During the Cold War, James B. Donovan, an American lawyer portrayed cleverly by Tom Hanks, is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American U2 spy plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers.

Bridge of Spies is what may be the finest period piece of 2015. Nobody knows how to make these movies like Steven Spielberg does, and his directing highly pays off in this film. Instead of delivering us a huge history lesson of the Cold War, Spielberg gives us a small court drama that takes place during the Cold War. Both Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance deliver great performances, with Tom Hanks digging into his character and making him feel real, and Mark Rylance completely disappearing into his role and providing a slight sense of humor. Although he isn’t too much in the film, Rylance delivers a very realistic performance that he deserves an Oscar nomination for, at the most. Hanks, who has the most screen-time in the movie, entertains and carries on the movie with great humor and monologues, and his character feels very challenged but motivated while defending a member the opposing side of the war. This may be one of Hanks’ finest performances in a Spielberg movie.

What makes Bridge of Spies stand out more than anything else is its directing. Spielberg is doing what he does best with this movie, developing an interesting thriller from such a small subject within a bigger one in our history. It teaches you enough about the setting, but just the right amount to let it focus on the smaller story as well. The way the movie is finds such a thrilling and interesting story within a larger subject as done very well and in a very focused way by Spielberg. In most scenes, he lets the camera flow without many cuts, and it works perfectly in many shots. The story never drags, and there  isn’t ever a dull moment or a scene that doesn’t feel as realistic as the rest. The script from the Coen Brothers is also fantastic, and the writing always felt alive and very thoughtful as well. The script did a great job at delivering every scene’s point clearly, and did well at conveying the movie’s message. The movie’s ending was very satisfying, as the movie has an excellent climax, as well as a delivering ending.

As a Best Picture nominee of this year, Bridge of Spies rewarding enough to be considered worthy of its nomination. With great performances, directing, and writing, Bridge of Spies is one of the must-sees of 2015. See this movie expecting a very talky movie, and not much action, but I think most younger viewers will enjoy this movie, so you should check this one out soon, as it is now on Blu-ray and other home media.

Room tells the extraordinary story of Jack, a spirited 5-year-old who is trapped in a windowless, 10-by-10-foot space he and his Ma call Room. Ma has created a whole universe for Jack within Room, and she will stop at nothing to ensure that, even in this treacherous environment, Jack is able to live a complete and fulfilling life. But as Jack’s curiosity about their situation grows, and Ma’s resilience reaches its breaking point, they enact a risky plan to escape, ultimately bringing them face-to-face with what may turn out to be the scariest thing yet: the real world.

Based on a fantastic novel, Room is able to tell a realistic, captivating and emotional tale with great directing, writing, and wonderful performances. Brie Larson delivers what could be the best female performance of the year. Her motherly soul feels realistic and there with her every moment she’s on screen. She has excellent chemistry here with young star Jacob Tremblay, who also delivers a marvelous performance here. They feel so intimately connected as mother and son, and they both blew me away in this film. Tremblay is also great as Jack, and since the story is told through his character’s eyes, he gets a lot of time to shine in this amazing breakthrough role for him. I would be pleased if Larson were to win the Academy Award, she is very well-deserving of the award, at least as much as the other nominees.

The movie is captivating from the start to the very end. The movie’s setting immediately fascinates and brings a very believable and realistic story to the screen. The writing is always on the spot, and a few lines within the script will make you tremble. However, there are a few minor but important points of exposition that were mentioned in the book, and that the movie should have clarified to be a tad more understandable for people who haven’t read the book. Sometimes, the movie’s score is out of place, as there are a few parts where the music did not fit into the intended tone of the scene in the film. The climax halfway throughout the film is just as intense as it should have been, and seeing an incredible story like this one being brought to the screen feels like an achievement for such small (as in independent) filmmakers. The movie has excellent directing, as it’s a daring challenge to put two young actors in a room, and have them prepare for their roles for so long. Although the directing isn’t perfect, due to the minor flaws I stated earlier, it’s mostly on point, and I’m proud that the director dared to take on such a strong and interesting topic and make the product feel very real and emotionally heavy.

Room is thrilling, emotional, and very well-made, and I would definitely recommend you see it, as it’s worth all the Oscar buzz it’s getting. I would love to see Brie Larson win the Oscar for her performance in this film, and I hope it does well in it’s other categories, too.

My year of 2015 was quite huge! My site has thrived now, as I have been expanding it through lots of social media and have spreading it to many people I know and have yet to know! Thank you to all of you who are following and enjoy reading my reviews! I will make a Top 10 Movies of 2015 list once I am able to see every 2015 movie that deserves to be there, so expect reviews for films like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Revenant, The Hateful Eight, The Big Short, Room, and more on my site very soon, and after that I will rank my 10 favorites on YouTube. Looking forward into 2016, I will also make a video covering my 10 most anticipated movies of 2016. So thank you to everyone who stuck around for 2015, and I hope to see you all in 2016!

Here’s an excerpt from a consensus WordPress made covering my year of 2015 on this site:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,600 times in 2015. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.