Our Top 10 Movies of 2015…Finally!

JASON FURIE

Hot damn what a good year for movies! My inner nerd was hungry and holy cow did he ever get fed! I was almost 100% sure STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS would take my #1 spot but THE REVENANT had to poop on the parade and deliver one of the best films I’ve ever seen. It was a cinematic masterpiece displaying top notch cinematography and acting while also serving as one hell of an entertaining revenge flick. And to be honest, I’m a shameless STAR WARS fan (ALL of it!), and THE FORCE AWAKENS mainly got my #2 spot just because it’s STAR WARS. Dumb I know, but it’s how my brain works. And to be honest, within the franchise, it was kind of a let down due to it’s obvious mirroring of A NEW HOPE losing points in originality. CHAPPIE was a perfect robot movie and MAD MAX: FURY ROAD was even better than all the hype it received. It was great revisiting our dino friends in JURASSIC WORLD and I firmly believe movies need more dinosaurs. The oddball in my list is easily TERMINATOR: GENISYS which is WAY better than you heard from your cranky friends paying homage to T1 and T2 while creating an identity of its own. EX MACHINA had the best single scene in any movie on this list and Tom Cruise hit yet another home run with ROGUE NATION. Oh keeper creepers IT FOLLOWS haunts my brain to this day. It was a perfect horror film. And last but not least was KINGSMAN dishing out some super style and some extreme violence in all the best ways possible. It was a great year and I will surely be re-watching these movies for a long long time.

Art By François Vigneault

MARK ESPINOSA

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
INSIDE OUT
IT FOLLOWS
BEAST OF NO NATION
EX MACHINA
SPOTLIGHT
DOPE
THE MARTIAN
THE FORBIDDEN ROOM/TANGERINE (tie)
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS
THE FINAL GIRLS
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

This was the closest I could come to a ‘top ten’ list of all my favorite films of 2015. For me, if a movie offers one original perspective or style, I consider it a successful experience. (MAD MAX was the closest I came to being completely wowed from beginning to end by a movie this year) Unfortunately, by that logic, almost every film I saw in 2015 could go up on a list. For me, what makes a movie really stand out is how often I reference it in a movie rant. MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. and KINGSMAN both injected some fresh energy into an overly saturated genre. Individually, they were adequate films, together they represented a trend I hope continues into 2016. (I almost threw them up on this list as a tie and chickened out last second.) Then there were films like TANGERINE and THE FORBIDDEN ROOM (that couldn’t be more different) that completely blew me away with their execution, but left me a little wanting in other aspects. I kept them up there because I felt like their importance outweighed their few weak elements. AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON and JURASSIC WORLD were fun enough, but I think what they represented resonated more with me more than what they actually were. ANT-MAN IS IN MY TOP 5 MARVEL MOVIES. The jury is still out on AVENGERS for me. SICARIO was pretty dope. When I look back on this list, almost every movie is one that I will continually find a way to sneak into any movie conversation I am having. Or because they keep randomly popping up in my head during quiet moments. They all struck very different and lasting chords with me. It was definitely a big year for successfully smacking people from a wider range of emotional angles. Next year? I would love to see even more ‘risk’ in regards to storytelling and diversity. Sigh. Diversity. Interesting when some of most diverse shows of the year (SENSE8, JESSICA JONES, MASTERS OF NONE, ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK) were all Netflix exclusive television shows. I should have left place holders for REVENANT and SPOTLIGHT…

Art By Rick Lucey

SEAN WHEELER

If you were to tell me in April that 2015 was going to be a great year for movies I would’ve thought you were crazy. The first half of the year was filled with mediocre fare and more bombs than hollywood would care to remember, but for once the summer movie season delivered many films that were as great as they were entertaining, and autumn brought us a smorgasbord of such amazing movies that it was hard to keep up with them all. Some fell through the cracks, like Ron Howard’s underappreciated In The Heart of the Sea, but by and large the great films of 2015 enjoyed critical as well as commercial success, which is a rarity.

star wars the force awakens derek hansen nerd

Art By Derek Hansen

MIKE McG

It was quite the year in film. A cinematic universe expanded even further and took a chance on a “smaller” hero. A few ingenious spy/espionage flicks gave Bond a run for his money. Quieter films injected with humorously human characters, moving emotions and genuinely suspenseful moments endeared themselves to me. A galaxy from far, far away made a triumphant return. And a senior citizen proved that he’s still one of the most kinetic and bad-ass directors around. Here’s to more of this and less of everything else!