Colossal

Nacho dips into Kaufman-esque surrealism with this monstrous tale of alcoholism and manipulation. Hatheway’s devastating performance grounds what could have been a farcical film, and phenomenal character arcs are perfectly crafted to span half the globe. Comedy and drama trade blows in an entertaining tonal battle for far-flung emotional impact.

Alice Through the Looking Glass

Bobin mirrors Burton to admirable effect. Alice navigates a visually astounding narrative maze on foolhardy Adventure through Underland, finding herself lost in the machines and machinations of a monarchy of Miserables. Depp phones it in, but it’s still a call worth answering, especially as writers sing Carrols of frabjous wordplay.

Interstellar

McConaughey masterfully pilots his space-Lincoln through a nebulous cloud of screensavers populated by irritatingly irrational men and ludicrously love-struck ladies.  Nolan proves that whether an epic spans neurons or neutron stars, all you need to confound characters and viewers is a shipload of tedious (and extremely ignorable rules).  Watch gravity?

The Dark Knight Rises

Rises to challenge of tying in elements of both predecessors.  Nolan incepts outside cast, all of whom perform spectacularly.  Replaces technological faults of previous films with medical and logical gaps.  Geriatric batman’s recovery, Cathaway’s equipment, and strongman’s weak motivation lack conviction.  Regardless, powerful film.  Could have used a spinning top.

Love and Other Drugs

Gyllenhaal returns to cinematic wife, who now has damaged nervous system instead of broke back. Moving and poignant film that tries too hard to go too many directions at once. The tragic romance, the business drama, and the attempt to be super-bad leave a limp structure in need of medicine.

Valentine's Day

Love, Atrociously. Cheesy forced variation of British rom-com masterpiece. Amusing cast of big name actors add some spice to poorly constructed ensemble disaster, but none of the interweaving pays off or says much of anything. Cooper and Roberts provide only truly compelling storylines, and culminating in sole redemption of film.

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

‘Alice in Narnia’ marks Disney’s third failure to shoot a compelling epic and proves that digital effects haven’t evolved far enough to fix bad writing. Depp’s schizophrenic performance oscillates from Pee Wee to Braveheart while Burton’s creepiness drowns in a shallow effects orgy. Highlights are big-headed Bellatrix and floating Puss-in-Boots.