Creed

This film is electric. Michael B. Jordan is fantastic, and the camerawork during a fight is exciting and beautiful. The story is compelling and well-paced, but the huge selling point of this film is the energy and momentum that is built. It was an incredibly satisfying experience.

8.75/10

The Good Dinosaur

The Good Dinosaur has some incredibly touching and heartfelt moments. The rest of the film feels somewhat disjointed, but there are some laughs and okay action sequences. It's not one of Pixar's best, but far from the worst.

7.5/10

Trumbo

Cranston is tremendous as always, and I found the story (which I knew basically nothing about beforehand) to be engaging and incredibly interesting.

8.5/10

Victoria

Without getting too specific, as this is one of those movies that's exponentially better with less information, Victoria is gripping and visceral. The performances feel effortless and natural, and the camerawork is a thing of beauty.

9/10

Spotlight

Incredibly powerful and impeccably acted, Spotlight is engrossing and at the same time difficult to watch. I was floored by this film. Some of the smallest moments and roles had tremendous impact, which is a testament to the stupendous filmmaking on display.

9.5/10

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

The previous films are a bit of mixed bag for me. Briefly, I think the first is bad, the second is great, and Mockingjay Part 1 was okay.

Part 2 was excellent. The action beats were fun, and the emotional core of the story was rock-solid. I found myself empathizing with several of the characters in ways I hadn't previously in the earlier films and books. I think the film dragged on a tad too long, but I was generally very happy with the final product. Part 2 was a fitting conclusion to a great story.

8.25/10

The Night Before

I really loved this film. It's far from subtle, and certainly heavy-handed at times, but JGL is great as the heart of this story, similar to the Cusack role from Hot Tub Time Machine, if you will. And it's hilarious! I laughed more than I have at any other movie in recent memory.

8/10

The Stanford Prison Experiment

A depressing and dark look into a real-life prison simulation experiment, highlighted by tremendous performances all around.

8.75/10

Spectre

Spectre suffers from some of the worst Bond tropes, and a very bloated and slow middle. There isn't much in the way of memorable action set pieces, and it generally felt like a paint-by-numbers entry into the franchise.

 That being said, the beginning and end we're both satisfying, and Christoph Waltz is great as always.

6.75/10