10.  Holy Motors (written and directed by Leos Carax, and starring Denis Lavant, Edith Scob, Kylie Minogue, and Eva Mendes).  At the outset, I feel obliged to say that this top 10 list tends to reward ambition more than it probably should.  In this respect, Holy Motors generally defies comparison to any other film released this year.  Director Carax follows “working actor” Lavant through a single day consisting of ... Read More »

Spoiler Scale (How spoilery is this article on a scale of 1 to 10?):  9    This is Joseph Campbell territory.  As such, it is important to remember that, as the cornerstones of a twentieth-century mythology, comic book characters are not supposed to be three-dimensional human beings, but more personifications of distinct ideas.  Indeed, “personification” might be too strong a word.  Rather, ... Read More »