ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW: The Imitation Game

This year, the annual Weinstein push will be given to "The Imitation Game." The film checks all of those boxes of "Oscar bait" qualities. You have a war-time period story of great significance, a central biographical figure, and a top-notch cast of revered pedigree. Most important of all, "The Imitation Game" checks the box about being worthy in the first place. The film is tailor-made for awards season and borders on greatness. "The Imitation Game" is better than "The King's Speech" from three years ago and deserves every single over-indulgent and self-glorifying piece of shameless Oscar campaigning that it is going to put out there. This one is worth the hype, folks.

MOVIE REVIEW: Whiplash

A movie like "Whiplash" shouldn't do all of what it succeeds at, but it does. Before you even read what it's about, be assured that this film is a delicious piece of entertainment from top to bottom. This is a rare treat combining remarkable acting, music, energy, and twists that will follow you out of the theater. As of the calendar turning to November, this is the best film this writer has seen this year. This is the new film to beat, as unexpected as that sounds.

MOVIE REVIEW: Birdman

When Keaton's perfection is combined with the film's bracing, topical, and strong social commentary on Hollywood, Broadway, acting, fame, and celebrity for this different modern world, "Birdman" becomes even larger of an achievement for Mexican director and Academy Award nominee Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. Subtitled "The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance," this new film will earn a high place on many year-end lists for one of the year's best.

MOVIE REVIEW: Gone Girl

For the faithful readers of Gillian Flynn's 2012 bestseller of the same name, you will know the twists and turns that are coming. To the uninformed, "Gone Girl" was grab you hook, line, and sinker into a potently swirling world of ominous fear, mystery, and relationship quandaries. What follows, is promised to be SPOILER-FREE.

MOVIE REVIEW: The One I Love

“The One I Love” is a thinking film that skews much closer to the romantic comedy vein of its trailer, but offers just enough icy and sobering implications to get that hamster wheel moving in your head that will nudge you ever so slightly to the edge of your seat. You won’t be gripping your arm rest or partner’s hand in tension. Rather, you’ll be retreating to crossed arms of curiosity and chin-rubbing intrigue and attention. Clever smiles outnumber dropped jaws.

MOVIE REVIEW: Boyhood

What makes "Boyhood" this extraordinary experience and achievement is the opposite of that adjective: the ordinary. Linklater and company sought to deliver a genuine interpretation of a life experience without flashy movie bells and whistles. There is a subdued beauty behind the technical expertise. They know real life events don't play out or turn out like they do in the movies. They aren't announced with inane plot-descriptive dialogue by supporting characters and sidekicks. Real lives move in moments and operate in nuances. Our lives aren't backed by an orchestrational score and neither is "Boyhood." By operating in that style, the uniqueness of this divorce, divided family, and period of long change becomes approachable and even ordinary compared to other over-the-top family dramas that require multiple grains of salt to accept so many contrivances.

GUEST CRITIC: Transformers: Age of Extinction

As busy I get from time to time, I find that I can't see every movie under the sun, leaving my friends and colleagues to fill in the blanks for me. As poetically as I think I wax about movies on this website as a wannabe critic, sometimes a simple sentence or two from a friend says it all. Sometimes, it inspires me to see the movie too and get back to being my circle's go-to movie guy. Sometimes, they save me $9 and you 800+ words of blathering. In a new review series, I'm opening my site to friend submissions for quick-hit movie reviews.

MOVIE REVIEW: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Every single positive piece of praise and advanced buzz about this movie is completely true. The is the best movie I have seen this summer, by a landslide. This film is tremendous on every single level. This is the summer blockbuster you need to pay to see. This is the movie you'll make a point to put on the shelf or the digital library in the future. This is the movie that, years from now, you will point to as the coming out party for something even bigger that's happened since. This is the movie we were promised and were waiting for. This one is going to leave a mark on our cinematic memory.

ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Speaking of poker, if "Iron Man 3" is a hefty full house and "Thor: The Dark World" is a handsome straight, then "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" is a straight flush. I will echo the early reviews coming in and say that this is arguably Marvel's best made film to date. The movie is a kinetically smart clash of political espionage set on a superhero action stage. There's not a wasted moment of non-importance and the twists and turns triple anything attempted by "Iron Man 3" or "Thor: The Dark World."

MOVIE REVIEW: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Anderson's hot streak at winning me over has now extended to two films in a row with "The Grand Budapest Hotel." Richly detailed in every sense of possible style, this is a superbly entertaining little caper film that should yield more success for Wes Anderson and earn even more new fans. I know it's just March, but I'm going to go out on a limb right now and say that this is the best written film you will see all year. The script is brilliant beyond measure and a star-studded cast rarely misses a beat to make those words shine and leap off the page and screen.

ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW: August: Osage County

August: Osage County brings an outstanding story peppered with howling laughs and poignant family drama that blend tremendously better than expected. The film is fantastically acted to make this popular story very absorbing. This film is tailor-made as a holiday hit-to-be upon its upcoming Christmas weekend release and a sure-fire Oscar contender in many categories come next year. It is undoubtedly one of the best films of 2013 and will be among this website's "10 Best" of the year.