Same as last year, since we're only (a little more than) halfway through the year, I'm cutting my year-end lists in half. Instead of 8 Top 8 Lists, I've compiled 4 Top 4 Lists, including Best Quotes, Funniest Moments, Best Fights, and Best Characters. Before I get to those, I'll start with my list of the Top 5 Movies of the Year (So Far). So let's get to it, shall we?
Top 5 Movies of the Year (So Far)
5) (Tie) Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and Mad Max: Fury Road
... Or the movies Furious 7 wishes it were.
Rogue Nation is an across-the-globe spy thriller full of exciting action set pieces(more on that later), with a strong script that adds just the right amount of humor to the proceedings, and great performances from its four leads: Jeremy Renner, funnyman Simon Pegg, newcomer Rebecca Ferguson, and of course, Tom Cruise(that's him hanging on the plane).
Fury Road is the ultimate chase movie. I think the word "wow" popped out of my mouth at least 20 times while watching it. And folks, that's why we go to the movies, to be "wowed". The cinematography, production design, editing, sound, hair & makeup, and visual effects(most of them non-CGI) are all amazing in this one. And if this film doesn't get any special recognition from the Academy for its stuntpeople, then no film ever will. Stuntpeople, the Designated Hitters of filmmaking.
One more thing: you'll notice I only used the 2nd part of each film's title in the description. That's because you don't need to see any previous Mission Impossible or Mad Max movies to enjoy these installments of their respective franchise. These two films stand very well on their own.
*Mad Max: Fury Road is available on Blu-Ray/DVD tomorrow
4) Welcome to Me
Kristen Wiig's best performance to date. After leaving SNL, I've thought she's been a one note actress, always playing depressed or slightly off kilter women. I didn't enjoy Bridesmaids as much as so many others. But here, that one note works perfectly. Wiig plays Alice Klieg, a woman with borderline personality disorder who wins 86 million dollars in the lottery and decides to produce a daily show focused on her life titled ... "Welcome to Me". The movie becomes a critique of our media-obsessed culture, aside from being a fascinating examination of what mental illness can look like. A strong supporting cast featuring James Marsden, Wes Bentley, Linda Cardelini, Alan Tudyk, Joan Cusack, Tim Robbins, and Jennifer Jason Leigh give this film added weight, but make no mistake, this is Wiig's show(see what I did there?) and she definitely delivers. I'm hopeful to see what she's got coming up next.
One more thing: You can watch Welcome to Me right now on Netflix!
3) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
A solid entry to the coming-of-age genre. I was scared I might not like this movie because of its quirky title and because it was getting Lebron on ESPN-type hype(SERIOUSLY, BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE FOR LOSING IN THE FINALS?!?), but once I saw it I fell under its spell just like everyone else. To borrow from one of my All-Time Favorites ... They had me with all the classic movie remakes. But more importantly, I was hooked with the 3 main characters(great performances by all 3 actors). In its quirkyness, this movie reminded me a bit of (500) Days of Summer, and just like that one states from the beginning, this is not a love story. It's a story about friendship, about growing up and discovering who you are, and yes, it is a bit about a girl with cancer. But trust me, that is not what you will end up remembering about this one. It's full of funny moments(more on that later) and some emotional moments that anybody who's gone through adolescence can relate to.
2) Inside Out
Pixar is back! After 2010's Masterpiece, Toy Story 3, the studio had been in a bit of a slump. Inside Out changes all that. Directed by a member of Pixar's original braintrust, Pete Docter(Monster's Inc., Up), Inside Out brings back everything that makes Pixar special: the heart, the humor, the story that works for adults as well as kids, the always excellent computer animation, and a terrific voice cast, led by Amy Poehler and Phyllis Smith as "Joy" and "Sadness" respectively(more on them later). This one is destined to become an Animation/Family classic, and it will also stand the test of time as a tool to understand the psychology of a pre-teen's mind.
1) Ex Machina
I loved this movie! So smart, so chilling, so claustrophobic. This movie is three people ... well ... two people and one A.I. robot, stuck in a remote mountain estate trying to figure out what each one is up to. We have billionaire recluse "Nathan", brilliantly played by up-and-coming star Oscar Isaac, young programmer "Caleb", played by another up-and-comer, Domhnall Gleeson(Isaac vs Gleeson coming soon to a theater near you in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens), and "Ava", our mysterious A.I. played by 2015's breakout star, Alicia Vikander. I won't go into any more details of the plot, but if you research the origins of the film's title you'll find all the foreshadowing you'll need. This is a modern Sci-Fi classic!
4 Top 4 Lists
I Best Quotes (So Far)
4) "He's not evil, he's just ... young."
- Josh(Ben Stiller) to his wife Cornelia(Naomi Watts) talking about Adam Driver's character, Jamie, in Noah Baumbach's While We're Young
3) "Did you see the film 'Trading Places'?"
"No"
"How about 'Nikita'? ... 'Pretty Woman'? ... Now, my point is that the lack of a silver spoon has set you on a certain path that you needn't stay on. If you're prepared to adapt and learn, you can transform."
"Yeah, like in 'My Fair Lady'."
"You're full of surprises."
- Kingsman agent Harry Hart(Colin Firth) talking to his protegé "Eggsy"(newcomer Taron Egerton) about becoming a spy in Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman: The Secret Service
2) "Are you okay to drive? A minute ago you were dead!"
- Simon Pegg's Benji, perfectly defining the Mission Impossible franchise when he asks this question to Ethan Hunt(Cruise) in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
1) "This morning I woke up and there was a pubic hair on my pillow shaped like a question mark. And it really got me thinking of unanswered questions, like all the times in my life when I was supposed to feel something but I felt nothing and all the other times in my life where i wasn't supposed to feel anything but I felt too much and the people around me weren't really ready for all of my feelings."
- Alice Klieg(Wiig), opening her 1st live show with this stream of consciousness in Welcome to Me
II Funniest Moments (So Far)
4) We Belong Together, featuring Rebel Wilson as "Fat Amy" in Pitch Perfect 2
3) Killer Sneeze, featuring Jude Law and Melissa McCarthy in Spy.
2) Drugs in the Soup, featuring Thomas Mann as "Greg", RJ Cyler as "Earl", and Olivia Cooke as "Rachel" in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
1) John Cena at the Movies, featuring Cena as "Steven", Amy Schumer as "Amy", and Keith Robinson as "Guy in back of theater" in Trainwreck
III Best Fights (So Far)
4) Ethan Hunt vs Syndicate Bad Guy at the Opera in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
3) Diesel vs Statham street fight in Furious 7
2) T-Rex vs Indominus Rex in Jurassic World
1) *The Whole Thing* - Mad Max: Fury Road
IV Best Characters (So Far)
4) "Ava", played by Alicia Vikander in Ex Machina
- You never know what she's up to or what side she's on.
3) "Joy", voiced by Amy Poehler in Inside Out
- Is forced to change her perspective on "Riley" as new emotions start to take control of her life. That moment when she literally holds on to Riley's fading memories broke me.
2) "Nathan", played by Oscar Isaac in Ex Machina
- The mysterious, and pretty eccentric, billionaire who recruits a young programmer to test his A.I. robots. One of the few things we do find out about him is that he can dance.
1) "Sadness", voiced by Phyllis Smith in Inside Out
- Only Pixar could've pulled this off. What a great message to send to kids, to embrace every one of your emotions and learn to express what you're feeling. I also loved how she had to be dragged across the floor because she was too sad to walk. Who hasn't had one of those days?
