Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: 2015 in films and TV-series

1/01/2016

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

The Top 10 Best of 2015

1. Inside Out - Pete Doctor and Ronaldo Del Carmen

2. Looking season 2 - Michael Lannan

3. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation - Christopher McQuarrie

4. Amy - Asif Kapadia

5. Star Wars: The Force Awakens - J. J. Abrams

6. Jurassic World - Colin Trevorrow

7. Spy - Paul Feig

8. A War/Krigen - Tobias Lindholm

9. Mad Max: Fury Road - George Miller

10. Klown Forever/Klovn Forever - Mikkel Nørgaard

Other great 2015 movies (in alphabetic order)

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl - Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

Straight Outta Compton - F. Gary Gray

Other good 2015 movies (in alphabetic order)

Irrational Man - Woody Allen

Spectre - Sam Mendes

Trainwreck - Judd Apatow

The Worst 2015 Films

1. Terminator Genisys - Alan Taylor

Mediocre 2015 movies:

Far from the Madding Crowd
Magic Mike XXL
Minions

Remarks:

With only 19 2015 titles reviewed so far, the lists are hugely incomplete still, and yet the year has already given 4 incredible masterpieces that will surely stand the test of time:
First of all Pete Doctor and Ronaldo Del Carmen's ingenious and insightful Inside Out, - the first animated movie to top the Film Excess annual lists, - Michael Lannan's second and regrettably last season of the amazing Looking series, Christopher McQuarrie's flawless action jewel Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation and Asif Kapadia's devastating Amy documentary are the four scene-stealers. The top 10 list is rounded out by J. J. Abrams' currently record-breaking Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Colin Trevorrow's majorly satisfying Jurassic World, Paul Feig's hysterically funny Spy, Tobias Lindholm's forceful A War, George Miller's acclaimed Mad Max: Fury Road and finally Mikkel Nørgaard's laugh-coaster Klown Forever.
The year has been terrific especially from the major movie Hollywood front, which has given, - as the top 10 reflects, - several spectacular films, most from existing franchises, which combats the often cited opinion that Hollywood's creative recycling and reworkings make for poor storytelling and movies. But, of course, the year's worst film so far, - and more similar mega-movies will undoubtedly follow it, - Alan Taylor's Terminator Genisys, - is also a sequel in a decades old franchise.
Most of the top 10 movies will probably fly under the Oscar academy's radar in the coming time, though Inside Out is likely to grab a handful of nominations, and probably win Best Animation, and Amy is also likely to at least get a Best Documentary nomination. Whether The Force Awakens, Jurassic World and Fury Road will receive any recognition besides technical nominations and wins in these categories is unlikely. More predictions will be posted after the release of the nominations.
Recently I have also seen the new movie Brooklyn, which I can warmly recommend, and which I hope will be an Oscar contender. - Especially lead Saoirse Ronan deserves the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in this sincere masterpiece.

Still on the 2015 watchlist:

Joy, In the Heart of the Sea, The Funhouse Massacre, Rock the Kasbah, Goosebumps, Trumbo, The Danish Girl, Anomalisa, He Named Me Malala, Spotlight, The Visit (seen - OK), Absolutely Anything, The 33, The Gift (seen - excellent), Pixels, Scream Queens (2015-), Max, A Deadly Adoption, The Assassin, Dheepan, Youth, Sicario, Hitchcock/Truffaut, Carol, Son of Saul, Song of Lahore, Other Space (2015-), Home, I Am Michael, Finders Keepers, People Places, Things, Mistress America, Shaun the Sheep Movie, Racing Extinction, The Witch, Strangerland, Cartel Land, Cucumber (TV-series) and Blackhat

Previous annual lists:

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 2014 in films - according to Film Excess
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess

What's your favorite and worst 2015 movie and TV-series experiences?
What 2015 movies and TV-series are missing on the watchlist?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (15-24)

1/01/2016

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

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