Top ten movie lists are purely subjective, and don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. There really isn’t a definitive list as to the best movies of the year are, because it’s all a matter of personal taste. It’s difficult to argue how Inside Out might be better than The Big Short. Try to compare why Spotlight is better than Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It doesn’t do any of us any good trying to rank Room over or below Mad Max Fury Road.

Anyone can put up a ranking, and no one list is the same as any other. But I guess that is what makes the practice of making these lists so appealing. Reading and arguing which films deserve to be in a yearly top ten, or even take the title of the year’s best.

The annual ritual of narrowing down hundreds of titles to just 10 is a cruel but necessary discipline as a film critic. Over the past 12 months, I’ve seen 100 new releases. I spent a combined eight days watching movies this year, and I’m happy to report that 2015 has been a pretty great year for cinema.

We saw new work by visionary filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Ridley Scott, Todd Haynes, George Miller, and Denis Villeneuve. We witnessed noteworthy performances by Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Oscar Isaac, Michael B. Jordan, Saoirse Ronan, and Brie Larson. And we were entertained and awe-struck by blockbusters like Mad Max: Fury Road, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.

I saw some truly great movies that renewed my love for cinema and kept my cynicism and negativity buried beneath joy and optimism this year. Here are the ones that did just that: 10 films that moved, inspired, and reinvigorated me.

It’s time for my annual look back at my top 10 favorite movies of 2015. While I do write the occasional movie review, I don’t consider myself to be a “film critic,” but rather more of an enthusiastic movie watcher. I enjoy a lot of movies I watch, but not many becomes “favorites.” So, this list here is not my picks for the “best” films of the year; these are merely my favorite movies of 2015.

I do get to see a lot of films every year, and my criteria for a “favorite” typically is one that keeps me entertained and makes me want to see it repeatedly. Admittedly, I tend to be drawn more towards the fantasy/superhero selections, and less towards the Oscar bait pictures. There will be plenty of other “Best Of 2015” lists being published here at Geeks Of Doom in the coming days that will take a more analytical look at 2015’s films, and will likely include more serious dramas. But for now, with me, you’ll get more fun picks than anything else.

With that, here’s a list of my Top 10 Favorite Movies of 2015.