Picking the best movies that come out in any given year is no easy feat. With over 800 movies released theatrically, there’s plenty to digest. As we reach the halfway point of the year, we decided to publish a list of our favourite movies thus far, in hopes that our readers can catch up on some of the films they might have missed out on. Below, you shall find the list of the top 30 films of 2015 to date, a list that ranges from independent horror films to documentary to foreign films and so much more. Here’s is part two of our three part list.
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20. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Eccentrically layered yet simple in plot, the Swedish adaptation of Jonas Jonasson’s novel does a fine job in balancing satire with tenderness. Telling the story of Allan Karlsson (Robert Gustafsson), a 100-year-old explosive enthusiast...
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20. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Eccentrically layered yet simple in plot, the Swedish adaptation of Jonas Jonasson’s novel does a fine job in balancing satire with tenderness. Telling the story of Allan Karlsson (Robert Gustafsson), a 100-year-old explosive enthusiast...
- 6/3/2015
- by Staff
- SoundOnSight
★★★★☆ "Tire it, don't kill it," shouts a hunter to his party as they pursue a gazelle across the desert plain in a jeep. The men let off sporadic shots with the assault rifles they will later use to rip apart the sculptures and effigies that represent a culture their new Islamic regime is trying to suppress. Abderrahmane Sissako's Timbuktu (2014) - getting a release after premièring at last year's Cannes - is a beautiful drama fuelled by a sense of urgent and righteous anger. But there's sadness here as well as hope. Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed) lives with his wife, Satima (Toulou Kiki), and their daughter, Toya (Layle Walet Mohamed), in the desert near a town which has been taken over by the Islamic police.
- 5/27/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
With Timbuktu, director and co-writer Abderrahmane Sissako has created a film to test our understanding of what words such as "terrorist", "jihadist" and "Islamic extremists" mean as much as what they don't mean, offering a glimpse into a world I could never say I understand or even comprehend. Sissako's level of empathy for his characters is what gives the film its weight, opening your eyes as you just might find your morals tested in ways you couldn't have expected. Set during the takeover of the titular Malian city by self-described jihadists in 2012, the film is both horrifying and beautiful, managing to even merge dread with small doses of humor as a group of young people play soccer in a dusty field, but must halt their game so a donkey can pass through. The dread in this instance is far more lasting, coming from the fact they are playing without a ball.
- 2/20/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Of this year's five Oscar nominees for Best Foreign Language feature I've seen three of them -- Ida, Leviathan and Wild Tales -- and while Ida is the perceived front-runner this is a category that can always offer a bit of a surprise, one such surprise just might be Abderrahmane Sissako's Timbuktu, which Cohen Media will begin distributing on January 28 (find theaters here) and have just released the first official domestic trailer. Here's the synopsis: Not far from the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu, now ruled by the religious fundamentalists, proud cattle herder Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed aka Pino) lives peacefully in the dunes with his wife Satima (Toulou Kiki), his daughter Toya (Layla Walet Mohamed), and Issan (Mehdi Ag Mohamed), their twelve-year-old shepherd. In town, the people suffer, powerless, from the regime of terror imposed by the Jihadists determined to control their faith. Music, laughter, cigarettes, even soccer have been banned.
- 1/28/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has unveiled its 2015 line-up which includes films representing 54 countries, 23 world premieres and 53 U.S. premieres. The U.S. premiere of Niki Caro’s McFarland USA will close out the 30th fest. Based on the 1987 true story and starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello, the film follows novice runners from McFarland, an economically challenged town in California’s farm-rich Central Valley, as they give their all to build a cross-country team under the direction of Coach Jim White (Costner), a newcomer to their predominantly Latino high school. The unlikely band of runners overcomes the odds to forge not only a championship cross-country team but an enduring legacy as well.
The festival runs from January 27-February 7.
Below is the list of World and U.S. Premiere films followed by the list of titles by sidebar categories.
World Premieres
A Better You, USA
Directed by Matt Walsh
Cast: Brian Huskey,...
The festival runs from January 27-February 7.
Below is the list of World and U.S. Premiere films followed by the list of titles by sidebar categories.
World Premieres
A Better You, USA
Directed by Matt Walsh
Cast: Brian Huskey,...
- 1/8/2015
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline
A self-acknowledged "showcase for Academy Award frontrunners," the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is often overlooked for the actual films that earn it festival status. An amalgamation of international discoveries and ’merica’s circuit highlights, the Sbiff curates a week of best-of-the-best to pair with their star-praising. The 2015 edition offers another expansive selection, bookended by two films that aren’t on any radars just yet. Sbiff will open with "Desert Dancer," producer Richard Raymond’s directorial debut. Starring Reece Ritchie and Frieda Pinto, the drama follows a group of friends who wave off the harsh political climate of Iran’s 2009 presidential election in favor of forming a dance team, picking up moves from Michael Jackson, Gene Kelly and Rudolf Nureyev thanks to the magic of YouTube. The festival will close with "McFarland, USA," starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello. Telling the 1987 true story of a Latino high school’s underdog cross-country team,...
- 1/8/2015
- by Matt Patches
- Hitfix
The Masters section is always a Croisette and Lido heavy selection and this year is no different. From Cannes we have Jean-Luc Godard’s Goodbye to Language 3D (which is a top of the charts item according to our Blake Williams) Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan (which our Nicholas Bell thinks is near perfection and calls “cinematic sublimity with this multilayered and operatic exploration of the crushing corruption of an unchecked regime” and Abderrahmane Sissakos’ Timbuktu. On tap directly from Venice we might have the retirement films from Roy Andersson (A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence) and Ann Hui (The Golden Era), with some South Korean representation from Hong Sang-soo in Hill of Freedom and Revivre from Im Kwon-taek, but the worthy mentions are the nabbed world premiere status items from the always fascinating, taste dispenser and wide-ranging filmography in Michael Winterbottom & the always wry and humorous latest...
- 7/29/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
The opening film in competition, Timbuktu is a tough act to follow. Set in the eponymous remote and striking city, director Abderrahamane Sissako’s film focuses on the jihad and extreme Islam’s corrosive influence in this beautiful place.
Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed, Aka Pino) and his wife Satima (Toulou Kiki) live with their children in a tent outside of town. Their nomadic existence is something out of a fairytale: they are beautiful, happy and seemingly beyond the madness of extremism that is engulfing the town. Yet this idyllic existence cannot last, for nobody can remain untouched. Local jihad leader Abdelkrim (Abel Jafri) has a soft spot for Satima and always happens to visit when hubby’s not home. Then their son gets into trouble taking the cattle, his beloved cow – the brilliantly named Gps – killed for getting entangled in a local fisherman’s nets. So begins this family’s fall...
Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed, Aka Pino) and his wife Satima (Toulou Kiki) live with their children in a tent outside of town. Their nomadic existence is something out of a fairytale: they are beautiful, happy and seemingly beyond the madness of extremism that is engulfing the town. Yet this idyllic existence cannot last, for nobody can remain untouched. Local jihad leader Abdelkrim (Abel Jafri) has a soft spot for Satima and always happens to visit when hubby’s not home. Then their son gets into trouble taking the cattle, his beloved cow – the brilliantly named Gps – killed for getting entangled in a local fisherman’s nets. So begins this family’s fall...
- 5/24/2014
- by Jo-Ann Titmarsh
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
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