To simply rattle off the movies I enjoyed, and the reasons why, would be too safe and too shallow. What follows is not a list of my favorite movies this year but rather an examination of one obvious, omnipresent theme: desperation.

AKA How to Lose Friends and Alienate People by telling them to shove their Christmas cheer and watch movies about losing yourself in a maze of hangovers and murder in the Australian outback.

Veronica takes a closer look at a different kind of odyssey. Featuring Showgirls, Good Time and Tangerine.