If 2015 taught us one lesson, it’s that you should never count Pixar out. After a string of (somewhat) disappointing releases following ‘Toy Story 3’, their last classic, many were starting to speculate if the wonderworks were still flowing. That is, until the studio released ‘Inside Out’ and blew everyone away, notching yet another insta-classic into their belts. About the conflicting emotions inside of a young girl’s head, ‘Inside Out’ delivers what all the best Pixar films have: a deceptively complex, emotionally wrought art film disguised as an animated children’s movie. Distraught after her parents uproot and move to San Fransisco, Riley’s real world story is only secondary to the mania going on in her head. The characters we spend the most time with are Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader), and Disgust (Mindy Kaling). I won’t recap the whole story here; but after Joy and Sadness are abandoned deep into Riley’s mind, director Pete Docter really gets to work. Expect some surprisingly dep reflections and even more emotional tears. You may even like it more your kids.
#2. Inside Out
If 2015 taught us one lesson, it’s that you should never count Pixar out. After a string of (somewhat) disappointing releases following ‘Toy Story 3’, their last classic, many were starting to speculate if the wonderworks were still flowing. That is, until the studio released ‘Inside Out’ and blew everyone away, notching yet another insta-classic into their belts. About the conflicting emotions inside of a young girl’s head, ‘Inside Out’ delivers what all the best Pixar films have: a deceptively complex, emotionally wrought art film disguised as an animated children’s movie. Distraught after her parents uproot and move to San Fransisco, Riley’s real world story is only secondary to the mania going on in her head. The characters we spend the most time with are Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader), and Disgust (Mindy Kaling). I won’t recap the whole story here; but after Joy and Sadness are abandoned deep into Riley’s mind, director Pete Docter really gets to work. Expect some surprisingly dep reflections and even more emotional tears. You may even like it more your kids.
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#3. Carol
In short, ‘Carol’ is the most dazzling, seductive, and beautiful film you are likely to see this or any other year. A new stone cold classic of the romance genre, it’s a movie that is both culturally vital and refreshingly simple in its emotional content. Most LGBT movies focus primarily on the struggle: fight for rights, fight against AIDs, etc. That is all right and good in its own way, but the fact that ‘Carol’ is so simple feels more refreshing and radical than all the others. There is some drama, sure, as there is in any other movie, but the plot boils down to little more than a love story. Though the movie is anchored by Rooney Mara’s Therese, a bookish aspiring photographer, the real draw is the titular Carol, played with movie star magnetism by Cate Blanchett (quite possibly the greatest actress alive). ‘Carol’ is a film of loaded glances, electrifying touch, and sultry dialogue. You would be forgiven for thinking it was a lost film from the 1950’s. Lastly, wait for that final shot, which will knock you out love struck, no matter your orientation. #4. Spotlight
Rarely does a director follow up a critical and commercial Adam Sandler-led flop with one of the best movies of the year, but that is exactly what Tom McCarthy did with ‘Spotlight’. About the Boston Globe’s extensive uncovering of worldwide child abuse in the Catholic church and the system that covered it up for decades, this is a film that finds a perfect blend of earthbound gravity and emotional vastness. ‘Spotlight’ documents the months of research leading up to the series, almost to a tedious degree. Strangely enough, that is exactly where the film’s tree strength lies. By focusing on the details of day-to-day journalism, the climax hits that much harder and feels that much more earned. Credit also goes to the year’s best ensemble cast, featuring Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Shreiber, John Slatterly, and Brian d’Arcy James, all digging deep and delivering career-best work. #5. The Hateful Eight
So I thought Sorkin’s script for ‘Steve Jobs’ was a wee bit better. I never said it was the better. ‘The Hateful Eight’ may be a little long, yes, but this is Tarantino, people! We only get a movie from this cinematic wizard every four or five years. So, when we do get a film, and especially on as rich as this one, I believe we can put down our phones long enough to enjoy the brazen beautiful mess that is ‘The Hateful Eight’. Essentially a three-hour chamber piece set after the Civil War, ‘TH8’ traps eight (nine, really) rough characters in a general store during a blizzard. With secrets to the gills and bullets to spill, it does not take long for this gang of suspicious outlaws to lets lip all of their worst, most racist, and, yes, hateful tendencies. The hilarious, confronting, and twist-filled script should give you plenty to drool over, but that is not even mentioning the film’s true glories: 70mm cinematography, a perfect score from Ennio Morricone, and a whole brood of scenery-chewing (yet subtle) actors at the top of their game. Top three to look for? That would be Jennifer Jason Leigh, Sam Jackson, and Walton Goggins. After all that, this is also the first Tarantino film with an actual message. Equal measures hopeful and fatalistic, this is a film to be remembered. It’s decisive nature should only increase its status as a truly great film. #6. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Star Wars 7 had a near-impossible task to accomplish: that is, not disappointing millions of rabid fans who have been fantasizing about its release for over a decade. Guess what? J.J. Abrams actually came through and delivered on nearly every front. For that reason alone, ‘The Force Awakens finds itself right near the top of my list. It isn’t perfect - the plot is basically a carbon copy of ‘A New Hope’ - but Star Wars was never about perfection. After all, this is a series in which George Lucas has directed four installments. Fans of the series are not looking ‘The Godfather’; the want Skywalkers and cutesy droids and badass space pirates and masked villains with robotic voices. Thankfully, that is exactly what this movie offers in spades, along with a band of new heroes like Daisy Ridley’s Rey, John Boyega’s Finn, and Oscar Isaac Poe that fall in with the veterans with masterful ease. Best in class, though, has to go to Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren, an magnetic villain written across of Driver’s endlessly expressive face. Oh, and don’t forgot that death, the year’s most impactful. #7. Steve Jobs
In a year when Tarantino put out a film, it pains me (in a way) to name another script better. On the other hand, it absolutely thrills me to name Aaron Sorkin’s ‘Steve Jobs’ script the best of the heap. Wildly ambitious, Sorkin tells this (largely imagined) take on the Apple genius as a three-part play. Spread across three different product launches, the film uses fictional banter about real events to finally get at the arrogant, bruised, perfectionist, sometimes bitter heart of the man. Forget the throwaway Ashton Kutcher project; this is the seminal Steve Jobs movie. Direction Danny Boyle and stars Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Jeff Daniels, and Seth Rogen all make sure of that. No one involved is giving less than 100%. Jobs himself may have even enjoyed it, and that’s saying something. #8. Sicario
Denis Villeneuve’s brilliant cartel drama would have ended up on my list coasting on the thrill of its technicals alone. With a score and cinematography this engrossing, ‘Sicario’ could have gotten by with a run of the mill drug-land story. What makes this one of the premiere movies of the year is, one, Emily Blunt’s shellshocked performance and, two, a defeatist ending ending that is not afraid to slam you with some dirty, uncomfortable truths and then leaves you cold. The film set Blunt’s character up as the take-no-crap DEA agent who will stop at nothing to take down the real heavy hitters of the Mexican cartel. Think again. ‘Sicario’ bangs her, and us, around into submission. A slick feminist commentary slid in-between the drug busts? Now that’s classic filmmaking. #9. The Martian
It’s nice to see that someone can still make good old fashion, non-sequel/remake blockbusters that stir audiences and are actually descent movies - even better hen they are much better than “descent,” as ‘The Martian’ is. It’s also nice to see Ridley Scott return to his legendary form after a series of underwhelming films: ‘Prometheus’, ‘The Counselor’, ‘Exodus’. You think people would have had enough of lost-in-space movies by now; but ‘The Martian’ just goes to show that if you build a great movie, people will come. So it’s not the best comedy that the Golden Globes thinks it is; the film still packs enough laughs, grade-A actors at the top of their game, and thrills to keep you on the edge of your seat throughout its two-plus hour running time. Just when you think the blockbuster system has been reduced to sludge, Matt Damon gets abandoned on Mars. Screw Hugh Glass and his two hundred or so mile journey through the woods. Matt Damon grew potatoes on a barren planet and flew into space in a convertible rocket to get home millions and millions miles away. #10. Brooklyn
Like all the best romances, ‘Brooklyn’ is about so much more than just boy-meets-girl. It’s about leaving home, all your memories, and the pain that comes with that. It’s about the unavoidable conflict between love and family. Not often enough do we get a love story this focused and in tune with the emotional dynamics of real relationships. Anyone who has ever left the only loved to better themselves somewhere far away will feel every pain Eilis (Saoirse Ronan, marvelous), an Irish immigrant coming into New York, feels. If you cannot relate to that, you will surely get swept away when she meets Tony (Emory Cohen), a modest Italian boy who showers her with love. Throw in an unexpected loss, a return trip to Ireland, and a new beau in the form of the inescapable Domhnall Glesson, and you are in for one of 2015’s most dreamy, heartfelt dramas. 1.“Trust No Bitch” – Orange is the New Black
2. “Hardhome” – Game of Thrones 3.“Person to Person” – Mad Men 4.“The Wrath of the Lamb” – Hannibal 5.“’What the Hell Did I Do?’” – The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst 6. “Kina Hora” - Transparent 7.“The Castle” - Fargo 8.“The Future” – Rectify 9.“Pimento” – Better Call Saul 10.“JSS” – The Walking Dead |
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January 2016
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