2 Surprises - Nightcrawler & Glen Campbell

I couldn't wait to see Jake Gyllenhaal  in Nightcrawler as a skulking weirdo with those big buggy eyes of his, so I went right to it when it first came out.  Ugh!  The guy he plays is one of the worst characters I've seen on the screen.  There is nothing redeemable about this a-hole.  Forget it.
Now I wasn't expecting much when I went to see Glen Campbell...I'll Be Me, but this is one very fine film.  GC has Alzheimer's and embarks on a farewell tour that is truly astounding.  A courageous effort all around and a remarkable in-depth look at this dreaded disease.  Many greats in the music world chime in here in this engrossing documentary.  Don't miss it.  Should get an Oscar nod.

Birdman, Baseball & Snowden

Birdman is over the top in emotional engagement.  An actor, Michael Keaton, has written, and is directing and acting in a Broadway play based upon a Raymond Carver story.  It's a full-on, let it go performance by Michael Keaton and many others is this fantastic cast, including Edward Norton, Emma Stone and Zach Galifianicis.  Keaton is a past prime movie star with severe doubts about whether he can perform and survive.  There is an amazing scene here between him and Emma Stone, playing his daughter, where she slices him to pieces and he seems to feel better.  Clearly, one of the best movies of the year.
Then there's baseball.  The Giants won the World Series with an extraordinary surge of talent and sheer grit behind their superstar pitcher, Madison Bumgarner, who, aside from his smooth-whip pitch delivery, is so calm and stoic, which is an aspired-to trait that is common on this team and in this sport.  What a contrast to Birdman!  
As for Snowden and Citizen Four, read the New Yorker piece on Laura Poitras, the director.  It is far more gripping.