Top Ten Movies of 2014

            Let me throw out the usual caveats before we get down to business.  These are my personal favorite films.  There are other films that easily could have been included.  You won’t agree with all of them (but feel free to tell me that).  Enjoy!

Films I haven’t seen:  Calvary, Frank, Selma, American Sniper, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Inherent Vice, A Most Violent Year, Leviathan, Belle

Honorable mentions:  X-Men:  Days of Future Past, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Lego Movie, Life in a Fishbowl, The Imitation Game, Ida, Foxcatcher, The One I Love, Pride

10.  Oculus

            Definitely the most surprising film of the year, Oculus is far better than a movie about a haunted mirror has the right to be.  It sports a well-thought-out narrative, some truly scary moments, and excellent visual motifs.  Once it takes off it doesn’t let go, blending grounded psychological horror with flecks of gore.  The performances, particularly by child actor Annalise Basso, are far better than you get in most horror films and are essential for landing the fears the film’s playing with.  As I said in my review, Oculus understands that there are far scarier things than ghosts and axe-murderers, and it’s all the better for it.

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9.  Get on Up

            A few films could’ve slid into this spot, but Chadwick Boseman’s unforgettable performance as James Brown lands this film in my top 10.  It’s a mannered performance, but it always rings true and doesn’t overpower the film.  The movie’s stage performances are electric, Brown’s brilliance shines through (as does his arrogance), and his far from perfect life makes for an interesting story.  Some were turned off by the non-linear narrative, but I thought it kept things from getting too bleak.  Plus, it gets extra points for being really funny.

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8.  Fury

            A World War II movie about a seasoned tank crew trying to break in a new recruit, Fury is one of those well-trod war stories that’s made great by some brilliant execution.  Brad Pitt and Logan Lerman turn in top-notch performances, and director David Ayer edits the action sequences so they’re always tense and clear.  However, it’s the cinematography that really pulls it all together.  The German countryside is portrayed as a place covered in muck with a constant mist hanging in the background, making the discomfort and the threat of battle inescapable.

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7.  Birdman

            Definitely a film for movie people, Birdman is all about the balance between art and commerce and the internal and external pulls that accompany it.  It’s actually a very familiar story, but it’s got such energy and visual flair that it’s hard not to like it.  The trick of editing the film to look like one shot really sweeps you off your feet and keeps you bounding right along at the film’s quick pace.  Michael Keaton as a used-to-be movie star is great, but Edward Norton stole the show as an overly intense artiste. 

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6.  Force Majeure

            What happens in the moments after this still defines a family’s vacation, forever changes how they view each other, and leads to some downright hilarious moments.  This is one of those films that brings up serious ideas without forgetting to entertain you.  It may be aimed at a small subset of people, particularly the kind who laugh in awkward, intense moments, but if you fall into that group you’ll find Force Majeure to be simultaneously astute and hysterical.  Personally, I refuse to apologize for laughing at a grown man crying on a bean bag chair.  It’s just funny.

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5.  How to Train Your Dragon 2

            The choice to age these characters up and allow the story to grow along with them was a bold decision by DreamWorks Animation, and it may have allowed them to unexpectedly become the owner of a generation-defining kid’s series.  People my age grew up with Toy Story, and I don’t think I’m overstepping when I draw comparisons between these two series.  Both made a concerted effort to build on their themes from film to film, mirroring the maturation of their target audience and thus earning a special place in these kid’s cultural psyches.  As an adult looking at it, I can appreciate how much of a risk it is to throw such a big change-up into an established hit, but I can also appreciate just how well How to Train Your Dragon 2 pulled it off.  Add in that this had by far the best 3D I saw all year, charming background jokes, and a running gag about an arm fetish, and I was sold hook, line, and sinker.

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4.  Nymphomaniac:  Volume 1

            Speaking about sex frankly and intellectually is a rare thing in America, and few movies have explored it from a woman’s perspective like the two Nymphomaniac films.  Volume 1 is the far better section, allowing Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg and Stacy Martin) to tell her story of complete surrender to sexual addiction without judgment.  Yes, there are negative effects, and the movie is honest about that, but the camera and her audience of one, the bachelor Seligman played by Stellan Skarsgård, always looks at her with a humane eye.  The infamous Lars von Trier is pushing us without going too far in this one and shows a surprising funny streak, which is never more apparent than when Uma Thurman shows up and keeps you squirming with uncomfortable glee in my favorite scene of the year. 

           

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3.  Edge of Tomorrow

            Or Live Die Repeat:  Edge of Tomorrow or whatever else it gets called in the future is a spectacular movie that doesn’t deserve its underwhelming box office total.  The summer of 2014 delivered a number of great blockbusters, but this one stands head and mechanical shoulders above the rest.  Smart without being challenging and fun without being easy, there’s some real stakes in Edge of Tomorrow that kept me invested even after the twists had been revealed.  The action is big and rendered with a gritty beauty, Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt sell every moment, and it’s infused with a surprising amount of humor.  If only all blockbusters could be this well made, and if only audiences would go see them.

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2.  Nightcrawler

            Whether you take it as a character study masquerading as a thriller or a thriller masquerading as a character study, you’ll find lots to like in Dan Gilroy’s expertly paced Nightcrawler.  Jake Gyllenhaal keeps you unsettled but unable to look away as the smarmy Lou Bloom, and cinematographer Robert Elswitt makes the LA night pop with color, light, and the darkest of personal ambitions.  I think this is the best shot film of the year (yes, over Birdman), and it manages to skewer America’s latent bloodlust while wallowing in the grime.  This is why I don’t trust people who quote self-help books.

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1.    Mommy

                    Getting to tag along on other people’s emotional journeys is one of the great joys of watching movies, and nothing else this year grabbed me with the ferocity of Mommy.  Following a mother, Diana, who enlists the help of her neighbor to turn her son’s life around, this is an energetic film that radiates the emotions of its characters out into the audience.  Keeping you on your toes is the son’s emotional vacillations, turning on a dime and at times getting unnervingly dark.  Through a surprisingly unintrusive 1:1 aspect ratio, a slew of well-known songs, and excellent performances by the lead trio of Anne Dorval, Antoine-Olivier Pilon, and Suzanne Clément, Mommy captures the intoxication and confusion of their lives without ever becoming unsympathetic towards any of them.  In a year where my parents divorced, this tale of unwavering love stuck in an untenable circumstance hit home.

Fury

Released:  October 17^th, 2014

Rated:  R

Studio:  Columbia Pictures

Starring:  Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Peña, Jon Bernthal

Directed by:  David Ayer

Written by:  David Ayer

Personal Bias Alert:  likes war movies, likes Brad Pitt and Logan Lerman

8.5 of 10

“In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.” ~José Narosky

            That’s one of many lessons that Logan Lerman’s Norman must learn quickly when he’s shoved into a cramped tank with four seasoned veterans.  Norman’s greener than green, trained to be a typist instead of a fighter, but through some error that Fury never bothers to explain he ends up in that tank.  What follows is a well-trod war story, that of the seasoned vets breaking in the young recruit, but the twist of telling it in the confines of a tank during the waning parts of World War II breathes enough life into this astoundingly executed piece to make it one of the year’s best films.

            Brad Pitt plays Don, the tough but subtly intelligent commander of the titular tank.  He smells the weakness Norman has brought to his crew and takes a rough but effective path in training the young man.  As their relationship complicates, the two come to silently recognize something in each other, and the audience is treated to a prolonged scene in which their gentler sides get to show.  It’s marvelous, one of my favorite scenes of the year, and highlights just how great Pitt and Lerman are in these roles.  I knew Pitt had it in him, and I pray that he finally gets the awards recognition he’s long deserved, but Lerman may overshadow him.  He’s such a surprise here, getting to play a much different role than we’ve ever seen him in.  That said, neither man is better than the other; both turned in A-game performances.

            The rest of the crew is rounded out by Shia LaBeouf as the religious cannon man, an underused Michael Peña as the driver, and Jon Bernthal as the uncouth loader.  These roles are noticeably underwritten, especially Peña’s, but the caliber of acting each guy brings makes this detriment less bothersome.  LaBeouf in particular, with his hollowed out eyes and terrible mustache, manages to do a lot with a sparse, varied role.  In some scenes he must spout thematically resonant bible verses, while in others he’s expected to provide some much-needed comic relief.  He somehow manages to pulls off both sides of this character and still convey a weariness that seems to be dragging him down with each step.

            The performances set a high bar, which is equaled by some gorgeous cinematography by director David Ayer and DP Roman Vasyanov.  They embed the horrors of war into the mud of the German countryside, fog and mist constantly hanging in the background, making it seem like a battle is always just around the corner.  The battle sequences we do get are expertly handled, alternating between the action inside the tank and what’s happening outside it to keep the sequences clear and tense.  Yes, there’s some beauty to it all, but the brutality always looms, as it does over everything in this film.

            The story is slightly below par, feeling a bit too familiar to be truly great.  Many elements cut very close to the legendary Saving Private Ryan, which few films compare favorably to.  Add in that the ending happens a bit too neatly to seem real, and the plot becomes a noticeable drawback.  Still, Ayer made a great choice by making his story about a tank crew.  At least the action sequences seemed fresh and not just more ground troop maneuvering that we’ve seen a million times.

            Walking out of the theater, I was still in a reverie, carrying the film’s moodiness with me out into the night air.  It’s an affecting film that seeps into you, and I found that Fury grew into a greater film the more I reflected on it.

            Other Notes:

Ø  Brad Pitt standing on that tank is a hero’s shot if I ever saw one.

Ø  There’s no way those eggs survived in Don’s pack.

Ø  People in my theater were cheering when the Nazi’s were being killed.  I’ve never understood wanting to cheer during a war film.