The top films of 2015--and a few of the worst

All in all, it's been a decent year for films, commercial or otherwise, though we suffered through unusually thin gruel for the first six months of 2015.   My favorite films of the year, in descending order...

1. 1001 Grams--Bent Hamer, of Kitchen Stories fame, does it again--a loving look at characters literally trying to find the weight and balance of life as they lose parents and partners.  Hamer should really be on the list of smartest directors--with Mark Duplass, Lars van Trier, and a handful of others who actually care about their stories and characters.   Your soul does, in fact, weigh 21 grams--and you'll value every dust particle after watching this one.
2. Embrace of the Serpent--this is actually a 2015 release but no one saw it in the US until 2016--when it lost the Best Foreign Film award.  It shouldn't have (no comments about the surprise that a holocaust film won out over a true original gem with radical environmental and racial politics).   The movie tells of the relationships between Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and last survivor of his people, and two scientists who work together over the course of 40 years.  The relationships show the violence, racism, covetousness, and abuse of the western system--looking at a very very sick Christian outpost, Karamakate concludes that "this is the combination of the worst of both cultures" (you'll strongly agree). 
3. Spotlight--great ensemble (led by Ruffalo, McAdams, Schreiber) examines culpability for the crime that "every one" knows about--but no one stops.   Even though you know that the result is that the top Catholic brass in Boston got promoted to the Vatican for his role in systematically putting molesters on "leave," there's still drama enough for every one.  I hate religion and resent any one who claims to be a believer--there are so many better things to read.   So I particularly enjoyed watching the 2001-2 public dress down the Church received thanks to the Boston Globe.
4. Mad Max--Fury Road.  If you're going to go commercial, do it right...like this film.   It takes the Mad Max punk rock dystopian aesthetic to a new level, and not just by having the soundtrack played on electric guitar from the top of a war bucket vehicle.   It was so good I didn't even care that the plot involves saving (only) the beautiful women--who knew that was a feminist concern too?  
5. Louder than Bombs--not released in the US as far as I can tell, this Westchester examination is in a league with The Ice Storm.   People are really really struggling up there, it turns out, and sometimes finding transcendence.  Extraordinary Jesse Eisenberg, Isabelle Huppert, and David Strathairn...and not just saying this because the director Joachim Trier is Scandinavian...
6. The Big Short--if you've ever worked for Goldman Sachs, MorganStanley, HSBC, Lehman Brothers, or one of the inferior second-tier securitization firms, and didn't quit under a storm of violent protest, you are a slob and you have no integrity.  And PS you're probably pretty stupid.  What an honest joy to watch your ilk in this very funny adaptation of the Michael Lewis book, where the only integrity to be seen is in a Match.com listing or a client interview with a stripper.  Watching Selena Gomez and Anthony Bourdain easily explain the dumb ideas that drove the 2008 crisis should remind you of how stupid you are (though Bourdain's cioppino is not toxic while your tranches are).   Seeing the SEC ("see you, honey, smooch smooch!") and Wall Street Journal ("but will he return my call tomorrow morning?" and Moody's ("it's within our statistical brackets!") get down on their knees to prostitute themselves so that you can get away with criminal crap also diminishes any self-respect you've undeservedly preserved.   Steve Carell plays one of the biggest social and moral idiots ever, and Christian Bale is so maladjusted he can't make eye contact (literally).   Don't you love knowing that you're scummier than these two, who become the conflicted heroes of the film?  Quit your job now, loser, and do something legal!
7. Youth--this is a year for directors taking a second shot at the same film and finally getting it right.  The Great Beauty was a big old dud...this one is creative in the most Fellini-esque ways, proving that old people act immature at times and young people can be preternatural when they're not whining.  Thank you Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel, for everything...
8. Mommy--this movie thrives because of the extraordinary acting of Ann Dorval as a beautifully out-of-her-depth mother (aren't they all?) to Antoine Olivier Pilon, a threateningly ADHD son...when people talk about sparks flying on screen, they mean pairs like this.   You long for survival throughout this brilliant piece of work, since there's no acceptable definition of victory.   You can't stop hoping.  
9. Welcome to Me--a gorgeous story of a mentee as she begins to understand that her mentor has only some of the answers, and that only by retaining faith can both parties survive.   I didn't think Kristen Wiig could get any more vulnerable than in her past films but wow.
10. Timbucktu--the globe has become less safe due to fundamentalist religions and weapons manufacturing.  This movie offers the hope of knowing that the idiots who support these two trends are really truly morons.   Unfortunately, they're going to kill a whole lot of their neighbors in Mali and elsewhere the process.  You will wear socks!
11. Rams--you may have trouble finding this Icelandic film but it's worth the trouble.   A father's effort to punish a wayward son 40 years ago has resulted in the two sons sharing a farm but never speaking.   For the entire 40 years, until Mad Cow disease comes to their isolated valley. It's hard enough to run a hardscrabble operation in this environment but success is almost impossible when no one's even speaking.  Ultimately, talk they must...beautiful.
12. Schneider vs Bax--two Dutch hit men are mutually sent to kill each other, and the result is better than The Hateful Eight.  Best line of the film:  "you wade across the two channels and then you're in the swamp forever."  
    
    Indeed! If you like the Coen brothers you'll love this.  A great condemnation of gun culture and violence, but wildly good fun and perhaps the sexiest final image in the history of film.
13. The Hateful Eight--the son of the slaveowner ends up in bed with the slave, metaphorically and in reality, in this wonderful combination right between Ten Little Indians, The Iceman Cometh, and Reservoir Dogs.  Not as political in its use of filmmaking or violence as Django, Tarantino's best film (or tie with Pulp Fiction), but equally as original and all-Tarantino as the best.  Jennifer Jason Leigh's funniest film ever...Samuel Jackson goes even farther than before, if that's possible...and if you get lost, there's always the completely random voiceover.   Goodbye 70 MM--we loved you!
14. Spectre--this year's version is as good as Bond gets,   Daniel Craig still deserves the "best Bond ever" title, even as he (wonderfully) makes fun of the franchise.   Fortunately, the director lets him do it, ending with a send off scene that can easily pass for a final goodbye to the final franchise.   So long, James--you never looked better!
15. Time Out of Mind--this Richard Gere game changer appears to be on no one's list, and yet it was so gentle and careful, and not prone to providing unsatisfactory answers.   Gere, as a somehow disabled homeless man, can't explain his situation, so it's no wonder we can't figure out quite how he, or every one else he meets in the shelter world, got there.   Really understated and strong.
16. The Danish Girl--taking advantage of the memoir of an early male to female transexual, this film creates a very fresh and tragic spin on the familiar "boy meets girl, girl cannot have boy" story.   Every time I'd start to get bored, Alicia Vikander would jump in and save it--I don't think I've seen a broader range of acting in a single role in a long time (note:   she just won the Best Supporting Actress award)
17. Spy--we get to reimagine this genre thanks to the fantastic comic actor in the center.   I kept thinking of the really bad versions of this story we've all seen in the last 30 years...and why Spy is not one of them.  One reason:  confidence in the skills of subordinates, instead of rogue cowboy management styles.   That's a rare twist added by the strong female cast.  Go Melissa McCarthy.
18. Tangerine--the first word out of Sin-dee's mouth are "Merry Christmas Eve, Bitch," and from there on the search for the pimp who broke her heart takes us on a tour of predatory behaviors.   Every one here wants, but can't have...anything they want, except their identity.   You don't want to live in the America filmed by Sean Baker (on a bunch of Apple 5s'!) but the point is, you may not have a choice.   And of course, he went on to write Florida Project, one of the top films of 2017...

Films I enjoyed but that weren't quite worthy of "top film" consideration

1. Fast and Furious 7--one of the best in the series and some great in-character acting again...though the elegy at the end may have been a bit too much...
2. Magic Mike XXL--this film delivers on what it promises, over and over.  And unlike the first one, the stoner conversations of the men are coy, cute, and rich.   But, mostly, these guys set out to please their clients, and they do--led by Tatum Channing who can really, really dance.  Guys--if you skipped this as a girl film, you're missing something.   This film is about how to be the very best in your field, how to commit 100%, and how you know you met your own goals.
3. Wild Tales--next to the Scandinavians, I think I like Argentine films the best...and this one takes logical problems to real extremes.   You won't want to drive, get married, or do a lot of other simple tasks after this thoughtful examination!
4. The Martian--I don't think pretending that science has an answer for every problem is all that compelling as a story line as we watch our planet expire.  But, like Wild last year, and that Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night) film, Hollywood seems to like films that explore how long various compounds (tire rubber, shoe leather) withstand heavy use.  
5. Straight out of Compton--nice history and worth it just to see the "fuck you" scene mishandled by the Detroit cops.  Documents the last time pop music was revolutionary.  It's been, what, 40 years now?   We're way overdue for the next wave!  Today's music is all about going on summer vacations with Mommy and Daddy when you're in your 20's. 
6. Beasts of No Nation -- A doff of the hat to Netflix for launching into film with Idris Elba and a cast with zero white people.   Very intense and honest film.  Nice work.
7. Trainwreck--Amy Schumer's really good, and honestly looks surprised by her own sudden relationship success,  but Meg Ryan still wins as an out of control drunk (though, Meg, why have your ruined yourself with plastic surgery?   You were once the most beautiful woman in film--now you look like a clown). 
8. Taxi--(the German one)--what's a girl to do when nothing has any purpose?   Peter Dinklage contributes a bit of complexity to a search for meaning story.
9. The Look of Silence--this might make the top film list but I watched it on a plane--probably a bad place to confront the astounding banality of evil.   This is like watching people talk about doing laundry--they wear their Indonesian state-sponsored terrorism so easily.  
10. Love and Mercy--acceptable.   That's an improvement. 
11. Black Mass--I love this gang of male actors, but I'm not sure that Whitey Bolger is worthy of their treatment.   He was just a dumb lonely violent idiot.   Hard to make a top-tier film around such a miscreant.
12. Star Wars--oh, so satisfying!   The old guard surpass themselves with tenderness, and four new wonderful characters enter the Jedi context.  It's probably better than "IV"--the 1977 original.
13. Amy--Tony Bennett says she's the only singer he's seen who could match Ella.   After watching Amy destroy herself in her own words, you'll agree.   What a voice...
14. Inside Out--the animated kids' film that finally overcomes the condemnation "but there's a lot of stuff in it for adults, too!"

Worst films of 2015 that you should absolutely avoid for fear of getting slimed:

Fortunately, not many this year.  But these are truly disasters!

1. 45 Years--OK we all love Charlotte Rampling.  Here she offers nothing new examining a cul de sac in the neighborhood of long relationships--the undisclosed long-past passion.   Once she learns of events on a glacier 46 (?) years ago, she throws a hissy fit against Tom Courtenay, who really should have told her long ago but apparently was too busy being a leftie radical to bother.   The movie fails because Courtenay is directed to act senile and post-geriatric.   So, you spend the entire movie assuming that this is the scene when he'll have the fatal heart attack.   This where-is-the-speeding-bus tension turns a domestic drama (gallons of tea are consumed) into a horror flick--waiting for Tom to hit the floor, dead.  Spoiler alert:  he doesn't.
2. Queen of Earth--don't see this if you're feeling at risk psychologically, or if any one in your family is mentally ill.   On second thought, don't see this anyway. 
3. Carol--I believe the final shot of Rooney Mara was created by superimposing a still photo over a pan shot.   And that's the whole problem with this sappy cross between South Pacific and Julianne Moore's Far From Heaven--both of which take the idea of forbidden love in the middle of the last century and do something interesting with it.   I hated this film from the first shot and started laughing out loud at the initial film metaphors (hey, guys, if Cate Blanchett touches this red handle, the electric locomotive will start down the track!).   What on earth are these two doing, pasted, like Rooney in the final shot, in front of a bunch of 1952 decorations?   Has there ever been a couple with less reason for mutual attraction?  My favorite moment:  another still photo, this one supposedly taken by Rooney Mara who turns out to be a professional-level camera wonder, of Cate Blanchett sleeping.   Wow--THAT'S a beautiful shot.   Just skip the motion picture part of this film and you'll be happy.
4. Bridge of Spies--OK, it wasn't that terrible, but I'm putting it on this list because I'm tired of the boy scout morality of Spielberg films, and because some one should take the chains off Tom Hanks and let him do something different.   The film obviously bends reality to create good propaganda--Hanks is introduced as a insurance lawyer with no experience, but in fact he had somehow been involved in the Nuremberg trials.   So, the whole thing felt like a big old fake.   Blah.

Films released in 2015 that I haven't seen yet, or don't plan to see, that are on other top films of the year lists

1. The Diary of a Teenage Girl
2. Grandma
3. Learning to Drive
4. Taxi (the Iranian one, not the German one mentioned above)
5. The End of the Tour--David Foster Wallace
6. Room--didn't love the book and certainly don't need to repeat the experience