And now for the biggest time of year for my opinion, the official Top Ten Films of the Year.
10. MALEFICENT
The best part of seeing this for the first time was my
complete indifference to it at first. Even walking in, I thought, “Why do I
bother to see things I have no real interest in seeing”. The answer was
“Because it’s 7 o’clock and you don’t have anything better to do”. Well, that
was all I needed because I was completely sucked in and even got emotional
during it. I knew that Paul Dini had been involved with a draft ages ago and he
even said things were changed around but the tragic heart that made HEART OF
ICE and MAD LOVE such painfully good point of views from the villain is well
represented here. It was so cleverly spun that even when the more obvious
things were happening I was still surprised by them and even the audience was
guffawing with emotion they clearly weren’t ready to handle yet. Angelina Jolie
was never my favorite but I can see why she has a mass appeal beyond stark
attractiveness. She even steals the show from known show stealer Elle Fanning.
There is a moment with them toward the end that I was literally embarrassed to
be tearing at. And a Lana Del Rey cover to boot. I spread the word on this a
lot over the summer and I’m glad people enjoyed it.
9. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
Marvel at it’s Marveliest. The Agents of SHEILD weaving. The
Gary Shandling senator from IRON MAN 2. The mysterious Stephen Strange
surveillance. The Russo brothers, who directed, know their stuff. And love
their stuff. They effectively broke the modern superhero movie formula and
turned it more into a comic book formula. The references were never glaring but
fit fluidly inside a universe you are now familiar and comfortable in. The
Winter Solider storyline they adapted wasn’t as great as the comics but it was
still great for the movie. And again, like GUARDIANS, still leaves much more to
be explored. Which I’m fine with. And it looks like they are going to properly
go into the next phase of the storyline with CAP 3: CIVIL WAR which will
probably overtake the Marvelness to levels where people are mad at how inside
baseball (or Speedball, right mah nerds?) it is. But Marvel is wicked smart,
and probably knows how to not alienate people by going full dork on a project.
I remember going to a local theater the weekend this came out and seeing
“CAPTAIN AMERICA: SOLD OUT” all over the box office and it felt good and that
we had come a long way. I felt like Forrest Whittiker at the end of THE BUTLER.
If you understood this, please consider us engaged.
8. WHIPLASH
In an effort to fully review all of the top films, I tried
to watch all that I could this week and I only really made it out to WHIPLASH.
But that’s fine because it was still as taught and engaging the second time. It
has an escalating tension matched only by the top movie of the year, but in
favor of this movie, this never doesn’t let go until you see credits. There is
no brief respite as you decompress for an epilogue. It just mounts until the
final sequence which is one of the most unique I’ve seen, and is a full
testament to the talent of Miles Teller, who is my new dreamboat, and the
director who had the balls to finish like that and somehow succeed. Both times,
people had to catch their breath by the end and audibly went “wow”. JK Simmons
will get a lot of attention for being yelly, but it’ the quieter moments that
make him scarier. His scene where he tearfully recounts the career of a former
student or when he legitimately lays out his teaching philosophy in a bar
towards the end are why Simmons really has the goods. And if there was a
special Oscar for best 3 seconds of a movie, it goes to Paul Reiser to
apologizing to some good that hits him in the head with a popcorn tub while
carelessly walking down the row behind him. The best part of this movie and
kind of this year is how I end up seeing logic in the sociopathic tendencies of
the lead characters in things. This actually made what seemed like a hollow
goal seem reasonable to me. Who am I to judge someone for not wanting the
comforts of love and affection from family and friends in favor of becoming the
best he can be at what he loves? If he’s willing to bleed for it, he should
have it.
7. THE LEGO MOVIE
I was very annoyed when people were surprised at how good
this was. Phil Lord and Chris Miller made CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS and
21 JUMP STREET. I know how good they are. I didn’t question it for a second and
it was still better than expected. They were also the OTHER guys chose Chris
Pratt as their hero lead and look how smart they look now? I also love how they
present two completely different lines of thinking and make them both okay. In
fact, make them seem equally as good. I even bought legos after this movie because
now my brain is big enough to actually follow the instructions to make them
properly. And when I walk into a toy store and buy a 70 dollar lego set, I
proudly tell the 19 year old girl at the register that it is for ME, and if
needs me, she’s gonna have to wait until I finish this Star Wars cantina set.
That’s the kind of confidence you can’t buy, but is now the kind of confidence
that will confound someone hard enough that it may seem appealing. Thank you,
Warner Bros. for giving me the chance to be cool.
6. THE RAID 2
The original is one of the best action movies I’ve ever seen
and this somehow tops it. A larger budget lets them go outside and instead of
the back to basics small story of the first, it tells a larger epic one that
features stunts that I can guarantee you killed some people. Poor Captain
America came out a week after this, and while they had some good action in it,
it looked like Ms. Tucker’s 9th grade stage combat class in
comparison. In fact, the director of this should definitely be making Marvel
movies. I suggest IRON FIST. It leads to a third movie, which apparently takes
place DURING this one, BOURNE style. I fully expect them to top themselves once
again.
5. BIRDMAN or (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE)
Some people like to be special little snowflakes with their
best lists. Show off what you don’t know and lord it over your mainstream ass.
There’s a bit of that in me, but I take a genuine pleasure in spreading the
word of small things that should have a big audience and find it rewarding when
people trust that opinion enough to experiment and it actually works. But when
everyone, including the powder wigs whom control the Oscars are all agreeing on
the same thing, I think that the system is working. I’ve known about this movie
for sometime and got to see it about a month early and really feared that it
sounded too weird for people to even think about giving a chance. But Fox
Searchlight knows how to get eyes in front of a screen, and luckily they are
the people that gambled on this. It’s weird to see so many of my favorite
actors in one place (and one take) and for every single one of them to be
giving the performance of their career. Amy Ryan is one of my favorites, but I
had to be reminded that she was in this because even her awesomeness was
blocked behind 7 other bright stars. I failed to mention Naomi Watts’
performance in ST. VINCENT as being one of the highlights of that movie. She
was completely not herself in it and I think she even gave up a little dignity
to do it but she’s just as good here. And my beloved Michael Keaton reminding
everyone of what us true MULTIPLICITY fans knew for years, that this guy could
do it all and can still be the best thing in a room full of best things if
given the chance to do so. I feel so immensely proud of this guy that was the
first guy on a screen I ever idolized, that it feels strange to have these
feelings for someone you don’t even know. But heroes are just that, a lot of
the time.
4. LIFE ITSELF
Roger Ebert became the one of the only film critics you
could trust because he wasn’t trying to convince you of his own intelligence
while reviewing a movie. This is a problem with a lot of critics. It wasn’t
always this way, as we see in this documentary about his life and eventual death.
He earned this respect and that attitude even if he gave the occasional MUMMY
sequel a pass. I have to admit to a bias because of being so enchanted by
seeing someone else’s passion for movies was just too much fun that it felt
like I was doing something wrong. It even has a good healthy portion about his
relationship with Siskel and how it defined them both, Kirk and Spock style.
Bias or not, this is my list and here it shall stay. Although it’s not like I’m
defending HEARTBREAKERS or anything here, I think anyone that sees it will come
pretty close to how I felt when watching it.
3. BOYHOOD
It’s kind of heartbreaking to see any sort of age on the
people or things that you love. Noticing it implies that you weren’t there for
a portion of it’s existence where it changed without you. This is how some of
the vignettes in BOYHOOD felt to me because the big huge events in the life of
young Mason’s life move like a strong river current onto the next thing because
that’s how life actually works. We’re glad it he got through it but we care
enough to want to see how. It’s not always shown, but in other ways is. Richard
Linklater has been pretty prolific throughout the last couple of years and he
even has managed to make the Top Ten list for his third year in a row. I guess
he always has a place on this list and in my heart. The real star however, is
Ethan Hawke who should be given an Oscar for playing Mason’s dad as a confused
kind of barely there dad all the way to “Let’s have a beer” at his graduation.
At that party scene even I was a little anxious feeling that it was all “over”
like probably a lot of parents do. The mom thing resonated sure but it was
weird how the dad thing did. I seem to avoid my dad a lot more these days after
realizing how rocky our history actually is. But I saw him for Christmas and
for some odd reason hugged him a second time, tight and for longer than you’d
expect. I can’t explain it and don’t really see much use in trying to analyze
why someone like me would do that. I just accept the mystery and rhythm of
life.
2. GOD HELP THE GIRL
It was really hard trying to choose what number one would be
this year. The top five can practically be rotated any which way and it would
still make sense to me. This one came with a soundtrack that was played often
throughout the year and had musical sequences that were often viewed on
YouTube. This one I kind of consider a bit of a failure because it didn’t
really get in front of a lot of eyes despite my yelling from the mountain tops
how much joy it brought me. Yet another bit about some young people starting a
band. What came to me later is how much it represented friendship in your 20’s.
By the time you’re 30 you’ve kind of lived 3 or 4 different lives with a
different set of peers that came in each time. The short intense burst of
creativity and energy that helped poor Eve out of her depression and onto the
next phase of her life was great but of course all too brief. That doesn’t make
it any less important than anything else she’ll do or what Cassie and James do
either. Maybe on a smaller scale. Anytime things get too confusing for first
time director Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian to articulate, a song comes
on and it becomes crystal clear. I’ve never heard such catchy beautiful music
fall out of mouths like it was effortless. This beacon of hope should maybe be
the top film of year, I admit. But the truth is…
1. NIGHTCRAWLER
I have a dark side. Something about this movie called to me
the second I saw the poster. I even refused to watch the trailer. Schedule did
not permit a reasonable hour to watch the premiere of the film, so midnight on
a school night it was and that’s kind of the only way to watch this movie. I
had no idea where it was going to go as the tension built and built from the
beginning all the way to the heart jumping climax. Jake Gyllenhaal had me
completely spooked and constantly in awe of what his character was capable of
in good ways and bad. It was a fantastic LA movie as the tagline suggests, some
cities do shine brightest at night. It looks the best when you’re a ghost and
you’re the only one around for blocks while driving around at 3am. I think
that’s why I love COLLATERAL so much too. Having had several night jobs, I am
well aware of the energy of what goes on in the dark and it’s my kind of energy
most of the time. The power in the solitude of night is something you can kind
of get drunk on and that happens to this character. I’d be a jerk to spoil any
part of it so I’ll just say it’s flawless and endlessly fascinating and wish it
was part of a larger world that I could check in on regularly. If Lou Bloom
were a villain in the DRIVE universe, it would be my favorite thing ever.
Someone make DRIVE comics, please. LA movies are another bias I am fully aware
of as I love my dirty unsung mass of chaos. Most have adopted it, but I was
born in it. I said early that it seems silly to expect scares in a movie when
you’re an adult but this one had several. I was actually ready to barf right
before the climax and I usually make fun of people like that but it made me
feel alive so I want it always.
And that’s that for the year. 2015 looks to be a big bad
catch match of crazy cool things, and hopefully it lives up to the hype. But
2014 earned a hearty pat on the back for having tons of great things come from
nowhere. I hope there are surprises next year as well. Go to the movies more.
Thanks.
- D
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