Boyhood (2014) ****

Brilliant film that follows a young boy (and his family) as he grows up from 7 to 18 years of age.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) ****

Birdman (2014) ****

Leviathan (2014) ****

Wild (2014) ****

Inherent Vice (2014) ****

Ida (2014) ****

Timbuktu (2014) ****

Powerful African film about Islamist extremists terrorizing a town.

The Tribe (2014) ****

Last Days In Vietnam (2014) ****

Superb documentary about the evacuation of the US embassy during the fall of Saigon in 1975.

American Sniper (2014) ****

Superb drama about Iraq War and its consequences. At first it seems like a war drama along the lines of "The Hurt Locker" and "Zero Dark Thirty", but it takes an unexpected turn near the end and becomes almost a remake of "The Gunfighter" (1950).

Finding Vivian Maier (2014) ****

Fascinating documentary about a nanny photographer whose work has been discovered after her death.