The rest of the best 2015
this is my promised sequel to my Best films of 2015;I consider these movies deserving to be mentioned, and to some extent they may prove , in the passage of time, to be as good as the ones in the A list, or even better. Time will show...
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11 titles
- DirectorMichael MannStarsChris HemsworthViola DavisTang WeiA furloughed convict and his American and Chinese partners hunt a high-level cybercrime network from Chicago to Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Jakarta.This is the Cinema of Michael Mann;atmospheric, mesmerising, romantic.It is also a vision of a better world, a utopic adventure in the heart of the cities, beautiful and stylish.
- DirectorNuri Bilge CeylanStarsHaluk BilginerMelisa SözenDemet AkbagA hotel owner and landlord in a remote Turkish village deals with conflicts within his family and a tenant behind on his rent.Last year's Palme d'or was an interior drama that lasted over 3 hours, but never got boring.With aesthetic and thematic relations to the cinema of Bergman and the writings of Chekhov, it has its own personal tone, and manages to enclose us in this simple universe of the hotel where it mainly takes place.The best film so far of a great director.
- DirectorRick AlversonStarsGregg TurkingtonJohn C. ReillyTye SheridanEn route to meet his estranged daughter and attempting to revive his dwindling career, a broken, middle-aged comedian plays a string of dead-end shows in the Mojave desert.Odd and ugly-beautiful, a strange experience in the margins of social life that deserves recognition as a piece of art, reflecting the void beneath the surface of our civilized pose.
- DirectorMatteo GarroneStarsSalma HayekVincent CasselToby JonesFrom the bitter quest of the Queen of Longtrellis, to two mysterious sisters who provoke the passion of a king, to the King of Highhills obsessed with a giant Flea, these tales are inspired by the fairytales by Giambattista Basile.surprisingly effective fantasy film in the tradition of the Italian cinema (Monicceli, Pazolini), that does not follow the conventions of american fairy-tale storytelling but builds its own world base on folk legends.An oasis in the contemporary fantasy cinema
- DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsEmily BluntJosh BrolinBenicio Del ToroAn idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.Very stylish film that recalls the cinema of George Romero and John Carpenter, although it is more focused in reality(and not fantasy).If the social comments were missing, I would consider it a masterpiece.
- DirectorJustin KurzelStarsMichael FassbenderMarion CotillardJack MadiganMacbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.very effective adaptation of Macbeth, that keeps the poetic tone of the text, although it lacks the cinematic power of Polanski's film(but it asks to function in a different way).It sent me looking for the original text to read.
- DirectorAlejandro AmenábarStarsEthan HawkeDavid ThewlisEmma WatsonA detective and a psychoanalyst uncover evidence of a satanic cult while investigating a young woman's terrifying past.the best horror film of the year; atmospheric , it creates a delusional universe where the main character slides slowly into the margins of sanity.Stands out from the usual films of the genre we tend to encounter these days.
- DirectorBill PohladStarsJohn CusackPaul DanoElizabeth BanksIn the 60s, Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson struggles with emerging psychosis as he attempts to craft his avant-garde pop masterpiece. In the 80s, he's a broken, confused man under the 24-hour watch of shady therapist, Dr. Eugene Landy.Excellent reconstruction of Wilson's life events, with insight into both his sentimental and creativity issues.Also a great film about music and how it works.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsMatt DamonJessica ChastainKristen WiigAn astronaut becomes stranded on Mars after his team assume him dead, and must rely on his ingenuity to find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive and can survive until a potential rescue.I dismissed it at first as resembling a soap opera and as boring;I appreciated it next as a clever suggestion of a positive attitude towards life and towards people, directed with certainty, knowledge and love. A team work that glorifies Team Work.A pleasure to watch.
- DirectorBrian HelgelandStarsTom HardyEmily BrowningTaron EgertonIdentical twin gangsters Ronald and Reginald Kray terrorize London during the 1960s.It's Tom Hardy that you go to see the film for, and that's not a small thing, as he is a delight.There is also a very effective reconstruction of the era where the story takes place and a feeling of nostalgia, supported by songs and colours, but somewhere the story becomes less thrilling than expected.Carol was more successful in the creation of this Christmas feeling, but overall, despite the perfect direction, left me cold, so I didn't include it in my list.
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsImogen PootsOwen WilsonJennifer AnistonOn the set of a playwright's new project, a love triangle forms between his wife, her ex-lover and the call-girl-turned-actress cast in the production.Despite the flaws, I loved this comeback of Bogdanovich, as it took me back to a kind of film making I miss.It is comedy in the style of Blake Edwards that sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't, but overall transmits a feeling of a work of art you enjoy as you would enjoy a painting(somehow).