Inherent Vice

In 1970s California, Shasta Fay Hepworth (Waterston) has a new lover, Mickey (Roberts), who is, unfortunately for her, married. She approaches her ex-boyfriend, Doc (Phoenix), to get help preventing Mickey's wife from having him abducted. This is but one of the three cases that Doc takes on: he also agrees to hunt down a member of a white supremacist group who owes someone money and to also help find a woman's missing husband. As he investigates the three seemingly unrelated cases, Doc's path always seems to cross Shasta's, and their old romance begins to rekindle, despite their best intentions.

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson. Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Katherine Waterston, Eric Roberts, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Reese Witherspoon. 2014. 148 min. Crime.

The Gambler

Jim Bennett (Wahlberg) is a literature professor with a bad gambling addiction in this remake of the classic 1974 film. When Bennett ends up owing almost $300,000 to loan sharks after a bad gambling run, Bennett is given only seven days to come up with the money or he'll wind up dead. After searching unsuccessfully for someone to loan him the money to pay off his debtors, Bennett turns to his students as a possible out for the hole that he finds himself in. Soon, though, his students end up becoming collateral in the high-stakes, life-or-death games he's been playing, and as the noose grows ever tighter, it looks increasingly like Bennett won't make it out of this situation alive.

Director: Rupert Wyatt. Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Jessica Lange, Anthony Kelley, Emory Cohen, Michael Kenneth Williams. 2014. 111 min. Thriller.

Boy Meets Girl

A young transgender woman (Hendley) catches the eye of a local debutante whose fiancé has issues with their newly forged friendship in this critically acclaimed coming-of-age romantic comedy that explores the foundations of gender.

Director: Eric Shaeffer. Stars: Michelle Hendley, Michael Galante, Michael Welch, Alexandra Turshen. 2014. 95 min. Drama.