I didn't go to the cinema at all during the first half of the year, so this list just features releases from recent months.
#5 Brooklyn
Released November 4, 2015
Tear factor:
Young Irish girl moves to New York to start a new and better life. When she is called back home to Ireland after her sister dies, she becomes torn between the two worlds and needs to decide which one she wants to stay in.
When I saw the trailer for this, I actually did not want to go and see it because I thought it was just another chick flick. Luckily I changed my mind and did go, because it's a beautiful, touching and also somewhat empowering movie. There's great development of the protagonist and she ends up as a very strong character, which is something you don't get to see that often for female characters, especially in films that are not set in modern times. It's also a very relatable and realistic portrayal of what it's like to start a new life somewhere else, the difficulties that come with it plus the eternal struggle of being torn between your old and new home.
I thought the actors were very well chosen and the costumes were beautiful; they alone are a reason to watch this movie tbh, all this gorgeous 50s fashion. Naturally, the plot was a little bit obvious but I was pleasantly surprised how they managed to keep some suspense and not reveal the protagonist's decision until the very end of the movie. My only problem was that I missed out on some parts of dialogue where the Irish accent was used, because I found it so hard to understand (might have been me though). But overall a highly recommended movie.
#4 Sicario
Released September 18, 2015
Tear factor: too shocked to cry
Female FBI agent gets recruited to join another shadowy agent for a mission in Mexico. They want to fight the war against drugs and take out a huge cartel boss.
Now this is a masterpiece of a thriller. I went into this with completely wrong expectations, thinking it would be full of action, shootings and explosions. It turned out to be the opposite, quiet, strategic, only blowing up at the end and by that point I suddenly realised that I'd been at the edge of my seat for the duration of the whole thing holding my breath. That's how intense it was.
The plot moves forward at a steady pace while also building up tension, which is aided by the highly dramatic and effective score. I also noticed that the movie is very "no frills", it's very focused on the story and there are no unnecessary effects or side plots; you could argue that this makes it somewhat unattractive to the mainstream audience, because it does not have this blockbuster feel, but I think it's just what this movie needed and this understated, matter-of-fact vibe helps show how cruel, cold-blooded and simply terrifying the whole war on drugs is.
The text in italics is a very brief summary of the movie and the rest is just my opinion and general description of the movies, but I made sure not to reveal any plot twists/endings etc.
Please let me know what you think of my top 3 German albums though 
Then again I don't really watch lots of movies.