Joy (2015)

Joy (2015)

[9] Director David O. Russell (The Fighter, Three Kings) sticks with his good luck charm, casting Jennifer Lawrence as the title character in Joy. Russell has said that his film career started to disinterest him several years back, and that…
12 Years a Slave (2013)

12 Years a Slave (2013)

[8] Director Steve McQueen (Hunger, Shame) brings to life the true-life story of Solomon Northup, a free black man from New York who is kidnapped and sold into Southern slavery. Northup endures two different owners and many harrowing experiences before…
Willow Creek (2013)

Willow Creek (2013)

[5] Bobcat Goldthwait takes us to Bigfoot country in this found-footage film about a Sasquatch enthusiast who drags his girlfriend into the woods to help him shoot a documentary at the site where the famed Roger Patterson footage of the…
Green Lantern (2011)

Green Lantern (2011)

[4] Green Lantern is probably the single-most generic superhero movie I've ever seen. It's not terrible so much as it is wholly unremarkable. It's mired in a scatter-shot script that dwells on plot points and secondary characters I couldn't give…
Enemy (2013)

Enemy (2013)

[6] Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this ambiguous mystery about a man who becomes obsessed with tracking down his perfect doppelganger. Upon meeting, the two men (both played by Gyllenhaal) are confused, jealous, and fearful of each other. Things come to…
Spring Breakers (2012)

Spring Breakers (2012)

[7] At first, Spring Breakers seems like a beautiful excuse for gratuitous boobage, but as it unfolds, I found myself more and more engaged with Harmony Korine's (Gummo, Trash Humpers) story of four restless college girls who flirt with darkness…
The Witch (2015)

The Witch (2015)

[10] I'll come right out with it: The Witch is my favorite horror film of the last ten years. Newcomer writer/director Robert Eggers serves up a masterfully creepy tale that's equal parts psychological and atmospheric, elegant and restrained, but not…
The Babadook (2014)

The Babadook (2014)

[7] Essie Davis (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries) gives a powerhouse performance as the widowed mother of a troubled child who believes a storybook monster is terrorizing their household. At first, Mom doesn't believe the monster is real, but Mr. Babadook…
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)

[9] Birdman swoops into cineplexes offering the antidote to superhero hysteria, CGI migraines, and Hollywood's usual hackneyed, formulaic bullshit. It's goddamned original, a showcase for skill and craft, and a breath of fresh fucking air. Michael Keaton turns in a…
The Way, Way Back (2013)

The Way, Way Back (2013)

[6] Liam James stars as a shy fourteen-year-old forced to suffer summer vacation with his freshly-divorced mother (Toni Collette) and her nasty boyfriend (Steve Carell). While he waits for his mother to grow a pair and throw the bum out,…