{"id":3162,"date":"2016-02-01T12:37:58","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T20:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rayivey.com.php5-21.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com\/wordpress\/?p=3162"},"modified":"2016-02-01T12:49:22","modified_gmt":"2016-02-01T20:49:22","slug":"rays-2015-movie-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rayivey.com\/wordpress\/rays-2015-movie-awards\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>

Best Films of the Year<\/span><\/h1>\n
1. Anomalisa. Such a clever movie, so moving. It made us look at the mundane realities of life with fresh eyes.<\/div>\n
2. The Revenant. Stunning film craftsmanship.<\/div>\n
3. Bridge of Spies. Best traditional movie of the year. A great history lesson for adults.<\/div>\n
4. The Martian. Science wins!<\/div>\n
5. The Hateful Eight. Lots of really really good talk by great actors.<\/div>\n
6. Mad Max: Fury Road. More spectacular craftsmanship.<\/div>\n
7. Brooklyn. It\u2019s just sort of perfect.<\/div>\n
8. Carol. Haunting and oh so beautiful.<\/div>\n
9. Inside Out. Even Sadness can be the hero!<\/div>\n
10. Room. Beautiful and horrifying adaptation of a beautiful and horrifying novel.<\/div>\n
11. 99 Homes. Beautifully written and acted Faustian fable set during the housing market crisis.<\/div>\n
Honorable Mention: Welcome to Me, The Big Short, Chi-Raq, Spotlight, The Truth, What We Do in the Shadows, Shaun the Sheep Movie, The Gift, Meet the Patels, Love and Mercy, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, While We\u2019re Young, Far From the Madding Crowd, Predestination, Maps to the Stars, Love and Mercy, Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine, 45 Years, White God, Straight Outta Compton, Creed<\/div>\n
Won\u2019t hurt you to watch if you\u2019re interested in the movie: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Five Flights Up, Spy, Trainwreck, Ricki and the Flash, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, The Walk, Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead, The Final Girls, Labyrinth of Lies, Very Semi-Serious, Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, People Places Things, Joy, Hitchcock\/Truffaut<\/div>\n

Actress<\/h2>\n
Julianne Moore, Maps to the Stars<\/div>\n
Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road<\/div>\n
*Brie Larson, Room<\/div>\n
Kristin Wiig, Welcome to Me<\/div>\n
Cate Blanchett, Carol<\/div>\n
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn<\/div>\n
Honorable Mention: Teyona Parris in Chi-Raq, Maggie Smith in The Lady in the Van, Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, Cate Blanchett in The Truth, Charlotte Rampling in 45 Years, Jennifer Jason Leigh in Anomalisa, Bel Powley in The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Carey Mulligan in Far From the Madding Crowd, Lily Tomlin in Grandma<\/div>\n

Actor<\/h2>\n
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant<\/div>\n
Matt Damon, The Martian<\/div>\n
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs<\/div>\n
Tom Hanks, Bridge of Spies<\/div>\n
*Ian McKellan, Mr. Holmes<\/div>\n
Honorable Mention: Jason Segel in The End of the Tour, Taika Waititi in What We Do in the Shadows, Andrew Garfield in 99 Homes, Michael B. Jordan in Creed<\/div>\n

Supporting Actress<\/h2>\n
*Sarah Snook, Predestination<\/div>\n
Rooney Mara, Carol<\/div>\n
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight<\/div>\n
Honorable Mention: Elizabeth Banks in Love and Mercy<\/div>\n

Supporting Actor<\/h2>\n
Michael Shannon, 99 Homes<\/div>\n
*Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies<\/div>\n
Jacob Tremblay, Room<\/div>\n
Samuel L. Jackson, The Hateful Eight<\/div>\n
Walton Goggins, The Hateful Eight<\/div>\n
Benicio Del Toro, Sicario<\/div>\n

Director<\/h2>\n
Ridley Scott, The Martian<\/div>\n
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road<\/div>\n
Lenny Abrahamson, Room<\/div>\n
Alejandro G. I\u00f1\u00e1rritu, The Revenant<\/div>\n
Todd Haynes, Carol<\/div>\n
*Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson, Anomalisa<\/div>\n

Documentary Feature<\/h2>\n
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief<\/div>\n
The Wrecking Crew<\/div>\n
An Honest Liar<\/div>\n
The Best of Enemies<\/div>\n
Being Evel<\/div>\n
We Come as Friends<\/div>\n
*Meet the Patels<\/div>\n
Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine<\/div>\n
Honorable Mention: Very Semi-Serious, Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, <\/div>\n

Screenplay<\/h2>\n
While We\u2019re Young by Noah Baumbach. Really smart, wistful, and surprising.<\/div>\n
Inside Out by Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley. One of the smartest kid movies I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/div>\n
The Gift by Joel Edgerton. A brilliant thriller for grownups.<\/div>\n
Steve Jobs by Aaron Sorkin<\/div>\n
Room by Emma Donoghue<\/div>\n
Bridge of Spies by Matt Charman and the Coen Brothers<\/div>\n
*Anomalisa by Charlie Kaufman<\/div>\n
99 Homes by Ramin Bahrani, Amir Naderi and Bahareh Azimi<\/div>\n

Cinematography<\/h2>\n
Charlotte Bruus Christensen, Far From the Madding Crowd<\/div>\n
John Seale, Mad Max: Fury Road<\/div>\n
Roger Deakins, Sicario<\/div>\n
Janusz Kaminski, Bridge of Spies<\/div>\n
*Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant<\/div>\n
Edward Lachman, Carol<\/div>\n
Joe Passarelli, Anomalisa<\/div>\n

Editing<\/h2>\n
*Margaret Sixel, Mad Max: Fury Road<\/div>\n

Production Design<\/h2>\n
The Martian<\/div>\n
*Mad Max: Fury Road<\/div>\n
Carol<\/div>\n
The Hateful Eight<\/div>\n
Anomalisa<\/div>\n

Foreign Language Feature<\/h2>\n
Theeb<\/div>\n
*Mustang<\/div>\n
White God<\/div>\n
Son of Saul<\/div>\n

Best Adaptation of a Property I Love and Assumed Hollywood Didn\u2019t Know About<\/h3>\n
Predestination: A stunning film version of Robert A. Heinlein\u2019s classic time travel short story \u201cAll You Zombies.\u201d<\/div>\n

Creative Match Made in Heaven<\/h3>\n
Creepmeister director David Cronenberg and Hollywood Babylon scribe Bruce Webber teamed up for the acidic and irresistible Maps to the Stars.<\/div>\n

A Year of Bio-Documentaries! So Many to Enjoy!<\/h3>\n
The Wrecking Crew. The story of the amazing studio musicians behind, as Joni Mitchell\u2019s David Geffen would put it, \u201cthe popular song.\u201d<\/div>\n
An Honest Liar. The indispensable debunker James Randi.<\/div>\n
The Best of Enemies. Gore Vidal vs. William F. Buckley, Jr.<\/div>\n
Being Evel. Easy to forget how influential Evel Knievel was.<\/div>\n

Best Movie Ever About a Pack of Dogs Taking Over The City of Budapest<\/h3>\n
White God<\/div>\n

Underrated<\/h3>\n
Unfriended. Clever little horror film that takes place entirely on one computer screen.<\/div>\n
Truth. Why did people hate this movie so much? I really liked it and I thought Cate Blanchett was sensational.<\/div>\n

Busy Actors: I saw the following actors in THREE films this year<\/h3>\n
John Cusack: Love and Mercy, Chi-Raq, Maps to the Stars<\/div>\n
David Thewlis: Macbeth, Legend, and Anomalisa (okay, you don\u2019t actually SEE him in that one, but still)<\/div>\n

Busier Actors: FOUR Movies in 2015!<\/h3>\n
Tom Hardy: Mad Max Fury Road, Legend, The Revenant, Child 44<\/div>\n
Kristen Wiig: The Martian, Nasty Baby, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Welcome to Me<\/div>\n
Domhnall Gleeson: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ex Machina, The Revenant, Brooklyn<\/div>\n

WOW: Five Releases in 2015!<\/h3>\n
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl, Ex Machina, Burnt, Testament of Youth, The Man From U.N.C.L.E.<\/div>\n

A Word about Star Wars: The Force Awakens<\/h3>\n
It\u2019s fun. It didn\u2019t change my life. It\u2019s a fun remake of the first movie. It was nice to sit through a Star Wars movie without wanting to jab knitting needles deep into both of my eyes. That said, it IS merely a redo. And it didn\u2019t treat Leia very well. Or her relationship with Han. And Kylo Ren is a huge bore. And that Super Weapon was the stupidest weapon ever, and that\u2019s saying something.<\/div>\n

Great Set Pieces<\/h3>\n
Sneaking around the opera in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation<\/div>\n
The first Indian attack and the bear attack in The Revenant<\/div>\n
That part in Mad Max: Fury Road right between the beginning and the end<\/div>\n
Though the movie disappointed me, the dinner table confrontation at the end of Sicario was genuinely surprising and shocking.<\/div>\n
Stop-action cunnilingus in Anomalisa.<\/div>\n
The escape attempt in Room.<\/div>\n
The final Canine\/Human confrontation in White God.<\/div>\n
The first eviction in 99 Homes.<\/div>\n
What happens when you have an insane sheep dog in Far From the Madding Crowd.<\/div>\n
Julianne Moore has a close encounter with an acting award in Maps to the Stars.<\/div>\n
Judy and Matthew Shepard intervene in the sentencing process of one of the men who murdered their son Matthew in Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine.<\/div>\n

Proof That Ed Harris MUST GET A NEW AGENT<\/h3>\n
Run All Night. We love Ed Harris. Why does he appear in stuff like this?<\/div>\n

Best Lines<\/h3>\n
\u201cWerewolves, not Swearwolves.\u201d Lycanthropic self-control in What We Do in the Shadows.<\/div>\n
\u201cPetyr\u2019s 600 years old. He\u2019s not coming to the breakfast meeting.\u201d Apartment politics in What We Do in the Shadows.<\/div>\n
\u201cHe wants more than he has. I want precisely what he already has.\u201d The grass is always greener in The End of the Tour.<\/div>\n
\u201cNow, Daisy, I want us to work out a signal system of communication. When I elbow you real hard in the face, that means: shut up.\u201d Kurt Russell gets physical in The Hateful Eight.<\/div>\n
\u201cMars will come to fear my botany powers.\u201d Matt Damon gets his agriculture on in The Martian.<\/div>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s castrate.\u201d Kristin Wiig takes her role as a source of enlightenment seriously in Welcome to Me.<\/div>\n

Year\u2019s Best Catch Phrase<\/h3>\n
\u201cWould it help?\u201d in Bridge of Spies.<\/div>\n

The Year\u2019s Single Greatest Cinematic Moment<\/h3>\n
Jennifer Lopez is given \u201ca first edition\u201d of THE ILIAD in the spectacular The Boy Next Door. This is also the film that features Kristin Chenoweth\u2019s final transformation into E.T.<\/div>\n

Biggest Turnarounds<\/h3>\n
Lenny Abrahamson directed one of the most obnoxious movies of 2014 (Frank) and then lo and behold made one of this year\u2019s best: Room.<\/div>\n
After years in Ray\u2019s Doghouse, scrappy Jennifer Jason Leigh has finally re-arrived, valiantly doing heavy lifting in TWO of the year\u2019s best films.<\/div>\n

2015 MVP Goes To\u2026<\/h3>\n
The versatile and daring Kristen Wiig, who appeared in no fewer than four<\/span> 2015 releases. She gave tremendous performances in Welcome to Me and Diary of A Teenage Girl, appeared in the edgy indie Nasty Baby, and was a pillar of sense in the big budget hit The Martian. This on top of a ton of television work. Do you ever sleep, Miss Wiig?<\/div>\n

E For Effort<\/h3>\n
Chi-Raq isn\u2019t completely successful, but I give props to Spike Lee for attempting something challenging, literary, and timely. We need more film adaptations of the comic Greek plays.<\/div>\n

Best Movie Villains<\/h3>\n
Mitchell Winehouse, Amy<\/div>\n
Agatha (Mia Wasikowska), Maps to the Stars<\/div>\n

Please Let\u2019s See More Of\u2026<\/h3>\n
Teyona Parris. She commanded the screen in the brash Chi-Raq.<\/div>\n
Hamish Linklater. I keep noticing him shoring up the supporting casts of films like 42 and The Big Short. Give him more lines, already.<\/div>\n
Donald Glover. Stopped the show with his demo of a rescue plan in The Martian.<\/div>\n
John Magaro. Charmed in both Carol and The Big Short. Keep hiring this dude.<\/div>\n
Finn Wittrock. Has the looks and the muscles of Taylor Kitsch but, unlike Kitsch, has charisma and talent.<\/div>\n
Sarah Snook. Her gender-bending turn in Predestination knocked out both of us who saw it.<\/div>\n
Emory Cohen. Utter charm and authenticity in Brooklyn.<\/div>\n

The Year\u2019s Worst<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Most Inconsistent Polish Accent<\/h3>\n
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs<\/div>\n

Most Inaccurate Title<\/h3>\n
Mad Max: Fury Road. It wasn\u2019t about Mad Max. Mad Max is barely in it. The movie should have been called Imperator Furiosa: Fury Road.<\/div>\n

Disappointing Documentary<\/h3>\n
Wolf Pack: Great setup, ultimately lame storytelling.<\/div>\n

Most Disappointing Production of Macbeth Since That Tedious One I Walked Out of at A Noise Within in Glendale<\/h3>\n
Macbeth: GOD this movie was boring and terrible. You know, if you don\u2019t want to film the \u201cDouble double, toil and trouble\u201d scene\u2026 then you really don\u2019t want to do Macbeth<\/span>, do you?<\/div>\n

Annoyingly Overrated<\/h3>\n
It Follows. It was just plain bad.<\/div>\n
Ex Machina. It was good, but it wasn\u2019t the second coming of Jesus, which you\u2019d have thought it was from the reaction it got.<\/div>\n
Sicario. The movie\u2019s main character (Emily Blunt) had no agency. The main character clearly should have been Benicio Del Toro.<\/div>\n

Jodie Foster Award For Worst Performance by an Actress in a Lead Role<\/h3>\n
Maika Monroe, It Follows<\/div>\n

Worst Motion Pictures of 2015 by a Mile<\/h3>\n
Tomorrowland. Such promise, such a great director, such a crushing disappointment. The most incoherent major release since Prometheus.<\/div>\n

In Memoriam<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Leonard Nimoy, actor<\/div>\n
B.B. King, musician, demigod<\/div>\n
Maureen O\u2019Hara, actress<\/div>\n
Jackie Collins, author<\/div>\n
Fred Thompson, actor<\/div>\n
Omar Sharif, actor<\/div>\n
Marty Ingalls, actor<\/div>\n
Cory Wells, founding member of Three Dog Night<\/div>\n
Joan Leslie, actress (High Sierra)<\/div>\n
Jack Larson, played Jimmy Olsen in \u201cThe Adventures of Superman\u201d<\/div>\n
Wes Craven, director<\/div>\n
Alex Rocco, actor<\/div>\n
Gary Owens, radio announcer<\/div>\n
James Horner, composer<\/div>\n
Haskell Wexler, two-time Oscar winning cinematographer<\/div>\n
John Guillermin, director (The Towering Inferno)<\/div>\n
Bud Yorkin, producer<\/div>\n
Jerry Weintraub, producer<\/div>\n
Melissa Mathison (wrote E.T.)<\/div>\n
E.L. Doctorow, author<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Please feel free to comment!<\/h3>\n
<\/div>\n
And yes, the asterisks indicate the winners.<\/div>\n
You can read my weekly column on the movies at www.theeagle.com<\/a> and read my other musings at www.starkravingray.com<\/a>.<\/div>\n

Average Rating: 4.6<\/span> out of 5<\/span> based on 245<\/span> user reviews.<\/span><\/div><\/p>

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