I wanted to do something new for this blog this year and I thought to myself that maybe I could write some "think pieces" on topics in media that I've been noticing or have thought about for a while. Future posts like these might focus on other topics but I feel like this one I have been thinking about for a while. I remember back in middle school I was not into Disney films as much I am now. I remember being like most middle school students in that I wanted to be treated as more of an adult and a way I and many others saw of doing that was to shun the Disney brand. I went years without seeing a film by Disney or any animation company. But I was at that weird age where Disney or animation films do not appeal to me but I'm too young for films like Frost/Nixon and The King's Speech.
Now, Disney at the time was making decent animated films like Tangled, Princess and The Frog, Meet the Robinsons, and Bolt with its sister company Pixar making animated hits like Cars and Up. But it was also making disappointing movies like Enchanted, Brother Bear, Treasure Planet, and quite possibly the worst, Chicken Little. The early millennium was hit and miss for the Disney company. But for me, as I entered middle school I found that most kids did not want to see Disney films or anything that felt kid friendly. No, those were the days when we thought going to a PG-13 or even R rated movie was a right of passage and that the passage meant that we would never return to Disney as that not what the cool, popular older kids did.
For me, that all changed when I saw Toy Story 3. It was the first time I felt the dark side of Disney and got emotional over a film meant for children. It showed me that an animated film can be for adults and children. I was finally brought back to Disney and I wanted to see what they would do next. Sadly, Cars 2 proved to be a massive disappointment for audiences and the Disney company. Any middle schooler going into high school that said they paid money to see Cars 2 would be seen as kind of a dweeb. So I decided to wait awhile until I saw a Disney movie worth paying money to see. It was around this time I started watching the Marvel movies, and though at the time having mixed feelings about the movies, I awaited the release of The Avengers.
In 2012, the Disney company purchased Marvel studios and now own most Marvel characters. This is where I feel most people started to get back on board with Disney was after seeing The Avengers. From there Disney started to not only become present again in pop culture but it started to dominate it. Once Star Wars was bought from George Lucas, Disney's grasp on entertainment seemed to be complete. But even with franchise juggernauts like those in their grasps, Disney still had to excel where they were lacking for a while, their own films.
Pixar wasn't putting out the best of films for a while so it was up to Walt Disney Animation Studios to carry the animated film banner. With that came Wreck It Ralph, an animated movie centered around video game characters and the world they lived in. It was a critical and financial success but nothing could prepare them and the rest of the world for what came in 2013. In November of that Disney released Frozen and it became one Disney's biggest hits since The Lion King. The film and its merchandise brought in tons of money and thus solidified Disney's control over the pop culture.
But why now? Why weren't they doing this years ago? Well there are many reasons, too much to go into. But I will say I can chalk it up to leadership change with Bob Iger replacing Michael Eisner and with having some of the biggest movie properties with the loyalist of fan bases, Disney had to make sure they did everything right to please the massive fan bases. It's a lot to balance both a cinematic universe and a galaxy far, far away on the shoulders of a mouse. But through will and effort, Disney pulled it off.
No I am not saying Disney is perfect by any means. It's children's programming needs major adjustments and there are times when they care more about the merchandise instead of the movie itself. But when the company puts its all behind a project it can be one of the most amazing things ever seen. Will there be another time when people move away from Disney, yes, but its important to remember that though they may falter at times, you can be sure that right around the corner is another hit waiting to make its way to cultural phenomenon status.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Friday, January 15, 2016
The Revenant Review
First, a little backstory, I saw this movie on the night of the Golden Globes award as I wanted to wait a while to see if the movie would win any major awards. And it did. It won the Golden Globe award for best drama, best director and best actor. Just recently the movie received Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. That being said this movie had a lot going for it when I saw it. In my opinion, The Revenant deserves all the acclaim its getting.
Alejandro G. Inarritu returns after his Academy Award winning dark comedy Birdman. He teams up with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy to bring us the story of Hugh Glass and his story of survival and revenge. For those unaware of Mr. Glass's reputation, he was a pioneer fur trapper who after surviving an attack by Native American warriors, lives through a grizzly bear mauling and must survive the harsh winter weather in the wilderness in order to enact revenge up on one his fellow trappers that left him for dead and killed his son. It's a tale of both survival and the human spirit as Glass, who is on the verge of death, wills himself on and takes drastic measures in order to ensure his survival and revenge.
DiCaprio plays the titular character and by god if he does not win an Oscar for this, there must be something wrong with the academy. The man is put through the wringer in this movie. Not only did he have to act in extreme weather conditions but he also had to get thrown around and hurt in this movie. The role of Hugh Glass is a big departure from DiCaprio's usual role as a charming yet cocky character. He has very little dialogue in the movie and I think it works to both DiCaprio's and the movie's advantage. Giving Glass to much dialogue might have made audiences see that its just DiCaprio and not Glass saying these things. For the movie, the minimal dialogue allows the story to be told through its solid acting, visuals, and tone. Which brings me to the director.
I've only seen two movies from Inarritu, those being this one and Birdman, but I can clearly tell that he is a lover of cinema. You feel the passion in every shot of his movies and how hard it can be to work with the guy. This a guy who will put his actors in freezing wildernesses and might try to do a movie all in one take. It's a hard task to accomplish but so far he has gotten the best out of everyone on board, both actors and crew. However, even the best of things have problems.
The worst thing about the movie is that it feels long. I remember checking my phone three times in the theater to see how long I was sitting there. There were times I wanted to get up to use the bathroom but I held it in to see what would happen next. Another thing that bugged me was that every time the film would cut to the forest or any form of wilderness it felt like I was watching a nature documentary. But for those problems I can say that this movie was intense from beginning to end.
You feel like you're there watching something that happened in the days of the frontier and I commend that. Going for anything less than real in this movie would have been a let down given how serious the trailers made this movie to be. The acting in the movie by its two stars sell the feel of it being real. Tom Hardy's character is kind of a bastard as he is one who leaves Glass for dead in the snowy wilderness and kills Glass's son so that he can get back to civilization and get paid for his work. But the setting of where this movie takes place makes these actions justifiable. I feel that many fur trappers at the time would do the same thing, though probably doing a mercy killing instead of leaving someone to die. Hardy's character is not greedy but will do whatever it takes to survive and that kind of thinking works in this time period.
The Revenant is a strong contender for best picture given its many wins at the Golden Globes, but anything can happen. It's also Leonardo DiCaprio's best performance as he runs the gambit of emotions a man can have will finally nab his first Oscar for Best Actor but it's a strong field of contenders with accomplished talents like Matt Damon, Bryan Cranston and Michael Fassbender as well as the transgender role Eddie Redmayne played in The Danish Girl which may get some of the "lets avoid controversy or be really pro LGBT" votes. As for best director, Inarritue will win though Geroge Miller may be give him a bit of competition and is my hopeful to win, though given the nature of the academy, I can see them palying it safe and giving it to Inarritu. As for Best Picture, its safe to say like the director, its the academy's safest bet though I found Fury Road be more entertaining. It's a long sit but by the end, like me, you'll be glad you stuck with it.
Grade: A
Alejandro G. Inarritu returns after his Academy Award winning dark comedy Birdman. He teams up with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy to bring us the story of Hugh Glass and his story of survival and revenge. For those unaware of Mr. Glass's reputation, he was a pioneer fur trapper who after surviving an attack by Native American warriors, lives through a grizzly bear mauling and must survive the harsh winter weather in the wilderness in order to enact revenge up on one his fellow trappers that left him for dead and killed his son. It's a tale of both survival and the human spirit as Glass, who is on the verge of death, wills himself on and takes drastic measures in order to ensure his survival and revenge.
DiCaprio plays the titular character and by god if he does not win an Oscar for this, there must be something wrong with the academy. The man is put through the wringer in this movie. Not only did he have to act in extreme weather conditions but he also had to get thrown around and hurt in this movie. The role of Hugh Glass is a big departure from DiCaprio's usual role as a charming yet cocky character. He has very little dialogue in the movie and I think it works to both DiCaprio's and the movie's advantage. Giving Glass to much dialogue might have made audiences see that its just DiCaprio and not Glass saying these things. For the movie, the minimal dialogue allows the story to be told through its solid acting, visuals, and tone. Which brings me to the director.
I've only seen two movies from Inarritu, those being this one and Birdman, but I can clearly tell that he is a lover of cinema. You feel the passion in every shot of his movies and how hard it can be to work with the guy. This a guy who will put his actors in freezing wildernesses and might try to do a movie all in one take. It's a hard task to accomplish but so far he has gotten the best out of everyone on board, both actors and crew. However, even the best of things have problems.
The worst thing about the movie is that it feels long. I remember checking my phone three times in the theater to see how long I was sitting there. There were times I wanted to get up to use the bathroom but I held it in to see what would happen next. Another thing that bugged me was that every time the film would cut to the forest or any form of wilderness it felt like I was watching a nature documentary. But for those problems I can say that this movie was intense from beginning to end.
You feel like you're there watching something that happened in the days of the frontier and I commend that. Going for anything less than real in this movie would have been a let down given how serious the trailers made this movie to be. The acting in the movie by its two stars sell the feel of it being real. Tom Hardy's character is kind of a bastard as he is one who leaves Glass for dead in the snowy wilderness and kills Glass's son so that he can get back to civilization and get paid for his work. But the setting of where this movie takes place makes these actions justifiable. I feel that many fur trappers at the time would do the same thing, though probably doing a mercy killing instead of leaving someone to die. Hardy's character is not greedy but will do whatever it takes to survive and that kind of thinking works in this time period.
The Revenant is a strong contender for best picture given its many wins at the Golden Globes, but anything can happen. It's also Leonardo DiCaprio's best performance as he runs the gambit of emotions a man can have will finally nab his first Oscar for Best Actor but it's a strong field of contenders with accomplished talents like Matt Damon, Bryan Cranston and Michael Fassbender as well as the transgender role Eddie Redmayne played in The Danish Girl which may get some of the "lets avoid controversy or be really pro LGBT" votes. As for best director, Inarritue will win though Geroge Miller may be give him a bit of competition and is my hopeful to win, though given the nature of the academy, I can see them palying it safe and giving it to Inarritu. As for Best Picture, its safe to say like the director, its the academy's safest bet though I found Fury Road be more entertaining. It's a long sit but by the end, like me, you'll be glad you stuck with it.
Grade: A
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
The Big Short Review
iIf you were to ask a random person on the street to explain the financial crisis of '07, odds are with a strange look the person wouldn't be able to give you a straight forward answer. This is where Adam McKay's The Big Short comes in. The movie is about this group of Wall Street business men that discover the ground work of the financial crisis and are looking to profit from the ignorance of the banks and the public. And if you're thinking that even though you have some knowledge of how the market works but are thinking that there are going to be terms in this movie that can go over the head of even the most knowledgeable wall street yuppy, you would be correct. However, the movie does a good job in explaining the definitions of certain terms by using celebrity cameos like Anthony Bourdain, Selena Gomez and even Margot Robbie in a bath tub to explain terms used in the movie and on Wall Street. It's helpful for people like me who has very little knowledge of economic terms.
The Big Short follows a lot of Hollywood Wall Street movies like Wolf of Wall Street and Wall Street. What the big short does different from those movies is that The Big Short actually looks at how the banks and the housing crisis worked instead of focusing on an individual. In this movie you get a plethora of characters from Steve Carrel's character Mike Baum (who is based on money manager Steve Eisman) to Brad Pitt's off the grid former stock broker Ben Rickert.
The movie is sort of a reverse heist movie, as the characters look to put money back into the economy. It is addressed in the movie that if the characters succeed in predicting the financial crash they will profit from it but also that millions of people will be out of jobs and businesses will suffer from the crash. It's a very big moral dilemma for the characters. Yes, they can go against the over confident banks and profit from their stupidity but if they are right, it will not be good for the rest of America.
The momentum of the movie never slows down and I think it's because of the unique editing style of the movie. It's a fun movie given the subject matter. It does not shy away from the serious moments but it's still darkly humorous.
Grade: A
The Big Short follows a lot of Hollywood Wall Street movies like Wolf of Wall Street and Wall Street. What the big short does different from those movies is that The Big Short actually looks at how the banks and the housing crisis worked instead of focusing on an individual. In this movie you get a plethora of characters from Steve Carrel's character Mike Baum (who is based on money manager Steve Eisman) to Brad Pitt's off the grid former stock broker Ben Rickert.
The movie is sort of a reverse heist movie, as the characters look to put money back into the economy. It is addressed in the movie that if the characters succeed in predicting the financial crash they will profit from it but also that millions of people will be out of jobs and businesses will suffer from the crash. It's a very big moral dilemma for the characters. Yes, they can go against the over confident banks and profit from their stupidity but if they are right, it will not be good for the rest of America.
The momentum of the movie never slows down and I think it's because of the unique editing style of the movie. It's a fun movie given the subject matter. It does not shy away from the serious moments but it's still darkly humorous.
Grade: A
Sunday, January 3, 2016
My Top 15 films of 2015
2015 was a banner year for Hollywood as Jurassic World and The Force Awakens have shattered previous box office records and were met with satisfaction from critics. It was also the year where sequels dominated the big screen. Now there were some original movies out that were getting critical acclaim but it was the sequels we were most excited to see. So now join me if you will in counting down my top 15 favorite films of 2015.
#15. The Walk
This film runs the gambit of being a heist movie, a bio-pic and a love letter to the World Trade Center. Joseph-Gordon Levitt is one of my favorite actors and he does a wonderful job of playing the tight rope walking daredevil Philippe Petit. The 3D for this movie is some of the most breathtaking 3D you will see in theaters and I'm glad I saw this movie in IMAX 3D. One standout performance is Charlotte Le Bon as she plays the girlfriend of Levitt's character. You feel for this character and what she is going through. Someone she loves is going to walk on a thin wire between two tall buildings with no net. It's a testament of trust when you see how calm she is given this information. But as a whole the film is a good watch and Levitt gives another good performance. But this will be one of many bio-pics on this list so be prepared.
#14. Avengers: Age of Ultron
What can I say, the Marvel movies are just fun. I love seeing the characters interact with each other and the action as well as character development is amped up for this movie. James Spader does a great job as Ultron, a robot computer that believes the only way to save humanity is by wiping it out. Does it live up to the hype as a sequel to the massively successful Marvel's The Avengers, in a way yes. We get more of what we want but we get some things that we did not need like the Romanoff twins and their oddly absent magnetic father (PLEASE FOX GIVE MARVEL X-MEN AND FANTASTIC FOUR!) and the Hulk/Black Widow romance. Now I like those things but when you get down to it, we got nothing new from this sequel but to follow up one of the biggest comic book movies of all time is a job very few could do and Joss Whedon gives it his all. For what we got, a surprisingly good sequel that gives us more knowledge of the characters and action, it makes my list
#13. The Hateful Eight
Being a Tarantino fan, I could not wait for this to come out and like most people I wanted to see it in 70mm, the way Tarantino wants it to be seen. And while I haven't seen its non 70mm counterpart, I can guess what got cut to see the difference. But as a whole The Hateful Eight is another enjoyable Tarantino film with sharp dialogue and interesting characters. That being said, the film kind of falls apart logic wise near the end but if you're willing to roll with it you should be fine. It is a Tarantino film so expect graphic violence and if that's not your thing I understand but you're missing out on an interesting movie. It's another Tarantino movie guaranteed to entertain you from beginning to end if you love the Tarantino style.
#12. Straight Outta Compton
Coming into this film having very little knowledge of N.W.A. or their music, I have to say this was a pretty good film. Now that being said you have to like rap and have a knowledge of rap's culture. It gives us a look at how the group came together, created their music and shows us their eventual break up and influences on future rap stars. It's a very interesting look at the rap genre, set during a time when rap was viewed as criminal. The performances in this movie our outstanding as you believe you are seeing the members of N.W.A. in their prime, going so far as to have Ice Cube's son playing a younger version of him. The movie can focus a little to much on Dr. Dre near the end but you get to know most of the group pretty well. These guys were not always gangsters and criminals, they were artists looking for a way out of the hood. Heck, Ice Cube has become one of America's beloved funny men as he gives good performances in his comedies. But getting back to the movie, it is an interesting look at one of America's most "dangerous" group in music and it also gives the audience insight to how rap works.
#11. Bridge of Spies
We got a lot of good bio-pics this year and I put this one over my #12 pick because I found this one to be a bit more interesting. Tom Hanks plays James Donovan who is a lawyer who must defend a supposed Russian Spy during the height of the Red Scare. He ends up having to negotiate a prisoner exchange involving two captured Americans, both stuck on different sides of the Iron Curtain, and his client. I like James Donavan as a person and as a negotiator as he has to get both the Soviets and Germans to work together in a way in order to make sure the Americans are set free. Donovan, having to defend an accused soviet even though soviet's are despised in America, says a lot about him both as a person and a character. It says that no matter if he is guilty of being a spy or not, he should be given a trial like a normal citizen and that says a lot in this day and age given all that is going on in the world of law. All in all, the movie gives us a look nat a side of the Cold War we have never seen, that being the politics behind both sides of the Iron Curtain.
#10. Steve Jobs
This movie sat for a long time in development hell given that actors like Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio were slated to play the Apple CEO but they ended up leaving the project. It was when Michael Fassbender decided to play Jobs was when the film could start production. With all the production problems it is amazing the film turned out as well as it did. It feels really good to have a good Steve Jobs movie after the catastrophe that was the Ashton Kutcher Jobs movie. Where in the Kutcher movie played up the "Jobs is a god amongst men" thing, Aaron Sorkin gave us a look at a side of Steve Jobs people haven't seen or choose to ignore. That being the arrogant side of Jobs, the side that almost lost him his daughter's love and actually did lose him his spot in the company he created. Steve Jobs is a terrible person throughout most of the movie as he bosses around his assistant and ignores the woman who is mothering his daughter, you just want to punch the man sometimes he's that horrible. But eventually Jobs arc from arrogant tech business man to the man we knew before he dies actually begins at the end of the movie after he thinks up the idea for the IPod after being annoyed by his daughter's Walkman. It really is a side of Jobs most people need to see in order to understand the man behind the tech giant Apple.
#9. The Martian
I did not read the novel this movie was based on so I was going in with a blank slate. What had me most concerned was Ridley Scott as a director. Now don't get me wrong he has done good work in the past but lately it has been hit and miss with the man. Thankfully, the movie really works with Ridley Scott. It's a Cast Away in space kind of story as Matt Damon plays astronaut Mark Watney who is stranded on the desert planet of Mars and its up to NASA and Watney's team of fellow astronauts to help him get off Mars and back to Earth. You some surprisingly good performances from Jeff Daniels, Kate Mara and especially Donald Glover. The effects used to make it look like Matt Damon is on Mars show how far Hollywood has come in the effects division. It's both a welcoming return for Ridley Scott and a confirmation that Matt Damon can carry a serious movie.
#8. Mission Impossible: Rouge Nation
Safe to say that Mission Impossible finally had a win over the James Bond franchise as I found this to be more entertaining than the lackluster but decent Spectre. The action in this movie felt a lot larger than the last Bond movie and we're given a lot more time with Simon Pegg's character and I can say it worked for the better. I will admit again, like #10, things can get complicated story wise near the end as there is a lot of double crossing near the end and it can get confusing for some people but all in all it's a fun ride.
#7. Ant Man
This movie probably caused the most fear in Marvel movie fans. For one, its original director Edgar Wright left the project due to creative differences, a trend that has been happening with Marvel movies recently, and when one of the most beloved comedy directors leaves your project, people will worry. Not only that, but the general public was not familiar with the Ant Man character and how do you bring a character like Ant Man to the screen. Again, Marvel proved the doubters wrong as the Peyton Reed directed movie proved to be another success story for Marvel. Paul Rudd is great as Scott Lang, the second Ant Man after Pym, and Michael Douglas and Evangaline Lilly do a great job as the Pym family who are going through some family drama. The scenes where we see the Ant Man suit are fun and entertaining, and the fight scenes in this movie are also very unique. It's up there with Guardians of the Galaxy as one of the more fun Marvel movies.
#6. Kingsman: The Secret Service
This was the real winner of the spy movie battle of 2015. This movie was just a blast from beginning to end, the fight scene in the church is stuff of legends and give that this came out around the time a lot of bad forgettable movies come out, this was a breath of fresh air.
#5. Spotlight
As drama's go this would be my pick for best picture as the story deals with a group of reporters lead by Michael Keaton that are trying to uncover a conspiracy in the catholic church dealing with priests accused of molesting children. The movie can get dark as this is a subject matter that is hard to make pleasant to sit through. The church is portrayed as this mafia kind of organization that does not want these records to be made public. Add on that the report will be coming after the events of 9/11 and your sitting their wondering how these reporters managed to pull this off. What makes the movie great is the reaction of the reporters as they go deep into the conspiracy. These people were raised in a catholic environment and to hear about the horrible things going on in the church must be a death blow to them. One reporter especially has a house for reformed priest living nearly a block away from him and his children. That is something scary.
#4. Sicario
Not going to lie, I was on the edge of my seat every time Benecio Del Torro was on screen. The man just had a presence to him in this movie that was down right frightening. I'm surprised he hasn't been nominated for any awards yet because this some of the scariest acting I have seen. You feel every time you see this man something bad will happen, and it usually does. The dinner scene especially is one you are just not ready for when it happens. This is probably scarier than most horror movies released in 2015.
#3. Inside Out
This is probably one of the best Disney films I have seen and its only been a few months since it came out. It does such a good job with a used premise that you feel like you're seeing it for the first time. The characters are great, the morals are unique for a Disney film and the humor is really good as well. There's not much else I can say about this, its a damn good Disney movie.
#2. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The amount of hype behind this project was insurmountable. It was every where and let me tell you the hype was well worth it. After years of horrible prequels it feels good to have a likeable Star Wars product, and this had nothing to do George Lucas. It's a critic proof movie and it is one that fans and casual movie goers will love.
#1. Mad Max: Fury Road
There is a point in one's life where you get to be part of a moment that will change the business, Fury Road is that change. This movie will inspire directors of today and tomorrow on how to make an action movie. I will not be surprised if I see copiers of this style of filmmaking but it will never hold up to the people who were behind it. This is a sequel that took twenty years to make due to script issues and actors going crazy. But in that time a masterpiece was made and it is something everyone should see at least once in their life.
#15. The Walk
This film runs the gambit of being a heist movie, a bio-pic and a love letter to the World Trade Center. Joseph-Gordon Levitt is one of my favorite actors and he does a wonderful job of playing the tight rope walking daredevil Philippe Petit. The 3D for this movie is some of the most breathtaking 3D you will see in theaters and I'm glad I saw this movie in IMAX 3D. One standout performance is Charlotte Le Bon as she plays the girlfriend of Levitt's character. You feel for this character and what she is going through. Someone she loves is going to walk on a thin wire between two tall buildings with no net. It's a testament of trust when you see how calm she is given this information. But as a whole the film is a good watch and Levitt gives another good performance. But this will be one of many bio-pics on this list so be prepared.
#14. Avengers: Age of Ultron
What can I say, the Marvel movies are just fun. I love seeing the characters interact with each other and the action as well as character development is amped up for this movie. James Spader does a great job as Ultron, a robot computer that believes the only way to save humanity is by wiping it out. Does it live up to the hype as a sequel to the massively successful Marvel's The Avengers, in a way yes. We get more of what we want but we get some things that we did not need like the Romanoff twins and their oddly absent magnetic father (PLEASE FOX GIVE MARVEL X-MEN AND FANTASTIC FOUR!) and the Hulk/Black Widow romance. Now I like those things but when you get down to it, we got nothing new from this sequel but to follow up one of the biggest comic book movies of all time is a job very few could do and Joss Whedon gives it his all. For what we got, a surprisingly good sequel that gives us more knowledge of the characters and action, it makes my list
#13. The Hateful Eight
Being a Tarantino fan, I could not wait for this to come out and like most people I wanted to see it in 70mm, the way Tarantino wants it to be seen. And while I haven't seen its non 70mm counterpart, I can guess what got cut to see the difference. But as a whole The Hateful Eight is another enjoyable Tarantino film with sharp dialogue and interesting characters. That being said, the film kind of falls apart logic wise near the end but if you're willing to roll with it you should be fine. It is a Tarantino film so expect graphic violence and if that's not your thing I understand but you're missing out on an interesting movie. It's another Tarantino movie guaranteed to entertain you from beginning to end if you love the Tarantino style.
#12. Straight Outta Compton
Coming into this film having very little knowledge of N.W.A. or their music, I have to say this was a pretty good film. Now that being said you have to like rap and have a knowledge of rap's culture. It gives us a look at how the group came together, created their music and shows us their eventual break up and influences on future rap stars. It's a very interesting look at the rap genre, set during a time when rap was viewed as criminal. The performances in this movie our outstanding as you believe you are seeing the members of N.W.A. in their prime, going so far as to have Ice Cube's son playing a younger version of him. The movie can focus a little to much on Dr. Dre near the end but you get to know most of the group pretty well. These guys were not always gangsters and criminals, they were artists looking for a way out of the hood. Heck, Ice Cube has become one of America's beloved funny men as he gives good performances in his comedies. But getting back to the movie, it is an interesting look at one of America's most "dangerous" group in music and it also gives the audience insight to how rap works.
#11. Bridge of Spies
We got a lot of good bio-pics this year and I put this one over my #12 pick because I found this one to be a bit more interesting. Tom Hanks plays James Donovan who is a lawyer who must defend a supposed Russian Spy during the height of the Red Scare. He ends up having to negotiate a prisoner exchange involving two captured Americans, both stuck on different sides of the Iron Curtain, and his client. I like James Donavan as a person and as a negotiator as he has to get both the Soviets and Germans to work together in a way in order to make sure the Americans are set free. Donovan, having to defend an accused soviet even though soviet's are despised in America, says a lot about him both as a person and a character. It says that no matter if he is guilty of being a spy or not, he should be given a trial like a normal citizen and that says a lot in this day and age given all that is going on in the world of law. All in all, the movie gives us a look nat a side of the Cold War we have never seen, that being the politics behind both sides of the Iron Curtain.
#10. Steve Jobs
This movie sat for a long time in development hell given that actors like Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio were slated to play the Apple CEO but they ended up leaving the project. It was when Michael Fassbender decided to play Jobs was when the film could start production. With all the production problems it is amazing the film turned out as well as it did. It feels really good to have a good Steve Jobs movie after the catastrophe that was the Ashton Kutcher Jobs movie. Where in the Kutcher movie played up the "Jobs is a god amongst men" thing, Aaron Sorkin gave us a look at a side of Steve Jobs people haven't seen or choose to ignore. That being the arrogant side of Jobs, the side that almost lost him his daughter's love and actually did lose him his spot in the company he created. Steve Jobs is a terrible person throughout most of the movie as he bosses around his assistant and ignores the woman who is mothering his daughter, you just want to punch the man sometimes he's that horrible. But eventually Jobs arc from arrogant tech business man to the man we knew before he dies actually begins at the end of the movie after he thinks up the idea for the IPod after being annoyed by his daughter's Walkman. It really is a side of Jobs most people need to see in order to understand the man behind the tech giant Apple.
#9. The Martian
I did not read the novel this movie was based on so I was going in with a blank slate. What had me most concerned was Ridley Scott as a director. Now don't get me wrong he has done good work in the past but lately it has been hit and miss with the man. Thankfully, the movie really works with Ridley Scott. It's a Cast Away in space kind of story as Matt Damon plays astronaut Mark Watney who is stranded on the desert planet of Mars and its up to NASA and Watney's team of fellow astronauts to help him get off Mars and back to Earth. You some surprisingly good performances from Jeff Daniels, Kate Mara and especially Donald Glover. The effects used to make it look like Matt Damon is on Mars show how far Hollywood has come in the effects division. It's both a welcoming return for Ridley Scott and a confirmation that Matt Damon can carry a serious movie.
#8. Mission Impossible: Rouge Nation
Safe to say that Mission Impossible finally had a win over the James Bond franchise as I found this to be more entertaining than the lackluster but decent Spectre. The action in this movie felt a lot larger than the last Bond movie and we're given a lot more time with Simon Pegg's character and I can say it worked for the better. I will admit again, like #10, things can get complicated story wise near the end as there is a lot of double crossing near the end and it can get confusing for some people but all in all it's a fun ride.
#7. Ant Man
This movie probably caused the most fear in Marvel movie fans. For one, its original director Edgar Wright left the project due to creative differences, a trend that has been happening with Marvel movies recently, and when one of the most beloved comedy directors leaves your project, people will worry. Not only that, but the general public was not familiar with the Ant Man character and how do you bring a character like Ant Man to the screen. Again, Marvel proved the doubters wrong as the Peyton Reed directed movie proved to be another success story for Marvel. Paul Rudd is great as Scott Lang, the second Ant Man after Pym, and Michael Douglas and Evangaline Lilly do a great job as the Pym family who are going through some family drama. The scenes where we see the Ant Man suit are fun and entertaining, and the fight scenes in this movie are also very unique. It's up there with Guardians of the Galaxy as one of the more fun Marvel movies.
#6. Kingsman: The Secret Service
This was the real winner of the spy movie battle of 2015. This movie was just a blast from beginning to end, the fight scene in the church is stuff of legends and give that this came out around the time a lot of bad forgettable movies come out, this was a breath of fresh air.
#5. Spotlight
As drama's go this would be my pick for best picture as the story deals with a group of reporters lead by Michael Keaton that are trying to uncover a conspiracy in the catholic church dealing with priests accused of molesting children. The movie can get dark as this is a subject matter that is hard to make pleasant to sit through. The church is portrayed as this mafia kind of organization that does not want these records to be made public. Add on that the report will be coming after the events of 9/11 and your sitting their wondering how these reporters managed to pull this off. What makes the movie great is the reaction of the reporters as they go deep into the conspiracy. These people were raised in a catholic environment and to hear about the horrible things going on in the church must be a death blow to them. One reporter especially has a house for reformed priest living nearly a block away from him and his children. That is something scary.
#4. Sicario
Not going to lie, I was on the edge of my seat every time Benecio Del Torro was on screen. The man just had a presence to him in this movie that was down right frightening. I'm surprised he hasn't been nominated for any awards yet because this some of the scariest acting I have seen. You feel every time you see this man something bad will happen, and it usually does. The dinner scene especially is one you are just not ready for when it happens. This is probably scarier than most horror movies released in 2015.
#3. Inside Out
This is probably one of the best Disney films I have seen and its only been a few months since it came out. It does such a good job with a used premise that you feel like you're seeing it for the first time. The characters are great, the morals are unique for a Disney film and the humor is really good as well. There's not much else I can say about this, its a damn good Disney movie.
#2. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The amount of hype behind this project was insurmountable. It was every where and let me tell you the hype was well worth it. After years of horrible prequels it feels good to have a likeable Star Wars product, and this had nothing to do George Lucas. It's a critic proof movie and it is one that fans and casual movie goers will love.
#1. Mad Max: Fury Road
There is a point in one's life where you get to be part of a moment that will change the business, Fury Road is that change. This movie will inspire directors of today and tomorrow on how to make an action movie. I will not be surprised if I see copiers of this style of filmmaking but it will never hold up to the people who were behind it. This is a sequel that took twenty years to make due to script issues and actors going crazy. But in that time a masterpiece was made and it is something everyone should see at least once in their life.
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