If there’s one thing that can be said about the movies we saw in 2015, it’s that there was a lot to choose from. So a film really has to go that extra yard to stand out; sure The Wedding Ringer and Hitman 47 might have been out in cinemas, but who remembers them? No, to make a years-end list you have to have something special… it’s just that sometimes, that something special is especially bad.
Best films of 2015 (in no particular order):
Transporter: Refuelled: Maybe you (well, maybe just me) were concerned as to how a Transporter film would go without Jason Statham. Relax: turns out the stupid-smart action franchise goes hell for leather even without its biggest star.
Mad Max: Fury Road: It’s been a long time coming and it was worth the wait. This might not have been the best Mad Max film ever, but it certainly can hold its head high in a series that’s a highpoint for pure action film-making.
Leviathan: This astoundingly bleak Russian film about small-town corruption (which was a pretty blunt metaphor for nationwide corruption) was both a compellingly told tale and a slow-motion yet utterly compelling descent into despair.
It Follows: An extremely creepy horror film based on a very simple idea – a monster that constantly keeps coming directly at you and can look like anyone – this was the high-point of what was a pretty strong year in smart horror (anyone else see Unfriended?)
Inside Out: Pixar made a triumphant return to Pixar-style film-making with perhaps the most Pixar-est film ever made by Pixar: “What if feelings… HAD FEELINGS?” Unsurprisingly, those feelings will make you cry yourself dry.
Worst films of 2015 (again, no order):
Aloha: You may detect a theme in these five films, in that they’re all about rich white guys acting like jerks because of the pain they feel about being a rich white guy. So there’s no prizes for guessing what this one is about. But in Hawaii!
The Gambler: He’s a guy who likes to gamble, only this time he’s gambling… everything! He also likes to give big long speeches and act like a smug dick.
Manny Lewis: The unstoppable charisma of Carl Barron finally comes to the big screen in a rom-com about a sad rich guy and the free-spirited young woman who offers him hope. So… just like pretty much every other rom-com of the last 15 years.
Entourage: The movie no-one wanted based on the HBO series that by the end no-one was watching. Unlike the other films on this list though, this time there’s five white guys! And the audience is feeling most of the pain.
Ruben Guthrie: Why should overseas countries get to make all the films about annoying, entitled bros swanning around like the world owes them something? This proved that Australia can make annoying, smug films up there with the best of them.
Written by Anthony Morris