A lot of these stream or on DVD by now, though.
I’ve seen The Martian now and it is my favourite film of 2015. Excellent in every way.
Looking back at the movies that came out this year, honestly I have to go with Star Wars. The Martian would take second place I think.
I liked Mad Max and Inside out but did not LOVE them like many others.
I thought Ex Machina was disappointing. It was just okay. It may have been a victim of high expectations.
Avengers 2 did not age well. It was not bad but had all the easy flaws an Avengers movie could have that the first one deftly avoided. Ant-Man was surprisingly good and would probably take my third spot.
Two movies that get the Pleasantly Surprised award for being pretty good when I thought they would be terrible are Unfriended and John Wick. John Wick was form 2014 but I saw it in 2015.
I have seen a few more movies and can add to the list:
The Lobster - Charlie Kaufman wishes he made this movie. It’s so odd. So funny. I loved it, but it isn’t the best of the year. Just a movie worth seeing if you can find it in theaters(or on DVD later)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens - It’s great. Not the best of the year, but really good.
I’d vote for The Martian as the best movie of the year, but I also enjoyed Mad Max: Fury Road, Star Wars: the Force Awakens, and Ex Machina among others. I haven’t seen Inside Out yet, but will see it eventually.
Mad Max: Fury Road
Inside Out
Brooklyn
The Martian
Ex Machina
(in that order)
Haven’t seen Spotlight, Carol, or Hateful Eight yet
Have seen mainly big-budget films so far and the two best would be The Martian and Inside Out.
For those of you who wanted to wait until the year is over it’s time to start thinking about posting.
Haven’t seen the heavy hitters like Mad Max, The Martian, or Ex Machina so semi-reserve judgment, but this has been somewhat a disappointing year as nothing really stands out for me outside of Tarantino’s amazing The Hateful Eight.
Inside Out was standard Pixar fare.
Creed was a remade Rocky but shallow.
Brooklyn was an actor’s performance period piece (and a good one, don’t get me wrong), but not much more. My wife loved it much more than I did.
Spectre continued the reasoning why Daniel Craig is the best Bond behind Connery but, at the end of the day, was just a Bond movie.
Straight Outta Compton was good but only remembered that I saw it looking through other posts.
So several good movies but nothing remarkable except for Tarantino and, being that I am a giddy little school boy at every Tarantino film, I am a bit biased.
I have now twice had the opportunity to see Werner Herzog’s movie Queen of the Desert, starring Nicole Kidman. James Franco is in it also (he’s great).
It’s an excellent movie and is also on my list of the best movies of 2015. I strongly recommend seeing it if you get a chance.
I’m stunned it isn’t up for the big Academy Awards.
Two big thumbs up.
My favorite film of the year so far is Victoria. It’s a German film, although most of the dialogue is in English. Shot in a single take, it never feels like a gimmick, unlike last year’s Birdman. It starts off a little bit slow, but has a very thrilling chase sequence near the end.
We Are Still Here was also really good, proving you don’t need to have a bunch of stupid teenagers in a horror film. It narrowly beats It Follows for my favorite horror of the year.
Of course we’re arguing opinion here. I believe the best films of 2015 are “The Danish Girl,” “The Big Short,” “Room,” “Spotlight,” “The Revenant.”
The others (“Creed,” “The Martian,” “Mad Max”) were entertaining but simple narratives not sophisticated enough to be Best Movie worthy.
Opinion.
“In the years that followed, hundreds of bankers and ratings agency executives went to jail. The SEC was completely overhauled, and congress had no choice but to break up the Big Banks and regulate the mortgage and derivatives industries…Just kidding.”
The LOLest moment in theaters 2015.
I saw a lot of movies this year. Some were good. Some were very good.
There were only two that I saw multiple times and will buy (or have bought) when available, and they are Mad Max: Fury Road and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Of those two, I have to give the edge to Mad Max. The paper-thin plot is actually an advantage in this case.
“The Big Short” for me. I think it’s fantastic.
I’d go with “The Martian” … by far the best movie I saw in 2015. It made me want to science the HELL out of everything. I have seen “Fury Road” … meh. Also saw “Fury” … also “meh.” Did not see “Inside Out” yet and from what I’ve heard about, I think I might like it a lot, though I’ve been disappointed by animated films I liked a lot too.
One film I’ve not seen mentioned that would definitely be in my top five for best film is “Strange Magic” – the animation is IN-FRICKING-CREDIBLE, puts Pixar in the shade – not kidding here. It’s a lively story that moves right along, has some nice music … check it out, I found it on premium cable one day, not knowing what it is, and was blown away. Fine little film.
Oh, and “50 Shades of Gray” – great score! Excellent cinematography, and both worked together VERY well. But the movie itself … kinda dull. Did not capture the sense of the protagonist being swept away by her feelings like the book did. No inner mambas were danced onscreen. A shame.
I just re-watched Spy.
It deserves a mention as well. Jason Statham could have been nominated for Supporting Actor for this movie. He was hilarious and clearly the best thing in the movie.