With three months left to go in 2015, we have a new contender for the best movie of the year, and the name of that movie is Sicario. This movie is a fantastic ride that will keep you thoroughly engrossed and guessing throughout. Like many great movies over the last couple of years, the less you know about the movie going in, the more you will like this movie. For me, this has been the case recently with films like Ex-Machina, The Drop, The Gift, and Chef. All of these were surprises, and each is a movie that I plan on watching again in the future.
The same can be said about Sicario. Once you know how the movie ends, you’ll want to watch it again to try to see it through a new set of lenses. It’s intense. It’s filled with drama. It will leave you with your mouth hanging ajar. That is, if you let it. This is a movie that requires your attention. If you doze off for even a couple of minutes, you might miss something important. If you miss something important, you might feel lost. If you feel lost, you might get frustrated. But if you are willing to work as hard as the movie does, you’ll be rewarded with one of the most exciting, well-crafted, and original movies that you are likely to find this year (or any year, for that matter).
Fans of the self-published debut novel will not be disappointed by Ridley Scott’s (Alien, Gladiator) adaptation of Andy Weir’s The Martian. This is a good movie that should be viewed in 3D on the largest screen that you can see it on. While it doesn’t come close to delivering the same experience as 
M. Night Shyamalan (Signs, The Sixth Sense) is no longer the master of terror. He seems to get progressively worse with each film. There are exceptions for some people. For example, I liked The Village more than I did Unbreakable, and while other people panned The Happening, I thought it was okay. However, there is no denying that the man is a fraction of his former self. While he no longer deems it necessary to have a twist in every movie, his last few movies, especially Lady in the Water, The Last Airbender, and After Earth, have been dreadful. With The Visit, a film he both wrote and directed, he tries something new. It fails. Miserably. At least for me, it did. There is an audience for it, as evidenced by its $25 million in box office revenue alone and a 59% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, those who recall the masterful Shyamalan of 1999-2002 are not the same people who will enjoy this.
I know I am in a significant minority when I review this movie, and I know many will wonder what I’m talking about. Everest just wasn’t a very good movie. I realize that many have never seen a mountain climbing movie or, worse, have only the likes of Vertical Limit to compare it to. But before I get too far into my review of Everest, let me mention a few mountain climbing movies that I would watch a dozen times again before forcing myself to watch Everest. The most notable one to me is a recent one that most people have never heard of. Depending on who you ask, it’s the 2008 (or 2010) German release 
Black Mass? More like Black Mess. This movie wasn’t just a story most of us couldn’t care less about; it was boring. It reminded me of