2010’s

[6] Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps) puts in a solid performance as a student surgeon whose life takes a serendipitous turn into the underground world of extreme body modification in Jen and Sylvia Soska’s American Mary. After one odd surgery procures her some much-needed cash, her name is quickly bandied about the message boards of people who are into things like… horns, tails, split tongues, appendage …

[5] They were re-writing the script for Jack the Giant Slayer while they shot the movie, and it shows. It’s a bit of a hot mess. I’m a fan of director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men) and I’m down to watch Nicholas Hoult (About a Boy, Warm Bodies) carry a film, but the film never hooked me. The only character who musters any emotional …

[3] Movies like this bring out the valley girl in me. So, like, I just don’t give a shit about Thor, okay? Watching a bunch of thee-and-thou types running around in nightgowns and armor is just silly, you know? And what is Anthony Hopkins’ problem in these movies? He’s like, Thor’s dad and the king and everything, but then he turns around and he’s all …

[6] Gravity is so harrowing, I’m tempted to call it crisis porn. The movie stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts stranded in orbit over Earth after debris destroys their spacecraft. Director Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men, A Little Princess) warns us from the get-go with some on-screen text that life in space is impossible, and then proceeds to throw everything you can imagine …

[7] Future Oscar-winner (I’ve been saying this since 2001’s Manic) Joseph Gordon-Levitt makes an auspicious writing/directing debut with Don Jon, a character study of a young New Jersey guy whose addiction to pornography takes its toll on his relationships with women. Gordon-Levitt pumped up to play the title character, but I hope he drops the muscle mass soon — his head’s too small for a …

[7] Against a backdrop of the Bangkok underground fighting scene, a reticent drug smuggler (Ryan Gosling) is caught in a vicious cycle of brutal revenge after his brother is murdered for committing rape. Only God Forgives plays out like a fever dream, a far more operatic and surreal effort from writer/director Nicolas Winding Refn than his earlier mainstream hit, Drive. There is precious little dialogue, …

[4] Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson (Rain Man, Good Morning Vietnam) slums it with this found footage horror flick about a small Maryland community that gets infected by mutant parasites. The core concept is a solid one, building off the real-life parasite Cymothoa, which eats away and replaces the tongues of fishes (Google some pictures if you dare!) Unfortunately, found footage movies are officially cliche and it’s …

[6] In this home invasion horror flick from writer Simon Barrett and director Adam Wingard (V/H/S), a group of animal-masked killers armed with crossbows and axes begin preying on a wealthy family coming together for the parents’ anniversary. The film spends a generous twenty minutes or so getting you acquainted with the family — including three sons, a daughter, and everyone’s significant others. But then …

[8] At an idyllic lakeshore cruising spot for gay men, Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps) hopes to find a romantic partner. After searching for days at the clothing-optional oasis, he befriends a frumpy loner named Henri (Patrick d’Assumçao). The two strike up a platonic relationship and engage in deeper conversations than what’s normally had at a hook-up. But then a rugged-looking swimmer named Michel (Christophe Paou) catches …

[6] Brad Pitt reunites with writer/director Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), playing a hit man called in by the local crime lords after two young kids take down a big card game that collapses the underground economy. The parallels to the US economy are blatant, complete with recurring clips of Barack Obama and George W. Bush talking about …

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