2. Boyhood
3. The Skeleton Twins
4. Obvious Child
5. The Case Against 8
6. Cold in July
7. Whiplash
8. Camp X-Ray
9. Wish I Was Here
10. Love Is Strange
11. Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger
12. Happy Christmas
Directed by: Joe Swanberg
Written by: Joe Swanberg
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Melanie Lynskey, Mark Webber, Lena Dunham, Joe Swanberg
Happy Christmas is Swanberg's latest improvised feature, and though it's only 78 minutes long, it manages to do a lot of lovely things in a short period of time. It's the story of Anna Kendrick's Jenny, a lost, selfish, funny 27-year-old who has broken up with her boyfriend and moves in with her brother, Jeff (Joe Swanberg); his wife, Kelly (Melanie Lynskey); and their two-year-old son (the adorable Jude Swanberg, the best baby actor I've ever seen). Jenny is invading their happy home, and disrupts it, of course — mostly by showing Kelly, inadvertently, that she should resume her career as a novelist. At that point, the movie's focus shifts slightly to Kelly's point of view, and it's wonderful. Pop culture is currently flush with images of twentysomething women trying to find themselves, but a mother in her thirties who is mostly happy, but not entirely? That's rare. Lynskey steals the movie; wait, Jude Swanberg steals the movie. Forget it! They're all great. I just loved Happy Christmas. —K.A.
Distribution: Magnolia will distribute Happy Christmas theatrically and on VOD, probably in the summer. (If you care, Paramount will release it internationally and on DVD.)