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Round Up – My Top 10 Best Films of the Year!

by Andrew McDonald 8 years ago

My Top 10 films of 2015.

Here’s my top 10 list for 2015. Ah listing things, one of the great simple pastimes and pleasures. This year a definitive ten proved to be a fairly painless task since (if I can be honest) I believe we had a better year of films in 2014 so weeding out the favourites wasn’t so hard. I didn’t have any mental battles or moments of deep scrutinising to undergo as the good films of 2015 weren’t just good, they were absolutely fantastic. I should begin by pointing out that (at least in Australia) we’re currently in a horrible limbo period where we hear of all these wonderful movies being churned out for Oscar consideration at the eleventh hour and of course these films don’t grace our screens until the actual awards themselves roll around, or so it seems. Although I’m certain there will be far better pictures on the horizon that were technically made in 2015 I’m forced to give them a wide birth.

 

I’m talking the big hitters from the world’s finest filmmakers – Joy,The Reverent, The Hateful Eight, Anomalisa and countless others will take a backseat to the films I’ve seen throughout 2015. Likewise I don’t think I can include films that I saw around the academy period earlier in 2015. Wouldn’t it be a cop-out to just say Birdman was the best after the accolades it already received? And wouldn’t Birdman be considered a 2014 picture? Man, this is suddenly getting tougher by the second! Here’s my list of everything between the 2015 Award Season until say around New Year’s Eve. This is kind of annoying for a majority of the academy nominated films of 2015 I didn’t see until much later. For instance, the best films I saw this year were Leviathan and Wild Tales but rules are rules and they belong to 2014. In future I should apply increased pressure by making the effort to see new releases more promptly. Anyway, here goes:

 

  1. The Lobster. This film had everything that warms the soul and a much needed reminder that there are still creative ideas and minds slipping through the cracks amidst all the mindless action blockbusters that are, at their core, designed to appeal to a vastly growing, enormously profitable, cinema-going audience in China. The Lobster has art-house sensibility, its melancholy to the point of hilarity and all set in a very well realised dystopian future. In a very bleak world, a very bleak Colin Farrell plays David, a man forced to race against the clock to find a romantic partner in a hotel before being transformed into the animal of his choosing. It brings a smirk to my face just writing such a synopsis, but regardless of how absurd it all sounds The Lobster is truly wonderful.

 

  1. The Look of Silence. I’m just going to come right out and say it The Act Of Killing was robbed of the academy award for best documentary (it lost to 20 Feet from Stardom). Not only did filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer put his life on the line by challenging Indonesian Death Squad leaders but he also managed to commit to tape the leaders’ (killers?) own re-enactments of some of their most heinous deeds. We watched gobsmacked and utterly perplexed as the killers described how they mimicked Hollywood gangster films when carrying out their murders, and how these men who are still in power today boasted a kill counter well into the thousands each. In the follow up The Look of Silence we get the alternative perspective as a victim confronts the stars of the former documentary over the mutilation of his brother. Equally as harrowing as its originator The Look of Silence is as shocking as it is heartbreaking.

 

  1. Sunshine Superman. Try as I might I can’t scratch this documentary from my head. Its premise is simple; meet Carl Boenish and the daredevil team who pioneered base-jumping. Although it’s fraught with danger and unfortunate circumstances, the people who were at the heart of this new wave of thrill seeking are not in the least bit forgiving about their actions and are notably proud of their achievements. It makes jumping from great and previously untapped heights seem like the most natural thing in the world and these images were also the source of my nightmares for the next few nights. But scary dreams aside, Sunshine Superman is loaded with breathtaking footage, its story is beautifully told and all wraps up with an engrossing exhibition of the advancements of base jumping today set to tune of The Air That I Breathe.

 

  1. Love and Mercy. The thing I love most about this film which has absolutely nothing to do with the film itself is that apparently Paul Dano and John Cusack didn’t correspond before or during filming. They both portrayed The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson at two very different stages of his life and were left to their own devices to interpret the character as they saw fit. What’s most compelling is that the transition between the Brain Wilson of the Beach Boys hey-day to the Brian Wilson of more recent years is seamless. Both characters are understandably unique in that we’re observing both a man and a child but believing that this is the same individual is no stretch what so ever. Also for my money’s worth this delved into the psyche of a masterful songwriter. Although one could argue that the man’s mental breakdown is the more important story, it’s the breakdown of song structures and melody that are the most engaging.

 

  1. Listen to me Marlon. This might sound insanely naïve but outside of Brando’s iconic cinematic performances I didn’t know much about the man other than the odd splice of legendary gossip that’s become Hollywood folklore. For instance Francis Ford Copolla was deeply irritated by Brando’s girth-y appearance and “difficult” on set behaviour when filming Apololypse Now. One may be excused for being left with an impression that Brando was perhaps slightly insane, even if the performance itself was nothing short of hypnotically astonishing. Then my mind wanders to Alan Arkin in City Island where he plays an acting coach who discredits Brando’s acting, condemning the overuse of a pause and saying something to the effect of “forget all those awful pauses. Ever since Brando emerged, actors cannot say their own name without interjecting a lengthy ponder.” And suddenly my perceptions of Brando as the buffoon who got lucky become inherent. Listen To Me Marlon commanded me to suppress such thoughts and ensure that they never even left my mouth… oh wait! Brando was as intelligent and beguiling off screen as he was on and it’s all there to be heard in a series of recorded interviews and audio journals that have recently surfaced and form the basis for this autobiographical documentary. His life was an endless search for peace in a world that seemed constantly at war with this great man.

 

  1. Tyke, Elephant Outlaw. Perhaps I was a tad emotional when I saw this for my daughter had just been born and I was a scattered shambles, operating on adrenalin which counteracted a lack of sleep. So when I saw a grave injustice befall a helpless circus animal I fell to pieces. Fortunately I saw this alone and my relentless sobbing could freely continue long after the end credits had rolled. Like Project Nim before this I just crumbled at the sight of a mistreated animal and as the documentary proves, I wasn’t alone. The witnesses to this animal’s demise were visibly horrified as captured with home video footage and those previously acquainted with the animal for better or worse, seem slightly traumatised by the tragic ending of this animal’s life. I had to constantly reassure myself that poor Tyke didn’t die in vain as training circus animals to perform has since become a dwindling profession. The existence of rehabilitation sanctuaries brought some reprieve but was also a sad reminder of what could have been for Tyke the elephant outlaw.

 

  1. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Let’s not pussy foot around here, in terms of the exhilaration felt both before and after seeing this film, Star Wars should own the top spot. Let’s face it, the film met it’s one and only requirement – it was good. I was sceptical after pointless prequels, the threat of a Star Trek director, a new ruler of the galaxy (Disney) and a film locked in the can in record time, but they managed to get it right. It goes to show that if you reintroduce the gang that we adore, bring back some darkness, blood and brooding villains, revisit the A New Hope premise and most importantly keep George Lucas out of the loop we can regain some of the old Star Wars magic. With a huge sigh of relief, the kind Luke sported after blowing up the death star all those years ago, I will endeavour to see this again perhaps with a beer or two. This time I’ll remember to breathe correctly, stop grinding my teeth and not have the words ‘please don’t be crap, please don’t be crap’ rotating around in my head for two hours.

 

  1. The Wolfpack. Another documentary that I just can’t seem to shake and one that also seems to be a recurring theme in Hollywood for the soon-to-be-released The Room echoes this very idea. The Wolfpack was a chance discovery of seven impoverished children who had not left the confines of their small New York apartment in as long as they could remember, and of their awakening to freedom and liberation. Oh and did I mention they’ve also seen ten thousand films, have a plethora committed to memory and are crafty enough to fashion flawless costumes from discarded house hold items for their re-enactments? The results of which are beyond mesmerising, and the contents of this film and the boy’s profound love of the medium has the power to restore the most cynical naysayer’s love of cinema. Powerful stuff, when can we see a follow up, please?

 

  1. 99 Homes. Anything starring Michael Shannon these days is already worth your while and here he’s at his villainous best! Essentially it bares similarities to the soon to be released The Big Short but on a smaller scale or rather on a ‘street-level’. 99 Homes is a first-hand account of the effects of the stock market crash and the gravity of its hopeless situation. It highlights the pain and the anguish felt by countless people affected by their home foreclosures. Andrew Garfield turns from victim to victor after making a deal with the devil (Real estate broker -Shannon of course). The small picture is intense with all round brilliant performances; the big picture is alarming for I found myself asking many uninformed questions about my own home security to my wife who happens to work in the biz. Is our home safe? Is someone coming to repossess it? What if we go broke, how long until we have to leave? She laughed but I was dead serious and anything that can leave me that jittery and paranoid long after the movies finished is a keeper.

 

  1. Racing Extinction. Ok I either saw way too many documentaries this year or it was the documentaries that outshone the fiction. Racing Extinction is mandatory viewing. Period. Picking up where the filmmakers previous and stunning documentary The Cove left off, Racing Extinction takes things one step further and paints a clear picture of our world’s demise and precisely how it’s all going to go down starting with the ocean. Far superior to and more tangible than An Inconvenient Truth and more palatable than recent documentaries of a similar nature like Cowspiracy, Racing Extinction is a necessary if grim look at earth on the eve of our darkest hour. The filmmakers bold quest as they once again go undercover to bring us alarming footage and attempt to desperately command our attention with aesthetically beautiful images displayed over large buildings and iconic skyscrapers is the stuff of essential and undeniable change. If you only see one film this year etc. etc.

 

Most certainly worth a mention is the wonderful Ex Machina, Amy, The Water Diviner and Dope – it pains me to leave them out in the cold. I also have to conclude that that my choices were overtly American, but that’s the way the cookie crumbled this year.

 

Oh and least favourite film of the year? That goes to The Clouds Of Sils Maria. OK, there were worse film made Pan has been panned quite hard but I never saw it. The fact is I loved The Clouds Of Sils Maria whilst watching it, I was totally on board and then like so many movies that I seem to come across these days it ended with no satisfying resolution. Just come up with an ending, any ending, stop leaving me hanging! I’m all for rethinking everything you’ve just seen and leaving things open to interpretation but this film didn’t even do that, it just ended and it pissed me right off!

 

I should also point out some films that I’m very much looking forward to in 2016. At a glance anyway…

 

La La Land: Let’s see if wunderkind director of Whiplash Damien Chazelle can prove that lightning can in fact strike twice.

 

The Girl on the Train: Fine, the book paled in comparison to Gone Girl and I simply couldn’t help but compare the two the whole way down the “line”, but it was still a great romp and Emily Blunt has already sold me with the one still photograph that’s currently available.

 

London Fields: Again I loved the book by Martin Amis. Amber Heard as Nicola Six – yes! Jim Sturgess as Keith talent – not quite what I had in mind, but yes! Cara Delevingne as Kath Talent, um…. Sure!

 

Hitchcock / Truffaut: Now I enjoy a good documentary, but I love a good documentary about film history! The title says it all; even if some film archivist has found footage of these two scratching their arses for two hours I’m still going to see it.

 

Midnight Special: Because director Jeff Nichols hasn’t let me down yet and for that matter neither have some of the leads.

 

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story: Mark my words, after The Force Awakens I’ll be lining up for the annual Star Wars money spinner. No idea what it’s about but providing Mads Mikkelsen is the bad guy then how can it be bad?

 

 

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Posted by: Andrew McDonald

351 thoughts on “Round Up – My Top 10 Best Films of the Year!”

  1. Good list Andrew. Of our Top 0, I’d seen 6, one was on my to-watch list and one I have added to my to-watch list. Loved the prevalence of the documentaries. Won’t quibble with the order of your Top 10, but of the 6 I had seen, I would have definitely had Amy and Ex-Machina in there. Sicario was also probably one of my faves from 2015 that didn’t get a mention.

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