My Top Ten Movies Of 2015

Yesterday I did a list of My Top Ten Movies Watched At Home In 2015 so today I’m posting My Top Ten Movies That I Saw In The Cinema In 2015 (going by UK release date – I know some of these were 2014 in America). 

Like yesterday, I’ll just list them (counting down to my favorite – plus I’ve again included the next five as honorable mentions) but feel free to further discuss any with me in the comments. The one thing I’ll say is that number one and two are closer than you’d expect considering what a big fan I am of the series of one of them. I actually think that number two is, technically, the better film. But nostalgia won out… 🙂 Oh, and I’m very proud that I managed to review all of these! Here’s my list:

Honorable Mentions:

15. Ant-Man
14. Avengers: Age Of Ultron
13. Kingsman: The Secret Service
12. Terminator Genisys
11. CHAPPiE

Top Ten:

10. Krampus

9. Whiplash

8. Big Hero 6

7. Suffragette

6. The Peanuts Movie

5. Inside Out

4. It Follows

3. Ex Machina

2. Mad Max: Fury Road

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Fury Road is awesome! But it’s not Star Wars… 🙂

**If you can’t live without knowing how I’ve ranked the rest, you can see the full list of all 29 movies I went to see in 2015 HERE. Have a Happy New Year, everyone! I’ll be posting My Top Ten Books Read In 2015 tomorrow so be sure to read that while you’re hungover. Ha!** 

Oh! I have to add this: Nothing makes my day more than when some 80’s movie star briefly acknowledges my existence on Twitter. 😉 Marshall R Teague, who was in the f*%king awesome ROAD HOUSE, retweeted my Road House review a couple of days ago. Everyone! You must watch Road House if you’ve never seen it! Put it on your Bucket Lists!!!!!

My Top Ten Drummers In Movies

Ever since watching Birdman with its love it or hate it drum score (I thought it fit the film well but it got annoying) then of course Whiplash with all of its drumming, I’ve been thinking that I really need to do a list of My Top Ten Drummers In Movies. So here you go! 🙂

10. Miles Teller as Andrew in Whiplash

Well, I have to include Miles Teller since Whiplash was the inspiration for this post. I’m still not a big fan of his (he’s got a smarmy look) but Whiplash was good. Maybe I’ll change my mind about him – he’s in like a million movies coming out this year.

9. Ringo Starr in Yellow Submarine

Come on – it’s The Beatles! I had to include Ringo. I love Yellow Submarine.

8. The Wyld Stallyns “historical babe” in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure

The redhead! Not many great pictures online. I had to include Bill & Ted – I love these guys!

7. The kid (Kevin Clark as Freddy Jones) in School Of Rock

I know that not everyone likes Jack Black but I DO and School Of Rock is one of my favorite movies in recent years. It’s great!

6. Dave Grohl in The Muppets (as Animool in Muppets tribute band “The Moopets”) & in documentary Sound City

I also HAD to find a way to include Dave Grohl. Grohl rules! He was hilarious in The Muppets but I also had to mention & link to my Sound City review again – I really enjoyed that documentary. More than anything, I think I just love how much of a music fan Dave Grohl is himself.

5. The Ewok that plays drums on the Stormtrooper helmets

Does this count? Yes, it does. Because it’s MY list! 😉

4. Peter “James” Bond & Mick Shrimpton in This Is Spinal Tap (spontaneous combustion & explosion)

I couldn’t do a list of drummers without including at least some of the Spinal Tap drummers who died tragically.

3. Animal from The Muppet Movie (well, all Muppet movies)

Again – what list of drummers would be complete without Animal?!

2. Mary Stuart Masterson as Watts in Some Kind Of Wonderful

I want to be as cool as Mary Stuart Masterson was in Some Kind Of Wonderful! Unfortunately, I’m more like my number one……

1. Garth Algar in Wayne’s World

“I like to play…” *ting!*

I worship Garth Algar. He’s my soulmate. I’m basically the female equivalent of Garth. (Should I admit that??)

Whiplash (2014) Review

Whiplash (2014)

Directed by Damien Chazelle

Starring:
Miles Teller
J. K. Simmons
Paul Reiser
Melissa Benoist

Running time: 106 minutes

Plot Synopsis: (via IMDB)
A promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student’s potential.

My Opinion:

This is another one of those “Oscar Season” movies where the performances are a bit better than the movie itself. Well, the performance from J. K. Simmons is, at least. However, I did at least enjoy this movie which wasn’t so much the case with Foxcatcher or especially Birdman.

J. K. Simmons is great as the music instructor who goes too far in pushing his students to be the best. He’s SUCH an amazing prick! He’s like R Lee Ermey’s Sergeant Hartman shouting horribly inappropriate insults at the soldiers in Full Metal Jacket. He’s so horrible yet so compelling you can’t help but watch & cringe as he reduces his talented students to tears. I think he’s certainly deserving of his best supporting actor Oscar nomination & think he’s the likely winner in that category. Then we have Miles Teller… What’s with this kid and why do I hate him for no specific reason? He just has such an unlikeable face. Is that rude? I don’t care – he won’t read this. 😉 Maybe I’m still annoyed that I watched that stupid Footloose remake he was in. Or maybe it’s because I couldn’t wait to see The Spectacular Now as I’d heard it was just like Say Anything so I watched it and it was NOTHING like Say Anything plus Miles Teller’s character was a prick. Lloyd Dobler wasn’t an alcoholic prick! So, anyway… I don’t like Miles Teller. Sorry Miles Teller! You’re really pretty good in this, though. Good job, dude!

As for the movie, I did enjoy it. I’m not at all a fan of jazz (except for Vince Guaraldi “Snoopy” jazz, which kicks ass). I played the saxophone for years but I totally sucked. I also know nothing about drummers other than that they spontaneously combust. However, I’m still a big fan of music so this movie did appeal to me anyway. It’s a difficult one in that the two main characters are hard to like. Teller’s character is extremely ambitious, which you can respect, but it means he puts his drumming before everything (and everyone) else. Oh, and Paul Reiser is in this – that asshole Burke from Aliens! It’s a pretty intense movie at times & it’s interesting watching how far Simmons & Teller’s characters are willing to go for success. And, wow – do drummers’ hands really bleed that much?! Ew. I suppose they do…

Summary:

I’d definitely recommend Whiplash to musicians or to anyone with an interest in music. It’s also a good character study & I’d recommend it to those who love to watch a great performance. Teller does a very good job in this but J. K. Simmons steals the show (in my opinion). Whiplash doesn’t have a chance of winning the Best Picture Oscar but it’s a strong film with great performances & I enjoyed it.

My Rating: 7.5/10