TV & Film
More than anything else, 2015 has been the year of the blockbuster. Over the past few months, we’ve had three films—all of them featured on this list—strike box-office gold, each breaking the records set by the last. A pattern is beginning to emerge among this year’s most bankable films, namely the security of sequels. The most successful movies of the year so far have all been solid installments of well-loved franchises, and with the new Star Wars on the horizon, this doesn’t figure to change soon.
But great standalone movies, both local and international, are still being released, which is sure to please cinema purists. This list, then, is an attempt to encapsulate all that’s gone on in the movies over the first six months of the year—the sequels, the remakes, the revivals, and the standalones that make up 2015’s crop of great cinema.
First, some housekeeping. Since the Philippines doesn’t really get movies at the same time as other countries, there’s a bit of ambiguity over which films are eligible for the list and which aren’t. I’ve settled on the following qualification: The film must have been widely released internationally over the first six months of the year, as well as either being released locally or made available on home video within those first six months as well. For instance, Birdman, while released here in 2015, is ineligible because it was released abroad in 2014, and Inside Out, while released internationally last month, is ineligible as well, because it premieres here on August 19. All dates are based on the Internet Movie Database.
Honorable Mention: Heneral Luna (Dir. Jerrold Tarog)
Perhaps the most painful casualty from my parameters regarding release dates, Heneral Luna was the best 2015 film I had seen this year. However, I caught it at a special advanced screening, and its wide release date is still sometime in September. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to compile a list like this without at least including it as an honorable mention, because it is truly an excellent piece of Filipino cinema. It’s not going to be a game changer for the local film industry, but it is a highlight of historical realism, and a compelling character study of a man struggling to reconcile his ideals with cruel reality. It’s intense, engrossing stuff, and definitely worth going to the theater for.
Now, the rest of the list.
- Kingsman: The Secret Service (Dir. Matthew Vaughn)
It was a coin toss between this film and Pitch Perfect 2 for the last slot, but Kingsman ultimately won out. Part of that was because Pitch Perfect 2 is a let-down compared to the original, but it was mostly because Kingsman is simply much more fun to watch. There’s a comic-book flavor to the film, and it shares a lot of the same aesthetic beats as Vaughn’s best film, Kick-Ass. If you’ve seen Kick-Ass, you know that means the film is absurdly violent and flippant about it, and while Kick-Ass beats it in meaning and intelligence, Kingsman turns the spectacle up to eleven. The film is an incessant, irrepressible rollercoaster, and we’re all just along for the ride.
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (Dir. Joss Whedon)
Avengers: Age of Ultron is a bit of a sophomore slump, especially considering the tight pacing and quick wit of the original. It breaks multiple narrative rules, and at times it feels almost as if it were more interested in moving the overarching plot along instead of establishing itself as a strong standalone feature. Its main purpose is to serve as spectacle, and with an all-star cast and over-the-top set pieces, it certainly delivers on that front. While it’s destined to be the runt of the litter, especially if the Infinity War movies live up to the hype, it’s a strong movie in its own right, and an upper-rung entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe mythos.
- Jurassic World (Dir. Colin Trevorrow)
Jurassic World is a commentary on consumerism and corporate culture disguised as a dinosaur disaster flick, and it can be appreciated both ways. Whether by design or by accident, the film is a piercing commentary on modern commercialism and humanity’s increasing willingness to tamper with nature–much like the original Jurassic Park, actually. However, it is first and foremost a movie where dinosaurs massacre each other in a theme park full of people, and it certainly delivers on that front. There are T-Rex battles, velociraptors, giant sea reptiles plucking pteranodons out of the sky—panacea for audiences hankering for some reptile violence. It’s a hoot of a movie. You will be sufficiently entertained.
- When Marnie Was There (Dir. Hiromasa Yonebayashi)
Studio Ghibli is going on hiatus, and while that’s terrible news for everyone who loves gorgeous Japanese animation, they’re at least going out with When Marnie Was There. An exquisite feature that sums up what makes Ghibli great, even if it isn’t quite at par with the studio’s best. The animation is lush and detailed, and the story is your typical Ghibli concoction of wonder and fantasy, all centered on young children. While it may not be quite as magical as Spirited Away or as relatable as Kiki’s Delivery Service, When Marnie Was There is charming in its own, inimitable way: A fitting closing chapter to this era of Ghibli filmmaking. May it not be the last.
- Furious 7 (Dir. James Wan)
Furious 7, Age of Ultron, and Jurassic World make up this year’s triumvirate of box-office kings, but while the latter two captured audiences through glorious spectacle, the seventh installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise is driven by unabashed heart. The Fast and Furious series is unique in how it manages to improve upon each entry, doubling down on the things it does well and refining the interplay between its ensemble cast to near-perfection. All of this results in a film that is superb precisely because it embraces what it is–a movie about cars blowing up other cars—while finding pathos and meaning in that identity. It is a well-oiled machine of a feature, and a fitting tribute to the late, great Paul Walker.
- While We’re Young (Dir. Noah Baumbach)
Few writer-directors capture the little quirks of growing up and growing old better than Noah Baumbach, and in While We’re Young, his follow-up to the incandescent Frances Ha, he tackles the insecurities of a slightly older generation. Centered on a middle-aged couple (Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts, both charming) struggling with the boring routine that comes with growing old, the movie deals with the divide between generations with wit and charm, understanding that both youth and age bring their own respective immaturities. It’s extremely intelligent and bitingly funny, while still keeping its characters genuine and sympathetic. It came out in theaters here, to little fanfare, back in April. Considering how great it is, that’s a crying shame.
- That Thing Called Tadhana (Dir. Antoinette Jadaone)
Guy meets girl, and they take a spontaneous out-of-town trip together, walking and talking and falling in love. That Thing Called Tadhana takes this simple plot—patterned after Before Sunrise, Ground Zero for walkie-talkie romances—and turns it into one of the most intelligent, affecting Filipino films of the decade. Antoinette Jadaone adapts her Palanca-winning screenplay into an absolute stunner here, crafting a masterful piece of indie-crossover cinema that’s sure to win over all but the frostiest of hearts. It’s a romantic comedy for people who don’t like romantic comedies, wonderfully capturing the beauty of human connection through a distinctly Filipino lens. Also, it has great cinematography. A must-watch.
- Spy (Dir. Paul Feig)
Director Paul Feig has always been at his best when he just lets the talent do their thing, as was the case in Bridesmaids and The Heat, the same is true in Spy. Melissa McCarthy writes herself a gem of a role as Susan Cooper, the dowdy desk woman behind Central Intelligence Agency super-spy Bradley Fine (Jude Law, clearly having a ball as Bond). A send-up of espionage action movies, the film also employs Jason Statham—the archetypal meathead action star—in a brilliant caricature of the roles that made him a star; it could be the best performance he’s ever done. The rest of the ensemble is excellent, but this is McCarthy’s show all the way. Spy is a gloriously hilarious romp of a film, with heart and soul to spare.
- Inherent Vice (Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
It’s a testament to the singular talent of Paul Thomas Anderson, perhaps the best American director working today, that one of his weaker films can still end up near the top of this list. Like the Thomas Pynchon novel it was adapted from, Inherent Vice is an inscrutable, at times borderline incoherent, beast of a film, twisting various strands of plot together into something resembling a film noir narrative. It unfurls in layers, and it demands multiple revisits because of these layers. Even on the first watch, however, the overwhelming vastness Inherent Vice aspires for is immediately apparent. It is a film driven by ambition, and the elusive, beating heart that makes every Anderson movie an essential watch. It cannot be missed.
- Mad Max: Fury Road (Dir. George Miller)
George Miller took us all to school with Mad Max: Fury Road. After a thirty-year sabbatical spent making family films like Babe and Happy Feet, the director came back to action-moviemaking with a vengeance, unleashing a dystopian barrage of sight and sound on his unsuspecting audience. There are electric guitars spitting out flames, cars stacked atop other cars, vehicles made up of amplifiers solely for the power of rock: Mad Max: Fury Road is a spectacle unlike any other. Beyond all the sound and fury, the film also packs a thematic punch, fleshing out its complex characters with economical dialogue and a wealth of unspoken gestures. It’s everything you want from cinema, and that is no small feat. All hail George Miller.
