Thursday, December 31, 2015

2015 MOVIE LIST -- The Top 200 So Far

THE STANDOUTS (20) - This should go without saying, but these are all must-sees.

Spotlight ****
Wild Tales **** 
Straight Outta Compton ***1/2 
Sicario ***1/2 
The Revenant ***1/2
Demolition ***1/2 
Room ***1/2  
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl ***1/2
The End of the Tour ***1/2
The Stanford Prison Experiment ***
The Martian ***
The Walk ***
Steve Jobs ***
Creed *** 
Joy *** 
Inside Out ***  
The Tribe ***
Bridge of Spies ***
Son of Saul ***
Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop (HBO) ***  

THE GOOD (48) - These represent quality filmmaking all-around.

Everest ***
Love and Mercy ***
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation ***
Mad Max: Fury Road ***
Ex Machina *** 
McFarland, USA ***
The Gift ***
Cop Car *** 
The Visit ***
The Connection *** 
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck (HBO) *** 
Cartel Land ***  
The Seven Five *** 
Infinitely Polar Bear ***
Tangerine ***
Diary of a Teenage Girl *** 
Trainwreck ***  
Spy ***
Ant-Man ***
Kingsman: The Secret Service ***
Green Room ***   
The Night Before *** 
The Bronze ***
The 33 ***
The Benefactor ***
Grandma *** 
Truth *** 
Victoria ***  
Dope *** 
What We Do In the Shadows *** 
Son of a Gun ***  
Faults ***
Creep *** 
Hyena *** 
Maggie *** 
Vacation ***   
Manson Family Vacation ***
Life in Color *** 
Goodnight Mommy **1/2
Shelter **1/2
Two Step **1/2 
James White **1/2
Sleeping With Other People **1/2
Digging for Fire **1/2
Cut Bank **1/2 
An Honest Liar **1/2
Bloodsucking Bastards **1/2
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon **1/2

THE GOOD... BUT SHOULD'VE BEEN BETTERS (32) - Why weren't these good movies better? I don't really know. But they should've been. Hence, the name of this section.

The Hateful Eight ***
Chappie *** 
Going Clear (HBO) *** 
Beasts of No Nation ***
Concussion *** 
Black Mass **1/2
Pawn Sacrifice **1/2
Southpaw **1/2
Star Wars: The Force Awakens **1/2  
Black Sea **1/2 
The Overnight **1/2
Minions **1/2
Trumbo **1/2
Eye in the Sky **1/2
Desierto **1/2
Hungry Hearts **1/2
Carol **1/2 
The Witch **1/2
Focus **1/2 
Irrational Man **1/2
Results **1/2
Buzzard **1/2  
Fort Tilden **1/2 
Road Hard **1/2
The Peanuts Movie **1/2
Goosebumps **1/2
Kill Your Friends **1/2  
Veteran **1/2 
Finders Keepers **1/2
Misery Loves Comedy **1/2
Being Evel **1/2
Cronies **1/2

THE GUILTY PLEASURES (38) - These are movies that I shouldn't like but I do, for one reason or another. I only feel ashamed because the Internet tells me I'm supposed to.

Hardcore ***
Run All Night ***
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. ***
Furious 7 ***
No Escape ***
Daddy's Home ***
Entourage ***
The Boy Next Door ***
The Green Inferno ***
Roar ***
Everly **1/2
The Intern **1/2
Poltergeist **1/2
The Devil's Candy **1/2
Unfriended **1/2 
Staten Island Summer **1/2
Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse **1/2  
American Ultra **1/2  
Magic Mike XXL **1/2
Ted 2 **1/2
Krampus **1/2 
Get Hard **1/2 
The Wedding Ringer **1/2 
Burying the Ex **1/2
Sisters **1/2
Terminator Genisys **  
San Andreas **   
Taken 3 **
Hitman: Agent 47 **
Fifty Shades of Grey **
Hidden ** 
Balls Out **
American Heist **
The Final Girls **
Final Girl **
Beyond the Reach ** 
Turbo Kid **
The Human Centipede 3: Final Sequence **

THE UNDERWHELMING DISAPPOINTMENTS (42) - Chalk it up to expectations but these movies just didn't cut it for me.

The Big Short **1/2
Anomalisa **1/2
Legend **1/2 
Our Brand is Crisis **1/2
I Smile Back **1/2
The Secret In Their Eyes **1/2 
Mississippi Grind **1/2
Z for Zachariah **1/2
Knock Knock ** 
Spectre **
Tiger House **
By the Sea ** 
Point Break **  
The Wolfpack ** 
Bone Tomahawk ** 
The Danish Girl ** 
Experimenter **
In the Heart of the Sea ** 
Ricki and the Flash ** 
Pixels ** 
We Are Your Friends **
Manglehorn **  
The Program ** 
Mr. Holmes ** 
Macbeth **   
Strangerland **
Mistress America ** 
I Am Michael **
Take Me to the River **
The Family Fang **
Project Almanac ** 
Tomorrowland ** 
Avengers: Age of Ultron ** 
Unfinished Business **
Pitch Perfect 2 ** 
The Girl in the Photographs **
The Mind's Eye **
Baskin **
Southbound **
The Gallows ** 
Martyrs **
The Lazarus Effect **

THE BAD (20) - For better or worse, I just don't know what these movies were thinking.

Rock the Kasbah *1/2  
Crimson Peak *1/2
Blackhat *1/2 
Lost River *1/2
True Story *1/2
Child 44 *1/2
The Gunman *1/2
Fantastic Four *1/2 
Hot Tub Time Machine 2 *1/2
High-Rise * 
Mojave * 
Dark Places *
The Hallow * 
Kristy *  
The Loft *
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 *
Kidnapping Mr. Heineken * 
The Nightmare *
Preservation *
Hellions *

NOTABLE MOVIES I MISSED IN 2015 THAT ARE COMING SOON, I SWEAR (34): 45 Years, Alleluia, Aloha, Appropriate Behavior, The Assassin, Best of Enemies, Brooklyn, Burnt, Chi-Raq, Cinderella, The D Train, The Duke of Burgundy, Eden, Escobar: Paradise Lost, The Falling, Felt, Freeheld, Girlhood, The Good Dinosaur, Heaven Knows What, I'll See You in My Dreams, Kumiko the Treasure Hunter, Meadowland, Mommy, Mustang, Nasty Baby, Phoenix, Slow West, Soaked in Bleach, Spring, Suffragette, Time Out of Mind, White God, Youth