Southpaw

I'm going to start this by saying that the fact that this film received no Oscar attention is a crying shame and further proof of how out of touch the Academy has gotten. Jake Gyllenhaal gave what was, in my eyes, the best performance of his career - only in "Nightcrawler" was he as completely immersed in a role like this. Forest Whitaker was both powerful and tender and should well have gotten a Best Supporting nod. And Antoine Fuqua remains one of the finest directors in modern times - his visual palette in this film was astounding. Surprisingly, the weakest link in this film was Kurt Sutter's script, which relied on too many tropes and caricatures for my taste. This was a wonderful film, and the fact that I heard nothing about it last year is truly a shame. 4/5

Southpaw on Netflix

13

This taut thriller was stylish & intriguing with a totally awesome score, it just needed a stronger lead. Good, not great. 3.5/5

13 on Netflix

Twelve

Kiefer Sutherland's rich narration is what really makes Schumacher's teen-drug-angst film stand out - wonderfully acted & written. Seriously, the prose is lush, the stuff Bret Easton Ellis fancies that he writes but doesn't. Good stuff. 4/5

Twelve on Netflix