Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, actor John Krasinski and directors Ang Lee and Guillermo del Toro let the world know the nominees for the 88th annual Academy Awards, survival epic The Revenant, dystopian action effort Mad Max: Fury Road, journalism procedural Spotlight and housing crisis comedic satire The Big Short instantly emerging as Best Picture frontrunners.

Flesh and Bone is outstanding. For STARZ, it might just be the best limited series the cable channel has produced yet, creator and showrunner Moira Walley-Beckett crafting a mesmerizing descent into the world of ballet that’s as dark and bleak – yet also as energizing and beautiful – as anything television has seen in quite some time.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is a cult gem I’m absolutely ecstatic has managed to find its way to Blu-ray. Tom Stoppard’s 1990 idiosyncratic favorite features glorious performances, witty lines and an ingenious premise that makes me grin ear-to-ear just thinking about it.

As beautiful disasters go, Pan is kind of divine. It’s fascinating to watch, filled with sights and sounds utterly unique in and of themselves. None of which makes it a good movie, per se, but it is a fascinating, at times an intently hypnotic one, and as failures go, I’ll take more like this Joe Wright mess every single day of the week.

I’m not going to make the case that Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse was some unsung, underappreciated horror-comedy classic that was wrongly dismissed by critics and audiences during its initial release back in November of last year, it isn’t and it wasn’t. But the movie does make me laugh, and I can’t help but like the cast and find myself amused by a number of their antics. Also, the gore effects are relatively inspired, and that in and of itself make this one a-okay in my book. So there.

Cherry Tree is the pits, and there’s little more to say other than that.

If only The Forest wanted to be more than it is, attempted to explore the more interesting interpersonal emotional tangents it continually hints at wanting to look at yet infuriatingly never does, then maybe it could have been something glorious. Instead, the film feels more like an expertly crafted missed opportunity, a suspense opus filled with some solidly intriguing ideas that for some reason it refuses to investigate.

Deathgasm is a hoot, holding up beautifully on repeat viewing filled with a number of creative delights not necessarily noticed on first viewing. Howden shows a lot of promise with this debut, and while I’m not automatically excited about him tackling a reported sequel next and not something different, considering the talent he shows here I’m more than willing to keep an open mind.

By my count, there were roughly 35 motion pictures I’d consider top tier or better, with another 20 or so I’d rate just behind them. All of which leads me to say, yes, I do believe 2015 was a great year for cinema, and I can’t help but think history will bare me out on that proclamation as the years mercilessly go by.