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Our movie critic's weekend selections

Leviathan. A stirring Jobian tale set on the bleak, beautiful coast of Russia's Barents Sea, this Foreign Language Best Picture Oscar nominee is about political and spiritual corruption, about men and women accustomed to power, about others fighting against it. A man struggles to save his house and land from a mayor determined to seize it. Director Andrey Zvyagintsev (The Return) lets it all unfurl in searing detail. R

Aleksey Serebryakov plays a man struggling to save his house in "Leviathan." (ANNA MATVEEVA / Sony Pictures Classics)
Aleksey Serebryakov plays a man struggling to save his house in "Leviathan." (ANNA MATVEEVA / Sony Pictures Classics)Read more

Leviathan. A stirring Jobian tale set on the bleak, beautiful coast of Russia's Barents Sea, this Foreign Language Best Picture Oscar nominee is about political and spiritual corruption, about men and women accustomed to power, about others fighting against it. A man struggles to save his house and land from a mayor determined to seize it. Director Andrey Zvyagintsev (The Return) lets it all unfurl in searing detail. R

Two Days, One Night. Marion Cotillard, nominated for the Best Actress Oscar, stars as a laid-off factory worker who can reclaim her job if she can persuade her colleagues to forgo a bonus. So she goes knocking on doors, entreating, begging. An almost biblical parable about compassion and community, from the Belgian kitchen-sinkers, the Dardenne Brothers. R

2015 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Animated and Live-Action. Separate programs of the Academy Award-nominated Short Subjects. For the first time in quite a few years, the live-action selection is the stronger of the two, with three standouts, Aya, Butter Lamp, and Parvaneh, but the cartoons are well-worth watching, too. No MPAA rating