The Revenant (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, 2015)

8.5/10
I don't have too much to say that hasn't already been said, except maybe to sing the praises of Tom Hardy some more because wow he was good. That's not to say DiCaprio wasn't but for a film with such a dominating central role, Hardy held his own and then some.
If you've heard anything at all about the movie you probably know how it's going to play out, so story-wise there aren't any huge surprises but the direction and photography is a marvel, and the final stand-off is one of the most brutal man-to-man fight scenes I've ever seen. And I know it's practically a meme at this point but the bear scene is still something to behold, I have no idea how they pulled that off and made it look so visceral and real.

Birdman (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, 2014)

7.5/10
Not going to lie, I was a little bit expecting to be more blown away than I was, rather than just pretty entertained, amused, and impressed by Innaritu's rather insane vision and execution. I'm actually surprised the Academy has latched on to this movie as much as they have, it's arguably one of the strangest Best Picture nominees since...well I don't know. Since a long time ago, it feels.
All the acting was great, especially Keaton and Norton, and I loved the jazzy drum score. The one-shot (but not really) technique was all it was hyped to be, and very well done. If anything the film lacks an emotional punch I was expecting/hoping for, which I think goes a lot of the way to explaining why I didn't like it more than I did. i.e. remaining impressed by it as opposed to being enthralled with it. I do feel like it's a movie that would grow on me with repeated viewings. And hopefully its widespread acclaim leads to more movies that take the kind of chances this one does.

Biutiful (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, 2010)

4/10
The ultimate removal however was Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Biutiful, which never makes the slightest effort to engage the audience or make us feel any sort of pity for its put-upon, cancer-addled protagonist Uxbal (played by Javier Bardem with a stone face and fists shoved perpetually into his pockets, as if this alone is enough to invite sympathy). The movie is desperately grave and deals with what should be very emotive topics (human trafficking, impending death, abuse, the struggle to survive, righting our wrongs, etc) but they all glide by without hitting even the most minor of chords. Which is all inoffensive (if disappointing) enough but Inarritu commits one of my few cardinal sins of filmmaking when (slight spoilers) he repeats the mysterious opening scene from the beginning of the film in its entirety at the end - as if his audience is too stupid to realize the significance of such a scene and keep it in mind the entire time that they need it read back to them. Shameful.