The Best Films of 2015 Review

The Best Films Review is a comprehensive guide to the best movies of each year. It is divided in the following sections:

1) Most Awarded FIlms of the Year
2) Critics Choices
3) Best Genre Films of the Year
4) Best Foreign Films of the Year
5) Best Documentary Films of the Year
6) Best Animated Films of the Year
7) Box-Office Films of the Year

Data were gathered from 41 film awards that include: The Academy Awards (The Oscars), The Golden Globes, BAFTA, and various Critics Association Film Awards across the USA. Points are given each movie for the following: 2 points for a Best Picture win and 1 point for a Best Picture nomination.

Most Awarded Best Picture of the Year

Directed by Tom McCarthy
Produced by Blue Pagon Faust, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin, Michael Sugar
Written by Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer
Starring Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Brian d'Arcy James, Stanlet Tucci

Spotlight, the searing true-to-life newspaper drama that exposed the sexual abuses committed by Catholic priests won over judges and was Best Picture 26 out of 40 times it was nominated in various film awards. The Oscar win was a tale of David vs Goliaths. Spotlight knocked down big budget productions like Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian and The Revenant. Spotlight was an epic killer. It was the best picture winner in almost all the major awards including the Oscars and numerous critics awards.

Runner-Up Most Awarded Film of the Year

Directed by George Miller
Produced by Doug Mitchell, George Miller and P.J. Voeten
Written by George Miller, Brendan McCarthy and Nico Lathouris
Starring Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

34 Best Picture nomination and 10 wins from various award-giving organizations. And lest we forget, it is an action movie. That explains why there is no acting nomination at the Oscars, but take a look at the other awards it took: Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing—these are 6 awards saying how well the movie was made. That visually, it is the better film among its competitors. That you could probably get the best lawyers in the world to argue that this movie should’ve been the Best Picture of the year. I mean, you have a case here.

The selection of movies are based on 30 top internet critics lists of the best movies of 2015. They include: The Holywood Reporter (Todd McCarthy), Time Magazine, Rotten Tomatoes, Sight & Sound, Metacritic, Roger Ebert.com (Balder & Dash), BBC (Owen Gleiberman), Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone (Pete Travers), The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Taste of Cinema, Village Voice and many others. These are ranked lists by some of the well-known critics and movie staff. Movies are given points for their appearances in lists and computed based on our scoring system.

1) Film Comment (Top 50)
2) Taste of Cinema (Top 30)
3) Time Out (Top 30)
4) BBC (Top 10)
5) Metacritic (Top 50)

Critics Best Film of the Year

Directed by Todd Haynes
Produced by Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Woolley, Christine Vachon
Screenplay by Phyllis Nagy
From the Book The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith
Starring Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Sarah Paulson, Jake Lacy, Kyle Chandler

Set in the 50s, it tells the love affair between a young photographer and an older divorcee, Critics loved the film so much that it appeared in a commanding 25 out of 30 top movie lists, 20 of which, it placed inside the top 10. It was number 1 overall in 5 lists, number two in 3 lists, and number 3 in two lists. Todd Hayne’s period drama was practically in every critics’ lists of the best film of the year. They were that mesmerized. Probably reminded them of that certain cowboy movie some 10 years ago. Yes,Carol is the Brokeback Mountain of 2015.

1) Village Voice Film Poll (Top 50)
2) Complex (Top 25)
3) Vanity Fair (Top 10)
4) Roger Ebert.com/Balder & Dash (Top 10)
5) Slant (Top 25)
6) Empire (Top 21)
7) avclub (Top 20)
8) Rotten Tomatoes (Top 50)

Runner-Up Critics Best Film of the Year

This movie again? What’s left to say except that it was directed by an old-timer whose prior movies before it was Happy Feet and Happy Feet 2. Of course, there was the Mel Gibson Mad Max series of films, but those didn’t actually put Miller in a level of say, a Ridley Scott or Michael Mann. This resurgence took everyone by surprise, especially the critics since they put it in 22 out of 30 best movies of the year lists with 8 first place rankings, making George Miller the hottest 71-year old director working today. It may not have won the Oscar for Best Picture, but 10 years from now, Mad Max: Fury Road may well be the one everyone will still be talking about, most of all, remember.

Here are the best films of each genre as selected by critics and included in their best films of the year lists. They were culled from the same 30 critics top lists and categorized in such a way that no film got duplicated. That way, we'd have a wider selection of films.

Best Drama Film

Dramas comprise roughly half of the films produced each year. And Carol set the standard for dramas in 2015 with a balanced set of Oscar nominations: Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Cinematography, Adapted Screenplay, Costume Design and Original Score. Unfortunately, it didn’t win any. And that is Oscar’s shame for years to come. Carol is period authenticity at its finest. Its as if its set design has been preserved all these time just so they can adapt Patricia Highsmith’s novel. A virtual time machine and magnificent performances.

Best Biographical Film

It has been said quite many times already: Spotlight gives the feeling like its All the President’s Men all over again. And investigative journalism portrayed in films has often been a favorite, especially with a great ensemble cast. See, the casting was indeed, crucial. Keaton, Ruffalo, McAdams, Schreiber, they make a living making true stories like these really catch fire. And it did, burst with an eternal flame with such a topic as religious misconduct, everyone will want to get to the bottom of the truth. Now, I wonder if those who voted for this film ever saw Deliver Us From Evil, a 2006 documentary of the same subject.

Best Action Film

Man, this movie is still running high on octane. But, to those who loved the film won’t really be short in praises. Mad Max: Fury Road is just about the best looking damn action road film in magnificent vistas of sun-drenched deserts with chrome and bone and domed heads flying ballet-opera in the sky. It is high and mighty and maybe the best sequel/relaunch of an old, low budget series. And it should spawn its own sequels that are just as epic, with or without a Mel Gibson cameo.

Best Western

Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Screenplay by Mark L. Smith, Alejandro G. Inarritu
Based on The Revenant by Michael Punke
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter

The year’s visual art piece failed to win the Oscar Best Picture even with Inarritu winning best director (the 3rd time this decade a director won and not the film), DiCaprio for best acting and Cinematography. The Revenant, with 12 nominations was not credited for its story, even though it was based on true events with a real frontiersman named Hugh Glass. The movie’s screenplay was not big in words like The Big Short and Spotlight, didn’t have those speeches nor witty quips. It spoke with visuals. The landscapes were its poetry. For students of film, The Revenant is definitely a study piece for years to come.

Best Thriller

Directed by Lenny Abrahamson
Screenplay Emma Donoghue
Starring Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Joan Allen, Sean Bridges and William H. Macy

There hasn't been a story quite like it. Part thriller, part emotionally affecting drama, and in equal doses. It features two of the best mother and son character performances that borders beyond crazy. Brie Larson came out of nowhere to grab those statuettes, and the kid? Should've been put in the class of unbelievable child performances, joining Anna Paquin, and those child actors from Beasts of No Nation, Beasts of the Southern WIld and Whale Rider, Room is such a mental challenge from start to finish that it leaves you drained and relieved at the same time--maybe the reason why critics listed the movie 13 times in their top movie lists.

Best Horror Film

Directed by David Robert Mitchell
Written by David Robert Mitchell
Starring Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Saniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe and Bailey Spry

No other movie has made horror fanatics literally wetting their pants than the much celebrated It Follows. The movie has laid claim to the return of the classic horror ghost story, since the uncontrollable deluge of zombie movies perpetrated by what else, The Walking Dead. Director David Robert Mitchell brings us back to the basics of good horror fun—meaning being really scared, happy and thrilled at the same time, a dangerous disposition if you ask me. But, that’s what It Follows brings—the blissful indulgence of a great horror movie.

Best Sci-Fi Film

Directed by Ridley Scott
Written by Drew Goddard
Starring Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Donald Glover, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Stories that involve rescuing a stranded Matt Damon is nothing new, as do space missions that switch from outer space to the command station in NASA. But under the helm of Ridley Scott with a well-written script by Drew Goddard, The Martian is the best sci-fi action popcorn movie that doesn’t have its own line of toys and action figures. And it should have. Here’s a movie that takes you on the edge of your seat every 30 minutes. With a very good cast that doesn’t go hammy on you, The Martian deserves all praise, including its Oscar best picture nomination.

Best Comedy

DIrected by Sean Baker
Written by Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch
Starring Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O'Hagan and James Ransone

Tangerine is what happens when Spike Lee and John Waters make a baby. It is funny and engaging in a way that you’d want to go personally to where everything is happening and witness first-hand the actors be themselves. Shot entirely with iPhone 5’s (yes, cellphones!), Tangerine’s story revolves around two transgender sex workers in Hollywood and their frequent customer, an Armenian cab driver. It is listed in 13 internet best lists, including being in the Top 10 of Time Magazine and Rolling Stone.

Best War Film

Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga
Screenplay by Cary Joji Fukunaga
Starring Idris Elba, Abraham Attah, Kurt Egyiawan, Jude Akuwudike, Emmanuel King King, Nii Adom Quaye

A young boy’s coming of age in war. That is a powerful plotline. Real war. Real accents. Real issues. So terribly snubbed by the Oscars and not enough love from other award organizations. They really have to take Netflix original movies more seriously. Beasts of No Nation is not just another African civil war film, it is a narrative of life we think we understand without really experiencing, for which we are wrong. It stars Idris Elba, a rare actor with the screen presence of a Denzel Washington. Hell, he’s freakin’ Stringer Bell, okay? But, the real star is 14 year old Ghana native Abraham Attah as Agu and the rest of his gang.

Best Sports Film
Directed by Ryan Coogler
Screenplay by Ryan Coogler & Aaron Covington
Starring Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad and Anthony Bellew

A critics-favorite as Creed was listed in 15 different movie best lists, ranking as high as #6. This is mainly due to top-notch acting by Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone. Boxing roles generally go to “hammy” territory, especially when the final bout is near and they’re training, and they started doubting themselves and some secrets get revealed, like someone is dying, etc. But, Jordan and Sly was able to overcome that, dealt the movie a maturity and intelligence like that of a veteran prize fighter who have seen it all.

The best foreign films of the year are divided into two:

1) Best Awarded Foreign Films of the Year, and
2) Critics Best Foreign Films of the Year

Most Awarded Foreign Film of the Year/Critics Best Foreign Film of the Year

Directed by Laszlo Nemes
Produced by Laszlo Nemes, Gabor Ranja
Written by Laszlo Nemes and Clara Royer
Starring Geza Rohrig, Levente Molnar and Urs Rechn

2015 was a great year for foreign films with a line-up that are destined to be classics. Hungary’s Son of Saul, director Laszlo Nemes' harrowing, close-quartered camera Holocaust movie is the most celebrated foreign film of the year. It won more than 21 awards from different award giving bodies including Best Foreign Film from the Oscars, Golden Globes, National Board of Review, the prestigious Cesar Awards, and the Cannes’ Jury Prize.

Runner-Up Most Awarded Foreign Film of the Year

Directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Written by Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Chu Tien-wen, Hsieh Hai-Meng, Zhong Acheng
Starring Shi Qui, Chang Chen, Zhou Yun, Satoshi Tsumabuki

Hsiao-Hsien's elegiac martial arts-art film made the rounds in 2015 and came out with an astounding 18 nominations, despite failing to get the Oscar nod. It won best picture in the Florida Film Critics Circle Awards, Online Film Critics Society and the Vancouver Film Critics Circle. Its more prestigious take was its director's win in Cannes.

The best documentary films of the year are divided into two:

1) Most Awarded Documentary Films of the Year, and
2) Critics Best Documentary Films of the Year

Most Awarded Documentary Film of the Year / Runner-Up Critics Best Foreign Film of the Year

Directed by Asif Kapadia
Starring Amy Winehouse

We’ll just use the word “definitive” and “intimate” here as these words really describe Asif Kapadia’s documentary about the late modern soul/jazz musician Amy Winehouse—a prodigious talent cut short in life. Amy received an amazing 37 best documentary nominations, and winning 28 of them, for a total of 93 points based on our scoring system. Combine all the wins of the other best 9 documentaries would only come to half of Amy’s total. It placed 2^nd on the Critics Top 10 Documentary Films list by a very narrow margin behind The Look of Silence. In that respect, Amy is the better film.

Critics Best Documentary Film of the Year / Runner-Up Most Awarded Documentary Film of the Year

Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer
Screenplay by Joshua Oppenheimer

Documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer’s 2012’s The Act of Killing is about the brutal, inhuman 1966 Indonesian Communist purge—a series of re-enactments by the very people who did the killings (i.e. the Death Squad) that would tests one’s will not to throw up. Now, comes The Look of Silence—the emotional hung-over. Both movies were critically acclaimed and garnered many awards. This movie alone, were in 11 critics best films lists and went as high as no.4 twice. It won 9 best documentary awards out of 26 nominations.

The best animated films of the year are divided into two:

1) The Most Awarded Animated Films of the Year, and
2) Critics Best Animated Films of the Year

Most Awarded Animated Film of the Year / Critics Best Animated Film of the Year

Directed by Pete Docter / Ronnie del Carmen
Written by Pete Docter / Ronnie del Carmen
Starring Amy Pohler, Phyllis Smith, Richard Kind, Lewis Black, Bill Hader, Mindy Kaling

Touched the child in you? You bet your freckles it did. Inside Out was the runaway best animated film of the year. It would’ve beaten any animated film that went against it any time, any place, anyhow. It was the number one schoolyard pick with 32 wins out of a possible 37 nominations and tops in 20 out of 30 critics best lists. Those guys at Pixar did it again.

Runner-Up Most Awarded Animated Film of the Year / Runner-Up Critics Best Animated Film of the Year

Directed by Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson
Written by Charlie Kaufman
Starring David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tom Noonan

Stop-motion animated films aren’t supposed to be like this. This is Rated-R sh*t. But, its Charlie Kaufman, man. Anomalisa trailed Pixar’s Inside Out most of the way, and was able to wrestle a few wins for itself. 5 critics awards gave the movie the best animated feature trophy, namely from the Boston Society of Film Critics, Indiana Film Journalists Association, Los Angeles Film Critics, San Diego Film Critics Society, and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle. Hmm, these fellas have a taste for the anomaly.

Top Box-Office Movie

Directed by J.J. Abrams
Produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk
Written by Lawrence Kasdan, J.J. Abrams, Michael Arndt
Starring Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis

Fans of George Lucas’ sci-fi epic waited 10 long years for the next Star Wars movie and it didn’t take no Jedi mind trick to know the outcome: $2 billion worldwide box-office turn-out. Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened on December 18 with $119 million—the biggest opening day and single day record. It also shattered the record for biggest opening weekend both domestically ($247.97M) and internationally ($529M). Its reported budget is $306 million, a difference of 1.76 billion in earnings. That’s enough to make 5 more Star Wars movies, plus change.

Additionally, Star Wars: The Force Awakens became the 3^rd biggest box-office movie behind Titanic and Avatar. It stayed in theatres for more than 14 weeks. To date, all Star Wars movies, have grossed a total of $6.4 billion worldwide and it is the highest grossing movie saga in history.

JURASSIC WORLD

Directed by Colin Trevorrow
Produced by Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley
Screenplay by Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow
Starring Christ Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D'Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson

Who could go wrong with dinosaurs, right? 14 years since Jurassic Park III, the 4^th movie followed the same formula as the first one, but made it twice as big, including a super dinosaur named Indominus Rex. And the lead actor? Who else but the guy from that highly successful too-much-fun superhero movie Guardians of the Galaxy. Chris Pratt, trained velociraptors, Indominus ridiculous, sea and air creatures unite to give Jurassic World a box-office take of $1.7 billion—that’s the combined gross of Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and placing it 4^th in the all-time box-office list.

THE FILM AWARDS:
- The Oscars
- The Golden Globes
- BAFTA
- Austin Film Critics Association
- Boston Online Film Critics Association
- Boston Society of Film Critics Awards
- Broadcast Film Critics Association (Critics Choice Awards)
- Central Ohio Film Critics Association Awards
- Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
- Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards
- Denver Film Critics Society Awards
- Detroit Film Critics Society Awards
- Georgia Film Critics Association Awards
- Florida Film Critics Circle Awards
- Gotham Independent Film Awards
- Houston Film Critics Society Awards
- Independent Spirit Awards
- Indiana Film Journalists Association Awards
- International Documentary Association (IDA) Awards
- International Press Academy (Satellite Awards)
- Iowa Film Critics Association Awards
- Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards
- Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards
- London Critics Circle Film Awards
- Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
- National Board of Review Awards
- National Society of Film Critics Awards
- Nevada Film Critics Society
- New York Film Critics Circle Awards
- New York Film Critics Online Awards
- North Carolina Film Critics Association Awards
- North Texas Film Critics Association Awards
- Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Awards
- Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) Awards
- Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards
- Producers Guild (PGA) Awards
- San Diego Film Critics Society Awards
- San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards
- Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards
- St Louis Film Critics Association Awards
- Toronto Film Critics Association Awards
- Utah Film Critics Association Awards
- Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards
- Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards

THE CRITICS BEST FILM LISTS:
- The Atlantic (Christopher Orr)
- Avclub (staff/critics)
- BBC (Owen Gleiberman)
- BFI UK (staff/critics)
- CBSNEWS (David Morgan)
- Chicago Tribune (Michael Philipps)
- Complex (staff/critics)
- Empire (staff/critics)
- Entertainment Weekly (staff/critics)
- Film Comment (staf/critics)
- Hollywood Reporter (Todd McCarthy)
- LA Times (Kenneth Turan)
- Metacritic (staff/critics)
- Paste Magazine (staff/critics)
- Roger Ebert/Balder & Dash (staff/critics)
- Rolling Stone (Pete Travers)
- Rotten Tomatoes (staff/critics)
- Slant Magazine (staff/critics)
- Taste of Cinema (staff/critics)
- The Guardian UK (staff/critics)
- The Guardian US (staff/critics)
- The New Yorker (Richard Brody)
- The Observer (Rex Reed)
- Time (Stephanie Zacharek)
- Time Out (staff/critics)
- Vanity Fair (Richard Lawson)
- Village Voice (critics poll)
- Vogue (John Powers)
- Vulture (David Edelstein)
- Washington Post (Ann Hornaday)