Fruitvale Station (2013) - A tough but powerful watch. Very well made with great performances. Which only makes the ending that much harder to watch. People should watch this movie. A-
Fury (2014) - Good performances and filmmaking. There are some downright fantastic sequences in this film, but it doesn't all come together as well as it should. The first act is particularly problematic with its slow pacing and delayed character development. B
Amores perros (2000) - Very impressive directorial debut from Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. I have some minor quibbles - it could probably be a bit shorter, I'm not even remotely as invested in the middle story as the others, etc. - but for the most part this is a great film. A-
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) - Wow, wow, wow. Brilliant film. Hilarious, exciting, thought provoking. Inarritu's latest impresses as well. The work that went into crafting this film is mind boggling. And let's not forget the performances. Michael Keaton gives a career best performance here. Edward Norton is a scene stealer. Emma Stone's great, and so is everyone else. What an amazing film. Highly recommended. My favorite of the year so far. A
Nightcrawler (2014) - A slickly made thrilling satire of the news industry. Some things pushed the boundaries of believability and other things could have been fleshed out further, but they do not get in the way of your enjoyment of this awesome movie. Jake Gyllenhaal gives a great performance, and he made a surprise appearance at the screening I went to, so that was pretty great. B+