My Top Movies of 2015

There were 10-15 movies this year that really stood out as the best, so my list looks pretty similar to most critics' lists, which is pretty boring. I definitely love that this was a great year for women's movies and mainstream movies with female leads (dear God, please let that continue), but there was also a lot of shit, especially coming out of Hollywood. I love every movie in my top 10 and they will definitely be up high in my Best of the Decade list, but I'm just saying I had more fun with my list last year when it wasn't as obvious what the best movies were and the year itself was a little weaker.

I've watched more movies this year than any year (I'm currently at 94, on my way to probably 110 - a new record for me! I keep track over at Letterboxd), but I'm starting to notice I'm developing a more critical eye than I've ever had. I'm just so so so fatigued with franchise movies and I'm even starting to find the ones I like forgettable. When I close my eyes and try to remember any Mission Impossible or James Bond movie, I vaguely remember random scenes. On the other hand, when I try to recall many of the impenetrable foreign movies I watch every year and admire but rarely love, those movies remain vimid in my memory. I typically tend to think of myself as being somewhere in the middle between the fanboys and the most frustratingly snobby critics that I follow, but I think I may be tipping toward the snobs.. especially because the straight guy fanboys' voices are so loud and dominant. I just get so exhausted. Seriously, I barely made it out alive this December during non-stop Star Wars coverage.

But yeah. Here's My List! 

1. Carol
2. Mad Max: Fury Road
3. Son of Saul
4. Inside Out
5. 45 Years
6. The Duke of Burgundy
7. The Diary of a Teenage Girl
8. Spotlight
9. Tangerine
10. Room
11. Sicario
12. Phoenix
13. The Look of Silence
14. Ex Machina
15. Girlhood
16. Jafar Panahi's Taxi
17. Brooklyn
18. Eden
19. Timbuktu
20. Creed
Runners-Up: Chi-Raq; Amy; Mustang; Steve Jobs; The End of the Tour; '71; James White; Cartel Land; Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter; Tom at the Farm

Movies I Liked More Than I Thought I would (aka Biggest Surprises): Paddington, The Gift, I'll See You in My Dreams, While We're Young, Sisters

Movies I Liked Way Less Than I Thought I Would (aka Biggest Disappointments): The Hateful Eight, Trainwreck, Crimson Peak, The Hunger Games; Mockingjay - Part 2, The Good Dinosaur

Movies I Admired More than I Actually Liked: The Assassin, Heaven Knows What, Clouds of Sils Maria, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, The Tribe

Most Notable Movies I Felt MEH About: The Revenant, The Big Short, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Anomalisa, Victoria

Worst Movies I Saw: Sleeping With Other People, Black Mass, The Walk, The Danish Girl, Joy

Most Important Movies I Still Have Left to See: Arabian Nights Volumes 1-3, Heart of a Dog, The Pearl Button, The Russian Woodpecker, About Elly, Jauja