The year that was, 2015, is coming to a close at the stroke of midnight tonight. For those of us that write about films, it is time to look back and count down our favorite movies of the year. Like the ball dropping in Times Square at midnight, we too will embark on our own little ticking off the numbers until we get to the number one.
So without further ado, here are The Movie Mensch’s Top 15 of 2015.
15. Kingsman: The Secret Service
Matthew Vaughn has always said that he wanted to make a James Bond movie, well he did one better in that Kingsman: The Secret Service is much more original than any film franchise could be that is working on its twentieth-something title. Besides introducing the world to the wildly talented Taron Egerton, the film featured an unlikely action hero in Colin Firth and one of the most villainous performances of the year from Samuel L. Jackson.
Then, there’s the story — a wild idea taken from the graphic novel of the same name. It promises to be a franchise all its own, thanks to sublimely executed direction by Vaughn, a fantastic tale that thrills until the bitter end and action sequences shot unlike anything we’ve seen in this spy genre in… well, forever.
14. Carol
Never been the biggest Todd Haynes fan, but boy oh boy did he get us with the incredibly lush Carol. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara play a couple finding love in the 1950s, not exactly the most accepting of times for anyone finding hearts beating for the same sex. Haynes tells the story in rich artistic strokes that pays a fantastic tribute to the book by Patricia Highsmith, who based it on her own experiences.
Blanchett and Mara both deserve to be Oscar nominees and what strikes us most about Carol is how we would be hard pressed to find a more powerful and engaging love story in 2015. It is beyond beautiful. It is supremely powerful and although gay rights have come far since the 1950s, it is still a stark reminder that we still have a ways to go until equality for all is truly equal.
13. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Sure, the story reminds us wholeheartedly of Episode IV. But, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, aka Episode VII, manages to pay tribute to the original George Lucas legend while still chartering some new territory — most notably by introducing new characters that are instantly iconic.
J.J. Abrams turned out to be the perfect person to direct the latest Star Wars film and the most masterful achievement of all, it turns out, is his hiring of co-screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan. The man who gave us the best Star Wars movie of all, The Empire Strikes Back, clearly understands the tone, the tenor and the power of what a great Star Wars film can be. They managed to give us a two-hour-plus thrill ride that has us eagerly anticipating Episode VIII… yes, just like Episode IV had us clamoring for Episode V.
12. Straight Outta Compton
Casting is key in any filmmaking endeavor, but especially in a biopic. It turns out the greatest gift to hip hop fans, and specifically NWA fans, was who was chosen to play the revolutionary leaders of “the world’s most dangerous band.” Straight Outta Compton also could have not done better with who was chosen to craft the tale, director F. Gary Gray. Not only did Gray wholeheartedly understand the stakes of telling this tale (after all, you only get one chance with a biopic to get it right), but he managed to take and epic and almost Shakespearean story of vast scope and orchestrate it into a two-hour opus that had us wanting to see it again, and again, and again.
Casting Ice Cube’s son as the famed rapper who penned F the Police may have seemed like a no-brainer. But, in hindsight, that could have gone either way. O’Shea Jackson captured the presence and the nuances of his father in a way that was electric. But, the scene-stealer in this hip hop history lesson is Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E. He will break your heart, and in the best of ways.
11. Sicario
Drug cartel stories can be a dime a dozen in Hollywood. Yet, there was something truly extraordinary about the Emily Blunt-Josh Brolin-Benicio Del Toro starring Sicario.
The film managed to show that there is no winner, only losers, in this so-called war on drugs. It also illustrated that our government will make alliances with some shady people, all in the name of securing victories — that in the end feel more hallow than hail-able. Both Blunt and Del Toro deserve Oscar nods and frankly, although we worry he won’t even be nominated, Del Toro deserves the win.
10. The Hateful Eight
Forget the over three-hour running time. Time flies when watching Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, an epic Western told on the grandest scale in 70mm. The auteur’s latest film may feel small to some, it mostly takes place in one locale. Yet, its pot boiler nature will tear the roof and walls off the place in a manner that is pure QT.
The Hateful Eight also manages to be two quite unique things. It is a story that is set in the years following the Civil War, which is as relevant to today’s race relations as could be. Tarantino also manages to craft a Murder on the Orient Express type of thriller where each person is clearly not who they say they are. The director then allows his audience to figure out the what’s what of the story just as the characters themselves do too.
9. Creed
Who would have thought that the seventh film in the Rocky series would triumph? Ryan Coogler directs (and co-wrote the script) his Fruitvale Station star Michael B. Jordan in a film that tugs at the heartstrings of the audiences, while simultaneously having them cheering in the aisles, pumping their collective fists in the air.
Sylvester Stallone also does the best acting of his career and we would bet the farm that he will hear his name for Best Supporting Actor when Oscar nominations are announced in January. Creed also sets up the decades-old franchise for future chapters and we, for one, cannot wait to see where the series dares to go next.
8. Brooklyn
Brooklyn is not only a love letter to the famed borough of New York City, it is a love letter to the American dream. Saoirse Ronan mesmerizes as an Irish immigrant who comes to 1950s America for a better life, only to find challenges that she could never have foreseen.
But, she also finds her courage, her purpose, a brighter future… and love. John Crowley expertly directs this tale with both power and lightheartedness that is captured with a perfect tone. It is worthy of an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Will it get it? We’re not so sure. But one thing is certain, Brooklyn should be on everyone’s must-see lists of films that gave our emotions a thrill ride in 2015.
7. The Martian
It takes a special movie star to be able to anchor a film where much of the time, they are spent in solitary. In The Martian, Matt Damon joins the ranks of those who can command an audience’s attention (like Tom Hanks on Cast Away) as an astronaut who is stranded on the Red Planet and left for dead by his crew after they leave for an emergency evacuation. The film truly takes off when Damon emerges from the red dusty landscape and, surprise (!), he’s alive!
Ridley Scott triumphs in directing his best film in decades. What else is masterful is how the film grows to become an ensemble piece in its final act as it takes a village (so to speak) to bring Damon’s character home alive. The Martian is a glorious piece of filmmaking on every level.
6. Steve Jobs
We wish more had seen Steve Jobs. Universal gave up on its film and pulled it from thousands of theaters and probably cost the Danny Boyle film, based on an Aaron Sorkin script, a chance at a Best Picture nod and potential victory. The film follows Steve Jobs and three of his biggest product launches. It’s an impeccable three-act structure that shows off the filmmaking talents of Boyle, the word wizardry of Sorkin and the thespian triumphs of the cast.
Michael Fassbender is brilliant as Steve Jobs and he is surrounded by a cast that is beyond spectacular, particularly Jeff Daniels and Kate Winslet. See. This. Movie.
5. Inside Out
Pixar does it again with Inside Out and entertains us, while also enthralling us and making us weep like little babies in the best of ways.
Who knew that the story of the primary emotions inside a 12-year-old girl’s head would be so compelling? Again, casting is king as Amy Poehler dazzles as Joy, Phyllis Smith is sensational as Sadness, Mindy Kaling is divine as Disgust, Bill Hader is fantastic as fear and Lewis Black is awesome as Anger. Could this be the year where the Best Animated Feature Oscar winner also gets a nod for Best Picture? Yes, why yes it is.
4. The Big Short
Adam McKay has made us laugh and has a gift for eliciting that emotional response to his films (Anchorman, Step Brothers, The Other Guys). He may have seemed the most unlikely of persons to tackle something as complicated as exactly how the U.S. (and world) economy almost completely collapsed in 2008 due to the housing market. But, with humor firmly in hand and a tongue-in-cheek take on the terrors that befell us all financially, McKay crafted The Big Short and made something that is so inaccessible, completely accessible.
Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, Brad Pitt and Christian Bale are the four horsemen of McKay’s financial apocalypse, but the star here isn’t necessarily the astounding acting. It is the story and how it’s told. The Big Short is brilliant. The Big short is stunning. And most of all, believe it or not, The Big Short is wildly entertaining.
3. Room
As much as Brie Larson is a force of nature in Room, the actor who plays her son (Jacob Tremblay) in this drama that you will never, ever, forget is almost even more of the powerhouse.
Larson portrays Ma, a woman who was kidnapped as a 17-year-old, who becomes pregnant two years into her captivity. Suddenly, her world becomes about protecting her son and ensuring that this Room is seen by him as the only thing in the universe. After five years, she realizes she needs to undo all of that if she and her boy have any chance of escaping. Room is a stunning piece of filmmaking that will haunt you immensely, long after the credits roll.
2. Spotlight
Spotlight chronicles how a team of journalists for the Boston Globe uncovered the Catholic Church pedophile scandal that rocked the institution to its core. The ensemble cast, led by Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams, astounds in bringing this real journalism tale to life. It is as much a salute to old-school, investigative journalism, as it is an indictment on one of society’s religious pillars and how they covered up the most repulsive of crimes.
Spotlight also is a film that is a slow, but sure, boil. By the time the (expletive) hits the fan, the audience will simultaneously want to cheer for justice and cry for the victims.
1. Mad Max; Fury Road
The fourth installment of a franchise about the world after an apocalypse is the best picture of the year? Yes, it is and the moment we walked out of the theater back in May, we kind of knew it.
Mad Max: Fury Road is on one hand a triumph of a feminist tale about women and the power they inhabit, simply by creating life and their ability to go to the ends of the earth to protect that virtuous gift. It also is an action movie of the highest order that features a faulty hero (Max, played impeccably by Tom Hardy) who rallies to help those who are on the side of right in a battle against those who are beyond in the wrong. What else makes Mad Max: Fury Road such a triumph is that George Miller has crafted a film that can been seen repeatedly, and each time the viewer will take away something different. Whatever road Mad Max goes down next, we are sure to follow.