Yeah, and all the shit in the book that doesn't contribute to that "heroic" military characterization—pretty much all of it—isn't mentioned or shown at all, not even that much through the character's actions. Instead, he's portrayed mostly as this loving family man with some flaws who has intense struggles over…

OTHER THOUGHTS:

AMERICAN SNIPER
American Sniper is an action movie with just enough intelligence to masquerade as a complex character study, a study of a man profoundly affected by the horrors of war and by the 160 confirmed kills built up over his four tours. Eastwood and co. are smart enough to recognize that there are other…

I saw this and I found it hilarious every time the bagels entered the storyline.

One more vote for Whiplash here. Also, Snowpiercer, Nightcrawler, Interstellar, and Boyhood.

One of the best fight scenes I have ever seen. Whether it was the directing—I loved the rotation around the car—or the pure fucking badass acting by Matthew Rauch and Odette Annable or the knives in the trunk or the flashbacks or that ax, it was impeccable all around. Both characters were really intriguing and could…

Nice! I don't think you can go wrong with Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac. I'll catch it the week after, probably.

The Boy Next Door.

Loved this so much. As much as I'd like to watch this show forever, I'm also glad that it's wrapping up because it allows the writers to get back down to these characters at their most compelling. First of all, Ava's back, and her conflict here is much more interesting than last season's storyline; I especially loved…

One more round of applause for Damon Herriman and his work throughout the series. He was, as expected, excellent in that final scene.

Person of Interest

Justified!!!!! Although last season was a step down, I still enjoyed it, and it set up what looks to be a fantastic final season. Now we can get back to Raylan vs. Boyd and more Ava. Very excited.

Yeah, he was excellent in The Knick. Also nice to see Keith Stanfield show up, who was great in Short Term 12 (one of my favorite movies last year).

SELMA
When making a movie about an important historical figure like Martin Luther King, Jr., it’s easy to go through the motions and use a list of major bullet points as a stand in for an actual screenplay. What makes Selma compelling is its focus on a very specific time period in the history of Dr. King, a time period…

"Gentrification"

Yeah, that Fiona storyline was really great. The earlier situation with the guy at the diner ended in violence, and after she tried to assert to Sean that she had improved and was not just "chaos", she ended up in yet another situation ending with violence, and she enjoyed it quite a bit. And of course, the difference…

Yeah, I haven't seen Ida, but Lubezki, Yeoman, and Dick Poop all deserve to be there, and I'm sure Deakins still did a great job with a bad movie. Personally, I'd also give Darius Khondji a nod for The Immigrant and Daniel Landin a nod for Under the Skin.

I did not. Yeah, the definition I looked up was ”the tendency in physical objects to deteriorate because of the fundamental instability of the components of which they are made, as opposed to deterioration caused by external forces”. And that really is perfect in terms of looking at the nation itself at that time and…

SPOILER SPACE

INHERENT VICE
Inherent Vice is built around sensation, around a drug-induced haze not created through clever visual tricks, but rather through a purposefully incomprehensible plot. That’s not to say that there isn’t a story to grasp, though; it simply means that we’re just as much in the dark as Doc Sportello is, that…