Let me start, by saying that I didn't watch that many films from last year: mostly stuck with anime, which is a medium that the West usually gets coverage in the form of TV series only, with films usually getting delayed in Western release. BUT, I've watched enough to have a general idea of what I liked (in fact...ALL the films I watched this year, I either liked a lot or LOVED...talk about diversity of exposure huh...)
Besides...2015 was a basically a year of discovery for me; even more so than 2014: a year I learnt how to TOLERATE John Williams (kidding...love that man, never hated him); this year, I dug out every penny and started collecting film Blu-rays, alongside my anime collections.
I soon realised: I only watched Interstellar, out of every Nolan film (yep, not even his Batman stuff...shame on me), I NEVER watched any of the Indy movies (torture me) and never saw Star Wars in their original format (kill me). BASICALLY, I need to do some catching up in that regard. Needless to say, I will be having myself a Indy and Nolan marathon soon enough.
Enough of me yapping, here's my list:
9. Spectre: Worst Bond film since Solace, but I found the first half to be hilarious and enjoyable to watch (Q's awesome). Tried (poorly) to tie in ALL the Craig Bond films into one quadrilogy, but fell flat because of it. Daniel Craig's still got it: Best Bond.
8. Ant-Man: not much to comment, just a fun film with some smart flickers of humour; both on camera and in dialogue (also...best Stan Lee cameo EVER).
7. The Man from U.N.C.L.E: Despite finding the storyline to be simplistic AND difficult to follow at the same time (not a good sign), the film was enjoyable, with a score that sounds WONDERFUL as part of the film; although my ears haven't warmed to it on album.
6. The Kingsman: More of a guilty pleasure, found the premise bizarre enough to be memorable, although some scenes DID shock me, in terms of me and my morals obligations (what a way to thumb royalty in the ass eh...)
5. When Marnie Was There: Watched it in cinemas around April last year (or was it May? Can't remember), plus it got nominated for Oscar 2015, so I'm counting this. An emotionally charged flick, with well-intentioned explorations of voluntary isolation, the nature of loneliness and finding companionship in suffering. Beautiful score and a tear-jerky end credits song that left no one in the cinemas with dry eyes.
4. Avengers: Age of Ultron: Contrary to general consensus, this is one of my favourite Marvel films to date, up there with The Winter Soldier's comparatively dark take on patriotism (oh the irony) and the out-of-the-world humour of The Guardians of the Galaxy: those split-seconds of banter Whedon threw in were absolutely perfect. In fact, in many ways, I found this one to be superior to the first Avengers film (only thing the original had that was clearly superior was Loki...loved to hate him more, whilst I tended to agree more with Ultron...us humans needs a taste of some of dem meteor), perhaps due to me being indifferent about the comics and Marvel outside of their film releases.
3. Inside Out: Pixar is back baby! To me, this is a near perfect film, in terms of its utterly genius and creative setting. I look forward to rewatching and analysing this film, as I feel this one is hides a lot more tidbits for deeper analysis, whilst some earlier Pixar films, such as Up, wore their hearts on their sleeve.
2. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation: This film's sole mission was to let me hold my breath, and have a good time. Well, it achieved both with flying colours, one of the best experiences I've had all year with films. Speaking of having a good time...
1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens: This is coming from a guy who isn't a Star Wars fan. TFA is the first Star Wars film I've experienced in the cinemas...never have I NOT touched a bit of that popcorn, or taken a sip of that drink, during the ENTIRE runtime, for fear of missing a laugh, or because my jaw forgot how to snap up and down during moments of utter amazement. In my honest opinion, having not watched any of the last 6 films properly (by that, I mean as in sitting through them entirely without distraction...I was 8 and didn't know a sliver of English the last time I touched a Star Wars film, with flickers of memories of watching them when I was older), the flaws of paying 'too' much homage to the originals wasn't a flaw to me, at all, an opinion that was reinforced by the informative panels on ColliderVideos's YouTube channel. Also, having listened to a lot of film commentaries offered on Blu-rays in the last few months (one of the benefits of having an extensive collection), I've come to appreciate great, stylish cinematography: to me, Abrams' styling of the film was on point, fittingly fast-phased without relying on cuts, and he knows to keep the focus on the characters during explosions and action scenes.
Honourable mention: Sherlock Christmas Special. I'm aware of it being technically a TV series, but I watched it in a limited cinema screening: plus it was 90 minutes long, so it was basically a film to me. (Moffat DID say approaching the series as if they were making movies, soooo...) Needless to say, the special was as witty and funny as ever (they even made sexist jokes that were critical of Victorian society...and they were the biggest laughs).
Yeah I know...either animated films, or blockbusters. I suppose that's where my tastes reside in most of the time for films, considering my time arrangement in entertainment consumption.
(What is happening to me...I just gave the goddamn FILM; the one John Williams worked on; my number 1 pick as well...I need a shot of vodka.)
(Message edited on Monday, January 18, 2016, at 4:30 a.m.)
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