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| Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant |
Shot in natural light with several of director Alejandro Inarritu's now signature single takes, the movie has a brutal power and a bravura, physical performance from Leonardo DiCaprio, which may finally earn him a well-deserved Best Actor Oscar.
I'm curious what it's commercial prospects will be. It is grisly and had minimal dialogue, but as of right now, I'd rank it among the best films I've seen this year.
Before I get into my top 10 of the year, I will have to dispense with some pretty obvious caveats. I still have not seen a number of films that very well could or should make my top ten -- including The Big Short, Bridge of Spies and Sicario. So, this is very much a first draft or a first impression as of this moment, as the year comes to a close.
I would say all-in-all this has been a strong year for movies, better than last year, so I have a lot of honorable mentions that I want to give some love to.
This was a banner year from mainstream blockbuster fare. Sure, there was the giant disappointment of Jurassic World, but for the most part, the big budget extravaganzas delivered this year. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation proved there's still plenty of life left in Tom Cruise's spy series. Ant-Man was a welcome return to the more light-hearted tone of the original Iron Man film. And Spy was the rare big action comedy that was satisfying from start to finish.
Horror made a bit of comeback to -- Goodnight, Mommy for example. There was a terrific reboot of the biopic with Steve Jobs. And yes, while Spectre was no Skyfall, it was still a worthy Bond film that ranks among the series better entries.
A few movies just barely missed the cut of my top 10. Grandma, which had one of my favorite performances of the year from Lily Tomlin, Black Mass, which provided Johnny Depp with a great comeback role, and Inside Out, which was yet another conceptually brilliant Pixar movie.
The Hateful Eight is still a film I'm torn about. I just don't know if I'm on board with it, so for right now it's not in my top 10. Here is what is:
10) Listen to Me Marlon - An incredible documentary that will be appreciated by anyone who is a fan of Marlon Brando's but also anyone intrigued by the craft of acting. The film uses never-before-heard private recordings made by the On the Waterfront star to create a compelling portrait of a flawed but unbelievably charismatic man. It didn't get the audience it deserved, but hopefully will be discovered by younger generations, who will learn to appreciate the best actor of his time.
9) Where to Invade Next - Director Michael Moore makes a major comeback with this surprisingly optimistic take on the positive gifts the rest of the world has to offer the U.S. This film is both a stirring indictment of how America has lost its way and a call to arms to its citizenry to correct their course. Moore has made many of the points he's made here before, but this film has a lot more poignancy and laughs than some of his more recent work.
8) The Revenant - It's relentlessly bleak and grimy -- but this revenge thriller is still a gorgeous epic, which ideally should be see on the big screen. Besides being one of the most incredible-looking films of the year, it's also emotionally satisfying because of DiCaprio, who sheds all vanity to portray a literally broken man. Tom Hardy provides great support as the antagonist but the real show stopper here is the -- I presume -- CGI bear which you've likely seen in the trailers. Riveting stuff.
7) The Gift - One of the biggest surprises of the year. This film was advertised as a creepy guy in the house thriller, but it was actually much more complex. Director-star Joel Edgerton made an old fashioned psychological drama, and brought out new, darker shades in Jason Bateman's persona. A truly unpredictable and sophisticated film that will only grow in stature when people discover it on streaming. I'm glad it found an audience through word of mouth.
6) Spotlight - A classy prestige picture with a flawless cast, and a unforgettable story. The film dramatizes the efforts of a Boston Globe investigative reporting unit which uncovered the widespread child abuse cover-ups of the Catholic Church. Sober and realistic, this film is a refreshing departure from the usual over-the-top Oscar fare. Mark Ruffalo and Michael Keaton are the standouts in a movie driven by performances and a script that is literate and sensitive.5) Room - One of the most emotionally effective movies of the year, featuring my pick for Best Actress, Brie Larson, in the lead role. She performs opposite the young Jacob Tremblay, who is just as extraordinary, as a mother and son held captive.
The film, which is based on a best-selling novel of the same name, does a moving job of creating a whole world in which these two people are forced to inhabit and then fleshing out the consequences of that world as the story progresses. A very original and illuminating movie experience.
4) It Follows - This evocative, cool horror film really haunted me and I keep returning to it whenever I think about my favorite movies of the year. It's premise was so simple I was surprising no one had ever thought of it before -- and unlike so many films in the genre, this one sustained its tension throughout and never caved in to cliches. It Follows is both scary and exciting. Like many of the films on this list, it creates its own world that you get absorbed in and it has real characters and acting. What a novel idea!
3) Creed - As a lifelong Rocky fan, I was rooting for this movie to be good, but I never in a million years expected it to be a masterpiece. Michael B. Jordan gets the star role he's long deserved and knocks it out of the park. And Sylvester Stallone does the best work of his career in an Oscar-worthy performance as his best character -- Rocky Balboa. The real champ here though is Ryan Coogler, who staked his reputation of rebooting this series with an edgy story and new concepts (single take fight scenes, yes!), and yet didn't disregard what we loved about the originals. A rousing success.
2) The Force Awakens - There's little daylight between #1 and #2 for me. This is the first legitimate Star Wars film in over thirty years. It's relentlessly entertaining, funny and heartwarming. J.J. Abrams did something almost impossible here by making the most hyped movie ever be satisfying to nearly everyone. Harrison Ford turns on the charm and brings back all our fond memories of the original trilogy, while John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver get us psyched for the Star Wars to come. A nearly perfect mainstream sci-fi adventure, that deserves all the success it's getting.
1) Mad Max: Fury Road - Although this film came out several months ago and is essentially just a chase movie at the end of the day, it was an original, beautiful and wildly inventive tour de force, one of the greatest action films I have ever seen and a tribute to cinema at its finest. This is, after all, a visual medium and director George Miller leaves nothing on the field here. From the very first frame our attention is captured and what follows -- unbelievable stunts and gritty, minimalistic acting -- hasn't been topped for me, yet.
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