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Beginners is a semi-autobiographical film from writer/director Mike Mills and based on his experiences with his father, who came out as a gay man at the age of 75 before dying of cancer five years later. Standing in for Mills is Ewan McGregor, who stars as Oliver Fields, a graphic designer still coming to grips with the death of his father, Hal (Christopher Plummer). Oliver's parents entered into a marriage of convenience in the 1950's with Hal as a closeted homosexual and his wife, Georgia (Mary Kay Keller), a Jew. Both maintained appearances in order to move about in high society. They stayed together for nearly fifty years until Georgia's death. Five months later, Hal reveals to his son that he is gay and finds a renewed zest for life before succumbing to cancer. Beginners has all the trappings of quirky hipster cinema, yet finds a delicate balance between sorrow and joy. While some scenes could only happen in a movie, the dialogue is sharp and never feels phony. The performances from the lead actors are wonderful with Ewan McGregor headlining the movie with an understated turn. Mélanie Laurent brings a graceful beauty and soulfulness to her character and never devolves into the archetype of manic pixie dream girl. Christopher Plummer deserves his overdue Oscar for his whimsical performance as Oliver's elderly father.

Critics have jumped at the chance to label Meek's Cutoff as a "Revisionist Western" or a "Feminist Western." Some have even snidely referred to it as a big-screen version of the edutainment computer game, The Oregon Trail. I'll jump on the bandwagon and call it an 'Anti-Western' as director Kelly Reichardt has crafted a de-romanticized look at westward expansion and frontier folly. All of this is wrapped in timeless themes of xenophobia and national imperialism.

Based loosely on actual historical events, Meek's Cutoff follows a small group of settlers in 1845. They have broken away from a larger group to follow their guide, Stephen Meek (an unrecognizable Bruce Greenwood), across the Oregon High Desert along a supposed shortcut. Tensions mount as the wandering settlers try to decide whether Meek has intentionally led them astray or is he simply incompetent. The possibility hope arrives when they capture a lone Indian. Meek wants to kill him outright, but Soloman and Emily Tetherow (Will Patton & Michelle Williams) believe he can lead them to much needed water.

Reichardt manages to subvert every trope expected of the Western genre. The film was shot in the old aspect ratio of 1.37:1, commonly referred to these days as fullscreen. As such, the characters are framed in a claustrophobic manner that accentuates their positions of being trapped by the landscape. The beautiful Monument Valley of John Ford's oeuvre is replaced by dry, acrid land bereft of any beauty. Reichardt also keeps the audience at a distance as the picture opens with a series of long shots as the settlers go through the arduous task of crossing a shallow stream. The first bit of intelligible dialogue doesn't occur until approximate seven minutes into the movie. The story is told from a female's perspective with Emily as the lead character. Reichardt places her audience into their point of view exemplified during a sequence where the men try to decide what to do with Meek. She shoots them from an extreme long shot, but stays with the women (their faces hidden behind deep bonnets) who watch from a distance and speculate on a conversation they are not privy to.

Meek's Cutoff is a powerful drama and a successful example of minimalistic cinema.

Tom Cruise's reputation and box office clout have been tarnished by his bizarre behavior. In my opinion, he can jump on all the couches he wants so long as he keeps making films like Ghost Protocol. Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt to assemble a team of agents, including Simon Pegg and newcomers Jeremy Renner and the gorgeous Paula Patton, to stop a madman from launching a nuclear missile and initiating World War III. Each installment of the Mission: Impossible series has had a different director behind the camera employing his own trademark style. For Ghost Protocol, Cruise went with an unlikely choice in Brad Bird, whose experience has solely been in animation having directed The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, and The Incredibles. His skills have translated to live-action with rousing success, creating an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride in a way that not even action maestro John Woo could have. The set pieces see Cruise scaling the world's tallest building in Dubai, an innovative chase sequence through a blinding sandstorm, and a final confrontation in an automated parking garage. Ghost Protocol is the best in the series and the epitome of a well-made, big budget blockbuster.

"I just missed your heart."

Joe Wright established himself immediately as a director to be reckoned with following his first two films Pride & Prejudice and Atonement. Wright brought a visual flair that isn’t generally found in historical romantic dramas and became known for his trademark uncut tracking shots. Cinephiles knew the moment Wright turned his hand to the action genre, the result would be something special. The result was Hanna. Inspired by fairy tale folklore, Hanna takes elements from the stories of Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood, then transplants them into a globe-trotting Jason Bourne-style actioner. The Grimm Brothers by way of Luc Besson. Hanna is an exceptionally stylish film utilizing techniques such as varying camera angles and jump cuts. Hanna’s escape from a CIA holding facility is the film’s most exciting sequence and Wright dips heavily into the Run Lola Run playbook. The set piece becomes a music video unto its own, punctuated by the throbbing electronic score by the Chemical Brothers. The editing is fast-paced and the camera spins around and around. Sometimes it feels like Wright is showing off, but he thankfully stays away from the overused shaky handheld shots. Of course, he doesn’t forget the long take as the camera follows Heller into a subway stop where he battles a group of armed henchmen. The action is crisp and superbly staged by veteran fight coordinator Jeff Imada. But, the movie isn’t always about kinetic action scenes, there’s a sense of tragedy and sweetness beneath the brutality of Hanna’s story as she struggles to connect to the fast-paced world.

"Listen up. There is a storm coming like nothing you've ever seen and not a one of you is prepared for it."

Take Shelter is the long awaited follow-up from filmmaker Jeff Nichols, who won acclaim for his directorial debut, Shotgun Stories. Take Shelter is a deeply moving psychological drama highlighted by two powerhouse performances from Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. Curtis (Shannon) is a construction worker plagued by disturbing visions heralding the arrival of a violent storm. He takes out a risky loan to build an underground shelter in his backyard jeopardizing the chance for his deaf daughter to receive a cochlear implant. Shannon gives an absolutely captivating performance with the centerpiece of the film being an explosive confrontation at a community dinner. His intensity and unconventional looks are reminiscent of a young Christopher Walken. At his side is Jessica Chastain, who plays a strong and devoted mother, less ethereal than her role in The Tree of Life. Take Shelter owes much to the prevailing cultural zeitgeist of war, uncertainty, and economic collapse.

"I got one text left. This is too much madness to explain in one text."

Alien invasions were all the rage in 2011 with the release of films like Battle: Los Angeles, Super 8, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Cowboys & Aliens, and The Darkest Hour. Attack the Block, directed by Joe Cornish (co-writer of Scott Pilgrim & The Adventures of Tintin) and produced by Edgar Wright, had only a fraction of the budget of last summer's generic blockbusters, but offered far more in terms of action and originality. An invading horde of gruesome black furred creatures with luminescent teeth invade the ghettos of South London on Guy Fawkes Night. Humanity's only hope lies with a gang of foul-mouthed juvenile delinquents led by a teen named Moses. Much like his namesake, Moses must lead his comrades to salvation. Cornish takes the bold route by introducing his protagonists as hooligan Goonies mugging a nurse, who eventually works together with them. Attack the Block is both an allegory for class warfare and economic inequality as well as a sci-fi action film in the style of old school John Carpenter.

It would be easy to describe Andrew Haigh's Weekend as merely a gay version of Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. To do so would be to skim over the depths in which it explores romance and societal morays. Weekend takes place over a short period of time in Nottingham, England. Russell (Tom Cullen) picks up Glen (Chris New) at a club for what should have been a casual one night stand. Instead, their chance encounter blossoms into a relationship that changes their lives forever. Russell is an introverted and semi-closeted lifeguard at a municipal pool whereas Glen is an art student unafraid to voice politicized opinions. Their time together builds to a bittersweet ending as Glen prepares to leave for America to study abroad. The conversations between Russell and Glen feel natural and off-the-cuff thanks to Haigh employing a semi-improvisational style. Shot on digital, Weekend handsomely captures the urban sprawl of Nottingham, modernizing the aesthetics of the classic kitchen sink dramas of British cinema.

The title of Once Upon a Time in Anatolia may bring to mind the epic Westerns of Sergio Leone. Indeed, Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan has a similar knack for shooting the Anatolian steppes. The expansive countryside is gorgeously captured and becomes a prominent character within the film. The story of Anatolia sounds almost like a bad joke. A doctor, a prosecutor, two suspects, and several police officers are out looking for a dead body late one night. The two suspects are brothers (one of whom may be mentally handicapped), who murdered a man after a drunken argument. Problem is they cannot remember where they buried the body. The fact that every hillside looks exactly the same doesn't help. The whole thing plays out like a meticulous procedural by way of Samuel Beckett. It has more in common with the Romanian New Wave film, Police, Adjective than the glitzy CSI. Ceylan explores how the tiniest things can irrevocably change your life. A fleeting encounter with a beautiful young woman moves one of the suspects to tears. An offhand revelation shatters the preconceived beliefs of another character. Throughout it all, Ceylan maintains a dry sense of humor as the protagonists argue over yogurt and discuss the prosecutor's resemblance to Clark Gable. At over two and a half hours long, Once Upon a Time in Antolia is methodically paced and not an easy film to digest, but the adventurous and patient watcher will be well rewarded.

Hungarian auteur Béla Tarr announced his retirement from directing to focus on his film school in Croatia. Tarr is largely unknown to most filmgoers, save the most diehard cinephiles, who herald him as the director of the epic 7 hour plus long Satantango or for 2000's Werckmeister Harmonies. If The Turin Horse is his last film, it's a hell of a way to cap off an illustrious career. The inspiration of the picture was the apocryphal of Nietzsche's emotional breakdown following his witnessing a horse being whipped by its owner. The Turin Horse follows the daily drudgery of an elderly man and his daughter living in the middle of nowhere. Each morning, the daughter assists her father, who possesses one limp arm, with getting out of bed and getting dressed. She fetches water from their well each day. Their meals subsist entirely of plain boiled potatoes, which are consumed by the man with a ravenous veracity. But, the well begins to run dry and their horse refuses to eat or pull the wagon.

Each frame of the film could stand on its own as a separate work of art. The Turin Horse is immaculately composed and shot in stark black and white, capturing the desolation in the landscape that looks post-apocalyptic in nature. The never-ending howl of the wind and the ominous score by Mihaly Vig are characters as integral to the film as the father and daughter. This is life reduced to its bare essence and sometimes the mere act of existing is a painful challenge. This is how the world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper.

"Martha…you look more like a Marcy May to me."

Martha Marcy May Marlene heralds the arrival of two beacons of cinematic light, actress Elizabeth Olsen (the younger sister of Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen) and first-time writer/director Sean Durkin. Durkin brings an American Gothic tone to the new realism that has permeated the indie film scene over the last few years. The film is a harrowing thriller centering on a young woman named Martha (Olsen), who has escaped from a seemingly idyllic commune in the Catskills. She takes refuge with her older sister, Lucy (Sarah Paulson), and her husband, Ted (Hugh Dancy), at their lake house in Connecticut. Martha has trouble adjusting to "normal" society, not realizing the faux pas of swimming naked in the afternoon or crawling into Lucy & Ted's bedroom while their having sex. The nature of the commune and its Charles Manson-esque leader (played by a terrifying John Hawkes) is slowly revealed as Durkin cuts between past and present. As the horrors Martha has witnessed come to light, it becomes more and more heartbreaking that Lucy and Ted are so ill-equipped and just a little too self-involved to properly handle her. The flashback structure is done in such a subtle manner that it is sometimes difficult to discern when and where you actually are. Thus, the audience is placed into the chaotic mindset of its traumatized protagonist. As neither environment proves to be a safe haven, Durkin builds to an abrupt ending that shows Martha will always live in a constant state of fear and paranoia.