The Best And Worst Films Of 2015

"You could write a million things a day, but it's hard to write something that actually means something."
-Amy Winehouse

"You could write this up 100 different ways, 90 of which make me look like an asshole."
-David Foster Wallace(Jason Segel) from "The End Of The Tour"

For those who don't know me all that well, I've had a passionate love for movies ever since I was a little boy. Movies struck a chord with me and, to this day, I've seen thousands upon thousands of movies at the ripe young age of 18.... I think that's how you say it. I love going to see movies with other people, whether it be my mom, my best friend(and hetero life-mate, like Jay & Silent Bob) Matt or the lovely Julia. Not only do I get to share my love with other people, but it's like Sikel & Ebert or Ebert & Roeper.

Movies are meant to be discovered and enjoyed. They are meant to be pleasing to the senses, to be a visual wonder, to frighten you, to make you laugh, to make you cry, or, if it's bad, make you angry. Movies might not be everyone's cup of tea, but for many, it's wonderful and exciting. I mean look at what this year brought us. A new "Star Wars", a new "Jurassic Park", a new "Mad Max", so on and so forth.

This year might have been my favorite for movies, so far. As custom for this list, as it was last year, we have my picks for best performances, with the best highlighted in bold, underrated and overrated movies of the year, greatest and worst movie moments of the year(the worst is a newcomer this year), the most profane movies of the year(also a new one) and finally, the best and worst movies of the year.

Best Actor
Jason Bateman-"The Gift"
Jack Black-"The D Train"
John Boyega-"Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens"
Henry Cavill-"The Man From U.N.C.L.E."
George Clooney-"Tomorrowland"
Bradley Cooper-"Aloha"
Daniel Craig-"Spectre"
Tom Cruise-"Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation"
Matt Damon-"The Martian"
Robert DeNiro-"The Intern"
Johnny Depp-"Black Mass"
Leonardo DiCaprio-"The Revenant"
Taron Egerton-"Kingsman: The Secret Service"
Jesse Eisenberg-"American Ultra"
Jake Gyllenhaal-"Southpaw"
Bill Hader-"Trainwreck"
Tom Hanks-"Bridge Of Spies"
Corey Hawkins-"Straight Outta Compton"
Ed Helms-"Vacation"
Jonah Hill-"True Story"
Samuel L Jackson-"The Hateful Eight"
O' Shea Jackson Jr.-"Straight Outta Compton"
Jeremy Jordan-"The Last Five Years"
Dylan Minette-"Goosebumps"
Jason Mitchell-"Straight Outta Compton"
Shameik Moore-"Dope"
Dev Patel-"Chappie"
Simon Pegg-"Kill Me Three Times"
Keanu Reeves-"Knock Knock"
Sam Rockwell-"Poltergeist"
Jason Segel-"The End Of The Tour"
Will Smith-"Focus"
Ben Stiller-"While We're Young"
Jason Sudekis-"Sleeping With Other People"
Benicio Del Toro-"Sicario"
Paul Walker-"Furious 7"

Best Actress
Christina Applegate-"Vacation"
Ana De Armas-"Knock Knock"
Juliette Binoche-"Clouds Of Sils Maria"
Emily Blunt-"Sicario"
Alison Brie-"Sleeping With Other People"
Emilia Clarke-"Terminator: Genisys"
Olivia Cooke-"Me And Earl And The Dying Girl"
Anne Hathaway-"The Intern"
Arielle Holmes-"Heaven Knows What"
Lorenzza Izzo-"Knock Knock"
Dakota Johnson-"Fifty Shades Of Grey"
Anna Kendrick-"Pitch Perfect 2"
Anna Kendrick-"The Last Five Years"
Jennifer Lawrence-"Joy"
Jennifer Lawrence-"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2"
Jennifer Jason Leigh-"The Hateful Eight"
Blake Lively-"The Age Of Adaline"
Rachael McAdams-"Southpaw"
Daisy Ridley-"Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens"
Margot Robbie-"Focus"
Elizabeth Anne Roberts-"Old Fashioned"
Britt Robertson-"The Longest Ride"
Britt Robertson-"Tomorrowland"
Odeya Rush-"Goosebumps"
Amy Schumer-"Trainwreck"
Lea Seydoux-"Spectre"
Kristen Stewart-"American Ultra"
Kristen Stewart-"Clouds Of Sils Maria"
Emma Stone-"Aloha"
Meryl Streep-"Ricki And The Flash"
Charlize Theron-"Dark Places"
Alicia Vikander-"Ex Machina"
Alicia Vikander-"The Man From U.N.C.L.E."
Naomi Watts-"While We're Young"

Best Supporting Actor
Demian Bichir-"The Hateful Eight"
Jack Black-"Goosebumps"
Steve Carell-"The Big Short"
John Cena-"Trainwreck"
Robert De Niro-"Joy"
Adam Driver-"While We're Young"
Joel Edgerton-"Black Mass"
Joel Edgerton-"The Gift"
Colin Firth-"Kingsman: The Secret Service"
Paul Giamatti-"Straight Outta Compton"
Walton Goggins-"The Hateful Eight"
Tom Hardy-"The Revenant"
Oscar Issac-"Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens"
Samuel L Jackson-"Kingsman: The Secret Service"
Michael Madsen-"The Hateful Eight"
Simon Pegg-"Kill Me Three Times"
Jeremy Piven-"Entourage"
Ryan Reynolds-"Mississippi Grind"
Tim Roth-"The Hateful Eight"
Kurt Russell-"The Hateful Eight"
Michael Shannon-"The Night Before"
Channing Tatum-"The Hateful Eight"
Benicio Del Toro-"Sicario"

Best Supporting Actress
Malin Akerman-"The Final Girls"
Connie Britton-"American Ultra"
Rose Byrne-"Spy"
Linda Cardellini-"Avengers: Age Of Ultron"
Raffey Cassidy-"Tomorrowland"
Jessica Chastain-"The Martian"
Natalie Dormer-"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2"
Nathalie Emmanuel-"Furious 7"
Mamie Gummer-"Ricki And The Flash"
Dakota Johnson-"Black Mass"
Nicole Kidman-"Paddington"
Brie Larson-"Trainwreck"
Juliette Lewis-"Jem And The Holograms"
Kate Mara-"The Martian"
Chloe Grace Moretz-"Clouds Of Sils Maria"
Chloe Grace Moretz-"Dark Places"
Amanda Seyfried-"Ted 2"
Amanda Seyfried-"While We're Young"
Tilda Swinton-"Trainwreck"
Juno Temple-"Black Mass"

The Most Overrated Film Of 2015

Ex Machina 

Unanimously praised by critics on release, even topping multiple best-of lists for 2015(including two of my favorites, Kristian Harloff of Schmoes Know on YouTube and Lauren Veneziani of dcfilmgirl.com), "Ex Machina" has two tremendous performances under it's belt(Alicia Vikander and Oscar Issac) and has itself an intriguing premise, but the movie seems like it doesn't know what to do with itself. The movie is so incredibly slow to get going and seems to prefer style over substance. Sure, the plot, which involves a man working for an upscale company who wins a trip to spend some time at the high-tail estate of his little seen C.E.O. while he showcases his new experiment for human-like artificial intelligence units, is intriguing enough, but the movie is way too slow, resulting in the viewer losing interest, quite quickly, while the writing ins't strong enough to bring it back. Vikander and Issac are terrific, but with better material, they feel stuck. Not as bad as last years unanimously praised, yet awfully ridiculous "The Babadook", but I still feel let down. Maybe I just didn't get it, but its appeal was lost on me as I sat on my leather couch, utterly baffled.

Runners Up: Chi-Raq, Krampus, Mad Max: Fury Road, Dope

The Most Underrated Film Of 2015

Jem And The Holograms
Mostly it was the general public that picked this apart. Although the movie does tend to get a bit cheesy every now and then, the movie has a pure heart and soul, not replicated in most movies today. Plus, it has a very catchy soundtrack, and any movie that has Juliette Lewis in it, isn't all bad.

Runners Up: Aloha, American Ultra, Fifty Shades Of Grey, Knock Knock, Pixels, Ted 2, Terminator: Genisys, Vacation

The Greatest Movie Moments Of 2015

• The high-stakes football game gambling in "Focus".
• The tribute to the late, great Paul Walker at the end of "Furious 7" is touching, poignant and the perfect way to send off both him and his character.
• Lily Tomlin hitting Nat Wolff with a hockey stick in "Grandma", because anything bad that happens to Nat Wolff in a movie is satisfying to me.
• The character of Bing Bong from "Inside Out"
• The church massacre in "Kingsman: The Secret Service"
• Seeing the Green Bay Packers assembled as an acappella group in "Pitch Perfect 2"
• The opening action sequence and tremendous credits sequence scored to "Writing's On The Wall" by Sam Smith in "Spectre"
• The opening credit sequence to "Spy".
• The Kylo Ren Vs. Rey lightsaber battle in "Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens"
• Amanda Seyfried and her beautiful rendition of "Mean Ol' Moon" in "Ted 2"
• Samuel L Jackson and his "Black Dingus" monologue in "The Hateful Eight"
• Michael Ealy maniacally stroking a cat in "The Perfect Guy"
• John Cena in "Trainwreck"
• Stone Crandall(Chris Hemsworth) and all of his faucet metaphors in "Vacation"
• A whitewater rafting trip turns incredibly suicidal after their instructor(Charlie Day) gets dumped in "Vacation"

The Worst Movie Moments Of 2015

• The fact that "Cleveland Abduction" happened.
• Reese Witherspoon dressing up as a teen boy in "Hot Pursuit"
• Sofia Vergara in "Hot Pursuit". Tone done the shrill, cat-calling voice a few-thousand notches, will you?
• Nat Wolff in "Paper Towns". By far, the worst actor on the face of the planet.
• The group of main characters screwing around at Lollapalooza for no reason, stopping the movie dead in it's tracks for a solid fifteen minutes is one of the many reasons of why "Project Almanac" is a horrible movie.
• The entire first 45 minutes of "The Duff" are excruciating to sit through, but the scene where the main character(Mae Whitman) and her two friends "break up" and list every single social media they are unfollowing each other on, it's enough to make you want to puke in your mouth.
• Granny being set on fire in "The Wedding Ringer"

The Most Profane Movies Of 2015(F-Bombs personally counted by yours truly)

10. "Son Of A Gun"-161 Uses.

9. "The Night Before"-162 Uses.

8. "Muck"-168 Uses.

7. "Hot Tub Time Machine 2"-170 Uses.

6. "Legend"-183 Uses.

5. "American Heist"-230 Uses.

4. "Black Mass"-250 Uses.

3. "Heaven Knows What"-274 Uses.

2. "Straight Outta Compton"-377 Uses.

1. "Straight Outta Compton[Unrated Director's Cut]-402 Uses.

The Top 10 Worst Films Of 2015

Dishonorable Mentions: 90 Minutes In Heaven, Accidental Love, Blackhat, Chi-Raq, Cymbeline, Dark Summer, Do You Believe?, Insidious: Chapter 3, In The Heart Of The Sea, Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser, Jupiter Ascending, Krampus, Mortdecai, My All American, Old Fashioned, Paper Towns, Project Almanac, Seventh Son, She's Funny That Way, Strange Magic, Suffragette, The Drownsman, The Duff, The Vatican Tapes, The Visit, Tinkerbell And The Legend Of The Neverbeast, War Room, We Are Your Friends and Woodlawn

10. "The Wedding Ringer"
One of the most appalling excuses for a comedy in recent years, "The Wedding Ringer" likes to make fun of people just because they're different from everyone else. A poor, hapless idiot(Josh Gad) has no best man for his upcoming wedding, so he hires Kevin Hart to be his best man. Let the offensive stereotypes and horrid excuses for jokes begin.

9. "Barely Lethal"
It's "Kingsman" meets "Mean Girls"! And guess what? It sucks. Hailee Steinfeld is saddled with playing the role of a teenage girl who escapes the confines of her life as a secret agent to be a normal teenage girl. Only Samuel L. Jackson and the one-scene appearance of Steve-O("Jackass") helps keep the movie from the bottom of the list. Steinfeld is a promising young performer, but she's drowning here. Dove Cameron, a radiant new performer, is also wasted. But, the worst offender has to go to Jessica Alba, who might rank up there with Nat Wolff for worst performance of the year. She is so over-the-top and so awful in this, that it really undermines how great she truly is.

8. "Home Sweet Hell"
Y'know, I wanna like Katherine Heigl a lot more than I do, I really do. I liked her in "Knocked Up" and "Killers", but everything else she gets put in is disastrous. "One For The Money" was an appalling movie, one that was packed with formulaic cliches and horridly unfunny dialogue, but this has to be the worst I've seen Heigl. Here, she plays, without a doubt, the biggest B-I-T-You know what, I've ever seen. Patrick Wilson plays her husband, who doesn't wanna leave her, 'cause she's got mad cash. This is one of the most unpleasant experience's I've had. Poor Jordanan Brewster; she's the only thing in this movie that escapes with her dignity.

7. "Muck"
I'll keep it short and sweet: "Muck" is a direct-to-video horror flick and the quality reflects that, through and through. My favorite part has to be a 30-minute patch in the middle of the movie that does nothing, and I mean nothing at all.

6. "Superfast"
A parody of the "Fast & Furious" movies done by the same geniuses that brought us "Best Night Ever", "Vampires Suck" and "Disaster Movie", the movie is a dead-zone for comedy, portraying the Paul Walker character as nothing but a dim-witted surfer dude is especially distasteful. I will admit, there's only one joke that manages to work. During the first street race, Not-Vin Diesel asks Not-Paul Walker "What're you driving?" His response: "A car" with the crowd going "Ohhhhhh!" behind him.

5. "Sinister 2"
Ahem.....GHOOOOOOOOSTS. Way to take a respectable horror movie and turn it into a joke.

4. "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension"
Please, Lord, let this be the last one. It's just the same movie over and over again: idiots move into a house, idiots set up cameras, idiots get attacked by ghosts, the end, hoo-ray.

3. "Cleveland Abduction"
So Lifetime made a movie on the three Cleveland girls and it manages to be so distasteful and offensive, it's baffling, their only reason to make such a movie is for profit and nothing more. It makes me sick. The writing and acting is a joke, the movie paints the real-life tragedy, later miracle, into something that makes everyone feel grimy and disgusting.

2. "Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse"
"Scouts" made me wanna take everyone involved in the entire assembling of the movie and smack all of them across the face. The movie walks around thinking it's so funny and such a masterpiece of epic proportions, it makes me sick. The title describes the plot to a T, and the fact that paramount unleashed this monster Theatrically means that they had nothing to lose. There's not a gag that works. To quote the late, great Gene Siskel, from when he was talking about an equally stupid motion Picture, "North": "You couldn't write worse stuff if I TOLD you to." Poetry at it's finest.

1. "The Green Inferno"
Eli Roth can make good movies. It's not like the art of filmmaking is foreign to him; he's been down this road, he knows how it's done. So, how in the unholy mother of hell did he conjure up somethings as disgustingly despicable as this? Not a single moment in this movie makes you feel clean, or even make you feel like a good person after watching it. It's reprehensible. Basically, some pot-smoking, douche-nozzles decide to travel to some unknown village in the Amazon to stop some corporation(never brought up again, after all is said and done) from tearing down the village. Somehow, some way, they get captured by a group of cannibals from the village and now have to fight for their lives in order to escape. As soon as the characters waltz onscreen, you wish the cannibals would just eat them, so we can roll the credits and move onto a better movie, but noooooo, we can only be so lucky. There is not a single reason for this movie to be on this planet. If you truly wanna see an Eli Roth movie from this year, then by all means, see "Knock-Knock" his home invasion thriller with Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo and the wonderful Ana De Armas. Stay the hell away from "The Green Inferno", the worst movie of 2015. Way to go above and beyond.

The Top 10 Best Films Of 2015

Honorable Mentions: Aloha, American Ultra, Ant-Man, Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Black Mass, Bridge Of Spies, Clouds Of Sils Maria, Entourage, Fifty Shades Of Grey, Focus, Goosebumps, Heaven Knows What, Home, I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story, I Am Chris Farley, Jem And The Holograms, Joy, Kill Me Three Times, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Knock Knock, Legend, Love & Mercy, Me And Earl And The Dying Girl, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Paddington, Pitch Perfect 2, Ricki And The Flash, Run All Night, Self/less, Shaun The Sheep: The Movie, Sicario, Sisters, Southpaw, Spectre, Spy, Ted 2, Terminator: Genisys, The Age Of Adaline, The Big Short, The D Train, The End Of The Tour, The Final Girls, The Gift, The Good Dinosaur, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Martian, The Night Before, The Perfect Guy, The Revenant, The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water, Tomorrowland, Trainwreck, True Story, Unfriended, Welcome To Me, What We Do In The Shadows, While We're Young

10. "The Hateful Eight"
It's Tarantino doing what he does best. In telling the story of eight strangers that meet up to go to the same destination, the 168-minute western runs at a very slow pace, but, if one has the patience and stamina for it, it's so worth it. Every actor gives their all, the story is well told, the locale and cinematography is marvelous to gaze upon and the violence and dialogue are all gloriously stylized. There's nothing much more to say.









9. "The Intern"

Anne Hathaway can do no wrong. No matter the movie, she always gives a tremendous performance. Matching her every step of the way is Robert De Niro. This movie manages to be so well-made and entertaining, grabbing the viewer's attention from frame one. The movie deals with the realities of growing up, managing time around a busy schedule so that your relationships don't fade away and filling all the holes in life that one feels. It's so sweet, so heart-felt and so loving that proves that, sometimes, quaint movies are better than the big, loud, dumb movies.

8. "Vacation"
This movie wasn't just attacked by critics, it was taken to a back alley and kicked in the stomach. I love the original "Vacation" and "Christmas Vacation", but this movie had a huge heat and an underlying sweetness about it that made me love it even more. The fact that it's incredibly hilarious is a plus. The film follows the now-grown Rusty(Ed Helms) as he feels that his family is drifting apart. To mend this broken feeling, he decides to take the family to Wally World to show them what it was like when he was a kid. The acting and delivery is spot-on, the camaraderie between the family is great and Chris Hemsworth and Charlie Day make the best cameo's/short appearances in a movie, this year. I know most people aren't gonna see eye-to-eye with me, but I loved it. Sue me.








7. "Amy"

Amy Winehouse was a beautiful artist. A life lived to the fullest that was taken away. Her personal demons overcoming her. If she had cleaned up and conquered the beasts, she could've done amazing things. But, that's not saying she didn't do much. She put out two albums("Frank" and "Back To Black") that are both phenomenal and had the most soulful voice that could ever be produced by a human being. In telling the tale of this unique individual, "Amy" chronicles the life and tragic end of Winehouse. It shows how she came to love music and how troubling it became for her. Sure, she might have had problems, but she was always trying to overcome it and provide new music for her fans. Whether she was performing live or for a crowd of three, she always gave it her all, even when she had to keep performing "Rehab" over and over and over again. Amy will be gone, sure, but never forgotten.








6. "Straight Outta Compton"

I'm a big fan of rap... up to about 2007-2008. The newer stuff, well, sucks and sounds like someone gargling mouthwash before stepping up to the mic. But, I love stuff from 2008 and previous. I like certain new things, but not a lot. It's obvious, however, that N.W.A. had a major influence on rap music and made some of the best out there. Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and Eazy-E were the driving forces behind the group, but we needn't forget MC Ren and DJ Yella. The almost 3-hour epic(if you watch the Director's cut) paints everyone with a side of dignity and the music within is bouncing and terrific. One side-note: the actor that portrays the late, great Tupac in the movie is a dead ringer for him, which makes one wonder why he isn't playing him in the upcoming Tupac movie, "All Eyez On Me." 









5. "The Peanuts Movie"
This is the perfect example of a movie coming right off of the screen to give it's audience a huge hug. Never once talking down to children and never feeling too short or too long, the story of the Peanuts is vibrantly brought back to life for a new generation of kids to discover. Charlie Brown is our innocent hero, like he always is, while Snoopy is the best beagle to walk the fictional earth. There's something about the Peanuts that is so adorable and sweet that it's baffling to think of anyone that doesn't like them.








4. "Stars Wars: Episode VII-The Force Awakens"

I was never a mega-fan of "Star Wars" before this. I love the original trilogy and barely tolerate the prequels. This movie, however, changed my outlook. Pitch Perfect in nearly every way, the movie respectfully tells a new story that attaches the old one, not once bringing disrespect or contempt for its audience. Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Issac are revolutionary finds to the series, while new characters, like the adorable BB-8 are magnificent. The story is brilliant. Everything about this movie works so well.






3. "The Last Five Years"
One of my absolute favorite film critics out there, right now, is Dustin Putman of dustinputman.com. To quote from his review of this film: "If Anna Kendrick could star in every movie musical from now until the end of time, the genre would be better for it. Kendrick's voice is heavenly, matching her skill as an actor with her range, emotional power and vulnerability." This describes why I thought she gave the best performance of the year, in way better words than I could have written myself. This is one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen, combining the true-to-lie feelings of love and heartache. Matching the indomitable Kendrick(my favorite actress) in every way is Jeremy Jordan. These two carry the movie all the way through, making sure the audience sees everything they go through. The music is wonderful, with both of their voices bringing literal music to the audiences ears. The most surprising thing about the movie is that it carries a PG-13 rating, yet is able to capture all the tension of the arguments couples go through. I loved this movie every second it was onscreen and it made me yearn for more movies to be made like this.

2. "Inside Out"
Pixar has knocked it out of the park, yet again. The movie about emotions evokes emotions from the audience as they go through it. This movie came at a kinda important time in my life. The main focus of the movie is how our character of Riley adjusts to moving into a new home life. I moved not, two weeks after I saw this, and I felt some of what she went through. The voice acting is lively and wonderful, the animation is bright and colorful and the writing is so tightly written, it's amazing. Not one month later, "Minions" was released, a perfect example of a movie made purely for monetary reasons coming out after a movie made for true-to-life purposes. I think we all have a control panel of emotions in our heads. We experience Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust at almost every turn. It only took so long for someone to make a movie about it.




1. "Furious 7"
Yes, that's correct, "Furious 7" was, without a doubt, the best movie I saw in 2015. It might seem a little odd, but I've been a long standing fan of the series and this one has the biggest, beating heart of them all. Emotionally fulfilling, but also retaining the intense action and camaraderie between the actors. There's something... different about this movie than all the other movies that came out this year, even different than the other installments of the series. Sure, it all began with Brian walking into the Toretto's garage and asking for crappy tuna on white with no crust, now, it's transformed into something bigger, Sure, the movie has an action-packed plot and has a stacked cast, including newcomers Kurt Russell, Jason Statham and Nathalie Emmanuel. The movie is nearly 2 and a half hours long yet flies by like a fly in the wind. By the time the tribute to Walker came on screen, my body was succumbing to the sadness overcoming me, tears streaming down my cheeks. It's odd to leave an action-blockbuster movie with tears, but there's a heart-felt reason for it. The soundtrack is one of intense energy, the humor between certain members of the cast is still felt... everything about this movie is just perfect, to me. I loved every second of "Furious 7". More sequels need to have this kind of effort put into it.