Hi everyone! Before anything else, sorry for my English, so excuse my multiple mistakes and terrible drafting. Feel free to correct me. I'm extremely late and I don't have much time to do this, yet I have everything ready, so it would be a pity to throw it to the garbage. So I'll do this thing in just 5 installments:
BEST 50: 50 singles with music videos released between December 2014 (with a few exceptions) and November 2015.
Best Flicks: Top 20 of the best movies of 2015.
Best Clips: Top 10 of the best music videos of 2015.
50-41
Welcome to the first installment! So this countdown is for singles which their music videos were released during 2015, with some exceptions. Hope you enjoy it! Even if there are no pop girls in this first set.
Grimes surprised everyone this year, primarily the critics, with ARTPOP Art Angels, delivering exactly a timeless pop album in its purest form. Flesh Without Blood just gives us a glimpse to the wonders her latest ARTwork hoards, and it seems that the wait and scrapping whatever she had planned for last year resulted in a great decision. While Flesh has Grimes unique touches, it definitely misses the magic that Oblivion had and that introduced us to her.
Weeks: 7 · Peak: #07 Run: Nov 20th - Present
Last Year:
#50. 5 Seconds Of Summer - "She Looks So Perfect"
While he's certainly famous for Sail, he's managed to produce better songs, and Hollow Moon is living proof of that. The song combines alternative rock with electronic music seamlessly, resulting in a great song to bang your head. Really. I just wish the video could've been more creative, as his past ones.
Weeks: 10 · Peak: #04 Run: Feb. 8th - April 24th
Last Year:
#49. alt-J - "Left Hand Free"
I've actually checked out the video to make the screen cap again and it seems that they've vanished from Earth's face without a saying. This band sounds promising, but it seems that with just 3 songs we're good. I guess that they could fit into this new wave of indie bands that are comparable to those we had during the punk-emo days. Ew. The video is really Humans are awesome, but great nonetheless. Don't judge me for that.
Weeks: 6 · Peak: #12 Run: May 8th - June 12th
Last Year:
#48. Klingande - "Jubel"
Guessing that everyone gave up on this band after seeing that they would make zero effort on releasing Sweater Weather 2.0, things haven't turned that good for them, at least from my perspective. They come off now as an Instagram artsy band that makes #2kewl4skül music that works in the lowest level possible. I don't even know if I'm making sense. To be honest, they've been like that since the beginning, so, it's like nothing has changed. Except for the fact that the "kewl-artsy" factor was innovative at the start, but now, it's just overused with tons of Lanas out there.
Weeks: 8 · Peak: #08 Run: Oct. 2nd - Nov. 20th
Last Year:
#47. Birdy - "Words As Weapons"
This song fits perfectly under the list of smashes that got away during 2015. Never Gets Old not only has 'the' summer-y feeling, retro vibes, but has to be one of the catchiest songs released during the past year, yet as many songs go unnoticed, it was dumped in the hits landfill. And it's such a shame that Penguin Prison (who by the way has the most original name for a band as well) is definitely talented, proving that he can produce truly remarkable pop catchy songs without using generic beats. Truly a waste of everything, except the video, which is indeed cheap, but nonetheless, that's how the industry works in the end, right?
Weeks: 8 · Peak: #06 Run: Aug. 7th - Sept. 25th
Last Year:
#46. Gentlemen Hall - "All Our Love"
I know I'm not the only one that was looking forward for OMAM's return: the band caused great expectations and engaged us with their extraordinary music. Crystals, both music video and song, feel homelike and have the OMAM signature all over it: magical tones and fantastic lyrics that takes us into an extraordinary journey. And while not as remarkable as their now classic Little Talks, Crystals is not more, nor less, just the perfect dose that we were craving from this band.
Weeks: 9 · Peak: #05 Run: May 15th - Aug. 21st
Last Year:
#45. Timeflies - "All The Way"
The Glow has to be most rare song in this entire countdown. Not because it could fit into an 'experimental' sub-genre of any kind, but because actually is a rarity that the band itself doesn't have that much of social media content, not even a YouTube channel you could say is exclusively for the band, and those things. Where the hell did they got the budget to produce this kind of video anyways? What were they trying to say with that weird as heck of a video? How does the basketball theme relates with these clips of people vomiting on each others and making weird faces? Not gonna lie, but everything about this song, band, and video scares me. Yet they made it here.
Weeks: 10 · Peak: #08 Run: May 26th - July 24th
Last Year:
#44. Fitz & The Tantrums - "The Walker"
It seems that many people thought that this song could actually break-through the radio barrier and become a hit. It does sound like a hit, but it never happened. In any case, BØRNS has merged psychedelic sounds and guitar riffs enough to produce outstanding pop tracks that are catchy enough to like them. There's one more song from him in this countdown, just for you to know that there's something much better than Electric Love.
Weeks: 8 · Peak: #05 Run: July 24th - Sept. 11th
Last Year:
#43. Tove Lo - "Habits (Stay High)"
The cutest and most adorable modern lullaby that I've heard in recent years. Cecilia is a beautiful love song to Andrew's daughter, and the lyrics are sweet enough to make a basic white girl cry. Being serious, this song is really cute and the lyrics are amazing. I loved how they related the song's title (and overall theme) to a children's tale in the video, and while I would've liked to see them explore the story further, the visuals are enough to tell us that this is about a father's unconditional love to his daughter.
Weeks: 9 · Peak: #04 Run: April 24th - June 19th
Last Year:
#42. Junior Prom - "Sheila Put The Knife Down"
Sia definitely had a tough mission: to surpass Chandelier. The goal was difficult by the raising the bar so high in all terms, that getting a perfect song and video that become a hit seemed impossible. Of course she couldn't do it, and even less by JLo/Pitbull-ing the same formula (and of course the ending to this story is sad, specially if you keep doing this to your own career). But still Elastic Heart managed to make enough impact to make us turn our heads and ears back again to her.
Weeks: 12 · Peak: #01 · #01s: 1 Run: Jan 15th - April 14th
Last Year:
#41. Bad Suns - "Cardiac Arrest"
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50-41
#50. Grimes - "Flesh Without Blood" #49. AWOLNATION - "Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)" #48. Coin - "Run" #47. The Neighbourhood - "R.I.P. 2 My Youth" #46. Penguin Prison - "Never Gets Old" #45. Of Monsters And Men - "Crystals" #44. Hustle And Drone - "The Glow" #43. BØRNS - "Electric Love" #42. Andrew Macmahon In The Wilderness - "Cecilia And The Satellite" #41. Sia - "Elastic Heart"
This year was pretty great for movies in terms of money, and somehow movies were definitely better than last year. Kinda. At least award season movies were definitely great, and blockbusters were big disappointments. This countdown will be divided in 5 parts of 4 movies per set.
The The Fault In Our Stars comparisons are inevitable, and that's the big problem of this movie actually. Paper Towns builds for great expectations in the drama department, but in the end, it's just another coming of age story, a good one by the way, but that in this same line, it tries to give a message, a reflection, it tries to be complex, to decode the mystery of relationships, and as a result, it fails miserably, with terrible performances by their industry plants lead actors, and only saved by the character AND performance of a mere sidekick (Ben). Overall, the movie is cute, but can't stop being pretentious and full of clichés.
Last Year:
#20. Edge Of Tomorrow
The whole backlash for this movie is outstanding. You can just possibly confirm that my taste is ****, but this movie was done SO wrong. While of course the VFX could be clearly done by me (I actually submitted projects in the same quality as those shown in the movie, no shame), and are one of the biggest mistakes (poor Thing), it's a pity that people can't see that the performances were really good and the general tone set for the movie was more appropriate than the tacky mess that were the two originals. This movie actually shows this side of superheroes were they suffer from their powers and self-acceptance, something that so far hasn't been touched in other superheroes movies, and socially how they were used and not actually these beings that choose to save random people from evil. But oh well, i guess that that's what you get for remaking a movie that's less than 10 years old and having cheap-ass VFX.
Last Year:
#19. Divergent
Queen of Comedy delivered once again another classic to her library; I seriously love this woman. And while the first part of the movie is funny, the big laughs actually start when Cooper becomes a bitch to Rayna (who's performance is also on point). Keep 'em coming, Melissa.
Last Year:
#18. Noah
I was pleasantly surprised by the first one, I mean, given the similarities with The Hunger Games and it being treated as a rip-off of the latter, this was a good surprise. The follow-up, Insurgent, was even better: action-packed, right levels of drama, plot twists and actually diverging from other dystopian stories that I'm sure many of us are tired of. My hopes for the next one were destroyed when that horrible trailer was released. Even my friend, who read the books, told me that they spoiled one of the best things of the entire saga... so we'll see how this series turns out.
Last Year:
#17. The Adventures of Mr. Peabody and Sherman
Clips: 10-9
Arguably, videos this year sucked, so I reserved myself to make just a top ten compiling some videos that I found great from this past year. A write-up for each one of them is kind of unnecessary, videos speak for themselves. So just press play.
Thanks for all your comments!
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Flicks: 20-17
#20. Paper Towns #19. Fantastic Four #18. Spy #17. The Divergent Series: Insurgent
Clips: 10-09
#10. Tame Impala - "Let It Happen" #09. Alagoas - "Ghosts"
Edit:
#50. Grimes - "Flesh Without Blood"
#49. AWOLNATION - "Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)"
#48. Coin - "Run"
#47. The Neighbourhood - "R.I.P. 2 My Youth"
#46. Penguin Prison - "Never Gets Old"
#45. Of Monsters And Men - "Crystals"
#44. Hustle And Drone - "The Glow"
#43. BØRNS - "Electric Love"
#42. Andrew Macmahon In The Wilderness - "Cecilia And The Satellite"
#41. Sia - "Elastic Heart"
40-31
This set is really pop-ish and I'm sure most of you are going to like (at least) most of the songs.
Basic, nothing that feels original or different, but I love them. I'm going with what Shawn said about them, that they are truly guitar geniuses yet the kind of music they do doesn't let them expose their talent. Wake Up is nothing more but a catchy, friendly, We Are Young rip-off. It's safe, nothing truly different from what they've put out in the past, but it's good. They are good. And I love Brad. That's it.
This has to be the best Charli song from the entire Sucker era. Doing It showcases Miss Charlotte's true talent for writing smashes, but it's sad how they are forgotten or never take off. Rita's voice, while not essential, definitely brings something unique that matches perfectly with what it seems Charli had in mind. Another hit that got away. Put please, Charli, don't ever do another Sucker era.
Weeks: 11 · Peak: #02 Run: Feb. 6th - April 17th
Last Year:
#39. Bombay Bicycle Club - "Feel"
Since my 2009, late discovery of Metric, each time they release a new single, it's an instant download to hear on repeat for a month. And while it's definitely difficult to get into the rest of the era, albums, and singles, at least their magic touch to make amazing first singles hasn't gone. And I'm thankful for that.
Last Year:
#38. Jason Derulo ft. 2Chainz - "Talk Dirty"
Not gonna lie, and it's kinda shameful, but I discovered this song thanks to the year-by-year amazing FIFA soundtrack. It never fails to deliver, and now April Towers made their way to the top 40. So I guess that FIFA's soundtrack team has to know that they are doing an amazing job. A Little Bit Of Fear sounds nostalgic, kinda sad but disguised in happy and catchy beats. Specially the 'ow's' towards the end. Don't know what to say more, maybe that the video makes no sense?
Weeks: 8 · Peak: #05 Run: Nov. 6th - Dec. 25th
Last Year:
#37. Ximena Sariñana - "Sin Ti No Puede Estar Tan Mal"
I'm not going to ask myself as others have made, regarding the question of how this couldn't smash. Because it doesn't sound like a hit. It's weird, and it was tough to get into Octahate. The chorus has this "harsh" or "heavy" feel to it, that makes it difficult to listen. But each time I pressed play, the more that I was into it. The water drops and entrance are everything. Oh, and mess at she don't liking the first video and deleting it fat from the Internet.
Weeks: 9 · Peak: #04 Run: July 24th - Sept. 18th
Last Year:
#36. The Vamps ft. Shawn Mendes - "Oh Cecilia (Breaking My Heart)"
I was surprised I liked another song by this girl. Talking Body is sexy and fun. And while it was pretty tiring her songs about addictions and drugs, this one managed what other couldn't: being good while not reusing the same themes. To this day, my mind can't process how her voice sounds exactly the same as Miley. It's crazy.
Weeks: 11 · Peak: #02 Run: Feb. 6th - April 17th
Last Year:
#35. Kinky ft. Carla Morrison - "¿A Dónde Van Los Muertos? (Unplugged)"
Oh man, this one is embarrassing. They are from freaking Vine. They are from ****ing MadCon boys or that ****. Two white rich American teenagers that got famous from their looks and now think they can sing, and even worse, rap? Can it get more embarrassing? Yes, it can, apparently, by not only being #34 this list, but being #33 LAST year.
Weeks: 9 · Peak: #05 Run: sept. 18th - Nov. 13th
Last Year:
#34. Katy Perry ft. Juicy J - "Dark Horse"
"Don't tell your mother"
"Got a taste for the cherry I just need to take a bite"
"Cause you and I, we're cool for the summer"
DELETE IT FAT. Or actually don't. Depressing that it wasn't a hit, to be honest.
Talking about sad stories from 2015, this one was a big failure. Everybody know the story about Who Is Fancy, right? Thing is that everything was there. Every single thing. A HIT. THREE VIDEOS. And all of them being fantastic. What went wrong? I guess his team aiming for virality, and now look at him making a song with Ariana and Meghan, and bombing even bigger. The question remains: who is fancy?
Weeks: 9 · Peak: #06 Run: April 17th - June 12th
Last Year:
#32. Vance Joy - "Riptide"
So, yeah, they are actually really obscure. Talking about probably not being signed and those things. Having cheap videos, a fanbase consisting of college friends and relatives. But they are great, so great that they have another song in this countdown. I Don't Know is a catchy indie pop song that I'm sure many would like if it was on the radio. Probably the rest of their stuff too. But, well, you know how this works. They can't even make it to BBC Radio (I think).
Weeks: 10 · Peak: #06 Run: May 8th - July 10th
Last Year:
#31. Shawn Mendes - "Something Big"
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40-31
#40. The Vamps - "Wake Up" #39. Charli XCX ft. Rita Ora - "Doing It" #38. Metric - "The Shade" #37. April Towers - "A Little Bit Of Fear" #36. Ryn Weaver - "Octahate" #35. Tove Lo - "Talking Body" #34. Jack & Jack - "California" #33. Demi Lovato - "Cool For The Summer" #32. Who Is Fancy - "Goodbye" #31. Lisbon - "I Don't Know"
More dystopian movies, a 2015 Oscar nominee, a 2016 Oscar nominee, a Jumanji remake.
Yeah, this was Jumanji. Specially the last sequence. I mean, they stole everything. But it was cute and fun. Nostalgia and elementary school memories were the main reasons I went to watch this. I couldn't have missed this. And having Jack Black as your leading man was the only thing I need to know that this wasn't going to scare me as in the books, but actually make me laugh as if it was a parody. In the end, it was fun. The Titanium kid delivered to the high heavens, he needs and Oscar for that performance. And I would've loved a tragic ending, if you know what I mean.
Last Year:
#16. The Giver
More nostalgia. I'm really sad by just remembering the days when I read the saga. Hearing Safe & Sound. But then I remember how I despised Mockingjay, which ruined the entire saga, so I wasn't really expecting this movie. I knew the adaptation was going to be inevitably better than the garbage that was the book, but seeing the disappointment in a lot of people was satisfying, cause this confirmed that Collins ****ed up everything. There you go, Hunger Games, how a sad ending for the franchise with the lowest grossing film being this one. Just as the supposed 'tragic' ending of the book. Except this one was more tragic. How fitting.
Last Year:
#15. Ender's Game
I'm happy the Oscars are honoring a movie that is truly a multi sensorial, out of this world experience. Fury Road is an example of why cinema is art. And Miller demonstrated how for a movie's universe there are truly no boundaries, except for those in your mind.
BUT, this doesn't mean that everything in Fury Road is perfect. Specially after it being basically a live-action version of Rango, with your indifferent and 'there-by-accident' hero, the real feminist heroine, the water objective, and the weird and creepy characters that are the rest of the cast. Even the philosophical moment is there.
Last Year:
#14. Nightcrawler
This movie was mesmerizing. The score, the production design, the performances, except the one from Redmayne. His performance was an imitation of Hawking, whilst he kept smiling just as he does in real life. The rest was beautiful, and of course, made me appreciate Stephen's work and struggle even more. More than anything, understand him. A little bit.
Last Year:
#13. X-Men: Days of the Future Past
Clips: 8-7
Once again: A write-up for each one of them is kind of unnecessary, videos speak for themselves. So just press play.
Thanks for all your comments!
Mobile-Friendly Version:
Flicks: 16-13
#16. Goosebumps #15. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 #14. Mad Max: Fury Road #13. The Theory Of Everything
#39. Charli XCX ft. Rita Ora - "Doing It"
#38. Metric - "The Shade"
#37. April Towers - "A Little Bit Of Fear"
#36. Ryn Weaver - "Octahate"
#35. Tove Lo - "Talking Body"
#33. Demi Lovato - "Cool For The Summer"
#32. Who Is Fancy - "Goodbye"