Entertainment year in review: My top five of 2015

At the end of year, I normally put together a top 10 list of my favorite entertainment items. When I first started blogging, I just did five items, mostly because I was still figuring this whole blogging thing out, 😉 but I later bumped it up to 10 because I had a hard time narrowing my list down. This year, however, I decided to drop it back down to five again. It wasn’t necessarily that I couldn’t find 10 things I liked; it was just that unlike the past couple years, there weren’t 10 items that clearly stood out.

I felt like this year, there were several franchise continuations that didn’t quite live up to their predecessors. “Age of Ultron,” “Spectre,” and “Mockingjay – Part 2” were all fun in their own ways (“Spectre” was probably my favorite of the three), but they didn’t achieve the heights of “The Avengers,” “Skyfall,” and “Catching Fire,” respectively. Interestingly, this might be the first year that only one of the movies from my beginning of 2015 “most anticipated” list ended up on my actual “best of the year” list (I bet you can’t guess what that movie is…). 😉 This year, there were several fun surprise break-out hits, and one highly anticipated movie that definitely lived up to the hype. So, here goes my list, counting down to my favorite film of the year…

Honorable mentions: Jurassic World and Cinderella

I know I’m already breaking my own rule to stick to just five. 😉 However, while these two movies didn’t make the top five, I still wanted to give them a shout-out. “Jurassic World” was a fun addition to the franchise and tried to recapture the spirit of the original 1993 film. Chris Pratt and his team of raptors were the highlight of the movie for me, though a stronger script probably would have landed this film higher on the list. I thought this year’s live action “Cinderella” was a sweet, charming fairy tale that managed to feel both fresh and traditional, updating a classic while not straying too far from the source material. I added both these to my movie collection this year.

5. The Martian

“The Martian” may be based on a fictional novel, but this film — which is a blend of “Gravity” and “Apollo 13” — feels all-too-real. Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is abandoned on Mars after his crew mistakenly assumes he has died during an emergency evacuation. Watney has to figure out how to survive alone on Mars, unable to even communicate with Earth to let them know he is alive. While this is an inspiring survival story with gorgeous cinematography, it’s also surprisingly funny. Watney maintains his sense of humor and determination to survive even though the odds are stacked against him. I’ve read the book, and it’s really good too.

4. Daredevil

While most of the items on my end of the year round-up tend to be movies, I couldn’t leave off Netflix and Marvel’s excellent new superhero show “Daredevil.” This show was darker and grittier than we’re used to seeing from Marvel, but the character development and plot were excellent. Charlie Cox shines as blind lawyer Matt Murdock, who moonlights as a vigilante known as Daredevil. Vincent D’Onofrio also was great as the show’s surprisingly nuanced villain Wilson Fisk (a.k.a. the Kingpin). The character was capable of terrible cruelty towards those who betrayed him, but he also expressed a sense of sacrificial tenderness towards the woman he loved.

3. Mad Max: Fury Road

This film definitely wasn’t on my radar at the beginning of 2015, and I certainly wouldn’t have guessed that it would end up on my highlights of the year list. However, this turned out to be a rousing, thought-provoking action film. The plot is deceptively simple — it is, essentially, a two-hour post-apocalyptic car chase — and the title is deceptive, too. While it’s called “Mad Max,” the movie essentially belongs to Charlize Theron’s Furiosa, who dares to defy a dangerous warlord. It’s a dark, violent film, but there’s also plenty of hope.

2. Ant-Man

Technically, I think “Mad Max: Fury Road” is probably a better film than “Ant-Man,” but Marvel gets the sentimental vote here (I do love my Marvel movies). 😉 I didn’t initially have very high hopes for “Ant-Man”; a superhero who runs with ants seemed like a hard concept to pull off onscreen. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this movie and found I actually liked it better than “Age of Ultron.” Paul Rudd is likeable as everyman hero Scott Lang, who dons the Ant-Man suit after receiving training from the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). The film has some great touches of humor, my favorite being the fight on the trainset, and Michael Peña provided some excellent comic relief as Lang’s best friend.

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

This comes, I’m sure, as a surprise to no one. 😉 It was my most anticipated film of the year, and I’m so happy I also get to list it as my favorite. There was so much pressure riding on this film, and I was very excited but also very nervous. Thankfully, the movie lived up to the hype, and it turned out to be the perfect blend of old and new, paying homage to the original trilogy while also introducing great new characters. I had a chance to watch it in IMAX over the holidays, and I liked it even more after a second viewing. Sitting in that darkened theater, watching the space battles and lightsaber fights play out on screen, I felt like a little kid again. It was magical.

Movie review: ‘The Martian’ an inspiring, crowd-pleasing story of survival in space

“The only thing stronger than fear is hope.”

That may be a quote from “The Hunger Games,” but it could just as easily apply to the new movie “The Martian.” In the film, astronaut Mark Watney finds himself stranded on Mars after the rest of his crew evacuates, mistakenly believing he was killed in an accident. With a limited supply of food, no way to communicate with Earth and the belief that any rescue attempt is more than a year away, Watney has to find a way to survive on a lonely planet that isn’t designed to support life. He stubbornly refuses to give up, holding to a sliver of hope that he can make it back home.

Based on a book by Andy Weir and directed by Ridley Scott, “The Martian” is an uplifting tale of ingenuity and survival with an attention to scientific detail. It’s also a reminder that while space travel will always be dangerous, humanity will always have a need to explore the unknown. Although space exploration seems to be less of a priority now, we still haven’t conquered the “final frontier” and it’s still worth venturing out into the stars.

“The Martian” continues the apparent trend of Hollywood’s renewed interest in space movies. It feels like a blend of “Gravity” and “Apollo 13,” capturing the sense of isolation felt by Sandra Bullock’s drifting astronaut and the clever ways during the Apollo 13 mission the astronauts and engineers jury-rigged equipment after everything went wrong. However, that certainly isn’t to say “The Martian” feels like a rip-off of these films. One of the things that helps the movie stand out is its surprising amount of humor. It seems a little unusual to have humor in a movie about an astronaut stranded on an uninhabitable planet, but the humor here actually feels authentic rather than forced. Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) jokes in order to keep up his spirits, and his positive (albeit slightly sarcastic) attitude keeps him from giving up.

While the film has what is arguably this year’s most impressive casting line-up, featuring Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean and more, my favorite parts of the movie were simply watching Watney on Mars: exploring the planet, figuring out a way to grow crops, fixing his living quarters when the airlock blows off. Matt Damon plays Watney as an everyday sort of guy; he’s not a hardened man of action who never shows a moment of fear or discouragement. He makes mistakes and expresses frustration at his setbacks. Yet he’s also incredibly resilient, and even when his death seems inevitable, he doesn’t regret his decision to come to Mars. He’s willing to make the sacrifice.

I also thought it was powerful that (spoiler alert!) Watney’s crew members risked interrupting their journey home and turned around to rescue Watney on Mars as soon as they learned he was alive, defying NASA’s direct orders. This meant extended time in space and more danger, but they refused to abandon their crew member. Would I be brave enough to make that decision? I hope that I would. I also found myself wondering if I could cope as well as Watney if I were the astronaut stranded on Mars. Considering that flying on regular commercial airlines makes me anxious, there’s probably no chance that I’d ever be allowed in space anyway, but it’s still interesting to ponder how I would react. I think sometimes, we as humans are stronger than we think. People can beat impossible odds and survive impossible situations if they keep fighting and refuse to give up.

“The Martian” is definitely a film I’d recommend catching in theaters, and while I didn’t get to see it in IMAX, I bet it would be worth splurging on to see the gorgeous and desolate Mars scenery on a huge screen. The only thing I might have changed is the film’s ending, which features a “where are they now” montage of all the characters after the Watney rescue attempt. A more powerful ending might have been (sorry, spoiler alert again!) right after the crew rescues Watney and they are embracing in the airlock. The actual ending feels just a bit too “Hollywood” and takes away some of the emotional impact of the rescue. Still, I really loved this film and I hope Hollywood continues to make movies about space travel.

Fall/winter 2015 movie preview

Another summer movie season has come and gone, but there are plenty of movies to look forward to in this year’s fall/winter line-up, including a Bond film, the final chapter in the Hunger Games series and a certain little science fiction film directed by J.J. Abrams. Here are the five films I’m most looking forward to this fall and winter. Let me know what films you’re most excited about, as well!

The Martian (Oct. 2)

Space movies seem to be experiencing a bit of a resurgence, with “Gravity” achieving commercial and critical success in 2013, followed by Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” in 2014. “The Martian” continues that trend, highlighting mankind’s feelings of fascination — and fear — about the dark reaches of outer space.

Based on a best-selling novel, “The Martian” is a survival story about an astronaut stranded on Mars after his team members have to abort their mission. It has a fantastic cast — Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, just to name a few — and the trailer certainly caught my attention.

Pan (Oct. 9)

This is my wildcard pick for this fall and winter movie season. It could be really good, or it could be bad; it’s one of those films I don’t think will fall in the “in between” zone. We’ve seen Peter Pan on film plenty of times before, and even in Disney’s mash-up TV show “Once Upon a Time,” but this appears to be a darker take on the famous story.

The film features an almost unrecognizable Hugh Jackman as the pirate Blackbeard and has Peter befriending his future nemesis, Captain Hook. Retellings of famous fairytales can be hit or miss in Hollywood. For every live-action fairytale adaptation that’s good (such as this year’s charming “Cinderella”), there’s one that’s pretty bad (the 2012 Snow White retelling “Mirror Mirror”). “Pan” could be a fun twist on the Peter Pan legend, or it could fail to hit the mark.

Spectre (Nov. 6)

Daniel Craig continues his run as James Bond in “Spectre,” the follow-up to 2012’s blockbuster “Skyfall.” I love Craig’s portrayal as Bond; he brought fresh life to the Bond franchise back in 2006 with “Casino Royale,” which is still my all-time favorite spy film.

I’m excited to see the new series delve into classic Bond history, presumably charting the rise of the mysterious criminal syndicate Spectre. I’ll miss seeing Judi Dench as M, the head of MI6, but I’m also looking forward to seeing what Ralph Fiennes brings to the role. It will be interesting to see if this is Craig’s last outing as Bond, and if so, what film makers have planned next for the franchise.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2 (Nov. 20)

I still wish the film makers hadn’t split the final Hunger Games novel into two films instead of one (especially since “Mockingjay — Part 1” mostly felt like a two-hour long trailer for the series finale). But what’s done is done, and judging by the trailer, this film will bring back the sense of dangerous tension that made “Catching Fire” such a thrilling watch.

Many fans of the book have complained about the series’ ending, and I’m hoping the film will fix some of the issues, such as abrupt and jarring character deaths that don’t give the other characters (or readers) time to grieve. Let’s hope the final film ends the franchise on a high note.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Dec. 18)

This is, hands down, my most anticipated film of the year and, OK, I’ll be honest, of the decade (I’m just a little excited about this). I’m also incredibly nervous, because this is my all-time favorite film franchise. But I’ve got a good feeling about this. The cast is solid. The costumes look great. The trailer gave me goosebumps. And I believe J.J. Abrams and Co. will be able to pull it off.

As a fan of the Star Wars Expanded Universe novels, it was a little hard to let go of stories and characters I’d already come to love. I don’t know how much, if any, of those details or characters will show up in the new Star Wars universe. But this is a brand-new Star Wars movie — in theaters — something I didn’t think I’d ever get to see. As much as I want to know more about the plot, I’m trying to avoid learning too much about it, because I want to be surprised and simply let the film sweep me away. I’m excited that we all get to return to that galaxy far, far away. I hope it will be magical.