SAVAGE SCORECARD 2015-PART TWO: NUMBER 11

For Part Two of my Savage Scorecard series, I now turn to a collection of films that received my highest rating of four stars but unfortunately, did not reach my final Top Ten Favorites Films Of 2015 list. Additionally, there are a couple of films in this section that did receive my three and a half star rating but were so strong that I felt the need to include them here. So, in those cases, why not just think of those films as having received three and three quarter star ratings if you must.

Just as before, these are only my opinions, they are listed in alphabetical order and I will indicate where you can find the full reviews.

1. "Ant-Man" Directed by Peyton Reed

For a film that I was not at all terribly interested in seeing due to lack of interest as well as superhero movie fatigue, I was happily stunned with "Ant-Man," the most entertaining film from the Marvel Comics canon in years. Director Peyton Reed, taking over for Writer/Director Edgar Wright who departed the project due to those pesky "creative differences," delivered the latest Marvel film that was refreshingly light upon its feet, conceptually as well as with its overall execution. Relieved of the increasingly darker and ponderous tone of most superhero films as of late, Reed, with his terrific leading man Paul Rudd in the titular role plus a hilariously scene stealing Michael Pena, presented a deceptively unassuming story where the storytelling, clever word play and consistently inventive and playful visual gags congealed beautifully.Fleet of foot and smaller scaled, Peyton Reed's "Ant-Man" yielded great results and even rejuvenated my interest in the next wave of Marvel feature films,  

(Originally reviewed July 2015)

2. "Creed" Directed by Ryan Coogler

Outstanding!! I've said it before...after 40 years, there really is not any reason to have another "Rocky" anything in the world but clearly if the cinematic series felt any need to continue, it just needed a fresh pair of eyes to approach the material. With "Creed," Director Ryan Coogler and actor Michael B. Jordan, who last collaborated with the searing drama "Fruitvale Station" (2013), have accomplished a spectacular feat, a "Rocky" spin-off feature focusing upon boxing upstart Adonis Creed, the illegitimate child of the deceased Apollo Creed. Under Coogler's authentic and simultaneously gritty and graceful direction, "Creed" is a perceptive, primal, kinetic, poignant, enormously entertaining and undeniably moving motion picture that proves itself to be the finest entry in the "Rocky" series since 1979. Sylvester Stallone, who reprises his most beloved character, turns in his most relaxed, genuine and heartfelt performance in over thirty years and he was more than deserving of receiving an Oscar nomination. But, "Creed" firmly belongs to Michael B. Jordan, whose imposing physicality and coiled force houses a palpable vulnerability in this story of a young man attempting to claim his own name and place within boxing and the world at large.   

(Originally reviewed December 2015)

3. "Dope" Directed by Rick Famuyiwa

One of 2015's sharpest and most original comedies, Writer/Director Rick Famuyiwa's "Dope" is a social satire that effortlessly merges the coming of age film, a screwball comedy of errors, a caper comedy, and a celebration of hip-hop's golden age with a provocative exploration of racial identity and perceptions, congealing into a fast paced and exceedingly well acted summertime romp. Shameik Moore, in a terrific leading performance, stars as Inglewood, California resident Malcolm, an A student, '90s hip-hop obsessed, self described geek who also fronts a punk rock band with his geeky best friends and houses aspiration to attend Harvard University. When Malcolm inadvertently ends up in possession of a back pack containing the gun and drug supply of a local drug dealer, he makes a feverish attempt to rid himself of the contraband while dodging neighborhood gang bangers, and a duplicitous college admissions director and also dealing with SAT exams, a viral rock concert and maybe even a date to the prom. While "Dope" is often outrageous, Famuyiwa ensures the film maintains its serious core regarding racial identity, either accurate or perceived, plus the violence and pain of the inner city. How refreshing and even radical it was to see a young Black male trying desperately to think his way out of this pretzel like predicament while also trying to circumvent any and all ghetto cliches.  

(Originally reviewed June 2015) 

4. "The End Of The Tour" Directed by James Ponsoldt

Fueled by an excellent leading performance by Jesse Eisenberg and a game changing dramatic performance by Jason Segel as the late celebrated author David Foster Wallace, Director James Ponsoldt's "The End Of The Tour" is a compelling, engrossing and captivating interior drama that crystallizes a specific place and time (small town Illinois in the Winter) while also existing as a film about ideas as much as it is about the film's two leading characters. For as much as the film's characters discuss and debate each other about topics as varied as dogs, women, high art vs. low art, loneliness, jealousy, adoration, isolation, self-identity vs. the perception others have of you, and the pressures of fame and celebrity, we are splendidly drawn into the film's conversation: the one between the characters and the one the film is having with us in the audience. 

(Originally reviewed September 2015)

5. "Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation" Directed by Christopher McQuarrie

By this point, this franchise's fifth film, we should be experiencing more than a bit of fatigue with the entire enterprise. Astoundingly, Tom Cruise's signature series, this time helmed by Christopher McQuarrie, has only improved with each new entry, making "Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation" the finest entry to date. With a series of sensational, beautifully choreographed and executed action set pieces and all at the service of a crisp, clean plot and a wonderful performance by Rebecca Ferguson (who is truly this film's driving engine), McQuarrie's installment in the on-going globe trotting adventures of superspy Ethan Hunt is intelligent, wildly visceral and filled with an emotional realism that leaves both 007 and Jason Bourne far away in the dust!  

(Originally reviewed August 2015)

6. "Room" Directed by Lenny Abrahamson

This one really hurts to leave off of the final Top Ten list but I just needed to make some room. If you have read the original Emma Donoghue novel from which this wrenching film is based or haven't seen the aforementioned wrenching film itself, this one will indeed knock you sideways as its quiet power packs a tremendous punch, especially during its excruciating first half. A sensational Brie Larson and the beautifully naturalistic Jacob Tremblay, portray a Mother and son who undergo an unspeakable ordeal that often exists within a living nightmare but becomes a story of survival, healing, the protection and cultivation of innocence, and the resiliency of the human spirit, especially the spirit contained within a child. Director Lenny Abrahamson had made this emotionally grueling experience so wisely poetic as we in the audience are indeed forced to view the world through the severely compromised vision of the film's child's point of view, therefore again forcing us to philosophically take in the seemingly mundane sights of the world around us to view it fully anew.

(Originally reviewed November 2015) 

7. "The Walk" Directed by Robert Zemeckis

This one also hurt very much to leave off of the final list and even moreso, I cannot think of any reason why audiences did not flock in droves to see what is one of Director Robert Zemeckis' most magical, and supremely filmed efforts in his lengthy, legendary career. Joseph Gordon-Leavitt, in a thrilling, agile performance stars in the real life story of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit as he prepares for what he feels to be his destiny: to perform his now historical (and illegal) walk on a tightrope between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1974 New York City--rapturously depicted in an awesome, dazzling, virtuoso 20 minute sequence. "The Walk" is unquestionably a feast for the eyes, with the special effects blending so seamlessly within the real world surroundings and actors that you will believe the sights that you are viewing so breathlessly and completely. But beyond the visual spectacle, Zemeckis has fashioned "The Walk" to not only serve as a celebration of human collaboration and cooperation but also as a metaphor to the life experience with all of its unpredictability and the need to take risks in order to experience the life force to the fullest. This is a deliriously entertaining, exciting, wonderful film.

(Originally reviewed October 2015)

8. "While We're Young" Directed by Noah Baumbach

After a lengthy period of less than stellar efforts, Writer/Director Noah Baumbach bounced back triumphantly with his acerbic, perceptive, uncharacteristically warm and rightfully bitter "While We're Young," his finest feature in 10 years. Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts star as a fortysomething couple caught in a rut who become friends with Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried, a charming, open and endlessly eager twentysomething couple. Baumbach presents a film that is so in tune with both generations by not falling into the cliches but by actually upending them. He displays the similarities and deep differences that inspires an especially challenging conflict between the generations that ultimately makes for a decidedly pointed social commentary while also being engrossing and entertaining while questioning what indeed are the ideals and morals that ultimately shape who we become as adults.
(Originally reviewed April 2015)

STAY TUNED for PART THREE where I give one last bashing to the disappointments and especially the films I hated in 2015!