Sam's Top 10 Films of 2015
It's been an emotional year at the movies — one that's difficult to summarize with just 10 films. But therein lies the drama of a year-end best-of list, right? Here are the films from 2015 that strummed my heartstrings and made me believe in movie magic all over again.
10. Straight Outta Compton A peek into the past that powerfully reflects the present. While most music biopics engage our nostalgia, this one feels like a rallying cry against our current reality. In the wake of recent police brutality across America, "Straight Outta Compton" reminds us of the musicians who were brave enough to sing "Fuck tha Police." Yes, it excludes Dr. Dre's history of abuse, which seemed to upset many moviegoers hoping for a brutally honest warts-and-all exposé. Frankly, I'm not sure what that would have added to a film that intends to inspire.
9. Steve Jobs A piercingly intimate portrait of an icon. The film follows Apple's co-founder around the wings of auditoriums as he's confronted by friends and colleagues — ghosts of the past. In the hands of screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, the characters wield words like weapons, shedding harsh light on Steve Jobs' warts. The film's power lies in the fact that it doesn't make some grand statement about the innovator's impact on the world. Instead, it focuses on those closest to him. And it does what Jobs apparently couldn't, exploring personal demons outside of the public eye.
8. Peanut Gallery No, it's not a high-profile documentary. One might even call it amateurish at first blush. But it haunted me. Through a family's hazy home movies and painful memories, "Peanut Gallery" brings a little girl back to life. Director Molly Gandour immerses viewers in the grieving process as she explores the loss of her sister to leukemia and prods her parents into opening up about their pain. It's hard to watch, but you won't want to look away. As Roger Ebert once said, the best films shake us and give us the impression of having touched life itself. "Peanut Gallery" is one of those films.
7. Bethlehem Maybe this is an unfair choice considering this film garnered the most attention in my home of Indiana. But what is a year-end top 10 list if not a completely honest account of the most memorable films, popular or not? "Bethlehem" was one of the best experiences I had at the movies this year. Shot in Crawfordsville, Indiana, the film premiered to a packed house at the Strand Theatre in Shelbyville. The dysfunctional family comedy swept over the audience like a warm blanket. Like "Roseanne" and John Hughes comedies, it splits your sides and then sneaks up on you with warmly familiar, heartfelt moments.
6. Anomalisa Through stop-motion animation, this film achieves a kind of uncompromising honesty that a live-action love story couldn't. The latest spark of originality from oddball auteur Charlie Kaufman, the film follows a customer service guru (David Thewlis) as he falls in love with one of his fans (Jennifer Jason Leigh) on a business trip. From beginning to end, this animated wonder feels raw and real.
5. Mad Max: Fury Road A relentless roller-coaster ride — and an instant classic. "Mad Max: Fury Road" is the most tactile and thrilling popcorn spectacle in recent memory. Director George Miller immerses viewers in the apocalyptic atmosphere, making us feel the heat of the dystopian desert and the rust of the wreckage. This film is a flat-out masterpiece — a work of dark magic.
4. The End of the Tour The best depiction of artistic insecurity that I've ever seen. The film revolves around Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) as he peers under the bandana and into the brain of David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel), one of the most influential writers of the last 20 years. It follows Lipsky as he travels across the country with Wallace on the promotional tour of the author's most highly regarded novel, "Infinite Jest." Like "Steve Jobs," this film plumbs personal depths, digging into the pain beneath an artist's most dazzling work.
3. Meru A feat of filmmaking that's as awe-inspiring as its subjects — the first climbers to successfully reach the Shark's Fin summit of Mount Meru, a 21,000-foot mountain in the Himalayas. The stunning documentary doesn't merely recall their climb through interviews; it puts you alongside the men as they stare death in the face and continue to scale its rough surface. "Meru" takes viewers to impossible heights, reminding us that there are places on Earth more majestic and otherworldly than any CG spectacle. The film also lifts our spirits by shining a light on the people willing to brave such terrain.
2. Spotlight Few films create a moment-to-moment sense of discovery. "Spotlight" never ceases to surprise. I've seen the film five times now, and I still find myself in awe of the sensitive performances, the taut screenplay and the terrifyingly true story. The whole film feels like a revelation — one as striking as the truth that the Boston Globe uncovered about the Catholic Church. "Spotlight" is the kind of movie that leaves you trembling at the thought of the horrors just around the corner from all of us.
1. Room What's familiar to us now is otherworldly when we're kids. But even the familiar can be frightening. The feeling that life is surreal continues into adulthood as we plunge into emotional reaches that seem like alien worlds. "Room" is about the inescapable, never-ending adjustment to life. The story of a mother and son trapped in a garden shed, it's essentially a prison drama in which the world beyond the prison walls is equally strange and scary. As the mother and son, Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay deliver the best performances of the year, guiding viewers through the harrowing story like warm lights in the darkness. For me, this film was the most emotional experience of the year — one that tugged on my heart long after I left the theater.