16) Coherence

Very few people got to see the year’s best sci-fi head-trip. Coherence, from writer-director James Ward Byrkit, is a maddening, metaphysical Rubik’s Cube of a film, a puzzle that constantly reshapes itself before your eyes just when you think you have it figured out. Like Primer before it, the film lends itself to multiple viewings, but you’ll be happy to keep diving into the story, in which an astronomical anomaly influences eight friends gathered for a dinner party.

To say much more than that would be to spoil the reality-bending fun, as Byrkit explores big ideas of alternate realities, missed opportunities and abandoned dreams. Coherence is a beguiling, baffling movie, filled with little breadcrumbs that guide you toward a number of conclusions. Which one you accept is up to you, but the final destination is nowhere near as thrilling as the journey there. Byrkit is a genius at wringing suspense out of seemingly meaningless and minor exchanges and occurrences, and his game cast (led by a terrific Emily Foxler) help every wild twist go down easier.

There was no other film like Coherence this year, and that’s a great thing. It’s smart, stylish and often stupefying sci-fi, best described as an episode of The Twilight Zone dreamed up by Stephen Hawking. Don’t miss it.

15) Chef

A delicious treat for cinephiles and foodies alike, Jon Favreau’s Chef is a flavorful and fully satisfying dish that I hope to be consuming again and again over the years. Following a famed chef (Favreau) who, dissatisfied with cooking the same safe menu day after day, purchases a food truck and sets out on the road with his adoring son (Emjay Anthony) and supportive fellow chef (John Leguizamo), Chef is at once a road trip story, a movie about the bond between fathers and sons and a celebration of those who commit their lives to the art of cooking.

Favreau should be applauded for delivering a script as fresh and tangy as the food his lovable lead turns out. Excitingly, Chef is one of the funniest movies of the year, but it earns its laughs, not from scattershot gags, but the naturally amusing interactions between the three main characters. That kind of organic humor doesn’t come along too often, and it tastes very sweet.

Chef also has another unusual quality – it’s from the heart. The unconditional affection that Favreau put into every frame of the film shines through, from the honest relationship between the chef and his son to the numerous discussions of what really makes someone a chef – this is a sumptuous feast of a movie, masterfully prepared with tender loving care. More please.