This year’s lineup of summer movies entertains and satisfies audiences looking for a break from the dump months and the award season, but, like every year, there were many disappointments. Now, with the summer coming to a close, the cinema world looks back upon the successes and failures of this year.

The clear winner of the blockbusters is widely agreed upon. After an explosive entry into the season with “Mad Max: Fury Road” leaving fans and critics raving throughout the summer, it was difficult to imagine what could possibly come over the next couple of months. George Miller’s fourth installment to his “Mad Max” series is the perfect eye candy, especially on the big screen, offering an original take on an action movie with a unique yet simple plot squeezed in between constant and chaotic conflict on the stunning wasteland. Unsurprisingly, a sequel was announced shortly after.

Among the other champions of both the reviews and the box office are “Inside Out,” “Straight Outta Compton,” “Ant-Man” and “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.” Pixar’s animated delight is no surprise for they have inspired and entertained for years. Marvel’s latest sequel, “Ant-Man,” and Tom Cruise’s fifth action-spy movie, “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” would undoubtedly top the box offices, but had no guarantee to have the support of critics. Marvel finally gave viewers and comic book fans alike a fresh and new superhero while Tom Cruise wowed everyone with over the top stunts, which, along with a good story and an even better movie experience, is all that is needed to enjoy a blockbuster film.

At the close of August, “Straight Outta Compton” finished the season strong after a stellar entrance and satisfactory middle. The story, following the hip-hop group NWA, was the second of the two biographical pictures to release this summer along with the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson movie, “Love and Mercy.” Although still early, “Straight Outta Compton” received much success and critics are already talking about how it could be an Oscar contender, for the Academy has historically enjoyed pictures based on true stories.

Other movies popular among audiences this summer include “Pitch Perfect 2,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Jurassic World,” “Spy,” “Ted 2,” “Minions,” “Paper Towns,” “Trainwreck” and “Tomorrowland.” All of these titles with their impressive theater experiences are worth the ticket price, despite some of the mixed reviews. Viewing movies like this upon release with friends is when the reward is most enjoyable. If it’s a boring, rainy day any of these movies should be considered to pass the time as they don’t fail to entertain.

Other engrossing movies that deserve more love than they got would be those like “Southpaw,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” “Mr. Holmes,” “Dope” and “Slow West.” From the boxing story of “Southpaw” starring Jake Gyllenhaal to the Sundance Film Festival winner of “Slow West,” all these pictures are worth streaming.

And then there are those movies that got more attention than deserved like “San Andreas,” “Entourage,” “Pixels,” “No Escape” and “Fantastic Four.” Or there are those completely unnecessary sequels, more for money making than entertaining like “Terminator Genisys” and “Magic Mike XXL,” that died shortly after release. It’s the seemingly endless amount of movies like this that can make moviegoers hate wasting $15 or more at the theaters. Fortunately, there are many pieces of art that are remindful of why people go to the movies, and there were plenty of them this summer. Now the cinema world shifts their eager eyes to the many movies to come this fall.