For better or worse, films don’t exist in a vacuum. If literature derives from itself, and, according to Marshall McLuhan, the content in any new medium is always the same as in the old, then films don’t exactly have a wealth of opportunities to be original. You can always compare a film to one that came before it, but to do so isn’t always pragmatic or fair.

Each should be judged on its own merits, but then again, certain flaws within said film can foster a greater appreciation for those that did it right. To commandeer a concept from the forever-truculent Armond White, I’d like to list six films released last year that were done better by others, but unlike Mr. White, I’ve also included some I did like. This is, of course, a subjective list, and could’ve easily been expanded to fit more.