This was a fantastic year for cinema. There were so many movies that came out, and while not all of them were nominated and some were ultimately snubbed, a great handful of them truly impressed. Notable standouts were  “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “The Martian” and “The Revenant.” Mad Max was perhaps the best surprise of the year, with a story of redemption and salvation in the face of soul-crushing devastation. Charlize Theron’s character “Imperator Furiosa” baffled me with her performance as a broken woman who by hiding her emotions, ends up slipping into insanity.

Ridley Scott’s “The Martian” was a true triumph of a different sort. It followed abandoned astronaut Mark Watney as he fought the elements and “scienced” the sh*t out of every situation he found himself in. His tactics were scientifically accurate, too. It is apparently possible to fertilize space potatoes with feces.
“The Revenant” was a startling and intense journey, not for the faint of heart. The famed director of last year’s “Birdman” struck yet again with a film both masterful in execution and cinematography. This wasn’t an average popcorn flick. It was a real film.