Seven Days, December 30, 2015 by Seven Days

AT THE MOVIES and a bunch of other fine actors were simply wasted in underwritten roles. None of them came out looking good.

Whom We’d Like to See More of at the Movies

RK: I wasn’t as crazy about Grandma as a lot of critics were, but it did remind me that the movies could use a lot more Lily Tomlin. MH: I agree! Also, the Streep daughters. This year, Mamie Gummer was an intensely rageful presence alongside her mom in the uneven Ricki and the Flash, making me want to see her in a lead role.

The Look of Silence

Whom We’d Like to See Less of at the Movies

RK: I hate to keep dumping on Diane Keaton, but my God. Has there been another actress who’s so blithely trashed a significant film legacy? From Annie Hall, The Godfather and Reds to Because I Said So, And So It Goes and The Big Wedding. If she’s going to be such consistently chuckleheaded company, I’d rather not have her around. MH: “Chosen one” characters — a trend that reached its nadir with the cynical revision of Peter Pan into the loud, pandering, unmagical Pan. Must everyone be Harry Potter or Luke Skywalker? Can’t a not-special boy or girl save the world for once?

The Big Short

one familiar face — that of Idris Elba. So I guess I’ll go with Heart of a Dog. MH: Tangerine, a dynamic little LA indie with two trans actresses in the lead roles. It’s a comedy (sometimes) about a Christmas Eve revenge mission.

Worst Movie With an All-Star Cast

MH: Sandra Bullock tried to stretch her range with Our Brand Is Crisis, while Billy Bob Thornton played to type,

RK: This was a phenomenal year for documentaries. How often do you see films as fabulous as The Look of Silence, Listen to Me Marlon, Heart of a Dog, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief and Best of Enemies all released in the same 12 months? Not to mention that Michael Moore is back (Where to Invade Next). Even in a field this extraordinary, however, Amy stood out. MH: The Look of Silence is an essential sequel to The Act of Killing — together they give a fuller picture of a place where atrocities are neither disowned by the perpetrators nor forgiven by the survivors. It’s also tenser than any action thriller.

Most Disposable Movie Franchise

MH: As a horror fan, I beg for the end of the Insidious and Paranormal Activity series. They started with juice, but the scares are long gone, and they lack the camp appeal that helped render Freddy, Jason and Michael Myers undying.

Worst Picture

RK: Love the Coopers wasn’t just the year’s lamest comedy, it was the lamest movie, period. Technically, I gave The Letters an even worse review, but the pope just made Mother Teresa a saint, and I don’t want to go to hell. MH: The MTV time-travel found-footage movie Project Almanac, which came across as a 10-year-old’s attempt to mash up Back to the Future with Primer after sleeping through most of both. And I like the found-footage format.

Best Picture

RK: Spotlight is one of the great newspaper movies of all time, a film on par with All the President’s Men. In this automatic awards contender from director Tom McCarthy, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, John Slattery, Liev Schreiber and Stanley Tucci do some of the most impressive work of their careers. Michael Keaton is so good he’s looking at the possibility of back-to-back Oscar nominations. Finally, the film tells a sad but true story that no one who sees it will ever forget. MH: My favorites of this year are films in the spirit of noir — highly stylized, dread-soaked tales of the devastation that can result from the workings of complex systems that are rotten at the core. In The Big Short, it’s the American financial system, and the film’s “heroes” are actually scoundrels who find a way to profit from the collapse. In Sicario, it’s the drug war, and Emily Blunt is the heroine whose ideals are no match for reality. Roger Deakins’ expressive cinematography gives the latter the edge for me. But both movies strike exactly the right balance of meaty procedural detail and cinematic flair. They’re epics for pessimists. m

RK: “I’d love to do something with Forest [Whitaker] again, and if it’s in a Taken 4 scenario … great.” I’m not sure “great” is the word I’d use, but that’s Liam Neeson’s

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