{"id":17694,"date":"2015-07-01T21:18:34","date_gmt":"2015-07-01T11:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=17694"},"modified":"2015-07-01T21:37:05","modified_gmt":"2015-07-01T11:37:05","slug":"the-ten-best-films-of-2015-so-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=17694","title":{"rendered":"The Ten Best Films of 2015 So Far"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"tagfilm\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015films\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When the dust settles on 2015, it may well be looked back upon as one of the biggest years in the history of cinema. \u00a0Just six months in, Avengers Age of Ultron<\/em> and Fast and Furious 7<\/em> have both grossed over a billion dollars<\/em>\u00a0and are amongst the ten highest grossing films of all time. \u00a0Crazier still, Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens<\/em> is widely tipped to do even bigger business when it finally arrives in December.<\/p>\n

There have been plenty of\u00a0big budget nostalgia trips in 2015. \u00a0You can be excused for wondering what year it is when\u00a0Jurassic Park, Mad Max<\/em> and\u00a0Terminator<\/em>\u00a0have all been charting at the box office recently. \u00a0Happily, the quality of these films has been much better than anticipated. \u00a0When you consider both\u00a0Jurassic World<\/em> and\u00a0Mad Max: Fury Road<\/em> have been in development hell for over a decade, its a minor miracle they both came out smelling of roses.<\/p>\n

I think there’s been a fine selection of movies spanning a wide range of genres in the year already. \u00a0Looking at the list of films I’ve seen this year (an even twenty), there’s been solid fare amongst the sci-fi, action, animation and horror genres. \u00a0The exciting thing is that the best may be yet to come. \u00a0Still on tap for the rest of the year is the new Quentin Tarantino film, the final chapter to\u00a0The Hunger Games<\/em> saga, a second Pixar film and of course\u00a0Star Wars VII<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But for now, in no particular order, here it is, my ten favourite films of 2015 so far.<\/p>\n

\"15inside\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Inside Out<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“Crying helps me slow down and obsess over the weight of life’s problems.” – Sadness<\/em><\/p>\n

Inside Out<\/i> is the charming and highly inventive new film from Pete Docter, arguable the most accomplished director to work with Pixar. \u00a0His previous works include\u00a0Up, Wall-E<\/em> and\u00a0Monsters Inc<\/em>. \u00a0Inside Out<\/em>\u00a0exists mostly inside the mind of an eleven year old girl Riley, struggling to adapt to her new life in San Francisco. \u00a0The film is like an all ages version of\u00a0Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,\u00a0<\/em>exploring Riley’s headspace through the lens of five emotional beings that make up her personality. \u00a0Docter has always been an ambitious film creator and here he tries nothing less than to teach children why\u00a0sadness and melancholy are an integral part of the human soul. \u00a0Inside Out<\/em> is funny, charming and heart warming.<\/p>\n

Full Review<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"15jurassicworld\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jurassic World<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“Corporate felt genetic modification would up the ‘wow’ factor.” – Claire<\/em><\/p>\n

When its at its best, Jurassic World<\/i> has action sequences that rival the intensity of the original\u00a0Jurassic Park<\/em>. \u00a0The genetic frankenstein Indominus Rex is a terrifying new addition to the dinosaur park and thankfully for monster movie fans, the security team at\u00a0InGen haven’t learned their lesson for a fourth time and they keep this new unstoppable eating machine in an easily escapable enclosure during peak tourist season. \u00a0The result is an entertaining thrill ride in which director Colin Trevorrow serves up\u00a0exhilarating action sequences in spades and gives a respectful nod to the original film. \u00a0Easily the best of the\u00a0Jurassic Park<\/em> sequels and a fine film in its own right.<\/p>\n

Full Review<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015madmax\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mad Max: Fury Road<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“Oh! What a lovely day!” –\u00a0Nux<\/em><\/p>\n

If you had to choose a single frame to represent the films of 2015, surely you couldn’t pick a more instantly recognizable and iconic image than that of Doof Warrior – the masked, jump suit wearing, guitar shredding freak that rides on a truck stacked with amps in George Miller’s\u00a0Mad Max: Fury Road<\/em>. \u00a0Fury Road<\/em>\u00a0has been the surprise package of 2015. \u00a0At seventy years young, Miller has breathed new life into the action genre with an unrelenting heart pounding thrill ride and along the way, he and Charlize Theron have helped create a memorable new action heroine in the form of Imperator Furiosa, the ass-kicking, one armed star of the film.<\/p>\n

Full Review<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015inherentvice\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Inherent Vice<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“Well, it’s dark and lonely work but somebodies gotta do it right?” – Petunia<\/em><\/p>\n

Based on a popular piece of literature\u00a0written by Thomas Pynchon,\u00a0Inherent Vice\u00a0<\/em>was long considered to be an ‘unfilmable’ tale. \u00a0After sitting through Paul Thomas Anderson’s shambling, psychedelic and hilarious neo-noir adaptation (all 148 minutes of it), I think he’s made a pretty good fist of it. \u00a0The film is stacked with an oddball cast of mistfits including corrupt cops, cultists, loan sharks and sex workers. \u00a0At the centre of this cesspit of crime and corruption is “Doc” – a perpetually stoned private detective who takes on a case looking for his missing ex-girlfriend. \u00a0Inherent Vice<\/em> was every bit as weird, wonderful and indecipherable as I hoped it would be.<\/p>\n

\"2015exmachina\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ex Machina<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“I am become death, The Destroyer of Worlds.” – Caleb<\/em><\/p>\n

You may not know the name but Alex Garland is a writer who has been the ideas man behind many of Danny Boyle’s most famous films including\u00a0The Beach, 28 Days Later<\/em> and\u00a0Sunshine<\/em>. \u00a0With\u00a0Ex Machina<\/em> he makes his directorial debut with this sci-fi thriller about a billionaire tech mogul Nathan who invites one of his employees Caleb to spend a week at his remote research facility in the mountains. \u00a0There he reveals Ava, a robot creation that he is convinced can pass the Turing test. \u00a0During a temporary outage of the CCTV feeds, Ava confides to Caleb that she feels imprisoned and needs his help to escape Nathan. \u00a0As you’d expect from Garland, nothing is quite what it seems and you have all the ingredients for a clever morality tale about artificial intelligence and what happens when its sophistication makes it near indistinguishable from humans.<\/p>\n

\"2015itfollows\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It Follows<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“It could look like someone you know or it could be a stranger in a crowd. Whatever helps it get close to you.” – Hugh<\/em><\/p>\n

It Follows<\/em> is a fantastic teen horror film that draws its inspiration from the works of John Carpenter and Sam Raimi whilst still maintaining an identity of its own. \u00a0Writer and director David Robert Mitchell shows a real flair for understanding how to set the stage for a supernatural horror of this kind. \u00a0There’s a terrifying killer on the prowl, it has strict rules it must adhere to and then there’s a cast of young naive teenagers who are its prey. \u00a0The film is handsomely put together with some evocative cinematography that gives It Follows<\/i> the look of a Seventies or Eighties teen slasher film. \u00a0The tension gets ratcheted up another score\u00a0when you add in the fantastic pulse pounding synth score from Disasterpeace. \u00a0Watch this movie in the dead of night with the lights out for maximum effect.<\/p>\n

\"2015girlwhowalks\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me alone.” – Arash<\/em><\/p>\n

2015 was the year that Netflix finally arrived in Australia and one of the finest hidden gems in its catalogue is the Iranian vampire horror western\u00a0A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night<\/em>. \u00a0Set in the ghost town of Bad City, a blood sucking shape shifting vampire prowls the streets at night, to\u00a0the peril of the hapless men who cross her path. \u00a0As you can probably guess by its genre categorisation,\u00a0A Girl Walks Home Along At Night<\/em> is worth watching because of its unique premise, eye catching visuals and effortless cool.<\/p>\n

\"2015kingsman\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Kingsman: The Secret Service<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“”Manners maketh man.” Do you know what that means? Then let me teach you a lesson.” – Harry Hart<\/em><\/p>\n

Who knew British thespian Colin Firth had it in him to be such a great action movie lead? \u00a0In Kingsman: The Secret Service, <\/em>Gary ‘Eggsy’ Unwin is a troubled street kid from England who gets plucked out of a life of hardship\u00a0and initiated into a secret spy agency that fights international crime syndicates. \u00a0Firth plays the Obi Wan Kenobi to Taron Egerton’s Anakin and he is the centrepiece of the film’s greatest scene – a memorable, bone-crunching brawl in a church involving a hundred crazed and blood thirsty Americans attending Sunday service. \u00a0The film is directed by Matthew Vaughn whose previous works include\u00a0Kick-Ass<\/em>\u00a0and X-Men First Class\u00a0<\/em>as well as production credits on\u00a0Snatch<\/em> and\u00a0Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels<\/em> so that should give you an idea of what you’re in for.<\/p>\n

Full Review<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015goingclear\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“The war is over” –\u00a0David Miscavige<\/em><\/p>\n

There have been plenty of exposes on Scientology over the years but none that would rival the breadth of content seen in HBO’s most recent documentary\u00a0Going Clear<\/em> which has interviews with some of the most high profile and famous people to leave the church as well as fascinating rare video footage of Scientology gatherings, including a ceremony where\u00a0Tom Cruise receives a\u00a0comically oversized Freedom Medal of Valor as seen in the screen shot above. \u00a0With a running time of over two hours, I think the film does a pretty solid job exploring the origins of Scientology and the guarded nature of its belief structure before moving on to the more well documented challenges people have faced when they have either tried to leave the church or question the organization’s behavior in a public forum.<\/p>\n

\"2015slowwest\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Slow West<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Werner: So, now… East. What news?<\/em>
\nCavendish: Violence and suffering. And West?<\/em>
\nWerner: Dreams and toil.<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s really only been in the last five years or so that I’ve discovered a love of Westerns and begun exploring them – both the classics and the new. \u00a0Slow West<\/em> is the directorial debut of John McClean, a musician who was a part of the Scottish musical group The Beta Band. \u00a0With\u00a0Slow West<\/em>, he has made an impressive sure-handed first feature that deserves to find a wide audience. \u00a0As the name suggests, the film is in no hurry and moves at the same laconic pace as its two stars – Jay Cavendish, a Scottish teenager who has travelled to America in search of his lost love Rose, and Silas Selleck, a seasoned and weary outlaw who takes Jay under his wing and gives him safe passage across the West, for a price. \u00a0The film is beautiful to look at – shot in New Zealand of all places – and Jay and Silas’ journey is a touching one. \u00a0They cross paths with all manner of folk in their search for Rose and in the final act, the film shifts into a memorable crescendo that I won’t spoil. \u00a0Needless to say, I think\u00a0Slow West<\/em>\u00a0represents the best of its genre. \u00a0McClean shows an understanding of the characters, tropes and landscapes that make a good Western and then he puts his own spin on it, as he modernizes it and makes it his own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2015 has been shaping up to be a fantastic year for film and here are ten of the best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":17696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[470,471],"class_list":["post-17694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-film","tag-top-ten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17694"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17719,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17694\/revisions\/17719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}