The Best of 2015 In MOVIES & TV – Part 2

Truth be told, 2015 has been a great year for the industry. We saw the reermergence of comic book TV shows in full bloom. New filmmakers rose to the occasion and reignited a renaissance in modern film. Movements sprang back and forth. Truly, it is a perfect time to be alive.

Now that 2016 has arrived, allow us to step back and entertain you with our team’s individual picks for the best (and worst) of 2015.

**********

Karen Mata
Flipgeeks Contributor for Movies & TV, Educator, Writer

 BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR: Mad Max: Fury Road

You would think that George Miller would lose his magic after doing sequel after sequel of the franchise. The prolonged delay of the film didn’t affect the intensity it needed to sustain or surpass the previous films. It was intense and visually challenging to watch. The whole movie was plot driven with limited and almost inaudible dialogue between characters. The dystopic world of the movie is not thematically strange to the real world. It speaks of timely issues like, ecological problems, capitalism, slavery, and that perpetual search for paradise and salvation wrapped in strange shapes of the beings in the film.

BREAKOUT FILM OF 2015: Heneral Luna

While Tarog is not a newbie in the industry, I would put this one under a break out film category due to the interesting hype pattern of the film. It had a cast with superb acting skills. But,it was probably due to the lack of mainstream actors that the movie sales was slow. The film broke records with the help of social media and word of mouth. Interestingly, it sparked curiousity to colonial history, culture, and even ideals. Heneral Luna’s heroism was a breed born out of his witness to Bonifacio’s passion and Rizal’s intellect. The movie had dragging moments, but it successfully left an impression to its viewers. For me, it was Tarog’s introduction on “good” film 101 to the mainstream viewers.

BEST TV SHOW/MINI SERIES OF THE YEAR: Daredevil

Daredevil was an exploration of shadows. The Netflix series was a good contrast to most MARVEL series that slaps you with the vibrant and flamboyant lives of super heroes. The series was written and made so well it erases that bad memory of the film. It was a good response to Gotham and Arrow.

BEST ANIMATED PROJECT: The Little Prince

I’d love to chose Inside Out, but ‘The Little Prince’ was an epic challenge. Saint-Exupéry’s text is a famous French classic literature and and intertext translation of the material involved a great risk. And, it was beautifully made.

WORST FILM OF THE YEAR: Fantastic Four

I hoped that it would be better that the older ones. But, it was a mediocre remake. Too bad, since the cast was pretty decent. A very weak plot, but with very introductory approach to the characters. The first half was okay, but the incoherent editing made the latter part not MARVELous.

**********

Mico Orda
Flipgeeks Contributor for Movies & TV, Budding Filmmaker

BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR: Heneral Luna

With its 8-week run in the cinemas, raves all over social media, Jerrold Tarog’s historical drama has proven a game-changing moment in our local film industry; the scope of production and set pieces brings and the colonial Philippines. The screenplay explores the anatomy of a hero, rather than retelling the historical accounts from another. Here, we get to see Antonio Luna as a whole, the general, musician, artist and a lover, John Arcilla perfectly captures those aspects; his comedic timing edges his charm.

BREAKOUT FILM OF 2015: Son Of Mine

The film was first debuted on International Film Festival Rotterdam this year, and later on FDCP’s ‘World Premieres Film Festival’ in June. Son of Mine is set in an impoverished Southern Dutch province of Limburg that tells the story of a struggling, hardened father and his estranged relationship with his son. The director, Remy Van Heugten offers an in-depth dynamic of the father and son’s complex dynamic against the town’s bleak, gritty backdrop, it’s about the characters, their raw emotions, coping up with the ‘dog-eat-dog’ society that they live in.

BEST TV SHOW/MINI SERIES OF THE YEAR: Fargo Season 2

The second season takes us back in 1979 – groovy tunes, UFO’s and colorful, retro fashion; the time period itself becomes a character. For a period piece, the spirit of the 1996 Coens’ film exists through and through, with the naïve American Midwest sensibilities, the concept of ‘cause and effect’ that moves the story and the weird, dark humor. The quirky cinematography was a work of art, split screens moving the course in every episode, the creative aerial shots revolving the rural, haunting Midwest, Dana Gonzales moves the camera like a storyteller.

Aside from the phenomenal cast, Noah Hawley and his writers’ excellent job on making every minute of each episode a moment. Ed and Peggy Blomquist, the show’s ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ defines relationship doesn’t have to be romantic all the time: they work out their flaws, figuring out to overcome the impossible, their confidence is what enables them and those things made them couple of the year.

BEST ANIMATED PROJECT: Inside Out

Simple and understated at the same time, Inside out creates visual storytelling without dropping in too much information; emotions manifests a human being as a whole, our subconscious depicts that there’s a world in our own mind that exist. Another factor that makes Inside Out a worthy animated entry is the notable comedic actors like Amy Poehler as Joy and Bill Hader as Fear makes the characters connects to the audience, with their humor, and their distinctive take on their line delivery makes it work.

WORST FILM OF THE YEAR: Kid Kulafu

Unfortunately, the title didn’t live up to the narrative. While it’s about a young Manny Pacquiao and his rise as the World Boxing champion, the film played on episodic, messed-up narrative, forcibly putting all scenes about his childhood and struggles to put moments that define him who he is today. Camera work is nicely done, but it didn’t fit well to the story, most of the shots were clean and well-placed, that it felt like a 2-hour advertisement. Maybe the filmmakers should’ve considered making a long-hour expose story for television instead.

**********

Luigi Cabrera
Flipgeeks Contributor for Comics & Art, IT Practitioner

BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR: Mad Max: Fury Road

Even though Mad Max was full of action packed scenes, it’s not the only thing that made it memorable. Charize Therone’s character, Furiosa, took the lead (and maybe some more) than Tom Hardy’s titular character. It was refreshing to see a number of strong female characters in a testosterone filled movie. Every character was brought to life really well and so was the mythos of the Mad Max series. If only all the sequels were like this.

BREAKOUT FILM OF 2015: Heneral Luna

Like the storms that suddenly form around our country, Heneral Luna made an impact that was a force to be reckoned with. Almost everyone talked about how good it was and yes, they were right. It’s amazing how the good casting and storytelling can invoke our patriotism. It has been a while since there was a local movie that had this effect towards the ‘masa’ that didn’t involve noon time show hosts. Let’s hope that we can get more local movies of this caliber.

BEST TV SHOW/MINI SERIES OF THE YEAR: Daredevil

I find it ironic that Daredevil , a hero who is blind, was the first one to show us the dark and gritty side of Marvel. Thanks to Netflix, Marvel was able to do things that they can’t show in their movies and primetime tv shows. The fight scenes were pretty intense but what really made it interesting for me is how they made the villain interesting unlike the good-for-one-movie villains in the marvel movies.

WORST FILM OF THE YEAR: Fantastic Four

This movie made me miss the corny fantastic four that had Chris Evans. It is common sense to make an origin story when you reboot a franchise but not like this. The whole film felt like it could have been just up to the second act. The climax (more like anti-climax) was such a let down. You wouldn’t believe that the movie was about to end. This movie simply beats the Green Lantern by a mile.

**********

Love Zenarosa
Flipgeeks Contributor for Comics & Art, School Head Nurse

BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR: Mad Max: Fury Road

Though the dystopic world is strange for most of the viewers, this movie gave its audience a new flavor without overdoing it. George Miller has carefully woven social issues in its movie without going too satirical. The movie was intense, straight to the point and out of this world — which make it stands out among the rest.

BREAKOUT FILM OF 2015: Heneral Luna

This movie really did “break out” the stereotypes. People has been more curious about history and drew attention. It was stripped down to its usually bookish theme.

BEST TV SHOW/MINI SERIES OF THE YEAR: Marvel’s Jessica Jones

I am giving this mini series a thumbs up, because of its cinematography and gritty nature. True to its content, Jessica Jones had shown that women-empowered series doesn’t need a girl who is powerful all the time. Also, it showed issues that every lady encounters.

BEST ANIMATED PROJECT: Inside Out

The simplicity of the movie made its message heartfelt to the audience. Although it discussed about emotions, it was not complex and thus it appeals to all kinds of audiences. Plus, the excellent voice actors added more charm to the film.

WORST FILM OF THE YEAR: Attack on Titan

Too much hype killed the story. The pacing was fast and the plot was weak.

**********

Special thanks to 20th Century Fox, Columbia Philippines, Warner Bros PH, and Walt Disney PH for the source material. Happy New Year, geeks!