, but the extent to which the elements we see in this film were really is yet another source of amazement. Lacking in plot, but nonetheless a masterpiece. It would be absurd not to include Fury Road in my top 5 for 2015.
3. Ex Machina
I had no idea that Alex Garland had something this awesome up his sleeve. I couldn’t get into his novel The Beach and his screenplays for 28 Days Later and Sunshine both seemed to come into difficulties in the third act. Ex Machina presents itself initially as being about the Turing Test, and in a way that’s precisely what it is about, but it goes further than that. This is about proving the inner higher level consciousness and that means our ability to empathise and to deceive. This is about the whole dark gammet of the human psyche. Does an artificial intelligence creep us out more by being not quite like us or by being exactly like us? And how do you test the ability to deceive without using deception? Ex Machina is a genuinely philosophical film. The Matrix skirted over a whole bunch of serious philosophical questions, but Ex Machina prompts so many complex questions and explores those ideas. With tour de force performances from Alicia Vikander, Oscar Isaac and Domhall Gleeson, this is one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time. Its strengths are its intelligent sci-fi elements.
2. Cop CarA simple story with strong themes and well-presented central characters. This is a film about innocence and responsibility. The children are rebellious but have a youthful innocence and trust one another, while Kevin Bacon, the owner of the cop car, is experienced and betraying the trust of those around him. The way the children act is irresponsible, but the criminal acts of Kevin Bacon’s character are far more irresponsible in a different way. The result is a remarkably sweet black comedy. I had no idea from the opening scene featuring two children listing swear words, that I would fall in love with this film in the way I did. I actually found Cop Car to be rather beautiful in its own way. I was totally pulled into the plight of the two central irresponsible toerags. Great fun.
1. The Martian
I said Ex Machina was one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time, so do I think The Martian is an even greater sci-fi film? Well… sort of.
The Martian is a fantastic film, but part of the appeal is the grounded-ness of it. The Martian might be said to be about mortality and the triumph of the human spirit, but it’s not so focused on abstract concepts. The Martian is essentially about a potential future mission by NASA. It’s able to feel grounded because it is based on the current capabilities of the NASA space program.
The Martian is definitely a sci-fi movie, but only because what it something taking place in a future not yet reached. But in essence it has more in common with a true life drama like Apollo 13. I definitely had similar feelings about both films. It has been noted before that you may be more excited by Apollo 13 if you are not already fully informed on the real life story. The Martian benefits from Ridley Scott’s exciting visual presentation, our lack of familiarity with the idea of being trapped on a planet, but mostly from the colourful characters.
The most exciting character is obviously Matt Damon’s protagonist, but Jeff Daniels and Sean Bean are also great. I found Benedict Wong great as the head of the engineering team and Donald Glover has a small but memorable role as a NASA problem solver.
The Martian is an emotional rollercoaster, a comedy, a drama and a remarkably realistic and grounded story about a NASA mission that is, for now, beyond our capabilities.
