2015's 10 Best Films!

Much like the worst list, here's what we saw that we just loved this year.  Didn't see everything released this year (count is less than 80 for us), but there were some real gems out there!

10.  Trainwreck:  Perhaps the deepest, richest and most intelligent raunchy comedy of the year.

9.  Joy: A very inspiring and entertaining film, with a stellar performance from Jennifer Lawrence, but takes a little too long to get going.

8.  The Final Girls:  A clever and very well done little meta-comedy horror about a girl who goes back into her late mothers most well known film...a cheesy 80's slasher flick. And when I say in the film..I mean...in the film.

7.  Everest:  Taken from several different accounts of the 1996 Mt. Everest disaster, this film gives you an outstanding look at what happened on that tragic May 10th, including the first release of actual dialogue from the event.  Heartbreaking.

6.  Spring:  A deep, atmospheric monster movie that uses an angle never used before.  A captivating and beautiful watch.

5.  Straight Outta Compton:  In spite of some of the blatant revisions to make the group look good (that bit with Eazy and Cube reuniting in the club?!  CHEESY!), still an utterly mind blowing film, outstanding!

4.  Jurassic World:  Great casting, great story and great fun!  Great way to kick start the series.

3.  Ex Machina:  Mans emotions are his greatest ally and worst weakness, and how we process them is at the heart of this brilliant sci-fi tale thats woefully underseen.

2.  The Martian:  A great book turned into a better film.  Great performance from Matt Damon and a solid supporting cast make a solid two hours that hold you enraptured.

1.  Spotlight:  The hands down best film of the year and one of the best of the decade.  Who'd have thought a film about 4 reporters at the Boston Globe breaking open the Catholic church sex abuse scandal would be so deeply engrossing, so rich and entertaining.  You owe it to yourself to find and see this masterful piece of work.

10 WORST Films of 2015

Not letting this die completely!  Of course not!  We'll always have our 10 best and worst of the year!  As always, this list is composed of films we've actually seen, not word of mouth.  As it sits at this writing, we're at 78 films for the year.  So here goes!

10.  We Are Still Here:  A weak, tepid attempt at a horror film that only petrified me in that I'll never get those precious minutes of life back.

9.  Child 44:  An interesting premise about child murders in Soviet era Russia that just collapses under its own slow pace.

8.  Goodnight Mommy:  Another horror movie expecting its twist to carry it through.  Slow and ordinary, I don't get all the praise.

7.  Monsters: Dark Continent:  A sequel so bad, it makes the horrible original look like a masterpiece.

6.  Chappie:  A half assed Short Circuit, hopefully this will kill the careers of the one hit South African wonders.

5.  Jupiter Ascending:  A incoherent mess of a sci fi film that should have stayed on the shelf.

4.  Carol:  A dull drama that again is gaining praise for its subject matter.  I've seen tectonic plates move faster.

3.  Fantastic Four:  Sure it seems trendy to bash this film, but it really was a piece of shit.

2.  It Follows:  Maybe the most overrated movie on the list, once again a very interesting premise done in by its wooden actors.

1.  50 Shades of Grey:  There are not adjectives enough to describe how dull, boring, wooden, weak, poorly written and supremely stupid this movie is.  Oh, I managed to come up with a few!

HONORABLE MENTION:  Star Wars: The Force Awakens:  While not really a "bad" film per say,  this is far and away the most disappointing film of the year.  Was so saddened.