****Top Favorite Films of 2015****

Here are my favorite films of 2015.  Of course, like every year, this was a big challenge. I think this was way harder this year, actually.  I love about 30 out of the 100 movies I've seen. So it was hard eliminating films.  These are movies that hold a special place in my heart in some way or form.  Like every year, this includes films I've seen at festivals. It's no surprise that some of the films on the list are from Fantastic Fest.  That is why I look forward to that festival every year. I see a lot of great films there and they deserve to be recognized in some way.  So, here we go.

1. The Hateful Eight

2. Mad Max: Road Fury

3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens 

4. The Martian

5. Too Late

6. The Brand New Testament

7. Ex Machina

8. Liza the Fox-Fairy 

9. Bone Tomahawk 

10. Trumbo 

Honorable Mentions:

Dope, Green Room, The Lobster, Shaun the Sheep, and Sicario.

This year I had two monthly events:

Time Travel Tuesday and Hitchcock Thursday 

These are my most favorite to least favorite films from each event.

Time Travel Tuesday

1. Frequency 

2. Time after Time

3. Meet the Robinsons 

4. Predestination 

5. Les Visiteurs

6. Somewhere in Time

7. Fetching Cody

8. Terminator Genisys

9. Time Bandits

10. 11 Minutes Ago

11. Project Almanac 

12. The Time Machine (2000)

Hitchcock Thursday 

1. Frenzy

2. Dial M for Murder

3. Family Plot

4. Marnie

5. Shadow of a Doubt

6. To Catch A Thief 

7. The Man Who Knew Too Much

8. The Birds

9. The Wrong Man

10. Spellbound 

11. The Lady Vanishes

12. The Trouble With Harry

Ben-Hur

Ben-Hur IMDb 

It's no secret that the only reason I've decided to watch this epic movie for the first time (shame on me) was because of The Hateful Eight.  This has an overture and an intermission.  Hell, Tarantino and company used some of the lenses from this movie.  Freaking epic story, for sure.  Love the first half a lot.  Second half was okay.  Love a bunch of theme here, first one being: revenge.  Had no idea what the story was about going in (again, shame on me). I'm glad I finally got this out of the way.  It's the type of movie you have to see if you're a cinephile.  Just to witness the four hour epic story.  I might never see it again or maybe in another 35 years.  Who knows?! Charles Heston, over my dead hands.

The Hateful Eight (2015)

The Hateful Eight IMDb 

Okay, this is a Tarantino film. You know what that means?  This is already clinched in my top 10 of the year even without watching it.  Tarantino never disappoints.  Another winner.  Different than his other stuff.  Typical Tarantino story and style but the flow is what's different.  I saw this in the 70mm "roadshow" program.  Overture, intermission, and a few extra minutes is the difference.  I'll see the regular theatrical version soon.  Loved it. No surprise. But, this isn't my 10 out of 10 I was expecting.  Very cool long developing whodunitstory.  Unpredictable.  Great dialogue.  Wonderful shots of course.  Ruthless characters.  Hateful Eight isn't a misleading title at all.  There was just something missing from making this perfect.  Other than that, definitely in my top 10 of the year.  This is also my 100th film from this year.  So, my goal is met. I'm rewatching a few top 10 contenders this weekend and coming week and come up with a list of favorites.  Until then, I remain your friend, Abraham Lincoln.  Oh, this movie was even better watching it with my brothers Phillip and Ramon who traveled from Midland TX just to see this movie.

9 out of 10.

Carol (2015)

Carol IMDb 

Went on a brunch date with Carol this Christmas morning.  It has Oscar buzz all over it and it pretty much has a big chance on winning.  Beautiful shots, wonderful performances.  The story isn't really for me though.  Sometimes I go in waiting for a treat to blow me away.  This movie was awesome to look at and the flow was good but I didn't really connect with it.  Of all the big Oscar buzz movies, I would rather see Spotlight win.

7 out of 10.

The Big Short (2015)

The Big Short IMDb 

Okay, I had a long day today and I had the smart idea in watching this late tonight.  That was a mistake because I kept wanting to fall asleep.  This was nothing special or nothing funny.  Wolf of Wall Street ripoff but stupid.  I didn't care about anybody here.  It sucks because this really happened and a lot of people lost their homes all because of a lot of bullshit.  Some okay acting.  I really wanted to like this one a lot.  It has a lot of Oscar buzz to it but my experience wasn't good.  That's enough bullshit. Two more movies to reach my 100 movie goal this year.

Digging for Fire (2015)

Digging for Fire IMDb 

I knew this movie was going to be just okay.  This was just a filler towards my goal in watching 100 movies of this year.  A movie that's a metaphor about saving your marriage.  Finding that spark again.  Hence the title, Digging for Fire.  Lots of cocaine, some weed, bones, Sam Rockwell.  Just enough elements to save a marriage.  Good soundtrack though.  Maybe I need to find a way to save my writing.  Find that spark again.  Nah.  My writing bullshit about movies hobby is coming to an end but I found another resource.  Details at the end of the year.

6 out of 10

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens IMDb

Okay, no spoilers whatsoever.  I really love this film.  It had its flaws and some scenes were a little too convenient. But, other than that, this film was badass and met my high expectations. Lots of emotions. Lots of great stuff. Yeah, it's too repetitive but it's great to see a new generation of characters tackle on this jouney.  Love it.  Score was amazing.  This has to be on my top 10 somewhere. Not exactly number one, but somewhere in my top 10.  Chewie! Must see before the spoilers become the norm like "Luke, I am your father!"

9 out of 10.

The Good Dinosaur (2015)

The Good Dinosaur IMDb

Sweet, sweet movie this was.  Sweet movie to see for my birthday.  Took my little man with me.  Pixar doesn't disappoint here.  I actually like this better than Inside Out.  It's not my favorite animation of the year but still was good old fun adventure story.  Best coming of age dinosaur movie I've seen.  It's a little sad, a little funny, and goes by quick.  Worth checking out but nothing special like other Pixar movies from the past.

7 out of 10.

Hitchcock Thursday: Marnie

 Marnie IMDb

Another great Hitchcock movie we have here.  A lot of awesome cinematic moments.  Love that we start in the present then goes to the past for a little while then back to the present.  It took a while for the main plot to develop but dammit we got some good characters.  Great psychological suspense drama.  Sean Connery in the fucking house.  You know, this is the first time seeing a film with a Sean Connery.  I gotta do his James Bond roles someday.  I enjoyed this movie.  Worth watching.  Hell, most of the Hitchcock films I've seen this year are worth watching.

Might need to do a Hitchcock section for my wall of directors someday.

Time Travel Tuesday: The Time Machine

The Time Machine IMDb 

My last Time Travel Tuesday ever.  Man, this was a challenge.  I thought it would be easy to find time travel movies I haven't seen.  At least good ones.  I guess I've seen all that was worth seeing cause this year
I saw some crappy time travel movies.  This last one is crappy for sure.  I had low expectations for this to begin with but damn that didn't help.  It had a decent start but it all fell apart for me in the second half.  Stay away.  Far away from this one. 

We reach the end and now it's time to make peace and go our separate ways.  Until next time.

Z for Zachariah (2015)

Z for Zachariah IMDb 

I love me a good post apocalyptic movie, so I rented this one out to see if it delivered.  It was okay.  Love that they never really said what went on out there or how the world was destroyed.  All we know is that it was something to do with radiation.  This is a movie about faith, jealousy, and survival.  Not in that order.  I guess, I was wanting something intense to happen in the climax.  Just solid drama.  The thing that did happened at the end, it happened off-camera so we never got to see anything crazy but we knew what went on.  It's got 12 Years a Slave guy, Harley Quinn, and the new Kirk on here as the last few people on Earth.  Nothing spectacular but okay to see.

6 out of 10.

Shaun the Sheep (2015)

Shaun the Sheep IMDb 

Yes, finally an Animation this year that I call my favorite.  A lot of heart.  A lot of comedy.  Movie without any spoken dialogue made the experience a lot better.  I don't know why I didn't see this in the theatre.  Oh yeah, I know why.  My son didn't want to see it.  Well, we finally saw it this morning and both loved it.  Must see.  Must buy.  I didn't connect with Inside Out and Minions.  My favorite Animation was Anomalisa from Fantastic Fest.  Shaun the Sheep beats that only because I just loved the experience overall.  I have one more animation left to see this year.  I'll be checking out The Good Dinosaur this Friday.

8 out of 10.

Amy (2015)

Amy IMDb 

 Wow!  I did two documentaries today on two different music icons, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse.  Both artists shared a lot of things in common.  Both got worse with fame and couldn't handle the pressure that came with it.  Both struggled with heroin.  Both were suicidal.  This was another good documentary but I couldn't relate to it as much as Cobain's doc.  Maybe because I'm a guy.  This was cleverly done using interviews of Amy and family while showing images and behind the scenes footage.  I'm not a Winehouse fan although, I must admit, I like one or three songs from her.  It's a tragedy.  While I enjoyed Montage of Heck just slightly more, this also great to see.  This made me hate the paparazzi a whole lot.  Fuckers practically killed her. 

7 out of 10.

Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck (2015)

Montage of Heck IMDb 

Man, I really love this documentary.  Got to learn a lot about Kurt Cobain.  I wasn't a big Nirvana fan but I did like a lot of their stuff.  This made me appreciate them a lot more.  I can connect with some of the things Cobain felt throughout his whole life.  Everything except the heroin.  That would fucking do it. Love the flow to this.  Great pacing.  Great animation re-enactments.  The actual ending could have been a little better but we all know what kind of ending was for Cobain.  I don't really believe the mystery or the conspiracies behind it and I'm glad this documentary didn't go that route.  Great punk rock/rock and roll documentary I would recommend.

8 out of 10.

Trumbo (2015)

Trumbo IMDb

Dammit, this was so fucking awesome.  It may be because I love movies about screenwriters.  It may be because I love films about history of films and the industry.  This movie made me want to go see some of the classics they referenced like Roman Holiday.  Good ensemble cast.  Bryan Cranston nails his role as the communist screen writer, Dalton Trumbo.  Love the fucking movie.  I thought it was going to be good and it exceeded my expectations. Don't mean to hype this up too much. Just excited to have seen it.  Good double feature with Spartacus.  This is a big contender for my top 10 of the year.  So many great moments.  Good information about screen writers that were blacklisted for believing in communism. What kind of world was that? Wait, it's still that world. "If you're Muslim, you must be a terrorist" kind of world.  Don't want to get into it. Watch this awesome movie. Great period film for film lovers.  That's it. 

9 out of 10.

Danny Collins (2015)

Danny Collins IMDb

Enjoyed this decent dramedy.  It has a lot of heart. A movie about redemption. Based on a story about real life folk singer, Steve Tilston. A story where an aging famous rock star finds out that John Lennon wrote him a letter a long time ago. He reads the letter and it inspires him to change his life around. A few John Lennon songs later and we got ourselves a heart and soul movie.  This is a father and son movie, in a way.  Kind of like the happier version of The Wrestler (the Arofnosky film) but entire different story.  A movie where the message once again is that money can't buy you happiness or love.  Good stuff. For that, I give it a lot of points because I love these types of stories.  Somewhere between a high 7 and a low 8.

8 out of 10.

Spotlight (2015)

Spotlight IMDb

Perfect Sunday morning movie.  Performances, story, and cinematography all get three thumbs up.  Great history piece. This is fucking journalism.  I work in this industry so I have some knowledge of how all this works. This makes you appreciate the struggle of journalism. Also, it makes you angry about the church scandal and all. But, it's nothing new for me.  I'm already fully aware of the scandals the Catholic Church tried to hide.  So this wasn't a big deal for me as it was for other people.  Anyways, this is worth watching.  Personal Top 10? Probably not. Well made? You bet your sweet ass.  Oscar buzz all over it.

8 out of 10.

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

No Direction Home IMDb

I bought this Martin Scorsese documentary for his section a while back but now I'm seeing it for the first time.  I'm focusing on biopics and docs of artists this coming week.  So this was my long 4 hour warm up.  All about Dylan.  Got to learn a lot about him.  I mean, with almost four hours, you have to.  This features a lot of great stock footage from early musical artists from the 60's. Scorsese shows his passion.  Love it. Only recommend this if you're a Bob Dylan fan.  

American Ultra (2015)

American Ultra IMDb

What the fuck? It's my fault.  I knew better.  I wasn't going to see this at all but fuck this Friday night after work, the situation called for it.  Spontaneous night.  This is no way a stoner movie. Well, it is. But, it's not a good one. It's an action movie with a stoner but that's it.  Good gore but not fresh.  I just couldn't see Jesse Eisenberg or that Twilight girl as stoners.  So this is one of my least favorites of the year.  Don't.

2 out of 10

Southpaw (2015)

Southpaw IMDb 

My Thanksgiving movie programming this year was a marathon of boxing dramas. I'm not a big sports guy but for some reason I like boxing movies.  Creed was pretty fucking amazing. Just a few flaws.  Tonight, I did Raging Bull and Resurrecting the Champ and I saw Southpaw for the first time.  I heard a lot of mixed shit about this. To me, this was good.  Yeah, it's nothing new or fresh but I thought it was great entertainment.  It was emotional too.  Maybe because I'm a father myself.  This did it for me.  Not a top 10 contender but it was better than I expected. 

7 out of 10.

Hitchcock Thursday: Family Plot

Family Plot IMDb 

This is Hitchcock's last film he ever did.  It was pretty awesome.  Love all the actors and the characters were cool as hell.  Smooth!  Bruce Dern is one badass dude.  Suspenseful story.  Diamonds! Reward Money! Plotting Murders!  Psychic.  Couple against couple.  Holy shit, Great Gatsby people.  Wink, wink ending.  One of my favorite Hitchcock movies now.  Saw this very late Thursday night/early Friday morning.  

This was supposed to be next month's Hitchcock movie but someone had checked out Marnie from Vulcan so I had no choice but to make the switch.  The last Hitchcock Thursday will be Marnie.

Creed (2015)

Creed IMDb

Damn, this is great fucking movie.  Lots of emotions.  First off, that's how you do a fucking intro.  Creed made me want to watch the Rocky movies again. I haven't seen them since I was a kid and I used to watch them a shit load of times.  Powerful stuff here.  Great to see Stallone in a non-Expendables like role.  The story is one of the best of the year.  Only a couple of issues I had with it towards the end.  Not going to spoil it or anything but some things felt rushed in the third act.  So it was almost perfect for me.  This does do a lot of justice to the Rocky franchise. Love the score. Fuck yeah! Worth watching. Possible top 10 of the year for me.  I believe this is my 85th "2015" movie to see this year.  My goal is to see 100 movies.  15 more to go.  

8 out of 10

Bound to Vengeance (2015)

Bound to Vengeance IMDb

Do you blame me for watching a revenge flick? I'm a sucker for them.  It's very hard for a revenge film to let me down.  This one did.  Maybe because it didn't feel like a revenge film. It was more of a rescue mission.  I love rescue mission movies as well but this one wasn't worth watching.  Just wanted to give this a chance.  Not recommended.  

3 out of 10.

The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015)

The Stanford Prison Experiment IMDb

What the hell? This movie made me mad.  I guess it did its job.  Bad part is that this is the third version I'm seeing of this story.  Saw The Experiment, the German original and the U.S. remake with Adrian Brody. Both are fucking good.  This is the same shit except were dealing more closely to the original source.  Main message: what humans are fucking capable of when you give them control.  Pissed me off.  Since this is all based of the actual events, I had to deal with what it was. I personally would've wanted a badass payoff. Anyways, good performances, crazy story, and nothing I would see again unless stupid me sees a 4th version 5 years later.

6 out of 10.

The Night Before (2015)

The Night Before IMDb

Saw a free advanced screening of this movie because I didn't think it was going to worth paying full price at the theater.  Well, this surprised me.  Stoner comedy all the way.  Great double feature with Harold and Kumar Christmas.  Some funny fucking shit.  It had me laughing here and there.  This is what "This is the End" should have been like for me.  This might not be the funniest movie of the year.  Actually, besides the Fantastic Fest stuff, this might be up there with Trainwreck and Spy (two of my favorite comedies this year).  It has some stupid moments but that's okay.  It's a stoner comedy.  Not a smart or a laugh out loud comedy.  I enjoyed it.  The ending is a Hollywood predictable ending.  Fun Christmas movie.  Home Alone references.  James fucking Franco.  Holy shit, Michael Shannon is the best pot dealer ever.  The Great Gatsby.  Worth checking out if you're a stoner comedy fan.  Everyone else, at your own risk.  

7 out of 10.

Batkid Begins (2015)

Batkid Begins IMDb

This wasn't a tearjerker but it had some heart.  It got a little tiring after a while but I love the fucking concept.  It was a good documentary for a lazy Saturday afternoon.  Not sure what was missing to make it special.  I mean, it's a special story and all, but for some reason, I didn't feel the magic.  These kinds of stories should be inspiring.  They should touch the soul.  I just thought it was alright to see.  I asked my son Nathan who was watching this with me, if he had a terminal disease, what would his wish be.  He answered, to be a ninja.  Case closed.

5 out of 10.