10 Best Films of 2015

Just Missed the Cut:
Ex Machina
Sicario 
Spotlight
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Steve Jobs

10.Kingsman: The Secret Service: In 2010, director Matthew Vaughn delivered an over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek take on the superhero genre with Kick-Ass. Five years later, he gives the same treatment to the spy genre with Kingsman: The Secret Service. Vaughn's flare for inventive and relentlessly brutal action sequences combined with a cast that embraces every ounce of insanity the film offers up makes Kingsman a slice of badass B-action movie perfection.

9.Concussion: There was no shortage of films in 2015 that tackled timely issues, but none did so more effectively than Peter Landesman's Concussion. Driven by a career-best performance from Will Smith as Dr. Bennet Omalu, the Nigerian-born pathologist who discovered CTE after handling the autopsy's of multiple retired professional football players and an intelligent script that doesn't portray the NFL and their handling of the concussion issue in anywhere close to a favorable light, Concussion is a thought-provoking film that should get people to consider the humanity of the seemingly indestructible warriors that take the field every Sunday.  

8.The Night Before: Seth Rogen and his merry band of bong-ripping cohorts struck comedic yet again with The Night Before. The blend of consistent laughs and surprising emotional depth makes The Night Before the first true holiday classic of the new millennium.

7.Trainwreck: Amy Schumer's transformation from stand-up juggernaut to movie star is finally complete. Schumer shines as both an actress and a writer in this clever, honest and frequently hilarious deconstruction of the schmaltzy romantic comedies Hollywood has offered up for generations. With its heavily flawed characters and themes of fear of commitment and becoming emotionally-attached to another person , Trainwreck is the rare romantic comedy that fully understands how people in their 20's and 30's view relationships in the present day.

6.Creed: What could've easily been a cheap attempt to cash-in on the Rocky name turned out to be the best film in the franchise since the 1976 original. Writer/director Ryan Coogler proved that his masterful debut Fruitvale Station wasn't a fluke by crafting an engrossing, poignant film that honors the legacy of Sylvester Stallone's original franchise while also forging its own unique path with a new set of well-developed and deeply likable characters that you want to see come out on top.

5.Furious 7: The late Paul Walker's swan song couldn't have possibly come in a better or more fitting film. The seventh installment of the long-running franchise that Walker helped build is further proof as to why this series has been the gold standard for action movies since its inception in 2001. The tone is appropriately light, the stunts are consistently exhilarating and the entire cast oozes charisma. In an age where blockbusters are becoming gritter by the day, we need more unabashedly silly, endlessly fun films like Furious 7.  

4.Dope: After numerous unsuccessful jaunts into the romantic comedy genre, writer/director Rick Famuyiwa (The Wood) has returned to his roots with the brilliant Dope. Famuiywa's coming-of-age story about three geeky high school seniors (Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, who all give starmaking performances) in Inglewood, California whose lives are turned upside down after they inadvertently inherit a large shipment of molly is the kind of unpredictable and colorful comedy you just don't see come out of Hollywood anymore. The nature of its premise and its oddball sense of humor will turn off certain audiences, but for those who aren't against offbeat comedies with unconventional storylines, Dope is a highly rewarding and tremendously entertaining ride.

3.The Hateful Eight: Quentin Tarantino's third consecutive foray into the western genre is yet another twisted, flawlessly-acted masterpiece from the celebrated director. While it's much more deliberately-paced and claustrophobic than his previous films, The Hateful Eight is still a vintage Tarantino flick loaded with the type of clever dialogue, over-the-top violence and eccentric, fascinating characters that only he can offer up.

2.Room: Out of all of the 2015 Best Picture nominees that I've seen, Room is far and away the best. The story is remarkably powerful and the the acting from Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay is simply outstanding. Hopefully the slew of Academy Award nominations it received last week will allow this criminally underseen film to find the mass audience it deserves.

1.Straight Outta Compton: Most Hollywood-produced biopics are more concerned with exploring the "greatest hits" of their subjects than actually providing any insight on who the people behind the impressive and/or notorious accomplishments truly are. The N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton is not one of those films. Straight Outta Compton is a raw, spellbinding glance into the psyches and hearts of the three leading members (Eazy-E, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube) of the legendary hip-hop group that took over the music world in the late 1980's. The film covers a ton of ground in its 150-minute runtime without ever feeling rushed or sacrificing meaningful character development and the acting from newcomers Jason Mitchell, Corey Hawkins and O'Shea Jackson Jr. in the leading roles is nothing short of staggering. Straight Outta Compton epitomizes a full-scale cinematic triumph and sets the bar incredibly high for all future biopics.