The Best Movie In-Jokes Of 2015

In one scene, at Bond’s house, we see 007 going through some old documents while being watched by a familiar face. Sat on his table, staring right at him, is M’s old Royal Doulton china Bulldog, Jack – the very same dog bequeathed to Bond by the dearly departed M.

In the trailer for ‘Deadpool’ (released next year) we saw Ryan Wade Wilson wheeled in for surgery that will make him superhuman. His one request? “Please don’t make the super-suit green. Or animated.” The barb, directed at the despised 'Green Lantern’ (which he starred in), couldn’t be more clear.

Director Colin Trevorrow managed to sneak Jeff Goldblum’s 'Jurassic Park’ chaotician Malcolm into the new movie. His book 'God Creates Dinosaurs’ is visible being read over the boys’ shoulders when they’re riding the mono-rail into the park.

During Thor’s Scarlet Witch-induced visions of Asgard, he briefly glimpses three men wearing the skulls of a wolf, a ram and a stag, known in medieval times as a hart. Wolf. Ram. Hart. 'Angel’ fans will know that in Whedon’s 'Buffy’ spin-off, Wolfram & Hart were three ancient demons working at a modern-day law firm.

In every Pixar film since 'Monsters, Inc.’ there’s a nod to their next project and ‘Inside Out’ is no exception. When Joy and the rest of the emotion gang remember a family vacation, they see dinosaur statues on the side of the road that look just like characters from 'The Good Dinosaur’.

Near the end Michael Peña’s character recounts his meeting with Anthony Mackie’s Falcon, who is trying to recruit Ant-Man into the Avengers. He says: "We have a guy who can jump. A guy who can swing. A guy who can crawl up walls.“ This reference to Spider-Man coincidentally (or not) came just after it was announced that Spider-Man was joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

As the NASA team discusses how they can return stranded astronaut Mark Watney home, they dub the meeting "Elrond” after the Elven Council in 'The Lord Of The Rings’. Who better than Sean Bean to explain the name to his colleagues (“Because it’s a secret meeting”) considering he actually attended the Council of Elrond as Boromir in the ‘Fellowship Of The Ring’ film?

When Mila Kunis’s hero and Channing Tatum’s albino space wolf (just go with it) find themselves stuck in a tangle of bureaucractic red tape aboard a space station, it’s a definite homage to Gilliam’s seminal sci-fi 'Brazil’ – then the man himself appears in a cameo, albeit under a heavy beard.

There’s been much debate on whether Tom Hardy’s iteration of Mad Max was the same character as Mel Gibson’s Mad Max in 'Fury Road’ but there’s one shot that seemingly confirms the connection: during one of his mad flashbacks at the beginning, Max has a vision of a set of bulging eyes – the exact same shot of 'Mad Max’ villain Toecutter just before he’s crushed by a truck in the first movie. That would suggest it’s a memory and not just a random image flashing through his head.

Aardman animator and Oscar-winning director Nick Park has a brilliant cameo in ‘Shaun’ - there’s no mistaking him as the birdwatcher who is attacked by a pair of ducks. Brilliantly, the scene’s also a nod to Alfred Hitchcock’s 'The Birds’ and Hitch’s preference of cameoing in his own films.