2015 was a stellar year for movies! There were countless box office hits, high ratings and of course, plenty of popcorn sales. Although this would have been easy to miss with the myriad of homework, quizzes, and tests that come our way throughout the year. But as they say, “better late than never.” With all that said, let’s reflect on the past year in movies.

One of our classic stories returned to theaters this year: Cinderella returned as one of the most anticipated movies of 2015. One of the biggest parts of the movie was Cinderella’s gorgeous ball gown which was designed by Oscar winning designer, Sandy Powell. Powell’s main idea about the dress was to make it look like a painting that flowed off the canvas, without a doubt Powell succeeded by making the dress one of the main features of the movie. Cinderella received 84% on Rotten Tomatoes and is currently nominated for various costume design awards.

We all know the hilarious minions from the Despicable Me films, and now we can learn more about them in Minions. This movie tells the story of these adorable yellow creatures who are constantly traveling from place to place to serve the world’s biggest villain. Minions became a huge success, topping the box office for three continuous weeks and became the 5th highest grossing film of 2015!

Inside Out was another animated movie that gained popularity this year. Inside Out is about a girl named Riley–well, about her emotions as she moves from her home to a completely new place. This movie is nominated for many “Best Animated Movie” of the year awards and is definitely a must-see for of 2015.

James Bond came back to the cinema hall in Spectre. Daniel Craig once again provides justice to the role of the intelligent agent who now goes up against the secret society known as Spectre. The movie has had positive reviews and broke the United Kingdom record for highest first week opening.

One more movie with a strong lead was Andy Weir’s debut book The Martian (2014). Matt Damon plays the role of Mark Watney, an astronaut who is stranded on Mars with after his team leaves him mistakenly. The movie follows Watney’s survival and the attempts to get him home safe and sound. This year in the Oscar’s The Martian is nominated for 6 awards and has already won Best Picture and Actor at the Golden Globes.

Next we have Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Two, based on the best selling series by Suzanne Collins. In the final movie of the series Katniss, played by Jennifer Lawrence, continues to fight the long battle against the Capitol. Critics praised Jennifer Lawrence’s acting as well as the action sequences in the movie. The film received positive reviews and has been nominated for many awards including Best Lead Actress.

The Hunger Games was not the only film series to grow in 2015. The Jurassic Park films also expanded this year with the release of Jurassic Park. Critics rated this movie highly and Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a 93%. Peter Travers from Rolling Stones described the movie as “colossal entertainment—the eye-popping, mind-bending, kick-out-the-jams thrill ride of summer and probably the year.”

One of the best comedies featuring the Barden Bellas returned in Pitch Perfect 2, where the group is competing in the World Finals. CinemaScore gave the movie an A- on a scale of A+ to F, most critics claimed that movie was not as successful as the first one but still thoroughly enjoyable!

Avengers: Age of Ultron is also one of the 2015 favorites. Prairie Ridge sophomore Katie Svehla says “It was action packed and had something for everyone.” The critical response Avengers received was positive. Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie 74%. Chicago-Suns Times in their review said that “”Some day, an Avengers film might collapse under the weight of its own awesomeness. I mean, how many times can they save the world? But this is not that day.”

Last but certainly not least,
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….
Star Wars returned to theaters and broke many, many box office records including fastest film to gross $1 billion, biggest worldwide opening, highest grossing movie of 2015, and much more! Many critics are regarding this movie as the event of the year and after a long wait, the movie definitely did not disappoint. Sophomore Katie Thompson says “It was really exciting to see the old characters come back in the new movie.” The movie was given a 93% from Rotten Tomatoes, one of the highest scores of the year! Mrs. Fuerholzer agreed with the outstanding reviews when she said ¨It was well worth it.¨ .

These are only some of the amazing movies that were released this year. Others include The Good Dinosaur, Ant Man, Mission Impossible-Rogue Nation, Terminator Genisys, The Peanuts Movie, Insurgent, Paper Towns and many more. Will 2016 top this list? Only time will tell.