The Best And Worst Films of 2015

Another year of film down! Overall I was a bit disappointed with the year 2015 when it came to the films I watched. I have a lot more reviews coming but these will be reviewed in 2016. Also don't be surprised if you see a couple of films from 2013 make the list, they were viewed by me at the start of 2014 and have therefore made their place upon this list. Let's get going:

The Best:

5. Pitch Perfect 2 - 9/10

I feel like this is one of the more surprising films to wind up upon my top five films of the year. Yet I believe Pitch Perfect 2 is a well deserved placeholder and represents the incredible increase in great female led films that helmed this year. What we were given in this film was easily the best comedy of the year, with entertaining performances and a fantastic soundtrack. A guilty pleasure of mine and a really fun piece of cinema.

http://ciaranknight.blogspot.co.nz/2015/05/pitch-perfect-2.html

4. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 - 9/10

As I said in the post above this was the film for a great number of film roles and 2015 saw the end of Katniss Everdeen and the Hunger Games franchise. This film pulled out all the stops to make it the best film of the franchise, with some incredible character psychology and incredibly harrowing death sequences it's really no surprise that this made it into my top five. I also have to give surprising credit to Josh Hutcherson for turning round my perspective on his acting range, he brought a dark side to Peeta that I wasn't expecting.

http://ciaranknight.blogspot.co.nz/2015/11/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-two.html

3. The Martian - 9.5/10

The Martian is one of the most stunning dramatic films of the year, I'm very hopeful that it'll see a bit of action at the Oscars this year. Ridley Scott has made a lot of blockbuster films of late that haven't received warm feedback but The Martian is a complete return to form for him. This is a better award worthy science fiction film than Gravity or Interstellar and boasts some impressive visual effects. Matt Damon is performing solo for a majority of the film and has accomplished one of his best roles to date.

http://ciaranknight.blogspot.co.nz/2015/10/the-martian.html

2. The Tiger: An Old Hunter's Tale - 9.5/10

This year I started reviewing films produced in South Korea and I was pleasantly surprised by how incredible a few of them were. The Tiger is the crown jewel of these Korean films with an incredibly emotional story and one of the most impressive displays of cinematography this year. The themes around hunting and hunting to excess were great and the emotional relationship between Man-duk and the tiger was masterfully done. The big thing that sets this film above the rest is how CGI is used to create a tiger that feels like a character rather than an animation.

http://ciaranknight.blogspot.co.nz/2015/12/the-tiger-old-hunters-tale.html

1. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens - 10/10

The end of this year heralded the return to one of the biggest franchises of all time; and it most certainly did not disappoint. This science fiction marvel is the first 10/10 I've ever scored upon this blog and it retains that for being a sequel that surpasses everything that came before it while paying homage to it's roots. The new cast for this film is a fantastic ensemble of very talented actors and actresses and I have to point out that it was refreshing to watch a Star Wars film helmed by a woman. If this is what I have to look forward to for the next five years then I'm due for some pretty amazing things.

http://ciaranknight.blogspot.co.nz/2015/12/star-wars-episode-vii-force-awakens.html

And now for the five worst films of 2015 (which surprisingly does not include 50 Shades Of Grey!):

The Worst:

5. Penguins Of Madagascar - 3/10

I hate saying it but Dreamworks has had a shocking year with it's slection of films. Home and Minions were both pretty basic and terrible but nothing was worse than the spin-off film that no one had asked for: Penguins Of Madagascar. The animation was nothing new and the plot was fairly cringeworthy, ultimately this was a glorified tv episode of the Penguins Of Madagascar tv show. The only thing that made this film feel remotely cinematic was the voice work performed by Benedict Cumberbatch in one of his few forgettable roles.

http://ciaranknight.blogspot.co.nz/2015/01/penguins-of-madagascar.html

4. Aloha - 2.5/10

As tired as I am with seeing Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence onscreen with one another it can't be any worse than the really forced romance between Cooper and Emma Stone in Aloha. Aloha is a film that could have been about anything, especially Hawaiian culture but was ultimately a bland thing about not very much at all. The casting of Emma Stone is still one of the most heavily criticised film choices this year and was a major let down to the film.

http://ciaranknight.blogspot.co.nz/2015/06/aloha.html

3. 5 Flights Up - 2.5/10

Do you ever get really tired of seeing the same stuff on the Living Channel and think about how much you'd rather a movie be made out of the same content? No, because no one wants to see a retired couple go house buying as a film. I expected Diane Keaton to appear in my bottom five after being in the number four slot last year but it was a bit disappointing to see Morgan Freeman in such a dismal film.

http://ciaranknight.blogspot.co.nz/2015/07/5-flights-up.html

2. Mortdecai - 2.5/10

I genuinely don't know where to begin with this one...I really didn't think there was something worse than this going to come out. I'm flabbergasted that this isn't the worst film of 2015 and I'm assuring you it all it has a well deserved spot as the runner up. What Mortdecai brought to the table is one of the latest in a very long strong of terrible Johnny Depp films; none of which were very good. This in particular had some strong racist, sexist and classist themes and humour that served to be a reminder that some screenplays should never get funding.

http://ciaranknight.blogspot.co.nz/2015/02/mortdecai.html

1. The Night Before - 2/10

Stoner comedies have never been worse...well this year at least. I'm disaapointed that Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anthony Mackie were leads in such a poorly made film. The humour isn't particularly funny nor is there very much to the story. This film is absurd and for a lot of actors and actresses their worst film to date. Do yourself a favour and avoid this horror show of a comedy.

http://ciaranknight.blogspot.co.nz/2015/12/the-night-before.html

I have watched and reviewed 128 films this year, a whopping 37 films more than last year! To see where some of your favourite or least favourite films wound up upon my list take a look at the list below:

1. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens – 10/10
2. The Tiger: An Old Hunter’s Tale – 9.5/10
3. The Martian – 9.5/10
4. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 – 9/10
5. Pitch Perfect 2 – 9/10
6. The Book Of Life – 9/10
7. Ant-Man – 9/10
8. Woman In Gold – 9/10
9. Big Hero Six – 9/10
10. Me And Earl And The Dying Girl – 9/10
11. The Program – 8.5/10
12. Wild – 8.5/10
13. Cinderella – 8.5/10
14. The Man From U.N.C.L.E – 8.5/10
15. Kingsman: The Secret Service – 8.5/10
16. Mad Max: Fury Road – 8.5/10
17. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation – 8.5/10
18. Suffragette – 8.5/10
19. We Are Your Friends – 8.5/10
20. Northern Limit Line – 8.5/10
21. Horrible Bosses 2 – 8.5/10
22. Selma – 8.5/10
23. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials – 8.5/10
24. The Imitation Game – 8/10
25. Paper Towns – 8/10
26. The Intern – 8/10
27. Boychoir – 8/10
28. Still Alice – 8/10
29. Burnt – 8/10
30. Everest – 8/10
31. Avengers: Age Of Ultron – 8/10
32. Run All Night – 8/10
33. Shaun The Sheep Movie – 8/10
34. Sicario – 7.5/10
35. Inside Out – 7.5/10
36. Chappie – 7.5/10
37. Terminator: Genisys – 7.5/10
38. Man Up – 7.5/10
39. The Theory Of Everything – 7.5/10
40. Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb – 7.5/10
41. Rock The Kasbah – 7.5/10
42. Jurassic World – 7.5/10
43. The Good Dinosaur – 7.5/10
44. Spectre – 7.5/10
45. Last Cab To Darwin – 7.5/10
46. Southpaw – 7/10
47. Birdman – 7/10
48. Focus – 7/10
49. Miss You Already – 7/10
50. Entourage – 7/10
51. Crimson Peak – 7/10
52. Pan - 7/10
53. Fast And Furious 7 – 7/10
54. The Longest Ride – 7/10
55. Straight Outta Compton – 7/10
56. A Royal Night Out – 7/10
57. American Sniper – 7/10
58. Veteran – 7/10
59. The Gallows – 7/10
60. Spy – 6.5/10
61. San Andreas – 6.5/10
62. A Little Chaos – 6.5/10
63. Tomorrowland – 6.5/10
64. Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse – 6.5/10
65. Creed – 6.5/10
66. In The Heart Of The Sea – 6.5/10
67. Daddy’s Home – 6.5/10
68. Goosebumps – 6.5/10
69. Bridge Of Spies – 6.5/10
70. Home – 6.5/10
71. Mr Holmes – 6.5/10
72. Blinky Bill: The Movie – 6.5/10
73. Secret In Their Eyes – 6/10
74. Love And Mercy – 6/10
75. Unbroken – 6/10
76. Assassination – 6/10
77. Trainwreck – 6/10
78. Jupiter Ascending – 6/10
79. Self/Less – 6/10
80. Insurgent – 6/10
81. Born To Dance – 6/10
82. Inside Men – 6/10
83. Hotel Transylvania 2 – 6/10
84. Poltergeist -6/10
85. Taken 3 – 6/10
86. The Gunman -6/10
87. A Walk In The Woods – 6/10
88. Alvin And The Chipmunks 4: The Road Chip – 6/10
89. The Walk – 5.5/10
90. Learning To Drive – 5.5/10
91. Testament Of Youth – 5.5/10
92. Project Almanac – 5.5/10
93. Hot Pursuit – 5.5/10
94. Far From The Madding Crowd – 4.5/10
95. The Dressmaker – 4.5/10
96. Legend – 4.5/10
97. The Interview – 4.5/10
98. The Age Of Adaline – 4.5/10
99. The Last Witch Hunter – 4.5/10
100. The Wedding Ringer – 4.5/10
101. Into The Woods – 4.5/10
102. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – 4.5/10
103. Paper Planes – 4.5/10
104. Minions – 4.5/10
105. Black Mass – 4/10
106. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension – 4/10
107. Seventh Son – 4/10
108. Unfinished Business – 4/10
109. The Throne – 4/10
110. Get Hard – 4/10
111. The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water – 4/10
112. The Transporter Refueled – 4/10
113. Magic Mike XXL – 3.5/10
114. Hitman: Agent 47 – 3.5/10
115. Ted 2 – 3.5/10
116. Love The Coopers – 3.5/10
117. Ricki And The Flash – 3.5/10
118. Fantastic Four – 3.5/10
119. Vacation – 3.5/10
120. Joy – 3/10
121. 50 Shades Of Grey – 3/10
122. Pixels – 3/10
123. Kidnapping Mr Heineken – 3/10
124. Penguins of Madagascar – 3/10
125. Aloha – 2.5/10
126. 5 Flights Up – 2.5/10
127. Mortdecai – 2.5/10
128. The Night Before – 2/10

Here's to 2016 and hopefully an even better year of film!