AwardsWatch’s 50 Favorite Performances of 2015
40. Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
39. Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
38. Golshifteh Farahani, About Elly
37. Samuel L. Jackson, The Hateful Eight
36. Ian McKellen, Mr. Holmes
35. Gaspard Ulliel, Saint Laurent
34. Cynthia Nixon, James White
33. Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
32. Michael B. Jordan, Creed
31. Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
Latest posts by Erik Anderson (see all)
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- Australian Academy Award Winners (AACTA): ‘One Battle After Another,’ ‘Bring Her Back’ Lead - February 6, 2026
Society of Composers and Lyricists (SCL) Winners: ‘KPop Demon Hunters,’ ‘Sinners,’ ‘Train Dreams’ and More 
‘Pillion’ Review: Alexander Skarsgård Puts the Dom in Domesticity [A-] 
Australian Academy Award Winners (AACTA): ‘One Battle After Another,’ ‘Bring Her Back’ Lead 
Frontrunner Friday Oscar Predictions: The Calm Before the Storm (2/6/26)