2015 in Movies

Last year (Hard to believe I'm saying that now for 2015) started as a good movie year for me, but some annoying health issues kept me from seeing much at a theater over the last two months of the year. Of what I did see, I mostly loved. Here are the 15 in '15.

• The Imitation Game: A movie from 2014, and most excellent. Made me come home and read up about the history it was based on.
• Top Five: A pleasantly funny Chris Rock movie with real intelligence about men and women and dating.
• Avengers: Age of Ultron: Not as good as the first Avengers movie, but entertaining.
• Ex Machina: A very well done near-future science fiction tale, brilliantly acted.
• Spy: This Melissa McCarthy spy genre sendup was much fun, with laugh-out-loud moments.
• Jurassic World: Loads of fun, a perfect summer movie.
• Mad Max: Fury Road: I never saw any of the Mad Max movies, but thanks to Cherlize Theron, I made this a must-see movie and I was not disappointed. A brilliantly realized story and reality. Furiosa (Theron) kicked major butt.
• Infinitely Polar Bear: Mark Ruffalo's amazing performance as a bipolar husband and father trying to prove he can take care of his kids while his wife pursued her career made this movie rise above what could have been an ordinary movie into something extraordinary.
• Ant-Man: This pretty much followed Marvel's typical movie origin of a superhero formula, but was fun none the less.
• Far From the Madding Crowd: I love the Thomas Hardy book from which this was adapted, and it was close to a perfect adaptation. Carey Mulligan was perfect as Bathsheba Everdene.
• The Man from UNCLE: Adapting my favorite TV show from the 1960s was no easy job, but this excelled in capturing the fun of the show while being its own thing. I wish it had been more successful; I want a sequel.
• The End of the Tour: Based on a true story, this is a tour de force bit of acting as Jason Segel as enigmatic author David Foster Wallace went head-to-head with Jesse Eisenberg as journalist David Lipsky.
• The Martian: I didn't read the book, but I did love the movie, an ultimate survival tale about an astronaut trapped on Mars.
• Bridge of Spies: Another bit of history, this focused on a Soviet spy in the US and the attempt to use him in a prisoner exchange for downed American spy pilot Gary Powers. I remember, though barely, Powers, but I was too young to remember when the spy was arrested. Another enthralling movie that had me researching the story behind it. 
• Mockingjay, Part 2: The Hunger Games saga concluded in this thrilling movie that followed closely with the book.

Movie Ticket Stubs

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