Top 5 -Takeaways from the Movies of 2015

2015 has come to a close and it has been a very good year for movies.  It’s very hard compiling my Best of the Year lists because of how many good movies and performances we got this year.  But before I release those, here are my five biggest takeaways from the movies of 2015.

5 – Steven Spielberg is a Victim of His Own Greatness

Steven Spielberg made the best movie that nobody is talking about.  Bridge of Spies is cinema at its finest.  It is impeccably made, with searing performances and a remarkable story.  Yet, why isn’t anyone talking about it?   It will probably get a few Oscar nominations, but that’s about it.  Why is this?  Spielberg’s last film, Lincoln (2012) kind of slid under the radar too and that is one of Spielberg’s all-time bests.  Is it because he’s made so many good movies, we just expect greatness?  That shouldn’t be the case.  We need to recognize the consistency and brilliance of arguably the greatest living director.

4- The Unexpected Blockbusters

We all knew certain movies were going to make a bunch of money this year.  Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Jurassic World, Minions, Furious 7, Spectre, and a few others were automatic blockbusters.  But there were a lot of surprises, and good surprises at that.  The Martian and Cinderella both ended up in the top 10 highest grossing movies of the year.  Mission: Impossible – Rouge Nation proved the power of that franchise and Tom Cruise’s star power and Creed reignited the Rocky franchise.  But my favorite $100 million movies this year were Straight Outta Compton and Trainwreck.  Both are great movies, but what’s best about them is that they are original, R-rated films, which usually don’t make a lot of money.  I love that people saw these movies and love that people liked them because they are great.

3- The Wide Open Oscar Race

Usually at this point in the year, we have some indicator as to who is going to win some categories, or at least who the frontrunners are.  Last year it was between Boyhood and Birdman, two years ago was a great battle between 12 Years a Slave and Gravity, and in 2012, it was Argo‘s to lose.  This year, the race is a wide open as ever.  The only two films that have been consistent all festival circuit long have been Spotlight and Mad Max: Fury Road, which has caught everyone by surprise.  The acting categories are just as open.  This will make for one entertaining and exciting awards season.

2- Franchise Longevity

This year gave us three seventh installments in a franchise (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Creed, and Furious 7).  This is an amazing feat and all the films were quite good, particularly Star Wars and Creed. We also got excellent sequels in Mad Max: Fury Road and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.  What is great about all of these sequels, besides being awesome movies, is they are movies that showed us why we loved the franchise in the first place and heighten their respective series to new levels so that they can expand into something new.  I am  ecstatic for what these series will bring us next.

1- The Year of the Documentary

Maybe it is because I exposed myself to more documentaries this year than any other year before this, but by God, were there a lot of fantastic documentaries this year, and I didn’t even see all the ones I wanted to see. Films like The Wolfpack, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, The Nightmare, Hitchcock/Truffaut and my personal favorite, Amy, documentaries took a giant leap forward in terms of storytelling, subjects, and filmmaking, giving me some of the most emotional and amazing filmgoing experiences I had all year.  This was the best genre of 2015 and I cannot wait to see more documentaries in 2016.

Agree or disagree with this list?  What was your biggest takeaway from the movies of 2015?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter @kevflix or on my Facebook page, Kevflix.