Bridge of Spies (2015)

This is not just an espionage thriller, but a political thriller.  It does a great job of explaining the complex political theater of Eastern Europe during the Cold War as well as the complex American justice system.  We have the Coen brothers to thank for the easy-to-follow screenplay, which is saying something considering the infamous U2 incident is quite complicated.  Steven Spielberg glorifies American values with soapbox speeches by the fantastic all-American Tom Hanks. As the idealistic and principled lawyer defending a Soviet spy, James Donovan upholds the Constitution by mounting a valiant defense in the face of public scrutiny taking his case all the way up to the Supreme Court. The spy is Mark Rylance who does not get much screen time, but plays a calm man ready to face whatever fate may come to him.  The production design is also praiseworthy.  It paints a gloomy picture of the ruinous East Berlin at the height of the Cold War as the Berlin Wall is being erected.  The music was not composed by John Williams, the first Spielberg movie that has not featured his frequent collaborator since 1985's The Color Purple. 

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)

Star Wars will become the biggest movie of the year, without a doubt, maybe even the biggest movie of the decade.  This seriously has Avatar potential.  What the two movies share in common are fun and visually thrilling action movies in galaxies far, far away.  JJ Abrams made a movie that is exactly what the fans have asked for. It is a movie that lives up to the fans' expectations, and as we all know, Star Wars fans care very much.  And it shows that Abrams put care into this movie too so as not to disappoint. The movie has gotten some criticism  for copying the original too much, but I see it more as an homage to the source material. It opens on a desert planet Jakku, not unlike Tatooine.  The key to the Resistance (no longer Rebellion) movement is tucked away in a droid that is found by the protagonist.  And without revealing too much more of the movie, rest assured there are a lot more parallels to A New Hope--the most glaringly obvious of which is the new and improved Deathstar-like weapon.  I personally loved the hiding underneath the floor of the Millennium Falcon, a throwback to Han Solo and Chewbacca.

The movie brings the same type of drama that the original trilogy did that is simultaneously exhilarating and emotion.  Reliable John Williams returns and wrote a rousing score that echoes the familiar themes.  And at the end of the massive credits, the chimes play the theme one final glorious time at a slowed down pace.  2015 brought with it modern special effects that show how far Star Wars has come since 1977.   This is a Star Wars for a new generation creating a new young following.

The characters from the original trilogy are back. They're a lot older but we are all so glad to see them. The audience at the IMAX theater literally applauded Han Solo and Chewbacca. And the returning characters all have plausible story lines that make sense for their characters following the close of the original trilogy. But this is about the new characters. Daisy Ridley plays Rey and it is refreshing to have a strong female lead. John Boyega is a reformed Storm Trooper, finally putting a (likable) face to the foot soldiers of the Dark Side.  And the new face of evil is Kylo Ren with his newly designed light saber.  He makes a formidable foe for a formidable sequel to America's cinematic treasure.

    

The Danish Girl (2015)

The Danish Girl is very similar to last year's The Theory of Everything.  Eddie Redmayne underwent a complete transformation for both roles and he is likely to be a contender for the Oscars this year too (though I think his likelihood of winning is pretty low having already won last year).  Both films featured strong female characters (arguably co-leads) to complement Redmayne's--both were played by excellent newcomers to Hollywood.  And both are variants on a traditional romance.

There are stages to Gerda and Lili/Einar's relationship.  It didn't feel like the stages followed a natural progression.  Until the last third or so, it was not clear that Gerda's love for Einar would persevere.  I was expecting Gerda to love Einar unconditionally, but for a large chunk in the middle she does not seem to understand Einar or Lili.  And I don't expect her to get it right away, but I did not find a turning point where it clicked for her.  It appears to the viewer that she uses Lili for financial gain and it is not clear where her feelings and her work separate paths. Where it all changed was the conversation with Dr. Warnerkos. All of a sudden, Gerda became ultra supportive. Maybe it was that she felt guilty for triggering Einar, and finally understood that it was not Gerda's doing, but that is not clear.  And when things turn around, it is Lili that pushes Gerda away.  Lili/Elbe are presented as dual personalities--two people who inhabit the same body with one who loves Gerda and one who pushes Gerda away. Perhaps that is how transgender people were understood in the 1920s, but as far as I understand that is not quite the case.  For example, Lili claimed that she could not paint because Einar was the painter.  But if this was an activity that Einar enjoyed and had success in, then Lili could have done the same.  She should be allowed to live her life normally as a transitioned woman.

I appreciate Danny Cohen's cinematography. He also worked with Hooper on The King's Speech. He centers certain shots, and lets others sit uncomfortably off-center. But I love the artistic choice.  And Alexandre Desplat's score is very fitting. He always composes great works.  The acting is superb. Eddie Redmayne is extraordinary and makes a full transformation into character both into Einar and then into Lili.  His makeup and costumes are very well done and very convincing.  There has been some controversy over the casting of a cis man as Lili Elbe, but I would contend that Redmayne is properly cast as Einar, and then he makes the transformation successfully to play Lili.  Alicia Vikander has had a standout year following her breakout role in Ex Machina.  She is astounding, too, and she does not allow Redmayne to upstage her--after all she is titular Danish Girl, too.

The Good Dinosaur (2015)

This is a solid family film, but as far as Pixar films go, this movie pales in comparison to Inside Out earlier this year.  The reason is that the movie lacks heart.  Pixar is known for drawing out emotions from its viewers but The Good Dinosaur was a little tame. The story is kind of typical for the genre and a little simple and shallow for Pixar's standards. It seems to hearken back to other classic animated films.  It is very much like Lion King, in which the father dinosaur dies tragically early on (very typical Disney).  Then there are three pterodactyls that try to make a meal of Arlo, like the hyenas from Lion King.

The premise of the film is interesting. What if the dinosaurs never went extinct? Then they would have evolved... to learn to domesticate agriculture and livestock, like humans did.  There is some charm and some genuine laughs. The movie is visually stunning, animating different species of dinosaurs in a friendly way that looks a lot better than The Land Before Time.  Those lightning bugs and the actual lightning and thunder that storm up trouble for the protagonist.  The animation is actually quite different. The computer images are not evocative of the same visuals we're used to from Pixar, but this was the kind of animation that this movie needed.

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

The ice planet Hoth is a pure white expanse that engulfs the viewer in this other world like the deserts of Tatooine.  The ensuing battle features imaginative AT-AT Walkers, which I vaguely recall in Lego form.   This also marks the first appearance of Yoda and his topic-comment speech.  He is really funny looking not being computer generated.  He kind of reminds me of Kermit, looking very puppet-like.  It is a far cry from the computer generated image we see in the prequel trilogy.  This movie is a pivotal one for Luke as he is tempted by the Dark Side and Darth Vader. This is probably the best of the Star Wars films story wise, with the big, well-known, oft quoted revelation at the end.  

Tangerine (2015)

I'm not going to say I enjoyed the film because "enjoyed" isn't really the right word.  I sort of tolerated this movie the way a conservative person would view a film about sex-trade workers of any identity.  It is very niche.  That being said, I don't think my taste in movies is that conservative, but this was a little too graphic, as you could imagine.  It is raw and gritty in the most honest way possible.  This movie does a good job at shining a light on one of our most marginalized populations in America.  These transgender women are real; they live unforgiving lives without the luxuries and support that Caitlyn Jenner finds in the public eye.  They live in the shadows of Los Angeles, left with sex work as their only option.  It is not a coincidence that the protagonists are people of color.  The fact of the matter is that transgender people of minority races do face issues that white people like Caitlyn Jenner do not.  Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor both give fabulous, if a little stereotypical, performances.  Almost every sentence that comes out of their mouths ends with "bitch" and they sass and slap each other a lot.  The ir banter is very funny, not always laugh-out-loud kind of jokes, but sometimes a little quieter smirks.  The movie culminates in a raucous scene of all-out yelling at a donut shop.  And in the denouement, the viewer realizes that the themes of the film, friendship and betrayal, are universal and these transgender women are not "others" but share similarities with their cis peers.  It is a humanizing project.

What is most notable about this movie is that it was shot entirely on an iPhone on a very low budget. This necessitated some creative cinematography.  The movie has a vivid orange tint which the title draws its name from.  They move swiftly through the streets of Los Angeles, unburdened by heavy equipment.  They shoot candidly close up an exchange in a small bathroom stall and inside a cramped cab.  Though without the professional equipment it appears a little amateurish at times, this movie really displays the versatility of the iPhone and the power of storytelling over all levels of the medium.  

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)

Getting ready for the new Star Wars Episode VII, I am reminded what made the original a classic.  I always loved the description of Star Wars as a space opera.  It is truly a soap opera playing out in the wonders of outer space.  George Lucas created his own universe where aliens and droids mingle with humans, where there is a dying religion based on The Force, and where you could travel at light speed.  This year, Lucas received a Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime achievement and an enormous contribution to the pantheon of American culture.  Consider just the sheer number of iconic characters that have emerged from this film: Darth Vader, R2D2, C3PO, Chewbacca, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, all well known to all American households.  This film produced iconic visuals: the two moons of Tatooine, the X-Wing Fighter flying in the Death Star, the Millennium Falcon reaching light speed, the Mos Eisly Cantina.  This is a film so ingrained in American culture that it has become an American rite of passage.

My favorite part of Star Wars is John Williams's legendary score.  It is immediately identifiable, readily hummable, and utterly unforgettable from the moment you see the opening titles scrolling up the screen.  Star Wars was a pioneer in special effects, culminating in the explosion of the Death Star. The visual effects were unprecedented for their time and I expect the new Star Wars sequel trilogy to continue extend the bounds of what we know as special effects.  And this new trilogy will introduce Star Wars to the next generation--after all, isn't that why we wait so long between trilogies?

Survivor: Cambodia--Second Chance (2015)

Season 31, can you believe that?  After 15 years of Survivor, how does the show manage not to go stale?  Something incredible happened this season--the game evolved after 30 iterations.  Season 31 brought back returning players who came prepared to play at the highest level.  For 15 years this game has been about loyalty and alliances, but this season introduced the idea of voting blocs, partnerships of convenience that changed tribal to tribal.  It always kept us guessing and it kept everyone on their toes.  The tide could turn on you at any moment.  I can't wait to see if next season's castaways follow suit or play the traditional alliance strategy.

And of course this season had some very memorable moments. I think hiding immunity idols at challenges was a brilliant idea.  Who could forget Joe literally trying so hard that he passed out during the challenge.  Kelley said it best when she identified that Joe had to go because "I can't compete with that."  And then in the most historic tribal council ever, two immunity idols canceled out all of the votes, sending the players to a second vote. This vote resulted in another tie, leaving poor Keith to decide whether to change his vote and eliminate his ally, or to sacrifice himself in a one-man rock drawing tiebreaker.  Fantastic season!

Sicario (2015)

This is a vivid portrayal of America's War on Drugs.  It is dark, disturbing, and, dare I say, hopeless.  When the FBI boss asks "Do you get the sense we're winning?" you understand the toll this War has taken on the country and its people.  This movie gives the kind of thrill that only the barren desert of the American southwest can give you.  The empty scenery isn't flashy.  It is a wasteland that inspires fear.  The masterful Roger Deakins frames some incredibly stunning shots. It kind of reminded me of Prisoners, another film worked on by Deakins.  It featured a different kind of darkness but some similar shots.

There are some excellent performances as well.  I think Benicio del Toro is exquisitely creepy and sufficiently mysterious.  In most scenes, he lurks in the background calm and cool.  But when it is his time to shine, he shows his full depth.  Emily Blunt, too, is great. I appreciate that the role of the FBI agent was cast as a woman, not conforming to the gender stereotype of men with guns.  

Spotlight (2015)

I don't know if I've ever looked at journalists as heroes, but this movie paints these investigative journalists at the Boston Globe as heroic figures.  It makes you want to pursue a career in journalism to uncover all the dirt that our most important institutions are hiding.  That's not to say that the movie glamorizes journalism, because it doesn't.  It is gritty work and these are average people that do not have much going on in their lives outside of their careers.  This movie is so good because it doesn't try to sugar coat it. This is difficult, demoralizing, alienating, soul-searching work.  And as the story (very) slowly unfolds at a controlled pace, the audience comes to the same discoveries of disbelief that the characters do.  

Michael Keaton has been getting all the buzz because he's fresh off of Birdman, but I think Mark Ruffalo gives the best performance amid a phenomenal ensemble cast.  He always does.  Rachel McAdams, too, does a standout job following some disappointing work in True Detective.  And John Slattery looks markedly different outside of a suit, but the big office still suits him well.  From inside the Boston Globe, we get the perspective of the journalists. We hear the victims' stories through the ears of the interviewers, and we hardly see any of the perpetrators.  They are unseen villains. The visible antagonist is the community itself and I think that is what makes the story so devastatingly interesting, how ingrained the Catholic Church is in Boston society.  

The Wiz Live! (2015)

NBC stepped up its game, finally putting some real production into its live musical event this year.  There area few things that really made this production stand out.  The first is a set of fantastic performances from a star studded cast plus a newcomer who fully proved herself.  Stepping into Diana Ross's role of Dorothy was Shanice Williams, who belted out 'Home' with such power, nailing the big number.    David Alan Grier is just brilliant as the Cowardly Lion. His purr sounded so cat-like it was a little freaky.  Common has a very small part as an Emerald City gatekeeper, but he is hilarious. Queen Latifah plays the eponymous Wiz, and she plays it up with attitude.  Amber Riley graduated from Glee and put her singing chops to use as the Good Witch of the North.  Elijah Kelley stepped into Michael Jackson's shoes to play the Scarecrow. But I think this production was really defined by the Tin Man Ne-Yo, as much a dancer as he is a singer.  And this production shined thanks to excellent, energetic choreography by Fatima Robinson.  Unlike the previous NBC productions, there was some genuinely complex and entertaining dancing, which is what will really push it over the top when it makes the transition to the Broadway stage.

Finally, the set design and costumes had some really effort put into them.  The Wiz looked like a green Cruella de Vil.  The munchkins all had a distinctive look, as did the denizens of the Emerald City--they looked like something out of the Capital from The Hunger Games.  The Emerald City "club" had some great choreography too. The infamous maelstrom of a tornado that whisks Dorothy away was so incredibly well done that it seemed real with Dorothy flying through the air.  And I appreciated that the production came full circle, featuring the original Broadway Dorothy Stephanie Mills as Auntie Em.  Here's to hoping that NBC keeps up this high quality of live musical events.

U2: iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Live in Paris (2015)

U2 and HBO rightfully cancelled its scheduled Paris concert on the same day as the attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015.  It was rescheduled for December 9 and HBO aired it live.  At the end of the concert, U2 brought out the Eagles of Death Metal, whose performance at the Bataclan Concert Hall was cut short that night. They performed one song together, and then Bono graciously let them close out the show.  The entire event was a proper tribute to the victims of the attacks and a testament to the city's resilience and determination to continue on. And boy does U2 know how to put on a show.  They packed a large stadium full of fans.  There was a large rectangular screen that spanned the length of a football pitch that contained mesmerizing projections and closeups of the musicians.  They performed some of the songs from their latest album, the one that was given to all iTunes users for free, much to their chagrin.  The songs are not a great representation of their full potential, but by no means are the songs bad.  They still have the classic U2 sound. But luckily, they also performed a good deal of their old material.  After all, a U2 performance just wouldn't be right if the fans didn't get to sing "One."