Nightcrawler, writer/director Dan Gilroy's film depicting the subculture of videographers who sell sensationalist footage of crimes and crashes, could have been set in any city with a major news market. But it's no accident the film is set in Los Angeles. Though the movie doesn't lean too heavily on Hollywood's iconography, the idea of using Tinseltown as a backdrop is perfect for a film that concentrates on a man willing to twist (and sometimes create) narratives for his own benefit. It's a meta-commentary about storytelling itself, and anchored by strong performances by Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo, Nightcrawler provides a dark, ugly look at the line between news and sensationalism.

Nightcrawler
Writer/Director: Dan Gilroy
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton

Bursting at the seams with metaphors, themes, and symbolism, Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman teeters on the brink of becoming too busy for its own good. This is a film with a lot on its mind, and while it never delivers anything breathtakingly original, it explores interesting thematic material in mesmerizing fashion: cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity) shoots the film in a series of long continuous shots stitched together to give the effect that the movie is essentially one long take.

Birdman
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Starring: Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Amy Ryan, Naomi Watts