THE 2015 Howies

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2015 was an oddly structured year when it came to the quality of movie releases. At the same time, I’m beginning to suspect that this might just become the status quo for a while.

The first few months, until the beginning of the release of the inevitable tentpole films (around the time of Mad Max making its appearance), the theaters tended to be filled with either the previous year’s Oscar movies (which I had seen) or movies that were being dumped because their producers had lost faith in them.

It’s not that there wasn’t some gold here and there. Movies like Predestination and What We Do In the Shadows made their presence known. But overall, it was like pulling teeth to find a decent film to go to.

Then the blockbusters hit and with a vengeance. As usual, most weren’t very good, mediocre if we were lucky. At the same time, the quality was, on average, a bit better than usual with Mad Max, Spy and The Martian leading the pack.

Then fall hit, also with a vengeance, and all the distributors inundated the movie houses with their prestige pictures, and suddenly it was safe to go back to the theater again. Not that all of these lived up to their hype (cough, Steve Jobs, cough), but overall, the year ended with a nice selection of films to choose from for a best of list.

Let me know what you think.

So here are the 2015 Howies:

 

BEST FILM – Son of Saul

 

 

 

The remainder in alphabetical order:

45 Years

Brooklyn

Carol

Diary of a Teenage Girl

The Lobster

Spy

Tangerine

Winter Sleep

Youth

 

I also enjoyed: A Brilliant Young Mind, Creed, Dope, The Final Girls, The Gift, Goodnight, Mommy, Grandma, He Never Died, I’ll See You in My Dreams, The Martian, The Peanuts Movie, Predestination, Shawn the Sheep Movie, Spotlight, Theeb, What We Do In the Shadows

 

BEST ACTOR – Geza Rohrig – Son of Saul

 

 

 

The remainder in alphabetical order:

Haluk Bilginer – Winter Sleep

Michael Caine – Youth

Tom Courtenay – 45 Years

Bryan Cranston – Trumbo

Collin Farrell – The Lobster

Tom Hardy – Legend and The Revenant

 

I also enjoyed: Matt Damon – The Martian; Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant; Joel Edgerton, The Gift, Black Mass; Jake Gyllenhaal – Southpaw; Samuel L. Jackson – The Hateful Eight; Michael B. Jordan – Creed; Ian McKellan – Holmes

 

 

BEST ACTRESS – Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years

 

 

The remainder in alphabetical order

Cate Blanchett – Carol

Blythe Danner – I’ll See You in My Dreams

Rooney Mara – Carol

Melissa McCarthy – Spy

Kitana Kiki Rodriguez – Tangerine

Saoirse Ronan – Brooklen

Lily Tomlin – Grandma

 

I also enjoyed: Bel Powel – The Diary of a Teenage Girl; Amy Schumar – Trainwreck

 

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies

 

 

 

The remainder in alphabetical order:

Idris Elba – Bests of No Nation

Sam Elliott – Grandma, I’ll See You In My Dreams

Paul Giamatti – Straight Outta Compton, Love & Mercy

Harvey Keitel – Youth

Sylvester Stallone – Creed

Jason Statham – Spy

 

I also enjoyed: Albert Brooks – A Most Violent Year, Concussion; Steve Carrell – The Big Short; Jeff Daniels – The Martian, Steve Jobs; Michael Keaton – Spotlight; Mark Ruffalo – Spotlight

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – Jane Fonda – Youth

 

 

 

The remainder in alphabetical order:

Olivia Colman – The Lobster

Mya Taylor – Tangerine

Alicia Vikander – Ex Machina

Julie Waters – Brooklyn

Rachel Weisz – The Lobster, Youth

 

I also enjoyed: Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight; Helen Mirren – Trumbo; Parker Posey – Irrational Man; Meryl Streep – Suffragette; Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs

 

BEST SCREENPLAY – Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou – The Lobster

 

The remainder in alphabetic order:

Ebru Celyan, Nuri Bilge Celyan – Winter Sleep

Paul Feig – Spy

Andrew Haigh – 45 Years

Marielle Heller – Diary of a Teenage Girl

Phyllis Nagy – Carol

Lazlo Nemes, Clary Royer – Son of Saul

 

I also enjoyed: Brooklyn, Dope, The Gift, Predestination, Spotlight, What We Do in the Shadows, Youth

 

 

BEST DIRECTION – Laslo Nemes – Son of Saul

 

 

 

 

The remainder in alphabetical order:

Sean Baker – Tangerine

Andrew Haigh – 45 Years

Todd Haynes – Carol

Yorgos Lanthimos – The Lobster

Georg Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road

Paolo Sorrentino – Youth

 

I also enjoyed: Goodnight, Mommy; The Martian; Sicario; Spy; Winter Sleep

 

BEST ENSEMBLE

Carol, Diary of a Teenage Girl, Dope, The Lobster, Spotlight, Spy, Tangerine, What We Do in the Shadows

 

SPECIAL AWARDS:

Brooklyn – Art Direction, Costumes

Carol – Cinematography, Art Direction, Costumes, Music

The Hateful Eight – Music

Mad Max: Fury Road – Editing

The Revenant – Cinematography, Sound, Music

Sicario – Cinematography, Editing, Music,

Tangerine – Sound

Youth – Art Decoration, Music