2015 Movies

[Actaeon]

I don't know what the statue of limitation is on Star Wars spoilers, so let's tread lightly there. In any case, there are plenty other movies from the last year worth discussing. What has everyone seen? Any must-see or must-avoids?

 

I'm still hoping to catch The Hateful Eight, The Big Short, Room, Mustang, and Sicario. I'm on the fence about Spectre.

 

Brief assessments of what I did see:

 

 

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (9/10): Far more depth and insight than I expected.

Brooklyn (8/10): Darn near perfect but lacking in whatever makes a movie linger in your mind.

Spotlight (8/10): Not really about journalism; the audience can't help but get caught up in the investigation.

Suffragette (7/10): Solid performances all around bring the movement to life.

The Imitation Game (7/10): Solid on all fronts, it leaves you wondering why someone didn't make it years ago.

The Wrecking Crew (7/10): A somewhat amateurish but engrossing look at a group of musicians we don't know we know.

Ex Machina (7/10): Trumped most AI themed movies by thoroughly creeping me out and making me think.

Truth (7/10): Blanchett carries a movie that left this journalist a little unnerved.

Trumbo (7/10): Cranston proves he can be more complex than Hal or Walter White.

Far From the Madding Crowd (7/10): Remarkably accessible given the age of its source material.

He Named Me Malala (7/10): An interesting angle on a story I missed at the time.

The Theory of Everything (6/10): Tremendous acting and an interesting true story.

Selma (6/10): An effective if somewhat flat portrait of an important moment in history.

Danny Collins (6/10): A somewhat formulaic take on a thought provoking concept.

Love & Mercy (6/10): Paul Dano's scenes are spectacular. Cusak's are lukewarm.

The End of the Tour (6/10): Lacking in zest. Or maybe I just got sick of music movies.

Meru (6/10): A standard climbing movie with some heartfelt elements.

The Martian (6/10): A fairly straight adaptation without the humor that made the book halfway decent.

Grandma (6/10): A funny, honest attempt to tackle a controversial issue.

The Intern (6/10): Strong acting holds together a weak premise.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (6/10): Way better than the prequels and promising for the future, but too much recycled content.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (6/10): Fine, but I guess I expected more out of Joss.

Mr. Holmes (5/10): A cute little movie unless you're at all attached to the character of Sherlock Holmes.

Burnt (5/10): Two hours of Bradley Cooper's ego.

Jurassic World (5/10): The sequels just can't seem to capture the original's blend of wonder and horror.

Whiplash (3/10): A tense, well made movie that I just couldn't enjoy because of its unlikable characters.

Trainwreck (3/10): Not my brand of humor.

 

[Randomizer]

Spectre could have been better with the motivation behind the whole movie. Lots of homages to the earlier movies, but not the top 10 for the series. If you like James Bond, then you probably should see it at least on DVD where you get the extras.

 

Man From U.N.C.L.E. was a nice remake of the TV series with plenty of humor and Guy Ritchie flashbacks to explain how they did it. Better than the reviews.

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

I saw "Daddy's Home" with some friends the other day. It was alright. It's certainly not going to go down in history as a cinematic masterpiece, but for a Will Ferrell comedy it was actually kind of suspenseful, for me anyway. I sympathized with his character for once.

[Lilith]

i think mad max: fury road might be the only film i saw in cinemas last year

 

it was Pretty Good though

[Dintiradan]

I would rank the films I saw last year as follows:

1. Max Max: Fury Road
   
2. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
   

 

 

Films I'll probably watch on DVD at some point:

• Ex Machina
  
• The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
  
• Maaaaaybe The Imitation Game, but I can count the number of biopics I've enjoyed on the fingers of one hand, and from what I've heard they've taken way too many liberties with it.
  

 

[Slawbug]

I would rank the films I saw in theaters last year as follows:

 

 

 

[Tyranicus]

In 2015, I saw, in no particular order:

 

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Mad Max: Fury Road

Bridge of Spies

The Man from UNCLE

The Martian

Spectre

Jurassic World

Entourage

San Andreas

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Ant Man

Pitch Perfect 2

American Ultra

Kingsman: The Secret Service

A Walk in the Woods

Focus

[Edgwyn]

I thought Star Wars VII was good and enjoyed all of the fan service (in the G/PG sense). I think that was the only move that I saw in a theater this year.

[Alorael at Large]

Like some others who shall remain nameless, I saw no movies in theaters. The only movie I saw out of theaters was Avengers: Age of Ultron. So it's the best film of the year for me, and also the worst, which just about sums up how I feel about it.

 

I'll undoubtedly see Star Wars and probably Mad Max at some point. The Martian maybe or maybe not, but certainly not until I've read the book.

 

—Alorael, who can vaguely recall the days he saw vast numbers of films and actually knew who some actors were.

[Callie]

I didn't see any films from this year, although a pack of relatives loudly watched Do You Believe? while at the house. Very disconcerting.

[keira]

Stuff I saw (I don't see much, mostly because I don't go to theaters, so I have to wait for the blu-ray or something):

 

Kingsman: The Secret Service

This was...not what I was expecting. Very over the top, with lots of...excess, for lack of a better term. I normally don't care for this sort of film, but this wasn't so bad. Really, though, who can say no to [inspoil]the Not Westburo Baptist Church getting massacred in what is probably the most ridiculous fight scene this decade[/inspoil]. Not an award winner by any means, but definitely worth a watch.

 

Mad Max: Fury Road

I've said it before, but this is a movie that knows exactly what it is. Epic fights atop and across cars, packaged neatly with some of the best cinematography I've seen in a long time. As someone with a worldbuilding fetish, I can really say it exemplified the idea of "show, not tell" in every scene. Some of the supporting characters felt a bit papery, but that's not why you watch a movie like this. Highly recommended.

 

Parallels

I found this somewhere off reddit, it's a cancelled pilot that they turned into a movie, and you have to put those goggles on when watching it. Would've made a good TV show, but as a movie it falls flat. Meh.

 

The Martian

PEOPLE WHO LIKE SPACE CAN FINALLY WATCH A MOVIE ABOUT SPACE STUFF WITHOUT WANTING TO KILL THEMSELVES. You can really tell they (and/or the author of the book this film is based on) had NASA on speed dial at all stages of this film. They do take some artistic liberties (I don't think "Question Mark" is a digit in hexadecimal), but as a whole it's basically the exact opposite of Armageddon in every single way. Highly recommended.

Edited January 5, 2016 by sylae
tyop

[Aran]

I would rank the films I saw in theaters last year as follows:

 

 

 

 

I tried to figure out why that button was broken for nearly a minute.

[Cairo Jim]

There's only two movies that I'm aware of that got released last year, (I don't watch TV or movies often), one being Star Wars, which I enjoyed, and Ip Man 3, which I'm still yet to see.

[Valdain the King]

I liked star Wars but it was a little confusing some of the characters. There was this 12 foot tall vahnatai-similar guy who looked like a ghost. Shamoke was his name I think and I didnt like that everyone said that's v-bomb. How can it be V-bomb he's dead ya know?

[Vexivero]

That was Snoke, and he was in holographic form like Sidious / Palpatine in the first 6 (which is why he looked like a ghost). There are a few theories in circulation about who he is. In my opinion, the most likely theories are that (1) he's a completely new character or (2) he's Darth Plagueis (the Sith mentioned in Episode III that could prevent people from dying). The theory behind that one is that Yoda, Qui-Gon, Anakin and Obi-Wan preserved their consciousness after death, and since Plagueis was even more knowledgeable than them in that regard he somehow brought himself back to life and waited for the right moment to make his return. There's also a third valid theory that he's Jar Jar Binks (as he was the original slated antithesis to Yoda before Lucas chickened out), but I don't think Disney would run the risk in doing that that as it could ruin the entire franchise. I also don't know who V-bomb is. If you mean Vader, it's definitely not him.

[Valdain the King]

V-Bomb is Vaderbomb. It's a personal derivative I like to call him. it would likely be impossible for them to create a new character out of nowhere so you would have to be right about it being Sidious old mentor who he killed. Otherwise jarjar and any other idea would likely only be put together if Uwe Boll directs the movie. If that is the case then I will go to the theatre all sauced up with liquid courage and hope that I laugh at it.

[nikki.]

"

it would likely be impossible for them to create a new character out of nowhere

 

I have to agree with you, but only because I loved Rey and Finn so much in The Empire Strikes Back.

[Actaeon]

To be fair, Snoke is a significant person at the start of the movie. He looks old enough to have been around in the original trilogy, so if he isn't someone we've seen before we have to wonder what he was up to.

 

I like the Plagueis theory, though it's been flatly contradicted a couple times. I was also struck by the similarity of scars to Vader. Perhaps Anakin's redemption separated him into two entities? Obi Wan sort of treated him as such.

[Valdain the King]

Sylae and Tyranicus mentioned Mad Max Fury Road. Was that any good? I want to see it on dvd. I loved The road warrior but didnt see the sequel of it. The prequel was alright but nothing special.

[Dintiradan]

Much like Lilith succinctly states, it is Pretty Good. Of the previous films, it's most like Road Warrior, so if you liked that, you'll probably like Fury Road.

[Valdain the King]

Thankyou! That was just what I was hoping to hear. I didnt see the 3rd one but heard it wasnt very good so I was hoping that the new one was better. Sweet!

[Tyranicus]

Personally, I loved Fury Road. Do yourself a favor and watch it on Blu-Ray or HD digital download if you can. The visuals are amazing and benefit greatly from watching it in HD.