50/50 (2011)
IMDb: 7.7
Metascore: 72
Inspired by a true story, a comedy centered on a 27-year-old guy who learns of his cancer diagnosis, and his subsequent struggle to beat the disease.
A Separation (2011)
IMDb: 8.4
Metascore: 95
A married couple are faced with a difficult decision – to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer’s disease.
Birdman (2014)
IMDb: 7.9
Metascore: 88
A washed-up actor, who once played an iconic superhero, battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career and himself in the days leading up to the opening of his Broadway play.
Black Swan (2010)
IMDb: 8.0
Metascore: 79
A ballet dancer wins the lead in “Swan Lake” and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan – Princess Odette – but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odile, the Black Swan.
Drive (2011)
IMDb: 7.8
Metascore: 78
A mysterious Hollywood stuntman, mechanic and getaway driver lands himself in trouble when he helps out his neighbor.
Frances Ha (2012)
IMDb: 7.4
Metascore: 82
A story that follows a New York woman (who doesn’t really have an apartment), apprentices for a dance company (though she’s not really a dancer), and throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possibility dwindles.
Gravity (2013)
IMDb: 7.9
Metascore: 96
A medical engineer and an astronaut work together to survive after a catastrophe destroys their shuttle and leaves them adrift in orbit.
Her (2013)
IMDb: 8.0
Metascore: 90
A lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with his newly purchased operating system that’s designed to meet his every need.
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
IMDb: 7.5
Metascore: 92
A week in the life of a young singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.
Looper (2012)
IMDb: 7.5
Metascore: 84
In 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent into the past, where a hired gun awaits – someone like Joe – who one day learns the mob wants to ‘close the loop’ by sending back Joe’s future self for assassination.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
IMDb: 8.2
Metascore: 89
A woman rebels against a tyrannical ruler in post apocalyptic Australia in search for her homeland with the help of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshiper, and a drifter named Max.
Melancholia (2011)
IMDb: 7.1
Metascore: 80
Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.
Skyfall (2012)
IMDb: 7.8
Metascore: 81
Bond’s loyalty to M is tested when her past comes back to haunt her. Whilst MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.
Take Shelter (2011)
IMDb: 7.4
Metascore: 85
Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
IMDb: 8.1
Metascore: 88
The adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous hotel from the fictional Republic of Zubrowka between the first and second World Wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend.
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
IMDb: 7.1
Metascore: 86
Two children conceived by artificial insemination bring their father into their family life.
The Master (2012)
IMDb: 7.1
Metascore: 86
A Naval veteran arrives home from war unsettled and uncertain of his future – until he is tantalized by The Cause and its charismatic leader.
The Social Network (2010)
IMDb: 7.8
Metascore: 95
Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg creates the social networking site that would become known as Facebook, but is later sued by two brothers who claimed he stole their idea, and the cofounder who was later squeezed out of the business.
The Tree of Life (2011)
IMDb: 6.7
Metascore: 85
The story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents’ conflicting teachings.
Whiplash (2014)
IMDb: 8.6
Metascore: 88
A promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student’s potential.
Winter’s Bone (2010)
IMDb: 7.2
Metascore: 90
An unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact.