Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Favorite Movie/ Shows of 2015



Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new Top Ten list will be posted. Everyone is welcome to join. Link back to The Broke and the Bookish so everyone can check out other bloggers' lists. It's a fun way to get to know fellow bloggers.

This week's topic is Top Ten 2015 Books We Didn't Get to. I'm doing something a little different this week though- I don't really have a lot of stuff I didn't get to, and I've been wanting to do a rundown of all the shows from last year. So... 

With the year all wrapped up I thought it would be fun to recap my favorite movies and shows of 2015. So in no particular order...  


Mad Max Fury Road is a trip. Basically a two hour festival of mayhem, it follows Max and Furiosa (she's the real star of the movie) as they try to help five women escape from a lunatic warlord. It's weird and wild and Furiosa is about as kick ass as they come- oh and she only has one arm, the other one is prosthetic. There was a lot of hype on this one and I don't quite think it lived up to it (some are calling it the best movie of the year- don't know about that) but I'm glad I saw it. 




Ex Machina is a mindbender of a movie that might have flown under the radar a bit this year, but if you like smart sci fi and an eerie look at artificial intelligence, this is a good one. Caleb is selected to spend time with an artificial intelligence named Ava to see if she has "consciousness", but when he finds himself attracted to Ava, things get dicey.  




I know Insurgent wasn't popular in all corners but I liked the movie version a lot. I just thought it was entertaining, I liked the standoff at the farm, the fight on the train and the factionless thing. I thought they did a good job of showing a ruined Chicago. Yes they deviated from the plot of the book, which would normally irritate me, but in this case the movie just worked for me. 

Continuum is probably my favorite show of last year. It ran four seasons so I was a little late coming to it, but I binged it and couldn't get enough. It's got awesome fight scenes, a great cast and a really twisty storyline that explores what happens when time is screwed with. Great show.  



Dark Matter is an awesome show about a group who wake up on a ship with no memory of who they are. This one of my favorite shows of last year, perhaps second only to Continuum.  Here's the trailer. 




The 100 S1 starts out a little angsty but once it gets going it gets intense and pretty gripping- and S2 is even better.  

Black Sails is a pirate show airing on Starz but I've been watching it on Prime after hearing several bloggers rave about it.  

Bloodline is set in the Florida Keys and the cinematography is top notch, adding to the sense of unease and danger that permeates the show. It's a bit of a slow burn and a little different in that we see the shocking finale right off the bat- then the rest of the episodes show us how we got there.  


Mako Mermaids is a younger skewing show on Netflix- there are two seasons with S3 coming in February I believe. It's about three girls cast out of their mermaid pod and they have to adapt to living on land. It's shot on the Gold Coast in Australia and I have an appreciation for how beautiful that area is after watching this show.     

30 comments:

  1. The Flash and Downton Abbey are some of my favorites. You're right that Cinderella was well-made. The premise of Tomorrowland was good but it was a long movie that could have been better. You got me all curious about Mako Mermaids.

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    1. Flash I really like, now that I've finally tried it. I'm in the second season at the moment, trying to catch up. Tomorrowland I had high hopes for and was disappointed, but I'm still glad I saw it. and Mako Mermaids is a cute show!

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  2. Great favorites! I really want to watch Bloodline and Humans looks really good. I've heard that Jurassic World was kind of meh and the same about Tomorrowland. I am super curious about Mako Mermaids! Sounds like a fun show.

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    1. Thanks! Mako Mermaids is fun, it's a bit silly but still fun. And I love where they shoot it, looks beautiful there. I'm sure some of our Australian blogger friends can attest to that!

      Bloodline is good, I think they're going to do another one, and Humans was good too (and short- nice for binging!) Tomorrowland and JW were unfortunately pretty disappointing, I thought.

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  3. I did really bad about watching newer movies and TV shows last year. This list is almost everything I meant to watch at some point in 2015. :P

    I'm really excited to see Mad Max Fury Road. It looks like so much fun. I've heard a lot of mixed things about Jurassic World, so I'm kind of glad that I didn't get around to seeing it in theaters. I'll just stream it eventually.

    I'm curious about the Returned now. I'm going to have check that out.

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    1. You know I never used to watch TV and now I have all these favorites! I went over this post after drafting it and thought wow Greg, a fair amount of shows here. :)

      Mad Max is good, albeit a bit weird at times, I didn't think it was great but I liked Furiosa a lot. I didn't care much for Max, he hardly has any dialogue and frankly it's Furiosa's movie as far as I can tell- and that's a good thing. Jurassic World I just thought was a big dud, and when they announced the director of that is doing Star Wars Ep IX I just sighed...

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  4. Since I was so letdown by Allegiant the book, I pretty much gave up on the series as a whole - I haven't seen one of the films…I really should though, especially since you seem to have enjoyed the Allegiant movie. I adored Mad Max though, it was definitely one of my favourites of the year! I have yet to watch The 100 but I plan to, hopefully soon^^ I LOVED Arrow the first 3 seasons but I feel like it's been faltering. Conversely, Flash seems to be getting better and better which is nice :) I still need to watch Jurassic World but I'm not expecting it to blow me away like it seems to have done for the masses. I am also in the minority as to not being blow away by the Avengers…in general. Despite really enjoying Thor and loving RDJ, I just can't get into those movies >.< Awesome post Greg!

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    1. You know, I feel the same way about Arrow. I'm kinda bored with it, and Flash (which I didn't think I'd like) is kinda awesome now! I love the Man shark thing, that cracked me up- and I like his new love interest PAtty too. They're kinda fun.

      The avengers really disappointed me, I was waiting for that one big time and it just was missing something. the first one was hard t otop with that big battle at the end, but this one was just... eh.

      Insurgent was good I thought, yeah they deviated from the books and that rankled some feathers, but I don't know- I just liked it. Tris and Four on their own, and the factionless thing- I just thought they did a good job with it. I was entertained...

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  5. Bloodlines is a show I have been meaning to get to. Also Insurgent is another I meant to watch already. I am so behind on my movies and TV!

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    1. I think you'll like Bloodline when you get to it, it's kinda slow though (I thought) and it gets a little dark- not really bad but everyone has secrets. I loved the setting though and couldn't wait to get to the end to see why they did what they did. :)

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  6. There are some shows here I haven't heard of. I actually really liked season 1 of the 100 but the second season just went too out there crazy for me. Mad Max, was a lot of weirdness for two hours haha.

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    1. Really, you didn't like S2 of 100? I can understand though, they went crazy out there towards the end, with what happened. Talk about dark! So yeah... :)

      Mad Max was weird at times, I agree. some of those scenes at the base or citadel or whatever- I was like huh? :)

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  7. I always love a good television and movie post. :-) I enjoyed your list! I haven't seen the new Mad Max movie, but I want to. My dad was a huge fan of the original, and so it was a regular staple in our house as I was growing up. I fall into the like camp for Insurgent too. Those are such fun movies. My husband mentioned to me last night that I might like Dark Matter. I will have to add it to my queue to watch. I am glad you were able to get into The Walking Dead. I really like that one. I don't know why exactly, but Humans reminds me of the old show Small Wonder. It does sound good though. Another one to check out.

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    1. I do too, I can see myself doing more show posts- they're kinda fun. :) I was a Road Warrior fan and so that's why I wanted to see this one. I think I liked Road warrior better, but I'm glad I saw it in the theater.

      Insurgent was a good movie I thought. And I really like Dark Matter. I hope you do!

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  8. Meh, I found Age of Ultron surprisingly boring. If I wanted angst and squabbling I'd watch a soap opera, not a superhero movie. Yawn....

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  9. I'd really like to see Black Sails, but I don't have Starz or Prime so I'm hoping it will hit Netflix eventually.

    I couldn't get into the first episode of The 100 so I dropped it. I've heard good things about it though, so I'm thinking about giving it another chance.

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    1. Black Sails is kinda irritating because it's hard to find! I had to buy the episodes so I'm stuck on S2... and S3 is looming. I may just wait for Netflix too, although I'm anxious to continue. It's pretty different from other stuff.

      The 100 is good but yes the first few episodes I wasn't crazy about. totally agree. S2 is almost like a whole different show and so good. :)

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  10. I saw Ex Machina with my hubby last year and it was awesome!!

    Thanks for stopping by and leaving me a comment on my TTT post this week. Happy reading!!

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  11. I started Dark Matter but did not continue, I really should, it was interesting. I need to watch Ex Machina, sounds interesting!
    Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings

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  12. I loved Bloodline...and the Insurgent movie. Thanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.

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  13. I've heard so many great things about Black Sails, I should really try an episode or two soon! This Star Wars was my first Star Wars and I actually really liked it, although I don't have much to go on. Avengers was a disappointment for me as well, and I expected more from Jurassic Park.

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    1. Black Sails is good, it can be hard to find though. I ended up buying some episodes on Prime since I couldn't see it on netflix. I'm glad you liked Star Wars, and Avengers... yeah I just didn't have the love for it I thought I would. :)

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  14. Gah, you're always talking about all these interesting shows, but I don't have Netflix, so I can't watch them!

    I REALLY want to see the Cinderella movie. Cinderella was my favorite Disney movie as a kid, so I have this kind of nostalgic attachment to it, and the live action version just looks gorgeous. Plus I want to see how they kind of retell it, what they change, etc. But again, I don't have Netflix, and I don't go to movie theaters, so... I really don't end up seeing many movies. If they would just play it on Disney Channel however... that's one of the few channels I actually get lol.

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    1. I just got Netflix myself earlier this year (er, last year) and I'm kinda addicted, but I know what you mean. Some of these shows are on the CW (The 100) or SyFy, if you get those.

      Cinderella was good the production was lush and well done. I liked the actress they cast a lot, she did well, I was a little less crazy about the prince but he was fine. The Captain of the Guard was Nonzo Anosie, the actor from Zoo which I had on my list. Just realized that. He was a bright spot of the movie.

      I imagine it will be on Disney Channel eventually, or it should be anyway since... Disney. I hope you like it if you see it!

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  15. Commented on your Sunday Post before reading this so now know you HAVE seen s4 of The Continuum. I haven't seen Black Sails (but have seen s1 at the DVD library I visit) so could check that one out. Haven't heard of Dark Matter at all, but it looks interesting!

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  16. Holy smokes those are a lot of tv shows that I haven't watched :( I'm sooooo behind. All of these sound great! I'm totally going to refer to your list to make my way through some tv adventures. I tried watching the 100 a while ago and found it wayy too "angsty" as you say, but since you've mentioned it gets better I'll try giving it another go!

    --Sharry
    xalwaysdreamx.wordpress.com

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  17. I've never seen any of the Mad Max movies and I was surprised to see Mad Max Fury Road got an Oscar nod for Best Picture. Glad you liked it and maybe I'll watch it on DVD sometime. I am also curious about Continuum and Humans.

    I'm enjoying this new season of Arrow and also liking The Flash though I admit I think Season One was better.

    I really liked the new Star Wars movie so we'll disagree there but I did like the new live action version of Cinderella and look forward to seeing what Emma Watson does with the live action version of Beauty and the Beast (directed by Kenneth Branagh).

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  18. You have me sold on The Returned! I love French films and it looks like their television shows have the same flavor. Thanks for the heads up. :)

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  19. I am behind on my movies and TV! I watch Once Upon a Time with my kids, and I don't miss The Big Bang Theory. I have episodes of Elementary, Doctor Who, Downton Abbey, and Ripper Street all waiting patiently on my DVR for me to watch them. My favorite show is BBC Sherlock, if they would ever get around to filming another season! Fun list this week. :)

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