While these are not the best films of 2015, they at least deserve to be known and seen. Each one of these films I fell in love with, and I believe that they are either unappreciated and/or misunderstood. So, in celebration for the upcoming Oscars, I give you the top ten films of 2015 you might have missed but should have seen.
10. The D Train
9. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
It's not as heartfelt as the first one, but the Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has been one of my favorite theater experiences I've had in 2015. I has gut busting laughing in the theater while watching the next phase in these great character's life. I'd say it was just as good as the first one, and one of those special films that you play once in a while just to feel happy. Happiness can be felt coming from this film, and it sort of welcomes you into their world.
8. In the Heart of the Sea
Contrary to the vast majority of critics and fans alike, I really loved In the Heart of the Sea. I still wish it wasn't pushed back to December of last year (initially it was supposed to release in March). The special effects are stunning on the big screen, and when the crew was on their wild whale chase through the ocean I was captivated at how tenacious their will for survival was. However, the one big important piece of this movie that I took away from this is the fact that this story was ultimately about Herman Melville. He was the main character of this film, and he realizes that he's not a great writer, and he's living in the same time as Hawthorne!! How could anybody compete with him? I felt his pain as he was desperate to learn this true story, and when he does hear it all you can see in his face that he can't emulate this story. This story is beyond his capabilities, but you also see in his eyes that he's going to try his best. And his passion to put out a great story turned out to be Moby Dick, of which made Hawthorne befriend Melville. To me, this film is about the tragedy of an American writer, and as a writer I got so emotional over that and inspired every time I watch this.
7. Victor Frankenstein
I still don't know why people are hating on this film. Is it because of the CG? Is it because of the unique twist they put on this age old tale? I don't know, but as a monster fan I absolutely loved this. I thought it was such a great idea to not only fix Igor, but also make him as intelligent, if not more, than Victor Frankenstein himself. Radcliffe and McAvoy put up stellar performances, dancing around each other in every scene. This is just a purely enjoyable film that ends in a very intimidating certain monster.
6. Woman in Gold
Saw Deadpool and hankering for some more Ryan Ryanolds? Well why not check out this delightful film about a lawyer who's trying to take a countries prized artwork so that the original owner, who lost it during the Nazi invasion, can reclaim a part of her childhood. This film is literally the little guy versus a country. The film switches between the main character's life during WWII and her present day predicament at trying to recover what used to be hers. Altogether, this film was a pleasant surprise in a surplus sea of action, tent poles, and superhero movies, the Woman in Gold is a wonderful film that people should check out.
5. The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
How could you not like this film? It's full of charm, and absolute fun. It's like a love letter to the old spy films, and as a person who doesn't like the spy genre I was swept away from the love put into this film. The chemistry between Superman and the Lone Ranger was fantastic, and this film actually addressed some of the many issues I have with the spy genre. Talking about a case in public with everybody around? Stupidest place to talk about something secret!! But, when the scene ended you see that everybody in the frame was actually part of the spy firm? Brilliant! It had style, I felt that it actually picked at spy cliches, but above all this is just a fantastically fun film.
4. No Escape
This film has to be by far the most surprising movie I watched last year. I had some hope for it when the trailers were being released, but my expectations quickly dwindled when a lot of negative reviews were coming out. To my surprise, I thought No Escape was entirely gripping, and tried to be realistic enough so that you were on the edge of your seat. But the parts of the film that I was blown away by was the psychological damage that the kids had to go through. I mean, as a parent your number one priority is keeping your children safe, and in a situation like this you're pushed to any means necessary, even when you trick your daughter into false safe hood and then throwing her off the roof to land on a neighboring building. That's the scene from the trailer that made me want to see this movie, and by god that's one of the many scenes that made me think a lot in the theater and ultimately enjoy the movie, because immediately after the family gets to safety you can see that Owen Wilson's daughters are now afraid of him, even though there's a war going on around them. This was so psychologically impactful for me, and without spoilers I honestly can't believe that situation the little girl and her dad were in at the end of the film was actually in the film. Talk about therapy.
3. Big Game
Utter fun. Nuff said, you got Sam Jackson as the President, a little Finnish boy who's trying to become a man protecting Sam Jackson, and a villain that can only be described as 80s fun. I loved this film so much from the first frame, to the last cheesy shot. This is how you make an action movie, and with this and Snowpiercer from 2014 I'm seriously wondering what's up with the U.S. action film market. I mean, we're dropping the ball big time if Big Game, a foreign film, was the best action movie I saw in 2015.
2. Black Sea
A small film about a submarine crew looking for Nazi gold at the bottom of the Black Sea. People can argue whether or not the acting is good, or even well scripted, but you can't deny the tension the film puts you through when they're actually underwater. I mean, they show you this beautiful expansive space where the characters have to leave their sub, go into another sub, and push a cart full of gold back to their sub. This is one of the best scenes I have seen all year, and I was on the edge of my seat feeling like I wast the one who couldn't breathe. I believe that Black Sea was tragically under many people's radar, and I plead to anyone who enjoys underwater films to go see it, because you won't regret it.
1. Pawn Sacrifice
Aw, yah! Didn't see this coming now did ya? Pawn Sacrifice is a film I saw in September, and I still think about it. Powerful performances all around, and the execution of this fascinating man has created one of my favorite theater experiences. Spider-man and Sabretooth face off against each other in a chess match, and even if you don't like chess you get swept into this gripping story. Bobby Fischer was arguably the smartest guy during the cold war, and this film really tries to get into his head as you see him as a kid, obviously smarter than everyone else, and see as he grows older that he becomes more paranoid, afraid by what he knows. This film was gripping since the opening credits, and if you haven't even heard about this film then we need to fix that right away.
Alright, that was my top 10 list of films you probably haven't seen in 2015 but should have, what did you think? What would you put on your list?
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