Much like last year, 2015 offered a lot of good films, but few great ones. The usual caveats all apply: I missed a number of movies that I would have liked to have seen, in particular some foreign films and documentaries. Also, as is typically the case, my movie rankings have changed more than once during writing and will no doubt continue to evolve after publication. With that, on to the list and its subsidiary awards.
1. Spotlight
Many films are made about journalism, but few show any meaningful comprehension of their subject matter. Spotlight isn’t merely a great film about journalism (joining such classics as All the President’s Men and The Insider), it’s a great film, period.
2. The Martian
There aren’t many virtues more underrated than managing simply not to screw up. Ridley Scott’s latest is both about a tremendous team effort and the result of one: great lead, great supporting cast, great direction, great script, great everything.
3. Mad Max: Fury Road
Probably the most pleasant surprise of the year, and a much-needed corrective to cinema’s long over-reliance on CGI.
4. The Big Short
Michael Lewis’s book wasn’t an easy one to adapt, but the director Adam McKay did an exceptional job. There may be a few too many bells and whistles—only a few—and the stylistic resemblances to The Wolf of Wall Street are notable. But The Big Short is nonetheless a terrific film.
5. Sicario
Two-thirds of the way through, I thought this might be the best movie of the year. And while the final act is a bit of a letdown, the end result is still dazzling.
6. Inside Out
After some lean years, Pixar returned to form with Pete Docter’s heartfelt, high-concept film. Enjoy it, and try not to think too much about the deluge of sequels (Finding Dory, Cars 3, Toy Story 4, The Incredibles 2, etc.) coming down the pike behind it.
7. The Revenant
The film is beautiful and brutal in equal parts, and features dazzling cinematography from back-to-back Oscar winner Emmanuel Lubezki. Had it been half an hour shorter than its trying 156-minute running time, it might have leapt several spots on this list.
8. Magic Mike XXL
What looked in advance like a shameless cash grab turned out to be another wonderful surprise—and perhaps the most unexpectedly feminist film of the year.
9. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Derivative? Absolutely. But J. J. Abrams’s marvelous mashup of the first Star Wars trilogy managed to mine the spirit of the originals while offering something fresh as well.
10. Steve Jobs
It’s not a film that digs far beneath the surface, but Aaron Sorkin’s whiplash dialogue and Michael Fassbender’s bravura lead performance more than make up for any shortcomings.
11. Carol
Stylish, intimate, and boasting great turns by Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, this is among the director Todd Haynes’s best works.
12. Room
The actress Brie Larson may have been overlooked for her stunning performance in 2013’s little-seen Short Term 12. But it won’t happen again.
Honorable Mentions: Amy, Anomalisa, Beasts of No Nation, Black Mass, Cinderella, Ex Machina, Joy, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Trainwreck, Wild Tales
And the rest…
Best Bear Attack: The Revenant
Best Mosasaur Attack: Jurassic World
Best Blind, Flamethrowing Guitar Player: Mad Max: Fury Road
The Winklevi Award for Excellence in Playing Twins: Tom Hardy, Legend
Worst Romantic Chemistry: Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan, 50 Shades of Grey
(Runner-up: Nicole Kidman and Chiwetel Ejiofor, The Secret in their Eyes)
(Honorable Mentions: Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum, Jupiter Ascending; Chris Hemsworth and Tang Wei, Blackhat)
Best Fake Soap Opera: Joy
Best Fake Magazine: Trainwreck (“S’Nuff”)
The Gay Panic Award: Get Hard
(Runner-up: The D Train)
Best Alec Guinness Impression: Max von Sydow, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Worst Liam Neeson Impression: Sean Penn, The Gunman
Best Turn-of-the-Century Reference to The Atlantic: Crimson Peak
The Unbroken Award for a Portrait of Endurance that Gradually Becomes an Exercise in Endurance: The Revenant
Best Use of “Smells Like Teen Spirit”: Pan
Best Use of “Freebird”: Kingsman: The Secret Service
Best Use of “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”: Anomalisa
Least Convincing Hacker: Chris Hemsworth, Blackhat
Least Responsible First Responder: Dwayne Johnson, San Andreas
Person You’d Least Want in Charge of National Intelligence: Andrew Scott (Sherlock’s Moriarty), Spectre
Most Comprehensive Annihilation of an Intended Franchise: Josh Trank, Fantastic Four
Best Driver: Ben Kingsley, Learning to Drive
(Runner-up: Robert DeNiro, The Intern)
Worst Total Box Office: Confession of a Child of the Century, $74
(Runner-up: Paranoid Girls, $78)
Most Disturbing Sex Scenes (Human Category): Love
Most Disturbing Sex Scenes (Puppet Category): Anomalisa
Best Performance Playing a Character Named “Toussaint”: Jimmy Jean-Louis, Joy
(Runner-up: Fabrice Adde, The Revenant)
The “Marry Me and I’ll Buy You a Piano” Award: Far from the Madding Crowd
The “That Was Beautiful; What Happened?” Award: The Assassin
Least Sexy Movie: 50 Shades of Grey
(Runner-up: A LEGO Brickumentary)
Best Tolkien Reference: The Martian
Best Gag Involving a Hammer: Avengers: Age of Ultron
Best Joke About Naming Your Fists “Cagney and Lacey”: Spy
Best Celebrity Cameo: LeBron James, Trainwreck
Best Imaginary Friend: Bing Bong, Inside Out
Most Awkward Interplay Between Real and Fictional Theme Parks: Tomorrowland
(Runner-up: Jurassic World)
Best Contact Lenses: Johnny Depp, Black Mass
Best Eyeglasses: Sean Harris, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
Best Glass Eye: Christian Bale, The Big Short
Best Robot: Ava (Ex Machina)
Worst Robot: Chappie (Chappie)
The Cameron Crowe Award for a Soundtrack in Search of a Movie: Aloha
Best Aerial Stunt: Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
(Runner-up: Spectre)
Worst Oven-Cleaning Method: The Visit
Worst Misuse of a Juice Bottle: Sleeping with Other People
Best Movie About Journalism: Spotlight
Worst Movie About Journalism: Truth
The Sudden Ubiquity Award: Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina, Brooklyn, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Revenant); Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road; Legend; The Revenant); Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina, Mojave, Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Best Dog-boy: Jack Bright, The Good Dinosaur
Worst Dog-man: Channing Tatum, Jupiter Ascending
Worst Implicit Historical Comparison: Moving the events of The Secret in Their Eyes from Argentina’s Dirty War to post-9/11 America
Best Backward-Looking Reboot: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Worst Backward-Looking Reboot: Terminator Genisys
Best Home Movies: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Nicest Russian Spy: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Trends of the Year: Women ruling comedy (Trainwreck, Spy); an overdue pushback against CGI (Mad Max: Fury Road, Star Wars: The Force Awakens); sneakily feminist themes in summer sequels (Magic Mike XXL, Mad Max: Fury Road); spy spoofs (Spy, Kingsman: The Secret Service, The Man from U.N.C.L.E, the final third of Spectre)