Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe make spectacular failure look like a viable detective method in Shane Black’s filthy, funny comic noir. The conspiracy becomes needlessly tangled, but the chemistry, physical comedy and decadent 1970s atmosphere make The Nice Guys an easy recommendation.
John Carpenter’s The Thing remains brutally effective because its isolation, practical effects and suspicious ensemble all serve one terrifying idea: appearances cannot be trusted.
James Cameron turns bigger action into a human argument about trauma, responsibility and the possibility of choosing a different future.
Denis Villeneuve turns translation into gripping suspense, while Amy Adams gives Arrival’s ambitious science fiction a quiet, profoundly human center.
Denis Villeneuve delivers monumental spectacle while turning Paul Atreides’ rise into an increasingly troubling warning about charisma, revenge and manufactured destiny.
Paul Greengrass turns the Peasants’ Revolt into an urgent, politically angry historical thriller, only to lose specificity as collective struggle gives way to folk-hero mythology.