My Top 10 Movies Of 2015 So Far

MY TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2015 SO FAR

It may be hard to believe but the first 6 months of 2015 have already passed us by and as is now traditional at this of year, I am going to take this opportunity to count down the movies that have both impressed and dismayed me over the past 30 weeks or so.

In truth 2015 has, so far, proved to be a good but not particularly great year for cinema. Of course, there have been some wonderful moments of movie magic and I will be listing those in a few moments. But comparative to last year and the year before that, January to June has been for the most part, a rather middling time for film lovers. Hopefully, the second half of 2015 will prove to be more fruitful and provide us cinephiles with much more variety than what we have had so far.

However, despite a distinct lack of a great deal of truly wonderful motion pictures, these past six months have still provided us with a plethora of great movies. To prove just how great, here is a quick rundown of the movies that didn't quite make the final 10...

'Ex Machina' - A truly unique and quite beautiful vision from writer/director Alex Garland

'Cinderella' - Kenneth Branagh brings the popular fairy story to the big screen with bombast and clarity

'Kingsman : The Secret Service' - The impeccable Colin Firth leads an all star cast in Matthew Vaughns rip-roaring spy comedy
'Love Is Strange' - Alfred Molina and John Lithgow shine in this New York set heartbreaking LGBT romantic drama

'Wild' - Reese Witherspoon more than deserved her Oscar nod for this truthful and sometimes powerful drama from 'Dallas Buyers Club' director Jean - Marc Vallee
'Shaun The Sheep Movie' - The nations favourite sheep is an utter joy in his cinematic debut

'Birdman' - I'm not so sure that it deserved the coveted Best Picture win but I still really enjoyed Michael Keatons well-fought comeback
'Good Kill' - The film 'American Sniper' should have been
'Unfriended' - An absolutely ingenious horror movie with one of the best concepts recently seen in the genre

'The SpongeBob Movie : Sponge Out Of Water' - It's surreal, bizarre, psychedelic and quite brilliant

'Mad Max : Fury Road' : George Millers dystopian saga returns to the big screen with an almighty bang

'Jurassic World' - It's not perfect but this is sequel fans have been waiting for for 22 years

I would be more than happy to have any one of these fine films in my final 10 but I must stick my guns and separate the good from the truly great. So, without further ado, here are the absolute best movies I saw in the first half of 2015....

10) 'STILL ALICE'

Julianne Moore deserved all the accolades she got for her extraordinary performance as a middle aged linguistics professor who is tragically diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimers. With a supporting cast including Alec Baldwin and Kristen Stewart (who will be appearing later in this list) and directed by life partners Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, 'Still Alice' is a tragic, moving and sometimes heartbreaking portrait of one of natures cruelest diseases and the effect it not only has on it's victim but on every single person surrounded by it.

9) 'SELMA'

David Oyelowos controversial Oscar snub is going to go down as one of the most egregious in the Academys long history. And for very good reason. His portrayal of Dr. Martin Luther King was pitch perfect, emulating the idiosyncratic cadence, tone and sincerity of the great mans inspiring voice with frightening accuracy.

8) 'AVENGERS : AGE OF ULTRON'

While the Marvel juggernaut continues to steam through the world of cinema with unrelenting speed, it is refreshing to see that director Joss Whedon still knows how to make a film as consistently entertaining and as thrilling as 'Avengers : Age Of Ultron'. With eye-popping visual effects, a number of barnstorming set pieces and well written, 3 dimensional characterisations, this movie is proof that not every blockbuster has to obey the Michael Bay laws of film-making to create exhilarating and exciting cinema.

7) 'CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA'

Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart absolutely shine in this wonderful masterpiece about a once-famous actress who is asked to return to the show which made her name decades before. Beautifully shot, terrifically written and saying more than a few things about the elements of time, age and old Hollywood vs. new, 'Clouds Of Sils Maria' is an evocative and frequently funny opus that dazzles with proficiency and class.

6) 'BIG HERO 6'

Winner of the Best Animated Feature Oscar, 'Big Hero 6' is a delightful family adventure that does all the things that Disney does best with a modern, sparkly glow. Baymax the robot is one of the company's most memorable and adorable creations while the story is as intelligent and well written as Disneys crowing glories.  Funny, sweet and at times moving, 'Big Hero 6' shows us that the sometimes maligned studio is as socially and artistically relevant as it was in it's heyday.

5) 'JOHN WICK'

The best action film since 2014s 'The Raid 2 : Berendal', 'John Wick' is a blistering, bullet -riddled epic with Keanu Reeves giving one of, if not the best performance of his career. Violent, sadistic and unrelenting, 'John Wick' is everything I could want in a true blooded action movie and so much more.

4) 'GOING CLEAR : SCIENTOLOGY & THE PRISON OF BELIEF'

Alex Gibney once again proves himself to be the most important documentarian working in cinema today with the chilling and sometimes downright horrifying 'Going Clear : Scientology & The Prison Of Belief'. Utilising interviews with ex-members of the Church including Academy Award winning director Paul Haggis, 'Going Clear' cuts through the lies perpetrated by the cult over it's five decade history to uncover it's dark and sinister origins and its continuing practices. Shocking, disturbing and upsetting, 'Going Clear' is an absolutely vital documentary and the most important since Gibneys own 'Mea Maxima Culpa : Silence In The House Of God'.

3) 'THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA'

Anime maestro Isao Takahatas beautiful 'The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya' currently holds the position of the most gorgeous animated movie I have ever seen. Using hypnotic and haunting watercolours to tell the unforgettable fable of a lowly bamboo cutter and the little girl he finds in a growing shoot, 'The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya' is a fitting swansong for one of the most important movie studios ever to have existed.

2) 'THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING'

Telling the tragic true story about one of mankinds greatest minds, 'The Theory Of Everything' is one of cinemas most heart rendering but inspiring films. Eddie Redmayne is simply magnificent as Sir Stephen Hawking with a performance that will go down in motion picture history as one its absolute finest. But more importantly, 'The Theory Of The Everything' is undeniable proof that the British film industry is as alive and kicking as it ever was, despite what some incredibly snooty naysayer American writers profess to say.

1) 'WHIPLASH'

In a recent interview, Mark Kermode said that it it much harder to write a review for a film you love than one you hate. This may be the reason why I have been unable to capture in words just how much I adore 'Whiplash'. Ever since I saw this film back in early January, I knew that nothing was going to knock it off the top of my list and six months later, it still stands head and shoulders above it's competition. To say that I love the film is an understatement. The performances from Miles Teller and J.K Simmons are simply outstanding, the script is brilliantly written and the direction by Damien Chazelle is sharp, crisp and crackles with an intensity unmatched in recent cinema. Yes, 'Birdman' may have won the Oscar but in my humble opinion, 'Whiplash' is a much better film and is for me, one of the best ever made in any year. Ever.

So there we have it - the best that 2015 has had to offer so far. Will the following six months be as fruitful? I certainly hope so. However, as the case with anything, with the good comes the bad and this year has provided us with a heaping helping of bad......