2015: a year that was talked up as the biggest ever for movies, and boy did it live up to its name. Bigger may not have always equated to better, but it’s hard to deny the sheer scale and breadth of what Hollywood has churned out in this modern age of the mega-blockbuster. Despite the ongoing threat of digital streaming services, 2015 was a year that saw several box office records tumble, including some from rather unlikely sources. It was a year that saw three long absent franchises resurrected (with varying degrees of success), and gave us the triumphant return of Pixar following a year long hiatus. Some highly anticipated sequels disappointed, while others blew our collective minds.
So what better way to close out an epic year at the cinema than with an epic list. What follows is by no means definitive, but rather a list of the films we most enjoyed at the cinema in 2015, and would probably watch again at home. The ones that made us laugh, cry, and sometimes even let out a little bit of wee.
10. EX-MACHINA
This was the film that benefitted most from strong word of mouth this year, gaining acclaim from both critics and audiences alike which gave it life well beyond its cinema run. Like the best Sci-Fi films, its small and intimate in its execution and structure, but big on ideas and moral questions. In the first of their on screen pairings this year, Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson made for great opposing leads, and Alicia Vikander proved once again that she’s one of the hottest talents going around right now (in more ways than one). It also contained perhaps the best (if not the strangest) dance sequences of the year…
9. IT FOLLOWS
The success of It Follows shows that audiences are still hungry for effective, original horror that isn’t simply wall to wall torture porn and fake CG scares. Director David Robert Mitchell wore his 80s influences on his bloody sleeve in this twisted suburban fable about a group of teenagers who pay the ultimate price for their promiscuity. Such was the film’s strong word of mouth, distributors in the U.S. were forced to rethink their limited theatrical run and delay the VOD release in favour of a wider theatrical run. Whilst in Australia, cinemas may not have shown the film at all, were it not for the sheer volume of patrons who begged them to do so. You might say Australian distributors were plagued by their own frightening, unstoppable force: horror fans.
8. ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL
We’ll admit, we initially wrote off Me and Earl and the Dying Girl based off the knowingly hip title alone, assuming it would basically just be a hipster version of The Fault in Our Stars. But, as it’s Grand Jury Prize win at the Sundance film festival soon showed, this indie coming of age dramedy was the real deal. Filled with realistically drawn teen characters, witty dialogue, genuine emotion, and a killer Hugh Jackman cameo, its the kind of film that kick starts careers, and director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon has certainly proved he’s more than just a Wes Anderson wannabe. But the highlight has to be Greg and Earl’s home made movies within the movie, which we catch fleeting glimpses of and feature such genius mash ups such as A Sockwork Orange, and Senior Citizen Kane. Your average viewer mightn’t have picked up on this plethora of cinematic easter eggs, but for diehard film buffs it was pure genius.
7. SICARIO
Watching Sicario in the cinema this year was a uniquely intense experience. A combination of stunning visuals, foreboding music, and powerful performances all added up to a nearly flawless film that managed to successfully build tension over it’s almost two hour running time without barely pausing for breath. In a year filled with strong female characters, Emily Blunt was one of the very best, and Benicio Del Toro has never been scarier as the shady Alejandro whom the audience never fully understands. Denis Villeneuve’s film was more interested in moral shades of grey rather than good versus evil, and nowhere was this more prevalent than in the film’s most thrilling action sequence: involving some black SUVs, gridlocked traffic, and one incredibly intense stand off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU9L_MAfp3c
6. BRIDGE OF SPIES
Spielberg and Hanks: When you see these names together on a project, you know you’re in the hands of experienced filmmakers, watching their movies almost feels like meeting up with old friends, friends you know you can rely on to never change. Everything about Bridge of Spies felt suitably old school, from the slowish pace to the lengthy passages of dialogue. There were few explosions, no city wide destruction, just realistic characters and an engaging story that was well executed. It was almost like Spielberg and Hanks were taking us back to an era of film that has long since past, and boy did we enjoy the history lesson.
5. THE MARTIAN
The success of The Martian can be attributed to three essential ingredients: A clever script be Drew Goddard, the assured direction of Ridley Scott, and the charisma of the ever-reliable Matt Damon. We’ve seen a few space-set survival stories in the last few years, but unlike Gravity and Interstellar, The Martian never takes itself too seriously. Just when we think things couldn’t get any bleaker for our protagonist, Matt Damon goes and cracks one liner that not only relieves tension for the audience, but also functions as a coping mechanism for his character. The other hero of the film is the science, which always sits just the right side of believable, never veering off into the ridiculous territory we’ve seen in so many other Sci-Fi films. The icing on the space cake are the hilarious disco hits sprinkled throughout the film (thank you Guardians of the Galaxy), all adding up to one of the more effortlessly entertaining films of the year.
4. KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE
Coming out quite early in the year, Kingsmen got the jump on the other big spy franchises, and lovingly took the piss out the genre whilst providing some hilariously deranged action sequences in the process. With a cast including a breakthrough performances from Taron Egerton, and a side of Colin Firth we’ve not yet seen, its clear director Matthew Vaughn had the time of his life making it. In fact, it’s almost a miracle a film as un-PC as this managed to slip past the censors unscathed, the church sequence in particular being one of the most violent ones you’re ever likely to see in a mainstream film, but thank god it happened.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G_siVTTJO4
3. INSIDE OUT
Pixar returned with their most adult film to date, where the stars of the show were no longer cute cars or cuddly monsters, but human emotions. We gave it a big fat YES when it was first released back in June, and we’re still yet to find a single movie fan who hasn’t enjoyed it. The genius of Inside Out is that works on two levels: a story of two enemies who learn to become friends during a shared journey through a strange and colourful world, whilst at the same time being an in depth lesson in psychology and learning to embrace change in our lives. Pretty heavy stuff for little ones!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzRfeH0EOy4
2. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Where the hell did this come from? Thirty years after the dust settled on Beyond Thunderdome, and after years of scheduling delays, director George Miller thrust us back into his post apocalyptic world of the Wasteland as if no time had passed. With a generous budget, more toys, and a bigger sandbox than ever before, Fury Road was the action adrenaline shot we needed in 2015, in a time when filmmaking is becoming predictable and basic visual storytelling is thrown out in favour shaky cameras and chaotic editing. Which isn’t to say the film isn’t chaotic, it’s about as bat shit crazy as you can conceivably get away with in a Hollywood blockbuster, and that’s exactly why it was so refreshing. Choosing an action highlight is an almost impossible task, as the whole film is essentially one big car chase, but its hard to go past the brilliantly demented sandstorm sequence that occurs towards the end of the first act.
“What a day! What a lovely day!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr6wdTPGFmI
1. STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
Surprise, surprise…the film that sat atop our most anticipated films list all year ends up taking out the top spot by a parsec or two. All the positive early signs were there, and while no film could ever live up to the ridiculous amounts of hype, The Force Awakens delivered on it’s promise: practical effects, interesting new characters, knowing nods to what has come before. It gave us one of the series best action sequences, provided some of its biggest laughs, and flawed us with its most tragic death to date.
Was the Force Awakens flawless? No. Did it match up to the original trilogy? Not quite. But you’d be hard pressed to find a more enjoyable two a bit hours in a cinema. Most importantly, it felt like a Star Wars film, something the prequels never achieved, and it introduced some tantalising new story threads that have us positively frothing for Episode VIII. Bring on 2017!
And our worst films of the year?
JUPITER ASCENDING
Channing Tatum as a space elf, an ultra camp Eddie Redmayne, and a completely nonsensical plot. Even if this isn’t meant to be taken seriously, it still doesn’t make it any easier to watch.
FANTASTIC 4
With a single tweet, director Josh Trank severed his ties with this train wreck of a film, and left the film world scratching their heads asking one simple question: What went wrong? Fantastic 4 certainly isn’t the worst comic book movie ever made, but it may just be the dullest.
ALOHA
On paper it looked like a sure fire hit: a talented director, a strong cast, all based on a successful book. What followed was a self indulgent, ill-conceived mess.
What were your favourite films of the year? Let us know in the comments section below.