The year has come and gone soo incredibly quick and when we take a look at 2015 it was an amazing year in cinema. It’s always hard to narrow a lineup like this down to ten films but lets see how I go. You can also click on the pictures to see the trailer.
Yes we all dislike Lance Armstrong but his story is rather insane and when told via the book by David Walsh (who we interviewed for the movie) it let us know so much more then we first thought. The performances by Ben Foster as Lance and Chris O’Dowd who played Walsh are incredible, its a definite movie to see if you haven’t. (might make you hate him a little more though)
Directed by Oliver Hirshbiegel this film tells the true story of an assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler back in 1939 (click here to listen to our interview with Oliver) I had no idea about this story and it sucked me in within the first 15minutes its beautifully shot and the lead Christian Friedel who played Georg Elser is fantastic. It can be a bit of a hard watch in parts but don’t let that deter you. Click here to read Phil’s Review.
Looking at my list so far it seem’s I’m a sucker for a true story, well yes I am and none is more sensational then Foxcatcher. The true story of Mark Schultz, an Olympic wrestler whose relationship with sponsor John du Pont and brother Dave Schultz leads to certain events. All the leads transformed themselves for this movie, Steve Carell was the most creepy as John du Pont (if you watch real footage of du Pont Steve nails it) with Channing showing off his range and Mark Ruffalo just being Mark Ruffalo I love him in anything.
What can I say about Inside Out that no one doesn’t know already, once again Pixar gives you all the feels and made this grown man cry in a cinema full of children and critics. Thank you Disney.
The first Alejandro González Iñárritu film that made me sit up and take notice was “Biutiful” back in 2010 and I was like this guy can direct so when Birdman came around with Michael Keaton who I adore in every movie he does with a supporting cast as you see in the image above I thought this should be interesting. It’s a bit hard to explain exactly why I loved the movie so much, was it the insanely long takes, yes… the cast.. yes.. the story.. yes alll yes! You must see it.
It’s been such an incredible year of movies that yes I know Star Wars: The Force Awakens is barely cracking my Top 5.. and I know some of my friends will hammer me for not putting it higher. Don’t get me wrong I absolutely loved the film, I’ve seen it a few times on the big screen and will be going again before the run is over BUT its far from the best film this year. The nostalgia points are high on this one the returning cast is fantastic, the new kids fit perfectly into the world and I’m really insanely exciting to see what happens next.
Words can not describe how happy I was to see Stallone playing Rocky again and it was just the most perfect way to bring him back. If Stallone doesnt get nominated for a Best Supporting Oscar (and he should win) for this movie ill be throwing something at the television.
The best bio-pic award for the year goes to Straight Outta Compton, growing up I knew about NWA and some of the music but I had no idea what these guys went through. The casting was fantastic, Ice Cube bringing in his son to play himself was brilliant the music and score was so well done I can’t honestly say anything negative about the film.. loved it. This movie should win a stack of awards but its already got screwed with no nominations at the Golden Globes but hopefully it will get a few Oscar noms.
Don’t even need to explain why I loved this film, everyone loved this film from start to finish. Please George do more.
It was truly difficult picking my top two but Sicario just hit a few more beats for me then Mad Max did. Josh Brolin, Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro absolutely bring it in every way for this movie plus the cinematography and tension throughout the entire film gives it the number one spot.
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Now since it was such a great year in movies we do have a lot of notable mentions. So the easiest way is to just list them off in no particular order.
Jurassic World, The Martian, American Sniper, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Ex Machina, Unbroken, Cinderella, Trainwreck, Ant-Man, Southpaw, Bridge of Spies, The Lobster, 99 Homes, Avengers: Age of Ultron
And we can’t forget about some of the worst films of 2015 they include – Fantastic Four, Mortdecai, Paul Blart Mall Cop 2, Tomorrowland, Terminator: Genisys and Now Add Honey.
I’ve already seen a few films coming out in 2016 and the calibre is already right up there, do yourself a favour and check out The Revenant and Sisters which come out January 7.
