3. Birdman
As with JCVD, critics loved Birdman. Although Michael Keaton doesn't technically play himself, the parallels between his own life and his onscreen character are utterly transparent. Keaton is acting as an actor whose career has faltered due to associations with a role that he took on early in his career: Birdman. It's a technical tour-de-force, edited into a seamless "single take" tracking shot that follows Keaton's character as he goes about his life while being haunted by the spectre of the superhero that made him famous. As such it won practically every international award going. Keaton, of course, has been in many films, but remains best known for his portrayals of Batman in the 1980s/90s. The struggle to escape from Birdman is evocative of the fact that he will always undoubtedly be referred to as "the guy that played Batman" and thus his performance is utterly immaculate, with multiple subtle references to his life and career permeating the film. Admittedly, the film is a bit of a nod to the likes of Godard, both technically and in terms of its themes of identity/cinematic representation. It doesn't quite match Godard's best, sure, but it is still utterly masterful filmmaking, and features one the best central performances in recent memory. Not bad for a guy that is basically playing a mocking version of himself.