25 Favorite First Time Views of 2015

These are my 25 favorite older films that I saw for the first time in 2015. I organized them into thematic groups even though each film falls into multiple categories. However, this organization reflects how I experienced these films during my first viewings of them.

*top ten

Erotic and spiritual; unabashedly emotional

Je, tu, il, elle / I, You, He, She (Chantal Akerman, 1976)*
Hereafter (Clint Eastwood, 2010)*
Wagon Master (John Ford, 1950)*

Ching se / Green Snake (Tsui Hark, 1993)*

Starman (John Carpenter, 1984)*

Lifeforce (Tobe Hooper, 1985)

Dao / The Blade (Tsui Hark, 1995)

Behindert (Stephen Dwoskin, 1974)

The dialectic; mutations of the modern

No Quarto da Vanda / In Vand'a Room (Pedro Costa, 2000)*
Speed Racer (Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, 2008)
Mo' Better Blues (Spike Lee, 1990)*
My Best Friend's Wedding (P.J. Hogan, 1997) 

Objective, Burma! (Raoul Walsh, 1945)

Viaggio in Italia / Voyage to Italy (Roberto Rossellini, 1954)*

Repetition; rhythmic cinema

Kong bu fen zi / The Terrorizers (Edward Yang, 1986)*
As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (Jonas Mekas, 2000)*

Long men ke zhen / Dragon Gate Inn (King Hu, 1966)

They Died with Their Boots On (Raoul Walsh, 1941) 

Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood, 1992)

For Your Eyes Only (John Glen, 1981)
After Earth (M. Night Shyamalan, 2013)

The essayistic; self-reflective; cerebral

Leben - BRD / How to Live in the German Federal Republic (Harun Farocki, 1990)

Hai shang chuan qi / I Wish I Knew (Zhangke Jia, 2010)

News from Home (Chantal Akerman, 1977)

The Robinson Trilogy (Patrick Keiller)

London (1994)

Robinson in Space (1997)

Robinson in Ruins (2010)

 4 honorable mentions

Apache Drums (Hugo Fregonese, 1951)

Esther Kahn (Arnaud Desplechin, 2000)
The Fighter (David O Russell, 2010)

Mad Max (George Miller, 1979)