TOP FIFTEEN 2014

Around this time last year, I was looking back at 2013 with abject despondency. I had seen so few movies, and the ones I had experienced were hardly worthy to fill a top ten list. What was I going to round it out with, Man of Steel? The thought repulses me.

Now 2015 has rolled around and I find myself in the polar opposite predicament. Instead of waiting until December of the following year to scrounge up enough films for a worthy top ten, it is February and I already have too many! Despite having only seen twenty-eight movies, I couldn't deny myself the indulgence--this year's list will be a top fifteen.

Even that was difficult to pare down! There are films in my Honorable Mentions that I will rave about for years to come. There are even films featured in my Untoward Awards that I quite liked (Sorry The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1). All told, 2014 may have been a bad year for culture in general, but it was an excellent year for film. I feel confident stating as much even having missed the following potential gems (in order from most to least interesting for me):

Under the Skin, Boyhood, Force Majeure, Locke, Only Lovers Left Alive, A Most Violent Year, The Guest, Jodorowsky's Dune, Neighbors, Rosewater, The Rover, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, Foxcatcher

There's too much to talk about. This is gonna be long. So let's get started.



Untoward Awards

Most Disappointing: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
Most Inane: God's Not Dead
Most Nonsensical: Inherent Vice
Most Generic: Divergent
Most Infuriating: Interstellar
Most: The Raid 2: Berenthal

Can't Remember: X-Men: Days of Future Past
Can't Finish: Divergent

Sophomore Slump: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1*

Kindred Spirits: Snowpiercer + The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
Kindred Names: Noah + God's Not Dead

Best Names: 1. Snowpiercer  2. We Are the Best!  3. Blue Ruin
Worst Names: 1. God's Not Dead  2. X-Men: Days of Future Past  3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Worst Superhero: clearly The Amazing Spider-Man 2 even if I didn't see it
Worst Adaptation: Divergent I guess
Worst Sequel: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
Worst: Divergent

*considered a sophomore slump because it is the second Hunger Games film from director Francis Lawrence


Honorable Mentions

Birdman - No movie this year has confounded me as much as Birdman. It should be everything I could have wanted. Send-up of superhero movies? Examination of backstage theatre culture? Formal play and metafiction? Manic revival of Michael Keaton's career? One long apparently continuous take? Experimental percussion-based soundtrack? Zack Galifianakis? Sign me up thrice over! I did in fact love all those things... unfortunately Birdman has sat poorly with me ever since, and I'll be damned if I can put my finger on the exact reason why.

Selma - You know how I mentioned above that 2014 was not a great year for our wider cultural landscape? Selma speaks to that in a big and important way. My Review.

X-Men: Days of Future Past - It's pretty good.

Gone Girl - David Fincher has shaped pop culture as much as any other auteur in filmmaking living today, and I would consider Gone Girl one of his better works. So restrained. So taut. So mesmerizing. This is cinema of the suppressed. My Review.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - If we did top ten lists for best halves of movies, this would probably be on it. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is an incredible achievement in motion capture special effects, presenting a whole society of apes complete with their idiosyncratic culture, hierarchy, and language. Unfortunately, the movie was also saddled with a handful of dead weight human characters. Nevertheless, watching Caesar and co. take care of [monkey] business was one of the most captivating experiences in film this year.

The Raid 2 - Holy hell. Again with the "best halves of movies" business. If you could somehow extricate the action sequences from this movie and sew them back together into a coherent narrative on their own (much like the first The Raid!) this would be an action movie for the ages. Unfortunately it gets cloudy and overlong with exposition. But when the multi-setpiece climax kicks into gear... pure action martial arts nirvana.

Blue Ruin - You know how I was going on about tone in my Frank review? Blue Ruin is a tonal tour de force. I knew nothing about this low budget ($420,000!) movie going into it, and was pleased to discover a roiling slow burn of a revenge flick. I've never seen such a completely melancholy movie about people shooting each other. Its name suits it wonderfully.

Noah - This one hurt. I wanted to badly to represent Noah on my list. So badly. I wished I could have simply made this a top sixteen list, just to get people to pay attention to Noah. But alas. Journalistic integrity has foiled me once again. Like most people, I completely ignored this movie when it was released due to lukewarm reviews and personal disinterest, despite my affinity for director Darren Aronofsky. Much later someone put it on and I started watching with skeptical eyes. Half an hour in I was interested. An hour in I was converted. Two hours in I was in love. Noah is one of the weirdest, most off the wall and morally complicating adaptations of a Biblical story that I have ever encountered. Talk about tonal shifts, Noah reels you in by presenting a simple blockbuster epic narrative, then pulls the rug from under you with some dark intimate familial drama. If I could champion one underdog from 2014, this would be it. Try it out. I was enthralled. My Review. (PS my current blog background is from Noah.)

See 2013's top ten list here.

See 2012's top ten list here.

Now for my top fifteen of 2014!

15. Godzilla

Some people will try to tell you that Godzilla's characters are flat, their dialogue is turgid, and their arcs are tepid. You know what I have to say to those people?

Um, that they're right.

But also that it ultimately doesn't matter. Just as I argued that some shoddy characterization in Gravity couldn't come close to ruining that experience, so I would argue that our heroes Bland and Blandette don't detract much from the pure blockbuster excellence at the core of the film. Besides, when has any Godzilla movie ever been about the human characters? Gareth Edwards' Godzilla brings us clashing behemoths with subtlety, mystery, beauty, and sheer wonder. Godzilla is everything I wanted from Pacific Rim that I didn't quite get.

My Review.

Original Score: 8

14. Obvious Child

A comedian's job is to state the obvious in earth-shattering ways. To strike a balance between the relatable and the revolutionary is the golden standard of comedy, and Jenny Slate strikes quick and true.

As you are watching this movie, the fact that women can be just as funny as men... the fact that women can carry films without being beholden to men... the fact that women have agency and independent identity... the fact that an unexpected pregnancy doesn't need to stop a woman's life cold... the fact that nobody needs to be the villain... the fact that comedy and tragedy and drama and romance don't need to be segregated to be effective... all of these facts feel somewhat obvious. Only upon leaving the theater and returning to a world in which gender politics have gone to hell do you realize how ahead of the pack Obvious Child really is. That makes this film both encouraging and depressing, as well as something that most people really need to see.

My Review.

Original Score: 8

13. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

If the MCU's Phase 1 was about discovering the wonder of superheroes inhabiting the same universe, Phase 2 is about rediscovering the joys of those superheroes' own playgrounds. Setting aside the abysmal Thor: The Dark World, Marvel's recent offerings have included a couple of incredible sequels that outdo their predecessors in terms of depth and nuance. I'm referring to Iron Man 3 and, of course, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

For the first time in my life, I'm excited about Captain America. This film hits his character hard in all the right thematic softspots--the battle of the personal vs. the political. Not only this, but we get to see Nick Fury and Black Widow as well-rounded characters for the first time. Add to all that the best action scenes in any Marvel movie so far, and you have to wonder how something like this was made by Joe and Anthony Russo, a pair of comedy directors whose filmography is limited to the 2006 comedy You, Me, and Dupree. Marvel sure can pick its talent.

My Review.

Original Score: 9

12. Inherent Vice

This is the kind of movie that makes you want to run around.

I honestly have little idea what happened. Going into this movie expecting to follow the plot is a mistake, and as far as I can tell that's exactly the point.

11. Edge of Tomorrow

In 1975 Steven Spielberg singlehandedly created the summer blockbuster with a little film called Jaws. Since then that most profitable of genres has seen some rocky roads. Executives got it in their heads that dumb people see dumb movies so all movies should all be dumb, and the audience's pocketfuls of money will go to dumb places. Folks, it doesn't have to be this way--I believe there is hope for the summer blockbuster yet. Recently we've seen a resurgence of quality mindless entertainment, and there is no better spokesfilm for such a class of movie than Edge of Tomorrow.

It's the complete package. You got a pair of revelatory performances for the leads--Emily Blunt is now known throughout the internet as the ultimate badass, and Tom Cruise hasn't had this vulnerable of a performance in years. You got CGI that is schematic, crafted, and interesting. And most delightful of all, you have one of the smartest blockbuster scripts I've ever encountered. Call it Groundhog Day with aliens, call it the truest video game movie ever made, call it Live/Die/Repeat. Whatever you call it, this is the kind of fun, funny, fundamental thrill ride that is gonna make a whole bunch of young adults fall in love with the movies.

My Review.

Original Score: 9

10. We Are the Best!

I don't watch a lot of foreign films. I only watched three released in 2014, and they were all excellent. I guess other countries aren't so bad after all.

We Are the Best! is a far purer coming of age story than we can expect in America. Think of your favorite coming of age story. Stand By Me? E.T.? The Goonies, or whatever? Odds are it's about a boy, or a group of boys, with maybe a token girl thrown in. That's part of what makes this movie so important. It's about three young girls exploring their friendship, exploring their sexuality, and exploring their understanding of punk. The film never talks down to them, it never condescends. They each have their own voice. This movie treats its characters as kids should be treated--like little adults with forays into innocence and immaturity. In return, these three give us a trio of magnificent performances. Worth checking out for so many reasons, but my god, are these kids amazing.

My Review.

Original Score: 9.5

9. Nightcrawler

Let's be upfront. Of all the things the Oscars got wrong this year--and I am well aware how tedious the "Oscar snubs" conversation has become--the most inexcusable for me is the neglect of Jake Gyllenhaal's performance in Nightcrawler. I've always been lukewarm on the guy, but this film proves without a doubt that he is the real deal. This is the rare kind of performance that you recognize deep in your bones nobody could have pulled off as well as he did. He was made for this role.

Thankfully the movie surrounding him lives up to his prowess. Nightcrawler plays like the darkest of fables, cooked up in some perverse California newsroom at 4:30 in the morning. Lou Bloom is the primordial id of capitalism. He is the essentialized version of the economic ritual we participate in on a daily basis. And he is terrifying. The only thing scarier than staring into a literal abyss is staring into the eyes of a person and finding nothing but abyss where humanity should be. Nothing like a profoundly political movie doubling as a seat-grabbing thriller to get the blood pumping.

My Review.

Original Score: 8.5

8. Whiplash

Whiplash is essentially a horror film. I was all clenched up watching it. J.K. Simmons' character is almost worse than a horror beastie; he gives himself over to the performance so completely that it feels like you could meet the man on the street somewhere. Not to mention the layers he gives his villain, to the point that certain scenes make you question whether the guy is a villain after all. One scene in particular gives him an incredible moment to explain his worldview to us, which drives home the major tenet of characterization--everyone has motivation, and everyone wants something that they believe is worthy of their desire.

Newcomer Miles Teller is no slouch either. To be able to hold a scene with a veteran character actor is impressive, but Teller shows himself more than capable of carrying the movie on his shoulders. His intensity is complementary to Simmons'. They're a match made in hell.

The music is incredible. Experience the final scene of this film and tell me your mouth isn't open and your ears aren't bleeding.

My Review.

Original Score: 9

7. The Babadook

If it's in a word,
or it's in a look,
you can't get rid of the Babadook.

You'll notice this is one of the few movies in my top fifteen without a review. I've wanted to write one so bad, but my aspirations for what I wanted it to be intimidated me.

Part of that is because I saw this with two people whose opinions I respect, and who had an adverse reaction to this movie. One of them thought it was dumb and the other was waffling. This is one of the rare occasions in which I've walked out of a movie theater with a completely different experience than those I was with.

The Babadook is spectral horror, and it's damned good spectral horror, but its identity goes far deeper than that. The Babadook is a stand-in for a single mother's desperate depression, her rage and helplessness in the face of a child who has some serious behavioral issues. The exploration of their relationship (once again, impeccably performed on both sides--I love good child actors) is sooo multifaceted. Much like We Are the Best!, this is the kind of relationship that we just don't see in Hollywood. It feels raw and dark in all the best ways. Props to Jennifer Kent for breaking through the glass ceiling of Hollywood directors with incredible daring and panache.

6. The Lego Movie

I can't see as how anybody but diehard Lego fans were excited about this movie. With strains of "Everything Is Awesome" still ringing in our ears, that seems like such a distant mindset.

The Lego Movie blew my mind. It is probably the most intelligent, multifaceted, brilliantly metafictional "children's movie" I have ever seen. It manages to be a nuanced treatise on artistic production and a silly candy-colored kids' flick at the same time. This is populist entertainment to the max.

My Review.

Original Score: 9.5

5. John Wick

Who hasn't dreamed of Keanu Reeves in a role like this? John Wick is as sleek and pure of an action thriller as has ever been constructed. Directed by a pair of career Hollywood stuntmen, this is the most satisfying action not in a movie called The Raid that I've seen in a long time. Add in some eccentric worldbuilding, a great cast of assassins, and some really fun visual and comedic flourishes, and you get a little something called MAXIMUM ENJOYMENT.

4. Frank

In the month or so since I stumbled upon this movie on Netflix, I've forced it onto a handful of people, and they have all since become Frankophiles. This movie is a Loch Ness monster in sheep's clothing. You think it's one thing, then it's another, and another after that, and you realize three weeks later that it was actually something else entirely.

Frank is right up my alley in all sorts of ways I couldn't even begin to describe. Musically, comically, formally... it's a rare gem if I ever saw one. A head-bobbing, head-scratching, head-wearing diamond in the rough.

My Review.

Original Score: 9.5

3. Snowpiercer

Nobody has ever said, "I like my post-Marxist revolutionary theory right where it belongs: in my summer blockbusters." Until Bong Joon-ho. Korean films are notoriously difficult to wrangle with for American audiences, in great part because of their rampant tonal shifts and dark twists. We're used to being spoonfed plot arcs and character development that is easier to process--Korean cinema tends to freak us out.

Snowpiercer is no different. Freaky characters, uncomfortable comedy, drastically shifting tones, and back to back minutes-long monologues warp this movie's world. But for all the weird stuff, we get a relatable performance or a sci-fi standby or a technically incredible action scene to hang our hat on. Snowpiercer is a movie that refuses to pull its punches. It's impossible to imagine anything quite like this coming out of the old USA, and that should only make you love it more.

My Review.

Original Score: 9.5

2. Guardians of the Galaxy

Check out that image up there. A great representation of the film that also happens to be a direct parody of the original Star Wars poster. That sums up the spirit of GOTG quite well. This is a film in which Star-Lord can have a deeply dramatic moment in one scene, then make a jizz joke in the next (how many superhero movies can claim a semen joke? there had to be something in the Raimi Spider-Man movies, right?). Guardians flirts with candy-colored nostalgia, but then avoids the pitfall that so many lesser movies have fallen into--it discards that nostalgia in favor of creating a world, an aesthetic, a tone, and a group of characters that feel uniquely its own. That is why this film took the world by storm this past summer. It had nothing to do with the Marvel machine, or with good marketing, or with inherently likable characters. It has everything to do with a movie that actually feels real, and deserving of its audience's love.

YOU MIGHT EVEN SAY THAT EVERYONE WAS HOOKED ON A FEELING.

My Review.

Original Score: 9.5

1. The Grand Budapest Hotel

If I were picking the top spot based on what movie I love the most, Guardians of the Galaxy might have edged this out. But thankfully, many of us are given the capacity to understand that what we love is not necessarily what is best. The Grand Budapest Hotel is, indeed, best.

How this movie doesn't just win all the awards I can't understand. Just when haters were saying Wes Anderson had exhausted his bag o' tricks, he gives us a film that transcends those tricks, morphs them into something both fresh and familiar, base and insightful. Honestly, this movie has everything. It even has a ski chase. Just be careful not to laugh too loud, as this is the film that caused me so much pure joy that the old woman in front of me told me to quiet down. Me! How many times have you seen me have pure joy?

It's funny as all hell, and it's so stuffed full of character actors and cameos that there are bound to be a few of your personal favorite performers in there. The cinematography is gorgeous, and sweet as icing. It's not all frills and spills, however. There's a part of this movie that is hurt; no amount of pink pastries and charming dioramas can hide it.

More than any other movie I've seen this year I want to see The Grand Budapest Hotel again right now, and for many years to come. There's little more enthralling than loving an artist, only to discover they still had their best work yet in them. TGBH is Wes Anderson's best work, and the best film I was privileged to see in the grand old year of 2014.

My Review.

Original Score: 9.5

-     -     -

I just now checked out the results from the Oscars the other night (PS I picked the image at the head of this post before the movie won best picture, must be fate). I didn't watch the coverage. It didn't even pique my interest enough for me to check in every now and then. The whole ordeal is kind of bankrupt for me.

That's part of why I like making these lists. Good art deserves good recognition. Proper recognition. I don't think the Academy, an army of old straight white men, can provide that. So this is me trying to do my part! Granted, I'm a young straight white man, not a whole lot better than an old straight white man, but the difference is that people aren't holding my choices up as a bastion of taste for all times to come. My choices are an expression of me, and presumably you come here because you like to hear what this person wants to express.

Right now this person is expressing gratitude to all his favorite creators who spent so much time crafting amazing things to share with us in the year of 2014. These movies make me happy to have been born when I was born. And that's a satisfying feeling.