The true brilliance of David Oyelowo's work--and that of Ava DuVernay, for that matter--lies in the delicate balance between duly respecting King as a historical icon and incisively studying King as a man.

PK
For once with an Aamir Khan vehicle, what is most memorable is not his predictably strong performance, but material and execution as fearless as he is.

A Most Violent Year
Oscar Isaac does terrifically layered and involving work as Abel's armor of seemingly unflappable confidence is consistently, increasingly under attack.

The Interview
In a less politically sensitive time, Randall Park's flat-out brilliant performance would be hailed as the breakout, star-making, even awards nomination-worthy, turn that it is.

Top Five
Chris Rock has made an entertainment that is not only a wild and rich study of his lead character but the character of the filmmaker himself.

Comet
Such an admittedly, unabashedly small scale story feels so powerfully universal, as if to transcend the weight and boundaries of space and time.

Nas: Time Is Illmatic
Comprehensively covers a lot of historical ground and paints a vivid portrait of all that Nas the artist and Nasir Jones the person are in a remarkably efficient 75-minute run time.

Whiplash
It is hardly an exaggeration to say that words fail to adequately describe just how the performances, the music, the writing, the editing, the sound design, everything down to the most minute detail converge into a climax that is at once exciting, scary, intense, joyous, heartbreaking, exhilarating, and altogether powerfully cathartic.

The Book of Life
It takes a work as strikingly stylized and completely out-of-the box visually as this to make one realize just how homogenized, and even lazy, mainstream animated features have become.

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• Cake
  
• Unbroken
  
• The Equalizer
  
• A Walk Among the Tombstones
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