The Young Folks’ Best Movies of 2015

The Young Folks team has come together to list the very best in entertainment and pop culture for the year 2015!

2015 was a wonderfully eclectic year in movies. We got two of the biggest movies ever: Jurassic World and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. We got an array of groundbreaking and heart-pounding independent films, like Ex Machina, Carol and Room. We got everything in between from the hyper-stylized Mad Max: Fury Road to a new Quentin Tarantino film. It has been a great and fun year at the movies.

Click through the slideshow to see which films we named the best of the year. Let us know what your favorite films of 2015 were in the comments.

Gabrielle Bondi’s Top 10 Movies of 2015

Here is the usual disclaimer that I haven’t seen all of the movies that 2015 has to offer, but most of what I have seen has been great, proving that 2015 has been another solid year for cinema. These are the 10 movies that personally moved and entertained me the most.

10. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I’m suppressing rolling my eyes at myself for including the new Star Wars movie, which is far from perfect. It has some big flaws, but I can’t deny how much I love watching it. The new characters are so much fun, and this movie gave me an awesome female character like Rey, who completely blew me away in one of the end scenes.

9. Mad Max: Fury Road

This is another film that took me awhile to process and eventually realize just how much I loved it. Fast, ultra-stylish and purely badass, George Miller’s return to Mad Max was well worth the wait and all of those Happy Feet movies.

8. Phoenix

Phoenix has one of the most powerful and satisfying final scenes of the year. The slow and haunting emotional build makes the end so effective and unforgettable.

7. Ex Machina

This film took awhile for me to really love. At first, I didn’t find it all that groundbreaking, but after a second watch and thinking about some specific moments from the film, Ex Machina is amazing. Living in a time where the line between humanity and technology continues to get blurrier, it does what most science fiction films should do, challenging the way we live and explore what happens when things are taken a little bit too far.

6. Room

A simply astonishing drama about how the power of love and faith in one another can make people survive the most awful situations. Jacob Tremblay is the standout here, playing a five-year-old whose world is harshly broken wide open. Tremblay brought so much nuance to a difficult role, while Brie Larson is heartbreaking as his mother, who made sure that her son’s worldview was not confined to the room they had been locked in for years.

5. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

This is a young adult movie, which most people seem to forget because Me and Earl is uniquely filmed, incredibly performed and genuinely moving and funny. Unfortunately, the bad stigma attached to YA adaptations seems to shutter the film out of the category. However, Me and Earl is what happens when you adapt YA fiction right. It makes you cry, laugh and think.

4. The End of the Tour

The End of the Tour is just the type of smart and unconventional drama that knows how to draw me in. Poignant and thought-provoking, Jason Segel transforms into David Foster Wallace, and we get glimpse into his thoughts about life, love, and humanity.

3. Spotlight

A sucker for newsroom dramas, I was bound to like Spotlight no matter what. Yet, the gripping thriller-like detective story at the heart of the film makes it exceptional. With incredible performances from the ensemble cast, the film treats the material properly with anger, frustration, sadness and even remorse. It’s the type of film that leaves you speechless by the enormity of their story and just how widely it reaches.

2. Brooklyn

Sweet and charming, Saoirse Ronan shines in this story about a girl moving across the Atlantic and feeling the pull of her home country and relishing the exciting opportunities in her new home. It showcases the type of classic romantic storytelling that makes me completely swoon. Boasted by lovely performances, Brooklyn is full of life, taking its time on long moments to remind us about the beauty of love and happiness.

1. Carol

This is one of the most beautiful movies I’ve ever seen. I didn’t think a movie would capture my heart more than Brooklyn did this year, but Carol did just that. It’s a fairly straightforward story that’s directed so immaculately, but the weight of the performances from Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara make Carol more than aesthetically stunning.

Honorable Mentions: The Big Short, The Revenant, Youth, Creed, Inside Out

Matt Goudreau’s Top 10 Movies of 2015

Much to my surprise, this has been a terrific year for movies. How great of a year has it been? To put things in perspective, I could have just as easily swapped out this entire list for ten new films. With that said, these are the movies that have stuck with me the most from 2015. I did my best to encompass as many different genres as I could. All of the movies on this list are films that stuck with me days after I had left the theater. My reasoning is different for every single one. It could be because of a performance, imagery, an emotional core, or a poignant message or theme. Without any further ado, I present my top 10 films of 2015.

10. Shaun the Sheep

9. What We Do in the Shadows

8. The End of the Tour

7. Sicario

6. Ex Machina

5. Love and Mercy

4. Spotlight

3. Room

2. Mad Max: Fury Road

1. Steve Jobs

Justin Carreiro’s Top 10 Movies of 2015

10. Goosebumps

If you’re a ‘90s kid like me, Goosebumps was the book to read and the TV series to watch. Since the book series has been adapted to one overall movie, it combines all of the elements fans love. There are plenty of references and characters from the book series for fans to embrace the heartwarming feeling, as well as a good plot for new fans to enjoy.

9. Avengers: Age of Ultron

Explosions! Superheroes! Expanded universe! There are a lot of great things for fans — Marvel or not — to enjoy in this flick.

8. Inside Out

Inside Out is a beautiful and touching film. The tears are real.

7. Spy

Spy features plenty of laughs and non-stop comedy gold from Melissa McCarthy. There needs to be a sequel to showcase more of her great one-liners.

6. The Final Girls

A woefully underrated and unseen horror movie, The Final Girls is a cheeky parody and gem for any horror movie fan. Not since Scream or The Cabin in the Woods has horror utilized the joke and concept of the “Final Girl” trope.

5. Paper Towns

Two words: Cara Delevingne!

4. Jurassic World

One word: dinosaurs! (I promise I will stop doing this.)

3. SPECTRE

James Bond’s latest adventure caps off the ending to a great story. While the theme song for SPECTRE isn’t as great as Skyfall, the rest of the film had some shining moments, like the return of the cast, the weapon-heavy 007 car and the entirety of the opening scene.

2. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

The force is strong with this film, and the return to the galaxy did not disappoint. After three, let’s say, debatable prequel films, it’s nice to see that the next sequel has learned from their lessons. Besides, all the new characters are a pleasant addition to the Star Wars universe.

1. Mad Max: Fury Road

Everything about this movie is epic! From the set designs to the character development and the cinematography, it all comes together as a masterpiece. As someone who went into the film a little unsure (I mean, it’s another post-apocalyptic movie and a cheesy Mad Max film,) all of my hesitations were quickly thrown out the door by Furiosa’s mechanical arm. She is a strong, powerful character and Mad Max: Fury Road is a beautiful film.

Ryan Gibbs’ Top 10 Movies of 2015

 

10. Inside Out

9. Amy

8. Slow West

7. What We Do in the Shadows

6. When Marnie Was There

5. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

4. The End of the Tour

3. Mad Max: Fury Road

2. Love & Mercy

1.Spotlight

Donald Strohman’s Top 10 Movies of 2015

10. Mad Max Fury Road

In an industry dominated by CGI, whether spectacular or cheap, it’s nice to see a studio return to more realistic effects.  Fury Road’s grand spectacle of satisfying action, well developed characters, and excellent cinematography more than make up for the film’s minor flaws.

9. Ant Man

When Edgar Wright left this project due to creative differences with Marvel, many speculated this to be the studio’s first bust.  However, both audiences and critics were surprised, as not only did Ant Man add another satisfying superhero to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but they even managed to turn the ability to shrink, something that many would consider a silly power, into one of epic proportions.

8. The Good Dinosaur

We’ve all seen the “journey back home” movie before, but none stuck with me as well as Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur in recent memory. The beautifully animated world sucks you in immediately, but the characters of Arlo and Spot is what keeps you there.  Thanks to the beautiful moments between them, I can easily say this is one of the year’s most underrated pieces.

7. Avengers Age of Ultron

How exactly do you top the extravaganza of the first Avengers film? By adding a much more intimidating villain and treating the characters like real people rather than blank gods.  Also, I’d be hard pressed not to admit the Hulkbuster scene tickled my nerdy side.

6. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

To be honest, very few of the Mission Impossible movies have ever caught my attention.  I remember seeing MI3 in a drive in, and getting bored very fast.  That all changed, however, with the introduction of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.  Who would’ve thought that this year’s Mission Impossible would even top last year’s grand effort? Ramping up the action, character development, and welcomed Simon Pegg-isms, Rogue Nation stands as one of the finest action sequels in recent memory.

5. Spotlight

Pedophilia in the church system is certainly a tricky subject to talk about in general, let alone in an entire film. Yet, Spotlight manages to delve into the uncomfortable subject matter with ease, and provides one of the most interesting true story films of the year.  Not to mention, well performed actors Mark Ruffalo and Michael Keaton are also a plus.

4. Bridge of Spies

Much like Spielberg’s earlier film Lincoln, you shouldn’t go in expecting a lot of action. This film isn’t your typical cold war espionage piece, rather, it treats the true story with the highest respects by keeping it calm, yet suspenseful.  Not to mention, the fine performances from Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance are what makes this excellent film superb.

3. The Martian

A welcome return to form for director Ridley Scott, and easily one of Matt Damon’s finest performances.  It’s grand and spectacular when it needs to be, and surprisingly funnier than it had to be. This is the film I wanted to see when I went into Gravity in 2013, except this time my expectations were blown away.

2. The Hateful Eight

What do you get when you combine one of Hollywood’s finest directors and several of Hollywood’s finest performers in a snowy western? Another grand, engaging and all around incredible picture from Quentin Tarantino, I am more than happy this film actually came to be, instead of its initial cancellation almost becoming reality.

1. Inside Out

This year, we saw plenty of animated films that lacked any sense of emotional depth behind their bright colors (Cough Minions cough). However, one such film stood above all the others, thanks to its simple, yet beautiful message and the fantastic characters/casting. Inside Out is, without a doubt, one of Pixar’s finest films to date, and in my opinion, trumps all other competitors without breaking a sweat.

Josh Cabrita’s Top 10 Movies of 2015

10. About Elly

Asghar Farhadi’s social critique of sexism in contemporary Iran is a slice of life that plays like a Hitchcockian mystery. Boasting naturalistic performances from the ensemble cast, and an unobtrusive visual style from Farhadi, About Elly is a raw thriller of mundane conversations with incredibly tense drama.

9. Phoenix

Buried in an artificial pastiche and a world of false faces, Nelly Lenz returns home from a concentration camp with a disfigured visage in a disfigured Germany. As an allegory of German society after WWII, Phoenix was one of the year’s most dense and thought-provoking films.

8. Anomalisa

Charlie Kaufman’s first film in seven years is one of the most stylistically inventive animated films of recent memory, but also one of the most poignant, complex and thoughtful. This film, which has puppets and no actors, ironically provides some of the most devastatingly human moments of any film in 2015.

7. The Tribe

Not a single word is spoken in this Ukrainian drama about a crime ring in a hearing impaired boarding school, and although this wordless film may sound gimmicky, its narrative experimentation and gruesome finale will leave you speechless.

6. Ex Machina

It was a good year for Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac but their best work was in this sci-fi chamber piece about the inception of sentient artificial intelligence. Ex Machina is a film tightly wound, where every thrill is linked to a larger discourse about free will and determinism, and an exploration of what attributes make us human.

5. Keeper

With no distribution and hardly any reviews, Guillaume Senez’s feature-length debut is perhaps the year’s most hidden gem. At TIFF I saw this film about a teenage couple who have to deal with a surprise pregnancy, and there I shed my first, second, third and last tear of the festival.

4. Me And Earl And The Dying Girl

No film delighted me more this year than Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s coming of age story about a self-centered cinephile who breaks out of his shell when his mother forces him to befriend the girl in his class with terminal cancer. With kinetic camerawork, a hilarious screenplay and two excellent performances from Thomas Mann and Olivia Cooke, this Sundance darling is emotional and funny, gut-busting and heart-wrenching.

3. The End Of The Tour

James Ponsoldt’s po-mo bromance is a multi-faceted biopic on infinite jest author, David Foster Wallace, which includes excellent work from Jesse Eisenberg as a Rolling Stone interviewer and Jason Segel as the enigmatic writer.

2. Louder Than Bombs

Joachim Trier’s English language debut is a story of grief told from many perspectives and angles. It’s a quietly powerful film that builds subjectivity with the meticulous editing and voice over, culminating into an honest domestic drama that does precisely the opposite of its Hollywood counterparts.

1. Son Of Saul

I could hardly walk, speak or function after watching Laszlo Nemes Holocaust drama that follows a man who tries to give a dead boy a Jewish burial inside Auschwitz-Birkenau. For the entire film, the camera is nearly fettered to our protagonist’s shoulder, avoiding exploitation by leaving the atrocities outside or at the edges of the frame. Son Of Saul is a harrowing tour-de-force that may be considered one of the most important films ever made on its subject.

Honorable Mentions (in order of preference): The Hateful Eight, James White, Carol, Creed, Spotlight, Gett: The Trial Of Vivianne Amselem, The Walk, Jafar Panahi’s Taxi, World Of Tomorrow, Goodnight Mommy.

Allyson Johnson’s Top 10 Movies of 2015

Note: I’ve loved a lot of films this year and regretfully had to leave many of those off, but I could easily list 25 films I’d recommend. If I were to indulge, here are some of the few other films I’d suggest: ‘71, About Elly, Advantageous, Cinderella, Creed, Inside Out, Love & Mercy, Mad Max: Fury Road, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Mistress America, Sicario, Spotlight, Suffragette, Tangerine, The End of the Tour, Tom at the Farm and What We Do in the Shadows.

10. Respire

As the underseen gem of 2015, Melanie Laurent’s Respire was a treat for the senses. Focused on the friendship (maybe more) between two young women, and the cycling abuse that’s born from jealousy and insecurity, Laurent created a film with a narrative that is deeply troubling but undeniably riveting. Place this next to the intricate and lavish cinematography, and then the film’s final moments, which shock you into silence, and you’ve got one of the most oddly unnerving coming of age stories all year. Laurent has to be one of the most promising individuals in film, both in front of and behind the camera.  

9. 99 Homes

Painful to watch and impeccably acted by both Michael Shannon and Andrew Garfield, the home foreclosure film breezes by, catching you mid-breath and refusing to relent until the film has already ended. Ramin Bahrani shows the evils of eviction with pitch-perfect accuracy, creating drama so intoxicatingly intense and tough to watch that it’s hard to turn away — you’re almost forced to.  

8. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

A late edition to my list, albeit, not a very surprising one. I liked the original series well enough and thought Han Solo was fantastic — aka a babe — but I never was head over heels for them. I was excited for the film mainly on it’s being a big, grandiose science fiction flick (a genre favorite of mine), but also, most crucially, based on the mega talented cast they’d collected. What resulted was the first blockbuster this year to knock me back in pure excitement. I felt like a giddy, 10 year old kid sitting in the theater as the credits rolled, and I felt the same the second time I went. It’s a movie that I can call my own — as a wonderful article over at TheMarySue verbalizes better than I — the version of Star Wars that I’ve always wanted to see, that has Rey, a powerful, charismatic, female lead in the title role who little girls all across the world can now grow up with and inspire to be.

7. Son of Saul

It’s a big statement to make, but Son of Saul is unlike any film I’ve ever seen, certainly unlike any film about a Holocaust that’s hit the screens in the last 100 years. Laszlo Nemes shoots the film from over the shoulder of our lead character Saul (a phenomenal Geza Rohrig) so that we feel the horrors the way he would, as they’re pushed to the side for the great feat he’s tasked himself with. We hear the cries and see smoke in the distance, but like Saul, we’ve been separated (just barely) from the action as his entire headspace is focused on staying alive long enough to give his son a proper burial, no longer concerned over his own soul.

6. Room

Powerfully shot and performed, Lenny Abrahamson’s adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s Room is equal parts devastating and uplifting as the theme of love conquers all dominates the flick. Abrahamson’s way of shooting the room in relation to how Ma and Jack view it, Brie Larson’s committed and broken performance as a mother with no options left and Jacob Tremblay’s breakthrough as curious and loving Jack, without whom the film and Larson wouldn’t have shined as bright, all add up to a film that understands its emotional impact.

5. Girlhood

Bracing and aggressive in its themes about what it means to be a girl, and who and what dictates how they behave, Celine Sciamma has once again created a film that engages with sexuality and gender with a delicacy rarely seen. No one will be able to listen to Rihanna’s “Diamonds” the same after seeing this film.

4. Carol

So much is said with so little in the romantic drama Carol, starring two powerhouse performances in Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. Director Todd Haynes has once again managed to create a stunning, forbidden romance in the world of the 50s and has done it with grace and glamour. The chemistry between Carol and Therese is palpable, and the film’s abundance of style gives it a larger than life tone. The most engaging and passionate romance you’ll see onscreen this year, Carol utilizes all of life’s simple pleasures.

3. Brooklyn

Lovely and charming in ways many films aren’t anymore, John Crowley’s Brooklyn is both fresh and classical. Saoirse Ronan plays an Irish immigrant who finds herself in Brooklyn, NY with no family or friends to confide in, heartbroken by homesickness. However, as time passes, she meets an Italian boy, falls in love and grows to find a new home in her surroundings. Ronan and her onscreen partner Emory Cohen are both tremendous and understated, and the cinematography by Yves Belanger (Laurence Anyways) finds new ways in every screen to make their world pop with color. The film is about decent people, trying to find happiness, no matter what they believe makes a home, and your eyes never stray from this surprisingly gripping coming of age drama.

2. Ex Machina

Sleek in its filmmaking, haunting in its atmosphere and wonderfully unpredictable, Alex Garland’s directorial debut Ex Machina is one of the year’s very best because every assumption you walked into the theater having about the film was ultimately turned down. Deceptively simple with the script comprised equally into three parts, with three (four) characters to bounce off of, the real urgency of the story comes through in the ideas and morality of the characters. Oscar Isaac is wonderfully menacing as Nathan, someone you’d envision as a jock rather than a science nerd growing up, who has let isolation take its toll. Alicia Vikander and Domnhall Gleeson also shine in roles that subvert their expectations.

1. Mustang

When you really, truly, love a film, the story can evoke a response from you that’s startling. I watched this film twice in one weekend, and both times my reaction was powerful. Many call this film the Turkish The Virgin Suicides — which it undoubtedly took notes from — but what sets it apart is by placing the point of view in the firm hands of the girls whose stories are being told. Operating more as a unit rather than five individuals, director Deniz Gamze Erguven captures the essence of sisterhood; Erguven pulls such warm, chemistry-filled performances from the young women that not only are we convinced they’re sisters, but we also see how together they operate as a small army. Together, with Lale (Gunes Sensoy who delivers an arresting and inquisitive performance) at the head, the group try to break free from the confines their family and society have enforced on them. Lale isn’t waiting for saving, or for the world to change, taking matters into her own young hands and tries to protect herself as well as any sister can. It’s moving beyond belief, understands the intricacies of being a young woman with all of the want for liberation and unspoken rules that come with it, and is shot beautifully, so that the expansive scenery further reminds us of the home prison the girls have found themselves in.

Alana Jane Chase’s Top 10 Films of 2015

It comes as no surprise when I say that 2015 was the year in film. When faced with the task of whittling down the list of films I’d seen and loved to just ten, there were a lot of back-and-forths involved: “Can I really part ways with this?” and “Maybe I’ll sacrifice that one to save this one.” But alas, I pulled through, and present to you my top 10. (In alphabetical order, to lessen the blow of killing my darlings.)

Brooklyn

Vivid and evocative, Brooklyn — directed by John Crowley and based on Colm Tóibín’s novel of the same name — creates a kaleidoscopic world grounded in honesty and vulnerability. Saoirse Ronan and Emory Cohen are sharp and efficacious in their lead roles, leaving every moment of Brooklyn feeling like the best of two good things simultaneously: rich and subtle, romantic and palpable, supple and crisp.

Carol

Breaking ground and hearts alike, Carol is as nuanced and buzzing as ever a romantic drama can be, weaving a tale of taboo something-like-love. The intimate story that quickly but quietly blossoms between Cate Blanchett’s Carol and Rooney Mara’s Therese will touch you, and the sensation will linger long after the film’s almost-final words are spoken.

Ex Machina

Director/screenwriter Alex Garland’s thrilling sci-fi triumph Ex Machina was one of the most well-received and highly-discussed films of 2015. Rightfully so, as it destroys and transcends a multitude of barriers. The film is tense and unsettling, pulsating with anxiety and the eerie unpredictability of the future, and makes a point to poke at that part of your brain you’d otherwise ignored. (You know, the one that makes you disturbingly self-aware and twitchy? That one.) But that’s not irresponsible sadism; it’s purposeful. Garland artfully and deliberately exposes the audience to the implications of technology and humanity, and asks them to ponder who – and what – we are and may soon become.

Inside Out

Pixar made a brilliant, colorful return to form in its 15th original film, Inside Out, one that certainly lived up to its near-universal critical acclaim. It eloquently explains some of the most complex subjects (our own emotions, sympathy and empathy and depression) to audiences of all ages, without needing to break the fourth wall, resort to condescension or underestimate viewers’ intelligence. Amy Poehler as Joy and Bill Hader as Fear are expectedly sublime, and add another layer of magic to an already wonderful film. Inside Out cannot be missed.

It Follows

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill horror film. This is something else entirely. It Follows is ultramodern and mesmerizing, rattling some of the chains to which the horror genre is shackled. Director David Robert Mitchell makes all the right moves: a unique and expansive aesthetic, an ambiguous but unavoidable monster, and a slow build that engrosses the audience in uneasiness. It Follows is as terrific as it is terrifying.

Mad Max: Fury Road

Strong, stunning and feminist as hell, Mad Max: Fury Road is a force to be reckoned with. The fourth installment of the franchise is larger than life, in your face, hyper-detailed in its design and adamant in its refusal to apologize or pander. Though Tom Hardy’s portrayal of Max Rockatansky is exceptional, Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa steals the show and will have you wanting to raise your fists in the air and let out a primal roar.

Room

In the drama-thriller Room, based on Irish author Emma Donoghue’s novel of the same name, love doesn’t just conquer, love annihilates. Brie Larson’s performance is nothing short of hypnotic, full-to-bursting with fervor and truth. With its crests of wall-shaking emotion and its troughs that reveal the worst kinds of evil, Room will leave you teary-eyed and changed.  

Steve Jobs

From screenwriter/director Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, Moneyball), Steve Jobs is a vision through-and-through. The biographical drama features an all-star cast (Michael Fassbender as Steve Jobs, Kate Winslet as Joanna Hoffman) that carries a static electricity remaining at the forefront of the film. Steve Jobs sizzles with style and energy, and is perhaps Sorkin at his best.

The Gift

A stunning directorial debut from actor/screenwriter/producer (is there anything this man can’t do?) Joel Edgerton, The Gift is as much a psychological thriller as it is a psychological analysis of man. Much like Garland’s Ex Machina, Edgerton’s story makes an ask of the audience: Look at these characters, study them carefully and then think about the direction toward which your own moral arc bends. Jason Bateman’s performance as Simon is an unexpected turn from his comedic roots and lends itself in an effortless and refreshing way to the many complexities of this film. Though the The Gift is a genre piece, it never leans itself on crutches of tropes and cliches. It’s what a thriller film should be: fresh, sleek and, most importantly, smart.

The Night Before

It’s a rarity that I ever go into a film (or television show, for that matter) knowing the bare necessities I can glean from a trailer or a two-sentence logline, but The Night Before was a shining exception. The Christmas comedy was a welcome surprise of rowdiness and cheeky charm, made all the better by its fantastic cast. Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and director Jonathan Levine gave us what we missed in their previous collaboration 50/50: a balanced blend of silly and sentimental that has the potential to hit home, but doesn’t take itself too seriously — and isn’t supposed to. Maybe it was my lack of expectations, my connection to the “friends are family” theme in the film, or my soft spot for goofy comedies that won’t soon harden, but The Night Before was undoubtedly a standout of 2015 in my book.

Michael Fairbanks’s Top 10 Movies of 2015

Phew, thank god that’s over. 2015 has been one of the weakest years of my movie reviewing career. Something must have been in the movie theater Coke, especially regarding the blockbuster films. All but a few of the most-hyped releases of the year fell fairly short, and only a couple that didn’t were anything spectacular. Perhaps it’s not a guarantee that the new year will bring something more interesting to the table, but at least we get to start fresh. With that said, there were quite a few diamonds in the rough, which make up the top 10 films of the year. Bear in mind that I have yet to see Carol, The Revenant or The Hateful Eight at the time of this writing.

10.  The Martian
9. Spotlight
8. Room
7. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
6. Brooklyn
5. Love & Mercy
4. The Voices
3. The End Of The Tour
2. Creed
1. Steve Jobs

Cristina Moreano’s Top 10 Movies of 2015

10. Mad Max: Fury Road

9. Creed

8. Avengers: Age Of Ultron

7. The Walk

6. Furious 7

5. Steve Jobs

4. The Martian

3. Spotlight

2. Inside Out

1.Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Alexander Suffolk’s Top 10 Movies of 2015

If I had to summarize the world of movies in 2015 with two words, it have to be “glorious return.” Three of film’s greatest franchises found their way back in theaters with Creed, Mad Max: Fury Road and of course with Star Wars: The Force Awakens – all of them managing to recapture the magic of their original movies and even improve upon them in various capacities. Quentin Tarantino returned to the Western genre after 2012’s Django Unchained, and Alejandro G. Inarritu swiftly returned right after his Best Picture win from last year – the two of them delivering glorious cinematic experiences with The Hateful Eight and The Revenant. The good folks at Pixar returned to do what they always do best, this time literally playing with emotions in Inside Out. Then there was the return to form for Ridley Scot with The Martian, who after a series of blunders finally reminded us that he’s still one of the best. And with Ant-Man, it felt as though Marvel returned to the more restrained and personal stories we saw in their Phase One. That isn’t to say that 2015 was devoid of originality, however. The Gift was a dark thriller full of twists and ugly realizations that serves as excellent directorial debut for Joel Edgerton. Spotlight had acting and direction so seamless, you feel more than you are actually in the room with these people than you do watching a movie; I’ll be shocked if this one doesn’t walk away with a dozen Oscars.

10. The Gift
9. Ant-Man
8. Inside Out
7. Creed
6. Spotlight
5. The Revenant
4. The Martian
3. The Hateful Eight
2. Mad Max: Fury Road
1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Honorable Mentions: It Follows, Ex Machina, Jurassic World, and Avengers: Age of Ultron

Melissa Berne’s Top 10 Movies of 2015:

10. Dope

Yes, we’ve seen this story before; however Dope was infused with comedy and more relatable characters. We all have some geek in us deep down. And the way the film presented that sometimes even if you don’t want to go down a certain path, your circumstances can get to you was not typical because of the humor. It was a breath of fresh air.

9. Concussion

I wish this was amazing but it was good and Will Smith has all to do with that as he turned in a great performance. I also give this movie props for calling out the NFL.

8. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

The sequels generate a similar plot with each entry, but my god, this Tom Cruise-led franchise is still a damn good time and I love the music! Also, Rebecca Ferguson was a welcome new addition making her capable character convincing.

7. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Ahh the galaxy opera for the new generation was a lot fun! It satisfied the nostalgia for the OG fans and it sparked a new journey for the more recent fans. It was basically a similar story, but it still did not detract my enjoyment of the film.

6. Fifty Shades of Grey

Listen, judge me if you will, but I had FUN while watching this movie. A story based on a woman’s sexual fantasy is rare and the fact that it has gotten mainstream is a success in my book despite the “controversy.” It’s a good girl’s night out movie and if you wanna come at me, I’m on Twitter.

5. Room

The story is quite dark but it is also touching because it is about a mother and son’s bond. I was blown away by Brie and Jacob’s performances and they deserve every accolades/praise they’re getting.

4. Sicario

First off, I have to applaud this movie for keeping me at the edge of my seat from the first frame to the last. I kept thinking something was about to explode and I watched some of it through my hands that were covering my eyes. I was completely invested and immersed, and, to me, that is what a good movies does. Also, the cinematography was gorgeous and it has one of my favorite scores of the year.

3. Creed

So much more than a “boxing movie,” the umpteenth Rocky movie is a story about family, legacy and following your passion. And can I just say I did not expect for Sylvester Stallone to be THAT good in the movie? He broke my heart.

2. Inside Out

This turned so much more heartfelt than I expected. This movie is not only cute but so clever; however I only saw it once because my tear ducts can only take so much.

1. Straight Outta Compton

For me, I go by what I feel. And there’s no doubt this movie stayed with me the longest after watching it. So much so, I saw it again. I can’t wait to see where this crew of budding new actors go next.

Rafael Disla’s Top 10 Movies (in alphabetical order)

Beasts of No Nation

The Big Short

Brooklyn

Carol

The Danish Girl

Ex Machina

Mad Max: Fury Road

Spotlight

Room

Youth

Evan Griffin’s Top 10 Movies of 2015

10. Thank You For Playing

When you set out to make a piece of art, people will judge what you make no matter what, especially under the scrutiny of an ever watchful internet. Is it a piece of massively consumable media, or is it a commentary on the human condition? When you try to depict something as universally feared as cancer, and equal reverence for its victims, how do you judge it as a piece of art? Well, when it’s something as private and personal as Ryan and Amy Green’s story in their game “That Dragon, Cancer”, and their documentary Thank You For Playing, you really can’t. That’s not our place to judge, outside of the technical building and polish of the game and film. This experience is a collection of memories: poetically, lovingly scripted and coded to build a game sharing the journey of their son, Joel, who fought terminal cancer for four years.

9. Black Mass

While it feels familiar as a simple gangster film, it will show strength in time with it’s outstanding performance by Johnny Depp as America’s most notorious mobster, Whitey Bulger, as Depp returns to his strength in transformative character acting, while supported by a strong cast in Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Peter Sarsgaard and many more. The film may have played it safe in the telling of this man’s 20 year reign in South Boston, but for audiences knowledgeable of the Winter Hill Gang’s affairs in the 1970’s, it’s a faithfully retold horror story.

8. Kingsman: The Secret Service

This brash, unapologetic satirizing of the spy film genre makes Matthew Vaughn’s previous work (Kick Ass) look tame. With a who’s who Gentleman’s cast including Colin Firth, Mark Strong and Michael Caine, the film balances its humor, its world building and its young main actor Taron Egerton sandwiched between it all. Not to mention of all the spy movies released in 2015 (there were quite a few), Samuel L. Jackson as Richmond Valentine is one of the most memorable action film villains in quite some time, and yes, this is also the year we saw Christoph Waltz as Blofeld in Spectre. Strange turn of events there, isn’t it? Kingsman has a lot of humorous, genuine life in it, and made me want to go buy a really nice suit more than any Bond film ever did.

7. Avengers Age of Ultron

I walked away from this film initially let down, but the fact that Age of Ultron as a blockbuster, middle act franchise film came out the other side a decent movie, let alone a watchable one, is a miracle on the part of nerd king Joss Whedon. Everything people wanted was here: a global scale, strong character moments, world building with visiting Wakanda and introducing Infinity Gems, all the while expanding the cast with four completely new characters in the Maximoff Twins, Ultron and Vision. This film pulls off much more than I believe people realize, which is why, as a Marvel fan and a film fan, it remains in my top 10.

6. Steve Jobs

Danny Boyle takes us onto a journey before the domination of the Apple brand. In a rigid but fascinating three act structure, bolstered by a script by Aaron Sorkin on par with his work on The Social Network, and by an immersive performance from Michael Fassbender through an honest illustration of who Steve Jobs was behind the scenes, humanizing a man that many may have seen before as a prophet of technology.

5. The Martian

With character narration pulled almost directly from the novel by Andy Weir, Drew Goddard’s script for The Martian is punchy, well paced and funny, all the while exposing to viewers a crap load of math work to solve how to get Botanist Mark Watney back home to Earth. The film is supported by a fantastic and unexpected cast with the likes of Jessica Chastain and Chiwetel Ejiofor with Michael Pena and Donald Glover all giving equally stellar work to provide us with Ridley Scott’s best movie in years. Oh yeah, and Matt Damon is likable here as well, how you like them potatoes?

4. Creed

There’s something about boxing movies. One of the most barbaric of sports that has rarely changed for decades, and somehow, all beginning with Stallone’s first Rocky in 1977, the story of a boxer overcoming all adversities is the most emotionally compelling a sports film can capture. And in the case of the Rocky series, of which Creed is the 7th, it’s clear this comes down to character. Upcoming star Michael B. Jordan makes everyone forget that he was in Fant4stic while playing the lost son of Apollo Creed, Adonis, who is a kid with the chance to live a normal, quality life, but can’t escape the fighter’s spirit in his blood. So, he ventures to Philadelphia to receive training from the great Rocky Balboa, the closest man he’ll ever get to having an uncle. The two actors have fantastic chemistry, and Sylvester Stallone shows that he still has notable acting abilities in this seventh turn as Rocky.

3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I’m sure that the hype’s awakening within me will dissipate at some point, but by God, J.J., you actually did it. I was prepared for this movie to be absolutely terrible, but not only did you hit the beats of the original film while making this feel unique to itself, you’ve given us a chance to see our favorite cast return to the franchise. YET SOMEHOW, Episode VII made me care more about the new faces: from Poe Damaron, to Rey to BB-8 and even the whiny emo Kylo Ren’s evolution into what I’m now sure will be one of the most memorable villains in a film series since Darth-waitaminute…

2. Ex Machina

Between my absorption of films, games, books and television in the last year on the subject, 2015 probably has made me look like a weird RoboHead. However, Ex Machina invites viewers into a conversation about artificial intelligence for the 21st Century, well beyond the cold calculations of War and Turing Tests and more about empathy, free will and illusion. What if the intelligence of a machine was a seamless replica of the human mind? What would it do with that power? What would we do with that power? It’s cerebral and suspenseful in its cinematography and soundtrack, but the performances by Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac and Alicia Vikander bolster the already strong script into one of the most compelling films of the year, and one of the best Sci-Fi films of this century so far.

1. Mad Max: Fury Road

Yes, it’s pretty much just a car chase. Yes, it has minimal dialogue. Yes, there’s about four different articles on this very site where I won’t shut up about Fury Road. But you know what? This is not only the best revitalizing of a franchise 20 years after the fact, (looking at you, Dumb and Dumber To) George Miller has blessed us with the most structurally sound film of the year, and the most stylistically unique action film in over a decade. Witness Him… win awards for the next few months!!!

Need to See / Probably Would be on This List / Will Likely Appear at the Oscars:  Macbeth, The Revenant, Brooklyn, Spotlight, Carol, The Big Short, Room, The Hateful Eight, Trumbo, Love & Mercy, Spy, Trainwreck.

Mason Shell’s Top 10 Movies

10. Dope

I didn’t really start enjoying this movie until 45 minutes in when the hot female character ran into oncoming traffic after taking Molly. The film follows a trio of nerds as they navigate through a drug deal gone wrong. They end up making molly in their high school chemistry lab and selling it via bitcoin transactions. Dope is a ridiculous funny movie mixed with clever social commentary on race and a soundtrack produced by Pharrell.

9. Austin to Boston  

The film documents a music tour after the South by Southwest festival travels to Boston via a fleet of VW buses. It features some wonderful performances by The Staves and Nathaniel Rateliff and sections shot entirely with super 8’s that look amazing. Austin to Boston at its heart is a nice relaxing ride with some awesome people who play great tunes.

 

8. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

If you’re a fan of SpongeBob or looking for some nostalgia from the 2000s, you’ll enjoy this flick. It’s all the goofy fun SpongeBob normally provides, and Antonio Banderas’ performance is wonderful. Sponge Out of Water for me was a respite from all the blockbusters that rained down this summer. It was nice to see just a sweet movie made for the sole purpose to generate laughter.

7. Inside Out

Any product Pixar makes is normally good or even great, and Inside Out is no expectation. Everything in the movie just works, the concept is interesting and executed flawlessly. The story is well told, and all the characters are engaging. The film’s portrayal of depression is very accurate, something not often seen in feature films. Inside out is just Pixar doing what Pixar does best: telling good stories.  

6. Mad Max: Fury Road

I’m not the biggest Mad Max fan in the world. In fact, I had never seen a Mad Max movie until this one and I was pleasantly surprised. The world George Miller built just blew my mind. It wasn’t always explained or made the most sense, but the visual quality it brought to the film was fantastic. All the vehicles were distinctive, the makeup was on fleek and my favorite stylistic touch in the whole movie was the war boy playing heavy metal as the war lord raced after Max. What the movie lacked in story or dialogue it makes up for with practical effects. I enjoyed seeing only a few slivers of CGI on the screen. Mad Max: Fury Road is a wonderful throwback to the days before computer generated scenery.

5. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I’ll admit up front I’m a Star Wars fan boy though I rarely show it. The Force Awakens from a fan’s perspective succeeds all the expectations the fans had for the movie. It had just enough camp, references and inside jokes to satisfy our needs. Now from the perspective of just a moviegoer, the new Star Wars delivers everything you could want from a science fiction adventure movie. My favorite part of The Force Awakens was the first 30 to 40 minutes. It just didn’t stop with the light-speed space chases and blaster battles. It was the Star Wars movie everyone had been wanting to see.

4. The Last 5 Years

This little flick was mostly overlooked this year. Ironic sense it has two rather recognizable actors in the leads, Jeremy Jordan and Anna Kendrick. The Last 5 Years is the movie adaption of the musical, which premiered on Broadway in 1999. The film tells the story of the couple’s 5-year relationship. The score is both somber and sweet with songs that range from heartbreaking to humorous. Kendrick and Jordan will make you sob and smile as they fall in and out of love. If you’re a fan of Anna Kendrick’s work in Pitch Perfect or Jeremy Jordan in Smash, this flick is a must see.

3. Song One

What I really enjoyed about Song One was its simplicity. It’s about normal people who have to deal with an unexpected tragedy. Anne Hathaway’s character’s brother gets hit by a car and turns up in a coma. The movie eventually becomes an exploration about music and love. It’s charming as hell with some great songs in it.

2. Appropriate Behavior

The plot of this one is kind of aimless, and there is no overarching theme. It’s very much done in the tradition of Linklater’s Slacker or Before Sunrise. What Appropriate Behavior brings to the screen is crude but in a good way, and clever humor. Appropriate Behavior is humorous in all the best uncomfortable ways.

1. Kingsman: The Secret Service

Mad Max pleasantly surprised me, Star Wars fulfilled my expectations but Kingsmen blew my mind. Going into this movie I thought it was going to be another big dumb Hollywood blockbuster. I was thankfully proven wrong. Kingsman is a clever satire of the spy genre, and the film breaks the cliches of most major releases. There’s no romantic interest for the young hero and the villain actually shoots one of the heroes. Some of the highlights in the movie are Colin Firth as a badass. It’s director Matthew Vaughn at his best.

Tyler Christian’s Top 10 Movies Of 2015

Amidst a year of box office records and inventive indies, 2015 was a very unique year for movies. Furthermore as awards season is in full swing, there has yet to be a prime front-runner in the Best Picture competition, which is quite refreshing compared to previous years where one or two movies always tend to stand out above the others. Although I would admit that 2014 produced a higher amount of quality films compared to this year, there were as usual a sufficient number of films that left a big impression on me.

1. Room
2. Inside Out
3. Ex Machina
4. Sicario
5. Mad Max: Fury Road
6. Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck
7. The Big Short
8. Steve Jobs
9. Spotlight
10. Amy

Honorable Mentions: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Creed, The End of the Tour, It Follows, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Yet to See: Anomalisa, Carol, The Hateful Eight, The Revenant, Son of Saul

Grant Jonsson’s Top 10 Movies of 2015

I was unfortunately forced to split my list in two kind of. I have been unable to keep up with my movie watching this year and have thus missed out on some of the films that quite possibly could have ended up high on this list, and as a result, knocking out the blockbuster choices.  So I fashioned the list like this: the top five are my legitimate choices for what I think are the best movies of 2015 and the bottom five are the ones I had the most fun with this year. All 10 films are ones that I think were done extraordinarily well, but I do admit that had I seen the other beloved films of this year that this list would look completely different. Perhaps once I’ve had the chance to see more I might update my personal list, but for now, here are my Top 10 of 2015.

1. Ex Machina
2. Spotlight
3. The Lobster
4. Sicario
5. Mississippi Grind
6. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
7. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
8. Mad Max: Fury Road
9. Avengers: Age of Ultron
10. Furious 7

Paul Gilbert’s Top 10 Movies of 2015

1. Duke of Burgundy

Peter Strickland’s follow up to Berberian Sound Studio (2012). Strickland draws us into a dream state following a lesbian S&M relationship. It’s beautiful, sexy and surprisingly funny. It’s about trying to please your partner and conform to their expectations. The lucid plot allows for a poetic and emotional film.

2. Ex Machina

A cerebral science-fiction film that is more Star Trek than Star Wars. A programmer is invited to take part in a Turing Test for a new form of AI created by an eccentric genius. The entire film is a chess game of who’s playing who. The film stands out as a smart and suspenseful film that will be remembered for a long time.

3. Inside Out

A wonderfully imaginative film. Pixar’s best movie to date. If you haven’t seen it yet, what the hell are you waiting for?

4. Shaun The Sheep

A slapstick animation film from the creators of Wallace and Gromit. It’s impossible not to like this film. A modern day silent film that has the most laughs in any film of 2015.

5. Bone Tomahawk

One of two westerns on my list. A posse led by Kurt Russell sets out to rescue to members of their community that have been captured by a cannibal Indian tribe. The stand out performance comes from Richard Jenkins as a Walter Brennon like character. A mashup of western and horror boasts of one of the most visceral disemboweling in a movie.

6. Slow West

A fairytale set in the American West, a search for a lost love brings a naïve young kid and hardened gunslinger together. The most beautiful western you have seen in a long time, with great performances by Michael Fassbender and Kodi Smit-McPhee. The final shootout is both funny and tragic.

7. Carol

A transcendent film about forbidden love. Once again, Todd Haynes channels Douglas Sirk. The film beautifully photographed by Edward Lachman. Not as good or subversive as Far from Heaven, but standout performances by Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara make the visit to the cinema worthwhile.

8. 8. Mad Max: Fury Road

This movie is nuts. Practical effects perfectly blended with CGI make the most exciting action-movie in a long while. The film boasts a strong female protagonist portrayed by Charlize Theron. Oh what a lovely day!

 

9.  Bridge of Spies

A spy thriller is a mix between John Le Carre and Frank Capra. Spielberg’s uses his mastery of the form to create an emotional and tense spy thriller.

10.  Listen to Me Marlon

Using previously unreleased audio tapes of Marlon Brando going over his career and life, it’s a melancholy look at the great actor’s life through his own words. A tragic confessional look at one of the enigmatic actors of the 20th century.

Honorable Mentions: Mississippi Grind, The Big Short

Matt Conway’s Top 10 Films of 2015

Even with this year’s Oscar season being a relatively weak one, 2015 still proved to be an incredibly strong year in movies. Before I get to my list, here are a few very honorable mentions. Brooklyn, End of the Tour, I’ll See You in My Dreams, Mistress America, What We Do in the Shadows, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

10. Youth

Paolo Sorrentino’s meditative drama is an ambitious and thought-provoking effort, having a sincerely profound effect on its audience.

9. Amy

One of the best documentaries of recent memory, the film takes its audience on the heartbreaking high’s and low’s of Amy Winehouse’s short-lived life.

8. Sicario

Denis Villeneuve continues to earn his ranks as one of Hollywood’s best directors, with this brutally honest and exceptionally made take on the underworld of the Mexican drug trade.

7. Ex Machina

While simple in concept, Alex Garland’s mesmerising science fiction tale does what great Science fiction should do, tackling worldly concepts in a smart and thoughtful way. Alicia Vikander also gives one of the year’s best performance in her breakout role.

6. Spotlight

This is being touted as the Oscar frontrunner for a reason. Featuring an all-star cast at their best, along with a realistic portrayal of the tribulations of journalist work, this is a fascinating and hard-hitting drama.

5. The Walk

Easily the year’s most underrated flick, The Walk is more than just a sum of its fantastic climactic sequence. Instead, it’s a great celebration of the triumph of man, while also paying tribute to the fallen Two Towers.

4. Joy

Critics and audiences seemed to be mixed on the film, but O’Russell’s latest is my personal favorite of his resume. Featuring Jennifer Lawrence in a commanding lead performance, Joy is a modern-day fairy tale, featuring beautifully crafted visceral storytelling and emotionally vibrant core.

3. Steve Jobs

Featuring a commanding performance from Michael Fassbender as the enigmatic lead, Steve Jobs is an extremely visceral biopic that gets to the heart of its subject. Danny Boyle also continues to show his talents, with some alive and amplified sequences that pulsate compared to the conventional films.

2. James White

A gut-wrenching, emotionally raw powerhouse, writer/director Josh Mond’s take on heartbreak and loss is shockingly honest. Featuring Christopher Abbot in the year’s best performance, the film explores the nuances of its characters and their situation. This film had a profound emotional effect on me that won’t be forgotten.

1. Love and Mercy

Exploring the inspiration of Brian Wilson’s profound work, along with the anguish of his past, Love and Mercy is the best music biopic I have ever seen. Stars Paul Dano and John Cusack deliver well-realized and thoughtful performances as Wilson, with the stylish and unconventional storytelling capturing the nuances of him and his work. Elizabeth Banks also delivers a career-best performance as the loving and strong Melinda Ledbetter.

Nathanael Hood’s Top 10 Movies of 2015

11. Brooklyn

Anyone who says you can’t go home again is lying: of course you can. The question is whether or not you should. John Crowley’s intimate Brooklyn doubles as a truly impactful romance—the last time in decades I’ve encountered a love triangle in any medium that didn’t make me gag—and a touching search for cultural and personal self-identity. As well as being one of the best acted films of 2015, it’s also one of the most emotional. But instead of relying on hysterical histrionics, it indulges in simple, pure, honest feelings and passions. Understated but never underwhelming, Brooklyn left me feeling like I was floating out of the theater.

10. Condemned

As of right now, I’m literally the only critic with a positive review listed on RottenTomatoes for Eli Morgan Gesner’s grotesque masterpiece Condemned — a splatter giallo which I described as Dario Argento by way of John Waters. What can I say? It feels good to be on the right side of history. After all: they hated Cronenberg at first, too.

My review | My interview with director Eli Morgan Gesner

9. The Visit

Unless you have personally tried your hand at either fiction writing or filmmaking, it is impossible to conceptualize how difficult injecting fear and humor into a story can be. But somehow, none other than that modern day cinematic persona non grata M. Night Shyamalan managed to cram both into his film The Visit. Even more astounding, he managed both without transforming the terror into camp (Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead series) or the humor into self-referential nonsense (Wes Craven’s Scream). Screw the haters: this is Shyamalan back in the saddle doing what he does best—achingly personal, unapologetically idiosyncratic, thoroughly human thrillers.

8. The Hateful Eight

Despite being almost literally 90% dialogue, Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight reaffirms his acumen as a filmmaker first and a writer second by being one of the most visually fascinating films of 2015. Using the full range of his 70mm aspect ratio, Tarantino indulges in stark, horizontal compositions emphasizing space and distance—a remarkable feat considering almost the entire movie takes place in a cramped, one room haberdashery. It also helps that The Hateful Eight might be one of Tarantino’s top three greatest screenplays, a misanthropic locked-room mystery with one of the most nihilistic third acts in a Western since Sergio Corbucci’s The Great Silence (1968).

7. The Big Short

The most overtly political Hollywood film in years, Adam McKay’s The Big Short is less interested in explaining the root causes of the 2007-2010 financial crisis than in explaining how pissed off the American people should be at the investors and bankers who caused it. Not to say that it doesn’t brilliantly succeed with the former, using tongue-in-cheek, 4th wall-shattering asides, illustrations and deliberately dumbed-down explanations, McKay makes damn sure that every single audience member, regardless of intelligence or education, understands just how broken and corrupt both the financial system and its profiteers are. But more than just a polemic, The Big Short embodies a manic energy and style reminiscent of Danny Boyle’s early hyper-kineticism. This is cinema at its angriest and most entrancing.

6. Mustang

The most infuriating and heartbreaking part of Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang is that all of the characters, both the five orphan sisters and their aunt and uncle who cloister them inside their home to “keep them pure,” are equally human—flawed to different extents, of course, but human nonetheless. Mustang is a story of a pervasive culture that forces ordinary people to do extraordinary things. And, like as not, the victims are young women. Refusing to simplify any societal or emotional complexities, Ergüven has created one of the most three-dimensional films of 2015. At times beautiful, at times tragic, the film is imbued with a desperate immediacy.

5. The Martian

Quite possibly the most unabashedly pro-science piece of science-fiction since the original “ Star Trek television show, The Martian marks director Ridley Scott’s first true big-budget triumph since 2001’s Black Hawk Down. Effortlessly inventive and effortlessly entertaining, The Martian might also be the first major Hollywood film where the Chinese, not the Russians, are America’s premier competitor in the space race.

4. The Lobster

A horror movie disguised as a dystopian sci-fi thriller disguised as a comedy, Yorgos The Lobster may be the year’s most difficult film to describe. But it’s certainly one of the most powerful and unnerving. A sneering, contemptuous assault on modern societal norms concerning love, sex, and intimacy, The Lobster reminds us that satire doesn’t truly work unless it makes you very, very uncomfortable on some deep, inner level. It’s practically “A Modest Proposal” for dating in the age of selfies and tinder. My review.

3. Tangerine

Beyond all the buzz surrounding its production—its casting of real transgender women and sex-worker performers as well as its being filmed entirely on iPhones—Sean S. Baker’s Tangerine is one of the best written and most meticulously crafted films of the year. A whirlwind of yelling, accusations, camera acrobatics, and attitude, Tangerine nevertheless operates on top of a breathtaking (and breathtakingly quiet) emotional foundation that comes to a head during a scene involving a nightclub rendition of the song “Toyland.” I may have only put this film third on my list. But in my opinion, this is the best scene in ANY film released in 2015. My review: https://www.theyoungfolks.com/review/movie-review-tangerine/67976

2. The Revenant

I came to my review of The Revenant frustrated with how almost everything I might want to say had already been said, but worded better, by other critics. But the description I’m most jealous of was “astral projection.” Alejandro González Iñárritu summoned the film out of an abyss of elemental ferocity and brutality that would frighten even Werner Herzog. A herculean production, few films took risks as large as The Revenant to get made: the location shooting, the pained performances, the insistence on only using natural lighting. But it all paid off. Clichés be damned! The Revenant isn’t a film; it’s an experience. My review: http://screencomment.com/2015/12/the-revenant/

1. Mad Max: Fury Road

“This must have been what it was like to see Star Wars on opening day in 1977,” I thought to myself as I watched—no, WITNESSED—George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road. I still remember the countless, breathless conversations with friends immediately after seeing it where we dissected its every aspect: the bizarro archaism of the dialogue (“Did you catch what they call water? “Aqua-Cola!””); the implied cultural practices of the Citadel (“You notice how Immortan Joe is the only MAN in the Citadel—everyone else is either a War Pup or a War Boy?”); the stunning practicality of the vehicles and inhabitants of the wasteland (“Well OF COURSE the Doof Warrior isn’t unnecessary—he’s Joe’s bugler!”); the unbelievable action set pieces (“I couldn’t breathe during that whole sandstorm scene!”). Mad Max: Fury Road is big budget action filmmaking done right with unforgettable spectacle and unforgettable characters resulting in an unforgettable experience.

Films that just missed the cut: Spotlight, Tale of Tales, Aferim!, Scherzo Diabolico, Crimson Peak, Ex Machina.

Gary Shannon’s Top 10 Movies of 2015

10. Sicario

From the opening to the last shot, Sicario is thronged with hidden textures of realism—the stark brutality of the cartel’s conflict bleeding into the lives of the working class and into the homes of unassuming families. More troubling, perhaps, is the moral ambiguity of our supposed allies, whose own corruption reflects those of their labelled enemies. Sicario is a dark, twisted and literal descent to darkness, featuring typically brilliant camera work from Roger Deakins and layered storytelling.

9. Carol

On paper, the story for Carol would seem like a mundane, cliched and pedestrian take on same-sex relationships. However, the cinematography’s manipulation of cinema space for dramatic effect and the actors, whose physical expressions provide layers of subtle storytelling, make this one of the most unique films on the stigma and plight of the LGBT community to date. Carol takes the psychology of its characters, the repressiveness of the environment and expresses it visually, making this not only a moving drama but a great piece of filmmaking.

8. What We Do in the Shadows

Where do I start with this one? Not only is What We Do in the Shadows one of the funniest mockumentary comedies in years, comparable to Sacha Baron Cohen and even Christopher Guest at their best, it’s also perhaps one of the most interesting vampire movies of the last twenty years. Its characters, each coming from a different century, occupy a house of vastly wide gaps of cultural identity, colorful personalities and appropriate context to the perpetual pain of their eternal psychology. This sets a stage for some truly realized and brilliant comic improvisation, clever character interaction and moments of true affection for these characters.

7. When Marnie Was There

This is could very well be Studio Ghibli’s final film, however my love for the film surpasses my sentiment for a studio that had essentially characterized my love of animated cinema. When Marnie Was There is a great film, it’s about identity, seen through the eyes of a young girl who doesn’t realize she has one. It’s not a whimsical story but dramatic and profound, providing a dual narrative which I dare say matches Inside Out’s sophistication. A cinematic soul search, through present, past and future, literalized by the studio’s ageless, beautifully distinctive animation.

6.The Lobster

A genius blend of black comedy, social satire and a terrifying futuristic dystopia. Despite being an incredibly exaggerated film, The Lobster seems to capture the perfect atmosphere for the zany, unpredictable world of relationships and the awkward, sometimes scary expectations that come with it. The unsung universal rules of the dating world are realized with terrifying succinctness within an institutional system, which seems to feature characteristics of a rehabilitations and, at times, a concentration camp. Not so much a high concept film as it is an intimate one about our fears and socially placed pressures, all beneath a hilariously dry, darkly humorous tone.

5. The Assassin

When one thinks of the martial arts subgenre wuxia, at least in a western, more mainstream sensibility, one would think of vastly emphasized visual effects, romanticized political/social ideologies, and impressive wire-acts. The Assassin is different, which is probably why its not nearly as well received as its more mainstream counterparts. However, as is common with Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s visual style, every lingering shot, slow camera pan, object placement, natural imagery, dialogue and emphasized emotion acts as something of a dramatic ripple effect, not entirely noticeable but evident. Evidently, this proves to be quite challenging, as the showing in my city resulted in at least five people exiting the theatre early. However, for lovers for the innovators of film form, The Assassin is a must-see.

4. Brooklyn

You’ll notice the TV spots and trailers selling Brooklyn as an approachable, safe romance film featuring an ever stigmatized love triangle as its central dramatic selling point. This, while not only limiting its appeal, does the film a huge disservice in ignoring its much more astute, creative approach to its study of an immigrant living in a strange land. Not only is Brooklyn a cinematic love letter to our ancestral forefathers but a densely realized supposition on how one defines the values of their homeland, using its multi-faceted romance story to emphasize these points. A powerfully intimate film, with Saoirse Ronan giving what could be the year’s best performance.

3. Spotlight

Spotlight celebrates the accomplishments of investigative journalism, and in many ways evokes All the President’s Men and The Insider which too share in their subtle appreciation on the delicacy of both obtaining and divulging information to the public. And like the two films, Spotlight too must also share with us the plight of its protagonist, whose own perseverance must come at the cost of their exposure to corrupt institutions of power and an utter remorseless acts of atrocity. More than just an adaptation of a true story, Spotlight proves itself by expressing itself with subtle, often penetrating camera work, editing and story structuring. The more reserved performances are often noteworthy as well, particularly from Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo whose simple bodily expressions characterize their unique personalities, and Michael Keaton’s character, whose own high status is challenged by conflicts with men in similar positions of power.

2. Inside Out

After what seemed to be ages since Toy Story 3, Pete Docter returns once again with one of Pixar’s most concept driven, dramatic film to date. To a good many people, Inside Out is exactly what we were looking for, Pixar returning to form. For me, Inside Out expands its own form, no longer reserving itself to pure metaphor or high concept parable, but imaginative and literal approach to human emotion. Of course, the characters representing emotions are not literal, but are instead manifestations of literal emotions, which can be equal parts hilarious, devastating and utterly intriguing to watch onscreen. For Pete Docter, this is a personal film, but to his surprise, this became a personal film to the masses who have fallen for this film, whose own emotional conflicts in many ways are represented by Riley’s own inner turmoil.

1. Mad Max: Fury Road

What fascinates me about George Miller’s films is how deceptively simplistic they are, which is probably why many of his films are greatly appreciated to both casual movie goers and professional film critics alike. Mad Max: Fury Road is an opera of painstaking stunt work, editing, camera, set pieces and directorial prowess matched equally by its character driven, overtly political, psychological and ideological storytelling. Characters are often defined by their actions in the film, and if not by action, then by their status which is sometimes never completely divulged but always realized. Its action sequences, although defined by their technical achievements, are often platforms of narrative progression, especially a way to emphasize the motivations of its characters. Little details can often be looked over, but Fury Road’s meaning and depth is never lost in its spectacle, despite its naysayers. In the phantasmic plane of George Miller’s post apocalyptic future, there’s always something to learn about the world we live in today.

Kevin Montes’ Top 10 Movies of 2015

10. Room

9. The Gift

8. Amy

7. Steve Jobs

6. The Diary of a Teenage Girl

5. The End of the Tour

4. Spotlight

3. Brooklyn

2. Dope

1. Love & Mercy

Shane A Bassett’s Top 10 Movies of 2015

 

In no particular order…

Age of Adaline – Something different, reminded me of the endless love classic, Orlando

Inside Out – Flawless Pixar

Sicario – Blew me through the roof of the cinema, forgot to breath in places

Tangerine – Streetwise movie made by iPhone, strong performances, genuine intrigue

Ex Machina  – Layered insanity, cyborgs with a twist, Alicia Vikander ethereal

The Martian – Top shelf cinematic escapism, Ridley Scott on point

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl – Instantly taken in by this trio, movie parodies amused

Creed – Could not have asked for anything more, Creed completes me

We Are Your Friends – Underrated, honest saga of indifference with amazing tunes

The Hateful Eight – Worthy, late addition to my list just knocking off Mad Max

Top 5 Dishonorable Mentions: Pixels, Mortdecai, Pan, Chappie, Fantastic Four

TYF’s Cumulative List of 2015’s Best Movies

We decided to count up everyone’s movie picks and rank them accordingly all together to create one ultimate list that showcases the movies we loved the most. Here’s the breakdown:

• 81 movies in total are mentioned in our lists.
• Mad Max: Fury Road had the most mentions.
• Room and Brooklyn tied with the same score, but Room edged up because it had more mentions.

10. The End of The Tour

9. Brooklyn

8. Room

7. Love and Mercy

6. Steve Jobs

5. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

4. Ex Machina

3. Inside Out

2. Spotlight

1. Mad Max: Fury Road

Here’s to another great year at the movies!

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