Best Movies of 2015 (1 Viewer)

[jbutler]

Thought I would separate this out from the general movies thread so it doesn't get lost in there (more for my reference than anyone else's).

Doesn't look like I'll catch any more movies this week, so with a hard stop on list formation at December 31, I'll be missing at least two of my personal biggest anticipated contenders for "best of" lists (I'm hoping that some of my "missed" movies return to the theater after awards season, so I'm purposefully avoiding streaming them now).

But it's been a really strong year. I can't say there's a single release that blows the rest out of the water as sometimes occurs (which is why each list title is plural as one single film isn't head and shoulders above the rest), but I could put together a list of 24 must-see films for the year and be confident that there is no filler whatsoever. That's a good year.

All lists go best to least best (or, where appropriate, worst to least worst) apart from the "missed" list which is too long to order by preference of what I most want to see. I didn't limit any category by number, just by which deserved to be there.

BEST FILMS
Queen of Earth
Crimson Peak
It Follows
Mad Max: Fury Road
Mistress America
Phoenix
Carol
Mississippi Grind
The Gift
Sicario
Spotlight
Creed

HONORABLE MENTIONS
Room
Tangerine
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Hateful Eight
Chappie
Ricki and the Flash
American Ultra
The Green Inferno
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck
The Visit
The Look of Silence
The End of the Tour
Faults

BEST SURPRISES
Unfriended
Creed
American Ultra
The Visit

MOST UNDERRATED
Chappie
Ricki and the Flash
American Ultra

WORST FILMS
Jupiter Ascending
Pan
Avengers: Age of Ultron
San Andreas

MOST DISAPPOINTING
Tomorrowland
The Martian
Ex Machina
Pitch Perfect 2
Dark Places
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
Goodnight Mommy
In the Heart of the Sea

MOST OVERRATED
The Martian
Trainwreck
Amy

BEST DIRECTOR
Todd Haynes (Carol)
Alex Ross Perry (Queen of Earth)
Guillermo Del Toro (Crimson Peak)
George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Denis Villeneuve (Sicario)
Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight)

BEST SCREENPLAY (ORIGINAL)
Crimson Peak
Mistress America
Creed
Ricki and the Flash

BEST SCREENPLAY (ADAPTED)
Carol
Phoenix
The End of the Tour

BEST ACTOR
Michael B. Jordan (Creed)
Ben Mendehlson (Mississippi Grind)
Jason Segel (The End of the Tour)
Jake Gyllenhaal (Southpaw)

BEST ACTRESSES
Cate Blanchett (Carol)
Elisabeth Moss (Queen of Earth)
Greta Gerwig (Mistress America)
Nina Hoss (Phoenix)
Brie Larson (Room)
Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Sylvester Stallone (Creed)
Jacob Tremblay (Room)
Josh Brolin (Sicario)
Benicio Del Toro (Sicario)
Walton Goggins (The Hateful Eight)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Rooney Mara (Carol)
Katherine Waterston (Queen of Earth)
Jessica Chastain (Crimson Peak)

BEST SCORE
Queen of Earth
Crimson Peak
It Follows
Mistress America
While We're Young
Sicario
Creed
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Mad Max: Fury Road
Sicario
Creed
Tangerine
The Hateful Eight
Carol

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN (inclusive of set and costume design)
Crimson Peak
Carol
It Follows
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Hateful Eight

Movies I missed, but intend to see (no particular order):
Son of Saul
Brooklyn
The Assassin
Heaven Knows What
Anomalisa
Hard To Be a God
Chi-Raq
White God
Clouds of Sils Maria
Beasts of No Nation
Macbeth
The Revenant
The Wolfpack
45 Years
The Lobster
Love & Mercy
Lost River
The D Train
Magic Mike XXL
Timbuktu
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
The Duke of Burgundy
Knock Knock

Movies I purposefully did not see:
Joy
The Big Short
By the Sea
The Walk
Inside Out

 

[slisk250]

You watched more movies in 2015 then I have my entire life.

 

[jbutler]

You watched more movies in 2015 then I have my entire life.

I used to keep a log and quit when it became too much work, but I think I'll finally get on board with Letterboxd for 2016 if for nothing else than to log my watches and star ratings.

There's not much compulsion to actually write "reviews" on there unless you care to, but at least at the end of the year I'll have a record of all of what I watched.

 

[snooptodd]

I'm lucky if I see 8-10 movies a year, but I don't see how anyone other than Stallone can win best supporting actor. The performance on its own was incredible, but with the entire character arc of Rocky, it transcendent. Honestly, I don't know if there's ever been another fictional character in film that has had such a deep and long-lasting story.

 

[Meddler2]

I've seen a majority of the films in OP.
Best film imo is The Big Short.
It also is the best horror film I've ever seen.

 

[Meddler2]

I'm lucky if I see 8-10 movies a year, but I don't see how anyone other than Stallone can win best supporting actor. The performance on its own was incredible, but with the entire character arc of Rocky, it transcendent. Honestly, I don't know if there's ever been another fictional character in film that has had such a deep and long-lasting story.

Um Rambo...duh

 

[snooptodd]

Um Rambo...duh

Believe it or not, I've never seen a Rambo movie. This came up in a conversation with friends after we had all seen The Force Awakens, and they almost forced me to go with them to see First Blood immediately.

 

[Meddler2]

Believe it or not, I've never seen a Rambo movie. This came up in a conversation with friends after we had all seen The Force Awakens, and they almost forced me to go with them to see First Blood immediately.

First Blood is a great movie. Hope you went.

 

[jbutler]

Had to edit OP - forgot both of Eli Roth's movies from this year.

 

[detroitdad]

We just finished "Room". WOW...........One of the better movies I have seen this year. Jacob Tremblay and Brie Larson were fantastic. Tremblay playing the role of the 5 year old. Just an incredible performance.

@jbutler , I haven't looked at your Best Movies thread yet. This has to be mentioned.

Afterwards we turned on Scrubs. Just needed some mindless laughs.

 

[jbutler]

We just finished "Room". WOW...........One of the better movies I have seen this year. Jacob Tremblay and Brie Larson were fantastic. Tremblay playing the role of the 5 year old. Just an incredible performance.

@jbutler , I haven't looked at your Best Movies thread yet. This has to be mentioned.

Afterwards we turned on Scrubs. Just needed some mindless laughs.

Room just missed the cut off for the "best films" list but was an honorable mention. Could probably be bumped. It was close. I felt some segments dragged a bit after I'd sat with the movie a while. But yeah, both Larson and Tremblay were great and I believe both made their respective best acting categories. I think the could have done a bit more with Bill Macy but both he and Joan Allen were very good as well.

 

[detroitdad]

Room just missed the cut off for the "best films" list but was an honorable mention. Could probably be bumped. It was close. I felt some segments dragged a bit after I'd sat with the movie a while. But yeah, both Larson and Tremblay were great and I believe both made their respective best acting categories. I think the could have done a bit more with Bill Macy but both he and Joan Allen were very good as well.

Macy was barely a cameo appearance. Anyone most likely could have handled that part. If your going to bring Macy in. Give him some meat in the movie.

 

[bergs]

I've seen a majority of the films in OP.
Best film imo is The Big Short.
It also is the best horror film I've ever seen.

I wrote the exact same thing on a Facebook post this weekend after seeing it (the horror show comment - but I don't think it was the best movie I saw in 2015).

It was sort of a Michael Moore-type work but less preachy (not having Moore or the director actually in it helps). Having read the book helped fill in some of the things they're forced to gloss over in a 135 minute movie. Nevertheless, it is terrifying to consider how close we came to economic collapse and how easily we can be thrust back there by the avarice of the US banking industry. Reason #3,443,295 why I'm glad I don't have children.

 

[jbutler]

Macy was barely a cameo appearance. Anyone most likely could have handled that part. If your going to bring Macy in. Give him some meat in the movie.

This matched a trend this year (and the past one or two) of vanity casting. A lot of big/respected actors in relatively small parts. I do think it adds a bit of weight to the performance.

In Room specifically they probably got Macy because they knew the audience would be primed to like him despite his rather reprehensible actions and words in the film. That way you have the audience a bit off kilter and uncomfortably sympathetic as they should be in the case of such a bizarre circumstance but where the filmmakers probably don't want to spend the time to earn the sympathy through dialogue and action when they can take the shortcut by casting the likable Bill Macy.

 

[detroitdad]

This matched a trend this year (and the past one or two) of vanity casting. A lot of big/respected actors in relatively small parts. I do think it adds a bit of weight to the performance.

In Room specifically they probably got Macy because they knew the audience would be primed to like him despite his rather reprehensible actions and words in the film. That way you have the audience a bit off kilter and uncomfortably sympathetic as they should be in the case of such a bizarre circumstance but where the filmmakers probably don't want to spend the time to earn the sympathy through dialogue and action when they can take the shortcut by casting the likable Bill Macy.

It didn't work. I didn't like him, lol. I have a hard time picturing Macy in anything other than "The Cooler" I like Macy as an Actor and just wanted more from his role

 

[jbutler]

It didn't work. I didn't like him, lol. I have a hard time picturing Macy in anything other than "The Cooler" I like Macy as an Actor and just wanted more from his role

They weren't looking for people to like him, but to see him doing/saying reprehensible things and still not despise him. In any case, I don't think they were targeting people who have him typecast. He's one of the most prolific and varied actors working, so most people just see him as a familiar face and therefore comforting.

If they'd spent more time with his character, given his character's many obstacles, it would have become more about Brie Larson and her son's integration into the world rather than about her and her son's trauma/separation/reunification irrespective of their place in the world.

 

[jbutler]

It was sort of a Michael Moore-type work but less preachy...

Glad to hear it wasn't as preachy as I expect it to be. Still not sure I'll be running to see it. I can't take another movie that simply regurgitates my beliefs on screen and expects to be liked because I'll be able to congratulate myself on being a good progressive liberal who recognizes others' flaws.

Some of these issue-driven movies will look absolutely horrible in 20 years. And those that don't will stand up as actual films rather than semi-fictional editorials written to placate the audience's self-satisfied morals/ethics/politics.

I actually heard a respected (not by me) film critic give her choice for best film of 2015 as Carol and say, "And of course it gets additional credit for its timeliness with a release so soon after Obergefell" referencing the Supreme Court case demanding marriage equality in all states. I mean, could there be anything more transparently reprehensible than for a film critic to give additional credit to a movie because it happened to be released when political change is coming around?

To be fair, I love some of Michael Moore's movies. But they are exactly what they purport to be: activism pieces. If someone wants to make activism cinema, I suppose that's their right, but they should be treated not as a filmmaker, but as a propagandist. If it happens to be extremely good propaganda, give it an Oscar, I suppose, but if it's simply filmmaking, don't ascribe to it some propagandist purpose just because it aligns with your politics and therefore act as if it's a "better" film than one that portrays characters you find reprehensible, but doesn't show those characters failing.

Consider the treatment of two films released this year that portray trans characters: Tangerine and the Danish Girl. Which one is jammed down our throats as some kind of moral and political triumph? The schmaltzy, on-the-nose, overtly political Danish Girl. While Tangerine, which stars actual trans actresses and which takes no overt political or moral stance, but rather just tells the story of characters who happen to be trans, is treated as a novelty. If the limousine liberals who pour into multi-plexes aren't treated like social justice snowflakes, they don't care much to see chicks with dicks. But show them some "dignified" garbage like the Danish Girl and they have the opportunity to tell their friends how much they liked it and thereby demonstrate their comfort with trans people despite the fact that they likely know zero trans people in their day-to-day lives.

Anyway, longer of a rant than I intended it to be and not directed only at the Big Short - and certainly not at Berg's comments - but it drives me up the wall that these so-called prestige pictures somehow get credit despite being Disney-fied garbage.

 

[jbutler]

Saw the Revenant over this last weekend and it was excellent. Would have broken into my top 10 - maybe my top 5 - for sure if I'd seen it before year end. Great work by all involved. I'd have put Inarritu in the Best Director category (maybe at the top), DiCaprio in the Best Actor category and Tom Hardy in the Best Supporting category as well. Not sure why Hardy's performance isn't getting as much attention as DiCaprio's. It's as good imo.

 

[detroitdad]

Hardy's performance isn't getting as much attention as DiCaprio's. It's as good imo.

I agree. That's what I've telling everyone. Actually, I think I liked Hardy's performance better. That says a lot because DiCaprio was excellent.

 

[Meddler2]

Yes it is a fantastic film full of performances to match.

 

[jbutler]

With Oscar nominations out, let's see if I overlap much at all with any of the categories. Turns out, not much.

I underlined those I'd choose among the nominees below. I can't for the life of me figure out how Crimson Peak gets literally nothing. That's absolutely criminal. Otherwise, comments on each category below the listing.

BEST PICTURE
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight

Though it's honestly close between Mad Max and the Revenant. Both worthy imo. The Martian getting nominated is a fucking joke, though, and Bridge of Spies is just pointless pandering to Spielberg.

BEST DIRECTOR
Lenny Abrahmson (The Room)
Alejandro Inarritu (The Revenant)
Adam McKay (The Big Short)
Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)
George Miller (Fury Road)

Once again, really close between Inarritu and Miller. No nomination for Todd Haynes for Carol is ridiculous.

BEST ACTOR
Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)
Matt Damon (The Martian)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

DiCaprio easily. Fassbender is good, but the material is so bad it corrupts my view of his performance. The academy is just sucking themselves off with the Cranston and Redmayne nominations. And they're keeping up the theme of way, way, way overpraising the Martian.

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett (Carol)
Brie Larson (The Room)
Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)
Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)
Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

Though it will probably go to Rampling as sort of a lifetime achievement thing, which could be right. I'm still wanting to see 45 Years. If Jennifer Lawrence gets it I'll have to be sure I have my air sickness bag ready.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale (The Big Short)
Tom Hardy (The Revenant)
Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)
Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

Close between Stallone and Hardy, but Stallone's performance is just too moving.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)
Rooney Mara (Carol)
Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)
Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)
Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

I guess the Golden Globes voters didn't notice Kate Winslet slipping in and out of her accent every other sentence? Whatever. I was tempted to go JJL because she was really quite good, but at the end it's Rooney Mara.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton

Straight Outta Compton should probably have been on my overrated list above. Not sure why everything thinks this mediocre movie is so great. And how about a (non childrens' movie) comedy script getting nominated? And no Creed?

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Big Short
Brooklyn
Carol
The Martian
Room

Probably the only thing I could see the Martian being semi-deserving of a nomination for (well, also maybe Sound Editing). Still, it goes to Carol since the original book (from what I've read - not the book itself) is kind of a nightmare to adapt structurally. EDIT: Oh and what the hell with no nomination for End of the Tour? Not a super strong film overall, but the adaptation is definitely worth recognizing.

BEST SCORE
Bridge of Spies
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Although the Hateful Eight score was sweeping in a grand way that's difficult not to recognize (and probably does belong on my list above), Sicario's score was weird in exactly the right ways.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Sicario

I mean, it's a masterpiece. Glad Creed got some love here as well here, though. It's easy to overlook the cinematography in that movie imo.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Danish Girl
Bridge of Spies
The Revenant
The Martian

Once again, easy. Bizarre there's no nomination for Carol, though, and I have to bitch once again about Crimson Peak being entirely overlooked. Ridiculous.

BEST FILMS
Queen of Earth
Crimson Peak
It Follows
Mad Max: Fury Road
Mistress America
Phoenix
Carol
Mississippi Grind
The Gift
Sicario
Spotlight
Creed

BEST DIRECTOR
Todd Haynes (Carol)
Alex Ross Perry (Queen of Earth)
Guillermo Del Toro (Crimson Peak)
George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Denis Villeneuve (Sicario)
Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight)

BEST SCREENPLAY (ORIGINAL)
Crimson Peak
Mistress America
Creed
Ricki and the Flash

BEST SCREENPLAY (ADAPTED)
Carol
Phoenix
The End of the Tour

BEST ACTOR
Michael B. Jordan (Creed)
Ben Mendehlson (Mississippi Grind)
Jason Segel (The End of the Tour)
Jake Gyllenhaal (Southpaw)

BEST ACTRESSES
Cate Blanchett (Carol)
Elisabeth Moss (Queen of Earth)
Greta Gerwig (Mistress America)
Nina Hoss (Phoenix)
Brie Larson (Room)
Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Sylvester Stallone (Creed)
Jacob Tremblay (Room)
Josh Brolin (Sicario)
Benicio Del Toro (Sicario)
Walton Goggins (The Hateful Eight)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Rooney Mara (Carol)
Katherine Waterston (Queen of Earth)
Jessica Chastain (Crimson Peak)

BEST SCORE
Queen of Earth
Crimson Peak
It Follows
Mistress America
While We're Young
Sicario
Creed
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Mad Max: Fury Road
Sicario
Creed
Tangerine
The Hateful Eight
Carol

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN (inclusive of set and costume design)
Crimson Peak
Carol
It Follows
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Hateful Eight

 

[jbutler]

So fucking sick of this #OscarSoWhite bullshit. First, the Oscars are a fucking joke and anyone taking them seriously in any way should have their fucking head examined. They are completely out of it on so many levels. Just look back at the "Best Picture" winners of the past decade. Who gives a shit about: Argo, The Artist, The King's Speech, and Crash? So, at best, they're batting .500. Anyway, it should just be taken as true that the Academy Awards are shit.

But let's pretend they're not and they matter and take a look at the movies and performances people think were overlooked:

Will Smith in Concussion. This was the worst performance I've ever seen in a preview much less the whole movie. "Tell de truth!" The truth is you're a cock and should never have made it past "He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper".

Straight Outta Compton. Just no. The movie is at best okay. Same for the performances save Ice Cube's kid who was pretty good. By no means in any universe should this movie be honored with any awards.

Beasts of No Nation. I missed this one, so I'll have to abstain. I would tend toward guessing that Idris Elba's performance was great, though, since he is always awesome. So let's give the critics one here.

Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor in Tangerine. Loved this movie and loved these performances. However, I don't know if these numbnuts have missed it, but comedy performances virtually never get any recognition whatsoever because, as above, the Oscars are fucking retarded. So, discrimination? Yeah, against comedy.

Creed. These are four nominations - Michael B. Jordan as Best Actor, Ryan Coogler for Best Original Screenplay, Ryan Coogler for Best Director, and Creed for Best Picture - that are absolutely deserving. I tend to think it's a result of Oscar voters' condescending attitude of not wanting to praise a "Rocky" movie or the 6th movie in a franchise, but if people want to think it's about race, perhaps.

Samuel L. Jackson in the Hateful Eight. It was a very good movie and SLJ turned in a good performance, but unless you haven't seen his last ten performances, he played pretty much the exact same character.

Did they overlook people? Fuck yes, but check my "best of" list and see how many people and movies - white, black, etc - they overlooked from my list.. Do I think old white people have too much power in places like the Academy? Yes. Is it their fault that more black directors and actors aren't able to get their shit made? No. So how about #HollywoodSoWhite? At least they'd have an argument there.

 

[manamongkids]

@jbutler idgaf about oscars really, the movies that the general public sees seem to be not the ones who win the biggest awards, its always the independent type movies/movies without a huge marketing budget (at least it seems to me)

one thing that I think would be funny is all these people who are openly protesting the awards should never be invited back ever again, its one thing if you cannot attend and you dont make a big scene out of it (you can be invited back) but if you stomp your feet and are outspoken about protesting, you should blacklisted (pun not intended)

 

[jbutler]

@jbutler idgaf about oscars really, the movies that the general public sees seem to be not the ones who win the biggest awards, its always the independent type movies/movies without a huge marketing budget (at least it seems to me)

one thing that I think would be funny is all these people who are openly protesting the awards should never be invited back ever again, its one thing if you cannot attend and you dont make a big scene out of it (you can be invited back) but if you stomp your feet and are outspoken about protesting, you should blacklisted (pun not intended)

I cared about Oscars for pretty much exactly one year: 1994. When fucking Forrest Gump won over Pulp Fiction I realized pretty fast that they were shit. This was pretty much my reaction that night:

Since then I've grown to expect it to be a joke. I still follow it for whatever reason, but to actually care is a joke on top of a joke

I don't think anyone should be blacklisted for protesting. That just seems like petulance in response to petulance. But it's not my ceremony, so IDGAF I guess.

 

[moose]

Mad Max WTF?

Plot summary: Let's drive in one direction for the first 3/4 of the movie. Stop. Turn around. Drive back.

 

[jbutler]

HONORABLE MENTIONS
...
Ricki and the Flash
...

Came back to this thread to reiterate the quality of this one. Maybe should have been higher on my Honorable Mentions even. Rewatched again recently and it is what so many movies try to be - that family drama with heart. Helps to have one of the funniest writers (Diablo Cody) and one of the best directors (Jonathan Demme) team up and be complemented by a song written by one of today's best songwriters (Jenny Lewis). If you need to put on something that everyone needs to like, this is a great choice.

Mad Max WTF?

Plot summary: Let's drive in one direction for the first 3/4 of the movie. Stop. Turn around. Drive back.

Newsflash: movies are more than their plot. If you think the plot was intended to be the most prominent element of Fury Road then I wonder why you bother going to the movies at all. Just read books or, better yet, IMDB plot synopses.

 

[Chippy McChiperson]

I kinda agree with Moose on this one. Fury Road was a good movie, and yes there is more to movies than just the plot, but in order to be a great a movie should have a decent plot. Doesn't mean I didn't enjoy watching it, but I wouldn't consider it to be a top movie.

 

[jbutler]

I kinda agree with Moose on this one. Fury Road was a good movie, and yes there is more to movies than just the plot, but in order to be a great a movie should have a decent plot. Doesn't mean I didn't enjoy watching it, but I wouldn't consider it to be a top movie.

You can say that about tons of movies that are primarily about mood, performance, production or visceral experience over plot. Literally taking some of my favorite movies of all time off the top of my head:

Jaws - shark kills people, men chase and kill shark.
Halloween - guy kills people and stalks his grown up sister.
Alien - same as above except it's an alien.

MMFR is a genre film. They aren't heavy on plot. The very best argument you could make is that the elements which are the focus of the film aren't sufficiently great to warrant the slight attention given to the plot. But to say that the thinness of the plot alone disqualifies it from top ten status basically means that genre films should be excluded from top ten lists which in my view is absurd. Of course, that has been the standard thinking of most film critics for years (save a couple great exceptions like Robert Ebert and Pauline Kael).

The analogous criticism in music would be to call the Velvet Underground "noise" or say that rap isn't music because it doesn't have traditional instrumentation. They're going for different things, so to judge them as one would a symphony or a Beatles album is unreasonable.

 

[kirchhausen]

I cared about Oscars for pretty much exactly one year: 1994. When fucking Forrest Gump won over Pulp Fiction I realized pretty fast that they were shit. This was pretty much my reaction that night:

Since then I've grown to expect it to be a joke. I still follow it for whatever reason, but to actually care is a joke on top of a joke

I don't think anyone should be blacklisted for protesting. That just seems like petulance in response to petulance. But it's not my ceremony, so IDGAF I guess.

There have been more than a few snubs over the years that have given WTF moments including "Shakespeare in Love" winning over "Saving Private Ryan" in 1999, "Rocky" winning over a slew of movies in 1976 ("Taxi Driver", "Network", "All the President's Men"), "Goodfellas" losing to freaking "Dances With Wolves" in 1990.

I mean somehow Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock don't have one Oscar between them. I guess there is no accounting for taste.

 

[Chippy McChiperson]

You can say that about tons of movies that are primarily about mood, performance, production or visceral experience over plot. Literally taking some of my favorite movies of all time off the top of my head:

Jaws - shark kills people, men chase and kill shark.
Halloween - guy kills people and stalks his grown up sister.
Alien - same as above except it's an alien.

MMFR is a genre film. They aren't heavy on plot. The very best argument you could make is that the elements which are the focus of the film aren't sufficiently great to warrant the slight attention given to the plot. But to say that the thinness of the plot alone disqualifies it from top ten status basically means that genre films should be excluded from top ten lists which in my view is absurd. Of course, that has been the standard thinking of most film critics for years (save a couple great exceptions like Robert Ebert and Pauline Kael).

The analogous criticism in music would be to call the Velvet Underground "noise" or say that rap isn't music because it doesn't have traditional instrumentation. They're going for different things, so to judge them as one would a symphony or a Beatles album is unreasonable.

I don't really think its analogous. I can appreciate a movie for what it is, and still not consider it a great movie. There are so many different genres of music out there, and I'm sure each one has its own subset of good and bad music. A closer analogy might be I might not consider an instrumental song great. I can appreciate it, but in order for it to be great it must also have great lyrics. I don't believe that to be the case, by the way, but its a closer analogy.

I just think an action movie can also have a decent plot, and while the action was A++, the plot was at a much lower level, and that is where the film lacked in my humble opinion. Still a good movie, and still worth watching, but not (to me anyway) a great movie. The dude playing the fiery guitar in the red pajamas was pretty cool though.