Hardcore Henry

Excessive cutting, terrible acting, and lack of finesse make Hard-to-watch Henry an ultimately failed experiment.  Still this stream of stuff includes a few interesting ideas, most of which are not Sharlto Copley. Clever concept and ambitious acrobatics, though not overly satisfying, might just produce a superior army of cinematic clones.

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.

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.

Youth Without Youth

Coppola uses this experimental melodrama to prove that he doesn’t only make good movies. Painfully slow but made bearable by interesting premise and decent performances by Roth and Lara. Impressively captures the feeling of dreaming during the third act. Pity that this dream portion follows a long and boring day.