Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)

2015 | UK | Matthew Vaughn | ★★

Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman: The Secret Service is a sporadically entertaining but wearyingly juvenile action comedy, buoyed by charismatic performances, but fatally hamstrung by its excessive runtime, soulless violence, and overbearing score.

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"Based upon the acclaimed comic book and directed by Matthew Vaughn, the film tells the story of The Kingsman; a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into his agency’s ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius" 20th Century Fox

Dog Lady (2015)

La mujer de los perros

2015 | Argentina | Laura Citarella & Verónica Llinás | ★★★

Featuring very little dialogue and almost no plot, Laura Citarella and Verónica Llinás's mildly diverting Dog Lady is an Argentinian observational slice-of-life drama about a woman (played by co-director Llinás) living on the margins of human society.

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"An existentialist fable about a woman who lives with a pack of dogs on the very edge of the populated world, with minimal contact with other people. The seasons come and go. On life and survival, love and death. Dog Lady finds in the outstanding performance of Verónica Llinás (also co-director) an enigmatic, quietly potent screen presence able to challenge the pillars of our society without need of words." Mubi

Impression of a War (2015)

La impresión de una guerra

2015 | Colombia / France | Camilo Restrepo | ★★★

Paris-based Colombian film-maker Camilo Restrepo's Impression of a War is a well-crafted but underdeveloped short documentary about the pervasiveness of violence, featuring well-chosen archival material and thoughtful narration.

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"For over 70 years Colombia has been subject to an internal armed conflict whose demarcation lines seem to have become blurred over time. An insidious creeping violence has gradually pervaded the whole of society. Impossible as it is to tell this story in one unified narrative, the history behind this violence seems to take form through a multitude of traces." TMDb

Dag (2010-15)

2010-15 | Norway | Øystein Karlsen | ★★★★

Øystein Karlsen's Dag is a bleak but riotously funny Norwegian comedy series, comprised of a heady mix of outré black humour, surprising moments of tenderness, and a decidedly dark worldview, driven by the strangely loveable performances of Atle Antonsen, Tuva Novotny, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Agnes Kittelsen, and Rolf Lassgård.

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"Dag is a Norwegian comedy series about a marriage counselor who thinks people should live in solitude. He hates spending time with other people, except from his friend Benedict who is struggling to be faithful in his own relationship. Dag's life changes when his well-meaning sister, Marianne, forces him to go on his nineteenth blind-date with her old childhood friend, Eva." IMDb

See also: 

Stotty's Norwegian Favourites

A Country Called Home (2015)

2015 | USA | Anna Axster | ★★★

Anna Axster's female-driven, Texas-set A Country Called Home is an occasionally clichéd and vaguely patronising though generally touching low-key drama, featuring convincingly well-drawn characters and sensitively adroit performances from Imogen Poots, Mackenzie Davis, Mary McCormack, et al.

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"A Country Called Home is a compelling coming of age story with universal appeal because it deals with trials and trepidations that most people experience in one way or another, no matter who they are or where they are from. The story incorporates the views of people from all walks of life; different generations, different places, and different socio-economic backdrops. Hence main character Ellie’s journey of growth and forgiveness is grounded in a rich and multifaceted setting. Her story was inspired by director / writer Anna Axster’s travels and observations throughout the United States with her musician husband, Ryan Bingham." acountrycalledhome.com

Le Moulin (2015)

2015 | Taiwan | Huang Ya-li | ★★★

Huang Ya-li's Golden Horse Award-winning Le Moulin is an impeccably crafted though overlong and only mildly engaging documentary about poetry in 1930s Taiwan, comprised of sporadically stimulating old photos, paintings, film clips, and literary extracts.

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"It was when Taiwan was in a stable period of cultural assimilation during the past forty years of Japanese colonial rule that the country’s first modern art group – Le Moulin Poetry Society – arose in the 1930s, with their poetic protest against the colonial power’s cultural superiority. The name reflected the group’s orientation towards the West while especially strongly influenced by France. Regarding the Surrealists as their absolute role models, Le Moulin poets composed poetry in an uncompromising and aesthetically sophisticated style to confront the turbulent era they lived in." Ablaze Image

B-ROLL with Andre (2015)

2015 | USA | James N. Kienitz Wilkins | ★★★★

The concluding part of his 'Andre' Trilogy, artist and film-maker James N. Kienitz Wilkins's stimulatingly intriguing B-ROLL with Andre is a visually undistinguished but idea-packed short film about movies, technology, and social identity.

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"A disembodied, anonymous character reflects on the titular Andre, a fellow prisoner whose obsessions with mainstream cinema and video technologies serve as oblique clues to how he escaped. Andre’s aspirations to achieve absolute fidelity in image-making intersect with questions about representation, identity, and personal ethics." Vdrome

Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)

2015 | USA | Elizabeth Banks | ★★

Despite the addition of Hailee Steinfeld to the Barden Bellas, Elizabeth Banks's deeply disappointing Pitch Perfect 2 is a fatally unfocused and overlong sequel that lacks the easy charm, humour, and ear-catching tunes of its much more accomplished and entertaining predecessor.

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"The Barden Bellas are back to pitch slap the world in Pitch Perfect 2, the follow-up to the original runaway global hit about a group of lovable misfits with only one thing in common: the irresistible way they sound when they’re seamlessly mixed together, mashed-up and arranged like never before." Universal Pictures

Over the Years (2015)

Über die Jahre

2015 | Austria | Nikolaus Geyrhalter | ★★★★

Nikolaus Geyrhalter's ten-years-in-the-making Over the Years is a sobering yet quietly hopeful documentary about long-term unemployment amidst industrial decline, comprised of interesting, idiosyncratic subjects interviewed in a series of strikingly framed static shots.

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"Ten surprising years. In the winter of 2004, no one can tell how long the old textile factory in the northern Waldviertel will still be able to survive. When the factory ultimately shuts its doors, its employees embark upon a time of radical change. The workers, who live in the countryside, seek new directions. Other work, unpaid work, more time to engage in hobbies, to become involved in the local fire department or to care for relatives. New beginnings and changes. Life goes on." geyrhalterfilm.com

Mustang (2015)

2015 | France / Turkey | Deniz Gamze Ergüven | ★★★★

French-Turkish film-maker Deniz Gamze Ergüven's strangely warm and hopeful Mustang provides a girl's eye view of patriarchal oppression, filled with sensuous photography, beautiful performances, and radiant Turkish girls.

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"It's the beginning of summer. In a small village in northern Turkey, Lale and her four sisters are on their way home from school, innocently playing with local boys. But prying village eyes view their games with suspicion about the girls behaviour. Their refusal to repent quickly causes a scandal among the family." Curzon Artificial Eye

Spotlight (2015)

2015 | USA | Tom McCarthy | ★★★★

Tom McCarthy's painfully authentic, fact-based Spotlight is a gripping, well-paced drama, packed with well-drawn characters, compelling storytelling, and fine performances from Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, et al.

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"Spotlight tells the astonishing true story of the Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize- winning 'Spotlight' team of investigative journalists, who in 2002 shock the city and the world by exposing the Catholic Church’s systematic cover-up of widespread pedophilia perpetrated by more than 70 local priests." 2015 Spotlight Film

Knight of Cups (2015)

2015 | USA | Terrence Malick | ★★★★

Starring Christian Bale and a well-assembled ensemble cast, Terrence Malick's alluringly abstruse, lullingly paced Knight of Cups is an impressionistically melancholy drama set in a world of empty glamour, filled with hypnotic tracking shots and committed performances.

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"Rick is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles trying to make sense of the strange events around him. While successful in his career, his life feels empty. Haunted by the death of one brother and the dire circumstances of the other, he finds temporary solace in the decadent Hollywood excess that defines his existence. Women provide a distraction to the daily pain he must endure, and every encounter that comes his way brings him closer to finding his place in the world." Studiocanal

Louder Than Bombs (2015)

2015 | Norway / USA | Joachim Trier | ★★★★

Norwegian film-maker Joachim Trier's sombrely compelling Louder Than Bombs is a thoughtful, well-crafted family drama about grief and its myriad forms, featuring strong visuals and a raft of excellent performances from its well-assembled cast.

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"Louder Than Bombs explores the death of a famous photographer and how her family copes while unraveling the truth behind her mysterious accident." Motlys

See also: 

Stotty's Norwegian Favourites

A Bigger Splash (2015)

2015 | Italy | Luca Guadagnino | ★★★

Luca Guadagnino's generally unconvincing A Bigger Splash is a mildly diverting Italian adaptation of Alain Page's 1968 novel La Piscine, enlivened somewhat by Ralph Fiennes's exuberantly compelling performance and its sun-drenched locales.

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"In A Bigger Splash, rock legend Marianne Lane (Tilda Swinton) is recuperating on the volcanic island of Pantelleria with her partner Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts) when iconoclast record producer and old flame Harry (Ralph Fiennes) unexpectedly arrives with his daughter Penelope (Dakota Johnson) and interrupts their holiday, bringing with him an A-bomb blast of nostalgia from which there can be no rescue. A Bigger Splash is a sensuous portrait of desire, jealousy and rock and roll, under the Mediterranean sun." Fox Searchlight

Dheepan (2015)

2015 | France | Jacques Audiard | ★★★★

French film-maker Jacques Audiard's Dheepan is a fascinating social drama that unnervingly morphs into an increasingly nightmarish thriller, featuring strong direction, unpredictable scripting, and painfully convincing performances.

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"From acclaimed director Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, Rust and Bone) comes the powerful story of Dheepan, a Sri Lankan Tamil warrior who is forced to flee to France to escape the civil war, posing as a family with a woman and young girl he has never previously met. Finding work as a caretaker of a housing block in the suburbs of Paris, Dheepan works to build a new life and home for his ‘wife’ and ‘daughter’, but the daily violence he confronts quickly reopens the violence from his past, and he is left fighting for their livelihood, and eventually their lives." Studiocanal

The Wave (2015)

Bølgen

2015 | Norway | Roar Uthaug | ★★★

Roar Uthaug's The Wave is a gripping if not particularly credible-feeling disaster movie, buoyed by convincing effects and relatively strong performances from its well-assembled cast, including stars Kristoffer Joner and Ane Dahl Torp.

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"The very day he’s about to drive his family to a new life in the city, geologist Kristian Elkjord senses something wrong with the mountain that overlooks his scenic town. No one wants to believe that this could be the big one, especially with tourist season at its peak, but when a landslide from the Mountain sends tons of rock and earth crashing into the sea, everyone has ten minutes to outrace the resulting tsunami to higher ground in this thrilling action spectacular." Magnolia Pictures

Halt and Catch Fire (2014-)

2014- | USA | Christopher Cantwell & Christopher C. Rogers | ★★★★

Rogers & Cantwell's Halt and Catch Fire is an enigmatically engrossing, formally elegant '80s-set series about the birth of modern computing, featuring unpredictable plotting, well-drawn characters, and a number of excellent performances.

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"Set in the 1980s, this series dramatizes the personal computing boom through the eyes of a visionary, an engineer and a prodigy whose innovations directly confront the corporate behemoths of the time. Their personal and professional partnership will be challenged by greed and ego while charting the changing culture in Texas' Silicon Prairie." AMC

Embrace of the Serpent (2015)

El abrazo de la serpiente

2015 | Colombia | Ciro Guerra | ★★★★★

Ciro Guerra's remarkable, multi award-winning Embrace of the Serpent provides an exotic, mystical odyssey through the Colombian Amazon, with stunning monochrome photography, strong performances, and enigmatic plotting.

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"Karamakate, a warrior shaman and last of his tribe, transcends the worlds of men and seeks truth through their dreams. He alone knows how to find the mysterious and psychedelic Yakruna plant; for some it has life-saving properties, for others it is a commodity waiting to be exploited. Two scientists, in two different times with very different agendas enlist Karamakate on their individual quests in an epic adventure into the heart of the Colombian Amazon to find this mythical plant. This Oscar nominated film is seen through Karamakate’s eyes and bears witness to the effects of colonialism, religion and the exploitation of rubber, that affect indigenous traditions and the environment to which they are inextricably linked." Saffron Hill

See also:

Stotty's 2010s Favourites

Sex, Lies & Love Bites: The Agony Aunt Story (2015)

2015 | UK | Philippa Perry | ★★★

British psychotherapist and agony aunt Philippa Perry's Sex, Lies & Love Bites is a quietly informative, occasionally eye-opening, and generally diverting if somewhat underdeveloped social history documentary from the BBC.

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"Psychotherapist and agony aunt Philippa Perry presents a witty and revealing look at the problem page's enduring appeal. In the documentary Philippa picks her way through three centuries of advice on broken hearts, cheating partners and adolescent angst to uncover a fascinating portrait of our social history." BBC

An Unforeseen Situation (2015)

2015 | Pakistan | Bani Abidi | ★★★

Berlin-based Pakistani artist and film-maker Bani Abidi's mildly stimulating An Unforeseen Situation is a witty short film, filled with interesting images and intriguing though underdeveloped ideas about patriotism and masculinity.

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"An Unforeseen Situation refers to a series of orchestrated mass events and spectacular individual feats hosted by the Punjab Ministry of Sports in 2014 during which multiple world records were reportedly broken by Pakistan. Picking up from the popular rumors, newspaper clippings and video footage surrounding the events, the artist examines notions of patriotism, masculinity and foulplay through a fictional narrative based on real events." Vdrome