It seems as though the year just began, but now it’s time to sum it all up and give kudos to the year’s best DVD releases.

With so few films being released solely on standard DVD, I’ve dispensed with naming the best of a pitiful lot. Instead I’m focusing on films released on Blu-ray. Although most have also been given a simultaneous standard DVD release, not all have. Besides that, the higher resolution of Blu-ray or HD streaming is the way to go whenever possible.

I’ve listed my ten favorite classic Blu-ray releases as well as my ten favorite releases of new films, five of which were first seen in theatres in the latter part of 2014, the other five of which were first shown theatrically this year.

The New:

From 2014:

• The Babadook
• Birdman
• Boyhood
• The Imitation Game
• Nightcrawler

From 2015:

• Ex Machina
• Far from the Madding Crowd
• Mr. Holmes
• The Water Diviner
• When Marnie Was There

Before there was Room, there was the Australian sleeper The Babadook about a single mother (Essie Davis) and her young son (Noah Wiseman) facing imminent danger in close quarters. Davis and Wiseman are both terrific, but if you’re familiar with Davis from Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries you’ll find it hard to believe you’re watching the same actress. Her transformation is that complete.

It’s easy to see why actors went for Birdman at the Oscars, it’s a film that is basically about an actor’s angst at performing. Why then, oh why, did they fail to reward Michael Keaton with a Best Actor Oscar?

Boyhood, on the other hand, is a director’s showcase, although the actors (Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Ellar Coltrane) aren’t exactly chopped liver. Why then, oh why, did it fail to win Best Picture and Best Director Oscars?

The Imitation Game was the best of 2014’s three year-end war-centric hits, but American Sniper and The Unbroken are also worth checking out.

For sheer excitement you can’t beat Dan Gilroy’s thrilling Nightcrawler with the top-notch performances of Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo and Riz Ahmed.

The best science fiction/fantasy/horror film to come down the pike in a long, long time, Alex Garland’s Ex Machina is earning 2015 year-end awards mainly for Alicia Vikander’s all-too-savvy robot, but Dohmnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac are equally fine.

Far from the Madding Crowd is that rare remake that outshines all previous adaptations of a famous book.

Ian McKellen infuses new life into old Sherlock in Bill Condon’s engrossing Mr. Holmes.

Russell Crowe directs himself in his best performance in years in the World War I era Australian drama The Water Diviner.

Studio Ghibli, which has presumably made their final film, goes out in style with When Marnie Was There.

The Classics:

• The Bridge
• 42nd Street
• The Hurricane
• Kwaidan
• Make Way for Tomorrow
• A Man for All Seasons
• My Fair Lady
• A Room with a View
• 1776
• You Can’t Take It With You

One of the greatest, if least known, anti-war classics, Bernhard Wicki’s 1959 masterpiece The Bridge, gets the Criterion treatment with a wealth of fascinating extras.

Warner Archive’s Blu-ray releases have been hit and miss, but the 1933 classic 42nd St. is definitely one of the hits.

Rarely included in a discussion of John Ford’s great films, Kino Lorber’s release of The Hurricane re-introduces the 1937 film in all its glory.

Criterion has released a beautifully restored edition of the 1965 Japanese horror compilation Kwaidan.

Five years after its long overdue DVD release, Criterion has digitally restored Leo McCarey’s 1937 film Make Way for Tomorrow for an impeccable Blu-ray release.

Twilight Time’s absolutely beautiful release of Fred Zinnemann’s 1966 Oscar winner A Man for All Seasons finally looks as glorious on home video as it did in theatres almost fifty years ago. Their recent releases of Breaking Away and The Remains of the Day are almost as impressive.

Delayed for over a year, Paramount’s meticulous restoration of George Cukor’s film of Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady finally looks the way it always should have on home video.

Among the week’s new releases are the Blu-ray upgrades of Frank Capra’s You Can’t Take It With You and F.W. Murnau’s Tabu.

Criterion lost the rights to most of the Merchant-Ivory catalogue, but not their 1986 masterpiece, A Room with a View which now looks more gorgeous than ever.

It’s been a long wait, but Sony has finally given us a brilliantly restored and immensely satisfying Blu-ray of 1776.

Sony has ended the year with a superb restoration of Frank Capra’s 1938 Oscar winner You Can’t It With You which has never looked or sounded better.

This week’s new releases include Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and Ted 2.