SLANT RELEASES ITS TOP 50 OF 2015

Looking through Slant's Top 50 films of the year, one's reminded of just how brilliant a year in film 2015 was... and 2014... and 2013! Several of my personal favourites appear here, not only of this year but of the last two, including Hard to Be a God and Jauja. It's a varied list, with divisive films that even divided my own opinion, like Magic Mike XXL and Blackhat, placing highly. And any list in which neither Anomalisa nor The Duke of Burgundy can crack the Top 30, and 45 Years can only just make the Top 25, is either the sign of admirably active voters or plain old bad taste. It's Slant magazine, so I'll assume the former. On the other hand, their Worst Of list is full of potential titles for their Best Of list, alongside some indubitably awful ones. Check out their choices below:

Slant's Best Films of 2015

1. Mad Max: Fury Road

2. In Jackson Heights

3. Timbuktu

4. Horse Money

5. Magic Mike XXL

6. Hard to Be a God

7. Heart of a Dog

8. Blackhat

9. The Assassin

10. Chi-Raq

11. Li'l Quinquin

12. Taxi

13. Queen of Earth

14. The Look of Silence

15. Heaven Knows What

16. Jauja

17. The Forbidden Room

18. Phoenix

19. Carol

20. Creed

21. Mistress America

22. Son of Saul

23. Of Men and War

24. Eastern Boys

25. 45 Years

26. About Elly

27. Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One / Arabian Nights: Volume 2 - The Desolate One / Arabian Nights: Volume 3 - The Enchanted One

28. Salvation Army

29. The Kindergarten Teacher

30. Tangerine

31. Anomalisa

32. Welcome to New York

33. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

34. Girlhood

35. Buzzard

36. The Duke of Burgundy

37. The Pearl Button

38. Of Horses and Men

39. Madam Phung's Last Journey

40. We Come as Friends

41. Entertainment

42. The Diary of a Teenage Girl

43. The Fool

44. Maps to the Stars

45. La Ultima Pelicula

46. Inside Out

47. Gangs of Wasseypur

48. Office

49. Coming Home

50. The Princess of France

Slant's Best Performances of 2015

Christopher Abbott (James White)

Emory Cohen (Brooklyn)

Tom Courtenay (45 Years)

Benicio del Toro (Sicario)

Gérard Depardieu (Welcome to New York)

Arielle Holmes (Heaven Knows What)

Nina Hoss (Phoenix)

Michael B. Jordan (Creed)

Brie Larson (Room)

Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)

Rooney Mara (Carol)

Elisabeth Moss (Queen of Earth)

Cynthia Nixon (James White)

Bernard Pruvost (Li’l Quinquin)

Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

Peter Sarsgaard (Experimenter)

Michael Shannon (99 Homes)

Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria)

Slant's Best Scenes of 2015
'Abstract thought' (Inside Out)
'Cause I Knew' (Li'l Quinquin)
'Convenience store dance' (Magic Mike XXL)
'Diamonds' (Girlhood)
'Dirtbike training' (Creed)
'Equine sex' (Of Horses and Men)
'Fantasy football' (Timbuktu)
'Fuck It!' (Tangerine)
'Home invasion' (Eastern Boys)
'King XXI' (A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence)
'Kite flying' (About Elly)
'Maid enters pool' (The Second Mother)
'Master closeup' (Queen of Earth)
'Mother and son in bathroom' (James White)
'Oh girl' (Chi-Raq)
'Opening' (It Follows)
'Opening' (Sicario)
'The second dinner' (Carol)
'Speak Low' (Phoenix)
'Veridis Quo' (Eden)

Slant's Worst Films of 2015
1. Beasts of No Nation
2. Accidental Love
3. 7 Minutes
4. Jason and Shirley
5. Vice
6. The End of the Tour
7. Ted 2
8. The Human Centipede III (Final Sequence)
9. Trainwreck
10. The Cobbler