15 Great Moments Inside Movie Theaters in '15

Confession: I am extremely terrible about keeping a calendar, or even a letterboxd list which I update sporadically from time to time before forgetting again. In short the only "diary" of any sort I have is this ode to movies you're visiting now... The Film Experience. Nevertheless in reviewing the film year I realized that I haven't been frequenting NYC's wonderful repertory theaters as much as in past years. Must fix.  And I really have to do a better of keeping track of what I'm seeing in general lest I actually forget I saw something and it's missing from LISTS. *gasp*

But I  ♥ going to the movies. And if you're reading this it's safe to assume that you do too. So it's list time. Please share your favorite moments of moviegoing this year in the comments. 

15 Favorite Moments Inside Movie Theaters in '15
because it's the best place to be!
 

15 The Incredible Hulk (2008) 
April 29th: That moment when my best friend and I suddenly realized that we could leave anytime during the Marvel Movie Marathon (preceding the premiere of The Age of Ultron) and still get the same seat. What a relief. I mean... nobody should have to sit through Iron Man 2 ever again!

14 Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)
April 6th: Sitting down for a special invite-only screening of Clouds of Sils Maria and seeing so many actors I loved in the audience (Diane Lane, Parker Posey, Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin). Turner was surprisingly willing to make conversation afterwards, her voice miraculously even lower than onscreen in person; she kindly ignored my fairly obvious terror at finally meeting one of my all time favorite goddesses.

13 Hateful Eight (2015) - INTERMISSION ONLY!
Dec: Though I've admired Teo Bugbee as a writer for over a year (and she's written for the site on rare occasion) we finally met recently and every time we managed to sync up our schedules (lunch, drinks at a bar, a screening of Hateful Eight) it somehow become an extra imaginary screening of Carol we talked about the movie so much. Basically Teo is the only way I made it through Hateful Eight. 

Carol, Chi-Raq, two older classics and more after the jump...

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December. It's a Wrap

No. No. We aren't wrapping 2015 yet. There's still prizes to hand out and a few more lists to finish writing. But we can and must wrap up December since it ends in a few hours when everyone will be kissing on everyone and screaming "Happpy New Year!" 

Since the film year doesn't truly end until the last Oscar statue is handed out, it'd be more accurate to scream...

Happy New Calendar Year -- the Oscars Are Only 58 Days Away!"

But try convincing the drunk masses to scream that one out at midnight tonight!

December Highlights
• SAG Ensemble who got left out even though their film was nominated? 
• Son of Saul Interview the director and star of Oscar's foreign film frontrunner (now playing)
• Star Wars Oscar History then but now?
• Critics Choice Shark Jump we embarrassed ourselves like never before over the new Star Wars
• Outstanding Achievement in Abs meet the new Tarzan, more eight-packy than the previous Tarzans
• Mildred Pierce Manuel looked back at Todd Haynes pre Carol, HBO miniseries
• Julianne Moore Acts for Tips in Times Square
• Brokeback Mountain, Mermaids, and Doctor Zhivago we celebrated the 10th, 25th & 50th anniversaries with our favorite scenes and memories
• Production Design: Room one of the year's most creatively boxed-in challenges 
• "You Need Serious Hair" magical DIY makeovers

BEST OF 2015. PERIOD
We spent a lot of time obsessing over the year's best picture Carol, it's true. But mostly we've had a ton of fun sharing our "15 best of '15 lists". There's a few more coming but if you've missed any please do dive in. We've already covered:

• Scariest Moments BOO!
• Hardest Working Actors ubiquity for days
• Best Things on TV from Veep to Penny Dreadful
• Greatest Screen Hunks dino trainers, strippers, boxers, and farmhands ohmy
• Movie Animals Not all of which try to eat Leonardo DiCaprio!
• Co-Star Chemistry these pairs caught lightning in a bottle!
• Biggest Box Office Hits in 4 different categories

• Worst of the Year Hateful Eight and other things that aggravated
• Red Carpet Looks only one per lady allowed 
• Delicious Music Videos Sia, Tame Impala, Madonna and more
• 15 Most Popular Tweets

 COMING IN JANUARY
The Film Bitch Awards for 2015 (we stuck one toe in thus far), the BAFTA nominations, The Golden Globe and SAG Awards, various Guild Nominations, and much Oscar Mania. You should also expect lots more on the big Oscar titles including interviews and second looks. Plus we'll gaze at Sundance from afar (since we couldn't afford the trip this year - tight budget for 2016). ANY REQUESTS?

Best of '15: Most Memorable Scares. Boo!

Jason from MNPP here for more Year in Review madness.

Truth be told 2015 was not the best year for horror movies. There were some smaller successes but only a couple of classics born, and out of those only one - David Robert Mitchell's It Follows would classify entirely as a genre exercise. But there were plenty of Scary Scenes, whether inside the horror genre or knock knock knocking on the door, and that's what we're here to celebrate.

The following moments aren't necessarily in hard order, save the top few, because What Scares Us is subjective to not just each individual person but to each individual moment that person is experiencing -- I might feel like "No thank you, Bugs" today but tomorrow it might be all like "I said NO THANK YOU, Cannibals!" instead. Fear's a funny thing like that.

Anyway beware spoilers below, as we'll be discussing in a little bit of detail the money-shots of the year in "Boo!"

The 15 Scariest Scenes of 2015
from all sorts of films after the jump... 

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Top 15 Most Hardworking Performers in 2015

Manuel here continuing our year end review.

Remember in 2011 when Jessica Chastain went from unknown actress to Oscar nominee in the blink of an eye thanks to the whirlwind of release dates that had her starring in over six films in that calendar year? It was as great a calling card as you could ask for and while Chastain had a relatively subdued year (Crimson Peak, The Martian), other actors gave her a run for her money in the “how many projects can I appear on in one year” race. Not that it’s a contest, but we’re fan of lists here at TFE even as we understand they’re more jumping off discussion points rather than monolithic assertions of quality or taste. And so find below a list of 15 actors who were extra hardworking and who you couldn’t have missed seeing as they were everywhere from superhero franchise films and prestige flicks to Netflix series and festival sensations.

The Martian cast had a busy 2015, but 2016 looks busier still for Damon, Chastain, Mara and Marvel boy Stan.

Rankings and inclusions were both arbitrary and subjective. Thus, they’re neither binding nor absolute (my personal fave and the inspiration for this post in the first place comes at #2). Feel free to tell me who I missed and whether you agree with our undisputed #1 placement who’ll be getting a special Gold Medal from Nat himself for their Body of Work this year.

15. Bill Murray (Aloha, Rock the Kasbah, A Very Murray Christmas)

14. Nicole Kidman (Grace of Monaco, Paddington, Strangerland, Secret in Their Eyes)

13. Chiwetel Ejiofor (Z for Zachariah, The Martian, Secret in their Eyes)

the ubiquitous dozen after the jump

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Best of '15: The TV Experience

Dancin' Dan here to take a look at 2015 on the small screen. When I moved to NYC late last year I thought that I would be going to the movies all the time. After all, so many more movies play here than my previous home in the middle of Connecticut! But the sheer glut of movies to see, both old and new, caused a lot of second-guessing and a bit of paralysis, leading to a less robust slate than I had imagined.

But the plentiful offerings of television were there for me in my indecisive, paralyzed state. I didn't watch everything, but I did watch a lot. And these are...

15 Favorite Things About TV in '15
after the jump... 

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