You don’t need to wait until December to see my list of top 2015 films because, beginning in late March, I keep a running list – Best of 2015 – So Far. By the end of the calendar year, I will have a Top Ten plus another 8-18 or so. I’ll publish my official year end list on December 31, but here’s a sneak preview of my Best Movies of 2015 (I’ve removed the “- So Far”).
Four of the movies on the list are in theaters right now: Brooklyn, Spotlight, Creed and The Martian. Eight films on my list are ALREADY available to stream or rent on DVD. Throughout the Holidays, I’ve been featuring these in my weekly Movies to See Right Now posts.
I haven’t yet seen these movies, which I believe will be candidates for my final list: The Big Short, Carol, The Danish Girl, 45 Years, Youth, The Revenant, The Hateful Eight and Room. When I see them, I’ll revise my list accordingly.
Natasha Lyonne and Judy Greer in ADDICTED TO FRESNO
In the limp comedy Addicted to Fresno, the appealing Natasha Lyonne (Slums of Beverly Hills, Orange Is the New Black) plays an inspirational, plays-by-the-rules Fresno hotel maid. She has taken in her wayward sister (Judy Greer), whose sex addiction has made her otherwise unemployable, and gotten her a similar job. Having just left Sex Addiction Rehab, the sister is supposed to be in recovery, but is far from it. Misadventures ensue.
The problem with Addicted to Fresno is that the screen-writing is mid-level sit-com, only much dirtier. I generally like sex comedies, but Addicted to Fresno is pretty much unwatchable.
Addicted to Fresnois (justifiably) hard to find in theaters and also streaming on Amazon iTunes and Vudu.
Wow, we’ve had a great start to 2015 in the movies. I’ve already placed eight films on my running list of Best Movies of 2015 – So Far. Usually, I only have three or four at this time of year. Here’s my Best of 2015 to date:
Wild Tales (saw at Cinequest; DVD release in June)
Leviathan (available to stream from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and DirecTV)
Ex Machina (in theaters now)
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (saw at San Francisco International Film Festival; releases June 12)
The End of the Tour (saw at San Francisco International Film Festival; releases July 30)
’71 (saw at Cinequest; DVD release in July)
The Look of Silence (saw at San Francisco International Film Festival; limited release July 16)
The Grief of Others (saw at Camera Cinema Club; release undetermined)
I’m also mulling over adding to the list I’ll See You in My Dreams (in theaters now). And I know I’ll include Corn Island, an exquisite Georgian film that I saw at Cinequest, if it gets a US release. This is a GREAT and uncharacteristic start to the year in movies!
I’m already looking forward to some especially promising films that debuted at the Cannes International Film Festival. The universally acclaimed, heartbreaking biodoc of Amy Winehouse, Amy, releases July 3. Other Cannes films that will contend for my top ten list include The Lobster, Louder Than Bombs, Mia Madre, The Measure of a Man, Sicario (releases September 18), Youth, Green Room, The Assassin and Dheepan.
Plus there will be some superb documentaries that I don’t know about yet AND the usual stream of Oscar Bait movies released in the fall by the prestige arms of the Hollywood studios. We should have a pretty good handle on 2015’s pool of excellent cinema at the time of the Toronto and Telluride film festivals in September.
2015 has been an excellent year so far and has the potential to be a great year of cinema.
Eller Coltrane, Ethan Hawke and Lorelei Linklater in BOYHOOD
Visit my Best Movies of 2014 for my list of the year’s best films, complete with images, trailers and my comments on each movies. My top nine for 2014 are:
Boyhood
Ida
Dear White People
Birdman
Gone Girl
Locke
Force Majeure
Calvary
Alive Inside
The other best films of the year are: True Detective (the HBO mini-series), A Coffee in Berlin, Borgman and The Grand Seduction.
I’m saving space for these promising films that I haven’t seen yet: A Most Violent Year, Inherent Vice, Selma, American Sniper, The Overnighters and Two Days, One Night.
Talk about “overlooked” – there were some great movies this year that didn’t even get a meaningful theatrical release. Let’s start with Blue Ruin – a completely fresh take on the revenge thriller.
Then there’s the romantic drama a la Twilight Zone, The One I Love, with brilliant performances by Elisabeth Moss and Mark Duplass.
The year’s best documentary – Alive Inside – didn’t even get shortlisted for the best Documentary Oscar. I dare you to watch this movie without tearing up.
I thought that the Canadian comedy The Grand Seductionwould become a long running art house hit like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel or The Full Monty. But, despite being the year’s funniest and most audience-friendly comedy, it came and went quickly.
I loved the darkly droll German slacker comedy A Coffee in Berlin, but only a few other folks saw it in this country. It was a big hit in Europe – for a reason.
Fortunately, Blue Ruin, The One I Love, The Grand Seduction and A Coffee in Berlin are all available on DVD and/or streaming. Follow the links above to find out how to watch them. But two wonderful films that I saw at Cinequest – the outrageously dark Hungarian comedy Heavenly Shift and the provocative Slovenian classroom dramaClass Enemy are not currently available to US audiences. When they are, I’ll let you know.
Eller Coltrane, Ethan Hawke and Lorelei Linklater in BOYHOOD
Instead of waiting for my year end Top Ten list, I keep a running list throughout the year: Best Movies of 2014 – So Far. That list is shaping up, though, and my recommendations are getting validated by the early critics awards.In the last two weeks, both the New York Film Critics Circle and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle recognized my #1 film, Boyhood, as the top film of the year and my #2 film, Ida, as the top foreign film. And the New York Times’ A.O. Scott picked Boyhood and Ida #1 and #2 on his top ten list.
Boyhood is pretty much out of theaters, awaiting a DVD release in January. So is Dear White People, out on DVD in February. But you can see almost all the rest right now:
Birdman, Gone Girl and Force Majeure are in theaters right now. And Ida, Locke, Calvary, Alive Inside, A Coffee in Berlin, Borgman, True Detective and The Grand Seduction are available on DVD and/or streaming. Check my Best Movies of 2014 for DVD/streaming availability.
To get on my list, a movie has to be one that I’m still thinking about them a couple of days later. I’m still mulling over whether to add A Most Wanted Man, The One I Love or Whiplash.
I’m still waiting to see several contenders for my year-end list: A Most Violent Year, Big Eyes, Inherent Vice, Selma, American Sniper, The Overnighters and Two Days, One Night. From what I read, any or all of these might end up on my final list. [Although it’s likely to be nominated for a Foreign Language Oscar this year, most of us won’t get a chance to see the Russian Leviathan until well into 2015, so I’ll leave it for next year’s list.]
For some reason, Under the Skin,Snowpiercer, Grand Budapest Hotel, The Lego Movie and Love Is Strangeare all showing up on some top ten lists. I really can’t understand why. At least Under the Skin and Snowpiercer were entertaining, but none of these were great.
I’ve started my running list of the Best Movies of 2014 – So Far and three of them – Ida, The Grand Seduction (I’ll write about it next Thursday) and Locke – you can see in theaters in the next two weekends.
By the end of the calendar year, I will have a Top Ten plus another 8-18 or so. I’m pretty sure that Ida will end up in my Top Ten.
I’ve also included Dear White People, which you’ll be able to see when it gets into theaters in October. And I’m also considering including the mesmerizing Brendan Gleeson drama Calvary(saw it at San Francisco International Film Festival and it releases widely August 1). I’m also mulling over adding two films that I saw at Cinequest – the outrageously dark Hungarian comedy Heavenly Shift and the provocative Slovenian classroom dramaClass Enemy; neither is currently available to US audiences.
Sparked by my pick of Shadow Dancer as this week’s DVD/Stream of the Week, I’ve posted a new movie list: Best Movies About The Troubles (Northern Ireland). The Troubles was the conflict in Northern Ireland between nationalists and unionists that lasted from the late 1960s until the 1998 Good Friday Accord.
2002’s Bloody Sunday tells the story of one of the most significant moments of The Troubles, the 1972 shootings in Derry, from the perspective of a key participant – Ivan Cooper, the leader of a movement to achieve a united Ireland through non-violent means. Northern Irish actor James Nesbitt is brilliant as Cooper, a man who is trying to do the impossible – lead a mass demonstration into a tinderbox and keep it peaceful. It’s possible that either or both the unionist paramilitaries and the IRA may provoke violence to further their own aims. The British are supposed to protect the marchers from the unionists, but they’re on edge and trigger-happy. Cooper is forced to play a desperate game of Whack-a-Mole to prevent violence.
Besides Shadow Dancer and Bloody Sunday, I discuss a number of other outstanding movies about The Troubles. One film contains one of the greatest surprise plot twists in movie history. You can see the list at Best Movies About The Troubles (Northern Ireland), find out how to watch them on DVD or stream them.
“Pearl Harbor is a two-hour movie squeezed into three hours, about how on Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese staged a surprise attack on an American love triangle.”
“Heaven’s Gate is the most scandalous cinematic waste I have ever seen, and remember, I’ve seen Paint Your Wagon.”
“I know full well I’m expected to Suspend My Disbelief. Unfortunately, my disbelief is very heavy, and during Ocean’s Thirteen, the suspension cable snapped.”
“Keanu Reeves is often low-key in his roles, but in this movie, his piano has no keys at all. He is so solemn, detached and uninvolved he makes Mr. Spock look like Hunter S. Thompson at closing time.” — The Day the Earth Stood Still
“She and Daredevil are powerfully attracted to each other, and even share some PG-13 sex, which is a relief, because when superheroes have sex at the R level, I am always afraid someone will get hurt.” — Daredevil
“I am informed that 5,000 cockroaches were used in the filming of Joe’s Apartment. That depresses me, but not as much as the news that none of them were harmed during the production.”
I love movies that are unintentionally hilarious – at once both undeniably bad and entertaining. Troll 2 has recently gotten some buzz as the worst movie of all time”, largely because of Best Worst Movie, a 2009 documentary about how horrible and funny Troll 2 is. It may not be the worst, but Troll 2 belongs in the conversation and has earned a place in my Bad Movie Festival.
A white bread suburban family vacations in the mountain village of Nilbog (“Goblin” spelled backwards, get it?) in which all the locals are vegetarian predator goblins who can take the form of regular humans. The goblins are able to turn humans into vegetative matter (a green slime) that the goblins can ingest.
The movie was made with very primitive production values by a non-English speaking Italian crew and a non-Italian speaking Z-list American cast. Inept acting and directing aside, the screenplay is probably the source of the most laughs. There’s the dead grandpa Seth who keeps appearing to the boy, the boy’s saving his family by urinating on the family dinner, the make out scene so “hot” that it pops popcorn and so much more. Another of the funny aspects of Troll 2 is that it is completely unrelated to the movie Troll and has no trolls in it.
Troll 2 is available on Netflix Streaming. You can see some of the finer bits of Troll 2 by doing a YouTube search for “You can’t piss on hospitality” and “Troll 2 O my God”. Here’s the trailer.
As to Best Worst Movie, it’s very entertaining. There are some squirmy scenes with cast members whose mental health issues have since worsened. The Italian director is a jerk who, although happy to bask in Troll 2‘s new found cult status, is narcissistically unwilling to acknowledge its badness. But the goodhearted goofiness of star George Hardy, a cast of good sports and Troll 2‘s cult following dominates, and Best Worst Movie is fun to watch. Best Worst Move is available on DVD.
