More from 2015 I'm still eager to see: The Lobster, Legend

The Lobster
This latest Colin Farrell movie looks like a real blast, one of his rare comedic turns (although it should be noted he won a Golden Globe for another, In Bruges).  His romantic roles tend to be about as rare as his comedic ones, so to see them both in the same place, it's sure to be a treasure.

Legend
A lot of the reviews I've read keep glossing over the obvious showcase attraction here, which is Tom Hardy playing both lead characters.  This isn't just another mobster movie, it's a chance to see an emerging master at work.

2016 at a glance

The Revenant (1/8)
Wide release for late 2015 release featuring Leonardo Di Caprio and Tom Hardy under the brilliant direction of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

Anomalisa (1/8)
Wide release for late 2015 release co-directed by Charlie Kaufman featuring David Thewlis.

The Finest Hours (1/29)
Featuring Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Eric Bana.

Jane Got a Gun (1/29)
From director Gavin O'Connor, starring Natalie Portman.

Hail, Caesar! (2/5)
The latest from the Coen brothers.

Deadpool (2/12)
Finally, Ryan Reynolds in a movie people want to see!

Zoolander 2 (2/12)
Ben Stiller returns to arguably his best role.

Race (2/19)
A movie about Olympic star Jesse Owens.

London Has Fallen (3/4)
Sequel to Gerard Butler's Olympus Has Fallen.

Knight of Cups (3/4)
The latest from Terrence Malick.

The Free State of Jones (3/11)
Matthew McConaughey in a Civil War drama.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (3/25)
Surprising that it's got such an early release.

Gods of Egypt (4/8)
Gerard Butler might find another hit historical epic.

Everyone Wants Some (4/15)
The latest from Richard Linklater.

The Huntsman: Winter's War (4/22)
Emily Blunt and Jessica Chastain join Chris Hemsworth's Snow White spinoff.

Nine Lives (4/29)
From Barry Sonnenfeld, featuring Kevin Spacey.

Captain America: Civil War (5/6)
This franchise-within-a-franchise's biggest bet at a breakout film.  For obvious reasons.

Snowden (5/13)
Oliver Stone goes topical again.

X-Men: Apocalypse (5/27)
The latest in the mutant saga.

Alice Through the Looking Glass (5/27)
Without Tim Burton, but still featuring Johnny Depp.

Finding Dory (6/17)
A Pixar flick I actually want to see?  And a sequel to boot???

Independence Day: Resurgence (6/24)
Twenty years later...

The BFG (7/1)
Roald Dahl adapted by Steven Spielberg.

Ghostbusters (7/15)
Should be very interesting.

Star Trek Beyond (7/22)
The third in the reboot series.

Ice Age: Collision Course (7/22)
Hopefully plenty of Scrat.  Any of him is good, really.

Knights of the Round Table: King Arthur (7/22)
Guy Ritchie brings the legend back again.

Suicide Squad (8/5)
DC takes a big risk with this one. 

A Cure for Wellness (9/23)
Gore Verbinski directs.

The Accountant (10/7)
Another one from Gavin O'Connor.

Inferno (10/14)
Ron Howard and Tom Hanks return to Robert Langdon.

Billy Flynn's Long Halftime Walk (11/11)
New from Ang Lee.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (11/18)
Return to the wizarding world of J.K. Rowling.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (12/16)
This may be the real test of Disney's Star Wars.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiars (12/23)
Tim Burton, adapting a book that will gain far more exposure than it currently enjoys.

1982 Capsule Reviews

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
rating: ****
review: A lot of Star Trek fans adhere to this one as the high-water mark in franchise film history, incapable of being surpassed and the source of a lot of later franchise-own rip-offs.  Needless to say I don't completely agree with that assessment.  Memorable, certainly, and worthy of a lot of praise.  But it continues to age, and timeless cinema...doesn't do that.

Blade Runner
rating: ****
review: This is perhaps the exact opposite of the above, a film that seemed forgettable at first, but just keeps aging better and better.  With Harrison Ford and Ridley Scott as the headlining talent, that's really no surprise.

Gandhi
rating: ****
review: When they talk about Oscar-bait, this is exactly the kind of movie they're talking about.  But it's probably a better way to discover Ben Kingsley than Lawrence of Arabia is Peter O'Toole.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
rating: ****
review: E.T. himself is timeless.  The rest of the movie?  That's more debatable.

Rocky III
rating: ****
review: This third entry in the franchise proves that the formula is incredibly durable, even as its reputation remains as much of an underdog as Rocky himself.  The clever thing these films do is keep the narrative going rather than discard it each new one.

The Road Warrior
rating: ***
review: Everyone realized how big Mad Max could be, so this one ramps everything up, but the jury's still out as to whether he's yet worth the hype.

First Blood
rating: ***
review: The incredible irony of the Rambo movies is that they start incredibly low-key.

Annie
rating: ***
review: The surprisingly durable fable of the little orphan is always watchable.

Trail of the Pink Panther
rating: ***
review: If you had no idea that Peter Sellers was in fact dead before this production began, you probably wouldn't obsess over that fact while watching this final Sellers appearance in the series.

The Secret of NIMH
rating: **
review: A beloved children's book becomes an animated film.  I don't really remember this one, and have never felt particularly compelled to watch it again.

1981 Capsule Reviews

Superman II
rating: *****
review: How to improve on Christopher Reeve's original appearance?  Dip into the mythology and create an iconic version of a villain who until then had meant little, certainly as compared to Lex Luthor.  Terrence Stamp's Zod has inspired not only further comics appearances of the character, but other movie villains as well, including Marvel's Avengers' Loki  Even better?  The reconstructed Richard Donner cut from 2006.

Reds
rating: ****
review: Warren Beatty inexplicably lost most of his significance over the years, despite appearing in this sensational look at communism in America and how ideals usually become corrupted when carried out in less than ideal ways (in spite of Beatty's efforts, mind you).

History of the World, Part I
rating: ****
review: Mel Brooks suffered the same fate as Beatty, being taken less and less seriously over the years.  This was his madcap tour of history, with one of film's first teasers tacked on at the end (a fake one, mind you).  It's a wicked sendup of the historical epics that had been popular in Hollywood.  Maybe not as clever as Monty Python's similar efforts, but better than their movies that weren't.

Time Bandits
rating: ****
review: Not as memorable as his later efforts, but this is Terry Gilliam beginning to realize his potential post-Python. 

Excalibur
rating: ***
review: Ponderous historic epic of the new order, part of the vanguard that sought to match the Star Wars effect in different ways.  More interesting these days in spotting future stars (Liam Neeson! Patrick Stewart!) before anyone really knew who they were.

Clash of the Titans
rating: ***
review: Entertaining, to be sure, and the last great mark of a master (Ray Harryhausen), but there are inexplicably those who thought it couldn't be done better in 2010.

The Great Muppet Caper
rating: ***
review: It's no surprise that years later the Muppets had to stage a comeback when their early movies were more or less wacky Muppet adventures loosely strung together.  I'm sure I saw this when I was younger, but damned if I could remember any of it.

Raiders of the Lost Ark
rating: ***
review: This is one of those movie heresies I subscribe to, that...later Indiana Jones adventures were better.  This is his classic debut, of course.  I didn't grow up with it.  I suspect that's one of the reasons it's otherwise beloved.

The Fox and the Hound
rating: **
review: Disney started making endless streams of interchangeable animated flicks before the end-of-the-millennium renaissance.  This is another movie I'm sure I saw as a kid, but damned if I can remember anything.

Stripes
rating: **
review: Bill Murray would have plenty of other chances to discover movies he could be proud to make.  This one isn't bad, but his choices got better.  Basically part of the whole wacky team genre that culminated in the Police Academy franchise.

Ten Favorites from 2015

Aloha
The latest from Cameron Crowe was a victim of a lot of things, from the fake racism critics cooked up (hey, Emma Stone's character is not 100% native Hawaiian, it's completely written into the script) to further efforts to sabotage would-be new movie stars (Bradley Cooper, especially after the unexpected huge success of last year's American Sniper), and the belief that Crowe himself is no longer relevant.  Put all that aside.  Recognize that you've also got Bill Murray.  And a perfectly excellent movie.

Furious 7
Paul Walker's understated goodbye helps elevate this whole experience, which otherwise pumps the franchise up to superhero proportions.

Home
Jim Parsons had unexpectedly found a second act (concurrent with his first one, The Big Bang Theory) as a breakout voice talent.  He easily carries this fun animated flick.

Jupiter Ascending
The Wachowskis deliver again with another mind-bending alternate view of reality.  I think the fact that so few people care anymore (see: Cameron Crowe) makes it all the more interesting for those who still do.  Hence, a cult film in the making.

The Martian
Matt Damon in what might amount to his career-best performance, one that captures his full potential.  He may have just become the new Tom Hanks.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
This series keeps finding new life.  I enjoyed Jeremy Renner much more this time than in his debut, although it's still weird how everyone seems to have so much trouble figuring him out after his breakthrough in The Hurt Locker.

Self/less
Tarsem joins the ranks of great filmmakers getting the critical snub this year as most reviews glossed over this one so much it was downright criminal.  But the joke's on them.

Sicario
As it looked in the trailer, this was a fine showcase for Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and of course Benicio del Toro.

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
Nearly everyone seems to love this.  With good reason! 

The Visit
M. Night Shyamalan did something people actually liked?  Stop the presses!  I look forward to eventually catching up on Wayward Pines, too.

Still waiting to see others, like Ex Machina, Mad Max: Fury Road, Hateful Eight, and The Revenant...

1980 Capsule Reviews

The Empire Strikes Back
rating: *****
review: This affirmed Star Wars geek finds everything to love about the iconic Episode V in the saga, from the introductions of Yoda and Lando Calrissian to the epic duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, including its revelatory climax. 

Raging Bull
rating: *****
review: Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro in their definitive collaboration, the most artful boxing movie ever, and one of the defining cinematic portraits of a scumbag.

The Blues Brothers
rating: ****
review: Arguably the best movie to come out of Saturday Night Live, filled with great music and a few hilarious episodes (the country and western incident in particular).

The Stunt Man
rating: ****
review: Peter O'Toole in a kaleidoscope of a movie, tossing the main character and the viewer into a wild and surreal ride.  Still waiting to be rediscovered.

The Formula
rating: ****
review: George C. Scott and Marlon Brando in the role that charts the course of his late career as someone more interesting in commentating on the state of humanity than his own stardom.

Caddyshack
rating: ****
review: With all due apologies to everyone else in it, Bill Murray dominates in his breakout role as the nutcase matching wits with a gopher.

The Shining
rating: ****
review: Stephen King, Stanley Kubrick, and Jack Nicholson combine for the creepiest hotel experience ever.

Mad Max
rating: ***
review: Mel Gibson is so shockingly subdued in this he's hardly recognizable, in the debut of an ever-expanding franchise that keeps getting weirder.

Airplane!
rating: ***
review: Leslie Nielsen completely revamped his career with this movie, which otherwise tends to date much poorer.

Flash Gordon
rating: **
review: Goofy sci-fi fun in exactly the tradition that Star Wars obliterated three years earlier.

Herbie Goes Bananas
rating: **
review: The Love Bug franchise reaches the final installment of its original run in about as inspired fashion as the later in the Pink Panther originals.

Altered States
rating: **
review: Recommended to me as a predecessor to the TV series Fringe, but more reminiscent of gonzo movie experimentation.

Smokey and the Bandit II
rating: *
review: A somewhat desperate attempt to contextualize the Bandit as a folk hero.

2014

Viewed/Ranked

1. Interstellar
2. Winter's Tale
3. Locke
4. Miss Julie
5. Birdman
6. Exodus: Gods and Kings
7. The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby
8. Noah
9. The Amazing Spider-Man 2
10. American Sniper
11. Muppets Most Wanted
12. Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
13. The Zero Theorem
14. Hercules
15. Guardians of the Galaxy
16. Deliver Us From Evil
17. The Theory of Everything
18. X-Men: Days of the Future Past
19. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
20. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
21. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
22. Left Behind

Other Notable Releases

• 300: Rise of An Empire
• A Most Violent Year
• A Most Wanted Man
• Annie
• Before I Go to Sleep
• Belle
• Big Eyes
• Big Hero 6
• Boyhood
• Brick Mansions
• Divergent
• Dom Hemingway
• The Drop
• Dumb and Dumber To
• Edge of Tomorrow
• Expendables 3
• The Fault in our Stars
• Foxcatcher
• Fury
• Gimme Shelter
• Godzilla
• Gone Girl
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Hector And The Search For Happiness
• Horns
• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
• The Imitation Game
• Inherent Vice
• Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
• John Wick
• Knights of Badassdom
• The LEGO Movie
• Let's Be Cops
• Life Itself
• Lucy
• Magic in the Moonlight
• Maleficent
• The Maze Runner
• A Million Ways to Die in the West
• The Monuments Men
• Neighbors
• Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
• Nightcrawler
• The Other Woman
• Ride Along
• Selma
• Sex Tape
• The Skeleton Twins
• Snowpiercer
• St. Vincent
• Tammy
• Top Five
• Transformers: Age of Extinction
• Unbroken
• Under the Skin
• Veronica Mars
• Walk of Shame
• Whiplash
• Wish I Was Here