A lot has happened in 2015 which made an impact on film and television. Cinematic universes are being established apart from Marvel and DC properties, with the success of Jurassic World and later on Star Wars, we start to see franchises from past generations come back, new stars rise up and others come back… Here are some of the best moments and highlights of the year:
VIOLA DAVIS WINS THE EMMY!
She was the first African-American to win an Emmy for best actress in a drama for her lead role in Shonda Rhimes’ How to Get Away with Murder and she made an emotional speech in favor of diversity in Hollywood.
PATRICIA ARQUETTE WINS THE OSCAR!
Boyhood got to the Oscars early this year with a lot of strong nominations but the only one who brought her award home was Patricia Arquette for her supporting role in Richard Linklater’s acclaimed film. She also had a great speech prepared for the big moment advocating for wage equality, which got even Meryl Streep cheering for it.
Fellow actresses like Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain have been fighting against the wage gap between men and women in Hollywood this year as well.
THE AMY SCHUMER PHENOMENON
She came out of nowhere for a lot of people. Who’s Amy Schumer? She’s a fearless comedian, actress and Jennifer Lawrence’s new best friend. Amy wrote and starred in a new Judd Apatow movie, Trainwreck, and landed a Golden Globe nomination for it. She has her own TV show, Inside Amy Schumer, which won two Emmys in 2015 as well.
#ALLMYMOVIES
Shia Labeouf is widely known for being one of the most controversial actors in Hollywood, and for the past few years he’s been involved in several performance art projects, the latest one being #AllMyMovies. You can read more about it here. My favorite part was seeing how much fun he was having during some of his films, especially The Even Stevens Movie.
Shia and the audience enjoying the ending of the EVEN STEVENS movie is actually a pretty special thing to watch. pic.twitter.com/sSz7OuOIsg
— Marcelo J. Pico (@MarceloJPico) November 12, 2015
From somebody who I know and was there…
Words can’t describe what I just experienced. The sight of Shia laughing & crying at the ending of The Even Stevens Movie. Wow. #AllMyMovies
— Eric Striffler (@striffleric) November 12, 2015
PARKS AND REC’S FAREWELL
After 125 episodes, 7 seasons and 8 years of Parks and Recreation, NBC aired the final episode of the show on February. It will be missed, but the amazing cast are already doing bigger things on the big screen, mainly Chris Pratt. Aziz Ansari created a new show on Netflix (Master of None), which has gained a lot of attraction this year, and Adam Scott starred in the successful Krampus.
https://youtu.be/TAUbuKCOFKo
STAR WARS IS BACK!
The resurgence of past generation franchises went strong this year with both the hype around Star Wars: The Force Awakens and its massive success. While we’ve seen the comeback of Star Trek and Jurassic World before, this was the biggest commercial release of the year.
From the Chewie and Han Solo reunion to Carrie Fisher’s press tour, and everything in between (let’s not forget the epic PTX tribute), 2015 will be remembered for this great franchise.
SUPERHERO POWER
2015 has probably been the most prolific year for superhero films and TV shows. DC has stepped up their game developing their superhero titles for the next few years. They shot Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad, prepared to collect Arrow’s and The Flash’s continued success on The CW by creating a spin-off (Legends of Tomorrow), and debuted Supergirl.
From the other side, Marvel was the object of controversies, starting with Avengers: Age of Ultron and ending with a Fantastic Four fiasco of massive proportions. On the TV front, however, while Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t seem to be keeping much popularity and Agent Carter had a decent reception, the studio’s partnership with Netflix has let them flourish in 2015 with two incredible series: Daredevil and Jessica Jones, both with side-shows attached, ready to be released in 2016. Also this year, Marvel Studios managed to snag a Spidey cameo with new blood, who we’ll see in the upcoming Captain America: Civil War.
Get ready for 2016, because it will be even bigger for superhero franchises.
What other moments deserve to be remembered from 2015?