End of Year 2015

Well, another year has come and gone.  It was not a great year for me and the movies.  I only saw 15 new releases this whole year.  15 out of 221.  Then again, 221 movies in a year isn't terrible.  It's not my record, which is 287 in a year (2013) but I was unemployed for part of that and had nothing else to do.  But you probably don't care about any of that anyway.  Let's get to some movies!

10.  Mockingjay, Part 2 -- I was just really disappointed in this film.  I think it was a bad idea to split it into two parts.  Fully half of the movie is denouement and it just drags.  Not a good way to end a series.  If I had seen more movies, this might not have even made my top 10.

9.  Mission Impossible:  Rogue Nation -- I'm a little surprised this wasn't higher on the list but this year had too many good action movies.  I had to be really nit-picky.

8.  Kingsman:  The Secret Service -- This movie was a blast from start to finish and a welcome entry from the early part of the year.

7.  Pitch Perfect 2 -- Don't get me wrong, I love my Bellas.  Everything from here up was painful to rank.

6.  Ant-Man --  I didn't have high expectations for this movie and that may have been what made it so enjoyable.

5.  Inside Out -- Pixar's entry this year showed surprising depth and subtlety.

4.  Spectre -- It kills me this is so low.  I loved this movie.

3.  The Avengers:  Age of Ultron -- I thought for sure this was going to be my number one but when I was looking at them, I just couldn't do it.  I'm sorry, Quicksilver.

2.  Jurassic World -- I really loved this movie.  I had such a good time watching it and I feel like it's a worthy successor to the franchise.

1.  Mad Max:  Fury Road -- I had dreams about this movie.  It was amazing and weird and disgusting and balls out crazy with just enough of the sublime to render it as art.

So there you have it.  Comments and arguments are welcome.

And now, let's look ahead to what's coming in 2016.

Kung Fu Panda 3 got a release date!  Here's hoping that it continues the spirit of excellence it had in the second film.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a real thing.  But it's coming out in February, which means it'll probably suck.

Deadpool already has my money.  Ryan Reynolds was born to play this role.

The live-action Jungle Book is coming out in March.  I don't know how I feel about that.

I've avoided trailers for Captain America:  Civil War.  I already know I'm going to see it and I want every frame to be as fresh as possible.

Alice Through the Looking Glass could be good.  I enjoyed Alice in Wonderland more than I thought I would.

Of course I'm going to see X-Men:  Apocalypse.

I didn't even know there was going to be a sequel to The Conjuring.  But apparently, The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Poltergeist is a thing.

I'll probably see Finding Dory but I don't have high expectations.

Ugh.  I don't know how I feel about Star Trek Beyond.

Suicide Squad.  Yes, yes, yes.

They remade Pete's Dragon.  Right in the childhood.

They also remade The Magnificent Seven and I have no idea why.

Doctor Strange is coming in November.

Moana looks really cool.  It'll be nice to see Disney do something Polynesian.

Assassin's Creed is a video game adaptation and those typically do not do well.  This one has Michael Fassbender in it, however, and that's a huge endorsement.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is coming out on Christmas Day.  I haven't read the books but they come highly recommended.