Selma

A historical piece that marches steadfastly forward from start to finish and follows Lincoln’s lead, depicting a hero by focusing on one event.  Never gets beaten down by gravitas of the subject matter.  Oleyowo was the right leader for this powerful piece and his performance is a dream come true.

A Most Violent Year

Chandor drapes gravity of All over Margin’s complexity and masterfully molds the gripping moodiness of Call is Lost.  It’s Wall Street meets Drive, if James Grey had directed it, and further cements Isaac and Chastain as two of the most serious actors working today.  Still, definitely a most deceptive title.

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?

Lee Daniels' The Butler

Interesting civil rights history lesson lacks drive as it meanders through a string of oddly cast presidential cameos.  Whitaker winds his through a compelling family drama with a winning Winfrey and outstanding Oyelowo but Gumps his way into the wrong Forrest and gets lost in a dense thicket of history.