The Revenant (2016) - 4/5

This movie is a cinematic tour-de-force with impressive cinematography and intense performances from the entire cast, Leo DeCaprio in particular. The story is bleak and depressing, and the movie goes to great lengths to demonstrate how realistic the situation is at every step. Its entire premise is about the crystallized intensity of one man’s will to enact vengeance and the brutality of wickedness and of the elements that he’s willing to endure to that end, and it’s equal parts riveting and difficult to watch.

Content warning: brutal, gory violence, sexual assault

Closest comparison: It’s like Last of the Mohicans (1992) by way of The Grey (2012).

Setting: Adventure
Plot: Survival
Tone: Revenge Thriller

Birdman - 3/5

This movie's strength is in its moviemaking. It is shot to look like it's all one continuous, unbroken take, using very clever invisible cuts to make it possible. There are also quite a few mirrors in the film but never the camera reflected in them, a feat which I'm still not sure how they were able to accomplish. The story is pretty weird, though, and there's a lot of sexual dialogue and situations that don't actually add anything to the film. Also the ending undercuts itself. The film could have been going one of two directions, basically, and has an unclear ending that doesn't come down on either side. Instead of making both interpretations meaningful and valid, it only serves to make neither of them interesting or satisfying. If you like dissecting film-making techniques it's really cool, but otherwise I'd skip it.