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"Boyhood"
Directed by Richard Linklater
Starring Ellar Salmon, Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Lorelei Linklater
163 Mins
A monolith of cinema, Richard Linklater's Boyhood is a soaring accomplishment of product and process. Famously filmed over the course 12 years, Linklater's long form approach allows for an intimacy and connection like no film before. From the time we meet young Macon at the tender age of six until he moves to college, Linklater fosters his audience's near parental ties to this young man, making us feel for a character in unprecedented manner. It's a masterpiece in all senses of the word; a rare trailblazer of a film with macroscopic vision that's as uniformly jaw-dropping as the final product.
"Wish I Was Here"
Directed by Zach Braff
Starring Zach Braff, Kate Hudson, Mandy Patinkin, Josh Gad, Ashley Greene, Joey King, Pierce Gagnon
114 Mins
Great music can't bandaid uber depressing bummertown that sees Mandy Patkinson slowly dying, a breadwinning wife privy to gross sexual harassment at work, and an out-of-work/failed actor in director/writer/star Zach Braff. With virtually ever b-plot revolving around a different cause for concern, Wish I Was Here is occasionally profound but always deathly dour.
"Camp X-Ray"
Directed by Peter Sattler
Starring Kristen Stewart, Peyman Moaadi, Lane Garrison, J.J. Soria, John Carroll Lynch
117 Mins
Agenda-slinging, headline drama Camp X-Ray transcends expiration date glitz with universal tale of friendship. Burdened with a Guantanamo Bay premise and Twilight sensation Kristen Stewart in a headlining spot, expectations may come half-popped but Camp X-Ray manages to steer clear of inflammatory hot topic territory as Stewart and co-star Peyman Moaadi probe powerhouse territory.
"Young Ones"
Directed by Jake Paltrow
Starring Nicholas Hoult, Michael Shannon, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Elle Fanning
100 Mins
Sprawling future Western quais-epic Young Ones offers a poignant deconstruction of sci-fi and western films, an allegorical gaze into a murky future that strips both genres down to the studs and builds them up as one.