A Year End Review 2015
The year of 2015 has brought a lot of amazing changes to TheLifeStyleElite.com, we officially launched our “Travel Series” with our staff visiting London, Rome, and Paris. It is because of our travels however that this year we were unable to review as many films as we did last year. For this reason we have created a few new categories in our best and worst sections. This year we continued to console game reviews,and feature more exclusive editorials to our website as well. All things considered it has been a year that has seen many changes, and improvement to our website. We have featured/reviewed several books, films, gadgets, high-end fashion, and everything else you would expect from our elite lifestyle digital magazine. As we do every year we have compiled a list of a few of the interesting things over these past 12 months, and conveniently ranked them from best to worst.
The Best of 2015
There has been many products, film, sports cars, etc. ; we featured in our digital magazine this year, but we found these to be the best of them all. We placed each item in order of what impressed us the most from this year in their respective sections.
Website Improvement
As we mentioned 2015 was the year we would become well traveled,and we did so in glorious fashion. We had planned to create a “Travel Series“ section for sometime and we could not think of any other location to start our journey other than London, Rome, and Paris. London we chose based on the art,rich history, historical music, and of course the famed ”Savile Row“. London’s fashion scene is a truly unique, and a bespoke suit is a must see for every modern gentleman. In our second location we traveled to, Rome, we found ancient architecture and we saw the work of renowned painter Michelangelo. Inside the Vatican we saw first hand his works from the famous painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel to his Pietà sculpture in St. Peter’s Basilica. Our last (surprisingly least expensive) location was Paris, a city with breath taking scenery, a fashion scene all to its own, and lets not forget the most famous museum that houses the most famous painting known to man. The other improvement we made is the much bigger launch of our gaming division. As many gentleman (including Frank Underwood) occasionally play a console game or two we began to review them. Last year we gave away an Xbox One
Film
As there were several films released this year we are only selecting the films we reviewed in the calendar year of 2015 that we deemed worthy. and though not everyone is good, we found these to be the “Best of 2015”.
#10. Ant-Man
The seemingly ill fated Ant-Man went threw a script and director change, Ant-Man finally premiered in theaters, and unlike Age of Ultron this film was actually enjoyable. Though fans will always wonder would could’ve been this version had humor,and action that we have grown to expect from Marvel.
#9. Black Mass
Black Mass was a one of the more underrated film this year, rather than give it a chance it seems that Johnny Depp’s last movie over shadowed one of his best performances in years. Whitey Bugler’s violent hold on Boston was backed by the FBI, which lead to one of the most controversial partnership in the bureau’s history. His menacing stares and piercing cold blues eyes where the gateway to a homicidal maniac. As many reports say Depp’s portrayal of Whitey was that of a loose cannon, one minute he would laugh with you the next he would murder you. Like turning on a light switch. His performance is amazing and worth a view.
#8. Spectre
The latest Bond film, Spectre, opens with a bang in what is by far one of the most epic opening sequences in film, James bond’s helicopter fight will go down as one of the best in the franchise. While the fight with Jinx is one of the most dangerous for Bond,and unlike the other fight scenes with the re-booted franchise.
#7. The Hateful Eight
Quentin Tarantino’s eight film is a far left take on what he has been known to make at first glance. The out of order style is still there that we have com a custom to, but this time around he offers an Alfred Hitchcock clue style take on this film. As all Tarantino’s films The Hateful Eight is beautifully shot with breathtaking scenery in the first ten minutes,and is not lost when the film is moved indoors. The over two hour who done it will have you guessing until the very end, and offering a surprise character’s entrance make it both worthy of ticket price.
#6. The Revenant
The Revenant is another film that is beautifully shot, boasting amazing cinematography in the swiping outdoor shots. The vast winter wasteland is both bright and soft (depending on the scene), while the combination of both Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy’s compelling performances draw you in and keep you invested throughout. The most cringe-worthy scene is the film is the bear attack. A brutal fight seems to go on forever and though you root for Glass you are just hoping he plays dead.
#5.Sicario
This is by many accounts really just a Benicio del Toro film, and he gives an Oscar worthy performance. As a semi caring hitman,Alejandro, who we find out use to be a simple lawyer, but the brutal murder of his family turns him into an unstoppable one man army. We see this all threw the eyes of idealistic FBI agent, Kate Macer, and see the change of Alejandro from nice guy to terrifying psychopath as he threatens to kill her in the end.
#4. Mission Impossible: Rouge Nation
Tom Cruise returned to form with his spy thriller, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. We see all the stunts as his previous films, but unlike Spectre this plot seemed to be more original. The villain and Ethan’s own team are against him, and after he is framed for a murder it becomes a world wide man hunt to take him down. This is better written than Spectre and more suspenseful .
#3. Star Wars : The Force Awakens
Like numbers six and seven Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released very close to the end of the year, and we are glad we were able to see and advance screening. Star Wars is one of the rare instances were we are glad we wait until the last day of the year to publish our Year End Review. Other do so at the beginning of the year,and if we did we would have missed out on this film. Many of us feel we have to wait until the last day before we complete our Year End Review we were pleasantly surprised by this latest installment in the franchise. The two main characters Finn and Rey are perfectly cast. Finn feels lost in the world when he meets Rey and for the first time in his life makes a friend. This might seem odd at first but when you look at the fact the he was kidnapped as child and brainwashed to become a mindless Stormtrroper. Were as Rey is much like Finn also an orphan on a strange dessert planet
#2. Kingsman: The Secret Service
Hands down the best spy film of the year, the witty British humor is missing from the genre as of late,and though we do enjoy the new James Bond films (save Skyfall) we do like the fresh take on the genre.
#1. Creed
Rocky returns to form in the latest from the franchise, Creed. In Creed we follow Donny a son born after the death of Apollo Creed to a mistress, who is later found in foster care after the death of his mother by Apollo’s wife. She takes him in and gives him a proper home, but despite having a great opportunity to get an education and a well to do family. Donny follows in his father’s footsteps and though he boxes in Mexico illegally
he became 16-0. The film mirrors the first Rocky brings both a new franchise to light while pleasing the fans of the original.
Honorable Mention
As mentioned before because of our travels this year we were unable to review as many films as the previous year however that this year we were unable to review as many films as we did last year. For any film to be featured on our “Best of…” its respective year we must review them. It is for this reason we have created a the “Honorable Mention” category to acknowledge great films that we were unable to review. The films under our Honorable Mentioned list are films which we did not review,but enjoyed enough we felt we had to include them.
#10. Burnt
#9. Child 44
#8. Dope
#7. Spotlight
Spotlight is a haunting tell of a group of journalists who come across a story of child abuse in the catholic church in Boston. This team is there very team that broke the story world-wide. This film is beautiful shot and create one of the best narratives of the year.
#6. Straight Out of Compton
#5. Furious 7
#4. Ex Machina
#3. The Big Short
#2. Mad Max: Fury Road
#1. The Martian
By far the best film of the year
Television
This year we have found a mixture of television shows that were both anticipated,new to our readers,and surprisingly good.
#10. True Detective
#9. Casual
A television show exclusive to Hulu, Casual is a show that center around a rather dysfunctional family. With a slight feel of Showtime’s Weeds, Casual is both humorous and entertaining with plenty of WTF moments you would expect from Weeds.
#8. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
#7. Blackish
#6. Narcos
#5. House of Cards
#4. Mad Men
#3. House Of Lies
House of Lies’ fourth season brings Marty home from jail
#2. Jessica Jones
#1. Daredevil
This was a difficult decision for us, as Jessica Jones too was surprisingly well made and well liked by both you our readers and our staff……..but Daredevil stood out slightly more.
The Worst Films of 2015
As with the best there is the worst-after all without the worst how would you know what is the best?
This year like last year we reviewed films we did not like………..And this year one has
#4. Joy
#3. Hot Tub Time Machine 2
Not much was expected of us when we went in to see this, but
#2. Terminator: Genisys
Read our full review here. [Click Here]
#1. Fantastic Four
disHonorable Mention
As we stated above there were several films we were unable to review to be featured in our best and worst of 2015 lists, so this year we created the “Dishonorable Mention” list. Featuring all the films we deemed worthy of the worst of list but were not reviewed.
#4. Legend
This was a very diffuclt decison for us, as we loved Tom Hardy’s preformance in Legend as we did in The Revenant and Mad Max: Fury Road unfortunately for his performance the movie is not good. The slow pacing and over all lack luster theme of the script plays as a very generic Scorsese mafia film. In most mafia films there is a hint of danger in just about every scene. In Godfather we see repeatedly with the character, Tommy, how volatile many gangsters can be, but in Legend we never really see this from Reggie through out the film. The only glimpse of this is shown by Ronnie during the last fifeteen mintues. Though Tom Hardy is not at fault for Legend making our dishonorable list its over composition has firmly cemented itself on our list.
#3. Hitman Agent 47
As live action cinema based on video games often go to the way side with gaming studios just allowing what ever studio in charge to do whatever they want, so is the case for yet another failed Hitman movie. Hitman: agent 47 like every video game translation into live action was as terrible as the 90s live action Street Fighter. Like Street Fighter 20th Century Fox made major changes to the franchise
#2. Unfinished Business
Unfinished Business if the prefect title for our #2, as like the title it feels like plot was taking from an unfinshed script. The entire time we watched this we waited patiently for it to pick up and have the major exciting moment, but this was in vain as it never came. This type of “movie” is what to us coining the term “LUCY’d”.
#1. Trainwreck
Why did this “movie” make our list? Well despite having a great cast of comedians, and Schumer’s well written script……..it was very poorly executed. This to purely due to the fact that no one on staff could feel sympathy for Amy (Amy Schumer’s character) she was partly unlikable and partly unbelievable. The character of Amy seemed to be a female character written for a man, with male problems ,but some how wanted to be a female.
Television
This year there were many television shows that ended,and a few we felt should have ended along time ago. Though this year there are considerably less show on our list here are our selections for the worst television had to offer in 2015.
#2. Luther
#1. Sense 8
Biggest Disappointment of 2015
As there have been the “Best of” and “Worst of” there undoubtedly things that could be particularly listed in both categories,and this would make them an all around disappointment.
It is no secret how we felt about the sequel to The Avengers franchise, and though we felt this was Marvel’s second misstep (after Iron Man 3) there were a few things we liked about it. Sadly there’s reasons where not enough to make it apart of our Best of list,and it wasn’t bad enough to make it apart of our Worst of list this year. The epic Hulk Buster fight was visually amazing, but there was something missing from the nine action scenes. The fact that the plot of the film was literally a rehashing of the first film didn’t help, and (unlike Daredevil’s Wilson Fisk) the villain,Ultron, was far from mincing. In fact he was more comical than a cold calculating machine. Where as Vision at times seemed more cold than Ultron, over all the villain did not translate well on film. At times it also felt to many characters were crammed in each scene, all the while not completely deploying them enough to fill us in on how each has changed since the first film as well. The much anticipated romantic between Bruce Banner, and Natasha Romanoff falls very short with out much explanation. While focusing more on Hawkeye’s story arch made for a section of the movie where we began to get bored. Overall this category was created specifically for this film,and we hoping directors The Russo Brothers will return Marvel back to form with Captain America: Civil War.
Best Products of 2015
We tested and featured a lot of products this year
from tech to grooming products these are the best of 2015.
Product of The Year
Though we found a lot of products great this year our product of the year goes to
Klhip nail clippers.
Klhip Ultimate Clipper for a gentleman keeping their nails trimmed and clean is a must. As well Rule #3 on our “The Ten Rules Every Gentleman Must Follow” list.
Gentleman of The Year
Collin Firth
Whats not to say about Mr. Firth, the English gentleman,who exudes classy and style long before the unexpected hit film, Kingsman: The Secret Service. He is often thought of by American audiences as the quintessential English Gentleman, it is no wonder why he was cast as Harry.
Photographer of The Year
Martin Murillo
Los Angeles based photographer, Martin Murillo has truly impressed us throughout the year. Beautiful shots of Los Angeles, cars, and beautiful women. Mr. Murillo was the photographer that received the most of our likes this year, and we all enjoyed his work the most this year.
Instagram Artist of The Year
It is no secret that we are huge fans of art,and while our team that runs our Instagram account can be seen frequently liking images one favorite types of accounts are artist accounts. With the medium is sculpture, acrylic, pastel, or simply pencil we feel it is important for every gentleman to be culture in the arts. Though we follow many artists on our instagram we were most impressed with this artist this year.
Hector Trunnec
Spanish artist, Hector Trunnec, has made quite the name for himself on Instagram this year, with a steady growing follower base his work receives a large number of likes from us. There is a constantly a steady stream of goregous art that will bring a much needed change to your Instagram feed.
Style We Can’t Live Without in 2015
As we look back through out the year we selected the stylish brands we that impressed us in 2015.
Fashion House of The Year
For our first ever fashion house of the year we can see no fashion house that impressed us the most other than Gieves & Hawkes. The famed fashion house was the first place we personally visited during our London Travel Series, and we were in awe. The staff of Gieves and Hawks gave us a personal tour from the items on sales floor (including a replica of the famous jacket they made for Michael Jackson), the goregous room where the Royal Guard recives their suits stands as a living musems, to the bespoke room where you can get a not only a bespoke suit, but bespoke shoes.
Women of 2015 We Had A Crush On
As our digital magazine has branched out to just about every social media network available, we here at TheLifeStyleElite.com have made new friends, received more followers,and became fans of plenty of brands/people Online. None more than the gorgeous women on this list. Though all of which are special in their own way, each one has something unique that has caught our eye and made us fans. Whether its a television show, theatrical film, printed, or digital models these gorgeous women found their way into our hearts. As most of our staff happen to be hopeless romantics we had to find a way to make this fair, for this reason none of the women featured on this list have ever been featured as a “Model of TheLifeStyleElite.com”. (Because if we allowed that Christi K would forever be #1 on our list.)
#10. Daisy Ridley
The last to enter our list Daisy won us over with her performance as Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and her over bubbling personality in recent interviews firmly cemented her a position on our list. Let’s be honest every gentleman loves a woman with a sense of humor,and you need not just watch an interview of her to see it. Her personal Instagram is populated with her gorgeous smile as well as her own facial expressions that make her laugh. Daisy Ridley has both made a few of us smitten as well as turned a few of us into Star Wars fans.
#9. Ellie Kemper
After binge watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, many of us had a crush on Ellie. One of the most attractive qualities in a woman for many men is a great sense of humor, and her performance in the show has her quirky sense of humor shining threw. That coupled with her gorgeous smile was more than enough to smitten our staff.
#8. Nina Urgell Cloquell
Last year we wrote an article “Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blondes?” in it we presented statistical proof that men prefer women with dark hair and dark eyes. No one on this list embodies this more than the very beautiful, Nina. This Spanish bombshell with her beautiful smile and gorgeous dark eyes has won over many of our staff members world wide smitten. What made this psychologist, model ,and fashion designer on our list.
#7. Sydney A Maler
This Souther California native is a self proclaimed avid beach bum, and loves being bare foot in a bikini. And her Instagram is proof of this, Sydney first melted the hearts of a few of staff I members with her gorgeous Hazel eyes and huge smile. Her profile is constantly full of bright sunny scenery,and smiles. Sydney’s Instagram a great follow, but we must warn you…..you might become smitten and like all her photos in one sitting.
#6. Natalie Jayne Roser
This beautiful 23-year-old self proclaimed meat-eating carb-loading Australian blonde bombshell, Natalie Roser, first caught our eye this year due to her smile. Its no secret that one of the most attractive parts of a woman body is her smile, and Natalie has one of the most beautiful smiles in spades.
#5. Tianna Gregory
In the beginning of the year her presence was only slightly known, but as the year winds to an end we have noticed her number of followers have grown exponentially. This is her part to any biogs picking up her starting role in photographer Ohrangutang’s, short film shot entirely in the cab of a helicopter flying over Hollywood.
#4. Sazan Hendrix
Texas native, Sazan, is both beautiful and stylish; who originally started a simple fashion blog that also featured hair,and makeup. Over time her personality started to shine through and our staff could not help but fall for her smile and fun personality.
# 3. Negin Mirsalehi
This Amsterdam native first won over our staff with her gorgeous photographs of exotic location, and beautiful smile. Her fashion sense is always on impeccable (after what a proper gentleman would not fall for a stylish posh woman?), even down to her Chanel surf board.
#2. Hannah Kirkelie
Her piercing blue eyes,and flowing blonde hair is hard to miss on Instagram, but this bombshell has more than good looks to offer. She is a world traveler, and has the photographs on her Instagram account to prove it.
#1. Ivana Korab
This beautiful Serbian born model has the sultry eyes that will hypnotize, a smile that will warm you heart, and a sense of humor that will keep you laughing. This is what all our staff members have said about Ms. Korab, and though there are many staff members run our Instagram account she makes up what seems to be over half of our likes in 2015.
In conclusion
All and all this year has been quite a year for us and by far our biggest to date. We successfully launched both our gaming division, and our new Travel Series,offered more giveaways for you our readers (subscribe to our newsletter for more information),What will 2016 bring?