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Best Movies of 2015

Dec 22, 2015#1

Charlie Don't Surf

The yin to the other thread's yang.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_in_film#2015_films here could be a start for stuff that's been released! I'm far from finished watching movies this year, but here is my top 5 (out of 32 so far)

5) Furious 7
4) The Revenant
3) Mad Max Fury Road
2) Magic Mike XXL
1) The Man From UNCLE

Dec 22, 2015#2

bhamv3

I've only seen Furious 7 among these movies, but I'm not sure it should be counted as one of the year's best. It's a thrilling movie, sure, but the plot holes, oh god the plot holes.

For my part, among the movies I've seen that were released this year, I'd say I liked Inside Out best.

Dec 22, 2015#3

Hailey Knight

My top 5 theater-going experiences this year were:

1. Mad Max: Fury Road
2. Mad Max: Fury Road
3. Mad Max: Fury Road
4. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
5. Mad Max: Fury Road

I didn't include one of the times we saw Mad Max: Fury Road because of the morons who brought a baby to the loud R-rated movie.

Dec 22, 2015#4

Dave

Magic Mike at #2? Really?

Dec 22, 2015#5

Charlie Don't Surf

Dave said:
Magic Mike at #2? Really?

Really. It's a pretty great and unique* movie

*yea, even compared to the first one[DOUBLEPOST=1450802266,1450802210][/DOUBLEPOST]

Zero Esc said:
My top 5 theater-going experiences this year were:

1. Mad Max: Fury Road
2. Mad Max: Fury Road
3. Mad Max: Fury Road
4. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
5. Mad Max: Fury Road

I didn't include one of the times we saw Mad Max: Fury Road because of the morons who brought a baby to the loud R-rated movie.

I was going to make a joke that half of the "top 5s" will be multiple listings of Mad Max and Star Wars, lol

Dec 22, 2015#6

Dave

I find your list suspect. No "Inside Out", no "The Martian", no "Shaun the Sheep", no "What We Do in the Shadows".

I would think there are several better movies than Magic Mike XXL. I'll admit I didn't see it, but it even has a 63% Rotten Tomatoes score. You may be the only person in the world to have that in your top 5.

Dec 22, 2015#7

Charlie Don't Surf

Dave said:
I find your list suspect. No "Inside Out", no "The Martian", no "Shaun the Sheep", no "What We Do in the Shadows".

I would think there are several better movies than Magic Mike XXL. I'll admit I didn't see it, but it even has a 63% Rotten Tomatoes score. You may be the only person in the world to have that in your top 5.

I haven't seen any of those 4 yet! but 3 of them are on my list (sorry sheep movie).

but a few other people really loved Magic Mike XXL, here's a quote from a favorite review of mine: http://letterboxd.com/labuzamovies/film/magic-mike-xxl/

But no sequence feels more revelatory than a long digression into a Southern mansion run by Jada-Pickett Smith. At her mansion, female "queens" line the rooms as strippers improvise their balletic choreography, occasionally picking women from the sidelines to indulge in the feeling of truly being pleased. However, this sequence is probably most notable that beyond Mike and his gang, all the strippers and clientele are black. And they are beautiful. Shooting on RED, Jacobs and Soderbergh scale the entire sequence on a blue and red color grade, eliminating the yellows that were key to distinguishing whiteness in 35mm (and which Soderbergh has used to distinguish blackness in the race-conscious The Knick). Everything in the frame takes on purple qualities, making each man and woman look gorgeous. Digital photography has often been spoken of as a medium better for capturing night than day, but rarely have I seen it used for the way it can correct the injustice of 35mm's treatment of black bodies (the only other example that pops to mind is the "Diamonds" sequence in Girlhood). The ability to use lighting to highlight the beauty of black bodies returns in the finale, as Tatum and African American Stephen Boss create a mirror image on stage—these bodies are entirely equal in talent and sexuality. Everyone is beautiful in Magic Mike XXL, regardless of sex, gender, race, body type, orientation. This is perhaps the most revolutionary act of a mainstream summer movie in years.

Dec 22, 2015#8

Dei

I didn't see Shaun the Sheep but both of my kids and my parents hated it. Which doesn't mean much really, but *shrug*

Dec 22, 2015#9

Charlie Don't Surf

also rotten tomatoes scores are almost as worthless to me as IMDB ratings. miss me with that

Dec 22, 2015#10

strawman

Charlie Don't Surf said:
the injustice of 35mm's treatment of black bodies

Click to expand...

That rather neatly explains your ranking.

Dec 22, 2015#11

Charlie Don't Surf

stienman said:
That rather neatly explains your ranking.

here's the other part of the review that explains that statement, i dunno if the links will carry over right

"In the history of photography and film, getting the right image meant getting ones that conformed to the prevalent ideas of humanity. This included whiteness, of what colour—what range of hue—white people wanted white people to be....Movie lighting assume, privilege, and construct whiteness" —Richard Dyer,"Lighting For Whiteness"
The history of Hollywood in many ways is the history of the construction of whiteness. This goes beyond simply films that have depicted African Americans in stereotypes or margnizaled their roles in cinema but its material essence: celluloid was developed to favor light skin tones to dark skin tones. "In black-and-white films, cinematographers usually took white skin as the norm, employing lighting and laboratory practices that could reliably produce a certain image of whiteness," Patrick Keating argues. When Technicolor came along, its three hues were designed to capture white actors who had makeup to create "exotic" depictions of race than those with naturally darker pigmentation. When Lena Horne appeared in her first film, MGM developed a special "Light Egyptian" makeup to push her toward whiteness, and thus "beauty" as cinema's own materials had determined. As Genevieve Yue's work on the "China Girl" phenomenon has shown, whiteness is in the DNA of 35mm.

Dec 22, 2015#12

PatrThom

FWIW, I thought Fifth Element was an absolutely brilliant movie, but not because of the plot, it was because of the cinematography, the art direction, etc.
So I can understand why someone might think MMXXL is "a great movie" but still only give it a 70%.

--Patrick

Dec 22, 2015#13

Dave

But #2 for the year?!? Shenanigans!

Dec 22, 2015#14

Hailey Knight

Charlie Don't Surf said:
I was going to make a joke that half of the "top 5s" will be multiple listings of Mad Max and Star Wars, lol

I considered having a disclaimer that I haven't seen The Hateful 8 yet, but since it doesn't actually go wide release until January 8 and my locals aren't selected for special Christmas screenings, that'll have to wait.

I wanted to see The Man from UNCLE, was going to go when my dad visited, but then I thought he'd rather spend time with me conversing and hanging out instead of going to the movies. I was wrong.

Dec 22, 2015#15

blotsfan

I haven't seen Magic Mike XXL, but Charlie is not the first person I've heard speak of it that highly.

I've only seen 3 movies from this year so...
1. Star Wars
2. Mad Max
3. Avengers

I know Mad Max is a better movie, but I'm a complete sucker for Star Wars. I want to see Chiraq and Hateful 8, but I think I already missed my chance with the former, and the latter won't be here until 2016 I think.

Dec 22, 2015#16

Hailey Knight

I think a few of us here have the "too few movies" issue for 2015, so that between top 5 and bottom 5 there's bound to be some unintended overlap.

Dec 23, 2015#17

Frank

Charlie Don't Surf said:
The yin to the other thread's yang.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_in_film#2015_films here could be a start for stuff that's been released! I'm far from finished watching movies this year, but here is my top 5 (out of 32 so far)

5) Furious 7
4) The Revenant
3) Mad Max Fury Road
2) Magic Mike XXL
1) The Man From UNCLE

Man from UNCLE? I liked it but it it really didn't do much for me otherwise. Curious why it's your favorite.

My list (missing The Hateful Eight, which probably would land on my list knowing how much I love Tarantino movies, but I just haven't seen it yet)

1. Mad Max (I've literally watched this six times since my first screening)
2. Creed
3. Ex Machina
4. Spy
5. Sicario

Dec 23, 2015#18

Charlie Don't Surf

It's just a really well-executed throwback sexy spy story. It was a perfect homage without treating the audience like an idiot. If we have to have endless remakes and reboots, it was the platonic ideal of how to make one and still have fun.

Dec 24, 2015#19

Jax

Hmmm, I'm not even sure I have seen that many new movies this year.. Most were very enjoyable, but I wouldn't exactly call them top-op-the-list good (Furious 7, Spectre, Avengers, etc.). Although I could make a top 3 of sorts (no idea on the order though):

The Martian
Inside Out
Kingsman (it came out in 2015 here, so I'm counting it

)

Dec 24, 2015#20

Charlie Don't Surf

Kingsman came out in February here

Dec 24, 2015#21

Tress

Here's my "Wow, I have VERY different tastes from the rest of you" list.

It Follows
Southpaw
Victor Frankenstein
Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl
Paper Towns
American Ultra

Disclaimer: I see a lot of movies, but I sometimes miss big ones like The Martian. There may be better movies that I just haven't watched yet.

Dec 24, 2015#22

Cajungal

Loooooove It Follows.

Dec 24, 2015#23

Hailey Knight

A number of well-spoken for horror movies came out this year that I've yet to see. It Follows, Goodnight Mommy, and Krampus are movies I have to make efforts for sometime soon.

Dec 24, 2015#24

Frank

It Follows was probably number 6 on my list.

Dec 24, 2015#25

GasBandit

I'm not sure I saw 5 movies this year... uhhh...

Well, Mad Max, obviously.
Inside Out was really good.
I really liked Ant Man.
Kingsman was good too
The Martian was well done.

Well, what do you know, I did see some movies this year.

Honorable mentions go to Straight Outta Compton and Star Wars.

And yes, all of those were better than Star Wars IMO. The above were all 4 stars, Star Wars was a solid 3.

Dec 25, 2015#26

Krisken

You thought Antman was better than Star Wars? Wow. I liked it ok initially but after thinking on it a lot of the story really didn't hold up for me.

Dec 25, 2015#27

IronBrig4

My top 5, in no particular order.

Star Wars - will see it twice before the year's out
Ant-Man - saw it three times
The Martian - it's not often you see a sci-fi movie that ISN'T set in a crapsack future
Avengers 2 - three times here too
Inside Out - saw it twice and will get on blu-ray

Dec 26, 2015#28

Dei

Krisken said:
You thought Antman was better than Star Wars? Wow. I liked it ok initially but after thinking on it a lot of the story really didn't hold up for me.

I think Ant Man beats Star Wars for me too, but mostly because Force Awakens was just too unoriginal. I'll forgive it if the next movie is awesome, but I'm still I the fence with how I feel about it.

Dec 26, 2015#29

Krisken

The more I thought about Antman the more frustrated I got. I'm not going to ruin it for anyone but there is a lot of sexism and inconsistencies in the story

Dec 26, 2015#30

Dei

If Force Awakens had been a stand alone movie not tied to another popular franchise, I might have liked it better. As it was, I could mostly predict it lockstep, so I liked it less than I might have.

Dec 26, 2015#31

Ravenpoe

These are my top 5 movies of the year (note: the 5 I most enjoyed, not necessarily the 5 I think are best)

5: Creed
4: Kingsmen
3: Straight Outta Compton
2: Mad Max: Fury Road
1: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Do I think The Force Awakens was the best movie of those 5? No. Do I think those 5 were the best overall of the year? Not necessarily. But they brought me the most enjoyment. I also don't see a lot of movies, and haven't yet seen The Martian or The Hateful Eight, though I'm willing to bet I would love both.

Dec 31, 2015#32

Charlie Don't Surf

Here's my final list I guess, I probably won't squeeze another in today before the new year clicks over. Although I'll still see some 2015 releases, no doubt in my mind.

1.Creed ★★★★★
2.The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ★★★★½
3.Mad Max: Fury Road ★★★★½
4.Bridge of Spies ★★★★½
5.Magic Mike XXL ★★★★
6.Crimson Peak ★★★★
7.Spotlight ★★★★
8.The Revenant ★★★★
9.The Hateful Eight ★★★★
**LINE OF GREAT**
10.Jupiter Ascending ★★★★½
11.Kingsman: The Secret Service ★★★½
12.Furious 7 ★★★★
13.Ant-Man ★★★½
14.The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water ★★★★
15.San Andreas ★★★
16.Spy ★★★½
17.Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation ★★★
18.Sicario ★★★½
19.A Deadly Adoption ★★★★
**LINE OF REALLY GOOD AND FUN**
20.Star Wars: The Force Awakens ★★★
21.The Last Five Years ★★★½
22.Trainwreck ★★½
23.American Ultra ★★★
24.The Transporter Refueled ★★★
25.Poltergeist ★★★½
26.Avengers: Age of Ultron ★★½
27.Pitch Perfect 2 ★★½
28.Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 ★★★
29.Mortdecai ★★½
**LINE OF MEDIOCRE**
30.Ted 2 ★★
31.The Boy Next Door ★★★
32.Fantastic Four ★½
33.Hitman: Agent 47 ★★½
**LINE OF BAD**
34.The Gallows ★½
35.Hot Tub Time Machine 2 ★½
36.Aloha ★½
37.Taken 3 ★★
38.Terminator Genisys ★★
39.Jurassic World ★½
40.Minions ★
**LINE OF JUST ENTIRELY WORTHLESS**

Dec 31, 2015#33

Cajungal

One of my favorite podcast people was in A Deadly Adoption! I watched it just because of him--the wife's food stand assistant guy, whatever his name was. Bryan Safi. I love him.

Dec 31, 2015#34

BErt

I was gonna chime in here earlier, but I have no concept of time anymore and didn't want to look stupid on a couple of my picks. I wasn't sure if they came out this year or last. But since they showed up on other peoples lists, I'm doing this:

5) It Follows
4) Kingsmen
3)Creed
2) Mad Max
1) Star Wars

...there were just a lot of incredible movies this year, I think we all win.

Dec 31, 2015#35

Piotyr

I saw 7 movies with my son this year and didn't really dislike any of them (I generally will only go to a movie if I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy the experience). My 7 in order of enjoyment:

1. Creed
2. The Force Awakens
3. Inside Out
4. Ant Man
5. Jurassic World
6. Peanuts movie
7. Minions

Son's list in order:
1. Minions
2. Peanuts
3. Ant Man
4. Creed
5. The Force Awakens
6. Inside Out
7. Jurassic World

Dec 31, 2015#36

SpecialKO

Top 5, from the top

Mad Max
The Martian
Straight Outta Compton
Furious 7
The Man From UNCLE

Honorable mentions, no order

Mission Impossible 5
Spectre
Mockingjay Pt. 2
Star Wars

Enjoyed, but heck no are they "top movies", no order

Pitch Perfect 2
Kingsman
Jupiter Ascending
Antman
Avengers 2
Trainwreck
Jurassic World
Taken 3

Films that I want to see but I haven't gotten around to yet:

Creed
Inside Out
Ex Machina
Mr. Holmes
The Assassin
Beasts Of No Nation
Spy
Victor Frankenstein
The Hateful 8
The Revenant
Crimson Peak
San Andreas

Dec 31, 2015#37

Hailey Knight

You guys saw so many movies this year.

Jan 1, 2016#38

Frank

Yes

Jan 3, 2016#39

bhamv3

Charlie Don't Surf said:
14.The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water ★★★★

I'd be interested in hearing a more in-depth review of this movie, if you have the time and inclination.

Jan 3, 2016#40

Jay

1. Mad Max
2. The Martian
3. Star Wars
4. Furious 7
5. Mission Impossible.

I only saw these movies I think.

Jan 4, 2016#41

General Specific

So here is my top list of all the movies I saw this year, in order:

1) Star Wars: The Force Awakens
2) Avengers 2: Age of Ultron

Don't really have a lot of disposable income right now, so I will probably see Antman, Mad Max, and some of the others later on.

Jan 4, 2016#42

fade

Everyone's list lines up pretty neatly with what they like and dislike in other arenas around here. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The one that keeps surprising me is Kingsmen. That really seems like the kind of movie the internet usually trashes, but it didn't for some reason.

No list from me. I saw like 3 new movies this year (Star Wars, Minions (I have kids), and The Night Before (I had a pass)). Too busy at work.

Jan 4, 2016#43

Charlie Don't Surf

bhamv3 said:
I'd be interested in hearing a more in-depth review of this movie, if you have the time and inclination.

I haven't been ignoring this, I'm just not sure what to say. I mean, it's a really hilarious and visually inventive animated movie. The plot isn't really more than a long TV episode, but it does a good job with its gimmick of "going out of water". Also, as a kids' movie, it has a really simple/sweet message that it drums on over and over and over. The ending action sequence is really fun, and reminds of the best parts of Fantastic Four/The Avengers/The Incredibles as far as superhero team-ups go.

Also Antonio Banderas is more than game and his parts could have come off as time-padding in a lesser actor's hands. But he really goes for it and nails the tone of the show/movie.

Jan 9, 2016#44

Frank

Frank said:
Man from UNCLE? I liked it but it it really didn't do much for me otherwise. Curious why it's your favorite.

My list (missing The Hateful Eight, which probably would land on my list knowing how much I love Tarantino movies, but I just haven't seen it yet)

1. Mad Max (I've literally watched this six times since my first screening)
2. Creed
3. Ex Machina
4. Spy
5. Sicario

The 2015 list is now:

1. Mad Max
2. Hateful Eight
3. Creed
4. Ex Machina
5. Spy

Love love loved the Hateful Eight. Tarantino makes the most exquisitely crafted shlock.

Jennifer Jason Leigh is a God damn delight in the film.

Jan 12, 2016#45

Dave

Got some bad news. George Miller has said he's not doing any more Mad Max movies.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/201...nt-do-any-more-mad-max-films?CMP=share_btn_fb

Jan 12, 2016#46

Hailey Knight

Dave said:
Got some bad news. George Miller has said he's not doing any more Mad Max movies.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/201...nt-do-any-more-mad-max-films?CMP=share_btn_fb

Well damn. I understand his reasons, especially at his age. The article's sense of contradiction is off though--Miller wouldn't be "letting" anyone. It's up to Warner Bros if they want to make more movies.

Jan 12, 2016#47

Frank

He's 70 and shat all over every other action movie made in the last decade. He can do whatever he wants.

Jan 13, 2016#48

Hailey Knight

The Hateful Eight is only playing in one theater nearby and this is its last weekend.

Well, I know what I'm doing on Saturday.

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