[Best of 2015] The Year in Film and TV

What a wild year 2015 has been for movies. Mad Max rode eternal, shiny, and chrome through the theater of our heart; Hostel director Eli Roth made a horror movie on Snapchat; Rose McGowan slayed the male gaze with a new short film; and Magic Mike XXL bolstered the female one. We explored the daring artists risking life and limb to make movies in Iraq. We crossed the uncanny valley with Alex Garland's Ex Machina, then turned our gaze to the stars with Interstellar and The Martian. This was the year Marty McFly actually went back to the future. Hell, we even got a new Star Wars.

We also had a thouroughly entertaining binge watching buffet, from Netflix's increasing roster of original shows to brutal new seasons of Game of Thrones and True Detective. Short filmmakers brought us to Chernobyl, injected us into Dubai, and unpeeled Boston's time-space continuum. This was the year of Tame Impala's apes and babes music video, "The Less I Know the Better," and Studio Ghibli's Hayao Miyazaki sort-of return from retirement. Oh, and Grand Theft Auto actually became an important filmmaking tool.

This year, we unpacked the ins and outs of master filmmakers and discovered the next generation of visual storytellers. Here's the best of what we watched and loved in 2015.

TIE Fighter

+ First of all, Star Wars. And Star Wars. And Star Wars. Star Wars anime, Star Wars burlesque, Star Wars Greek sculptures. Artists made parodies, homages, a Daft Punk remix, and everything in between in preparation for the The Force Awakens. We recommend seeing the record-breaking awakening of the beloved franchise at 4:30 AM.

+ Beloved as Han Solo is, Harrison Ford's other big Lucas-produced role, Indiana Jones, was voted the most popular character of all time.

+ Ridley Scott's The Martian was more Earthbound than Star Wars, but we got a thrill exploring the fantastical spaceship that made the fictional mission to Mars possible.

+ On the lower end of the budgetary spectrum, Troma Studios showed us their campiest props and setpieces.

+ Rose McGowan's Dawn was a brutal takedown of gender expectations and the male gaze.

+ Madeleine Holden of Critique My Dick Pick unpacked the argument of Magic Mike XXL's place in feminist canon.

+ Eli Roth enlisted a squad of Vine stars to explore the untapped genre of Snapchat horror.

+ Speaking of horror, we found out what makes a film look scary.

+ We dissected the art, props, and cinematography of True Detective Season 2.

+ The Wolfpack boys showed us how to do that stuff with cardboard and paint.

+ The Mad Men writers room became an art exhibition.

+ Sean Baker explored trans culture with the iPhone-shot Tangerine, while Gaspar Noé pleasured the senses with Love.

+ We delighted in unreleased animations from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

+ We explored Baghdad with Mohammed Al-Daradji and Yahya Al-Allaq of the Iraqi Independent Film Center.

+ Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon told us about indie favorite Me and Earl and the Dying Girl's DIY mini films-within-the-film.

+ Oscar-nominated animator of Reject! Don Hertzfeldt told us how he's kept his style fresh over the decades.

+ Emmy-winning VFX juggernaut Game of Thrones taught us how to make dragons, fire, undead armies, and eerie halls filled with human faces.

+ An army of fans made animations, rabbit-themed homages, and a Google Map of Westeros.

+ Mad Max: Fury Road also brought its A-game when it comes to VFX, complimenting the groundbreaking practical effects that made its car culture so explosive.

+ Those cars were replicated in Lego, vegetables, watercolors, and black and white—which may have been director George Miller's orginal intention anyway.

+ A different dystopian future scared us in Alex Garland's psychological sci-fi thriller Ex Machina, which taught us both about the dangers of artificial intelligence and gave us some web design tips.

+ We were mezmerized by a dozen zoetropes, reviving the classic animation method for the modern day with 3D printing, cake, film, music, the golden ratio, more cake, embroidery, classic paintings, film, and garbage.

+ We finally passed by Marty McFly in Back to the Future II, so all the memes, hoverboard jokes, and unreleased art have finally gotten themselves over with—we hope.

+ Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli and beloved master animator, slipped in and out of retirement this year, but announced that he'll be releasing his first 3D animation in 2018.

+ Miyazaki's devoted fanbase made tribute videos, shorts inspired by his themes or animation style, and plus recreations of his worlds in Minecraft and 8-bit video games.

+ Another devoted Ghibli-ite created an imaginary Ghibli theme park which was awesome, but the actual Miyazaki-sponsored nature retreat might possibly be even cooler.

+ We watched stunning music videos from The Flaming Lips, D∆WN, Yukon Blonde, M.I.A., Prefuse 73, HEALTH, Björk, Ratatat, and so many more.

+ Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon exploded the internet with their second season of Rick and Morty, during which they told us the secret to comedy and taught us how to burp like Rick Sanchez.

+ When it was over, they ruled our Instagram feeds and let us vent our post-finale feels into a real answering machine.

+ In the lead up to Quentin Tarantino's new Christmas movie, The Hateful Eight, the internet unpacked, analyzed and dissected his films more times than you can say "what" again (and live).

+ Throughout the whole thing, we kept calm by watching endless videos of Iceland's scenery. Like this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one. Ah, that's better.

What were your favorites in movies and TV in 2015? Let us know on Twitter or in the comments section below.

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