Watching this film is like witnessing the second coming of Fellini. Italian writer/director Paolo Sorrentino follows up his Oscar-winning feature La grande belleza ("The Great Beauty") with a gorgeous film about the mental, emotional and physical effects of aging accentuated by the juxtaposing perspectives of young and old people. I don't think Youth is a perfect film. The writing in the middle act is suspect, but I left the theater convinced I had seen poetry in motion. Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz and Paul Dano are all wonderful.
2. Spotlight
This one could probably be in the number 1 spot too. Spotlight succeeds for its straightforward, honest approach to the story and the characters. Nothing feels schmaltzy as the ensemble cast (Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci, Brian d'Arcy James) disappear into their roles as the journalists and lawyers struggling to make sense of a scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Boston. Just a great story told honestly which is too rare for Hollywood these days.
3. Room
Brie Larson gives the performance of her career and my favorite by a lead actress all year as a young mother acclimating to life back in the real world when she and her son, who was born in captivity, escape from a sealed shelter. Room also has one of the most nuanced child performances in years thanks to young Jacob Tremblay. Through their performances, Larson and Tremblay give us plenty of context for the stakes at hand. Likely the purest display of human emotion I've seen all year.
3. Room
Brie Larson gives the performance of her career and my favorite by a lead actress all year as a young mother acclimating to life back in the real world when she and her son, who was born in captivity, escape from a sealed shelter. Room also has one of the most nuanced child performances in years thanks to young Jacob Tremblay. Through their performances, Larson and Tremblay give us plenty of context for the stakes at hand. Likely the purest display of human emotion I've seen all year.
4. Creed
Who would've ever thought that a seventh Rocky movie would turn out to rival the original as the series' best? Sylvester Stallone gives his best performance in years as he trains Apollo Creed's estranged son, Adonis (Michael B. Jordan). Assured direction and a strong story from Ryan Coogler somehow get this boxing movie to transcend cliché. Blockbuster entertainment with an indie heart makes for one of the most wholly satisfying moviegoing experiences of the year.
5. Inside Out
Pixar's summer hit is the studio's best since Up. It gives names, faces, and personalities to complex pre-teen emotions and uniquely deals with themes typically reserved for the headiest Criterion Collection titles.
6. Bridge of Spies
Spielberg's latest historical drama is also his best film since Munich. Tense and endlessly watchable thanks to a charismatic turn by Tom Hanks, I found myself even more impressed with Mark Rylance as Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. He deserves Supporting Actor recognition.
7. Mad Max: Fury Road
Before Star Wars took over the landscape late in the year, cinematic mastermind George Miller resurrected another 35 year old franchise and brought it roaring back to life in a way that reminded the world you don't need a computer to craft larger-than-life spectacle at the movies. Though the plot and acting may leave a bit to be desired, Fury Road shows what a true creative mind can do when given complete control. This is a visual opera unlike anything you've ever experienced.
8. Ex Machina
Intense, intimate sci-fi is a rare thing these days, but here comes Alex Garland to give us one of the finest original science fiction films of the past 30 years. This film introduced me to my new celebrity crush, Alicia Vikander, who plays a sentient android named Ava. Oscar Isaac gives a commanding performance as her villainous creator while Domhnall Gleeson is fun to watch as the programmer tasked with evaluating Ava's human characteristics.
9. Macbeth
Yet another resplendent visual display, director Justin Kurzel vividly realizes Shakespeare's famous tragedy. Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard could not have been better cast.
10. The Danish Girl
Tom Hooper (The King's Speech, Les Miserables) directs this Oscar try-hard flick loosely based on the true-life story of Danish painters Einar and Gerda Wegener in which Einar starts to fancy himself a woman after modeling for one of his wife's paintings. The film offers nothing unique in its form, but for the subject matter, I found it to be the most audacious moviegoing challenge of 2015. It took me out of my comfort zone like no other movie this year, and for that alone, I have to give it a spot in my top 10. Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander are terrific as the leads.
Honorable mention: The Big Short, The Revenant, Grandma, Tangerine, Carol, Chi-Raq, The Martian, Sicario, The Gift, Love & Mercy
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