Nightcrawler - 9/10
Like Fury, my resistance to seeing this film was based purely on childish pettiness. I was upset that Fury wasn't a Nick Fury origin story and I was upset that Nightcrawler wasn't an X-Men spinoff. By the time that I finally came around to wanting to see it, it had already left theaters and I had to wait for it to come out on DVD.
Having now seen it, it is an absolute highlight of 2014, with Jake Gyllenhaal easily stealing the title of my favorite male performance away from Michael Keaton. His charming sociopath is utterly fascinating to watch develop: so disgustingly engaging that my girlfriend opted to go to bed rather than finish the movie while I couldn't possibly tear myself away from the screen.
Locke - 8/10
I really didn't know anything about this film going into it other than it was about Tom Hardy making phone calls in a car for an hour. One of the critics that I follow (and tend to agree with) listed it among his honorable mentions of best 2014 films and I snatched it up the second that I found it based off of that praise. And after having seen it now, I can honestly say that it is one of the better films from this last year and that Tom Hardy was just as robbed of an Oscar nomination as Jake Gyllenhaal. His one performance carries the entire weight of the film as he talks to people that we don't see and, oftentimes, the imagined ghost of his own father. It's a definite acting high point of the year and should be getting a lot more attention than it already has.
Predestination - 7.5/10
Utterly different from anything that I expected it to be and equally as fascinating, Predestination was one of the biggest surprises and yet most expectedly awesome films from this last year. It's intelligent, incredibly well acted and the most unique take on time travel since Looper. The paradoxical twist is simultaneously unexpected and makes perfect sense (as far as such things go). It's a definite must-see for sci-fi fans.
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Arcanis' 100 Favorite Films: 2015 Edition
Filmquisition: Raking Modern Entertainment Over the Coals Daily
Unrealitymag.com: New Articles Contributed Every Friday
Arcanis' 100 Favorite Films: 2015 Edition