Remedy

A brutally appealing genre film in which heads burn and bodies explode in ultra-fun sequences, it's already achieving slight cult status at the moment and I'll happily include it among my classic Yuletide screenings in the future, i.e. alongside the first two Die Hard movies and Home Alone. Tommy Wirkola is a bit of a freak, but that doesn't take away from his huge dollop of talent and his remarkable flair for scenes that are extremely gory and funny at the same time. Violent Night is horribly irreverent ("Trudy? Well, that makes her sound like a whore."), brutally action-packed fun where you'll soak up the true Christmas spirit like (almost) nowhere else. [80%]

The cool thing about this noir gem, aside from its impressive ode to classic Hollywood, is that it manages with equal brilliance to hold up a mirror to the entire tinsel colossus. Its non-trivial approach results, among other things, in the fact that Sunset Boulevard still has an absolutely timeless effect to this day and rightfully ranks among the absolute top of the film noir genre. [90%]

An honest police procedural and social drama, with an emphasis on Muslim antediluvian preconceptions of women's rights and "the meaning of life". I'll start with the latter – Ali Abbasi delivers it in such an incredibly evocative way that it truly helps the viewer get into the social discourse while also presenting some pretty compelling reasons (from the perspective of the local citizens). The opening is a thriller like something from Fincher and any ride through the darkened Iranian alleys filled with filth and vice will have atmosphere like crazy. One of the films of the year. [80%]