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6. Room

As you know if you’ve been paying attention, Room won the coveted People’s Choice award at Toronto at the start of the Oscar season. It is thus a popular, moving, crowd-pleasing movie that is almost flawless in its own way.

Room works for the most part because it’s a thriller, a family drama, and a psychological movie at the same time and works on all three levels. Brie Larson’s performance, if somewhat overstated, is beaten only by the incredible turn by her costar, young Jacob Tremblay. The degree of difficulty in filming in the crowded room should also not be forgotten, but arguably the most touching moments are those in which the young boy discovers the world and begins to interact with it.

If anything, those parts of the story were somewhat sacrificed in their depth in favor of the more facile emotional outburst moments, somewhat to the movie’s detriment. But there can be no doubt that the movie’s theme - love, and its strength - are portrayed honestly as the film moves from the room into the real world that it encounters.

A dark horse contender for Best Picture, to be sure, since no one on Earth dislikes Room, but perhaps too indie a movie to win now that the titans are back.

5. Brooklyn

I connected with Brooklyn on a personal and emotional level, and it grew on me upon subsequent viewings. The beauty of this movie lies in its subtle but genuine portrayals - of immigrants, of love, of family connections, of nostalgia, and of growing up. Helped by an incredible screenplay, the movie, indeed, matures with the character, growing from somewhat confused and choppy to confident and experienced. It is anchored by one of the best performances of the year, by the incredibly talented Saoirse Ronan.

Brooklyn reminds us, through her searching but determined gaze, through her longing and restive eyes, that life is a collection of moments and just one moment all at the same time. That while it is easy and comforting to dwell in nostalgia, in what could have beens, and, why not, in the past, life is for the living, life is for the future, life is for those who embrace it as such.

As the movie shifts back and forth between Ireland and Brooklyn, you are reminded of a time long gone by, wherein speed of travel or communications forced people away from each other but also drew them closer - real connections were necessary. The movie, thus, is somewhat ironically about that nostalgia, nostalgia for those times when humans interacted at deeper levels. But it does not lecture about the present nor does it dwell on the past, thereby accomplishing its own purpose - to remind us that while the past is not worth dwelling on, it sure is worth remembering.

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