Annihilation

Garland goes from mechanic to organic with deep dive into Area Ex, annihilating conventional narrative amidst shimmery translucent visuals dense with opaque meaning. Simultaneously adds and subtracts from source’s actively ambiguous characterization, while sparse script and rich score imply just as much depth as the stony performances of the cast.

No Strings Attached

Portman’s Black Swan follow up is… well, it’s another step on her journey to screw the That 70’s Show. Watching Kutcher try to share the screen with Portman is adorable, as is watching Reitman try to make one of his son’s movies. Many lucky accidents and Elwes instead of extras.

V for Vendetta

Wachowski’s shine from behind their producer’s mask in this alternative dystopia. What’s worse than machines taking over? The British. Dramatically shifts the focus of source material but improves on plot and produces a better story. Agent Smith begins transformation into voice acting, and Portman proves that she really is Keira.

Heat

Father and son Corleone finally meet onscreen in the godfather of all bank heist films. Incredible cast and intricately woven multi-dimensional storyline raise the temperature far above that of a cops and robbers flick. 90s high point for every actor involved. Defined by cut coffee chat and intense city firefight.

Thor

Alarmingly impressive film for silly story. Divinely beautiful digital deity-ville oddly compliments cutesy clever Earth encounters. Repeated Avengers plugs seem out of place in this Norse American titan clash. Cosmic plotholes and a less than stellar ending aren’t enough to kill the immortally enjoyable quasi-shakespearean plot of Thor-oughly enjoyable film.

Brothers (2009)

About time Donnie Darko and Peter Parker played ‘title.’ Inferior to older Danish brother, and somehow felt cold despite deep performances. Shepard and Portman fill out family adequately but eldest daughter steals the show. “Do you know what I did with these hands?” Yeah, Tobey, we know. You shot web.

Black Swan

Aronofsky introduces wrestler’s scarier sister, beautifully depicted by petrified Portman. Ryder and Kunis are brilliant as washed up and insincere respectively, and Cassell is expectedly outstanding, though his ‘black/white swan’ speech gets old. Still, brilliant script steers clear of campy horror despite staple leg snapping, finger ripping, and lesbian sex.

Leon the Professional

Melodramatic ‘90s music cues aside, a nearly perfect movie. Oldman, Reno, and Portman give their best performances to date in Besson’s perfectly choreographed action flick. Features a perfect blend of testosterone packed action and sentimental character study. Leon should pay a visit to the distributors of the abominable American re-edit.

New York, I Love You

Vastly inferior to Parisian predecessor. Portrays the whitest, most uninteresting New York imaginable. Features a phenomenal performance from first time actor, Shia LaBeouf, and an out-of-place mainstream segment from Brett Ratner. Portman directs better than she acts in this one. Mostly destroyed by ill-conceived attempt to intertwine tonally disparate storylines.