My only caution on this list is that I would give all these movies a thumbs up. In other words, I’m leaving out a lot that I liked about the movies I didn’t rate number one. But having said that:

No. 8: The Big Short: It wants us to understand what happened on the financial collapse so badly, it gets a little too cute for me, and by the way, still is confusing. I lost track of who worked for what company, and it made the climax foggy.

No. 7: The Revenant: A really powerful story gets the bloat as it slows down too much

with flashbacks and mystical scenes that didn’t have to be.

No. 6: Bridge of Spies: The filmmakers decided to make the spy so cute and never without the funniest quips, in contrast to the total dolts in government. It felt a little too manipulative to me, particularly based on actual history.

No. 5: Mad Max: The non-stop action did include interesting characters. But this action

film doesn’t really have time to slowdown to develop them.

No. 4: Brooklyn: The first half of the film was as fine as anything I saw all year. The second half asks us to accept a decision by the key character that I just didn’t buy.

No. 3: Room: You could not do a better job of telling a story about two people held captive and their lives upon release. Just such a heavy topic, I don’t think I could watch it again.

No. 2: Spotlight: As a journalist who loves this movie about journalism, even I can’t believe I didn’t make it number one. But………………..

No. 1: The Martian: It had it all. A smart, great character who uses science to survive. I can’t wait to watch it again.