As per tradition, to save repeating myself, I'm only going to be talking about those that didn't make my top ten of the year. So, let's start with......
#10 Phantasm: RaVager
Every time I do one of these, we always get a no-show or two. There’s currently no sign of the release of this long awaited sequel at the moment, which is a shame. However, there is a good reason for this one; while it’s all filmed, just a lot of post-production to do, Don Coscarelli has another project going on. You may of heard of a minor, indie title called Star Wars: The Force Awakens coming out. Remember Gwendoline Christie’s character Captain Phasma? (What little there was of her; more in Episode VIII please!) She had that name as a shout-out to Phantasm, as her chrome armour reminded JJ Abrams of the Sentinel Spheres. Well, JJ and Bad Robot productions are nowhelping Coscarelli with a new, 4K transfer of the original Phantasm, planned for a theatrical re-release and Blu-Ray next year! Awesome! Now if anything will get everyone more excited for the release of Ravager, the original looking better than it ever has before is it!
#9 Alice on Mars
Another no-show (I'm bad at this!), but again one where we have a good
reason. Martin Gooch is still raising
external funding for this, with a whole bundle of new forms and such signed, so
he’s getting there. However, the
interesting new development is that he’s made a new film in the meantime. Called The Gatehouse, it’s being described as
a “gothic horror story for kids”.
Definitely colour me intrigued for that one, expect more plugs for it on
here as things develop. As for Alice, it
is coming; slowly, but surely, plans are being drawn against the red
planet. Hey, also on that note, for War
of the Worlds fans, have you heard that the BBC are planning a new version?
#8 Victor Frankenstein
Yay, one actually released this year! Now this one got savaged by many critics, really turning against it. Myself, I had a lot of fun with it, once I accepted that what we have here is Frankenstein being turned into a mash-up between Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock. James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe are basically doing Holmes and Watson as SCIENCE bros, complete with Sherlock style inner monologue moments. It’s silly, more than a bit campy, and overperformed like hell, but it’s actually a lot of fun despite/because of that. I liked playing “spot the former Frankenstein movie reference”, including actual nods to Young Frankenstein (It’s Fronkensteen), there are some wonderfully silly set pieces, the monster at the end looks cool, and hey, Mark Gatiss cameo. I’m not sure I can honestly call this a “good” movie, but it’s certainly an entertaining one.
#7 Chappie
This is another one that got a rough time from the critics, and while again I will say it’s not that bad, I can’t say that it isn’t a disappointment coming from Neil Blomkamp. I know that District 9 and Elysium weren’t exactly subtle when it came to their influences or their messages, but this is both beyond too simplistic, while at the same time morally muddled. It’s hard to say what the real point of this story it, especially with an ending that seems like it was a re-edit or reshoot (I don’t know if that is the case, but it feels like it), it barely feels like the same film. On the other hand, I didn’t mind many of the characters (even if Hugh Jackman is really lacking in depth), and Blomkamp is still an excellent visual action director, so this one is still very enjoyable; that’s a bit of a step down for him though…
#5 Going Clear
Hurrah, this did have a cinema release after all! (I saw it in the very nice new Picturehouse Central, the refit of the Cineworld Trocadero.) Yes, the Cult of Scientology did lose their
shit over this, especially with current talks about this having a shot at the
Best Documentary Oscar. Now while I knew
many of the shocking stories about the “Church’s” abuses, it was still powerful
seeing them from this perspective, as well as hearing a lot of new stories. One strength is that it allows the Cult to
dig itself deeper at various points, simply by showing some footage of various
spokesman and high-ups. A particular jaw
dropping moment is seeing how exact David Miscavige, current head of the Cult
of Scientology (is my attempt to Googlebomb this too subtle?) announced the
death of L. Ron Hubbard; it’s scary that there are people out there that think
along these lines. The Cult has not been
having an easy of it recently, and when Louis Theroux’s own look at them My
Scientology Movie gets released, I foresee it getting even harder. Once again I have to say this; STUPID, STUPID
CULT CREATURES!!!
#4 Mr. Holmes
If you had any doubts of Sir Ian McKellan’s acting abilities before this, I’d say “are you sure you’re not confusing him with someone else? Or is the only thing you’ve seen him in The Shadow?” Ian makes for two fascinating takes on Holmes, not just older but far more human than before, yet still totally recognisable. This makes for a powerful tale on the nature of fictions, of why they are important. Holmes has always been about the bare truth, so seeing him at the very end, finally realising why people would prefer to believe in stories, makes for wondrous stuff. Yeah, the mysteries in the story aren’t anything to write home about, but in a way that’s kind of the point, it’s not a detective story, it’s about the last days of the great detective.
#3 High Rise
Now here we have an odd case. We have a film that I was looking forward to
this year, I actually saw this year, but hasn’t been released this year, I saw
it at a preview at the London Film Festival.
As such, I’m writing about it here, but with the asterisk that if it had
gotten its official release this year, it absolutely would be in my top ten! Ben Wheatley has done a fantastic job in
adapting the JG Ballard novel; it’s as dark as you might think, but I wasn’t
prepared for just how funny this film is; the closest equivalent to Wheatley’s other work would be Sightseers, but it’s still light-years away from
that. I’m not going to say too much
here, as I’m certain I’ll still be gushing about how much I liked it when I do
my top ten of next year (seriously, it’s set the bar for 2016 films
ridiculously high!). What I will say is
that it’s definitely one I encourage everyone to try out when it’s released in
March, but it isn’t for everyone; many have loved it, others have hated it, and
I can see why. It’s going to depend a
lot on your own perspective, but for me I think Wheatley has delivered a true
masterpiece.
#1 Avengers: Age of Ultron
Before I go further, I must stress that I enjoyed the film, it’s hard not to have fun with a Marvel movie these days. That being said, I actually was a little disappointed. This definitely delivered a big chunk of superhero action, but this is probably the first time that the whole interconnectedness of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a liability. There’s very much a sense like there was in Iron Man 2, that the franchise is mostly keeping the characters in something of a holding pattern, not rocking the boat too much, just moving pieces into place to be ready for later films. It’s also not got that great a unifying story, the effect is just a series of events, not helped by the fact that it’s very clear that a lot of editing and cutting has been done (there’s a bundle of stuff from the trailers that isn't in the finished product). Also, as fun as James Spader’s performance was, Ultron never really came alive as a villain for me, it’s hard to say why. Again, still a lot of stuff to love, including Paul Bettany as the Vision, who has a riotously funny moment that works as a character beat, building audience trust, major continuity point and callback all in one. It’s just that this doesn't quite come together as its own film in the way the other Marvel films are able to do, while still doing all the series bureaucracy stuff. Ah well, given the box office, and plans for Stage 3, I doubt they’re too disappointed…
So, two made it to my top ten of 2015 (and one onto 2016
already!); how well did they do? Come
back tomorrow, where that will be revealed...
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