The Best Films of 2015

The Stuies 2015

Late as usual with my best of the year, but with a limited choice of cinemas (that’s this little part of North Yorkshire for you) and having a toddler, yet again I’ve had to wait to catch a few films on Blu-Ray, DVD or online.

As usual, it covers releases pretty much from Oscar ceremony to Oscar ceremony, but because of home video release schedule, I don’t get around to watching some till later and this year, there were some great films I had to wait till late March to catch up with.

So here, goes, my top 7 films of 2015.

7. White God

Simplified as like Rise of Planet of the Apes but with Dogs, this films show a remarkable restraint and maturity in showing animal abuse and using it as a metaphor for the all things we as species have created, not fully understood and then unleashed on the world with out a thought of care for the responsibility we have. The lead dogs, give better performances than a lot of the leading human performances this year, yes anthropomorphising helps us relate to the dogs that little bit more, but these dogs manage to say as much with the tilt of their head as some actors do with a convoluted monologue.

Essentially, this film shows just how much of a sad, horrible and shitty species we are, by showing us just how badly we treat each other and the world around us.

Director: Kornel Mundruczo

Writer: Kornel Mundruczo, Viktoria Petranyl and Kata Weber

6. Winters Sleep

I’ll preface this selection with this. I know this premiered at last years Cannes, but I never saw it in theatres, hence its inclusion here. That and for a film that is essentially, three hours of conversations between people in a remote Turkish town,  is completely gripping. On the Blu-Ray cover, the film refers to “series of magnificent set pieces”, these aren’t action based sequences, or anything close to it. They are, as previously mentioned, long discussions/conversations/arguments, but brilliantly written, framed and acted and are more exhilarating than most action sequences anyway.

This films digs into the variety of relationships we have in our lives and how they control us and affect how we live. It tackles the repetitiveness and stages of marriage from the initial excitement, to the jaded caring we have for the other person no matter what, the need to protect and keep our family close even if they drive us crazy at times, these are just some of the great things Winters Sleep does.

Not afraid of a long shot, take or scene, Ceylan is confident enough in the material and the skill of his crew and actors to let the moments breath and give them time to bring the film and their darkly comic existences to life. Another gem from a true contemporary master of cinema, just don’t be put off by the run time and you’re in for a great experience.

Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Writer: Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Ebru Ceylan

5. What We Do In The Shadows

Another film about vampires, werewolves and zombies, just what we need right? Well in the case of Shadows, yeah it is. This film brilliantly satirises everything about the modern interpretations of the characters, whilst almost paying homage to the classics. Peter is a great nod to Nosferatu. While a lot of comedies often set up the big laughs or physical moments, Shadows works towards being funny with every moment, even the serious ones are drenched in it’s bizarre and self-aware sense of humour. I’m reluctant to go into any details about this, for fear of giving something away, as every scene is start to finish, hilarious and one of the best comedies of the last two or three decades.

Director: Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi

Writer: Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi

4. Sicario

One of the toughest and meanest films made since William Friedkins Sorcerer (seek it out by the way), Sicario is a film about the modern war on drugs along the US-Mexico border, where it highlights the idea of the US becoming just as ruthless and cruel as the cartels they are fighting. Kate (Blunt) is an FBI agent who volunteers for an inter-agency task force designed at combating the cartels, but soon it becomes clear that the US are up to things just as shady and morally opaque as their enemy.

The cinematography of Roger Deakins is an absolute wonder here, we are watching a true master at work. As far as I’m concerned, he was robbed (again) of the Oscar, no single shot this year has had the effect that “That Shot” has had on me. In case you’re unsure, it’s the one towards the end, as the team walk in the desert at sunset. It’s so good, that Sicario could have made it onto the list based on those ten seconds alone, but the rest of the film presents a mature and complicated look at a war that has been going on for decades now and shows no real sign of abating soon.

Director: Denis Villeneuve           

Writer: Taylor Sheridan

3. Carol

Mesmerizing. Beautiful. Two words that easily describe Carol, a story about two women in 1950’s New York, who after a chance meeting in a toy store, become close friends amid the overbearing and controlling efforts, or the attempted controlling efforts of the men in their lives. Plot wise, it’s relatively straight forward, but in the construction of the characters, it’s the polar opposite, vastly complex and fully realised, both the lead characters, Carol (Cate Blanchett) and Therese (Rooney Mara) are so vivid that it is a pleasure to spend time with them and watch as their relationship develops amid the constraints of the time.

Director: Todd Haynes

Writer: Phyllis Nagy (screenplay) and Patricia Highsmith (novel)

2. Inside Out

It’s the story of five emotions, inside an eleven-year-old girls head. With some film makers or studios, that could quite easily turn in to a complete disaster, but with Pixar, it becomes one of the best films of the year and probably one of the studios best films to date. Inside Out gives us everything we need to know about the world and how the emotions work in the first ten minutes that it really gets the film off to flying start. It’s use of colours for the different emotions and how it calls back on simultaneously vividly specific memories, but also general ones we can all remember or understand deeply invests us in Riley (the eleven year old) and care about what happens to her.

It took five years to make this film and it’s clear to see why, the level of detail, ideas and understanding of the mind and emotions on show here has made it into an important film for parents and people who work with children, as it breaks down ideas, often complex ones, into simple, entertaining ones that everyone can comprehend. The way the dream factory works and the idea and construction of the different personality islands are moments of joyful genius.

Director: Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen (co-director)

Writer: Pete Docter (story and screenplay), Ronnie Del Carmen (story), Meg LeFauve (screenplay) and Josh Cooley (screenplay)

1.     Spotlight

Never have I left a cinema and been torn in two different directions at almost the exact same time. With Spotlight it was the joy and excitement of seeing one of the most accomplished films of the year, but also the blinding rage of the subject matter.

Tom McCarthy (also directing) and Josh Singer, expertly navigate a complex issue and time period, juggling various storylines, or lines of investigation, to really give us as much of this whole story as possible.

Easily the best journalist or newspaper film since All The Presidents Men, Spotlight is so engaging and entrancing because of the way it is told. McCarthy keeps the flashy directorial moments to a minimum, the only real one being a long tracking shot between two houses. I won’t spoil the reason for the walk, but it gives the investigation an even greater importance to one member of the Spotlight team. Instead, McCarthy gives the actors the space to bring the characters and the story to life.

It’s not the easiest subject matter, but Spotlight is quite easily the best film of 2015.

Director: Tom McCarthy

Writer: Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy

The Greatest Team on Earth: The Justice League

What a great accelerator $1.4bn can be to a film studio, this one being Warner Bros and the $1.4bn being roughly what The Avengers grossed this summer at the box office. That film released, obviously, by Marvel Studios and Disney. Now despite the success of the The Dark Knight Trilogy which championed and “realistic” take on the Batman character (easily one of DC and Warner Bros. biggest characters), as well as making them a fair bit of cash, nearly £2.4bn I believe. Their reboot, which so far looks intriguing, of Superman next year promises to bring them in another healthy income ever two or three years, they have decided to finally (well, again) kick start a Justice League film to be released in 2015, directly competing with the already established The Avengers sequel.

The basic idea of the Justice League, and I will keep it to a minimum as I am no expert on the team, is that is a way for DC to bring together their greatest heroes and have them confront great threats to the planet as well as, and this is part that is the most interesting to me, work with each other despite the very different rules, beliefs and morals that they all had. The biggest draw being the relationship between Superman and Batman.

The biggest arguments against the idea is that fans want to see the heroes be introduced in their own films, in much the same way as Marvel did with their Phase One plan, which worked, despite the varying degrees of quality the films had. So that we get to know them, who they are what they can do, then have them meet up. This introduction, will be even more important for people who don’t know some of the less familiar, although I’m sure still recognizable other members such as The Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Aquaman.

As for the big two of Batman and Superman, it could be argued that they don’t need the Justice League film. Batman certainly not after the conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s trilogy, which although ended it’s run and continuity , leaves the character unquestionably a top the comic book mountain. Superman, despite some average recent films, will always draw interest from both the hardcore and the mainstream, as one of the first ever superheroes and arguable the greatest. So what will WB achieve by forcing two of what could be their biggest money makers into a risky film that could knock back their production of DC properties, not that it could get any slower really, back several years.

As it’s going to happen, lets look at how it could be done, these are only my theories and I don’t put them forward as the only way it could be done. Will Beall, of the soon to be released Gangster Squad is currently on script duties which is understandable being kept under wraps until it is finished, or is at least ready to be shown to prospective directors and actors.

With the basic story, they will have to be careful so that they don’t imitate too much of The Avengers, especially with the team coming together over the course of the film just in time for the final showdown with whichever villain they choose. They have to do something with the characters that is different, one thing that differentiates DC from Marvel, is that DC’s characters tend to be darker and more complex (in my opinion anyway). So play up to it, give the characters important decisions to make, make them difficult, ones that could very well tear the team or at least potentially force out other members out or cause themselves to be exiled as a result. This is something that The Avengers didn’t have, and while there have been hints that their third film will take from the Civil War story arc, DC and Warner has the chance to get in first and deliver and potentially very interesting comic book film with depth and intelligence, in the same vain that The Dark Knight trilogy did.  The only obstacle with this idea is that it requires the characters to be fully fleshed out, ideally in their own films, something they won’t get if they are thrown head first into this team up film.

One of the most important parts of any action film is its villain, if they’re memorable and genuinely pose a threat then the film thrives as you get behind the heroes. If they’re weak then it’s hard to feel any sense of danger or fear of the villain and his or her threat. So with that in mind it’s unlikely that we will see any of Batman’s Rogue Gallery, it’s more likely to be one of the bigger, most likely extra terrestrial threats, such as Darkseid or Brainiac, my personal favourite, as it would turn parts of the Earth into warzones, a kin to the opening of the DC Online video game.

As for casting the Justice League themselves, I’ll quickly rattle off a few suggestions for who could play the mandatory characters and even make a case for one or two secondary members. As there is no way of guessing which supporting characters, such as Alfred or Lois Lane could appear, I will avoid these roles and just focus on the “heroes”.

Superman will be in a tricky situation come 2015, either Man of Steel will have flopped and swept under the carpet by WB, or it will have been a resounding success, therefore cementing Henry Cavills position as Superman. Which will force WB into a decision about whether they want to carry over this Superman into the Justice League, thereby immediately linking him with all the other characters. Or they could cast someone else and keep this continuity separate from Man of Steel and the eventual (at least for Batman) solo films of their heroes. So to keep it simple for the wider audiences and because I like him as an actor, let’s stick with Henry Cavill.

The tough one, Batman, after Christian Bales performance, it’s going to take a very brave and talented man to step up and take on the cap and cowl. I previously touted Ryan Gosling as one of the few both capable of portraying the various sides of Bruce Wayne as well as a big enough name to attract attention. I would still at this point be very happy with Gosling taking the role.

But as an alternative how about Jake Gyllenhall, he was considered back for Batman Begins, so this isn’t completely original, but of late he has begun to take a number of interesting roles that have challenged him and undoubtedly brought out the best in him. Although his best I still feel is Brokeback Mountain. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he were to get the role, he has the right looks, the acting capability and is certainly a name actor.

Wonder Woman is arguably one of the hardest characters to get right on screen, bar the seventies television show there has been a number of false starts and stalled projects. But as she is one of DC’s top characters and an important member of the team, she will have to turn up here, cast well, written well and given the time to develop. Firstly she has to be an equal, essentially to Superman and Batman physically (I don’t mean size, as that would look odd) so that she can hold her place as part of that trinity.

My personal suggestion would be Eva Green, she has the height and the looks to pull off the characters look and can also portray very different versions and parts of the character, she can be strong and commanding whilst also vulnerable (not that the character is permanently weak or vulnerable) during the character scenes throughout the film. Which will be crucial, none more so to Wonder Woman, during the film.

The Flash, like Wonder Woman has been touted to get a film of his own for the last six or seven years, but has unfortunately never come to fruition. One of the problems being that there have been a few people to hold the title of The Flash during the characters run. The most popular version seems to be Barry Allen and is the one that is probably most likely to appear in the film.

The Flash is the character that in all likelihood would handle most of the comic moments, a character trait that I believe is apart, in certain ways of all characters. Also when compared with who else is on the team, is largely to be expected. As for the casting well, prior to The Dark Knight Rises, I would have said Joseph Gordon Levitt, but now I’d be more inclined to go for I’ll throw out three of four names, all of which would be interesting choices more than qualified to bring a different portrayal of the character, starting with Logan Marshall-Green (Prometheus), John Krasinski (The US Office), Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian) or, ah what the hell Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

The Green Lantern had a pretty rough start when it comes to feature films, it didn’t hit the heights that anybody wanted, but neither was it as bad as some people make out it to be, it was about half an hour too short and left one big plotline unresolved, too busy hoping for a sequel, before they had finished the first one. But still, I would hold strong with Ryan Reynolds, he gave us a likeable and layered character to follow, undoubtedly doing the best with a muddied and sequel bait heavy script.

Another advantage of this, is that it saves WB from having to introduce this character again, his origin is out there for the people who want to find it and may even help to shift some of those DVD’S and Blu Rays they have stashed away as well as reintroduce one of their greatest characters to the mainstream.

The Justice League does feature more than this, but for me, these five would probably be a good place for the first film to start, have these as your core characters, in much the same way that The Avengers did (with Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America, then Hawkeye and Black Widow as two equally placed second tier characters).  But there is always the chance of more, the first person would to come off the bench would have to be Aquaman, a character whose story takes place largely under the sea, arguably a character who very much needs a film of his own to get this unique world and setting across, much like Thor did. I only know the very basics of his mythology, so I can only talk in broad strokes. He would be a hard character to make work, specifically as his powers are somewhat limited to the ocean, with varying degrees of telepathy and mind control, but this varies on interpretation.

As for casting, you wouldn’t far wrong with Armie Hammer (although I’m sure he would rather hold for the Batman role that is always talked about). Failing like a prominent TV actor such as Nicolas Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones) would give the character screen time, but without the pressure of having to make him a top tier player in the film.

The final founding member, is the Martian Manhunter, a character who has currently fallen out of the core seven since the reboot last year. As his form is not that of a human, although his basic form is humanoid, the role would largely be prosthetic based in appearance, although with the ability to shape shift quite a few different, yet consistently maintained performances would be required. When it comes to this kind of performance, Doug Jones (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth) is the one that most people cite as his career has the most example of it.

The last character, who is a personal favourite, is Green Arrow, aka Oliver Queen, the character is getting his own television show, which will have just started. So if all goes well, WB could have a character with roughly three seasons of history, development and a pretty healthy following to bring to this, as with Green Lantern, it would allow the character to into the film with his history already established, ready to go. It would be a risk to the show more than the film if it develops the following I am sure they hope it will.

Some of these characters may, in the grander scheme of things not warrant roles in the film, some of which is understandable, but there are others, who are crucial to it’s marketability and it’s loyalty to the material. The success of not just this film, but the spin off films will depend on their portrayal and casting. The pressure is certainly on.

Picking a director for WB is going to be hard, as it will almost instantly signal their intent for the film, tonally and thematically as we study their back catalogue. It will also be a big step in either winning over the fans, or losing them. Some of the names rumoured so far have been interesting, Ben Affleck (although I think he would be better suited to the next Batman), The Wachowski’s or even Zack Snyder, continuing on from Man of Steel. All of them are a step in the right direction for the film, but still apart from Snyder, none of them really seem to fit the role.

If Warner Bros really mean to have this done for summer 2015, these and many other roles will be cast and questions answered within the next year. But till then we will still have time to get angry and speculate.