Emerson Malone’s top films:
3. Spotlight
This 2001 period piece is an account of The Boston Globe’s titular investigative journalism team uncovering The Catholic Church’s extensive priest molestation scandal. Journalism is an easy profession to romanticize, but it’s not as easy to glorify. There’s not a lot that’s explicitly sexy about transcribing an interview or typing a story, but Spotlight makes it look laudable. Maybe it’s because truthful journalistic accounts are almost always more compelling than fictional ones; maybe it’s because Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, John Slattery, and Rachel McAdams are outstanding in their performances. It takes some liberties with the whole sensitive-reporting-on-sexual-assault thing (McAdams’ Sacha tells a rape victim who’s recounting a priest’s sexual advances not to “sugarcoat” it), but it still manages to pull off the seemingly impossible – making journalism look exciting.
2. The Big Short
It may not seem like a lateral move from directing Step Brothers, Anchorman, and Talledega Nights to directing a film about the 2007-2010 financial crisis and housing market collapse, but director Adam McKay undeniably makes it work. McKay has certainly put together his most intricate and admirable film to date, adapted by the book from Michael Lewis. The Big Short embraces the financial lingo integral to Wall St. trading and translates it for the common folk. It’s baffling that this film hadn’t already been made, as these arcane terms like “collateralized debt obligations” and “subprime mortgages” were the catalyst for the disruption of the American economy that forced millions to lose their jobs and homes. Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Christian Bale all offer exceptional performances as those who spurred and directly profited from the economic meltdown. Spoiler alert: hardly anyone is arrested and the banks get a bailout.
1. Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
Through interviews with The Church of Scientology’s defectors, director Alex Gibney’s adaptation of Lawrence Wright’s book Going Clear is an impeccable deconstruction of one of the most enigmatic, made-in-America organizations. The documentary explains plenty within two hours: the life of founder L. Ron Hubbard; the religion’s inventive vocabulary; the Church’s current figurehead, David Miscavige, and the numerous allegations of his violent behavior; as well as why the Church courts celebrities like Tom Cruise and John Travolta as members; and how it achieved the tax-exempt designation as a religious institution. This is the most compelling documentary of 2015.
Craig Wright’s top films:
5. Inside Out
Pixar continues its trend of making cartoons with messages worth crying over. Inside Out follows a young girl named Riley as she goes through difficult a cross-country move to San Francisco from Minneapolis. As she loses touch with everything she used to love, the emotions in her head (Anger, voiced by Amy Poehler, Sadness, by Phyllis Smith, Anger, by Lewis Black, and Fear, by Bill Hader) are forced to adapt to her new surroundings, and the movie shows that sometimes life isn’t all happy, and that’s acceptable.
4. The Martian
It may seem strange to say that a movie about an astronaut stranded alone on Mars was the surprise comedy of the year, but Matt Damon and director Ridley Scott made this lonely astronaut the funniest man on the planet. Damon creates a character that you can’t help but root for as he pulls out every trick (and then some) in the NASA book, always with a smile and quick joke to accompany it.

3. Creed
To say that a good Rocky movie has been made since 1985 is an impressive feat, but this reboot takes Rocky Balboa out of the boxing ring and inserts Adonis Creed, the illegitimate son of Rocky’s late friend Apollo Creed. The simplicity of the story is key. Creed is an amateur fighter looking for his big break and will stop at nothing to get it. The film revives what fans love about the original Rocky movies, but it stops short of being a nostalgia-driven film; Creed is its own story that successfully incorporates the past to tell a new chapter.
2. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
There is nothing left to say about Star Wars at this point. If you haven’t seen it yet, you’re either too stubborn to admit that a movie that raked in a billion dollars in 12 days can be good because (God forbid) it’s popular, or, more likely, you don’t have a passable excuse. The magic of the original trilogy is back, and it is strong enough to convert the nonbelievers.
1. Mad Max: Fury Road
Never before has the apocalyptic desert looked so beautiful. George Miller returns to direct the fourth installment of the Mad Max franchise. He leaves the audience no time catch their breath or notice that Tom Hardy stepped in seamlessly for Mel Gibson in the adrenaline shock that is Fury Road. In a brutal chase across the desert, Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) finds Max as an unlikely companion to team up against the warlord Immortan Joe and his half-life warboys to find hope in a planet made inhospitable by the war-hungry tribes that populate it. Shot with little CGI, the stunts are as shocking as the flame thrower-toting heavy-metal guitarist in a red onesie.
Follow Craig Wright on Twitter @wgwcraig
Chris Berg’s top films:

10. San Andreas
San Andreas is not a good movie. In fact, it’s actively terrible. But it’s terrible in that enchanting, earnest way. It’s destruction porn, with a plot to match.

9. Jurassic World
Sometimes, all you want out of a movie is to feel like a child again. While the adult in me likes World’s interesting evolutions on the Park formula, my inner eight-year old was just jazzed over some pure dino chaos.
8. The Martian
Lovingly idealistic, Ridley Scott’s adaptation of the hit novel was a love letter to human achievement.
7. Kingsman: The Secret Service
In a year full of slick espionage thrillers, my favorite ended up being this bold tribute to the days where being a secret agent actually seemed like a fun job.
6. Steve Jobs
It’s Aaron Sorkin at his most self-indulgent and grandiose. Steve Jobs is a Shakespearean epic about SIlicon Valley.
5. Mad Max: Fury Road
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie as widely appreciated and admired as Mad Max. George Miller’s return to the outback is like a movie out of a dream – massive in scale, humble in production and enchanting to witness.
4. The Gift
Joel Edgerton came out of left field with this remarkable thriller, which he both directs and stars to chilling effect. It’s twisted, smart and keeps you on your toes from the first frame to the last.
3. Dope
Dope feels like a portal into a culture. It’s a movie that tackles a rough subject with a light spirit and relevance. Dope bleeds style, and deserves to be the rallying call of a generation.
2. Creed
I’ve always had a soft spot for a good boxing movie, and Creed might be the best of the modern era. Even as it rides through the same path as the classic Rocky films, director Ryan Coogler finds countless ways to keep the experience fresh.
1. Room
One of this year’s strongest Oscar contenders, Room is a simple story told to stunning effect. Brie Larson plays a woman kidnapped at the age of 17, who raises her young son (Jacob Tremblay) in the one-room shed where they are held captive. On the son’s fifth birthday, they formulate a plan to escape. Told from her son’s perspective, it’s a hauntingly real story told with a child’s innocence. Director Lenny Abrahamson does the impossible, making a small space feel almost infinite. Every inch is given importance, and for fleeting moments you buy into the Stockholm syndrome shared by the characters. Both Tremblay and Larson give incredible performances, resulting in a brutally tense film that comes together beautifully. Nothing else in 2015 makes an audience so fruitfully invested in the fate of its central characters. It’s not an easy movie to sit through, but you’ll leave enlightened — feeling as if the whole world has changed before your eyes.
Follow Chris Berg on Twitter @ChrisBerg25
Alex Ruby’s top films:
3. The Hateful Eight
If nothing else, Quentin Tarantino’s latest film is the bloodiest movie of 2015. Being a Tarantino movie, you know some sort of violence will come up, but Eight leaves you in suspense as to when it’s coming. Not only is the violence gruesome and well done, the storytelling has so many twists, turns and time jumps that you’ll think you’re watching a Western version of Pulp Fiction. You really never know what’s going to happen next. And the people behind the characters who flesh out the intricate story are definitely at their best: Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Walton Goggins and others play interesting and fully realized characters. If you have the patience to sit in the theater for three hours, definitely engulf yourself into the claustrophobic atmosphere of Eight.
2. The End of the Tour

I have never read “Infinite Jest,” nor have I read any of David Foster Wallace’s many books, but somehow I was drawn to this movie about an interview done by David Lipsky with Wallace at the end of his “Infinite Jest” book tour. Maybe it was the performances from Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenberg, who played Wallace and Lipsky, respectively. Maybe it was the movie’s minimalist production. Maybe it was the pure emotion that came out of each of the characters. After finishing the movie, I realized it was all of these things. Jason Segel pulls off the best performance of his career (hopefully earning him some more dramatic roles). The camerawork and lack of any Hollywood flair make you focus on the characters and their thought-provoking dialogue. It’s a great movie that makes the audience connect with the late, tortured author, even if they’ve never heard of him before.
1. What We Do In The Shadows
From the creators of Flight of the Conchords comes the best comedy of 2015 (absolutely outweighing Trainwreck) and the best movie about vampires in a long time. The mockumentary centers around three vampires living as flatmates in modern-day New Zealand. They have chores, go out to clubs and settle house disputes. The movie takes all the typical vampire tropes (nocturnal, blood-sucking, bat transformations, etc.) and turns them into laughable, everyday situations. The actors never force jokes, they come often and effortlessly. There are a few parts that are scary, but it’s all in good fun. The movie will have you desiring more New Zealand vampire antics by the time it’s over. One of the highlights is a standoff between the vampire flatmates and a pack of werewolves. You can imagine what ensues.
Follow Alex Ruby on Twitter @arubyrubrub