14.) 45 Years [2/18/2016]

I went into this film practically blind, noting that it had done well on the film festival circuit.  The film is about the quick disillusionment of a lengthy marriage as a secret suddenly surfaces.  Once this secret is revealed, the characters struggle to keep the information contained, protecting the precious memories from the poison of excavation and re-examination in light of new evidence.  This is hardly an action packed thriller or even a fast-paced, dialogue driven film (like Spotlight or Trumbo).  Instead, the agonizing truth is revealed slowly as each new layer is reluctantly peeled back.  I really enjoyed this film, and Tom Courtenay's northern-ish accent was endearing, but this is not a film for those who are tired, looking for simple entertainment, or who are terribly depressed.

13.) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies [2/16/2016]

I was prepared to hate watch what I was assuming would be another Sucker Punch: a vehicle solely for watching scantily clad women fight like ninjas.  Blessedly, no one danced people into a trance to fight in their dreams (am I remembering the plot right?).  Instead, P&P&Z tried it's hardest to stick to the aesthetic of the original Austen novel, which I have admittedly never read so that previous claim is a bit of an assumption.  They took the original story of love, independence, and gender roles and grafted zombies onto the plot points, which was more clever than I thought it could be.  In the end, it was more fun than I expected to have and I walked out having enjoyed myself.  It didn't hurt that Matt Smith was in it, charming as ever.  All in all, I would suggest this movie if someone were looking for a decent pop-corn flick.

12.) Hail, Caesar! [2/5/2016]

I love the Coen Brothers films (I often list Fargo as one my favorite), and I was really looking forward to a Coen Brothers comedy (to be fair, I was likely looking for another The Big Lebowski).  The movie was good, but I don't think I got it on one viewing.  I enjoyed the movie, but I felt like I should have liked it more (and probably would after a second viewing).  It was certainly a different role for George Clooney, and Channing Tatum was hilarious.  If you like the quirky Coens, then likely this would be a good movie for you; if not, you'll like find it odd.

11.) Jane Got a Gun [2/2/2016]

This was a pretty straight-ahead Western in the style of Howard Hawks.  Natalie Portman played the the woman in distress, Joel Edgerton played the man who saved her, and Ewan McGregor played the villain.  The movie looked gorgeous, and was certainly entertaining enough, but ultimately, I'll forget that I saw this movie pretty quickly.

10.) The Finest Hour [1/30/2016 - 3D IMAX]

Chris Pine seems to be cast in movies about historical events in which seemingly insurmountable odds were overcome (see: Unstoppable, 2010; alternatively, his tenure on the Star Trek films could be fictionalized accounts of these same movies).  Despite knowing that everything turns out okay in the end, The Finest Hour was an incredibly tense movie.  It could have to do with my Midwestern distrust of deep water, but the long shots of impossibly turgid waves breaking massive oil tankers in half has now replaced all my previously recurring nightmares.  This was a good movie, and worth seeing on the big screen (the 3D didn't add much, but the scope of the IMAX was a nice touch).

9.) Fifth Wave [1/26/2016]

This movie was the worst because it could have been so much better.  It was a mess of tropes cobbled together from science-fiction which were watered-down and made to reflect America's history of colonialism.  Unfortunately, the sociological explorations into, say, the treatments of Native Americans, were mired in a ridiculously sappy love story that mirrors the Pocahontas narrative (native clutching baby visual motif included, save the baby was a stuffed bear).

As a side note: this is the second science fiction disappointment in which love was somehow a narrative fulcrum (see: Interstellar), and if this is the direction science-fiction wants to go, I might have to let myself off.

8.) Room [1/22/2016]

I really looked forward to this movie, which seemed to bounce around but never settle on a theater near me.  Then it was nominated for a boat-load of awards, and suddenly it was everywhere.  The wait was worth it.  There were opportunities for the film to turn saccharine or to overly romanticize the terrible situation or overly-lionize Ma and Jack.  Instead, the film opted for complexity, allowing the confusing and messy situation to play out in different and unpredictable ways.  It was well-worth the wait, and worth the time for those interested.