6. Fruitvale Station
The true story and final day of Oscar Grant, a BART passenger killed by the police on New Year’s Day 2009 is very good, one that contains many breakouts from lead Michael B. Jordan and director Ryan Coogler. Octavia Spencer of The Help also proves that she is not a one-hit wonder as Oscar’s loving and forgiving mother. Her work is something that truly deserves to be called ‘motherly’, in equal praise with such screen mothers like The Tree of Life’s Jessica Chastain.
5. Only God Forgives
Despite the film having a 37 on Metacritic, I thoroughly enjoyed Winding Refn’s latest. The metaphorical ideas in the film feel well-intentioned, and thoughtful. The violence is exciting and necessary to display the sins of a metaphorical God. The colors are extremely beautiful, and the music by Cliff Martinez is great. Gosling, despite playing second fiddle, is fine as silent and stoic Julien. The lead fiddle of the film is the scene-stealing Kristin Scott Thomas, who pulls off the act of both looking and sounding disgusting in the film.