My tippity-top ten films of 2015

2015 started out as the year predicted to break box office records. While the final tallies are yet to come in thanks to the late start of a certain galaxy far, far away, it seems undeniable to me that 2015 has had a bumper crop of big-budget and indie classics. In fact, I’d argue it’s the best year we’ve had since 1999’s annus mirabilis. Here is my pick of the top ten, in no particular order.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

You might have heard about this one. The biggest film of the year is the most recent on this list, but since seeing it last Thursday it’s only grown in my estimations. Despite essentially being a mashup of the original trilogy, so few films since have captured Star Wars’ sense of fun and adventure that it feels fresh all over again. The old actors are great, the new ones feel perfect from the moment they walk on screen, and you’ve probably already seen it three times by now anyway.

Inside Out

Featuring the funniest line of the year (the one about facts and opinions being easily mixed up) Inside Out fully deserves its place among the A-team of Pixar’s output. Not content with being one of the most visually inventive two hours of the year, Inside Out has also been commended for how well it portrays certainpsychological processes. That their latest film might help children in the future to understand depression and other mental illnesses makes it the most important work in Pixar’s already incredible filmography.

Mad Max: Fury Road

Sheer bat-shit crazy fun from start to finish, Mad Max: Fury Road took the good stuff from the action films of the 80s (physical stunts, smooth cinematography and a bombastic soundtrack) while mostly jettisoning the bad (the first glimpse of Immortan Joe’s wives is unnecessarily leery). Still, at 70 years old director George Miller has delivered an action film with the vigour of a first-time director with everything yet to prove. Anything but ‘mediocre’.

Carol

It would form an interesting ‘women doing it for themselves’ double-bill with Mad Max, Todd Haynes’ adaptation of a Patricia Highsmith novel riffs on Brief Encounter while retaining its own whoozey, claustrophobic tone. If there’s any justice in the world Rooney Mara will walk away with all the acting awards in early 2016.

Sicario

You know how it is. You’re stuck in traffic and just want to get home. Then there’s the druglord sat next to you, the machine gun bigger than your arm sat on lap, and the very real possibility that the family in the car next to you might decide to open fire at any second. Sicario was an exercise in ratcheting up tension (see also Foxcatcher) that saw Benicio Del Toro playing someone other than Benicio Del Toro for the first time in a while. And thanks to Roger Deakins’ peerless cinematography it was also one of the best looking films of the year. 

Whiplash

UK cinema-goers can be divided into two camps this year. Those that understand ‘not my tempo’ for the chilling phrase that Oscar-winning JK Simmons turned it into. And those that are yet to see the best film about musical obsession since Black Swan. Watch it, love it, hum Caravan for the rest of the day.

Ex Machina

Between them, Domnhall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac had the market sown up for science fiction in 2015. Before they were at opposite ends of a galactic battle in Star Wars they were debating the nature of humanity in Alex Garland’s Ex Machina. Proper sci-fi is as much about casting a light on modern times as showing spaceships flying around, and Ex Machine was full of meaty topics while never getting bogged down in its philosophies. Plus, in a year where Alicia Vikander was in roughly 83% of the films released, Ex Machina showcased her talents in the best light.

Kingsman: The Secret Service

I could very easily have gone for Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, but where M:I-5 was an excellent spy thriller in the traditional mould, Kingsman gave audiences the fucked-up Matthew Vaughan version. Exploding heads, Colin Firth behaving in a manner most unbecoming of Mr Darcy, the very friendly Swedish Princess; Kingsman was rude, violent and extremely funny.

Amy

An almost constant presence in the British media means there can be few people unfamiliar with Amy Winehouse’s story. Asif Kapadia uses the same style as Senna to create a documentary that eschews talking heads in favour of using footage to portray real-life as big screen spectacle. Where Senna became a sporting thriller, Amy’s story becomes a Shakespearean, complete with bad guys (Winehouse’s dad comes off particularly poorly), great lyrics and a sense of inevitable tragedy. Yet the film also stands as tribute to her immense talent, hinged around one of the great soul singers of all time.

Crimson Peak

Horrendously mis-marketed upon release, Crimson Peak was one of 2015’s more significant box-office flops. Yet Guillermo Del Toro’s beautiful gothic romance is an ornate toybox of a movie; the contents may not surprise but the whole thing is crafted to perfection. After a number of projects that have failed to come together, Crimson Peak was the return to form that fans of Pan’s Labyrinth and The Devil’s Backbone had been waiting for. Worth seeing for Jessica Chastain’s scenery chewing alone.

Biggest disappointment: Spectre (with honourable mention for Chappie)

I loved Skyfall. So the same team should have knocked SPECTRE out of the park. The film worked for many, but for me it felt at least a couple of drafts away from what it should have been. The attempts to tie all the Craig Bonds into one conspiracy felt forced, the soap opera elements fell flat and the action (which was arguably the area that Skyfall was lacking) had little to distinguish it among a packed crowd. An odd stumble from Sam Mendes.