Nymphomaniac: Volume 1 is clearly an incomplete piece of work, but it features a burning energy and a tangible arc
The Wolf of Wall Street shares a lot in common with Scorsese’s mob-centered epic Goodfellas – and it’s his best film since
All Is Lost works on a number of levels, but the most meaningful one may be how it relates specifically to star Robert Redford
Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt star in this brilliant neo-noir gem from Cormac McCarthy and Ridley Scott
Paul Greengrass’ Captain Phillips is a no-nonsense thriller that grabs you from the outset and never lets go
Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity is a real wow, combining ground-breaking space-age f/x with a straightforward B-movie survival plot
Ron Howard’s Rush presents an authentic-feeling re-creation of the 1970s rivalry between Formula 1 drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt
Blue Jasmine is the best film Woody Allen has made since 2005’s Match Point – or even 1989’s Crimes and Misdemeanors
Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight returns us to the ever-evolving relationship between Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy)
Only God Forgives, the second teaming of the director and star behind Drive, is a gorgeously photographed, cold-as-ice experience
Silver Linings Playbook is genuinely funny and genuinely touching, and moves throughout familiar territory with incredible skill
Zero Dark Thirty was conceived as an account of the CIA’s attempts to track down the al Qaeda founder behind the 9/11 attacks
Django Unchained represents Tarantino Unchained: it’s the director’s longest, most indulgent, and gratuitously violent film yet
The Master is another magnificent piece of filmmaking from the director of Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and There Will Be Blood
Seven Psychopaths is a film about writing, or more specifically writer’s block, perhaps born from the writer-director’s own difficulties
Argo is an incredible story, told with lean efficiency and expert craftsmanship, which is mighty good enough
Cloud Atlas is a bold and ambitious piece of filmmaking that demands to be seen and analyzed, and reseen and reanalyzed
A wordless blend of incredible imagery and emotive music, Samsara was a long time in the making
Is Juraj Herz’s The Cremator the best Czech horror film ever made?
Looper manages to capture both our eyes and minds despite a (relatively) small budget and an absence of overdone CGI effects
Karel Fiala stars as a soft-drinkin’ cowboy in director Oldřich Lipský’s classic 1964 musical western
Beasts of the Southern Wild is a spellbinding piece of work that brings something new and exciting to the screen
Moonrise Kingdom might be Wes Anderson’s most accessible film to date, and he paints this story with love and care
Prometheus, director Ridley Scott’s prequel to Alien, is a masterful mixture of brainy sci-fi ideology and splatter movie schlock