Critics Top 10 -- Kenneth Turan (Los Angeles Times)

Claiming not to be able to choose only 10, Kenneth Turan over at the LA Times chose 14 films this year, giving his top spot to Brooklyn! He also doesn't rank them, but instead presents them all alphabetically as equals. While naming Amy as one of his choices, he also mentioned We Come as Friends, Meru, and Listen To Me Marlon as other worthy documentaries. Also when mentioning Inside Out, he also singled out Shaun the Sheep & When Marie Was There as worthy animated fare. And finally when mentioning Son of Saul, he also brought up Phoenix & The Second Mother as foreign-language worthy.

BROOKLYN (#1 of the Year)

One of the very first films I saw in 2015 stayed with me longest and made the most powerful impression. That would be Brooklyn, adapted from Colm Toibin's novel by Nick Hornby, directed by John Crowley and starring Saoirse Ronan. A feast of rich emotions presented with wit, grace and not a trace of sentimentality, this is the kind of film I'm always looking for but rarely find.

AMY

Asif Kapadia's devastating work allows us to, in a sense, live singer Amy Winehouse's life along with her. 

THE BIG SHORT

A surprisingly funny film about the deadly serious 2008 global financial crisis.

BRIDGE OF SPIES

Steven Spielberg's tale of Cold War derring-do reminds us that proficient storytelling isn't something we see every day.

CAROL

Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara create the feelings and emotions that all the best love stories aspire to.

45 YEARS

Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay excel as a long-married couple in this measured yet provocative film.

INSIDE OUT

Pixar's triumph not only goes to places other animation creators don't dare, it goes to places the rest of the pack don't even know exist.

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

A barnburner of a post-apocalyptic extravaganza in which sizzling, unsettling images are the order of the day.

THE MARTIAN

A triumph for star Matt Damon and director Ridley Scott, who know their way around mainstream entertainment.

ROOM

Transcendently acted by Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay, Room is several things by turn: creepy, frightening, exhilarating and then frightening and exhilarating all over again.

SON OF SAUL

From Hungary, a Holocaust film unlike anything you've ever seen before.

SPOTLIGHT

The screenplay is self-effacing, the direction intentionally low-key; the fistful of top actors blend into an eloquent ensemble. The result is a knockout.

STEVE JOBS

This riveting dramatization of a life is an impressionistic construct that makes rich theatrical use of the building block of one man's existence.

TESTAMENT OF YOUTH

Based on an acclaimed World War I memoir, it tells the kind of potent, many-sided story whose complexities come courtesy of a life that lived them all.