My Top Seven Films of 2015 by William Henry

I watch way too many films, more than is good for me, and I critique them more than is healthy. I haven’t seen all the movies that came out this year. For example, there are many movies that I didn’t watch because of age restrictions or just because I’m too busy. I haven’t seen Spotlight because my mom and dad don’t think it’s appropriate and I haven’t seen Creed yet, because we flipped a coin and saw Brooklyn instead (a bit slow), but I expect we will see Creed over the holidays. And I may have forgotten one or two I saw at the beginning of the year.  But as of writing this, here are my favs....

The seventh best film I saw this year was The Gift. This was an extremely well crafted thriller (not to be confused with horror) using the classic stalker formula. Throughout the entire film, I was leaning forward, literally on the edge of my seat. This is what a thriller should be like, not to mention the amazingly disturbing twist ending that no one saw coming.

The sixth best film this year, in my opinion, was Mad Max: Fury Road. Many people have ranked this film even closer to number one, but since action movies really are not my favourite, this movie is going to be sixth place. On the other hand, if you do like action movies, this film is for you because this film has the most well made action sequences I have seen all year and on top of that, it is Rabbi approved (my mom’s rabbi friend loved it because of its “Biblical references”).

In fifth place is Far From the Madding Crowd. The story was very intricate and had a lot of moments were you felt a lot of emotion. But we must not forget where this film truly shined. Far From the Madding Crowd had absolutely phenomenal cinematography! Every scene was shot so well and the landscapes were just beautiful.

Usually, the top four choices in a list are hard to pick. However, these four were quite clear cut. My fourth favourite movie this year was Spy. The only thing to say about this film is that it is the most my dad and I have ever laughed in a theater. Period!

Pawn Sacrifice (the Bobby Fischer story) was an absolutely amazing piece of art, which is why it deserves the third spot on my list. It has an interesting historical plot , its cleverness with the use of suspense, the great acting it consisted of, and the smartly placed double meaning in the title. Overall, Pawn Sacrifice was a flawless sight to behold.

The Big Short was a great film; for me, the second best of the year. It had a perfect mix of everything and it was able to explain a really complicated topic to a 13-year-old, so he could understand it. Being that 13 year old, I loved this film. I loved the humor that slowly unfolded into a serious topic, I loved how the actors would stop every once in a while and explain how a certain thing didn't really happen, which led you to believe that everything else was accurate. 

I thought that it was really smart in the way that they got famous people to explain complex terms, as it was a good laugh and helped you understand the plot better. I found this movie extremely entertaining with a depressing turn at the later part of the film. I feel that the best way to describe this film is a slick complex version of Moneyball that is easily understandable and really gets you to question Wall Street, makes you wonder if it's a dim or almost demonic place. 

Slow West is now what I want every action film to be like. It not only had great cinematography and was amazingly done, but it did something that I have rarely seen in an action movie to date. Rather than focusing on the great action sequences the film consisted of, it was mainly about the suffering that came from that action. It was far more realistic than films like Furious 7 in the way that it really made the main character seem small compared to everything else and he was constantly struggling. It had quite a sad yet fulfilling ending in which they also briefly had a montage/memorial of all casualties and deaths that happened throughout the story of the film (even the minor forgotten ones).

           

William Henry is 13 years old and in grade 8. He’s a big amateur film buff and a professional actor. His dad teaches creative writing and publishes Quick Brown Fox. 

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