Best of 2015: Film

It was really a tremendous year for movies both large and small. Several of my favorite movies from 2015 had only a few characters or voice actors populate the entire film. There were movies that didn't make the cut for the honorable mention this year that might have been among the 5 or 10 best in previous years. Without further ado, here are my favorite films from 2015:

10) Room

Room definitely fits the bill of a great small independent film as the entire first act is ostensibly a play set in one small room. It doesn't hurt that one of the most emotionally jarring scenes of any film this year was set to one of my favorite songs by the tremendous band This Will Destroy You. Brie Larson had shown flashes of great talent before but her performance in Room is a revelation and she deserves every award she gets including the Oscar that's almost certainly coming her way. Room also showcases the incredibly likable and talented young actor Jacob Tremblay.

9) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a strange movie in the sense that it started as a very self-aware homage to great filmmakers but along the way the story progresses into something entirely different. The cast includes three terrific young actors (Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler and Olivia Cooke) who are buoyed by a great supporting cast that includes Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, Molly Shannon and Jon Bernthal. Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon seamlessly transitions his love of film into a film that becomes a surprisingly emotional love story itself.

8) The End of the Tour

One of the biggest travesties of this year's awards season has been the lack of acknowledgement for Jason Segel's portrayal of brilliant but tortured author David Foster Wallace. The End of the Tour recounts a brief encounter between Rolling Stone journalist David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) and David Foster Wallace. The movie isn't flashy or over-stylized but the performances are excellent and gives a glimpse into the soul of a successful smart person who struggles with his depression.

7) Creed

By the time the title card is revealed after a brief five minute scene, you know that you're in the hands of a more than competent director. To tell the plot of Creed sounds like a near carbon copy of its predecessor Rocky but it's much more than that and largely due to the terrific direction of Ryan Coogler.

6) Ex Machina

Alex Garland was an established writer who went from novelist to screenwriter and made his directorial debut with Ex Machina which he also conceived and wrote. Much like one of my favorite films of last year The One That I Love, it plays like a great episode of The Twilight Zone and also features only three on camera speaking roles.

5) Anomalisa

Adapted from an audio play written by Charlie Kaufman and told using stop motion animation, Anomalisa is one of the most original movies of the year despite telling a very relatable and universal story. Kaufman skillfully illustrates that what was once fresh and new quickly becomes old and the same. Kaufman is the brilliant mind behind some of my favorite movies ever made and this one feels layered in a way that demands repeating viewings.

4) Inside Out

This one might stick out as one of these is not like the others but it's not. Inside Out is possibly my favorite Pixar movie and it was one of the best movies of 2015. Director and co-writer Pete Docter wanted to come up with a way to understand his daughter better and came up with the genius idea of having her emotions (joy, sadness, anger, etc) turn into animated characters. It might be a little hard to follow for young kids but it is a great heartwarming movie for any age range.

3) Sicario

One of the more underrated films of the year was Sicario. French Canadian director Denis Villeneuve has been working for a quite a while but only recently made the transition to English speaking films and has already made a significant impact. His collaborations with my personal favorite cinematographer in film history Roger Deakins have given his movies a unique style and Sicario is no exception. It's a very dense and intense film but if you give it your full attention then it will amaze you.

2) Mad Max: Fury Road

I'm not sure if it makes a difference but I've never seen any of the original Mad Max movies. I was intrigued by the trailer to Mad Max: Fury Road and planned to watch them ahead of time but didn't get around to it. That is to say, I think Mad Max: Fury Road is best viewed without any preconceived notions but even people who saw the originals mostly seemed impressed. It's stunning visually with some jaw-dropping action sequences. Tom Hardy is great as the titular character but it's Charlize Theron's performance that carries the movie and is a breath of fresh air in the action genre.

1) The Revenant

I went most of the year thinking I wouldn't see a better movie that Mad Max: Fury Road but then the day after Christmas I walked into ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood and watched one of the best films I'll ever see in my life. The Revenant is one of the most beautiful looking films ever made and it's also tremendously well acted. It features several of the most harrowing and intense action sequences that I've ever seen. It is a simple yet fascinating story told in a relentless yet deliberate pace. This is without a doubt, the best film of the year and maybe the best film of this decade. I honestly believe The Revenant is a film that will be studied for the next hundred years.


Honorable mention:

All Things Must Pass

Black Mass

Hateful Eight

It Follows

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter

The Martian

Spotlight

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Straight Outta Compton

What We Do in the Shadows

Best of 2015: Television

It was another great year for television in what many are calling "peak TV" or the second golden age of television. Even with some terrific shows like Parks and Recreation, Mad Men, Justified, Hannibal and others coming to an end, there is no shortage of great television on almost a nightly basis.

It is partly because of this overwhelming amount of television that this is quite possibly the last year that I'll post my list of favorite TV shows. The silly self-imposed task of trying to watch every decent show on television is becoming more and more daunting each year. Even though I like to recommend the shows that I'm enjoying it's getting absurd to try to keep up with the nearly 400 scripted shows on network, cable and streaming services. I could easily do a list of my 10 favorite dramas and my 10 favorite comedies and that's without watching the most recent seasons of Mad Men, House of Cards, Orange Is The New Black, Veep and probably a dozen other shows that I'm sure are good. At this point, if you're having trouble finding good shows to watch on TV or Netflix, it probably means that you aren't really looking. That being said, if I stop posting my favorite TV shows then you can just do the old fashioned thing and ask me.

10) Parks and Recreation

The 10th spot on this list was a really difficult choice because there were several shows deserving of making the list so I decided as a final sendoff to add Parks and Recreation to the list. It was a truncated 13 episode final season that helped bring closure to the show that I loved watching for the last seven years. The final season was mostly very well done (with one glaring exception) and the series finale was a fitting sendoff for a show that was always about laughs first but never forgot to establish an emotional connection along with it.

9) Hannibal

The third and presumably final season of Hannibal was somewhat uneven but when it was good, it was very good. If you followed the show for the first two seasons then you probably had no idea who made it out alive from the season two finale except for Hannibal of course. With Hannibal on the run for the first time in the show, it took a slow build approach for the first handful of episodes but once it kicked into gear it was in top form.

8) Man Seeking Woman

This was a hard decision for me to make. Master of None on Netflix tackled the similar issue of a single man navigating the world of dating and friendship and it was arguably the better show but Man Seeking Woman's absurd humor for me won the day. Creator Simon Rich was one of the youngest writers in Saturday Night Live history and his bizarre comedic mind helped create one of my favorite comedies in recent years.

7) Nathan For You

Nathan For You is unlike anything else on television. In the third season it appears that Nathan Fielder and his team have realized that his shows are better when instead of a few short segments he focuses on one idea for the entire episode. If you're unfamiliar then it's tricky to explain briefly but he helps businesses with absurd ideas that are often just crazy enough to work. This season was full of excellent episodes during which he launched a fake bestselling fitness book and his own clothing brand Summit Ice to bring holocaust awareness to the public. If you that sounds bizarre and piques your interest then you need to watch this show.

6) The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst

Before the viral sensation that was Making A Murderer, there was HBO's The Jinx. Sure, Making A Murderer is the kind of show that was designed for binge-watching (as it was ostensibly just a 10 hour documentary) but The Jinx had real filmmaking polish to go along with its jaw-dropping murder story. Director Andrew Jarecki a decade prior had made the similarly haunting documentary Capturing The Friedmans about an insidious family and returned to the true crime genre to tackle the complicated story of Robert Durst. If you know nothing about the story then I urge you to watch it immediately without doing any of your own research and then be astounding by the mesmerizing final episode.

5) Better Call Saul

In its first season, Better Call Saul showed some flashes of brilliance and its shortcomings were really minor quibbles that are probably the result of the unfair but unavoidable comparisons to Breaking Bad. Bob Odenkirk made it obvious that he's capable shouldering the load as the lead and not just relegated to comic relief he was used for in Breaking Bad. It was also great to see Jonathan Banks reprise his role as Mike Ehrmantraut and he was showcased in a terrific episode that helped to explain his stoic disposition.

4) The Knick

I kind of understand why The Knick has never found a large audience; for one thing, not many people have Cinemax or know that they have any original programming. It's also somewhat of a niche show and certainly not a show for the squeamish but it's a great piece of television that deserves your attention not only for the first rate acting, excellent costumes, great direction and cinematography by Steven Soderbergh and phenomenal score by Cliff Martinez. Those are all perfectly good reasons to watch the show but there's usually a fascinating history lesson buried in every episode and the arc of Dr. John Thackery, loosely based on the real doctor William Halsted, is riveting.

3) The Americans

My natural recency bias finds it hard to remember at times just how excellent The Americans has been because it's usually one of the first shows that I watch every year. The third season might not have matched the great heights achieved in the second season but it was close. In lesser hands the story and close calls with Elizabeth and Phillip would have felt monotonous by now but it hasn't felt that way to me at all. And for those who have been watching the end of the last episode set things in motion that will end up having huge ramifications in the newest season set to debut this March.

2) Mr. Robot

Mr. Robot was one of the most clearly defined and original new shows in several years. Please don't let the title and seemingly odd casting choice of Christian Slater fool you. This is a terrific new show that you need to see and the less you know before starting it, the better off you will be. There are many shows that are well shot right now but the cinematography on Mr. Robot is among the very best and its use of music is impeccable.

1) Fargo

Fargo was my favorite show of 2014 by a wide margin and somehow it got better in its second season. The resurgence of the anthology series is the most exciting development in television over the past decade. It's why Fargo was able to attract an all-star cast of actors and actresses for both seasons and keep the show feeling fresh Creator Noah Hawley had big shoes to fill when he decided to make a television show inspired by the 1996 Coen Brothers classic and he's done it superbly. It had a chance to be the best season of television I've personally ever watched and it came pretty damn close.


Honorable mention:

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Comedy Bang! Bang!

Justified

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

The Late Show with David Letterman

Making A Murderer

Master of None

Review

Silicon Valley

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt