It’s that time of year. Amazingly, there are only two weeks separating us from Christmas. So if you’re struggling for ideas for those hard-to-buy-for people on your list, we thought we’d try to spark some inspiration with a run-down of the latest and greatest movies and TV shows this year’s had to offer.
The drop-down boxes below will help you skip to the right category. And clicking any of the links will take you through to Amazon, where hopefully everything will still be in stock for you to be delivered in time for Christmas. Happy hunting!
Movies
Action / Blockbuster
Mad Max: Fury Road has got to be up there as probably the best blockbuster present of the year. It got good but not great box office results, which means plenty of people won’t have seen it on the big screen, making it the perfect choice. And it’s also one of the very, very few action movies to generate awards buzz, with plenty of Best Picture nominations and wins already coming in ahead of next month’s Oscar nominations.
Guy Ritchie’s The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is another Warner Bros. movie that got some decent love at the box office, but nothing like it should have. Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer are brilliant opposite each other in the spy action / comedy, with Alicia Vikander a very welcome female lead. Better than Bond. Think Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movies set in the 1960s.
Marvel has given us two great movies this year, and they’re both out in time for Christmas. Ant-Man is the most recent, hitting cinemas over the summer and just hitting the shelves for the holidays. Paul Rudd takes centre stage as our titular tiny new hero, with some awesome action and plenty of laughs along the way. Joss Whedon returned behind the helm for Avengers: Age of Ultron, bringing our beloved group of heroes together to face an even more epic enemy, with some new characters joining the line-up as well. One of my favourite movies of the year.
Vin Diesel and the late Paul Walker took their last ride together this year in the heartfelt and action-packed Furious 7. The film blew up the box office in the biggest way possible, soaring past the $1bn mark to take $1.5bn around the world. And even if people saw it in cinemas, they’ll still be more than happy for repeat viewings in the comfort of their own home.
The same goes for Jurassic World, which was a hugely successful reboot this year. The biggest movie of the year, hitting $1.66bn. Chris Pratt does an awesome job of taking over the franchise as the raptor’s alpha, and Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) nails it going from indie to blockbuster director with only his second movie.
Another movie that didn’t get huge heaps of box office love, John Wick is jam-packed with action and definitely one for those who like their fights with bullets flying and plenty of punches thrown. It’s slick as hell, with Keanu Reeves great in the lead and plenty of great supporting performances throughout.
Kingsman: The Secret Service is in a similar vein, but it did get the box office love it deserved. Taron Egerton and Colin Firth are both great as an unlikely couple, of sorts (they don’t actually share a huge amount of screen time, if memory serves). And Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class) unsurprisingly knocks it out of the park. The Church scene has had everyone talking all year, and it’s bound to be a favourite this Christmas and on plenty of wish lists.
Honourable Mentions: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, American Sniper, and San Andreas.
Animated / Children’s
Inside Out should be on your Christmas list for at least one person you know, child or adult. At least. Pixar has come back with their best movie in years, and their best film that is wildly enjoyable for both parents and adults. It’s a lot of fun, it’s an emotional ride. It’s got its flaws as well, but it’s still got pretty much everything you could ask for and more.
Minions is likely to be another big favourite this holiday season. The animated movie has been a big winner for Universal this year, making fat stacks for the studio, and earning them a record-breaking third movie to break the $1bn barrier in one year (after Furious 7 and Jurassic World). The Despicable Me spin-off showed there’s still plenty of life left in this franchise, going back in time to a pre-Gru era.
Home wasn’t nearly the runaway success that Inside Out or Minions were this year. But it was still a much-needed win for DreamWorks. And because it came out over the summer on DVD and Blu-ray, prices have dropped to a more reasonable level in time for Christmas. Rihanna and Jim Parsons lead the voice cast.
Possibly Studio Ghibli’s penultimate film, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is a worthy addition to any anime / animated collection. The artwork is just gorgeous, the story has charm aplenty, and it’s suitable for pretty much all the family. (Though very young children might have lapses in attention.)
Disney’s latest live-action fairy tale sees Lily James star as the titular Cinderella. Kenneth Branagh (Thor, Hamlet) is behind the camera, with a script by Oscar nominee Chris Weitz (About a Boy, Antz). The film was a big success for Disney back in the spring, netting more than half a billion dollars around the world. A real favourite among families.
Though it hit cinemas last year, it wasn’t until this year that Pixar released Big Hero 6 on Blu-ray and DVD. The animated movie is one of my favourites in recent years. A totally different kind of movie to Inside Out, the film is the first of Disney’s animated movies to feature Marvel Comics characters since the studio purchased the company in 2009. A brilliant adventure movie, sure to inspire any youngster and adult alike.
Comedy / Romance
Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck marks his first film as a director that he’s not got a direct writer’s credit on as well. That duty instead went to star Amy Schumer, and she’s done a great job. She stars as the titular trainwreck, a relationship-phobic woman who finds herself getting closer than she expected to with Bill Hader’s sports doctor character, who is best friends with the hilarious LeBron James. Brie Larson and Colin Quinn complete a great leading cast.
The Bellas are back in Pitch Perfect 2, this year’s wildly successful musical comedy sequel. The film beat out Mad Max at the box office back in May and was unstoppable for weeks. Elizabeth Banks made her directorial debut at the helm, with Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Rebel Wilson, Adam DeVine, and Skylar Astin reprising their leading roles, and Hailee Steinfeld topping the newcomers.
Vampire mockumentary isn’t a genre that screams instant success, but Jemaine Clement and Taiki Waititi have made it work in What We Do in the Shadows. The reviews for this one have been brilliant from day one, and it’s spent much of the last year and a half going from strength to strength on the festival circuit.
Seth MacFarlane and Mark Wahlberg reunite for the brilliant Ted 2, which definitely didn’t get the recognition it deserved at the box office. The duo head to Comic-Con in the hilarious sequel. And while Mila Kunis’ pregnancy unfortunately ruled her out of a return, Jessica Barth is back for more, and Amanda Seyfried is great in the leading female role this time around. A great sequel to a great original comedy, taking the franchise in a welcome new direction.
Paul Feig and Melissa McCarthy also reunited this year for their own latest comedy, Spy. The duo worked together on Bridesmaids and then The Heat, and Spy sees them back in action comedy territory. Jason Statham is a huge stand-out on the comedy front, tying with LeBron James for funniest supporting actor of the year.
Fans of the original HBO series will welcome the show’s movie treatment in Doug Ellin’s long-awaited Entourage movie. The boys are back and they’re better than ever. This time, Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) has decided he wants to direct his own movie, and things don’t entirely go to plan. A great way to revisit the characters and bring them back from where they left off on the small screen.
Noah Baumbach has had a prolific year, releasing both While We’re Young and Mistress America in cinemas. The latter has just arrived on Digital HD but has no DVD release date set yet. The former, however, is readily available and well worth investing in. Baumbach reunites with both Ben Stiller and Adam Driver, and he adds Naomi Watts and Amanda Seyfried into the mix for a very funny ride. The film is thought to be loosely based on Baumbach’s own experiences with his girlfriend Greta Gerwig and past collaborator Joe Swanberg.
Honourable Mentions: Magic Mike XXL, Man Up, Vacation, Wild Tales, Obvious Child, Wish I Was Here, Results, and The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Young Adult
Paper Towns is easily my favourite young adult movie of the year, well worthy of a spot on the 2015 Christmas gift guide. The films sees Nat Wolff stepping into leading territory in the second John Green adaptation, with Cara Delevingne great in support. It’s yet another brilliant script by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (The Fault in Our Stars, (500) Days of Summer), who write eloquent teenagers that also feel real, and who face up to idealisation in a very well-crafted way. Sharp writing and great acting.
With its 15 rating, Love, Rosie is more appropriate for the slightly older teens, but well worth picking up for those above the age. It’s got a terrific handle on growing up from teenage years to twenties and beyond, with leading stars Lily Collins and Sam Claflin sharing some of the best chemistry we’ve seen in a good long while in romantic comedies.
The Longest Ride is the latest in a long line of Nicholas Sparks adaptations. So if you know someone who’s a fan of The Notebook, Dear John, The Lucky One, and others, this will be a good choice. Rising stars Britt Robertson and Scott Eastwood star in the leads, centring on a young couple whose lives intertwine with a much older man as he reflects back on his youth and a past love.
Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass) leads If I Stay, the adaptation of Gayle Forman’s novel. Moretz stars as Mia, who has an out-of-body experience following a car crash giving her the choice of waking up and living a life far different than the one she had pictured. The film racked up $50m in the US alone last summer, and was released on DVD in time for Valentine’s this year.
Like Love, Rosie, this is one for the mid-to-late teens. What If is something of a low-profile rom-com with Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan putting in charming performances in the leads. The two become fast friends at a house party one night and put to the test the idea that a man and woman can be just friends and nothing more.
Asa Butterfield stars as the socially awkward teenage math prodigy in this dramatic comedy, x+y, based on a true story. The film revolves around Butterfield’s character joining the UK team at the International Mathematics Olympiad, and travelling to Taipei and confronting the irrational nature of love.
Honourable mentions: The DUFF, The Fault in Our Stars, and Insurgent.
Drama
Southpaw is among my favourite movies of the year, boasting an electric leading performance from Jake Gyllenhaal. Rachel McAdams and Forest Whitaker are both great in their supporting slots, as is the young Oona Laurence, but it’s very much Gyllenhaal’s show throughout. He looks absolutely incredible, getting completely ripped to play the lead in this boxing drama. Up there with the boxing movie greats.
Miles Teller is another actor who gives it his all in Whiplash, and who I think was snubbed at the Oscars at the start of the year. Fortunately, J.K. Simmons got the attention he deserved, walking away with the Best Supporting Actor statue on the night. Teller stars as a passionate young drummer who goes toe-to-toe with an insanely tough jazz band leader at his music conservatory, and the result is incredible.
Winning Eddie Redmayne the Best Actor award at the Oscars, The Theory of Everything is very much worth putting on the Christmas list this year, for yourself or for others. Redmayne and Felicity Jones are both amazing as Stephen Hawking and his wife, Jane, with James Marsh (Man on Wire) showing us their lives from just before they first meet, before Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, through the next couple of decades. It’s emotional and captivating viewing.
Rinko Kikuchi didn’t get much attention in the mainstream awards circuit, but Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter earned her a very well-deserved Best Female Lead at the Indie Spirit Awards, and several Best Director and Best Feature Film wins for the Zellner bros. on the festival circuit. Kikuchi stars as a woman who gives up her job in Japan to come to the US in search of the treasure depicted in the Coen brothers’ film, Fargo. It’s an indie gem that deserves more recognition than it got.
Blake Lively leads the romantic fantasy drama, The Age of Adaline, starring as the titular Adaline. She plays a woman rendered unable to age following a car accident at the age of 29, with her daughter (Ellen Burstyn) growing older than her. Harrison Ford and Michiel Huisman complete the leading cast, with glowing reviews for Lively and Ford, especially.
Eden has been received with glowing reviews since its premiere at TIFF last September. The French music drama follows Paul (Félix de Givry), a young aspiring DJ who forms a musical collective with his friends, pioneering the French house music scene, also known as French touch. Based on a true story, the film includes the duo that would go on to become world-famous, Daft Punk, with the electronic music duo agreeing to have their music featured in the movie for the lowest price possible.
White God is another of the most celebrated foreign-language films in the past year. The film won the Un Certain Regard award at Cannes last year, telling the story of thirteen-year-old Lili (Zsófia Psotta) who sets out to find her dog after her father sets him free on the streets.
Honourable Mentions: Birdman, Fury, Testament of Youth, Still Alice, Wild, and A Royal Night Out.
Crime / Thriller
Joel Edgerton’s The Gift was a big success over the summer, winding up with only a little less than Fantastic Four’s domestic run in the US. Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, and Edgerton lead the thriller, with a plot better left unsaid. Just know that it’s got great reviews for all the performances, and for Edgerton making his debut as a director.
Focus is another of my (many) favourite movies of the year. Will Smith and Margot Robbie have superb chemistry in this ridiculously cool and slick con movie. Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Crazy, Stupid, Love.) are behind the camera, making the cons look great and the con artists even better.
Received with much acclaim and box office success last year, David Fincher’s Gone Girl hit the shelves earlier in the year, and has dropped to a slightly nicer price in time for Christmas. Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike lead the stunning thriller, adapting Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel. So if you know someone who’s not seen it yet, this is definitely a must-see.
Dan Gilroy (The Bourne Legacy) made his directorial debut last year on Nightcrawler, boasting another highly acclaimed performance from Jake Gyllenhaal. Gilroy landed a Best Original Screenplay nomination at the Oscars, with plenty of buzz for Gyllenhaal and his co-star, Riz Ahmed, in the crime thriller. One of the best-reviewed films of last year.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice is a bit divisive, but a thoroughly entertaining stoner crime comedy/drama for those who can stick and keep up with the plot. Shrouded in a drugs-fuelled haze, the crime drama is just as elusive as the Thomas Pynchon book it’s based on, and very funny as well. Joaquin Phoenix stars as private eye Doc Sportello, investigating the possible disappearance of an ex-girlfriend of his, which takes him tumbling down a conspiratorial rabbit hole. Owen Wilson, Josh Brolin, Katherine Waterston, Benicio Del Toro, Reese Witherspoon, and Jena Malone are among a great ensemble cast.
Jean Dujardin is terrific leading this out-and-out action thriller, The Connection. Based on the French side of the real events that The French Connection is based on, the film stars Dujardin as a French police magistrate tasked with bringing down a drug gang leader (Gilles Lellouche). The French film flew a little under the radar this year, but it packs a powerful punch. So if you’ve got some friends or family who like their crime thrillers and/or enjoy a little world cinema, this is a great choice.
Honourable mentions: Spooks: The Greater Good, Cop Car, Catch Me Daddy, and The Tribe.
LGBT
Written and directed by and starring Desiree Akhavan, Appropriate Behaviour is centred on a young Persian woman struggling to span three identities: ideal Persian daughter, politically correct bisexual, and hip Brooklynite. Needless to say, it doesn’t go according to plan. The reviews have been great on the festival circuit, kicking off at Sundance last year with a handful of awards and nominations along the way.
Ira Sachs’ Sundance debutant took much longer to come to our shores than his native US. Love Is Strange stars John Lithgow and Alfred Molina as a married couple who are forced to live separately with friends and family when their finances can no longer handle living together. It’s a great drama with terrific performances from Lithgow and Molina as well as the ensemble cast.
Sophie Hyde’s 52 Tuesdays has racked up great reviews on the festival circuit since its debut in Australia in late 2013. That was followed by a Sundance appearance in 2014, and it finally hit our shores this year. Tilda Cobham-Hervey stars as 16-year-old Billie, whose reluctant path to independence is accelerated when her mother reveals her plans to gender transition and their time together is suddenly limited to Tuesday afternoons.
Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart, and Chloë Grace Moretz lead the César Award-winning Clouds of Sils Maria. Stewart became the first American actress ever to win a César Award for her performance opposite Binoche, with reviews pouring praise on her and Binoche’s performances, in particular.
Honourable mentions: Futuro Beach and Soft Lad.
Sci-Fi
Alex Garland’s Ex Machina is one of the best movies of the year, and one I think should be getting even more awards recognition than it’s got so far this awards season. Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, and Alicia Vikander are all brilliant leading this sci-fi thriller, with Gleeson starring as a computer programmer invited to come in and test a new AI (Vikander) that his company’s genius CEO (Isaac) has been developing.
Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar was deservedly one of the most talked-about movies of last year, delivering spectacular visuals in the space-bound blockbuster. Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway are both great in the leads, with Jessica Chastain, Casey Affleck, Michael Caine, David Gyasi, and the young Mackenzie Foy great among the ensemble. Nolan scores big once again, in a surprise to absolutely no one. Definitely a must-have for any film collection, more than earning a spot on our 2015 Christmas gift guide.
The Wachowski siblings’ Jupiter Ascending might not have had the best reviews at the cinema, nor did it make waves at the box office. But I still maintain that it’s a great sci-fi movie that’s a really fun ride, with Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis great in the leads. The effects are amazing and the world they create is another great one.
Predestination sees Ethan Hawke star as a time-travelling agent on his final assignment, pursuing the one criminal who has eluded him throughout time. It’s rare for an indie sci-fi to pull the genre off so well, but this film’s got great reviews and is likely to become something of a cult favourite down the line.
Honourable mentions: Gravity Special Edition, Coherence, and Tomorrowland.
Horror
One of the best-reviewed films of the past year, It Follows bowed at Cannes to instant acclaim last year. The horror has a great concept – a supernatural force that stalks its victims, whose only way out is to pass it on by having sex with someone else – and it’s very well-executed. Maika Monroe puts in a brilliant performance in the lead, once more proving she’s destined for greatness in the years to come.
Eli Roth wasted no time in getting back behind the camera after his cannibal horror, The Green Inferno. That film is unfortunately unavailable in the UK, but his psychosexual horror/thriller follow-up, Knock Knock, fortunately is. Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo, and Ana de Armas lead the movie, which is a perfect gift for any horror fan this Christmas.
Elijah Wood and Sacha Grey star in this cat-and-mouse crime thriller. Open Windows unfolds as though on the screen of a laptop, with Wood starring as a huge fan of actress Jill Goddad (Grey) who is given the chance to spy on her, only to find himself wrapped up in a deadly game with an unknown third party.
Another of the best-reviewed horror movies of the past year, Australian horror The Babadook has won dozens of awards and nominations since its Sundance debut last year. The film hit UK cinemas in time for Halloween last year and then wound up on the shelves this year. It’s had time to drop in price to a very affordable number on both DVD and Blu-ray in time for our 2015 Christmas gift guide. Another highly recommended film for horror fans.
Honourable mentions: Spring, The Lazarus Effect, Cub, and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night.
Documentary
Laura Poitras’ Oscar-winning documentary is just out in time for Christmas. Citizenfour is centred on the meetings Poitras and Glenn Greenwald had with the man who revealed himself as Edward Snowden. The story has gained enormous traction in print and online, and now has been cut into a film, which went on to win Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars at the star of the year.
Joshua Oppenheimer’s follow-up to The Act of Killing, The Look of Silence has been just as well-received and gained plenty of awards and nominations along the way. The film revolves around an Indonesian man whose brother was brutally murdered in the 1965 purge of ‘communists’. He confronts the men who carried out the killings, visiting some of the killers and their collaborators, including his uncle, under the pretence of an eye exam.
Asif Kapadia’s Amy looks to be a strong contender in this year’s Oscar race. The documentary is centred on the late Amy Winehouse in her own words, featuring unseen archival footage and unheard tracks from the musician.
My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn sees the celebrated filmmaker’s wife, Liv Corfixen, take up the camera during the filming of Only God Forgives. Fans of the filmmaker will be sure to want to watch it, promising an honest look at some of his concerns and self-doubts during the filming process. It flew pretty low on the radar when it was released, so it’s a good choice as most people likely don’t know it exists.
Honourable mentions: The Salt of the Earth, Cartel Land, The Square, Life Itself, and Dior and I.
Give It A Miss
Every year, we get a handful of films that have potential but don’t live up to expectation. 2015 has been no different. Some of these movies were somewhat rushed out in time for Christmas, hitting the shelves earlier than they might otherwise have to try to make up for less-than-stellar reviews and box office performances. Pixels, Fantastic Four, and Terminator Genisys all didn’t do brilliantly among critics, with Fantastic Four also dead-on-arrival at the box office, and Genisys mostly propped up by its success in China.
The Milla Jovovich-led Survivor fails to engage, largely because it fails to take much advantage of Jovovich’s action skills. And though Taken 3 was another big hit at the box office, it got pretty mauled by critics, so probably best to give it a miss this Christmas.
Television
Drama
The Leftovers Season 1 was one of the best TV series of last year, and it’s hit the shelves in plenty of time to be our most-recommended series on our 2015 Christmas gift guide. Justin Theroux is outstanding leading the HBO drama, which imagines a world in which 140 million people just suddenly disappear one day. We then fast forward three years and see how the world has been affected and how people are going about their lives. It’s absolutely amazing viewing.
Speaking of amazing viewing, Showtime’s The Affair Season 1 was another brilliant debut last year. Ruth Wilson and the show itself both earned well-deserved Golden Globes, and Dominic West is great in joint lead as well, with Maura Tierney and Joshua Jackson great in support. Tierney has just earned a Golden Globe nod for her supporting role in the second season, which is even better than the first season so far. Highly recommended viewing. And since it’s only been shown on Sky Atlantic, which a lot of people don’t have, you can be pretty sure that most of your friends and family won’t have seen it yet. And you can be the one to introduce them to one of the best new series on TV right now.
The Newsroom Season 3 brings Aaron Sorkin’s magnificent HBO drama to an end. At only six episodes in length, it’s a pretty short finale. But it’s also perfect, which you’d expect nothing less than from Sorkin. A great finish to a great show.
The Newsroom’s not the only show that’s finished this year. Mad Men Season 7 Part 2 brings AMC’s flagship drama to an end, with Jon Hamm and co. returning for the final hurrah in style. Like The Newsroom, it’s a brilliant end to the longer-running series. So sad to say goodbye to Don Draper, but everything has to come to an end sometime.
On the flip side, every once in a while we’ll see a phoenix rise from the ashes, and Better Call Saul Season 1 is one such example. Bob Odenkirk leads the Breaking Bad spin-off / prequel series, telling the story of how Saul Goodman became Saul Goodman, with Bob Odenkirk reprising his criminal lawyer character.
Honourable mentions: Empire Season 1, Madam Secretary Season 1, Halt and Catch Fire Season 1, Orphan Black Season 3, House of Cards Season 3, and Orange is the New Black Season 2.
Horror / Fantasy / Thriller
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/