Okay, so normally I do these year-end reviews over here at my written blog, but I've decided as a special treat to everyone following my YouTube channel to put together an end-of-the-year recap of the ten best films of 2015. But just in case anyone's impatient, I've decided to put together my thoughts on those movies which didn't make it into my top 10 list: so collected here are my honorable (and dishonorable) mentions.
Crimson Peak
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Mia Waskikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain
Release Date: October 16, 2015
Running Time: 119 minutes
Rating: 3.5/5
Whether or not you'll like Crimson Peak seriously depends on whether or not you're the kind of person who would be interested based on the trailer alone. I, for one, was very excited to see a horror film taking place in the Victorian era- and if you're just going by appearances, it's a really good return to form for the classic haunted house story and the gothic romantic genre in general- and by "romantic" I don't mean "love story", I mean "glorification of the past, nature, and emotion", like, in the literary sense. And yet the first two thirds of the movie are surprisingly tedious. As a character Edith seems really phoned-in, I mean, she's the flipping protagonist and she's still nothing more than a combination of every young heroine cliche in the book. The movie's also very unfocused, with a lot of pointless nature symbolism which goes nowhere. In its defense, it is a beautiful movie with great scenery (and I don't just mean naked Tom Hiddleston). I also noticed several skillful homages to Hitchcock's 1946 Notorious throughout the film. A common theme in Guillermo del Toro's films is that the living are more dangerous than the dead- so if you've seen his other films, the twist should come as no surprise. To me, Crimson Peak is really a fraction of the movie it could have been- but it's still a wild ride.
Faults
Director: Riley Stearns
Starring: Leland Orser, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Release Date: March 6, 2015
Running Time: 93 minutes
Rating: 3.5/5
Some films are a bigger hit on Netflix than they are in theaters- and one particularly noteworthy example from the past year is Faults. Faults in many ways seems like it belongs to another time- I could see this story taking place in the late 80's or early 90's much more easily than I could see it taking place today. It belongs very much to the world of Andrew Bujalski's Computer Chess- not only in its seedy motel atmosphere but also in its subtle (faintly mystical) dark comedy. The film revolves around its location- a single motel room, as a cult member and an expert psychological deprogrammer are matched in a battle of mental strength to see who will be the first to cave in to the other's persuasions, and man, is it a good use of Mary Elizabeth Winstead's acting talent. From the get-go, you can tell that this is the kind of film that really messes with your head, and this is a mind-bender if there ever was one. So if you like that sort of thing, I'd check it out- just make sure you prepare for a very unsettling experience.
The Hateful Eight
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins
Release Date: December 25, 2015
Running Time: 167 minutes
Rating: 3.5/5
I first encountered Quentin Tarantino's work last year when I watched Django Unchained, and it's still the only film of his which I've seen besides this one (as I'm saving Pulp Fiction for a really special occasion). In fact, Django was the main reason that I went to go see Hateful Eight. Here is a man who lives and breathes cinema- and if there's one thing Django showed me, it's that boy, can this guy do a Western. But walking out of the theater, I noticed that Django had something that this film didn't. In Django, you felt good when people got shot- there was excessive violence, but it was earned. Here, people were dying left and right for no reason, and I just felt, well, uneasy. Usually, when movies make you uneasy, they do it for a reason, so throughout the film I kept looking for the deeper message- something about the dark heart of America, or how each character had their own different prejudice. But then I realized- there is no message. Tarantino makes movies for movies' sake- and while I respect that approach, I have to admit that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Don't get me wrong: there's a lot to enjoy here, but story-wise it just sets itself up as a mystery only to degenerate into a straight-up bloodbath with a climax which will be, for a lot of people, disappointing.
Jurassic World
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Starring: Chris Pratt, Vincent D'Onofrio, Bryce Dallas Howard, Irrfan Kahn
Release Date: June 12, 2015
Running Time: 124 minutes
Rating: 3.5/5
Jurassic World- one of this summer's biggest blockbuster hits. When this movie came out, a lot of people jumped on board- it was big, it was cool, and it was awesome. And then, after the initial buzz wore off, people started coming back, re-examining the movie and really tearing it down- like, one of the worst movies of the year? Seriously? I mean, it's mediocre at best, but it's also mediocre at its very worst- and I think a lot of that has to do with the premise of the film itself. One complaint I hear a lot when this film comes up in conversation is that there wasn't enough dinosaur carnage. My reflex response is "hey man, if you want worse things to happen to a crowd than a pterodactyl attack, you sir, are a sadist." But also, think about this- Jurassic World takes place in a fully operational zoological park. If this were taking place in real life, none of the carnage in this movie would actually happen- I mean, look at the precautions that zoos already take. The only reason any action happens at all is because people make idiotically stupid engineering mistakes. So, we all go back and critique these mistakes, but we're forgetting: if there were no stupid mistakes, there'd be no movie. Though it's obviously not as good as the original film, Jurassic World holds its own as a summer action thriller- you don't really care about the characters, but man will you be on the edge of your seat.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Director: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander
Release Date: August 14, 2015
Running Time: 116 minutes
Rating: 3.5/5
So here's that other spy movie- the better one. Instead of the violent social satire that Kingsman presents, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. leans closer to the realm of the conservative family friendly adventure- and yet, I found this to be much funnier. Now I can't say how faithful this film is to the Man from U.N.C.L.E. as I haven't really seen it. But I am a big fan of another classic cold war comedy series: Get Smart- which is nothing like this movie. While Get Smart derives humor from impossible exaggeration, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. actually tries to seem believable- imagine Mission: Impossible, but with two lovable constantly wisecracking male leads. In fact, this film really kind of upset me because the entire time I was thinking about how cool the Get Smart movie would have been if it had remained true to the setting of the original show. So, is it a little schmaltzy? Yeah, sure, because it's a pretty standard spy film with an unmemorable blockbuster plot. But the perfect chemistry between Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer pulls everything together beautifully (and I have to admit Alicia Vikander does a pretty great job as well), and frankly, I'm hoping for a sequel on this one.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Matthias Shoenarts, Michael Sheen, Tom Sturridge
Release Date: May 1, 2015
Running Time: 119 minutes
Rating: 3.5/5
If Far from the Madding Crowd is the big costume drama of the year, it's only by default- that is to say, it's the only big costume drama of the year. Yet if you compare it to some other pretty recent period romances- such as Cary Fukanga's Jane Eyre, or any movie in Joe Wright's Kiera Knightley trilogy, it doesn't really hold up. I'm not saying Far from the Madding Crowd is a bad story- in fact, what Thomas Hardy crafts here is hardly your typical romance- in fact, much of our time is spent observing loveless or imbalanced relationships. This is a story where failure, misfortune, and mistakes are recurring themes. So what is the story? Well, three men are in love with the same woman- and that's pretty much it. Who does she decide to be with? Well, all of them, actually- and that's not as much of a spoiler as you think it is. So, what's the problem with this movie? Certainly not the acting. Carey Mulligan's performance lends the character of Bathsheba all the strength and depth she deserves. The fact is, this movie is incredibly dull- plain and simple. I mean, if you're a fan of this type of movie, you won't be disappointed, but even so, I can see literature professors who would yawn at this.
Welcome to Me
Director: Shira Piven
Starring: Kristen Wiig, James Marsden, Linda Cardellini, Wes Bentley
Release Date: May 1, 2015
Running Time: 88 minutes
Rating: 3.5/5
Now, those of you who have heard me talk about Bridesmaids should know how much I hate that movie- (don't judge me, I have my reasons)- so from my perspective it would have to take a really good movie to make me actually appreciate Kristen Wiig. And in a lot of ways, this was that movie. Welcome to Me is one of those indie comedies which stands out simply on account of how bizarre it is. But more than just a comedy, it's also a very involving character study of a woman struggling with borderline personality disorder, as well as a sharp social commentary on sensationalism and the narcissism of celebrity culture. Behind all of the greatest comedy, there is a reality of suffering, and hardly is this more evident than it is here. The fact that you can see the pain within the character of Alice Kleig and yet still laugh at the whole thing makes this one of the most seasoned performances of the year, though I doubt it will show up at any award ceremonies next month. Now the film does have some pretty serious flaws- it doesn't walk the line between drama and comedy as well as some other films do, and sometimes I did feel my patience being tested. But all in all, Welcome to Me holds up as a story which is both entertaining and boldly original.
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Strong, Taron Egerton, Sofia Boutella
Release Date: February 13, 2015
Running Time: 129 minutes
Rating: 3/5
Oddly enough, I think I'm pretty much the only one I know who didn't like Kingsman. Of course, I can admit that there are a lot of reasons to like it- but there are also a lot of reasons to dislike it. First of all, even though Kingsman aims to parody modern spy movies, it could very well pass for the real thing. Why? Because it's not really that funny. It's like the movie can't even decide if it's a comedy or not. If there's any humor here, it's not because of witty dialogue or ingenious visual comedy, but rather just from the absurdity of the film's ideas. A spy agency located behind a suit shop, Samuel L. Jackson with a lisp, a deadly femme fatale with swords for legs. These are really cool ideas, but the movie leans on them like a crutch. There are also some really unsettling aspects I can't ignore- like, the film claims to uphold a standard of gentlemanliness and yet it treats its female characters as sex trophies. It also openly celebrates the deaths of hundreds of people, and even though the people dying aren't really good people, they're not like, beyond redemption either. Keep in mind Kingsman won't admit anyone who won't shoot their dog for no reason. Kingsman isn't a terrible film, of course, but I don't think it's quite as enjoyable as a lot of people say it is.
Predestination
Director: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook, Noah Taylor
Release Date: January 9, 2015
Running Time: 97 minutes
Rating: 3/5
Adapting short stories into movies is always a fairly difficult task. Hence the problem with Predestination, a sci-fi mind-bender adapted from the Robert Heinlein short story "All You Zombies". Heinlein's short story presents a paradox built to challenge our perception of time as linear. And without spoiling too much about the film, it's your basic "chicken or the egg" scenario- in short, something going back in time and causing itself. and by paradox, I mean something which seems impossible to everyone except philosophy professors. Again, the problem here is how the film has so little material to work with. The premise is a good one, but it doesn't stretch out well and the movie tries to take its quiet, cerebral story and dress it up with all the trappings of your typical sci-fi action flick. I know a lot of people have said this movie was really confusing, but I was able to pick up what was going on very quickly- and as soon as I did, there wasn't much left in the movie to enjoy- just emotionally distant characters and frustration.
Dishonorable Mentions:
The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay - Part 2
Director: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutchinson, Liam Hemsworth, Julianne Moore
Release Date: November 16, 2015
Running Time: 137 minutes
Rating: 2.5/5
Now I know there's a lot of people out there who really hate The Hunger Games but based on the films alone, I think it's a great story. But I liked the first film, I really liked the second film, I tolerated the third film, and the fourth film- I hated it. Like the Hobbit films, splitting one book into multiple movies makes the story very stretched out, and, well- boring. And it's not for lack of action- in fact, the worst parts of the movie are probably its action sequences- so much of the film is political drama that stuff like a flood of oil, a horde of demons, and a tiger woman just seem out of place. Like I said, I think the series tells a great story, and I think there's a really good story in this film- they're just telling it in all the wrong ways, which is what makes this movie this year's only dishonorable mention. A big problem with young adult novels is the fact that they sell into teen girls' need to be the center of attention, that they're "the chosen one", and what I like about The Hunger Games is that over the course of the series, Katniss comes to terms with a world that is bigger than herself and problems that are bigger than her own. If the final chapter had kept this as the focus, this could have been a good movie. But instead, we have a story that's lost and confused, resulting in a conclusion that not only fails to grow up, but also fails to be entertaining.
-Julian Rhodes
-Julian Rhodes
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