Angie Han’s Top 10 Movies Of 2015
It doesn’t matter how many resolutions I make: the next New Year always arrives before I’m ready to close the book on the previous year’s movies. There are too many movies I still haven’t seen (maybe next year,Paddington), or movies that probably deserve a rewatch (sorry,Carol), or movies I’m still not quite sure how to process (yeah, I’m still mulling overThe Hateful Eight). But we’ve gotta wrap up 2015 sometime, and the first week of 2016 seems as good a point as any to stop and look back.
As always, I’d like to stress that these are not the “best” films of the year. They’re simply my favorites — the films that made me just a little bit happier, a little bit smarter, a little bit better at being a person in this weird wide world. After the jump, join me in counting down my top 10 movies of 2015.
Honorable Mentions
In no particular order…
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
No movie this year came with as much pressure to deliver asStar Wars: The Force Awakens. That it actually lived up to the hype is a minor miracle. Sure, we can quibble over some of the details, but it’s great where it counts. I’d follow Rey, Finn, and Poe anywhere in the galaxy.
Jupiter Ascending
If 2015 was the year ofStar Wars: The Force Awakens,Jupiter Ascendingfelt like its weirdo cousin — the one who drinks too much, laughs too loudly, and has a tendency to go off on odd tangents, but emerges as the most fascinating person at the party anyway.
Magic Mike XXL
Many of the year’s best films aimed for profundity, or emotionality, or originality.Magic Mike XXLjust wanted to have a good time, and to show the audience a good time, too. It’s a puff pastry of a movie: no substance, just sweet pleasure. Nothing wrong with that.
Steve Jobs
Rather than mythologize a man who hardly needs further mythologizing,Danny BoyleandAaron Sorkingo in the complete opposite direction, laying bare the bleeding, beating heart behind Apple’s clean white curves.
Rocky Balboa is on his last legs, both as a character and as a franchise, soCreedrefreshes his legacy for the modern age.Michael B. Jordanestablishes himself as a bonafide movie star, andSylvester Stallonereminds us that there’s still greatness in him.
Films I Never Got Around to Watching, and Feel Really Bad About
Son of Saul45 YearsThe Diary of a Teenage GirlKumiko, the Treasure HunterPhoenix
10. Cinderella
Kenneth Branagh’sCinderelladoesn’t attempt to reinvent its source material. Instead, it makes the centuries-old fairy tale feel vital again by going back to all the reasons it’s stuck around so long in the first place. Branagh emphasizes its timeless moral — “have courage and be kind” — by framing Cinderella’s goodness as a choice, not an innate quality, and doubles down on the fantasy by serving up sumptuous textures, vivid colors, and a genuinely lovable prince (played by the former King in the North,Richard Madden).Cinderellafeels simultaneously old and new, which is to say, timeless.
9. The Martian
After some recent stumbles,Ridley Scottreturned to form with this surprisingly upbeat survival drama. (Not comedy,no matter what the HFPA saysor how many disco tunes are on the soundtrack.)The Martianis as terrifying as it needs to be, but it’s really more interested in boosting your spirits than depressing them. The story of a single astronaut (Matt Damonat his most endearingly Matt Damon-y) stranded hundreds of miles from home becomes a paean to the resilience of the human spirit, and a pep rally for the importance of science.
8. Crimson Peak
Okay, soCrimson Peakwasn’t exactly the haunted house horror moviewe were promised. You know what it was, though?Guillermo del Toro’s take on a Brontë-style Gothic romance, complete with a crumbling mansion, a dwindling fortune, a mysterious suitor, a scandalous family secret, and the best portrait of monstrous femininity this side ofGone Girl’s Amy Dunne. The chameleonicJessica Chastaindisappears into her most extravagant role yet, methodically breaking down Lucille’s brittle exterior to unearth the demons within.
7. Anomalisa
In contrast to the grand scale and meandering trajectory of his last film,Synecdoche, New York,Anomalisais straightforward and small — literally small, even, sinceCharlie Kaufmanand co-directorDuke Johnsonhave opted to use puppets. But it’s unmistakably a Kaufman film. It literalizes what we have trouble articulating, and metaphorizes what we’ve stopped noticing.Anomalisaisn’t a cheery movie by any means, but its bleak outlook paradoxically make this cold world feel a little bit warmer. After all, it means you’re not the only one hurting.
6. Slow West
Some movies romanticize the Wild West as a mythical land of possibility, where heroes duke it out with villains. Others zero in on the unrelenting brutality of the environment, and the steeliness of the people who live there.Slow Westunfolds at the crossroads, following a young man (Kodi Smit-McPhee) whose idealized visions — of love, of courage, of the New World — are continually punctured by unwelcome truths. It’d be bleak if it weren’t so funny, and goofy if it weren’t so insistently grounded.
5. Ex Machina
After writing scripts for Danny Boyle and Mark Romanek,Alex Garlandfinally made the transition to directing, and knocked it out of the park in his first try.Ex Machinais as sharp and slippery as its three central subjects, who are played to perfection by the biggest rising stars of 2015:Star Wars: The Force Awakens’Oscar IsaacandDomhnall GleesonandThe Danish Girl’sAlicia Vikander. It starts out as a fairy tale for the digital age, evolves into a cautionary tale for the artificial intelligence age, and then finally reveals itself as an origin myth for the future.
4. What We Do in the Shadows
The specific details might vary from era to era, but what vampires basically all have in common are a dark allure. They’re creatures of the night, cloaked in shadows and fueled by fear and desire. But what’s left when you take away that mystique? What happens when you get up close and personal –reallyup close and personal, not just sexytimes up close and personal — with these bloodsuckers? Well, for starters, you might wind up in an airborne hiss-off over whose turn it is to wash the blood off the dishes.Taika WaititiandJemaine Clementdo for vampires whatThis Is Spinal Tapor Clement’s ownFlight of the Conchordsdid for rock stars, puncturing their aura of glamour to get to the hilariously mundane “reality” underneath.
3. Spotlight
There are heroes inSpotlightand there are villains, but the vast majority of the people in this movie aren’t quite either, and that’s the best thing about it.Spotlightdigs past the shock of the Catholic child abuse scandal to break down how it happened. DirectorTom McCarthypaints a picture of the bystanders who, unwilling or unable to notice the unpleasantness within their community, allow a vile disease to fester – and the bystanders who were finally forced, kicking and screaming in some cases, to wake up and do something about it.Spotlightmay be a movie about the Church, but it’s not a story about God. It’s a story about human nature, in all its imperfection.
2. Brooklyn
Brooklynsnuck up on me this year. Like its protagonist, it’s deceptively simple and unassuming; also like its protagonist, it turns out to have a warmth and an intelligence that are hard to shake. Eilis' immigrant tale feels all the more universal for being so specific, all the more significant for being so ordinary, and all the more romantic for being so steadfastly clear-eyed. The lead role makes better use ofSaorise Ronan’s innate grit and sly wit than perhaps anything else we’ve seen her in — and she’s had some pretty great roles, includingAtonement,Hanna, andThe Grand Budapest Hotel. But the bigger surprise might beEmory Cohenas Tony, a Marlon Brando type who disarms Eilis, and us, with his puppy-dog vulnerability.
1. Mad Max: Fury Road
I’m almost tired of talking about how dazzled I was byMad Max: Fury Road, but here goes: In a year that delivered genetically enhanced dinosaurs, an A-list star dangling off a moving airplane, and our first trip to a galaxy far, far away in a decade,Mad Max: Fury Roadwas still the most thrilling experience at the movies this year. Nothing about this movie played it safe. Nothing about this movie should have worked. ButGeorge Millerused every cinematic tool at his disposal to deliver an experience that no other medium could, in a way no other artist could. The death-defying action, pulse-pounding score, and larger-than-life performances combine into a shot of pure adrenaline. But its visceral charms are just the beginning.Mad Max: Fury Roadkept me in its thrall long after the buzz had worn off, thanks to its richly developed world and characters andsharp social commentary.
