Movies of the Year

So everyone needs a movies of the year post.    So here's mine in no particular order, other than just as they came into my head (so best/most memorable first?). Includes not just the films but movie going experiences, where being in the theater really enhance the movie (or perhaps ruined it).

And yes I'm doing this before seeing the big marketing event of the year, Star Wars The Force Awakens. That one may poison the well and end up on nearly everyone's top list.   Will most likely do another one on that later.   May also look at the Hateful Eight in the New Year once the crazy holidays are done as well.

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Mr X.   Randomly went to this and we had no idea what we were getting into.  This is a Bollywood movie about a cop who somehow gets the ability to become invisible (but only in the dark and in shadows), his clothes fuse to his body (but somehow he can still make love and they never stay dirty for long) and his ex (a cop who is trying to capture him because he turn vigilante) at one point surrounds a house with mirrors to reflect the sun through clearly open windows to counter his invisibility.  Plus its surprisingly sexy and sweet despite being aware of just how silly it is.  Oh, and best made for movie title track in decades.... Puff puff puff.   Sorry out of breath and still missed tons of stuff.   We laughed sooo hard after we got out, I thought we might break something.  Perhaps we were just in the right mood at the right time, but have very found memories of seeing this.  Video link to Mr X song (hope it stays there); be aware sexy enough to be NSFW?  No nudity, but wow!

Mad Max: Fury Road  So why  didn't this enter my mind first?  Because it was so big and being first is pretty much expected.   However, this was honestly the movie which all others where measured against for the year.  Who would have thought that the apocalypse could be so pretty,  a few sparse pages of spoken dialog (if that), and not going with the direct remake route would work so well.  Oh and don't forget center frame steady cam throughout the movie.  Please, please all directors quit using shaky closeup cam and copy this movie.  Add in some subtle feminism, shout outs to previous movies, Charlize Theron being beyond awesome, flaming guitars on cars...well you get this.   The Theater was packed and had an electric vibe to it. All the OSCARS NOW. 

Back to the Future (anniversary viewing)  Do you really need a link for this?   Due to some scheduling conflicts we didn't get a chance to see all three in theaters, but we did catch the original trope maker.  I was just slightly, slightly to young to see it in theaters when it first came out all those years ago...though I might go back in time and tell my parents to take me causing a temporal flux...  Anyhow this was great to see on the big screen.   The theater was filled to the brim with generations of fans, a few with the Marty vest on.  The random person sitting beside me may have been celebrating their birthday on that day, I think, as I overheard them say "been waiting our entire lives for this."  If not B-day, its still a perfect quote.  We laughed a lot and quit a few people mimicked lines as they came up, as if we were singing along at concert or something.   

Turbo Kid  We had to go to a small art house movie theater (one of the last in the city), look for

Apple on her Unicorn BMX

parking in one worse places in the city, if we had missed it would have disappeared, and we stayed for a somewhat terrible unrelated animated short afterwards.  But it was more than worth it.   Turbo Kid is a must see for all 80's fans out there, especially if you like over the top gore and silliness.  Unlike Mad Max where we pretend everyone drives super cars in the post-oil world, in Turbo Kid they drive BMXs!   One of the many twists and homages in the movie.  Laurence Leboeuf as Apple straddles on the edge of falling into annoyance but stays cute and likable.  It also has Michael Ironside (yes that one), playing our main villain and chews scenery with the best of them.   Oh oh..and 80's synth rock and tunes from what seems to be from 8 track converted in midi files....YES!

Ex Machina  In in era where my DVD collection is getting so big that I'm waiting for Netflix releases to rewatch my favorites, Ex Machina found its way into my collection day of release.   It has a few flaws, including some wooden acting from D. Gleeson on occasion.  But  I can love things for their flaws.    I know that the IMDB list the actors in order of appearance, but Alicia Vikander needs first billing and is captivating..    Only issue for movie going experience is that there was only five of us in the theater (boo, it was pretty enough for the big screen) and one guy fell asleep and started to snore....sigh.    So better at home for sure.  

The Martian  We immediately called it MacGyver in space as soon as we walked out.  And that was just fine with us.  Infinitely better than Interstellar which kind of went off the rails trying way to hard to be the next 2001.  A yes the Martian had some sci-fi short cuts, but it didn't break my suspension of disbelief as much as Interstellar's lets solve anti-gravity with math through morse code through dropping books through reality strings driven by love.....I'll take growing a potentially irradiated potato growing in poo on mars tyvm.   Theater experience was terrible because of some awful pre-teens behind us...totally know what its like now. Sorry to all people when we're too noisy in the past and future.   Sadly never got a chance to review it on the big screen again.  

Ant-Man  This is guilty pleasure movie for sure, and I loved it so much more than Age of Ultron.   Perhaps because I thought Ant-Man was going to suck and was surprised by it.   What I got was fun almost early 80's, late 70's tongue in cheek heist movie.  It didn't challenge any tropes or do anything new for an origin story, but it was light hearted and fun ride.  Totally love it and quite a nice lift after the darker trend many superhero movies have been taking.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.   Okay I blame Ant-Man for this...or its that vice versa?   After one heist movie, wanting to see another one really found its way into my blood.  And UNCLE certainly filled that gap.   A little goofy, high energy, a period piece (as we imagine the early Red Scare era), and once again a movie with Vikander.  Yeah totally sold.   Oh did I say compact car chase...