While No Man’s Land’s finale is hardly original or unexpected, it still carries a fair amount of emotional weight that stopped my heart cold right at the very moment it was supposed to.

News of the World is a robust, beautifully shot drama, and while little unexpected transpires, the characters are so richly drawn and their travels so wonderfully realized that honestly isn’t much of a problem.

Let Him Go is a quiet meditation on grief, forgiveness, regret and family that managed to leave something of a noticeable impression, tragedy, joy, misery and sacrifice all melding into one, powerfully impactful emotional response richly deserving of a few empathetic tears.

For those interested in a little wild west action inserted into their horror, Aaron B. Koontz’s The Pale Door is worth lassoing.

The Wind is outstanding. Emma Tammi’s film has a delicately austere power that is poetically horrifying in its overall windswept magnitude.

The Wind is a haunting foray into isolation and madness that has far more to say about what it is to be a strong, resolute woman than some may initially think it does, its windswept howls for acceptance and understanding helping make this motion picture a timeless stunner I’ll be thinking about and deconstructing for a very long time to come.

Problem is, little of it is clear. Worse, most of it gets drowned in so much guts and gore, not to mention irredeemably abuse and sexism, listening to it is close to impossible. The Hateful Eight has lots to love, but just as much to abhor, making it something an elegant enigma that’s as frustrating as it is impressive.

I respected Casa de mi Padre far more than I enjoyed it, director and “SNL” veteran Matt Piedmont never striking the right balance between playing things straight while still wink-winking at the audience as if everyone knows just how absurd all of this is.

There Will Be Blood is a singular achievement, and while the feelings the film generates are ones contaminated with disgust and revulsion, the discussions they also promote are certain to last for a lifetime.