SAVAGE SCORECARD PART FOUR: MY TOP TEN FAVORITE FILMS OF 2015

Now, we have reached the pinnacle, the mountaintop, my favorite films of 2015!!! Now, this is indeed something for me to celebrate. As always, these are solely my opinions and I'll point you to where you are able to find the full reviews. Let's get crackin'!

10. "Inside Out" Directed by Pete Doctor

After nearly five years of uninspired sequels and prequels and one film that I felt to be their one and only disaster with "Brave" (2012), Director Pete Doctor and the wizards of Pixar Animation Studios came roaring back to life with their finest film to date. "Inside Out" is an impeccably conceived and produced experience that miraculously and magically finds the sweet spot between the arcane and the sublime, the complex and the highly accessible.

This story about an 11 year old girl undergoing the emotional rollercoaster that arrives with aging combined with the life change of her family's move from Minnesota to San Francisco and the collective of her emotions all rallying around inside of her is indeed a profoundly esoteric concept. I am simply dumbfounded as to  how Doctor and his team essentially delivered a film that exists as feelings about feelings while also presenting a straightforward narrative that contains belly laughs, tremendous pathos and is ultimately unafraid to express that Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler) may sometimes be futile while Sadness (voiced by Phyllis Smith) is an essential feeling to open up a larger, emotional universe. Furthermore, Doctor has created a film that will alter as all of its viewers age, as the concepts will grow and change with our perceptions at 5, 15, 55, or 85. For a studio that has been chasing the dollar for far too long, this time, they chased the art and they grasped it magnificently.
(Originally reviewed June 2015)

9. "Steve Jobs" Directed by Danny Boyle

I'm telling you, there is not even one reason that anyone could give me for why this outstanding, smart, searing, brilliantly acted and directed film, which did receive rapturous reviews from critics , did not catch on at the box office. Boasting one of the year's finest screenplays, as written by Aaron Sorkin who was especially on fire, "Steve Jobs" is an electrifying, verbally rancorous drama that paints an unrepentantly brutal portrait of the inscrutable titular figure and extends even further to explore the nature of genius, the process of self-mythologizing as well as providing a cultural critique that explores our increased lack of humanity via the very technology that was designed to elevate humanity. With a rapacious leading performance by Michael Fassbender and supported superbly by the entire cast including Kate Winslet and a surprisingly strong Seth Rogen, "Steve Jobs" is a uniformly excellent interior drama.
(Originally reviewed November 2015)

8. "The Revenant" Directed by Alejandro G. Inarritu

With a back-breaking and almost wordless leading performance by Leonardo DiCaprio, stunningly rapturous cinematography, an eerily glacial film score and a revenge tale filtered through a multi-layered, hallucinogenic odyssey designed to mirror America's violent, intolerant, racist past with its violent, intolerant, racist present, Director Alejandro G. Inarritu has created another jaw dropping piece of high wire filmmaking and the result is absolutely fearless, uncompromising and pummeling. At this rate, I would be stunned if it did not walk away with numerous Oscars...especially one for the much and long deserving DiCaprio.
(Originally reviewed January 2016)

7. "Mad Max: Fury Road" Directed by George Miller

While nothing could fully compare to the very first time that I was introduced to the barbaric post-apocalyptic wastelands of Mad Max courtesy of George Miller's "The Road Warrior" (1981), "Mad: Max: Fury Road" is unquestionably Miller's finest entry in the series as well as being the finest action film of the year by a wide mile. It is astounding to me that for a film that possesses the barest bones of a plot and essentially begins as a chase and concludes as a race contains a veritable wellspring of meticulous detail and a rampaging feminist vision where Charlize Theron's character of Imperator Furiosa is the true engine that drives the film to glory amidst the visual orchestra of ultra violence, lush cinematography, beautifully choreographed stuns and practical special effects and a gorgeous visual palate that gives each section of the film its own identity while congealing into a sumptuous whole. With Tom Hardy easily stepping into the tile role from Mel Gibson and injecting a certain physical, psychological and existential anguish that I really have not experienced before within this series, "Mad Max: Fury Road" is George Miller's rampaging, relentless white line nightmare masterpiece.
(Originally reviewed May 2015)

6. "The Hateful Eight" Directed by Quentin Tarantino

It seems to be more than fitting to have this particular title fitting so closely with both "The Revenant" and "Mad Max: Fury Road" as they do seem to be something of a piece, as this is another film that explores violence, intolerance, humanity and morality in an unforgiving landscape and the turbulent time period of a few years after the Civil War. With "The Hateful Eight," Quentin Tarantino takes a blend of Hitchcock and Agatha Christie, his peerless brand of characterization and dialogue, a collective of top flight performances and his unforgiving HARD R RATED brutality and delivers his most theatrical film to date, which also contains his most overt political statements as he holds an especially vicious mirror up to ourselves to explore the roots of racism and our doomed future should we allow those roots to continue to strengthen. 

"The Hateful Eight" takes one long day and night with the titular cast of reprehensible characters trapped inside of a Haberdashery during a blizzard and subjects to a series of stories (that may or may not be true), with dubious and duplicitous identities, all combining to mounting intensity and exploding into a voluminous bloodbath. And over the course of the film's three hours, Tarantino delivers a gorgeous production that unfolds over the slow burn of six exquisite cinematic chapters and becomes simultaneously interior, excruciating, mesmerizing and towering.

(Originally reviewed January 2016)

5. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Directed by J.J. Abrams

Absolutely sensational and completely overwhelming, Director J. J. Abrams masterfully achieved the seemingly impossible. With "The Force Awakens," Abrams extended the "Star Wars" universe via "Episode VII" that fully adheres to the previous six films, completely honors the original vision, themes and concepts by series creator George Lucas, while also placing his own personal stamp over the proceedings with clear eyed passion, skill, grit, storytelling heft and the creation of excellent new characters to populate the galaxy far, far away. 

What else could I possibly say about the further adventures of Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) and our favorite space smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford) that you don't already know? What else can I say about the terrific new addition of desert planet scavenger Rey (Daisy Ridley), conflicted Stormtrooper turned Resistance fighter Finn (John Boyega), ace Resistance pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and the unhinged Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) that you don't already know? J.J. Abrams' "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" spectacularly delivered the nostalgic and plot driven echoes to the past while blazing the road ahead to its hopefully exciting future in high flying style and substance with an experience that often brought joyous tears to my eyes all three times I happened to see the film. I am simply unable to ask for anything more from this outstanding film than to just have the chance to see it all over again, as it has completely inspired me to salivate profusely in anticipation for "Episode VIII"!

(Originally reviewed December 2015) 

4. "Straight Outta Compton" Directed by F. Gary Gray

Extending and transcending far beyond the standard music biopic, Director F. Gary Gray's enormously entertaining and profoundly unflinching drama chronicling the rise and fall of the pioneering rap group N.W.A., works brilliantly as a coming of age film, a political film of righteous fury, an exploration of musical non-violent protest, as well as a celebration of artistic inspiration and creation. "Straight Outta Compton" is explosive cinema, a vehemently thrown cinematic brick through the window of hollow sequels, rampant cliches and an artistic and socio-political disregard to the lives of the Black communities of this nation, especially regarding police harassment and the violence committed against said communties. Furthermore, Gray's film is artfully multi-faceted and propulsively multi-layered making for an experience that is bountiful with its riches, especially with the Oscar worthy performances by both Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre and definitely, the excellent Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E. Epic, sprawling, and truly incendiary.

(Originally reviewed August 2015)

3. "Me And Earl And The Dying Girl" Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

This film was a knockout and I already feel that it has become one of the most slept upon films of the year. With no disregard to 2014's "The Fault In Our Stars" (which I liked very much), Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's "Me And Earl And The Dying Girl Girl" proved itself to be a conceptually stronger, more visually inventive, and most importantly, an emotionally tougher, deeper, more powerful experience for me by a wide margin. The story of the introverted teenager Greg Gaines (played by Thomas Mann) and his tentative yet transformative friendship with his classmate and neighbor Rachel (played by Olivia Cooke), who has developed Stage 4 Leukemia, entirely circumvents any and all cliches, melodrama and easy sentiments that could have easily made this film yet another "disease of the week" feature. 

Beautifully, Gomez-Rejon has delivered a story of highly articulate, verbose, intelligent teenagers armed with an acerbic and wholly unsentimental wit who happen to populate a film that is decidedly scruffier, more askew and consistently cinematically inventive. "Me And Earl And The Dying Girl," often non-linear, and containing abrupt shifts in tone which vary from laugh out loud hilarity to the emotionally pummeling is one of 2015's greatest antidotes to the lazy and empty hearted block buster that clog our screens from week to week. Gomez-Rejon has presented to us a work of a personal, heartfelt vision that is demanding the fullest of your attention and possessing the audacity to present teen aged characters as full, richly developed three dimensional human beings who deserve a story this artfully told. 

(Originally reviewed July 2015)

2. "Chi-Raq" Directed by Spike Lee

Speaking of audacious...

Spike Lee's "Chi-Raq," his most blistering narrative feature in 15 years without question, is a blitzkreig of an experience. As vital and vibrant as it is timely, "Chi-Raq" addressing the emergency status of our nation's gun violence epidemic via the unforgiving and passionate lens of satire as Lee has adapted Aristophanes' 411 B.C. play "Lysistrata" to weave the tale of  two warring Chicago gangs whose stray bullets have murder yet another innocent child. Lysistrata (played wonderfully by Teyonah Paris), in protest, organizes a sex strike to inspire all of the men to lay down their arms forever. 

As vibrantly narrated by the one man Greek chorus of Dolomdes (Samuel L. Jackson), and containing sequences of broad comedy, rich musical sections, a squadron of colorful characters and with dialogue spoken entirely in rhymed verse, "Chi-Raq," in no way, trivializes the effects of gun violence throughout the nation, and Chicago in particular. It amplifies the urgency triumphantly through every pulsating image and moment, always placing the tragedy of gun violence front and center in a demanding, rapacious, "in-your-face" style that is essential to the violent times in which we live. And special mention must be made in honor of John Cusack, who portrays a neighborhood Catholic Priest inspired by Chicago's own Father Michael Pfleger, who delivers a towering, extended sermon through a voice growing increasing hoarse with furious incredulity at a society that could continue to allow mass murders to increase at such an alarming rate without real consequence and with complete disrespect for the sanctity of human life. Cusack did his home city of Chicago proud with that sequence and with "Chi-Raq," Spike Lee has created a film that may not be what some of us want but it is unquestionably the film that we need. This is "WAKE UP!" cinema at its finest and most essential!

(Originally reviewed December 2015)

And now, my favorite film of 2015 is....

    

1. "Love And Mercy"  Directed by Bill Pohlad

A film of shattering beauty.

Director Bill Pohlad's imaginative, innovative, impressionistic portrait of The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson through two distinct period of Wilson's life in the mid/late 1960's (as represented by Paul Dano) and the late 1980's (as represented by John Cusack), was the year's finest, most glorious, downright heartbreaking and blissfully life affirming film. It is a film of tremendous artistry and bottomless empathy, much like the music and the creator it celebrates, and Pohlad has wonderfully ensured that his film transcends all of the trappings of the music bio-pic and even a certain musicology itself, in order to deliver a film that flies straight to the soul. 

One does not have to be a fan of  The Beach Boys to fully receive the gifts of this film. One also does not need to even know anything or have any pre-conceived knowledge or viewpoints about Brian Wilson either. It may assist but it is not necessary as Pohlad weaves a stunning cinematic tapestry that flows effortlessly between the delirious creative "Pet Sounds" period and Wilson psychological meltdown to the over-medicated, depressed and psychologically damaged Wilson's imprisonment and emancipation from the malevolent, controlling therapist Dr. Eugene Landy (an excellent Paul Giamatti), courtesy of a new and aching love affair begun with car saleswoman Melinda Leadbetter (Elizabeth Banks).

Paul Dano and John Cusack, who clearly do not resemble each other and also do not share any scenes together, create a perfect symmetry as they jointly create a character from two distinct life periods to seamless effect. Dano is perfect and sensational as he fully captures not only the physical resemblance to Wilson but most importantly, to his inner state which is restlessly creative to the point of genius and madness. And for me, John Cusack gave the performance of his career as it was so painfully unguarded, so wounded and broken yet possessed that glimmer of hope that light, love and deliverance will one day find him again.

Aided heroically by Cinematographer Robert Yeoman and the superior score and sound design by Composer Atticus Ross, who often makes you feel as if you are swimming inside of a Beach Boys' song to hallucinogenic and often harrowing effect, Bill Pohlad's "Love And Mercy" is a wave of emotion that flows from clarity to breakdown, inspiration to glory, imprisonment to empowerment, selfishness to selflessness, and the long ranging damages from psychological abuse to the healing powers of love and acceptance. 

It's all there in the film's own title and it is indeed my favorite film of 2015.

(Originally reviewed June 2015)

There you have it! Onto the Oscars, with predictions and wrap-ups, all coming soon!!!