Silver Screen Riot’s Top 10 Films of 2015

January 1, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Lists, Most Popular Tagged Creed, Ex Machina, Inside Out, Mad Max: Fury Road, Room, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Steve Jobs, The End of the Tour, The Overnight, The Revenant Leave a comment

Well well well. 2015 has finally reached its end. After 201 films, 25 interviews (including Robert Duvall, Kevin Bacon, Jason Segel, Jason Schwartzman, Greta Gerwig, Jemaine Clement, Alex Garland, and Nick Kroll to name just a few), three massive international film festivals and countless hours spend idly engaged in film banter with my always entertaining gang of colleagues and peers at various Seattle screening rooms, I can finally come to the conclusion that, for what it’s worth, 2015 was an odd duck for film. Read More

Out in Theaters: INSIDE OUT

June 18, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Amy Poehler, Best of 2015, Bill Hader, Inside Out, Lewis Black, Out in Theaters, Pete Docter, Phyllis Smith, Pixar, Reviews, Richard Kind 3 Comments

It’s been five long years and three mediocre products since Pixar unleashed the beloved Toy Story 3, and years of bated breathe have contribution to the hot anticipation of their first original effort since 2012’s problematic Brave. The titanic mummer of Pixar’s throbbing heartbeat has been notably muted and palpably chunky over the last half-decade – the result of Disney dollars hierarchized above lush originality and narrative fervor. But with Inside Out, the Docter is in. Stethoscopes have been administered, a double bypass has been performed, the blockage has been loosened. In one fell blow, Pete Docter has served up a whopping Pixar masterpiece and restored the animation studio’s name to its former glory. All hail the king. All hail the Docter.

10 Best Movies of 2015 So Far

June 11, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Lists Tagged Ex Machina, Inside Out, Lamb, Mad Max: Fury Road, The End of the Tour, The Look of Silence, The Overnight, The Witch, Trainwreck, Wild Tales Leave a comment

For the casual film-goer, 2015 has started off on relative slow footing. Dumping ground months January and February held few critical or commercial surprise hits – outside of one release featured on this rundown – with anything of worth reserved for festival-going audiences. Barring the outrageous international money-vacuum that is Furious 7, Summer 2015 has proved a touch disappointing with expected giants such as Avengers: Age of Ultron landing softer than anticipation (while still claiming the second biggest opening weekend ever) and big franchise resets like Terminator: Genisys and Jurassic World waiting in the wings with big question marks (and budgets) hanging over their heads. Read More