As we all look back on this particular calendar year, one particular theme always stands out. For me, 2014 was the first year I really started to wonder whether movies' cultural grip was coming to an end, with TV stealing its thunder and then some. After all, most people I talk to on a daily basis, whether in real life or on social media, are far more passionate about TV shows (Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, House of Cards, etc) than they are about movies. As someone who goes to a theater on a fairly regular basis, not just during the summer but during awards season, I felt at times like part of a dying breed. Movies will never go away, but the game has changed. The theater/delayed home video release business model that has stood firmly for so long is finally showing cracks thanks to the rise of Netflix, TV stepping up its game, and out-of-control blockbuster budgets. For a more detailed look, I direct everyone to online critic James Berardinelli, the man who inspired me to write about movies in the first place, who has a wonderful three-part piece on the subject.
My 2014 list contains some high-profile releases you've heard of and some that debuted in art-house theaters. Some will compete for Oscars while others will not. My tastes are wide-ranging, after all. So what's missing? First of all, this year's best-reviewed movie (Boyhood), which I like and admire but didn't find to be that transcendent experience like seemingly every critic in America did. And then there's Guardians of the Galaxy, 2014's likely Box Office Champion in a weak year. It charmed many but left me cold and mildly irritated. Also, I didn't see some of the year-end, NYC/LA-only releases such as American Sniper, Inherent Vice, and Still Alice. I'll review those when they go wide in January.
Nevertheless, I found plenty of films worth celebrating. Please note that this is not an objective "Best of" list. Who in the world would be arrogant enough to claim something like that? These are simply my favorites of the year. Your Top 10 might look remarkably similar to mine. It's equally possible all ten choices would be different. Most people will be somewhere in between. But subjectivity is what makes list-making and list-reading so enjoyable, and the structure in general helps to explain the immense popularity of sites like Buzzfeed, which delight in presenting their thesis in easily organized chunks.
And so we cap off another year, first with five Runners-Up (in alphabetical order). These are five excellent films that just missed out on the Top 10 but are still well worth watching.
Runners-Up
And the Top 10 in reverse order, saving the best for last.
A long-dormant series achieves awesome new life with this
film, which takes the promises laid by 2010’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes and shifts the story to another level.
Thrilling action and stunning visuals abound, but this film’s greatest asset is
its even-handed treatment of the human/apes racial conflict and fear-mongering.
This film reminds us that even in the context of a blockbuster, social
commentary is a welcome addition to, rather than detracting from, the overall
experience.
9. Gone Girl
Franchise-movie fans had plenty to anticipate in 2014, but so too did book lovers with David Fincher’s provocative, mesmerizing adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s bestseller Gone Girl. It is at once a captivating and unpredictable thriller, an exploration of gender roles, and a brutal satire of news media’s sensationalism. Gone Girl is a grim, twisted film, guaranteed to fuel post-movie debate. Whether you think it’s brilliant or trashy, indifference is not an option with this one.
This decade has seen several high profile movies looking at
race-relations through a historical lens, but far too few have followed Spike
Lee’s lead and taken a modern-day look at the topic. Director Justin Simien’s
triumphant debut Dear White People does
just that as it delves into the micro-aggressions and stereotyping of people of
color that constantly occurs today, especially at the University level. It
delivers big laughs but it also boasts a razor-sharp satirical edge that
doesn’t always make that laughter comfortable. A special shoutout goes to Tessa
Thompson, who deserves (but likely will not receive) an Oscar nomination for
her role as a fiery, passionate activist and radio host.
7. Nightcrawler
Like Gone Girl, this movie blends brutal satire of TV news (this time the “if it bleeds, it leads” mentality) with the rhythms of an unpredictable thriller. Led by an unforgettably creepy Jake Gyllenhaal, whose performance (not to mention dedication—he lost 20 pounds for this role) ranks among the best of male acting in 2014, Nightcrawler is gripping cinema that unfortunately didn’t catch on at the box office. Special mention goes to the film’s climax (involving a diner), which is one of the most nail-biting of the year.
6. Birdman
Alejandro Innaritu’s latest film is loud and unsubtle in skewering blockbuster movie culture, overly pretentious artistic types, and critics, but does it ever provoke thought and then some. It’s equally engrossing with its smaller-scale comedy-drama narrative as it is with its large-scale ideas. Filmed in a fascinating form that appears to be one continuous shot, Birdman dazzles visually in addition to stimulating the mind. The film is also a gold mine of acting, particularly from Michael Keaton, who couldn’t have picked a better role for his big comeback. Expect Oscars aplenty with this one.
5. Whiplash
“There are no two words in the English language more harmful than ‘Good job,’” says drill sergeant-esque music teacher Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons). But even someone with this character’s mentality will be saying “Great job” to what director Damien Chazelle has accomplished with Whiplash. This is primarily a character study involving a music prodigy and his Instructor from Hell, but its trajectory is anything but simple. It’s dramatically hard-hitting, multi-layered, unpredictable, and has much to say about the obsession with achieving greatness. As for J.K. Simmons, if it were up to me, I’d hand him that Best Supporting Actor Oscar right now.
4. X-Men: Days of Future Past
Birdman may have lamented the superhero movie’s dominance of the marketplace, but here is the strongest rebuttal imaginable, the most satisfying superhero film I’ve seen in six years. Days of Future Past’s themes (fear of the Other and choosing military security over liberty for those who are “different”) resonate louder than most movies in its field, and the ensemble cast tops even that of The Avengers. And the ending, brilliantly wiping away the bad aftertaste of 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, satisfies in the best possible way. Days of Future Past opened big in the box office before fading quickly into the shuffle, and that’s a shame. This is one superhero franchise whose sequel I’m eagerly anticipating as opposed to just accepting.
3. Selma
Taking a page from Steven Speilberg’s Lincoln in emphasizing a single game-changing political event over the totality of a person’s life, director Ava DuVernay has crafted a superior bio-pic of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It contains sequences of stunning power that only achieve greater resonance because of the way they tie into certain real-life events of the past few months.Selma
2. Life Itself
A little more than a year ago, we lost one of film criticism’s most influential voices in Roger Ebert. If the Afterlife allowed him to watch this powerful documentary, I’m sure he would’ve been thrilled with the result. It is both a celebration of a legendary man’s life and an unflinching exploration of his final years of struggle. Life Itself is the correct title; it beautifully navigates the emotional highs and lows of the man at its center as well as those closest to him. Most importantly, we have Ebert himself to thank most of all. Had he not pressed on during his final years with a single-minded determination to show the truth of his rise and decline, much of this film’s power would be lost. As is, it is an epitaph of the highest order.
1. Interstellar
This one is just too easy, right? Everyone who knows me understands I’m a huge fan of Christopher Nolan, and Interstellar was far and away my most anticipated film of the past year. Critical reaction to the film was more mixed than most of Nolan's films, but for me, it delivered on all fronts, once again captivating us with a wonderfully suspenseful narrative, provocative ideas, and awesome immersion in its world. But this time around, Nolan upped the ante by balancing a deeply emotional core, namely a tale of love and sacrifice between a father and daughter, with the macro concerns of humanity’s role in the universe. Also, in a year with the fewest tickets sold since 1995, Interstellar represents one of those rare movies that demands large-screen viewing, preferably in IMAX format. It represents true, old-school, idea-driven science fiction, and nothing else wowed my senses and my mind in quite the same way this year. I rank Interstellar third in Nolan’s overall resume behind only Memento and The Dark Knight, but as far as 2014 is concerned, I didn't have a moments doubt about ranking it No. 1.
Like Gone Girl, this movie blends brutal satire of TV news (this time the “if it bleeds, it leads” mentality) with the rhythms of an unpredictable thriller. Led by an unforgettably creepy Jake Gyllenhaal, whose performance (not to mention dedication—he lost 20 pounds for this role) ranks among the best of male acting in 2014, Nightcrawler is gripping cinema that unfortunately didn’t catch on at the box office. Special mention goes to the film’s climax (involving a diner), which is one of the most nail-biting of the year.
Alejandro Innaritu’s latest film is loud and unsubtle in skewering blockbuster movie culture, overly pretentious artistic types, and critics, but does it ever provoke thought and then some. It’s equally engrossing with its smaller-scale comedy-drama narrative as it is with its large-scale ideas. Filmed in a fascinating form that appears to be one continuous shot, Birdman dazzles visually in addition to stimulating the mind. The film is also a gold mine of acting, particularly from Michael Keaton, who couldn’t have picked a better role for his big comeback. Expect Oscars aplenty with this one.
“There are no two words in the English language more harmful than ‘Good job,’” says drill sergeant-esque music teacher Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons). But even someone with this character’s mentality will be saying “Great job” to what director Damien Chazelle has accomplished with Whiplash. This is primarily a character study involving a music prodigy and his Instructor from Hell, but its trajectory is anything but simple. It’s dramatically hard-hitting, multi-layered, unpredictable, and has much to say about the obsession with achieving greatness. As for J.K. Simmons, if it were up to me, I’d hand him that Best Supporting Actor Oscar right now.
4. X-Men: Days of Future Past
Birdman may have lamented the superhero movie’s dominance of the marketplace, but here is the strongest rebuttal imaginable, the most satisfying superhero film I’ve seen in six years. Days of Future Past’s themes (fear of the Other and choosing military security over liberty for those who are “different”) resonate louder than most movies in its field, and the ensemble cast tops even that of The Avengers. And the ending, brilliantly wiping away the bad aftertaste of 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, satisfies in the best possible way. Days of Future Past opened big in the box office before fading quickly into the shuffle, and that’s a shame. This is one superhero franchise whose sequel I’m eagerly anticipating as opposed to just accepting.
Taking a page from Steven Speilberg’s Lincoln in emphasizing a single game-changing political event over the totality of a person’s life, director Ava DuVernay has crafted a superior bio-pic of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It contains sequences of stunning power that only achieve greater resonance because of the way they tie into certain real-life events of the past few months.
A little more than a year ago, we lost one of film criticism’s most influential voices in Roger Ebert. If the Afterlife allowed him to watch this powerful documentary, I’m sure he would’ve been thrilled with the result. It is both a celebration of a legendary man’s life and an unflinching exploration of his final years of struggle. Life Itself is the correct title; it beautifully navigates the emotional highs and lows of the man at its center as well as those closest to him. Most importantly, we have Ebert himself to thank most of all. Had he not pressed on during his final years with a single-minded determination to show the truth of his rise and decline, much of this film’s power would be lost. As is, it is an epitaph of the highest order.
This one is just too easy, right? Everyone who knows me understands I’m a huge fan of Christopher Nolan, and Interstellar was far and away my most anticipated film of the past year. Critical reaction to the film was more mixed than most of Nolan's films, but for me, it delivered on all fronts, once again captivating us with a wonderfully suspenseful narrative, provocative ideas, and awesome immersion in its world. But this time around, Nolan upped the ante by balancing a deeply emotional core, namely a tale of love and sacrifice between a father and daughter, with the macro concerns of humanity’s role in the universe. Also, in a year with the fewest tickets sold since 1995, Interstellar represents one of those rare movies that demands large-screen viewing, preferably in IMAX format. It represents true, old-school, idea-driven science fiction, and nothing else wowed my senses and my mind in quite the same way this year. I rank Interstellar third in Nolan’s overall resume behind only Memento and The Dark Knight, but as far as 2014 is concerned, I didn't have a moments doubt about ranking it No. 1.
