Every day, Watch This offers staff recommendations inspired by a new movie coming out that week. This week: It’s the final week of the year, so we’re dispensing with themes and just recommending some movies we love.

Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.

Part of the fun of watching a new filmmaker develop his or her own voice involves noting early influences, then seeing them get integrated into a unique personal style. Rian Johnson’s feature debut, Brick, was a superb Coen brothers pastiche; by the time he made Looper, seven years later, he’d come into his own. It…