Perfect Scores: Every Film I’ve Given an A

Home / Perfect Scores: Every Film I’ve Given an A

Since 2012 I’ve reviewed more than 1,100 films for Silver Screen Riot. Only 98 have earned an A. These are my perfect scores, the films I’d push into anyone’s hands without hesitation, organized by the year I reviewed them, newest first. For my year-by-year favorites, see my Top Ten of every year.

Jump to: 2026 · 2025 · 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018 · 2017 · 2016 · 2015 · 2014 · 2013 · 2012

2026

YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING (2026)

Fielder and Oppenheim spend 174 minutes pointing every available instrument at Elizabeth Holmes, then at the people around her, then at the documentary itself, and arrive at less certainty than they started with. That’s the point. You Can See Everything is a brilliant culmination of everything Nathan Fielder has been building toward since ‘Nathan for You’, and one of the greatest documentaries ever made.Read the full review

TONY (2026)

One of the finest films of 2026, Matthew Johnson’s Tony is a masterful exploration of one man’s search for meaning and the demons we must continue to stave off to find that meaning – even if it’s not exactly faithful to Bourdain’s memoir from which it’s plucked. The entire cast is excellent but Antonio Banderas may finally (and deservedly) win his Oscar for his turn here.Read the full review

TOY STORY 5 (2026)

Toy Story 5 is a funny, heartbreaking, and insightful meditation on childhood in the digital age, asking what gets lost when screens begin replacing imagination. The gang is all here but it’s newly-minted Sheriff Jessie – in her journey to help her kid Bonnie make a real friend – that this story belongs to.▶ Watch on Disney+ · Read the full review

TUNER (2026)

Daniel Roher’s Tuner is the rare crowd-pleasing crime thriller that works just as well as a thoughtful character study. Propelled by Leo Woodall’s breakout performance and a deeply immersive sonic perspective, this sharply tuned gem finds surprising emotional depth between its suspenseful set pieces.▶ Watch on Paramount+ · Read the full review

OBSESSION (2026)

Obsession feels like a dark-magic witch’s brew of Together, Fede Álvarez’s 2013 Evil Dead, and Big: a horrifying black comedy that takes big swings and somehow pulls them off, masterfully achieving that rare blend of being actually scary and actually funny. Inde Navarrette is fantastic as a possessed lover desperate to win the affections of her cursed beau, while Curry Barker proves himself a genre craftsman with a wicked sense of humor, a mean little visual streak, and an unnerving command of tone.▶ Watch on Peacock · Read the full review

MOTHER MARY (2026)

David Lowery’s hypnotic Mother Mary is a breakup song filtered through the lens of a ghost story, mounted with spectacular production elements and stitched together with unreal performances from Michaela Cole and Anne Hathaway.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

26: ‘UNDERTONE (2026)

A masterfully assembled nightmare of all-encompassing horror, Ian Tucson’s ‘Undertone’ is as immersive as it is bone chilling, featuring truly elite sound design.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

2025

MARTY SUPREME (2025)

Josh Safdie proves he was the chosen one with Marty Supreme, a chaos-riddled epic about a scumbag ping-pong player trying to scheme his way into proving that he’s the world’s greatest. Chalamet is outstanding in this singularly tumultuous and deeply funny vision of going all in on your dreams.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (2025)

One Battle After Another is another masterwork from American auteur Paul Thomas Anderson, who turns his incisive storytelling toward contemporary America and uses it as a battle-bound backdrop for a story about fighting for what matters. Every single thing works.▶ Watch on Prime Video · Read the full review

WEAPONS (2025)

Cregger delivers just about everything a genre fan could ask for with Weapons: a twisted, well-acted dark fairytale with an unforgettable villain turn. It’s truly one of a kind – ambitious, unafraid to swing for the fences, and packed with ideas. Easily one of the bests of 2025.▶ Watch on Prime Video · Read the full review

SINNERS (2025)

Ryan Coogler delivers a bloody, soulful masterstroke of music-driven genre filmmaking with Sinners, a movie that erupts with passionate craft just as much as it surprises with its thematic depth. Michael B. Jordan is tremendous in a dual role, but it’s Coogler and his ability to pull everything together with style, substance, and swagger who truly steals the show.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

2024

NOSFERATU (2024)

With Nosferatu, Robert Eggers conjures a gothic horror that feels both timeless and daringly fresh. A masterful blend of craft, performance, and atmosphere, it’s a haunting reimagining that lingers like a shadow you can’t escape, an instant horror classic.▶ Watch on Hulu · Read the full review

CONCLAVE (2024)

Led by a masterful turn from the always-reliable Ralph Fiennes, Conclave is a crackling actors’ showcase forging standout production elements with a best-of-year script. There’s a cool irony to the fact that this – one of the most adult-oriented films of the year – is only rated PG. Truly heavenly stuff.Read the full review

THE SUBSTANCE (2024)

Coralie Fargeat returns to the horror genre to deliver one of 2024’s best films, The Substance. With a remarkable return-to-form performance from Demi Moore, a chilling turn by Margaret Qualley, and enough visceral body horror to satisfy even the most bloodthirsty fans, The Substance is a substantive exercise in genre filmmaking that’ll cling to you long after the blood has dried.▶ Watch on Hulu · Read the full review

CHALLENGERS (2024)

In Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers,’ the world of competitive tennis becomes a steamy love triangle, where obsession and passion clash in a song of ice and fire. Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor are excellently matched to the material as Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ heightened score amplifies the movie’s seductive spell.▶ Watch on Paramount+ · Read the full review

DUNE: PART TWO (2024)

Dune: Part Two further opens the book on the world of Paul Atreides and Arrakis in this towering accomplishment that’s as thrilling as it is stunning to watch, hear, and feel. Witness it on the biggest screen you can find.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

IT’S WHAT’S INSIDE (2024)

Greg Jardin’s It’s What’s Inside is a hilarious, mind-bending puzzle box comedy-thriller. Crafted with incredible precision and featuring an electrifying ensemble cast, this eruptive debut is destined to be one of the buzziest movies of 2024.Read the full review

2023

THE ZONE OF INTEREST (2023)

Holocaust movies rarely inspire faith in humanity but Jonathan Glazer’s subtle examination of barren decency and bureaucratic evil is a startling reminder that mass scale horror requires meticulous detail and mindless execution. Shocking, horrifying, and essential.▶ Watch on The Roku Channel · Read the full review

POOR THINGS (2023)

With Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos continues to prove that he is Hollyweird’s maddest scientist and its most refreshingly singular voice. Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Mark Ruffalo offer a trifecta of the best performances of the year in this deeply funny, wickedly smart, and entirely brilliant reimagining of Frankenstein as a feminist declaration and character study. Yes, it’s alive, but it’s also pretty much perfect.▶ Watch on Hulu · Read the full review

SALTBURN (2023)

Emerald Fennel’s venereal second feature is an explosive satire of inheritance and deception framed as a simmering psychosexual thriller. The entire cast is wonderful but Barry Keoghan proves himself as a truly one-of-a-kind talent.▶ Watch on Prime Video · Read the full review

THE HOLDOVERS (2023)

A testament to the simple power of an outstanding script, strong direction, and standout performances, ‘The Holdover’’s is a delightfully bittersweet return to form for Alexander Payne. Paul Giamatti is as good as ever in one of 2023’s best films.▶ Watch on Peacock · Read the full review

THEATER CAMP (2023)

Fueled by a script that absolutely sings and the thespian talent and improvisational ingenuity to back it up, Theater Camp is a hysterical and delightful trip to mockumentary perfection that stands as one of the best comedy films in recent memory. More Molly Gordon in everything please.▶ Watch on Tubi · Read the full review

2022

THE NORTHMAN (2022)

A cinematic wonder of Viking violence and old-school melodramatic barbarity, The Northman is an unrelenting and gruesome historic epic that showcases an absolutely berserk performance from Alexander Skarsgård and all the visual style and fascinating dialogue you’d expect from auteur Robert Eggers.▶ Watch on Netflix · Read the full review

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (2022)

Everything Everywhere All At Once is a madcap, prismatic martial arts sci-fi family movie that refracts the entire scope of cinema and reality through the plight of a Chinese-American laundry mat owner. Quite simply one of the most original films ever made.▶ Watch on Hulu · Read the full review

SPEAK NO EVIL (2022)

A spiritual sequel to Michael Haneke’s ‘Funny Games’, Christian Tafdrup’s Speak No Evil presents audiences with domestic discomfort and slowly cranks up the temperature. Like frogs in a boiling pot of water, we don’t know that we’re cooked until it’s much too late.Read the full review

2021

RED ROCKET (2021)

A Texan ballad of a dirtbag ex-porn star, Red Rocket is a sidesplittingly funny and brutally honest character study from writer-director Sean Baker. Its uncomfortable subject matter will be a turn-off for many but Baker’s unblinking commitment to fully unpacking this satirical saga of a guy who’s packing is amongst the best of the year.Read the full review

DUNE (2021)

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is a science fiction spectacle of epic proportions with an indomitable cast, state-of-the-art visual effects, and an undercurrent of adult-tilting thematics running throughout. A masterwork only complicated by its (temporarily) unfinished nature and one I can’t wait to see again.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

TITANE (2021)

Titane sees Julia Ducournau use expressive body horror and ostensibly insane plotting to explore the very-real transformative nature of childbearing. A startling and genuinely thrilling work of avant-garde brilliance.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN (2021)

Morgan Neville’s involving documentary puts Anthony Bourdain’s travels and struggles into razor sharp focus, creating a compelling and full-bodied portrait of an ambitious journeyman, a restless searcher, a semi-charmed lover, and a crestfallen philosopher.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

NOT GOING QUIETLY (2021)

A masterful character study and politically activated documentary about ALS-stricken activist Ady Barkan, Not Going Quietly is a powerful and overwhelmingly emotional story of a heroic man honing the power of his voice just as he begins to lose it – and the rest of his physical abilities – to an absolutely debilitating disease.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

PLEASURE (2021)

A stunningly provocative exploration of the peaks and valleys of the porn industry led by a wowing performance from newcomer Sofia Kappel, Pleasure uses gratuitous sex to speak to structures of power and consent while telling the story of one girl’s thirst for pornstar fame.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

CODA (2021)

Emilia Jones, Troy Kotsur, and the rest of the wonderful cast make CODA hit the highest of high notes. Writer-director Sian Heder delivers a feel-good knock-out about a deaf family with a hearing daughter who aspires to sing that has so so much to say, even if it communicates differently.▶ Watch on Apple TV+ · Read the full review

2020

SOUL (2020)

A remarkable achievement that lifts up and celebrates the human spirit, Soul ranks amongst Pixar’s best works and charters a life-affirming mission to the great beyond that’s sure to leave audiences peering deep within themselves.▶ Watch on Hulu · Read the full review

2019

WAVES (2019)

Trey Edward Shults combines a challenging narrative with expressionistic filmmaking techniques to tell a bold and eye-catching story about cause and effect through the lens of an upper-class African-American family. Everything from the performances, music, cinematography, and direction on down is truly note-worthy in one of year’s best films.Read the full review

FORD V. FERRARI (2019)

A rip-roaring and irreverent crowdpleaser glued to two excellent performances from Matt Damon and Christian Bale, Ford v. Ferrari fires all on cylinders to prove that great blockbusting entertainment is even better when it’s not hogtied by existing IP.Read the full review

MARRIAGE STORY (2019)

As real and unblinking a tale of American divorce as there has ever been, ’Marriage Story earns career best performances from Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson who brilliantly wield Noah Baumbach’s powerful script to punch-drunk results.▶ Watch on Netflix · Read the full review

PARASITE (2019)

Like a rival organism depleting its host, Parasite may lay waste to the mind but it nests in the soul, lingering with the viewer long after its conclusion. Bong Joon-ho’s masterful and indefinable parable is a creation of layer upon layer of storytelling skill matched to standout technical prowess across the board. An easy contender for best film of the year.▶ Watch on Paramount+ · Read the full review

THE LIGHTHOUSE (2019)

A24’s unsettling The Lighthouse is like a message in a bottle from a far off time, one that signals writer-director Robert Eggers established brilliance. Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson are electric as stranded men with unfurling sanity and unmoored moral compasses in this wholly original nautical folk tale about paranoia, desolation, mermaids, murder, moral decay, and self-destruction.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO (2019)

The Last Black Man in San Francisco is an aching triumph of self-discovery that’s absolutely electrifying every single minute of your time with it. With some of the most crackling and distinct direction in years, it marks the arrival of a new essential voice in Joe Talbot. I swooned.Read the full review

HER SMELL (2019)

Elisabeth Moss gives an exhaustive show-stopping performance in Alex Ross Perry’s strenuous ’Her Smell, a thoughtfully terrorizing depiction of soured showbiz success, one that creepily uses horror movie techniques to embolden a disquieting and headsplitting character study. Someone give this lady an Oscar.▶ Watch on Prime Video · Read the full review

US (2019)

As cool as it is inventive, ‘Us’ takes liberties with horror movie expectations and shows Jordan Peele breaking down what worked for him before and building a unique premise up from scratch, once again, to striking effect. Lupita Nyong’o is fire.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

2018

THE FAVOURITE (2018)

Let them eat cake, The Favourite declares, offering a sickly sweet delight decorated with a quartet of brilliant performances (Stone, Weisz, Colman, Hoult) that teether this satirical slice of historical fiction to a sense of skewed, psychosexual royal quirk. A real wonder to look at, this deliriously spellbinding costume drama is one that only the perplexing Yorgos Lanthimos could construct. Stunning.Read the full review

THE HATE U GIVE (2018)

“Trigger Warning: The Hate U Give adorns its audience with a vital deconstruction of race and police aggression in America in remarkably challenging but highly entertaining, evocative, and moving fashion. The acting is fantastic, the direction remarkably thoughtful, the script powerful and complex. Hands down one of the best and most important movies of the year.”Read the full review

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FALLOUT (2018)

Mission Impossible: Fallout is action movie heroin. Impossibly entertaining, grittier and more artful than its forebearers while still maintaining its smarmy roguish charms, ‘Fallout’ is the result of mind-blowing technical merit underscored by well-earned emotional connection. Tom Cruise proves once and for all that he simply is not human.▶ Watch on Paramount+ · Read the full review

HEREDITARY (2018)

Ranking up their with the great contemporary horror movies of our time, Hereditary delivers the scares of ‘The Conjuring’ with the atmospherics of ‘The Shining’ all matched to a jaw-droppingly stunning performance from Toni Collette. Now go scare the shit out of yourself with it.▶ Watch on Prime Video · Read the full review

A QUIET PLACE (2018)

You don’t have to be a full-fledged horror buff to appreciate the unadulterated excellence of A Quiet Place – but horror buffs will rightfully love every moment of it. Excellent pacing, poignant performances, and unflappable tension elevate this taut creature feature – one that weaponizes sound unlike any other – to sublime, killer heights. A must see.▶ Watch on Paramount+ · Read the full review

ANNIHILATION (2018)

Annihilation marries elements of smart science fiction and toe-curling stabs of horror to tell a heady, intellectual creation myth that dares to challenge conventional ideas of human superiority and evolutionary necessity with mesmerizing visual flair to back everything up. A perfect sophomore film certain to scare off those looking for easy answers.Read the full review

PHANTOM THREAD (2018)

A beautiful and thought-provoking slice of cinematic perfection, Phantom Thread is just aces across the board. Smart, rebellious, sneakily funny, and strangely romantic, performed with the measured gusto of those working at the tippy top of their game, and characterized by sterling technical precision, Phantom Thread is a perfect representation of cinema at its most fine-tuned and narratively daring.▶ Watch on Netflix · Read the full review

2017

THE SHAPE OF WATER (2017)

The Shape of Water shucks convention in making a throwback to the monster movies of yesteryear, showcasing Guillermo del Toro’s soaring visual style and a breathtaking lead performance from Sally Hawkins while telling a love story from the most bizarre, and somehow moving, of angles. Fans of esoteric erotica, prepare to swoon.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI (2017)

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has smacks of knifelike dark comedy, a handful of brilliant performances (all hail Frances McDormand!) and a director (Martin McDonagh) back on the tippy-top of his game, rounding out into a breathtakingly funny and confoundingly sad crime drama that’s also one of the best films of 2017.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER (2017)

Like a demented and brilliant episode of ‘The Twilight Zone’, The Killing of a Sacred Deer posits a reality off its axis in elusive and dangerous ways. This pitch black dark comedy/familial parable defies easy explanation but with outstanding direction, top notch performances and a bevy of unsubtle nastiness creeping below the surface, it’s as memorable a movie experience as 2017 has to offer.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

THE FLORIDA PROJECT (2017)

A powerful punch of empathic, humanist, character-driven cinema, The Florida Project boasts a trifecta of sublime performances (Brooklyn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Willem Dafoe) but its subtle storytelling and triumphant edge of understanding demands your seeing it and, consequently, being moved by it.▶ Watch on The Roku Channel · Read the full review

DUNKIRK (2017)

Sure to leave you visibly shell-shocked, Dunkirk is an outstanding war epic that brings together three tales of survival amidst chaos in such briskly edited, extraordinarily structured fashion that you may find yourself not breathing for its entire 108 minute runtime. An Oscar powerhouse-in-the-making, Dunkirk is Christopher Nolan’s most artistic and soulful effort yet and one of the 21st century’s absolute best war films.▶ Watch on Paramount+ · Read the full review

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (2017)

A masterclass in blockbuster filmmaking, War for the Planet of the Apes is that improbably rare summer movie that forces you to think, feel and interact with it on the same level as the medium’s best dramas. Thoughtful, contemplative and deeply felt, Matt Reeve’s threequel marries peerless technological feats with sumptuous storytelling while Andy Serkis is sublime as king of kongs Caesar. A perfectly rendered capstone, ‘War’ closes out the Apes prequel series in extraordinary fashion, qualifying it as the best trilogy of the 21st century.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

RAW (2017)

Make no mistake, ‘Raw’ will prove difficult to swallow for most, what with its unblinking depiction of human-on-human consumption, but those with a stomach of steel will be treated to a shockingly delicious slice of cannibal-horror fare. When dissected, ‘Raw’ has a belly full of uproarious dark humor, and is as dramatically engaging as it is full of surprising thematic depth; a bloody, uncompromising treat for horror fans that is sure to be amongst the best crops of the year.Read the full review

2016

LA LA LAND (2016)

A dazzlingly rendered musical masterpiece, La La Land is an unseasonably joyous throwback that marries the best elements of Golden Age Hollywood to the best elements of modern cinema. Splendidly performed by Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, this rhythmic sensation is infused with love of life and hard-hitting melancholic quandaries too. Quite simply, I loved every second of it.Read the full review

DON’T BREATHE (2016)

Riveting, horrifying and unwaveringly f*cked up, Don’t Breathe is one of the most breathless, relentlessly intense horror movies to ever open in the American territories. Not unlike ‘Martyrs’ or ‘Inside’, Fede Alvarez’s disturbing triumph of high-pitched tension and fanatical bad taste is as much an absolute must for hardcore horror fans as it is sure to horrify any and every mother on planet Earth.▶ Watch on Prime Video · Read the full review

SWISS ARMY MAN (2016)

One of the most bizarre and bizarrely beautiful films to grace the Sundance Dramatic Competition in quite some time, Swiss Army Man is not a film to be puzzled out in one go but that’s ok. It’s mightily entertaining, features two standout performances and has enough raw originality coursing through its veins to make it truly stand in a league of its own.▶ Watch on Netflix · Read the full review

THE NICE GUYS (2016)

The Nice Guys is a nearly flawless seminar in action comedy as Shane Black schools the industry with righteous aplomb, paying lip service to its weathered idolatry with a sardonic smile. Crafting a rare and unceasingly hilarious film filled with rich, equally uproarious characters, played to perfection by Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe, Black challenges the conventions of buddy cop films at every wise-cracking turn and the audience is all the richer for it.Read the full review

SING STREET (2016)

Big-hearted, shamelessly cheerful and joyous beyond measure, Sing Street is an upbeat victory for director John Carney. Brimming with laughs and a surprising amount of tears, Sing Street is rarely seen uplift cinema sure to inspire an embarrassingly wide grin from start to finish, suffused with dreadfully catchy tunes to boot.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

GREEN ROOM (2016)

Jeremy Saulnier’s grotesquely violent Green Room pits a hapless punk band against a group of militant Neo Nazis in almost pornographically gruesome fashion. A relentlessly fierce examination of violence meets punk, this well-acted violent venture is a must for those compelled to see such material.▶ Watch on Netflix · Read the full review

10 CLOVERFIELD LANE (2016)

Bizarre by traditional sequel standards, 10 Cloverfield Lane is nonetheless an immaculate work of genre craftsmanship, a bustling coup de grace of wit, intensity and phenomenal performances with John Goodman perhaps giving the best of his already standout career. A real “bucket” of winning.▶ Watch on Peacock · Read the full review

THE WITCH (2016)

When the family snaps under the pressure of internal and external presses, it’s anyone’s game and you’ll want to behold the result. The fact that The Witch is up for consideration in the Dramatic Competition of Sundance should tell you how transcendent the product is. After all, how often does a horror get to play the awards game?▶ Watch on Prime Video · Read the full review

2015

THE REVENANT (2015)

A technically consummate piece of high art bred with a tension-ridden tale of against-all-odds perseverance, The Revenant is a brutal, frigid masterwork that benefits from its callous commitment from director Alejandro González Iñárritu, brilliant visuals from cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and incredible performances from stars Tom Hardy and Leonardo DiCaprio.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

CREED (2015)

Creed is vibrant, emotional and exciting as all hell. Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan reunite to deliver a spin-off unlike most; a film that’s both crowd-pleasing and objectively excellent.▶ Watch on Prime Video · Read the full review

ROOM (2015)

A healthy dose of heartbreak and humor gives Room dramatic gravitas in spades. Add in two top-of-the-line performances from Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay and you have a picture not to be missed.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

STEVE JOBS (2015)

A purebred masterclass in filmmaking, Steve Jobs brings Aaron Sorkin, Danny Boyle and Michael Fassbender together to tell a misanthropic biography brimming with life, humming with energy and ablaze with technical mastery. As close to you can get to an Oscar sure thing.Read the full review

SICARIO (2015)

Emboldened by Roger Deakins’s screamingly accomplished cinematography, Jóhann Jóhannsson’s hypnotic score, Benicio Del Toro’s unforgettable performance and Denis Villeneuve’s prudent, cold-blooded direction, Sicario commits cinematic terrorism against our desire for narrative order. It’s time to welcome Villeneuve to the Masters circle.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

EVEREST (2015)

Marrying top-notch technical alchemy with excellent performances across the board and a narrative that’s universally powerful, Everest is a big picture triumph – the tentpole spectacle film that 2015 needed. Consider IMAX a must.Read the full review

THE END OF THE TOUR (2015)

The End of the Tour is 2015’s first dramatic ace in the hole; from the screenwriting to the direction to the two stunning performances at its center, it’s a powder-keg masterstroke of onscreen conversation.▶ Watch on Netflix · Read the full review

THE LOOK OF SILENCE (2015)

As the agents of genocide repeat “The past is past”, the delicacy of Indonesia’s current political balance becomes a focal point of fiercely high intensity. At one point, a politician threatens Adi – you don’t want things to go back to the way they were, do you? You know how easy that would be, don’t you?Read the full review

INSIDE OUT (2015)

A last act reunion once again turned my face soggy, leaving me all the more inclined to stick through the (increasingly hysterical) mid-credits stinger that dives into the inner-workings of the brains of cats and dogs.▶ Watch on Disney+ · Read the full review

EX MACHINA (2015)

Brilliant tech work aligns with Garland’s beautifully sour/smartly subversive writing/directing and Gleeson, Isaac and Vikander’s low-broiling performances to create what can only be described as a neo sci-fi noir near-masterpiece. Living in a time when tech and humanity cycle increasingly closer to one another in the Rolodex of life, Ex Machina – from each and every angle – pummels you with the idea of what is to come.▶ Watch on Hulu · Read the full review

2014

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING (2014)

Marsh spares us the gory details of how time actually works (new homework assignment: read “A (Brief) History of Time”) but thanks to adroit editing work from Jinx Godfrey, we’re never really worried about how it works. It just does.Read the full review

NIGHTCRAWLER (2014)

A nightcrawler, not to be confused with the blue Russian teleport from the X-Men comics, is a bottom feeder. A succubus. A drive by job with a camera. They find you in your weakest moments – battered, bloodied and broken – and display it for the world to see. There’s no scruples in the line of work; no lines. It’s a brawl. A exploitative, invasive, harrowing brawl. And the public eats it up like pigs at the stye.▶ Watch on Netflix · Read the full review

BIRDMAN (2014)

Steeped in an exacting degree of irreverent relevance, he’s able to pull off the rare feat of raising existential questions in the same scene that he blows up a cityscape. It’s like seeing Black Swan and A Beautiful Mind fist-fighting in a Charlie Kaufman play; a crossroads of cinema and theater that’s entirely novel and entirely brilliant.Read the full review

FURY (2014)

Fury harnesses the spirit of war, of unchecked testosterone, of sacrifice and mayhem, wads it up into a spitball and blows it in the face of the politicians, the warmongers and the jingoistic, all of whom, ironically enough, will probably love this film. Though my thoughts on it are yet to be fully fully formed, it’s a film that I absolutely loved every second of.▶ Watch on Apple TV+ · Read the full review

WHIPLASH (2014)

Unconventional and bold, Whiplash might just be the biggest surprise out of 2014’s Sundance Festival. Between the outstanding performances from Teller and Simmons, a winning script, and an inbred set of emotional stakes, Whiplash drums up a jaw dropping finale that’ll have the musically indifferent just as cheerfully mystified as lifelong aficionados.Read the full review

GONE GIRL (2014)

Gone Girl deals in accusations and historical gender circumstance. It’s a 21st century battle of the sexes; a tennis match played with grenades. Amy and Nick’s affair depends entirely upon existing gender roles. It festers because of the wobbly stature between mankind and womankind. It’s not feminist. It’s emasculating. It’s not progressive. It’s the end of times.Read the full review

THE GUEST (2014)

When all is said and done, The Guest is 30-caliber entertainment, mainlining laughs, thrills, and excitement like a junkie on a bender. A step forward for the already majorly competent Wingard, this kind of genre movie reminds us of just how much fun a time at the theaters can be.▶ Watch on Shudder · Read the full review

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2014)

It’s that impossibly rare blockbuster that shimmers with intelligence and has the FX razzle-dazzle to leave you dazed and amused, grinning from ear-to-ear and stunned by its impeccably told story. If we’re lucky, we’ll see a follow up tagging close behind (hopefully with Reeves returning) and I’m willing to wager a pretty penny they call it War for the Planet of the Apes.▶ Watch on Hulu · Read the full review

STARRY EYES (2014)

Starry Eyes conjures up quick similarities to Black Swan and Rosemary’s Baby but finds a perfect footing between the two so any similarities feel incidental rather than essential. It may wheel in the same thematic ballpark but, if you can believe it, makes both of those features look like a walk in the park. Both Swan and Baby may leave you unsettled but Starry Eyes will leave you shaken.▶ Watch on Shudder · Read the full review

THE RAID 2: BERANDAL (2014)

As the second part in a planned trilogy, I feared Berandal might suffer middle-child syndrome, that it could feel incomplete in the context of a larger arc. The reality couldn’t be further from the fact. You can essentially go into this film blind and not struggle a second trying to keep up.Read the full review

BOYHOOD (2014)

I found myself beaming with pride at moments, disappointed in him at others and silently heartbroken and yet joyful as he reached new milestones. To young Ellar Salmon’s credit, there’s never a moment where we don’t fully believe the deeply personal yet universal John Doe plight of a boy coming of age. He’s an every man and an intellectual and Salmon’s maturing performance helps to auction the many faces one man can put on.▶ Watch on Netflix · Read the full review

WETLANDS (2014)

Like a German Amelie if Amelie had an anal fixation and had been written by Chuck Palahniuk, Wetlands is bold, esoteric, borderline brilliant adventure of self-discovery by way of reaching inside oneself.▶ Watch on Tubi · Read the full review

LONE SURVIVOR (2014)

Backed up by blinding cinematography from Tobias A. Schliessler and an agonizingly plucky score (a throwback to Berg’s Friday Night Light days) courtesy of a Steve Jablonsky, Explosions in the Sky collaboration, Lone Survivor is the closest equivalent to an artsy war film we’ve seen. Also commendable is Berg’s sensitive attention to “the other.” There is no attempt to stir the crowd into a “fuck the Taliban” frenzy.▶ Watch on Prime Video · Read the full review

2013

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (2013)

But it’s not the performances alone that shine, as the movie flows smooth as butter. Looking at it as a whole, I wouldn’t want a single scene cut and that’s a testament to the seductive power of Scorsese’s film. With well over 500 counts of the f-bomb and enough female and male genitalia to perturb the most hip of parents, do be sure that you’re attending The Wolf of Wall Street with the right parties.▶ Watch on Paramount+ · Read the full review

HER (2013)

Anchored with a cast this talented that are each putting their all into each and every scene, Her is lightning in a bottle. Instead of feeling like this future world is strange, it feels entirely practical, a slightly scary yet peculiarity hopeful fact. And however weird the concept of falling in love with an operating system seems, when we’re in heat of the moment, it never feels weird. It just feels right.Read the full review

DALLAS BUYERS CLUB (2013)

For the swing-for-the-fences success, major credit is due to the editing department under Vallée and Martin Pensa’s guidance, making the most difficult calls of all – not overstaying. Debunking the belief that over-dramatization leads to more emotional impact, Vallée guides Dallas into near-perfect territory with the craft of someone who’s been doing this his whole life.▶ Watch on Netflix · Read the full review

ALL IS LOST (2013)

The creaks and moans of the tried ship mimic the heaves and hoes of a exasperated Redford, visual cues as foreboding and understated as the hardly visible score from Alex Ebert. Each adds their own signature to the layer cake of suspense, rather than seeking glory for their own right. it’s this sum-of-all-parts attitude that really makes the film sing.▶ Watch on The Roku Channel · Read the full review

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (2013)

As a biopic, it’s uncompromising and doggedly raw. As a thriller, it defines “being on pins and needles”. As a showcase for Tom Hanks, it serves as a major highlight for his long and illustrious career. It is, without a doubt, a spectacular achievement.Read the full review

FRUITVALE STATION (2013)

But Fruitvale Station doesn’t bank on the brand of weepy, sentimental tearjerkers that leaves you with the bad taste of manipulation. It’s something entirely different and entirely beautiful – a genuinely power, superbly acted trainwreck spilling over with throbbing purpose. Even for those not absolutely spellbound, it would take an incredible degree of jaded indifference to shrug this powerful experience off.Read the full review

ONLY GOD FORGIVES (2013)

A great film is one that you can look back upon and continue to gleam more from upon – particularly in retrospect. It sets out a series of clues that you can’t assemble until the film has come full circle but, once it does, you see each piece as a meaningful and necessary contribution to the work as a whole.▶ Watch on The Roku Channel · Read the full review

BEFORE MIDNIGHT (2013)

Throughout it’s 109 minutes, there is not an ounce of narrative fat asking to be skimmed off nor is there any pandering to a broad and blasé audience. The tender handling of insecurities is all that can be asked for as Linklater again acquaints us with an unusually contemplative couple who have earned our love and attention. As a continuing character study, it’s nuanced and brilliantly acted.Read the full review

THIS IS THE END (2013)

Rejoice, comedy is funny once more thanks to This is the End. Like a moustachioed Chutulu rising from the depths, it’s not only a resoundingly successful comedy but also a surprisingly effective apocalypse flick. Aggressively funny from start to finish, this new stripped down take on what the genre can do is somehow self-deprecating and self-aggrandizing at the same time. Still, I dare you not to laugh.Read the full review

WHAT MAISIE KNEW (2013)

In the age of divorce as norm, this is a strikingly close-to-the-bone story that cuts deep into the ethos of modern day child-rearing. It’s sentimental without ever being sappy and, in the end, even more touching because of its emotional difficulty. The hard truth to this story; there’s no light at the end of the tunnel and fairy-tales only exist in books.▶ Watch on Prime Video · Read the full review

COSMOPOLIS (2013)

While this certainly is not a film for everyone and I’m sure that any tween going to see this for their favorite Twilight vampire would protest that this is the worst film ever made ever, it is an intellectual and emotional experience that is undeniably theatrical and wholly captivating.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

2012

DJANGO UNCHAINED (2012)

While it’s not for the faint of heart- be prepared for torrents of blood and no short measure of the “n-word”- Django Unchained is that rare masterpiece that will have you laughing out loud one moment and in jaw-dangling horror the next.Read the full review