Last year was not the best year for movies, but the few good movies that did come out were amazing. It's funny that in a list of ten movies, four have dystopias, and two more present potential dystopias. Also, there are three musicals on the list, and of ten, only three are Hollywood movies, of which only two have American Directors. Anyway, my favorite movies of 2015:
10. Yakuza Apocalypse
This movie is too much, as Takashi Miike movies tend to be. It's hard to really summarize the plot, but it approximates to this: There's a mob boss who's a vampire. He's decapitated by an ancient order of vampire killers that include Mad Dog from The Raid Redemption and a guy in a frog suit, that later turns into a frog monster. Either way, more vampires are formed, but they aren't just any ordinary vampires. They're yakuza vampires. It's hard to explain exactly what that means, it's just crazy. When you get bitten, you don't just become a vampire, you also become a mobster if you aren't already one. It's hilarious, violent and done smartly. If that sounds like a Tarantino movie then get this, Tarantino takes a lot of influence from Takashi Miike's movies.
9. SpongeBob SquarePants: Sponge Out Of Water
This is the only movie I've given a full review on my blog. It's a great movie. I hate repeating myself so just go read the review
here.
8. The Assassin
The Assassin is a quiet Taiwanese movie, that is in many ways the spiritual sister to The Revenant. Both are period pieces, but while the lead in The Revenant seeks revenge, the lead in The Assassin seeks redemption. Much like the Revenant it features stunning shots of nature, and has an even more limited script. A girl having royal blood in feudal China is trained from a young age to become an assassin. She becomes a masterful killer, but when she shows a sense of morality she is given an extremely difficult assignment - to kill her cousin, to whom she had once been engaged to. And then things get complicated.
7. Jurassic World
A lot of people didn't like this movie. That is to say, a lot of people seem to think that Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howards teaming up with raptors and a T. Rex is somehow not the best idea anybody has ever had in the history of cinema. I loved the hell out of this movie. Dinosaurs, man. Dinosaurs.
6. Deathgasm
Metal! This is an independent horror movie from New Zealand about a group of metalheads that find ancient sheet music, and accidentally unleash demons by playing it. This movie clearly knows it's metal, which is exciting enough for a metalhead, but it's also very good as a horror movie, taking cues from the Evil Dead franchise and occasionally George Romero. It's the odd one out on this list, as it features no high concept, and is exactly what you watch. Its on this list solely because it kicks so much ass.
5. Shinjuku Swan
One of two Sion Sono movie here, it's probably better to just have a list where Sion Sono's output in a year is ranked, because there will be enough for one, and they're all bound to be good. This one's more grounded than the previous one, which isn't saying much. The striking thing about this movie is the portrayal of the city itself and its weird little study of its inhabitants. The movie follows a loser who finds a job hiring women to become strippers, but gets involved front and center in a war with a rival gang. It remains as bright and complicated and colorful as his movies tend to be.
4. It Follows
There's a popular opinion that horror has been dead since the dawn of slasher flicks, but that's simply not true. There have been a whole lot of great horror movies in the past two decades, and It Follows is a jewel among them. The scare in the movie is a demon that follows a person relentlessly till it can murder the person. The only way to get rid of it being having sex with someone. One could call it a Sexually Transmitted Demon. Only the people who've been Followed can see the demon, and it's unkillable, and it can look like anybody it wants to but nothing else is known about it. The fact that you can't trust anybody in the background, and that the director purposefully uses wide shots peppered with people, gives the movie a tension that you rarely find in horror.
3. The Revenant
I did not expect to like this movie. I did not like Birdman, and I went into the theater thinking that this too would be pretentious as hell. I was so wrong. The tension, the visuals, the acting are all on point to say the least. It's rare to see such good landscape shots outside of a nature documentary, and sometimes you might just think that you're watching one. The climax is truly fantastic. It's bloody, and it takes its time to get there, and every drop of blood spilt is spilt for a reason. This is a revenge flick like few others, where one is never really sure about who's hunting whom. I am waiting for Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. The Revenant.
2. Mad Max: Fury Road
In an age of shitty reboots and dull action movies, Mad Max is extremely refreshing. There isn't a single dull moment, it's wildly original, but also remarkably simple. This is one of those rare blockbusters that'll be remembered and loved for years to come. These are all things you'll read in any review. I'm just proclaiming my love for this masterpiece. Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron destroy as Max and Furiosa. I would never have expected to like a movie that's essentially one long car chase but I love this movie that is essentially one long car chase. It will be fun to see who ropes in George Miller first for a superhero movie.
1. Tokyo Tribe
Of all the dystopias on this list, Sion Sono's post apocalyptic rap musical presents the most colorful alternative. Tokyo has broken down into factions, separated geographically and ideologically, but one aspires for dominance over the others. The other tribes unite to fight. As with all Sion Sono movies it's marked with quirks so crazy it's hard to list them all out (a man picks up a human finger from a cigar box and eats it - it's less disgusting than it sounds, and much funnier). The movie looks gaudy on purpose, like a rap video, and all the characters talk in rap instead of well, normal speech. It's probably the single most entertaining movie of last year and features a wealth of cameos by members of the Japanese rap scene.
Honorable MentionsCreep is a wicked good movie, but funnier than it was scary.
Crimson Peak is a good movie, but falls short of the Del Toro standard by far.
What We Do In The Shadows and Seven Days In Hell, both mockumentaries, both hilarious and smart.
World Of Tomorrow, an animated short film. Friggin' brilliant.
Ant-Man, Avengers: Age Of Ultron and Fantastic Four were all pretty good, in decreasing order of goodness. Yes. I really did like Fantastic Four.
Star Wars: A Force Awakens is a movie I actually loved, and is also the only blockbuster from last year that I saw more than once (even if by accident).
Dhrishyam/Papanasam. I loved both versions of this movie.
Also, Kabukicho Love Hotel. Such a great movie.
Movies that I missed, that might change things up a bitThe Big Short, Spotlight, Carol, Shawn The Sheep, Assassination (Korean espionage movie that's supposed to be hella fun), Journey To The Shore and Umimachi Diary (movies by my favorite and second favorite Japanese filmmakers respectively: only missed these because of an absolute lack of subtitles), Midnight Diner (spun off from the brilliant J-Drama of the same name, again missed because of no subtitles), Son Of Saul (Hungarian WWII movie that's supposed to be stunning). Straight Outta Compton. Court (the Marathi movie), When Marnie Was There (Studio Ghibli) The Martian. I plain forgot about the Martian.
Movies I couldn't give a shit about trying to watch Room and Danish Girl. Both sound boring as hell. Jupiter Ascending. 50 Shades Of Fuck Off.
Movies I Tried To Watch But Couldn't Give A Shit AboutAttack On Titan Pt. 1, Mockingjay Pt. 2 ( which is unfortunate, because I enjoyed the first part)
And finally...
The Movie That I Regret Watching With All My HeartTaken 3. I only want to forget. Actually, it's forgotten.
