The Extra Man (2010)

A man who escorts wealthy widows in New York's Upper East Side takes a young aspiring playwright under his wing.

Likable , slightly humorous tale centered on some genuinely eccentric NY characters; the excellent make it all believable.

Maltin***: "A valentine to the oddballs who make N.Y.C. unique, focusing on two men who live out of their time. Kline and Dano are simply perfect as a retrograde roue'..."

Okja (2017)

A young girl risks everything to prevent a powerful, multinational company from kidnapping her best friend - a fascinating beast named Okja.

Likable, idiosyncratic tale with ecological and political overtones is imaginative and mischievous and somehow manages the balance bewtwenn silliness and seriousness.

Swiss Army Man (2016)

A hopeless man stranded on a deserted island befriends a dead body and together they go on a surreal journey to get home.

Very off-kilter, but silly and unsavoury satire that tries to say something substantial but undercuts its own efforts; additional kudos go to Daniel Radcliffe for his attempt to estrange his Harry Potter fans by playing a farting corpse.

Prisoners (2013)

When two little girls go missing, a father takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts.

An otherwise ordinary crime drama is, although a bit overlong, enhanced by subtle and detailed direction, excellent cinematography and some highly nuanced performances.

Maltin**1/2: "Relentlessly dark and intense, this film depicts every parent's  nightmare but leaves the backstory of its obsessive cop (Gyllenhal) frustratingly incomplete and winds up in strangely perverted territory. Uncompromising American feature debut for director Villeneuve..."

Youth (2015)

A retired orchestra conductor is on holiday with his daughter and his film director best friend in the Alps when he receives an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to perform for Prince Philip's birthday.

Carefully crafted and highly artificial comedy-drama merely touches its existential topics without much depth, but assembles a fine cast for the journey.

Love & Mercy (2014)

In the 1960s, Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson struggles with emerging psychosis as he attempts to craft his avant-garde pop masterpiece. In the 1980s, he is a broken, confused man under the 24-hour watch of a shady therapist.

Excellently executed bio-pic with a good cast, but hampered by unnecessarily telling the story in leaps back and forth in time, and in the end it's a tortured artist with a Svengali-like madman and a wee romance thrown in for good measure - and hardly any insights to the genius Brian Wilson actually is.