If you read other film writers’ Best Films of the Year
lists, they usually start with an apology about 2014 not being a particularly
good year in film. I disagree with this immensely, even though the usual crop
of late year Oscar-hopeful releases have been a bit lackluster, there are still
quite a few great films that came out earlier in the year.
For my list, I included any films that I felt like writing a
sentence or two about, so my list forgoes the monolithic top 10, and is a top
13 instead.
Also, putting these films in any order according to quality,
taste or personal preference turned into a Sisyphean task, where the list would
self-destruct once a new entry was made, and I was forced to start over. For
this reason, the films are in alphabetical order.
One caveat, I have not seen every film that has been
released this year, and being located in a relatively small film market, I will
most likely have to catch up with many titles after the beginning of 2015.
This horror film injected pure emotion into a genre that has
become so focused on lame jump scares and shallow characters. Jennifer Kent
directed a scary film in the vein of “The Exorcist” and “Rosemary’s Baby,”
where the real horror is what has been lurking within a family the whole time.
Remember the name Jeremy Saulnier because it is going to be
everywhere soon. Saulnier directed a revenge film that transforms into a family
drama, and back again, more than a few times. Comparisons to early Coen brothers’
films are spot on and accurate. On its own, this film is just as exciting as
the new talent it showcases.
Call it a stunt, a gimmick or anything else you want, the
truth of the matter is that there has never been a film captured like
“Boyhood.” This coming of age story took director Richard Linklater and cast
twelve years to realize, allowing audiences to literally watch star Ellar
Coltrane grow up before our eyes.
2014 was full of films that explored big themes. In “Calvary”,
an Irish priest played by Brendan Gleeson, is told in the opening scene that he
will be murdered in one week to atone for the sins of another long-gone priest .
Instead of running away from his fate, Gleeson’s character decides to stand up
to it, all the while maintaining hope that his future killer will see that
murder and vengeance are not going to bring the solace he seeks.
Justin Simien’s debut feature film, based on a Twitter
account of the same name, is a satire that is just as calculated in the
prejudices and systematic racism it exposes, as it is hilarious. Have that
annoying friend who just doesn’t seem to understand white privilege? Make sure
they see this film.
The allure of the enigmatic genius Frank (played by Michael
Fassbender, covered by a giant paper-mache head) is so strong that Domhnall
Gleeson’s Jon quits his job and moves to the country with Frank’s band
Soronprfbs (not a misspelling) to record a groundbreaking new album. The band’s
final performance of the song “I Love You All” is in a tie for the best scene
of the year.
This movie was so much more than the toy commercial I was
expecting. To great effect it shows that a world where everything is awesome is
not an awesome world, after all. This film plays with alternate dimensions in
time and space more effectively than even the labored “Interstellar.”
The life of Tom Hardy’s Ivan Locke falls apart during a car
ride. This film resembles a one-person play, but in the best possible way, and
director Steven Knight takes every opportunity to make the commute visually
interesting. “Locke” demonstrates that Hardy is not the next De Niro, as that
is being too generous to De Niro.
Not much can, or should, be said about the plot of this
film. Every plot development needs to be experienced with as little knowledge
as possible. Suffice it to say, in this film Mark Duplass and Elisabeth Moss play
a struggling couple that go to an unusual retreat. This film has stayed with me
long after my initial viewing.
Jim Jarmusch directing Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston as
two deeply in love, centuries old, vampires living in Detroit, is pretty much
just as cool as you would expect it to be. Leaving behind pretty much every vampire
film cliché and trapping, Jarmusch uses his immortal couple, named Adam and
Eve, to examine how far humanity has come, and their fear the end of the
species will arrive all too soon.
What makes a human? Is it something that can be observed and
learned? This sci-fi film asks that and many other questions, (remember this is
the year of big questions) but provides no answers. Scarlett Johansson plays an
alien (maybe) who seduces men in a strange lair where they are used
for…something. “Under the Skin,” as a viewing experience, moves over you in
waves, first in curiosity, then horror, and eventually, a weird hope. One scene
from this film is tied with “Frank’s” ending as being the best of the year, it involves
a deformed man, and what his encounter with Johansson suggests about body
image, compassion and empathy.
We are the Best!
We are the Best!
Three middle school misfits won’t let punk rock die in Sweden.
When three friends in 1980s Stockholm decide to start an all-girl punk band
they can’t let things get in their way like not being able to play instruments,
or even never attempting to write songs. The energy of this film is so
infectious the title should have three exclamation marks, and the lessons learned
by the characters are applicable far beyond middle school.
Here is another music film that delves into the idea of what
makes a genius (another big question), this time in the world of collegiate
jazz. J.K. Simmons plays Terence Fletcher, a music instructor at a
distinguished performing arts college, who expects nothing less than perfection
from his students. Miles Teller’s Andrew Neiman is a freshman drummer, whose
life is made miserable by the intense demands from Fletcher, all in the effort
to bring out genius. Growing up in Indiana, the parallels in Fletcher and famed
coach Bobby Knight are hard to miss, but it is the footage of the musical
performances that make this film such a kinetic experience.
The Rest of the Best
Here are some films I greatly enjoyed and almost made my
list: “Birdman,” “The Double,” “Gone Girl,” “Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Mistaken
for Strangers,” “Obvious Child,” “The Skeleton Twins” and “The Unknown Known.”
Jonah Crismore is Cinema Center’s Executive Director and just plays a man who makes lists on TV.
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