Film Honors: 2015

My own personal choices for the year. They reflect not just necessarily what I think is the best or essential cinema, but perhaps resonate with me or inspire, both at the time, and still today. Subject to alter choices if new viewings are worthy enough. Other published Film Honors posts can be found at the menu at the top of the page.

Actor Support
Paul Dano (Love & Mercy)
Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)
Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina)
Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)
Michael Shannon (99 Homes)

Sound Designing
Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Relatos salvajes
Special Effects
Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Walk
Cast Ensemble
The Big Short
Inside Out
Spotlight
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Relatos salvajes

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUnXv6R2HI8&w=560&h=315]

Actor Lead
Raúl Arévalo (La isla mínima)
Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
Javier Gutiérrez (La isla mínima)
Tom Hardy (Legend)
Mark Ruffalo (Infinitely Polar Bear)
Set Designing
Brooklyn
Cinderella
Crimson Peak
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Assassin
Costume Designing
Brooklyn
Carol
Cinderella
Crimson Peak
Mad Max: Fury Road
Score Composing
Michael Brook (Brooklyn)
Thomas Newman (He Named Me Malala)
Stephen Rennicks (Room)
Max Richter (Testament of Youth)
Richard Vreeland (It Follows)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtI-rqO9azg&w=560&h=315]

Picture Editing
Ex Machina
La isla mínima
Mad Max: Fury Road
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Cinematography
Alex Catalán (La isla mínima)
Cary Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation)
Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)
John Seale (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Lyle Vincent (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night)

Actress Support
Olivia Cooke (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl)
Camila Márdila (Que Horas Ela Volta?)
Julianne Moore (Maps to the Stars)
Érica Rivas (Relatos salvajes)
Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)
Screenwriting Adapted
Jesse Andrews (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl)
Emma Donoghue (Room)
Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl)
Nick Hornby (Brooklyn)
Aaron Sorkin (Steve Jobs)
Screenwriting Original
Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night)
Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley (Inside Out)
Efthimis Filippou, Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster)
Alex Garland (Ex Machina)
Damián Szifron (Relatos salvajes)
Actress Lead
Regina Casé (Que Horas Ela Volta?)
Brie Larson (Room)
Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)
Alicia Vikander (Testament of Youth)

Directing
Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night)
Alex Garland (Ex Machina)
Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster)
George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Damián Szifrón (Relatos salvajes)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAtmopQxu0o&w=560&h=315]

Motion Picture
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour) USA / Iran
Beasts of No Nation (Cary Fukunaga) USA
Brooklyn (John Crowley) UK / Canada / Ireland
Ex Machina (Alex Garland) UK / USA
Inside Out (Pete Docter) USA
Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller) Australia / USA
The Lobster (Yorgos Lanthimos) Ireland / UK / Greece / France / Netherlands
Que Horas Ela Volta? (Anna Muylaert) Brazil
Kaguyahime no monogatari (Isao Takahata) Japan
Relatos salvajes (Damián Szifrón) Argentina / Spain