Films of 2015

Way back in 1994 I got into an argument over the Oscars. It was really the first year I felt invested in the outcomes and realized I cared about the consensus, both public and within the industry, of which films were elevated to the status of art and regarded as the best of that year. That year it was a battle between Forest Gump and Pulp Fiction for most people, with a small, much lesser known film, The Shawshank Redemption, being thrown about in whispers of a possible upset. Looking back, I can objectively state that the Academy got it backwards, with Gump getting the trophy, Fiction coming in second place and Shawshank getting beat by both, as well as Quiz Show and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Nothing motivates like injustice.

That was 21 years ago, and I have tried my best to see the nominees and form and educated opinion ever since. But this year, 2015, I am sad to say I just couldn’t make the time. I have never been busier in my life and, while I have managed to see a lot of films in the last few weeks to try and feel caught up, I don’t think it is fair to do these lists without seeing a much larger portion of the field.

In other words, this will not be a full review. More of a comment on the films I saw, what stood out to me and where I see the industry going.

2015 was a decent year for film in both quality and returns. The flagship franchises and sequels are very clearly the driving force in the industry and where all the money is. But some original films still managed to get some traction and notoriety. And, as usual, those original films, like last year’s Birdman, rise to the very top for me.

Of the films I didn’t get to see, and there are too many to really list, some of the big surprises had to do with timing and reviews. I like to see a film early and form an opinion without being swayed by reviews, but this year they were hard to avoid.

Like Joy, the latest David O. Russell film collaboration with Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert Deniro and the rest of his recurring cast. Joy was panned quickly, and having personally really disliked American Hustle, it was all too easy to put this film at the bottom of the list of priorities.

Sicario, while getting decent reviews, just never gained enough attention or enthusiasm to drive me to see it above so many other deserving films (This is what I usually rally against, because great films often fall through the cracks. I could have easily skipped 2012’s Beasts of the Southern Wild for the same reason and I believe it was the best film of that year).

Charlie Kaufman’s Anomalisa also suffered a similar fate. It looked bizarre, as most of his films can be, but in less of an interesting way. The polarizing reviews, often a sign of genius, for some reason let me off the hook.

The Hateful Eight is one I will see at some point. It didn’t look great and the reviews that said Tarantino is verging into self-parody nudged this one to the back of the list.

Black Mass was a great book, but Johnny Depp in bad make-up and contacts gave me an excuse to see something else.

Concussion looked depressing, wasn’t going to sway me away from watching Football or make me hate Roger Goodell any more than I already do, and Will Smith’s Nigerian accent didn’t sell.

I will see Carol in the next week or so, particularly if it does well at the Oscars. It looks good and both actresses can usually get me to the theatre.

Same goes for The Danish Girl. Tom Hooper is a great director and while the subject matter is uncomfortable, all emotion is fair game in art.

Room will immediately follow those two, as I have heard nothing but fantastic things.

Finally, Creed, which I guess I have to see for myself. I have not seen the last couple Rocky films, and don’t really feel I need to. I love the first film. The next few veer off into 80’s action movie territory and are a lot of fun, but not the type you put on the short list for the Academy.

I will hopefully see these films eventually, but it gets and harder and harder each year to make time.

On to the quick and dirty reviews.

 

Bridge of Spies:

Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg set out to make a nostalgic, Rockwellian Cold War picture that is nothing like the John le Carré-esque thriller it advertises itself to be. The Grandfatherly retelling is as cliché and saccharine sweet as you would expect if you were hearing it told to a 4-year-old. Spielberg wants so badly to be the modern Norman Rockwell, but Rockwell’s architypes worked for a mid-twentieth century audience and their exposure to the world. In a globalized, information-at-your-fingertips society, this type of storytelling comes off at disingenuous and lacking any real depth.

I have to assume it was nominated for Best Picture on Spielberg’s name alone.

 

The Big Short:

I liked this film a lot, like most people according to the reviews. It has a good cast and follows an interesting story.

It is an insanely frustrating event and the specifics of the housing bubble really needed to be told. But all the clever ways of trying to explain and give exposition throughout become somewhat tiresome by the third or fourth time they try the old ‘Pope in the Pool’ trick (Margot Robbie in a bubble bath was a nice touch though).

Most of the cast plays it up and borders on comedic caricature or doubles down on smug hindsight. But Christian Bale plays it straight and absolutely crushes it, giving by far the best performance, and somewhat saving the film for me.

The Martian:

An uplifting and enjoyable movie.

Beyond that, it was far from perfect and suffered from what so many adaptations do, a balance of the source material vs what is transferable to the current medium. The tug-of-war Ridley Scott went through is right there on the screen, wanting to be an isolated, Cast Away tale of a man adrift on a rock in space, but having to maintain the richness and story of the cast on earth and on the ship that is meant to rescue him. Personally, I would have rather they cut the ensemble and went all in on the emotional journey of Matt Damon’s astronaut. Of the side players, only Chiwetel Ejiofor manages to be interesting, while Jeff Daniels plays a NASA version of Will McAvoy and Jessica Chastain stares out a window.

For future notice, if Ridley Scott is going to do a movie with a deep-space, Sci-Fi edge, I want to see more mood and atmosphere and less quips. Think Blade Runner and Alien. But I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy ride.

 

Brooklyn:

A very cute romance film, well-acted and produced, capturing the period aspect of both Ireland and New York in the late 40’s and early 50’s. Underneath some of the crowd pleasing schmaltz, there is a poignant film about immigration and expanding your perception of the world, particularly your concept of “Home”. That, and Saoirse Ronan are the reasons this film works and has gathered so much acclaim.

What surprises me though is the Best Picture nominee. This filmed seemed more targeted to the teen-romance crowd, leaning more towards The Notebook and less so to An Education. This is more a criticism of John Crowley than Nick Hornby, who continues to write great stories.

Mad Max: Fury Road:

Maybe the most metal film ever up on the big screen. All the more so that it is thirty years out from when that genre was anything but a short-lived fashion trend. The cocaine fueled mania of that era is played to perfection here and reminds me of Evil Dead II as much as it does the previous Mad Max entries.

This film is glorious in every visual sense. Loud, sharp, gorgeous and grotesque, it is hard to look away from the screen. But, the reason this film is elevated beyond your regular popcorn sequel is that everyone plays it serious. There is no tongue-in-cheek or self-deprecating camp to be found.

This film was a very pleasant surprise and a huge reboot for the series.

 

Macbeth:

Hail Macbeth, a wonderful visual companion to celebrate the weird and horrific qualities of the Scottish Play, Shakespeare’s dark and violent masterpiece. Between The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road and this, it was a good year for masculinity. Like Mad Max, this is a film that is soft spoken but carries a big stick.

It assumes you know the language and smaller moments and panders to the back row from the start. Bloody, moody, violent and weird, this is a feast for the eyes, with Throne of Blood’s influence is felt throughout.

Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard are both fantastic and are able to say more with a glance than with any monologue of exposition.

This one seemed to fall through the cracks for a lot of people, which is a shame.

Spotlight:

Journalism and the ethics surrounding it fascinate me.

From The Newsroom to All the President’s Men, stories about the rights and wrongs within the press are compelling, human stories. And now, at the absolute depths of journalistic integrity, with the reality television slash consumer advertisements we call the 24-hour news cycle, stories like this one are more important than ever. Journalists, standing up and going against the overwhelming majority of their readers and target audience, is a hard thing to expect these days. Today, if you don’t like a particular reality, you can change the channel to one that fits your pre-conceived notion of how things are. This is a story that feels modern and current, but I’m not sure things would have played out the same way now. Now, if you don’t like the alterations climate change could potentially make to your life, you can choose not to believe in it despite all facts to the contrary, because you can find a channel or website with people who will support and agree with you. The earth can be flat if you want it to be.

Maybe this story, about a small group of lapsed Catholics daring to dig into the shadowy and terrible world of the church that means the world to their already shrinking readership in the early days of the internet, is the last breadth of journalism as a significant cause and balance within our society.

Spotlight is a wonderful film, filled with great performances and artistic decisions. It is an onion, peeled back layer after layer, from the awkward gulps of the characters as they first confront, somewhat unwillingly, the horrors that made and make up this systemic atrocity here in Boston as well as the rest of the world, to the eventual cause they are willingly to go to battle for.

There are hard choices in this film, and the empathy that comes with that, putting yourself in those positions and questioning yourself, is what good film making and character development is all about.

Great film and worthy of its place on the shelf right next to All the President’s Men as the gold standard of journalism films.

 

Ex Machina:

Debating about a film is why I like to do these reviews. Most of the time it is about the execution of a film, the acting and visuals, etc.  But every once in a while a film comes along and gives you so much information, or sometimes plays it vague with room to interpret, that you begin to argue the point and story and character motivations and who really wore the black hats. And this is so much more fun.

Many people who have seen Ex-Machina probably didn’t see it this way. From the start, the questions were pouring in much faster than the answers could develop. The anxiety of this film, from the constant feel as if you are the rat the maze, makes the motivations of each character all the more important. The dominos start falling though and it happens so fast, that the divine intervention as promised by the title is hard to understand with just one viewing.

Without delving into too many spoilers, I will just say, pay attention. This is not a film you can half-watch or come in and out of. It is a unique and ponders some really significant questions. And it is a flex of the muscles by many of the talent involved, from Alex Garland to Alicia Vikander and especially Oscar Isaac.

A little bit Frankenstein, a little bit Blade Runner, this is a film that will only grow in its cult following for years to come.

The Revenant:

So, so close to being perfect. This film, simple and focused and daring, could have been one of the best of the decade except for a couple minor flaws. Moments I’m guessing are more studio intrusion than director’s decisions. This film, in a year of visual, violent and masculine films, takes the cake.

If you don’t want to pack a bag and head to Alaska after seeing this, regardless of the unforgiving and brutal nature depicted, then we are very different people.

I loved this film and was frustrated by it at the same time. I can’t tell you my frustration without ruining the film, so just see it if you haven’t already. It is absolutely worth your time.

Part Dances with Wolves, part The Thin Red Line with quite a bit of Unforgiven mixed in, this was an ambitious and wonderful piece of film history.

DiCaprio will most likely win best actor for this, and it is deserving, but the one thing that may hold him back is, really, he is not even the best performance in this film. That belongs to Tom Hardy.

I could go on and on about this on for a while, so I will stop myself here. But I would be happy to discuss this film further if you are curious or have a strong point of view.

 

Steve Jobs:

I am an unapologetic Aaron Sorkin fan. And not a huge fan of Apple. It wasn’t Jobs himself that drew me to this film, but the structure and actors and crew that made it so appealing. But I left with a newfound appreciation for the subject.

And that is why I don’t like biopics.

Here is a powerful, interesting view into a complex person’s life. It shows his strengths, his flaws and defines him as human. And everyone complained about it. Society has decreed: biopics have to be overly complimentary and show the subject as next to Christ. If they had a tough life, it’s because everyone else screwed them along the way. And that is why these films are mostly crap. Especially if they are recently posthumous.

The format of the film, a real-time cut of 3 different product launches over 14 years, shows the famous Apple CEO in his element. It is wonderfully acted, with two of my favorite performances of the year being Fassbender’s and the always phenomenal Kate Winslet’s. Danny Boyle directs Sorkin’s script in a way where his fast paced dialogue seems completely real and natural for the characters.

A great film, and one I am surprised hasn’t gotten more attention.

 

That's it. Sorry for the abridged version this year.

Best Picture
Should Win: The Revenant
Will Win: The Revenant



Best Director
Should Win: Alejandro González Iñárritu for The Revenant
Will Win: Richard Linklater for The Revenant.





Best Actor
Should Win: Leonardo DiCaprio
Will Win: Leonardo DiCaprio





Best Actress
Should Win: I can't say. I did not see enough of the films.
Will Win: Sadly, I have seen so few of these that I should not comment. If I had to guess though, brie Larson.





Supporting Actor
Should Win: By Far the toughest category. Mark Rufalo, Tom Hardy, Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac gave the 4 best performances this year, all in supporting roles. If I had to choose one, I would probably go with Rufalo or Hardy, because Isaac wasn't nominated.
Will Win: I haven't seen Creed, but it looks like Stallone could win this.





Supporting Actress
Should Win: I really hope Kate Winslet wins this one. She was great. But I haven't seen The Danish Girl. I also thought Rachel McAdams was great in Spotlight.
Will Win: Alicia Vikander.





Adapted Screenplay
Should Win: I can't route for The Martian because I think it should have gone another direction. The Revenant or Brooklyn would be good choices. How Steve Jobs wasn't nominated is beyond me.
Will Win: The Big Short





Original Screenplay
Should Win: Ex-Machina

Will Win: It barely fits the category, but Spotlight.

Cinematography

Should Win: The Revenant

Will Win: The Revenant

Editing

Should Win: Spotlight or Mad Max

Will Win: Spotlight

Original Score

Should Win: I haven't seen The Hateful Eight, but I am openly pulling for Ennio Morricone.

Will Win: Ennio Morricone

And again, I could go on to Make-up, costumes etc, but those are secondary in my opinion. And I really hate the Animated film category.


That's all folks. Thanks as always,


Ryan Black
2/27/2016