The Best Films of 2015 (And the Most Overrated)

Hey there, cats and kittens.

The year 2015 was not as dismal as 2014 in terms of movies, but it was still not a phenomenal year. There were lots of good movies--movies as varied as Ant-Man, Slow West, Listen to Me Marlon, and others--and there weren't as many overrated movies. Some of the best of the year were truly phenomenal and should be seen by everyone; some of them include the following:

Paddington
It's disappointing that 2015 featured the return of puppetry with Star Wars and a bear that nearly ate Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revanant, but we still have a CG protagonist in Paddington. Still, this is a great family film, and even though the title character doesn't have an iota of realism in how he looks, he's still a terrific character in a family film championing the role of family. The cast, which includes Ben Winshaw, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, and Peter Capaldi, is spot on, and Nicole Kidman does a fine job in her first role (to my knowledge) as the villain. In one particular moment, she's far too nefarious, but that scene is the only blight in this otherwise fine film.

Trainwreck
I was very much prepared to hate this movie. From the few clips I've seen of Amy Schumer's hit Comedy Central show, Inside Amy Schumer, I wasn't impressed. And Trainwreck is a fairly standard rom-com in many respects, mostly poking fun at the genre but then suddenly embracing it. But I quickly loved this hysterical comedy. Schumer plays a woman whose rule is to never spend the night post-sex with a man. She's a "modern chick who does what she wants" and sleeps with whomever she wants, even though she's seeing someone, an incredibly muscular bro who actually is kind of sweet but a little dumb. That character is played by professional wrestler John Cena in one of the film's funniest roles, particularly as he uses sports lingo to talk dirty in the bedroom. Another sports figure who appears (as himself) is the surprisingly hysterical LeBron James, who according to the film, appears to be quite the fan of Downton Abbey. "Listen," he says, "I'm watching it tonight, because I'm not going to practice and all the guys are talking about it and I'm left out." Why exactly did this lose Best Comedy to The Martian (apparently a rip-roaring laugh fest) at the Golden Globes?

Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a simple movie, perhaps the simplest on the list, and yet it is one of the best of the year. It feels like a story we've seen over and over again, and yet it feels so fresh. Its supporting cast is charming, particularly Emory Cohen, Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters, and Domhnall Gleeson. But the real star is of course the lead, Saoirse Ronan, who plays Eilis, a young lady who emigrates from Ireland to the United States in the 1960s. Her performance is one of the very best of the year. In the hands of a weaker writer and director, the choices her character has to make would be much easier from the audience's perspective. Not so with director John Crowley and writer Nick Hornby, adapting Colm Toibin's novel of the same name, who really make just about all the right moves.

Inside Out
Inside Out is a movie that tells children (and adults) that sadness is a necessary, even helpful, emotion. This is the most emotionally powerful Pixar film since WALL-E and Up, and while it's not as unforgettable as those films, it deserves to be in their rank. Few animated films look anywhere near this incredible, and what a cast to back it all up, including Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Richard Kind, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, and others. Many were disappointed with Pixar's follow-up later in the year, The Good Dinosaur, and many are nervous about the upcoming sequel to Finding Nemo, but let's hope Pixar still has a plethora of other fantastic tales to tell.

Room
Room is just about as perfect as a movie can be, a movie that had water in my eyes and a lump in my throat for practically its entirety. There are few films this powerful, this well written, this well acted, this well directed, this exceptional in virtually every way. The entire cast is great, but of course the best accolades should go to its two leads, Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay, who are truly exceptional. Larson (who also played Amy Schumer's sister in Trainwreck) hands-down deserves the Oscar. This might be the best movie of the decade.

Note: The trailer for Room is the reason why there should be no movie trailers at all. I was stunned to watch it (fortunately, after I had seen the film) and to see that a pivotal moment in the movie is completely revealed in the trailer. Don't watch the trailer before seeing the movie!

Honorable Mentions

Ex Machina
Ex Machina is the best science fiction film of the year, giving us a terrific directorial debut from screenwriter Alex Garland and three great performances from Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, and Oscar Isaac. All three of these stars had a phenomenal 2015, with Vikander the front-runner for an Academy Award for The Danish Girl, and Isaac and Gleeson appearing in the biggest film of the year: Star Wars--The Force Awakens. Gleeson may have overdone it in Star Wars, but he was charming in Brooklyn and vulnerable here in Ex Machina. Vikander's role, particularly during the climax, is haunting, and Isaac definitely performs the dance of the year in the film's lone offbeat comedic scene.

What We Do In the Shadows
What We Do In the Shadows has a much funnier first half than second. Upon second thought, I realize that I watched the first half in the hospital right before my tonsillectomy, and the second half right after, so that probably had something to do with my reaction. Still, this mockumentary from New Zealand about vampires is one of the funniest of the year.

I Am Big Bird: The Carol Spinney Story
This documentary about Carol Spinney, the man behind Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird, starts off the same sort of bland way that dominated much of the 2011 documentary Being Elmo. The second half, however, really elevates the story, as the viewer truly gets a sense of just how enormous a presence someone like Spinney has remained for the past several decades.

Mission Impossible--Rogue Nation
I never thought there would be a year in which a Mission: Impossible movie would be better than a Bond movie, but in 2015 that was definitely the case. This is the best in the franchise since the first in 1996, and probably justifies its continuing.

The Walk
Sure, Man on Wire won the Oscar for Best Documentary about Philippe Petit, the man who walked on a wire from both towers of the World Trade Center in 1974, but you really cannot understand that feat without having a visual effects powerhouse like what director Robert Zemeckis and his team deliver in The Walk. True, most of the film is good, not great, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's accent is, well, as a vast majority of respondents in one poll put it: "Sacreblue! He might as well wire walk with a French accordion and a croissant." Still, the final third of the film--the walk--is a tremendous work of special effects.

The Hunting Ground
This is the kind of documentary that will leave your blood boiling. If your friend tries to tell you there is no such thing as rape culture, show them this film.


Best Trailers

Forget my above criticism of trailers for just a moment to appreciate three trailers that I did watch in 2015 and enjoy. If you're going to do a trailer, these film makers show you how to do it right:

3. Creed

2. Suicide Squad (click here to watch the even better second trailer, released this past January)

1. Star Wars--The Force Awakens

Actress of the Year

Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl, Burnt, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Ex Machina)

Actor of the Year

Domhnall Gleeson (The Revenant, Star Wars--The Force Awakens, Brooklyn, Ex Machina)

Comebacks of the Year

Jennifer Jason Leigh (Anomalisa, The Hateful Eight)

Kurt Russell (Furious 7, Bone Tomahawk, The Hateful Eight)

But a negative note must end this post. Movies still "aren't what they used to be," at least in terms of quantity. For every great film the critics told us to go out and see, there were twice as many piles of feces they sold us. Some of these films we have ourselves to blame; perhaps if Jurassic World didn't make nearly two billion dollars (and had over seventy percent of critics not liked it), we wouldn't have to suffer through anymore of these. Some of them (Timbuktu) were missed opportunities, others (The Duke of Burgundy) were dreadfully boring, and some were just pure garbage, like the number one pick for the most overrated movies of 2015:

Honorable Mention: White God

10. Girlhood

9. Jurassic World

8. Cinderella

7. Predestination

6. Timbuktu

5. The Duke of Burgundy

4. Testament of Youth

3. The Avengers: Age of Ultron

2. Shaun the Sheep

1. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

2015 was better than 2014, but let's hope 2016 is better than 2015.

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SNL40

BLTN

"Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake opened the 40th anniversary special of "Saturday Night Live" with a practically comprehensive rap of memorable moments of the most important comedy institution in American history. Energetic and zany, the right mood was set immediately. And then the man himself -- one half of the Wild and Crazy Guys, King Tut, a.k.a Steve Martin -- entered the center of Studio 8H, as he has done 15 other times over the past four decades, to formally introduce the show. Martin made sure the show wouldn't lose its edginess, mentioning to his audience (the SNL family at their seats and the estimated 23 million people at home) that the anniversary feels like a high school reunion, "a high school that is almost all white," ribbing the show for its controversial lack of diversity. Tom Hanks, usually not one of the funniest but certainly one of the most likable hosts in the show's history, and Alec Baldwin, the man who currently holds the record for hosting appearances, both joined Martin. So, too, did Billy Crystal, who was set to appear on the very first episode back in 1975 but was cut for time and eventually hosted and then joined the cast, helping to fill a post-Eddie Murphy void in the mid-80s.

But then, in addition to these four, came Chris Rock, who was better later on in the evening giving a heartfelt tribute to Murray, his idol, and then came Melisa McCarthy, Peyton Manning, and Miley Cyrus in what quickly became SNL celebrity-crowding at its worst; not even Paul McCartney and Paul Simon making their way to sing "I've Just Seen a Face" in wonderful harmony could save this sinking ship. But saved it became. Six minutes of montage clips -- featuring, among many others, the Blues Brothers, Gumbi, Schweddy Balls, and a man living in a van down by the river -- chronologically showcased SNL's golden moments, and should do more than enough to remind everyone of the significance of this New York -- American -- tradition. But was this telecast really three hours long? Yes, it was. Unnecessarily so, and frankly, "Saturday Night Live" over the years often has felt like it could have done better with a little less rather than a little more. Why was it necessary to have Kate McKinnon as Justin Bieber, Baldwin as Tony Bennett, and Tarem Killam as Christoph Waltz in the "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketch when Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek, Darrell Hammond as Sean Connery, Jim Carrey as Matthew McConaughey and Norm Macdonald as Burt Reynolds sufficed? Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader's comedic perfection wasn't enough to rescue the never-ending, yet delightfully sophomoric, "Californians." (Taylor Swift and whatever accent that was shoved in the killing knife.) Emma Stone was funny several years ago singing about her broken arm, but impersonating Gilda Radner's Roseanne Roseannadanna was simply awkward.

But the show was mostly wonderful, funny and tearful, politely yet unabashedly reminding the world why it is still needed. We were shown clips of original auditions of cast members -- Jon Lovitz, Jay Pharaoh, Will Forte, Radner, and others -- and some whom producer Lorne Michaels surely regrets not hiring, like Carrey, Stephen Colbert, and Zach Galifianakis. Jack Nicholson reminded the audience of what America was like in 1975 -- the last Americans were leaving Vietnam, Watergate was still fresh on everyone's mind, and President Ford, according to the New York Post, felt NYC should "drop dead." SNL in those days responded with furious gusto, allowing a tall, handsome comic who shared virtually no physical similarity to Ford convince Americans that a few stumbles equaled complete clumsiness and stupidity. Perhaps no other show has done more to shape how Americans have viewed their political leaders. (Bush even called his meetings "strategery meetings," and Tina Fey turned Sarah Palin's explanation of Russia's proximity to Alaska into "I can see Russia from my house.") The show did not refrain that night either. Original cast member Jane Curtin joined fellow former "Weekend Update" anchors Fey and Amy Poehler to note that she used to be the only pretty blond presenting fake news; "now, there's a whole networked devoted to that."

After the re-airing of the hilarious "Colon Blow" fake commercial in its entirety, Martin Short (whose one season of SNL, with Crystal and others, turned him into a household name in America) and Maya Rudolph as Beyonce introduced several returning members to recreate some of their memorable musical performances -- Ana Gasteyer and Ferrell as Bobbi and Marty Mohan singing their version of "Uptown Funk," Joe Piscopo as Frank Sinatra, Adam Sandler's Opera Man, and Bill Murray as lounge singer Nick Ocean, who added lyrics to the "Jaws" theme, accompanied by Paul Shaffer. This wasn't simply a several-hour series of clips, as the anniversaries in 1989 and 1999 were, though it would have been appreciated to see more of the non-live clips the show does, like the hysterical "TV Funhouse" cartoons Robert Smigel, Louis C.K. and others wrote. We were, though, treated to a brand new Digital Short of Andy Sandberg's, featuring his co-star from "That's My Boy" and fellow SNL alumn Adam Sandler. One near-final moment was the touching, Oscars-style in memoriam for its crew and cast members who have passed away; it was a very touching tribute to Jan Hooks, Don Pardo, Tom Davis, Andy Kaufman, Michael O'Donaghue, and many others. Bill Murray closed with saying that he had to include one final bit of news, and in the spirit of his fellow cast member, Garrett Morris, told the audience that Francisco Franco is still dead.

Fans of one of the most memorable sketches, Wayne's World, might have had to stay up pretty late to see Mike Myers and Dana Carvey reunite to party on (perhaps in tribute to the fact that the skit was nearly rejected initially and only given the dreaded last slot of the night). Myers remarked of the 40-year stretch that is the show, to which Carvey asked, "Do you mean this show has been going on for 40 years?" After mocking the apparent lack of originality in some of the show's critics and doubters during the not-so-good years who asked if the show should be called "Saturday Night Dead," the two sported their dueling Lorne Michaels impersonations, and Myers', in particular, should remind movie-watching audiences of a certain character.    

I suppose I have to mention what seemed to so very much upset viewers: Eddie Murphy's brief, admittedly awkward, return to the show that made him famous. By now, just about everyone knows his famous rise on the show; how, after the departure of Michaels and crew (and the disastrous sixth season), Murray almost single-handely carried the show, or, as "Live From New York: The Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live" co-author James Andrew Miller has said, "saved the franchise." But after supposedly becoming livid after cast member David Spade dismissively called him a "falling star" in the 1990s, it has been no secret that Murphy had had no intentions of ever returning or even discussing his time on the show. Was I disappointed by the brevity of Murphy's appearance? I suppose. Would I have liked to have seen him appear as Michaels originally wanted him to appear? Not really. Was it the worst part of the show? No. Is he still a legend? Yes. Did he still save the show? Obviously. Was it incredible to see him there? Definitely. Do I hope and have faith that he will one day appear as host? That's not even a serious question.  

Of all the numerous amounts of ink that have recently been spilled about this iconic show, none have been as fascinating to read as Rob Shefield's article in Rolling Stones magazine ranking all 141 cast members of the show's history. (Coming in at dead last is a cast member from the 11th season named Robert Downey, Jr.) Look at some of those in the top ten: Chevy Chase (the man who "took one season to define the franchise"), Gilda Radner ("the most beloved of the original cast members"), Amy Poehler (who "could do warmth," yet was "always buzzing with a real don't-mess-with-me hostility never far from the surface"), Phil Hartman (the "grown-up in the room" and "'the Glue' for holding the show together"), Dan Aykroyd (the cast member with "biker-intellectual intensity"), John Belushi ("the first rock & roll star of comedy"). Certainly an argument could be made that the world would not be witnesses to decades of laughter from these individuals if not for the man who put them on the show: Lorne Michaels. Michaels, who for forty (technically thirty-five) years led the show through high and low, is a Canadian who created an American institution, one that, as Paul Simon sang near its closing moments of its 40th anniversary, is still crazy after all these years. Perhaps it still will be for the next forty. Here's hoping.

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