Carson’s Top 10 Movie Recommendations of 2015

Throughout the year we’ve heard about some of the biggest movies because of their marketing campaigns and because of how well or how poorly they did at the box office. In a couple weeks the Academy Award nominations will be released. Not mentioned in either or those two things are some of the better films of the year that really should be seen.

As someone who has probably seen way too many films released in 2015 (109 at the time I write this) I’ve put together a list of 10 films that you SHOULD watch even though you probably haven’t. Either because you didn’t know about them or because their trailers and marketing campaigns weren’t good at showing you what they really were. My goal here is that you’ll get through this list and decide to watch at least one of these, and then I’ll have someone to discuss these awesome films with (yay social contact!)

These are in no particular order:

Anomalisa

Saying that it’s the best claymation movie ever made doesn’t do it justice. This is a fantastic movie with great lighting, smart humour, interesting characters, and crazy Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich, Adaptation) shenanigans. This is the guy who wrote himself a fake twin brother into a movie played by Nic Cage and then got that fake twin an Oscar Nomination as co-writer on the screenplay.

Dope

This movie isn’t terribly new or original. We’ve seen stuff similar to this before. It’s on this list because it brings a TON of heart, humour, and style to a simple story about nerds who love 90s culture who happen to get caught up in an adventure. This movie will leave you laughing and wondering how you’re supposed to eat your Pound Cake now. (←Movie Reference)

The Little Prince

When I heard that Pixar was coming out with Inside Out I was excited because we were going to get another great animated movie. As much as I liked Inside Out I was little disappointed as well. Later I saw this and THIS is what I was looking for! I have no knowledge of the source material so I’m not comparing it against it, it’s just a fantastic kids movie with lots of great messages and feel good vibes throughout.

Predestination

My thought process throughout this movie was: wtf….WTF…..WTF! It’ll never be considered for any big awards but I could see it becoming a cult classic. It’s a fun sci-fi movie that you can just turn your brain off and enjoy.

Sicario

You probably heard about it but never watched it. It wasn’t talked about nearly as much as it should have been. This haunting story of the war against drug cartels in Mexico will have you on the edge of your seat the entire time. It’s currently #3 on my rankings for the year…just go watch it (FYI, Canadian director and the guy who will be making the next Blade Runner movie. Watch this and you’ll understand why he’s a perfect fit)

Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine

Nope, not the Michael Fassbender fiction movie…the Steve Jobs documentary that ALSO came out this year. The movie is good for witty dialogue and dramatized performances, this documentary is good for the actual story. Made by one of the best documentary filmmakers of the past decade, it walks a thin line of not hating him and not glorifying him either.

Tangerine

There wasn’t a lot of sass in the rest of the movies I saw in 2015, and it’s probably because Tangerine used it all up. It’s also really cool that this was entirely shot on an iPhone, but it never feels like a gimmick. It just feels like a low-budget film with a lot of heart and soul and deserves a watch.

Turbo Kid

I specifically picked this image to give you an idea of the amount of comical gore that is in this movie. It’s basically an 80s B-movie except you actually care about the people. It feels real and something you can just enjoy. I demand a sequel. This is an instant cult classic. Enjoy.

The Voices

Ryan Reynolds plays a bumbling serial killer who talks to his pets and decapitated victims. The movie never attempts to reconcile this or ground it in reality. If you’re into dark humour this is the place to go.

World of Tomorrow

This is a 17 minutes animated short film that packs in more ideas than the rest of this list combined. Also, half of the dialogue is just the director hanging out with his niece and recording the silly things she says. It’s adorable, and thought-provoking, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t make an attempt at watching this.

Youth

One word to describe this movie: beautiful. It has style coming out of it’s ying-yang and is one of the more intelligent and thought-provoking films of the year as well. I hope it will get a lot of Oscar nominations but I’m expecting it won’t and am therefore including it on this list on the chance that you the reader might be missing out on one of the best movies of the year.

List done. If you noticed that there are actually 11 movies on this list instead of 10 and that they are INDEED in a particular order (alphabetic): good for you here’s your medal