The Theory of Everything

dir. James Marsh, 2014

While this biopic of Stephen Hawking (and, in a surprising twist, his wife Jane) is tender and quietly heartbreaking and lacking in any pretension, it is impossible to walk away from this film thinking about much else than Eddie Redmayne, whose impeccable resemblance to the iconic physicist is outdone only by his stunning performance, one that is likely more transformational than any other put to celluloid this year and involves a sequence where a pen falling to the floor had my jaw doing the same thing.

REC 3: Genesis

dir. Paco Plaza, 2012

I say without hesitation that the first two REC films are two of the scariest and most well-crafted horror films I’ve ever seen, making this third installment all the more painful to watch, with Plaza passing on the opportunity to build the mythos and instead turning this threequel into a parody of the two films that came before it, resulting in a funny (the-director-knows-how-clever-he’s-being) zombie-thriller that could have stood on its own just fine but, when unnecessarily attached to this franchise, instead points a finger and laughs at the two (much better) pics it shares a trilogy with.

The Evil Dead

dir. Sam Raimi, 1981

After committing myself to watching this without paying any regard to the cult classic aura that has surrounded this low budget horror flick over the years and preparing myself for a film that was probably going to be annoyingly self-aware and intentionally over-acted, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were some legitimate scares in the final act, accompanied by some genuinely nasty yet well-executed special effects.

House of Cards – Episode 12 – “Chapter Twelve”

In the wake of Episode 11’s tragedy, Francis Underwood seeks to lay the groundwork for his future, and his lack of awareness concerning Zoe and Janine’s digging into the past illustrates that Beau Willimon and his writing team clearly planned things out, making this a compelling if tonally-odd penultimate installment.

House of Cards – Episode 11 – “Chapter Eleven”

I was quickly growing tired of several of this show’s subplots – the Adam-Claire affair, the sexual and pseudo-sexual mind games between Francis and Zoe – but a major twist in the last ten minutes is sure to redefine the entire series going forward and, as a sequence in the final act indicates, the ripple effect of this development will impact the lives of all of the show’s characters in varying degrees, as we’re left to wonder who knows what, how much they know, and where that knowledge will take them.

Buried

dir. Rodrigo Cortes, 2010

Director-editor Cortes should be commended for this claustrophobic exercise in cinematic minimalism, as he shoves us into a coffin with Ryan Reynolds (getting a real dramatic showcase here) for 95 minutes, allows nail-biting complications and aggravating cellphone conversations to play out in real-time, and somehow manages to skewer American bureaucracy along the way without letting the premise fall into “gimmick” territory.

House of Cards – Episode 10 – “Chapter Ten”

Even as his two love interests find comfort in the arms of other men, Francis Underwood continues to be one of the most complex new characters on television, seemingly unscathed by treachery, doling out kindness in exchange for nothing (so he claims) while simultaneously setting up pawns like Peter Russo, only to knock them down when they attempt to jump rank and act above their post.

House of Cards – Episode 9 – “Chapter Nine”

Despite the fact that this was a transitional episode – with Russo on the campaign trail, the VP teaming with Underwood’s cause, the Chief of Staff’s personal-before-professional decision, Zoe’s breakup, Claire’s betrayal, and other developments that are less exciting on their own and more setup for things to come – the cast members have never looked more comfortable in their roles, and that goes double for Spacey, who wears his role like a glove … the kind of glove that would look really good holding an Emmy statue.