Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Besson’s back in his Element with visually astounding sci-fi symphony. City of 1000 Effects Shots mashes together shiploads of spectacle to compensate for episodic plot, illogical ending and clunky emotional beats. Hawke hocks Rihanna, and Clive Owes more than this performance to albino Na’vi, but Cara’s character carries the film.

The Amazing Spider-man 2

Amazingly comic-booky film fully embraces tone of source despite overlong runtime and villainously deceptive advertising.  A fun physics-free farce featuring plenty of in-jokes, and a few electrifying tidbits of emotion.  Ray plugs in as Spidey takes a dip in the deadpool with endless thread of witty asides.  Oh, and Rhino.

The Place Beyond the Pines

Cianfrance’s bloody valentine is a three headed mutant character study, with slow deliberate pacing, kept entertaining through some of the curviest curveballs ever thrown and a cast who knock them out of the park.  Powerful and shocking drama boldly introduces hyper-Aristotle’s 3x3 act structure.   Awfully long run-time, but squashes it.