Dave's Top Five Movies From 2015
David R. Smith
Well here's the thing. Shaun asked me to write my top 10 movies from last year. That proved to be a challenge. After scouring the lists of movies from last year, it turns out I've seen eight. EIGHT movies that came out last year. How pathetic is that? And that includes Pixels. Yes; I've seen that awful Adam Sandler movie where aliens attack earth in the form of 8-bit video game characters. But I have yet to see Star Wars. Or any movie nominated for Best Picture, with the exception of Mad Max. Yikes.
So… this list is going to be significantly different than Shaun's. Because he didn't have to consider using Jupiter Ascending on his list. Also, there are only going to be 5. Not 10.
Well here we go.
5) Trainwreck
This movie was exactly what I was expecting it to be. When we went to see it, I wasn't expecting cinematic brilliance. I was expecting a typical romanic comedy and it was formulaic and obvious. But it was funny!
Amy Schumer is awesome. I think she's funny and actually kind of a great role model for women. Bill Hader is also funny. Nice to see some SNL alumni get some film work! They were both pretty decent in this flick and they performed exactly how I figured they would. But you know what was the best part of the movie? LeBron James. I'm not even kidding. I really don't like him, so this says something about his part in this. He wasn't a major part, but he had a few scenes where I actually found him really funny. Basically he plays himself, except a really cheap version of himself. It made me laugh out loud a couple times.
So, that's the start I got to make on this list. Trainwreck. Certainly not the best movie but decent enough!
4) Aloha
I know there was a lot of controversy surrounding this movie. I get that people were upset about the casting of it because many of the characters were white, while the inhabitants of the islands themselves are more non-caucasian than they are caucasian. So fine, I can get behind that logic.
That aside, we watched the flick and it was pretty okay. Having just come back from Hawaii, it was cool to see the movie because I actually understood what was happening and some of the locations. Although, it did make me want to go back again.
It's kind of a weird storyline - a former military man goes back to his native island. Or at least the island where he did his training. I can't remember. It didn't resonate with me THAT much. Anyway. He meets an old love and and new girl. Things get weird. He meets some king. Bill Murray is in it. It was an… odd movie. But good!
There's one scene, towards the end, where Bradley Cooper and John Krasinski have a conversation without saying a word to each other. It's the best part of the film.
3) Ex Machina
My next three movies are also on Shaun's list. It was inevitable.
I remember seeing this movie in the theatres. I didn't actually SEE it in the theatres. I saw that it was playing. I had gone to see Poltergeist with my friend Ashley but it was only in 3D. And I'm sorry, but Poltergeist in 3D? Is that at all necessary? Jeez. What a joke. I was so mad. Anyway, because I can't see 3D, we decided maybe we'd watch something else.
This movie was playing. At the time, it didn't interest me. So we ended up bailing and watching this movie on Netflix instead. It was only okay.
Ex Machina, I finally saw a few months later. I liked it! It was kind of a slow burn for me. One of those ones that I wasn't sure how I felt about it when it ended but the longer I let it percolate, the more I decided I enjoyed it. But not as much as...
2) Mad Max: Fury Road
Full disclosure: I've never seen any Mel Mibson Mad Max movies. (Yes: I know it's Gibson. But the opportunity for a delicious 5-word alliteration was far too good for me to pass up.) I think, collectively, I've seen 5 minutes worth of any of the Gibson ones.
But the moment Shaun showed me this trailer, I was so excited. Everything about it looked amazing.
And it truly was. I loved the cinematography, Tom Hardy's performance but above all, I loved Charlize. She was terrific. It was awesome seeing such a terrific performer portray such a strong character. She was great.
I have yet to see this movie again. But I feel it's time.
Also, I hope it wins. It won't but I hope it does.
1) Jurassic World
I totally understand why this is higher on Shaun's list of movies. His reasoning made perfect sense to me. But you know what? I don't care. I still loved it.
I adored the first Jurassic Park when I was growing up. I saw it countless times and even read the book! I didn't understand the book, because there was a lot of sciency stuff and I was, like, 10. But I loved the movie so much, I read the book.
And then The Lost World and Jurassic Park 3 came out. Each sequel progressively worse. So I was a little concerned when I saw this movie was coming out. But Chris Pratt is the man, and he knocked it out the park the summer prior with Guardians of the Galaxy so I felt like it would probably be okay.
And it did not disappoint. I was so giddy the whole way through. Sure, there were some moments that were pretty far fetched. But if we can't suspend our disbelief for a movie where dinosaurs are brought back to life, when CAN we suspend it? So I did just that, went along with it beginning to end and I was so happy. So it wins for me.
So there you have it, kids. My list. In case you were wondering, the 8 movies I've seen from the past year are: Jurassic World, Mad Max, Ex Machina, Aloha, Trainwreck, Pixels, Jupiter Ascending and Chappie.
Wow. I need to do better this year.
-D (@davidronn)