The Purge

Character decisions and motivations perfectly match the premise because they too make no sense.  Well shot, and remarkably well cast, but Headey’s brain-dead wife and Hawke’s clipped doofus suggest that perhaps once a year, agents can force A-list actors to take C- roles.  A film worth purging from any collection.

Foxcatcher

Carrell carefully keeps his criminal from becoming caricature, while Tatum broods in the shadows.  A slow burn character study with an odd but not unsuccessful protagonist swap midway.  Miller cranks out another powerful true story, and though he doesn’t quite pin down the pacing, he certainly lasts out the match.

Ex Machina

Brilliantly shot, tightly contained sci-fi opus that artfully doesn’t answer the questions it doesn’t want to.  Isaac creates a character as impressive as anything the character constructs, and Vikander breathes beautiful life In Machina.  Perfectly programmed to use witty banter, accessible tech-talk, and ample allusions to literature, philosophy and history.

American Sniper

Cooper nails simultaneously macho and vulnerable performance as he maneuvers through the realistic (except the baby) and enthralling world of the Middle-Eastwood.  Well executed, if slightly over-cinematized, film rides wire between propaganda and entertainment but certainly hits its artistic mark.  Suffers from under-elaborated abrupt ending but perhaps that too is

Inherent Vice

Source material is film’s inherent vice.  Phoenix stays lit as latter day Lebowski amidst a stellar cast of coked-up costars while Anderson’s brilliant long-shots mark the highlight of an overly long and convoluted mockery of narrative.  Rainbow pallet lightens the gravity of what may be the brightest noire ever made.

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Starts with a bang, ends with an ass, and provides a fun ride in between but James Bond: First Class kicks less ass than expected.  Vaughn gets it Wright occasionally but otherwise burns screen-time with tedious training, self-critical comedy, and a lead less compelling than any of his ample support.