Welcome to the year of our Lord 2015! 2014 was a really interesting film year and as I was looking at the 2015 lineup I was less than enthused. Not to say that it won’t have some good things but that this year isn’t as jampacked as 2014 seemed to be. Nevertheless there are some wonderful films that we’ll be in store for. Enjoy this curated list!
There are many movies that chronicle cities in the midst of violent outbursts (Nightcrawler comes to mind) and there are also movies that chronicle men struggling with whether to engage in activities that might compromise with their morality. However, I can’t recall another film that so confidently blends the two as A Most Violent Year does. A movie that feels both in and of its time as well as a complete throwback, choosing the path that is most right means that you will make sure to seek out A Most Violent Year, a wonderfully tense and engaging film.
I don’t know if there’s a film this holiday season or this year that packs as many laughs in its run time as Chris Rock‘s film Top Five. Whether its from the hilarious situations or the incredible cameos, Rock has fashioned an enjoyable film that routinely will have you in stitches. More than just just a hilarious film, Top Five also manages to be an interesting look at celebrity, race and relationships and while not everything in this film worked for me, it’s still a movie you have to check out.
Just because a filmmaker seems to be getting back on track doesn’t mean that they should be given a free pass. This is a statement I pondered last month when I saw American Sniper and the same statement I thought about while watching Big Eyes, Tim Burton‘s return to the land of non-CGI foolery. While it was nice to see a “subdued” Burton film, I can’t say I was happy to watch Big Eyes, a movie that’s lacking in energy and keeping an audience’s interest.
Whew do these Oscar predictions look drastically different.