Beasts of No Nation

Come and See the continent of God, where Elba’s Napoleon dominates every scene and turns admirable Attah into killing machine.  Deliberate political ambiguity, expertly wielded amorality, and perfect child performers all pack beastly punch. Flashy drug-induced effects aside, this dark coming of age story is all blood and no diamonds. 

Ant Man

Big time crook turns to petty crime in Marvel’s Irony Man.  Rudd fails to steer this clunky quasi-comedic heist through awkward pacing, ham-fisted emotional backstory, and remarkably low stakes.  Lilly’s Zeta-Jones costume makes Douglas seem even more villainous than trying to blow up his company to stop his protégé’s progress does.

Bridge of Spies

A crisp and fascinating true story, backlit by brilliant cinematography and filled in with Coens’ comedy.  Hanks walks a narrow bridge between emotional detachment and raw likeability.  Film inverts interrogators by delving deeply into Rylance’s able Abel while all but ignoring less powerful Powers.  Weirdly over-happy ending, but hey… Spielberg.

Room

How can such a small set contain the Larsonist’s most fiery performance?  Trembling young Tremblay proves that he is literally the breakout actor of the year.  Perfect directorial decisions and precise pacing produce a profoundly emotional punch that feels grandiose despite its relatively small scale.  Very little room for improvement.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: An Old Hope resurrects the mythic feel, playful tone, and wondrous excitement of its pre-prequeled predecessors, perhaps a bit too exactly.  Solo chews up scenery but Leia is re-imagined as a droid, while new faces breath life into Ta2ine, and vague visions force fans to watch future films.

The Hateful Eight

Tarantino’s voice literally resounds as he Russels up regulars for Western Thing.  Roth waltzes in to participate in the Quentiscential dialog that, along with perfect score and stunning cinematography keep slow-paced and awkwardly structured chamber piece from freezing to death.  Hateful title ignores characters, like pre-film attribution ignores full filmography.