Every year around this time we ask some of our favorite film enthusiasts to tell us what they liked last year. This is the third -- and very probably final -- installment of those Top 10 lists.
Mark Thiedeman, filmmaker (Sacred Hearts, Holy Souls; Last Summer):
1.Saint Laurent (not to be confused with the lesser bio-pic Yves Saint Laurent. You're looking for the Bertrand Bonello film.) 2.Son of Saul 3.The Assassin 4.Carol 5.The Wonders 6.Gueros 7.Horse Money 8. Jauja 9.Goodnight Mommy 10.The Revenant
Some honorables: Mommy, Inside Out, Amour Fou, Salvation Army, Junun, and the fifth season of Game of Thrones.
And three amazing movies to look forward to in 2016: The Smell of Us, Violet, Cemetery of Splendour
Tony Taylor, executive director of Film Society of Little Rock:
1.Carol 2.Spotlight 3.The Revenant 4.Sicario 5.Straight Outta Compton 6.The Tribe 7 Mad Max: Fury Road 8. The Martian 9.Room 10.It Follows
Philip Vandy Price, critic, Reviews from a Bed (reviewsfromabed.com):
1. Spotlight 2.Steve Jobs 3.Love & Mercy 4.Brooklyn 5.The Big Short 6.Ex Machina 7.The Hateful Eight 8.Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens 9.The End of the Tour 10.Straight Outta Compton
Honorable mentions: Room, The Revenant, Final Girls, Creed
(For Price's full, annotated list go to reviewsfromabed.com/2015/12/top-10-of-2015.html.)
Mallory and Justin Nickels, filmmakers/film festival staff members:
Justin's list: 10. Applesauce -- Probably the funniest movie of the year 9. Men Go to Battle -- One of the best Civil War films I've seen. 8. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation -- Tom Cruise hangs on the side of a plane as it takes off. In the first five minutes. It doesn't let up from there. 7. The Russian Woodpecker -- One of the best political thrillers I've seen in years, and it's a documentary. 6. Spring -- Somehow this movie just works, in the end everything makes sense, and even though it's a genre film it should be seen by anyone who considers themselves a movie fan. 5. Anomalisa -- Saw this in a packed theater, it was pretty awkward for everyone, but there are some amazing existential ideas here. 4. Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens -- It's Star Wars. 3. The Martian -- This movie is just enjoyable. Everything about it. And it's about as accurate as you can get. 2. Something Better to Come -- I don't think I've seen a more touching film. It follows a Russian girl who lives in a landfill outside of Moscow for 14 years. 1. Mad Max: Fury Road -- Of all the Oscar-nominated films this year, this is the only one we'll be talking about in 20 or 30 years. It's meticulously perfect-- essentially a Buster Keaton film. I've seen it eight times already, and will probably see it 100 times in my lifetime. I love it.
Honorable mentions include: Ex Machina, Inside Out, 7 Chinese Brothers
Mallory's list: 1. Spring -- We went into this knowing nothing about it, which is the best way to approach this film. It's a one-of-a-kind story with a great payoff. 2. Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens -- Did we ever doubt J.J. Abrams would deliver? I don't know what to say about The Force Awakens except that, as a longtime Star Wars fan, this was everything I hoped it would be. Plus a little more. 3. Mad Max: Fury Road -- It's rare for me to make it more than 30 seconds into an action flick, but the world George Miller created kept me engaged the entire time. And the entire next three times. 4. Ex Machina -- I found this one to be very intense and a little haunting. The spot-on acting was what put it over the top. This film is why I became an Oscar Isaac fan. 5. Inside Out -- Pixar always knows how to deliver an adult-friendly kid film. As usual, the complexity of this story kept my adult brain entertained while the humor appealed to the kid in me. 6. The Martian -- While this felt more like a fun summer blockbuster than a serious Oscar-worthy film to me, it was still one of the most enjoyable I saw in 2015. 7. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. -- This one didn't get a lot of attention, but the story and style made for a fun movie. It was left open for a sequel that I hope ends up getting made. 8. 7 Chinese Brothers -- This quirky comedy and Jason Schwartzman were two peas in a pod. He carried this well-written, character-driven film in a way no one else could have. 9. Trainwreck -- Despite this being more of a typical rom-com than I expected from Amy Schumer, it still had moments that made me laugh out loud. Mostly it made me hope to see LeBron James in a lot more comedies in the future. 10. The Russian Woodpecker -- This documentary was a pretty fascinating thriller that raised a lot of interesting questions about a historical event with which we thought we were already familiar.
Keith Garlington, critic, keithandthemovies.com:
10.Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation 9. Phoenix 8. Beasts of No Nation 7. Brooklyn 6. About Elly 5. Sicario 4.Room 3. Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens 2. Mad Max: Fury Road 1. Spotlight
(For Garlington's full, annotated list go to http://keithandthemovies.com/2015/12/27/the-top-10-films-of-2015/ )
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MovieStyle on 01/22/2016