From January 1 through December 31, I have seen 143 of 2015’s theatrically-released movies. I saw 102 of those in theaters. Some of them twice. The rest, a combination of online screeners and DVDs. I would call the first twenty-some on the list “great.” The next fifty are good. The twenty after that I would call “watchable.” And the last fifty, unfortunately, sort of stunk. If you disagree tremendously with my rankings, let me know! I’m always up for a good cinematic debate. Otherwise, without further ado…
- The Revenant
- Sicario
- Ex Machina
- Spotlight
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- The Hateful Eight
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- The Martian
- Steve Jobs
- Room
- Black Mass
- Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
- The Danish Girl
- The Big Short
- Straight Outta Compton
- Carol
- Youth
- Brooklyn
- Mr. Holmes
- Kingsman
- In the Heart of the Sea
- 99 Homes
- Creed
- Concussion
- The Look of Silence
- While We’re Young
- The End of the Tour
- Macbeth
- 45 Years
- The Diary of a Teenage Girl
- Cartel Land
- Black Sea
- Amy
- Trumbo
- Listen to Me Marlon
- Anomalisa
- Peace Officer
- Southpaw
- Slow West
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Inside Out
- Spectre
- Bridge of Spies
- Pawn Sacrifice
- Trainwreck
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
- Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine
- Woman in Gold
- Song of Lahore
- 3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets
- Monkey Kingdom
- Best of Enemies
- Goodnight Mommy
- Joy
- Legend
- Dope
- People Places Things
- The Intern
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
- Love the Coopers
- Suffragette
- ’71
- The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
- Iris
- Grandma
- Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
- Chappie
- American Ultra
- Beasts of No Nation
- Furious 7
- The 33
- Crimson Peak
- Ant-Man
- Learning to Drive
- The Good Dinosaur
- Pitch Perfect 2
- Vacation
- Ted 2
- San Andreas
- What We Do in the Shadows
- Where to Invade Next
- McFarland, U.S.A.
- The Gift
- Ballet 422
- The Visit
- Meet the Patels
- Love and Mercy
- Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
- The Peanuts Movie
- Chi-Raq
- Sisters
- I Smile Back
- The Walk
- Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter
- Mistress America
- No Escape
- Terminator: Genysis
- Entourage
- The Little Death
- Goosebumps
- Shaun the Sheep
- The DUFF
- The Wolfpack
- Ricki and the Flash
- Jurassic World
- Wildlike
- Maggie
- Point Break
- Do I Sound Gay?
- Tomorrowland
- Cinderella
- The Age of Adaline
- We Are Your Friends
- Unfriended
- Spy
- Cooties
- Hitman: Agent 47
- Child 44
- The SpongeBob Movie
- Project Almanac
- The Wedding Ringer
- Kung Fu Killer
- Partisan
- Get Hard
- Minions
- Daddy’s Home
- Tangerine
- The Lazarus Effect
- Welcome to Me
- Run All Night
- The Loft
- Survivor
- The Perfect Guy
- Our Brand is Crisis
- My All-American
- Dark Places
- Unfinished Business
- Pixels
- Results
- True Story
- Fantastic 4
- Mortdecai
- Blackhat