My 2015 in film

Ticket stub from my first viewing of The Force Awakens

 
Back in the fall of 2014, when I was an editor of the Hillsdale Collegian, I wrote a collection of mini-reviews of all eight movies I had seen that summer in theaters. I have decided to revive that practice, but this time, for all 13 of the movies I saw in theaters in 2015. I have attempted the highly subjective process of placing them in order of my preference, from lowest to highest, a difficult task that requires measuring each movie both against itself and against others. But here we go:

13) Tomorrowland. By far the worst movie I saw this year, which is surprising, given the record of its director, Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol). The first half of the movie teases us about how great a place this mysterious "Tomorrowland" is and tries to get there, only to reveal upon arrival that it's a dump and not very interesting. George Clooney and Hugh Laurie both mail it in; let's hope the movie's commercial failure doesn't ruin the careers of Britt Robertson and Raffey Cassidy, two promising young female actresses who deserve better material. Consider this, in conclusion: Brad Bird's commitment to this movie prevented him from directing Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

12) SpongeBob: Sponge Out of Water. I also did a full review of this movie for the Hillsdale Collegian, which you can read here. As a piece of children's entertainment, this movie was adequate. But longtime "SpongeBob" fans know the show at its best was much more than that: smart, witty, original, and, at times, genuinely affecting (as I hope to explain in a later post). Sponge Out of Water occasionally displayed these qualities, but in fact stole much of its content from the previous theatrical movie (when SpongeBob actually did go "out of water," so I'm not sure what's so special about his doing it again this time) and the show itself. It therefore pales in comparison to the best our yellow friend has to offer.

11) The Martian. Once again, Matt Damon needs rescuing. Presumed dead and thus justifiably abandoned by his crew in a sandstorm during a hypothetical (though reportedly thought by some real) near-future Martian mission, Matt Damon's Mark Wattney, who actually survived, must rely on his training, knowledge, and reason to figure out not only how to survive but also how to contact NASA to get rescued. Seeing how he accomplishes these tasks is genuinely interesting, and a testament to human reason (perhaps literally; The AV Club referred to the movie as a sort of secular/scientific parable). Aside from a few overtly-telegraphed and predictable situations, however, one never truly worries for Wattney's safety, or doubts his ability to overcome whatever situation in which he has found himself, especially once he establishes contact with NASA. This makes his ultimate rescue seem somewhat inevitable--and perhaps even unearned--and the whole movie feel hollow, especially compared to past sci-fi efforts from Ridley Scott, its director. 

10) Best of Enemies. This documentary about the famous 1968 televised debates between William F. Buckley, one of the founders of the modern conservative movement, and Gore Vidal, one of the wittiest and most intelligent liberals of the past half-century, makes for an interesting history lesson. The footage from the debates themselves and other parts of the lives of their participants, assorted archival reels from other events of the era, and present-day commentary (including, in a pleasant surprise, from Christopher Hitchens, who died in 2011) is highly instructive (I learned, for example, that Vidal unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1960). But Best of Enemies doesn't tell its story in the unforced, natural manner of the best documentaries. One might have profited more from just watching some (or all) of the debates (everyone should watch the most famous moment from them, at least), and reading their eloquent participants' respective accounts thereof (here is Buckley's, and here is Vidal's). It seemed to lean a bit too pro-Vidal for me, but that could be my political bias talking. I also partially dissent from the documentary's thesis that the Buckley-Vidal debates created our modern cable news show shouting-match environment. For while I am not usually one to consign things to inevitability, that definitely would have happened without Buckley and Vidal. At the same time, I cannot think of a single commentator on television these days, right or left, who matches the erudition or ethos of either Buckley or Vidal. In that sense, perhaps we need more of Buckley-Vidal, not less.

9) Avengers: Age of Ultron. Mildly enjoyable, but it still suffered from two of the most consistent defects of Marvel Universe films: lack of a compelling villain (Ultron, the less interesting artificial intelligence villain of 2015, gets his "age" to last about a week), and excessive devotion to setting up other movies. That Ultron actually manages to kill an Avenger (albeit a B-squad member new to this movie) slightly mitigates the first complaint. As for the second: Because of how Marvel Studios has chosen to envelop all of its properties in the same "cinematic universe," some level of set-up for other movies (especially in the big ones, such as Age of Ultron) is inevitable, but it can be done better, more naturally, and less forced than it was done here. But the Marvel Cinematic Universe rolls on.

8) Kingsman: The Secret Service. Simultaneously a clever throwback to and an updating of James Bond tropes, with some neo-aristocratic boosterism of uncertain irony thrown in for good measure (the heroes in the movie mostly have either no money, inherited money, or are monarchs; the villains are mostly self-made millionaires and democratically-elected politicians). It does occasionally over-revel in ultraviolence, and definitely ends on an utterly tasteless note that renders explicit (and therefore overbearing) the Bondesque innuendo it was clearly aping. Still, it was entertaining. Look out for Mark Hamill's cameo, as Kingsman was the first of two live-action films in which he appeared in 2015, making it technically* his most productive year of live-action acting in some time.

7) Ant-Man. Famously beset with production difficulties, including the unceremonious booting of Edgar Wright, of Shaun of the Dead directorial fame, from the head of the project after he spent years preparing it, Ant-Man still ended up being a fun little movie, a deep breath of sorts after the gargantuan stakes of Avengers: Age of Ultron and before those of this year's Captain America: Civil War. For that, we can thank good performances by Paul Rudd as the titular hero, Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, his mentor and predecessor as Ant-Man, whose presence supplements but does not overwhelm the movie, Evangeline Lily as Hope, Pym's estranged daughter, and Michael Pena as Comic Relief. A light, clever script (for which Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, Adam McKay, and Paul Rudd himself all get credit) also helps. Bonus points for a conclusion similar to that of Interstellar but that makes more sense.

6) Love & Mercy. This biopic of Brian Wilson, the man behind the Beach Boys' sound, seemed to come and go rather quickly in theaters. That's a shame. Its narrative structure is unique, using parallel storytelling that cuts between Paul Dano's excellent portrayal of the neurotic rise, peak, and descent of Wilson as a young man, and John Cusack's adequate yet inferior portrayal of his older self returning to sanity and regaining control of his life from the domineering quack psychiatrist Eugene Landy (Paul Giamatti) with the help of car saleswoman Melinda Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks), whom Wilson would eventually marry. Though the movie does succumb to some of the cliches of the musical biopic genre ("tortured genius," "hard-to-please father," etc.), its parallel tales combine for a fascinating story. The documentary-style fly-on-the-wall scenes of recording sessions of actual Beach Boys songs, as well as the recreations of actual details of Wilson's and the Beach Boys' lives (such as the sand in Wilson's bedroom) and of Wilson's creative process (such as his receiving inspiration for "Good Vibrations" from learning that dogs can hear some sounds that we can't) elevate the film above genre conventions. Stay for the credits, which feature a present-day Brian Wilson singing the song from which the movie gets its title. A must-watch for music buffs; other people should watch it, too.

5) Ex Machina. Excellent performances from three of 2015's breakout stars (Oscar Isaac, Domnhall Gleeson, and Alicia Vikander, the first two of whom would also appear [as enemies] in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens) help us forget that behind this unsettling, creepy, well-shot techno-thriller about a tech company employee invited to the mysterious home of his CEO to take part in a real-life Turing Test with a robot the latter has created is the age-old, predictable story of a creation rising up against its creator. But a surfeit of indelible images (particularly one near the end likely meant to evoke the Garden of Eden) incline me to forgive Alex Garland, the director, and thank him for giving us a smart--if predictable--updating of this basic story, and this year's superior (versus Age of Ultron) take on artificial intelligence gone awry. 

4) Mr. Holmes. One could make the case that, today at least, Sherlock Holmes is the most popular character to have emerged from British fiction. Surely no fictional British character of late has received more interpretations. We've now had Young Sherlock Holmes, young-adult cerebral, anti-social, borderline sociopathic Sherlock Holmes (with Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller), and middle-aged fighter Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.). Mr. Holmes has now given us a senescent (but fighting senility) Sherlock Holmes, this time played by Ian McKellen. Though some of the film shows a younger Holmes at his peak in flashback, most of it is the moving story of an old man trying desperately to remember a key part of his past before his death, of Sherlock Holmes fighting only against himself to solve a mystery to which only he knows the answer. Anyone who has watched with sadness the decline of an elderly family member or friend will relate to this Holmes' on-screen struggles, which only magnify from Holmes' own frustration with his decline from his once-extraordinary powers. Viewers will also find pathos in the contrast, both between the movie's own older and younger Holmeses, and between its older Holmes and the younger varieties that are more common these days in media. A worthy addition to the growing body of Sherlock Holmes interpretations. 

3) Mad Max: Fury Road. As of late, the track record for creators of famous franchises returning to their creation after a period of delay is not so bright: e.g., George Lucas' return to Star Wars with the prequel trilogy; Peter Jackson's return to Lord of the Rings with The Hobbit movies; and Ridley Scott's return to Alien with Prometheus**. Leave it to George Miller, who directed the first "Mad Max" movie in 1979, hasn't directed one since 1985, and, in the meantime, gave us, among other things, two Happy Feet movies, to return to his creation 30 years later with a sequel every bit as visceral, action-packed, lived-in-dystopian, and suggestive of the chaos (and repression) that follows the disappearance of civilization as any of its predecessors. The movie's only defect: Mad Max (played by Tom Hardy, taking over from Mel Gibson--another factor that raised the odds against its success, odds it nonetheless defied) is practically a supporting character in his own movie, which was not at all the case in the previous three. Let's hope there are sequels, and that they improve upon this lone drawback.

2) Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. I have already written way too much about the other movie in 2015 with Mark Hamill in it, so all I am going to say is this: I really liked it; my first time viewing it in theaters was one of the best movie-going experiences I've had in a long time, perhaps ever (and the first time in a while--also perhaps ever--that I saw a line on the sidewalk outside the theater that reminded me why movies this popular are called "blockbusters"); and it felt like a Star Wars movie (and the best one since The Empire Strikes Back, at that). And, in the end, that's all it really needed to be.

And my number one movie of 2015 is...



1) Inside/Out. Before this movie came out, a consensus had begun to emerge against Pixar: Its "Golden Age," started in 1995 with Toy Story and continued all the way through 2010 with Toy Story 3, was over, and all the Pixar movies we would get from here on out would never reach the creative heights of their prior efforts, especially if sequels continued to dominate the studio's release schedule. That could still end up being mostly true, but if so, Inside/Out is one dramatic exception. It tells the story of Riley Anderson, a young girl who endures emotional discontent upon moving from Minnesota to California, but on two levels, expertly blended: Her outward experiences, as she sees them; and her inner emotional struggles, as represented by five primary emotions (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust). When the first two of these emotions get lost inside the brilliantly-constructed architecture of her inner mind, they must make their way back to Riley's emotional control center before the real-world emotional havoc wrought by the other three emotions left in control becomes too severe to reverse. Powerful and important lessons about growing up, sadness, memory, pain, and suffering result. Even if Pixar's next 11 films after Toy Story 3 aren't all as good as its first 11, Inside/Out was undeniably a return to form for the venerable animation studio. 

For the past several years, I have sent a letter to myself in the future using FutureMe.Org. I used to receive each letter, and write each new one, on Christmas Eve, but now both happen on New Year's Eve, which makes more sense anyway. In last year's letter, I wrote, among other things

I hope that Mad Max: Fury Road, Avengers 2: Age of Ultron and especially Star Wars: The Force Awakens don't disappoint.

Well, past self, only the middle one did, and not horrendously. Overall, I am pretty happy with my 2015 in theatrically-released films; seeing 13 movies definitely puts me above the average moviegoer, but hardly at the level of film critic. I would have liked to catch Macbeth and perhaps The Revenant, but I can't really think of any other movie(s) I wanted to see in theaters but didn't. I branched out a bit, seeing a decent number of "indie" films in addition to the typical wide-releases. And I regret seeing only one movie: Tomorrowland.

Let's hope my moviegoing 2016 is just as good--or even better. And now that I have this blog, I hope to review movies as I see them and make these year-end lists, assuming people will read them (if anyone reads what I write). What do you think of my list? What were your favorite movies of 2015? Feel free to comment below.

*Technically. But people who saw both of his 2015 movies know that his appearances in both films are cameos at best.
**I may or may not argue this in a future post.