And so it goes.

2015 was... a year for me. I think I about broke even. Highs, lows, gains, massive regrets, and so on. Not a bad way to wrap things up, but rather hoping 2016 goes a bit smoother. At the very least I hope I do better Journal-wise than I did this year, where I was just a hair over a 2-a-month average (to say nothing of my art posting schedule. My backlog is always building, and yet I'm never sharing...).

But, enough of that. Time for movies! The one thing I can always be reliably counted on to prattle on about, and in a handy-dandy, easy-to-digest list. Like all years, 2015 had more than its fair share of hits, blunders, masterpieces, and creative failures. Strange be the year that doesn't. But it's all the better for that, because variety is the spice of cinematic life, and we got that in spades. I saw my usual cavalcade of movies this year, and got a lot to love. What's the objective best movies released this year? I'm sure I don't know, and this list doesn't reflect that. It reflects my personal favorites. As usual it wasn't an easy process for me to nail things down, and come next year (or even tomorrow) I'll be questioning what I put on and what I left off (casts a long, hard look at Creed). But this is the here and now, and these are my thoughts.

First up, my stats. Somewhat streamlined now, eliminated a rather superfluous category this year (2014 stats in parenthesis):
2015 titles watched (based on US release/availability dates): 84 (119)
Movies viewed in theaters: 126 (183)

Another big drop from the year before, but that was intentional on my part. Been quite busy with school and such this year, not to mention I've been shifting my focus slightly to keep up more with older films, rather than try to obsessively see every new release (meaning I've now been skipping a lot of movies I can tell where going to be meaningless pap before I ever went in).

15. Bone Tomahawk
Western/Horror is a remarkably sparse genre mix, despite how well the two go together. So when one comes along that makes for a great mix of the elements (like, say, a posse of lawmen out hunting a feral tribe of cannibals), I naturally get excited. That this one delivered a wonderful script full of nuanced, wonderfully-acted characters was the surprise, because, to be frank, at this budget and genre, you don’t get that very often. A slow burn of a film that takes the good time to really fill in who we’re spending time with, and is often rather funny and touching to boot. When the horrific elements do crop up, they are abrupt, vicious, and very disturbing (including one depraved moment that got to me far more than anything The Green Inferno had to offer). Though held back by a somewhat cheap atmosphere and simple directing style (victims of the budget and shooting schedule, as is so often the case for movies of this scale), this movie has some real meat on its bones, and is just unique enough to carve itself its own little niche in time. Maybe not a classic, but definitely a prime example of how good “little direct-to-video” movies can be.

14. The Big Short
Who really understands the process and intricacies behind the massive financial crash of 2008 and the bursting of the housing bubble? Not me, that’s for sure. And this movie gets that, and is really, really angry about that. It follows a group of people who saw it all coming a few years back, and made an effort to profit off things. The movie takes plenty of times to break through the fourth wall and explain things to us, doing so in a way that is entertaining and informative, but never condescending. Because the movie wants you to understand, and it wants you to be angry. It’s a broken system that surrounds us, one that buoys up a culture of pure greed and fraud. Even our main characters, for all the money they make, are seemingly broken by how bafflingly corrupt it all is. Thanks goodness the movie is as funny and pointed as it is, or I’d have left the theater feeling even more depressed.

13. Spy
Typecasting never really helps an actor, and Melissa McCarthy seems to get it worse than most, stuck as she is in the “fat woman is crude and falls down” comedy subgenre. So when something like this comes along that utilizes her just right, she comes across as just that much more of a revelation. It keeps the elements of those previous comedies, but actually comments on them and allows McCarthy to be a real character underneath it all (and a rather competent one at that). And in a comedy that lives and dies on its great characters, that counts for even more. As amazing as she is (it’s her best role yet), though, Jason Stathom is the real star here, stealing every scene he’s in with a self-serious batch of quips and straight-faced insanity that mocks everything about what his persona has become, and it is hysterical every time. The whole broad concept of an espionage/action movie parody isn’t exactly fresh water, but this movie makes it work, thanks mostly to this great cast and ideas.

12. It Follows
Indie horror has been on fire over the past few years, and this year kept that hot streak up. The concept is simple. It’s all there in the title. You have sex with someone, it starts following you until you pass it along (via sex) or it catches you and kills you. That’s all. It’s almost too simple and laughable, but the movie plays its cards just right, keeping us engaged in a dreary atmosphere that keeps everything effectively mysterious and super, super creepy. More than that (and more than the simple STD metaphor it first appears to be), the movie has a lot to say about the nature of growing up after being caught in that weird post-teen/early-twentysomething fog of life. We’re on our own (even when we’re not, or when we try not to be), we’re slowly waking up to the inevitability of the end, and we’re constantly lost and trying to find our way. It doesn’t mean to be especially depressing about this, but it’s just saying. A movie that isn’t inherently scary (except for that damn tall man), but it keeps itself together and makes for a truly special, haunting experience. The Carpenter-inspired synth score certainly doesn’t hurt, either.

11. Cinderella
There’s something to be said for a movie that doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, but just take what it’s got and portray it really, really well. That’s what this is. It’s the classic tale (Disney version, naturally) that you know so well, with no tricks or special surprises or needlessly-convoluted mythologies tacked on. Just a sweet story of finding love and being kind, told with a gorgeously opulent and grand style that lends itself tremendously to the tale (for real, even I was taken aback by the costume and set designs here, and that’s stuff I tend not to notice at first). What’s more, the movie really puts a lot of emphasis on how important (and difficult) it is to stay kind to adversity, to keep being the best example of a good person that you want the world to see. It’s wonderfully sincere in a way that’s entirely too rare these days, and one of the best live-action things the House of Mouse has done in years. Also, to answer your next question, yes, A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes still makes me tear up.

10. Magic Mike XXL
An unexpected sequel about a group of male strippers on a road trip probably shouldn’t be this good. It’s got no solid plot to speak of, no actual conflict, nothing that seems to make a movie a Movie. It’s just a group of friends on a road trip, chatting with each other and trying to figure themselves out at a weird point in their lives. It’s something that speaks to a lot of folks in a very base way, especially those who only ever hang out with their weird friends and don’t seem to quite click with the rest of the world. Additionally, this is an enormously sex positive movie, one that clears away the shame that society seems to have about anything even remotely physical (and also gets by the overly lustful parts of it… mostly), and instead embracing the joy and fun of it all, bringing with it a message that said joy and fun is for everyone, regardless of body type. At a glance this is a write-off movie, a breezy affair with no weight to it, but that simply isn’t true, and it’s a movie that’s more honest and pure with its characters and ideals than most movies will ever even attempt.

9. Selma
Something of a 2014 holdout here (stupid award release strategies), but no matter. Its power is timeless. Taking a look at a slice of time when the Civil Rights Movement was in its heyday, it presents both a powerful portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and also a striking portrayal of racial politics and the struggle for equality, without any easy routes or answers (even for the audience). With thundering performances and harrowing sequences of racial violence, it serves as a bitter reminder of the sins of our past (and present). On top of that, it takes great pains to show the real struggles weren’t always in the loud, overt racism, but also in the quieter things, the moments behind closed doors when powerful (and white) men tried to decide what was best for the future, and if that included minorities or not. The struggle is real, and the movie didn’t cop out with some fictional white surrogate character for the audience, or anything of that nature; it focuses entirely on those being oppressed trying to overcome that oppression, which makes everything ring home all the more. That it is able to somehow spark out an optimistic attitude in the end, that it believes we can get better as a species, that it believes we ultimately can fulfill Dr. King’s dream, speaks volumes to both our capacity as people to begin with and the movie’s stellar portrayal of all relevant events.

8. The Hateful Eight
Carrying on from above is a movie that is many things, one of which being Quentin Tarantino’s most political movie today. A loud, angry screed against the state of racial politics (it may take place post-Civil War, but QT is definitely speaking to us today), this one has a slightly more nihilistic attitude, coming together on the idea that hate can be overcome by more hate (which itself can find friendship in a different kind of hate entirely). Beyond that, it’s still got all the usual hallmarks of a Tarantino flick: outstanding performances, outrageously loquacious dialogue, a whole hodge-podge of cinematic influences on display (primary one, interestingly enough, being John Carpenter’s The Thing), and sudden acts of shocking, bloody violence. Bring it all together in something that’s more of a stage play than his usually lively shows, and you’ve got a movie that is less outwardly accessible than most of his filmography, but certainly deserves to stand tall next to any of them. At the very least, it certainly deserves what the title says, as this is clearly the meanest and nastiest movie he’s ever made.

7. Steve Jobs
I don’t much care about Apple, before or after this movie. I can’t even say if I care much more about the man than I did before. But that’s okay, because this movie goes beyond that. The best biopics focus on specific moments in a person’s life, and this one takes the cake, taking three moments in Apple history and using them as the catalyst to bring out every possible aspect of a very, very complicated individual. He’s nurturing, he’s a control freak, he’s gifted, he’s oblivious, he’s a thief, he’s a tyrant, and he’s a mix of other personality types too, all of it coming together for a blend of personas onscreen that are as compelling as they come. Danny Boyle’s electric and dynamic directing gives the whole thing a glitzy sheen that actually carries the substance it’s about, and Sorkin’s script flows like they always do (it’s said that he writes as though everyone involved has an hour to think up what they’re going to say next in every conversation, and that’s music to my ears).

6. Spotlight
While the above movie covers reality through a decidedly unrealistic (but wholly cinematic) filter, this one is the real world through and through. Delicately understated, efficient, and with no camera trick fancier than a slow pull-out, it realizes that the drama in an intense journalistic investigation discovering a massive conspiracy comes from exactly that. It’s a quite movie, one that revels in simply showing the process of how “real” journalism works, and the tireless efforts one must go through to dig out the truth from a thick pack of lies that no one wants to shift through. It calls to mind the likes of All The President’s Men, and in a way that doesn’t make this seem like some pale imitator. It’s frank, it’s quiet, and it’s real. Also it’s scored to a soundtrack so fitting and perfect that I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

5. Shaun the Sheep Movie
This is what happy entertainment looks like. Simple as that. Colorful Claymation that moves gorgeously, packed with sight gags right out of the silent era, and with nary a single word of spoken dialogue (outside of music lyrics), this is a movie that has purely universal appeal. It’s simple, sweet fun, and it’s done so well that it’s better than most everything else that isn’t. Aardman Entertainment has long made me a fan with their easy-going, totally-sincere methods of making good characters and small-scale situations sing, and this is probably their best outing yet.

4. What We Do In The Shadows
I wanted to open with a joke about found footage being dead, but that seemed a bit much. A faux-documentary (that’s largely improvised) about vampires seems like a combination of every tired cliché and genre out there at this point, but dammit, this movie just sings. All the players involved, besides being outrageously funny guys, have a real knowledge and respect for old-school vampire lore, and put a real effort into making it show. The result is something that’s surprisingly sweet, despite how horrifyingly bloody the whole concept can be at times. It’s really just these group of guys, lost in a world they don’t quite belong in, and just doing what they can to get by. Also, it’s super funny. Did I mention that? Because I can’t stress it enough.

3. Inside Out
Pixar has done it again. They’ve taken something that has no business being the fodder for family entertainment, and made something that goes beyond more “serious” movies about the same topic. What are we? As individuals, I mean. Are we our emotions? Our memories? How do we change? Why would we ever want to? This movie gets through all that in ways that drive right to our very base emotions and provide lessons that never seem to get said all that much, if at all. It’s good to be sad, or to move on from happy memories, or even to move out of the comfort zone of what sort of person we are today in order to evolve into a better, more rounded, and generally more capable person tomorrow. Heavy stuff, but quite effective. In a year full of movies where the stakes are all of the end-of-the-world variety, it’s truly something that the most gripping plot of the year concerned us not wanting an 11-year-old girl to make a bad choice. Also Bing-Bong is wonderfully loveable that I can’t get enough of him.

2. The Martian
Movies that raise the spirits are fairly commonplace (and somewhat necessary in this grim world of our). But one that does it by way of the power of logical thinking, hard work, determination, and coming together with a better hope for our future? That’s something special, and that’s what we’ve got here. Anchored by a powerhouse performance by Matt Damon (who is equal parts warm, funny, endearing, and, yes, scared), this is a grand sci-fi tale that’s as grounded in reality as they come, and never lets that hold it back from being a real wonder to behold. This is humanity coming through in the clutch, with no stock villains or needless obstacles (the nature of the disaster provides all the necessary obstacles). No bad guys are needed, just a bunch of good guys doing really smart things, and doing them really, really well.

1. Mad Max: Fury Road
Surprise, surprise. A rousing tour de force of pure, high-octane cinema being my favorite movie of the year? How I stand out from the rest of the film community right now. But really, there’s no two ways about it here. A blistering example of all that blockbuster filmmaking can be, with so much attention, care, and craft shoved into every frame it’s something of a miracle it all flows as well as it does. It’s a movie that is the perfect example of the Show Don’t Tell school of thought, giving us a deceptively simple setting and batch of characters, and then flooding the screen with background details, hints, secrets, and motivations, all of which reflect upon and change the course of the story for everyone involved. It’s a lightning rod to the imagination in so many ways, and a sign that even in as cynical and cash-grab happy as the mainstream movie landscape is today, genuine creativity can still flourish. A tree-thing has risen in the desert, and it came in the form of a long-delayed sequel that builds up upon itself without resorting to simple nostalgia to do it. And I haven’t even mentioned the gorgeous cinematography, the ear-thumping soundtrack, the dizzying practical effects, The Doof Warrior… my favorite movie of the year and a new instant classic, that’s all there is to it. What a lovely day indeed.

And of course, the runner ups. The movies that almost were but weren't, and some that I know I liked a bit but in a way that'll fade over time, so I'd just regret it (more) if I put it on the actual list (such is the nature of me!).

Ant-Man
The Avengers: Age of Ultron
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Carol
Creed
Krampus
Paddington
The Peanuts Movie
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

So there it went. Au revoir, 2015. And welcome to you, 2016. Got high hopes for you. Please don't disappoint.