The Top 10 Films of 2015

This has been a really good year for film, both mainstream and independent. Here are my favorite films to grace the silver screen in 2015:

The End of the Tour

Since his suicide in 2008, David Foster Wallace has grown to be a legendary figure for young writers and intellectuals. James Ponsoldt’s The End of the Tour follows Wallace (Jason Segel) as he is profiled by journalist David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) at the last stop of the tour for  his seminal work, Infinite Jest. I like this film because it made a writer who has felt inaccessible to me feel human. It also meditates on the ideas of fame, addiction, television, jealousy and journalism. The script, taken from Lipsky’s book and actual interviews, really drives this home — and the performances from Eisenberg and Segel were two of my favorites of the year. Though it is mostly composed of quiet conversations in cars and hotel rooms, the movie still manages to show the desolate beauty of the midwest with its cinematography and pack an overwhelming emotional punch with its script and characters.

The Big Short

This very serious comedy about the 2008 financial crisis plays with style to put a complicated situation in the simplest terms possible, entertaining the audience in the process. Director Adam McKay is known for films like Step Brothers and  Anchorman, but really shows off his chops with moments like cutting away to Margot Robbie or Selena Gomez to explain minute financial jargon and concepts. The performances are fantastic, particularly from Steve Carrell, Christian Bale and Ryan Gosling, and are only made better by McKay’s excellent dialogue. Even if you fell asleep in economics class, I can guarantee you will find yourself laughing at The Big Short until you realize the stark, infuriating reality of the situation.

Room

In the hands of a bad director, Room could have been a bleak hopeless movie about surviving in captivity. Instead it is bitterly hopeful and emotionally devastating. Brie Larson turns out a true star performance, alongside Jacob Tremblay, who gives an arguably better performance as her child from captivity. Director Lenny Abrahamson makes a lot of interesting choices, like shooting large parts of the film out of focus to mimic how a person would see the world for the first time. These things all come together to make one of the most satisfying films of 2015.

Spotlight

Tom McCarthy‘s quiet, journalism-centered drama about the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal in Boston is surprisingly electric. Much like The End of the Tour, it muses on ideas of ethics in journalism as we follow the reporters who broke this landmark story. It does a good job showing the down and dirty part of the reporters job. Knocking on doors, making calls and talking to sources, while also touching on the politics of being an editor and deciding how far you want to take a story. Spotlight is the kind of movie that journalists need, in a time where they are considered such untrustworthy figures. Perhaps it is even one of the best portrayals of the profession since All the President’s Men.

Ex Machina

I approached this movie with no real knowledge about its plot, outside of the fact that it starred Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson and had something to do with androids. I was beyond surprised to find it to be one of the most thought provoking science fiction films in recent memory. I don’t want to spoil it further. It is a film best watched fresh. Nothing is what it seems, and the film subtly tricks the viewer and leads to some of the most entertaining and surprising moments this year, particularly this moment that came completely out of left field. That is why it belongs on this list.

Mad Max: Fury Road

It is like John Ford designed the artwork for a feminist heavy metal album. Mad Max is a visual spectacle full of metal, fire, doof warriors and one of the most progressive action heroines in recent memory with Imperator Furiosa. The most astounding thing about it is that so many of the stunts and effects were practical, using very little CGI to cover up the stunt rigging. Though it took him 30 years to make it, George Miller‘s masterpiece was well worth the wait.

Mistress America

Noah Baumbach made two movies in 2015: While We’re Young and this one. Starring his muse and writing partner Greta Gerwig, Mistress America features Baumbach’s characteristically lost twentysomethings dealing with an identity crisis in a painfully hip screwball comedy. Gerwig’s Brooke is the epitome of the New York hipster who is somehow making a living as a freelancer in every field. The film really hits its stride when it takes a trip upstate and turns into an absurd play. Though it may be a little too twee for some, Mistress America is both one of Baumbach’s best and one of the best films of the year.

Love & Mercy

Having grown up with the Beach Boys on my parents’ stereo, I was immediately drawn to this biopic about their frontman Brian Wilson. It follows him in two very different periods of his life. One in the 1960’s when he is recording the seminal record Pet Sounds, slowly learning of his mental illness. The other in the late 80’s where he is having trouble dealing with his mental illness at the hands of his money hungry manager. The real strandouts are Paul Dano and John Cusack, who both play Wilson during the different periods of his life. Love & Mercy will give you a further appreciation of both Pet Sounds as a record, and Brian Wilson as a musician.

Tangerine

I had no idea what to expect going into this movie, and it blew me away. It is a day in the life of two trans prostitutes in Los Angeles as they try to find their pimp, who has wronged them. Not only does it feature incredible first time performances from trans actress Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor, but director Sean Baker shot the entire film on an iPhone 5s, which is a feat in and of itself. It does a great job diving into a world likely unknown to many viewers and has a great time doing it. This is far and away one of the most original and worthwhile films of the year.

Taxi

The latest from Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who was banned from making films for 20 years. This is his third since that was ban imposed. It is set inside his taxi cab and blurs the lines between dramatized film or documentary. It also makes a point to challenge and poke holes in the standards set by the Iranian government for what makes a film watchable, using a school video project by Panahi’s niece as a conduit. As both a political film and an incredibly meta docu-drama, Taxi is one of the best foreign films to come stateside in 2015.