50 Best Films of 2014 - #10 - #1

10. Guardians of the Galaxy

Not only a top ten of 2014 entry, but easily my favorite movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One of my biggest complaints about some of the other films, specifically Iron Man 2 and Thor: The Dark World come to mind, were their attempts to be comedic yet completely failing at actually being funny. Thus I was concerned when I was told just how much of a comedy Guardians of the Galaxy would need to be, but boy did it deliver. Not just with laughs, with EVERYTHING. A joyous, exciting, heartfelt, clever blast of a picture.

9. The Babadook

If you knew me well, you would know how unheard of this is for me. I have a real hard time connecting to a horror film, as I usually think an interesting premise and creepy trailer ends up ruined by the same stupid and predictable tropes, bad writing and excessive gore. The Babadook is an Australian horror film, and it's bloody friggin' brilliant. If you are simply looking to be spooked, it's scary as hell. If you are looking for depth and characters to actually care about, you cannot go wrong here. The Babadook is a meaningful metaphor wrapped in an intense and terrifying film, and it works on every level.

8. Birdman

A completely brilliant, unique cinematic experience, Birdman was a joy to watch for it's fascinating narrative and amazing performances, but it went to a whole other level due to the technical genius on display throughout. This is actually a difficult movie to explain, you just need to see it and decide whether it works for you or not. Some have called it artsy nonsense, pretentious, and silly. I call it one of the best and most original pictures of 2014. 

7. The Tale of The Princess Kaguya

I was already a massive fan of the legendary Studio Ghibli, with My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away being their two masterpieces so far. I officially have a third movie to welcome into that category. The Tale of The Princess Kaguya is a completely spellbinding, heartbreaking piece of cinema that for me, despite also loving How to Train Your Dragon 2 and The LEGO Movie (both of which were in the previous list of ten), is by far the best animated work of 2014. 

6. Whiplash

I still get the chills whenever I think about the last 10 or 15 minutes of Whiplash, the most memorable sequence from any movie released last year. Seriously, it's so electric it made the hair on my arms stand up. That isn't to say that the rest of the film was lackluster in any way. Whiplash was destined to be one of the 15 or so best of the year, and then that finale happened, and I can't stop thinking about it over a month after witnessing it unfold. That's the power of incredible cinema, and what Damien Chazelle crafted here is just that.

5. The Grand Budapest Hotel

The masterpiece I had always been waiting for from Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel is gorgeous on so many technical levels and also a brilliantly clever comedy. I had no idea how good Ralph Fiennes could be in a comedic role, and it certainly isn't easy to execute the quirky and odd material of a Wes Anderson, but he absolutely nailed it. Seriously, his timing is so spot on perfect I felt like I was grinning from ear to ear anytime he occupied the frame. 

4. Interstellar

Big, bold and ambitious filmmaking. I am a sucker for it, always have been and always will be. I can forgive a flaw or two because I am so mesmerized by the spectacle of the whole experience, which explains why Christopher Nolan's Interstellar lands as the #4 movie of the year. It isn't a perfect film, I cannot lie, but with every ever so slight issue I have with it, I am in jaw dropping awe of EVERYTHING else that worked so damn well. I saw it twice in theaters, and I can promise you there will be 20 more viewings at home coming in the future.

3. Winter Sleep

By far my favorite foreign film of 2014, and one worthy of inclusion into the top 3 overall and yet Winter Sleep isn't even nominated by the Academy. Ah, such is the complicated and confused relationship I have with those people in charge of Oscar nominations, but so be it. I just hope the lack of recognition doesn't stop people from seeking out and watching this gorgeous picture, and while my voice is small and unimportant, it won't stop me from continuing to scream it from the rooftops: Winter Sleep is a triumph of cinema and easily the finest acted movie of the year.

2. Gone Girl

I can't stop falling more and more in love with the work of David Fincher. Just when I think I couldn't admire the man and his vision on a deeper level, here comes Gone Girl, another cold and calculated thriller that entertained me endlessly and made my skin crawl with its ominous tone and perfectly unsettling performances. Based on the incredibly popular novel by Gillian Flynn, one of the aspects of this movie that really elevated it to new heights was the screenplay by that very same writer, with Flynn adapting her own work. It's one thing to come in and chop apart the words of someone else, but to do it to your own? To have the humility and intelligence to say to yourself, yes I wrote this, but a lot of it doesn't work when translated to the big screen? That's really something special.

1. Boyhood

Life. It's a fucked up, weird, heartbreaking, devastating, fascinating and beautiful thing, and it was encapsulated so poetically and gorgeously by Richard Linklater. Watching Mason grow up really resonated with me on multiple levels. Not long ago I was a kid growing up dealing with the bizarre and bullshit issues that accompany adolescence, and yet now I sit here with a 7 year old daughter and I can't believe how fast time has gone. Watching twelve years go by over the course of less than three hours with such a graceful and natural fluidity really made me think about the fact that time is relentless. All we can do is accept it and enjoy the ride.

If I Picked the Oscars - Best Picture

I have already laid out my personal nominations and winners for Best Actress (here), Best Actor (here), and Best Director (here) so here we are. Best Picture of the year.

As the Academy nominated 8 films this year, I will do the same. 

Birdman

It would be a crime to not include Birdman in the mix for Best Picture of the year, as unique films like this are so rarely given the recognition they deserve. The film works on every single level, as it can be appreciated for its excellent direction, the incredible performances, and for every single glorious technical achievement I picked up on throughout that practically had me drooling. This isn't just some one trick pony that will lose its luster on revisits either. Birdman is more of a, buy the Blu-ray, watch every single special feature to learn as much about the medium as possible, and then admire the movie for years to come.

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

A best picture nominee for me, and yet it likely won't walk away with the Best Animated Feature award on Oscar night. This is how things usually work between me and the Academy, but I'm used to the disconnect. For me, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is a work of art, a stunning slice of Studio Ghibli that, in time, will have it ranked up there among the previous masterpieces they have already released, like My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away. Quite simply, this is a sublime film.

Whiplash

Electric. So damn electric. Roughly a month since I sat down and lost myself in Whiplash and I can still feel the electricity pulsing through my veins, a film so expertly crafted and featuring a conclusion that literally had me on the edge of my seat. The power this work has had over me ever since it finished is intoxicating, I can't wait to see it again.

The Grand Budapest Hotel

I have said so, so many things about The Grand Budapest Hotel already, to wax poetic about it again here would be redundant. The Wes Anderson masterpiece I had been waiting for, it's as simple as that.

Interstellar

The grand ambitions of Christopher Nolan have paid off again, as Interstellar swept me off my feet and took me to places I have only dreamed of visiting before. I have mentioned before that I don't think this is a perfect film. I have heard some complaints that I honestly agree with. So why is it nominated for Best Picture then? Because I am a sucker for bold, big, and brash pieces of cinema, and I respect the hell out of a filmmaker who is willing to take the audience to places that will open up their minds to the wonders of paying the money it takes to go to the theater and experience a vision the way it was meant to be seen.

Winter Sleep

An absolute masterpiece and one of the finest examples of the beauty of performance art that I have seen in some time, Winter Sleep is easily the best foreign film I have witnessed this year and, in my world, one of the three best films of any kind, period. Remember that disconnect with the Academy I brought up earlier? Winter Sleep, somehow, wasn't even nominated in the Foreign Language category, let alone for Best Picture of the year. I have no comprehension how this oversight occurred, but no trophy or lack there of can challenge the way I feel about a work of art like this.

Gone Girl

If you go to the top of this post and click on the link to my previous post, regarding my nominations and winner for Best Director, you can read up on my deep, passionate love affair with the work of David Fincher. I am not going to go down that road again here, so I will just say this. Gone Girl is so perfectly crafted and so damn entertaining, I had a giant smile on my face throughout the entire experience when I saw it in the theater back in October. It is the type of movie that reminds me of why I love this particular medium so, so much. 

and the Oscar goes to...

Boyhood

Some who have seen Boyhood say nothing happens during the film. I say everything happens during it. Life happens during it, a story of living that is soaked in that magic realism that Richard Linklater loves to portray in his work. Some say that my love for the film is misplaced, that it is unworthy of such admiration. Tell that to the tears I shed during it's moments that are heartbreaking as well as those that inspire. 

Everyone has their own opinion, and mine is this: Boyhood isn't merely the best film of 2014. It is one of the greatest of all time.

If I Picked the Oscars - Best Actress

Despite already approaching mid-February, I'm just finally wrapping up my 2014 cinematic calendar and I thought it might be fun to figure out what my personal picks would be for the Oscars in the the following four categories: Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture.

First up, Best Actress. These would be my five nominees and the last one listed is my pick to win the award.

Shailene Woodley - The Fault in Our Stars

So what if I am a 30 year old man who wept openly sitting in the theater watching The Fault in Our Stars? I'm not afraid to admit it. As I always say, I don't believe in bad genres or the notion that I shouldn't like something because I am not the target audience, in regards to age or gender. It's very simple really, a good film is a good film, and The Fault in our Stars is just that. A huge reason why it worked so well for me is the completely natural, heartbreaking performance by Shailene Woodley. After I saw the film I mentioned that I was rooting for her to make some noise come awards season, but I knew it was a long shot. In my world she still makes the top five.

Essie Davis - The Babadook

I really hope The Babadook finds the massive audience it deserves, because everyone involved deserves a ton of credit for being a part of a truly great horror film, one with a ton of depth and a powerful message about grief bubbling under the terrifying surface. I can barely find the words to express how brilliantly measured and chilling the performance of Essie Davis is here in the lead. If you haven't seen the film yet yourself, do it. Ba.-ba....doooooooook!

Melisa Sozen - Winter Sleep

Winter Sleep is one of the best films of 2014 and the across the board remarkable performances are a huge reason why. I could rave for hours about the entire ensemble, but if asked to narrow it down and pick one from the group, Melisa Sozen does some quietly powerful, astonishing work. During various dialogue heavy sequences involving her character, Nihal, I simply couldn't take my eyes off of her. Completely brilliant while never being flashy, she steals scenes without even trying.

Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl

Psychotic, beautiful, deranged and timeless, Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl manages to both give me nightmares and yet also feel as if she could have come straight from playing the love interest in a classic Hitchcock film. An absolutely mesmerizing performance as Amy Dunne, I have watched the film twice and my admiration for her managed to grow the second time around. I honestly don't know if I have ever seen her act before this, but I don't need any bigger sample size to determine that with the right material, Rosamund is clearly a breathtaking talent. I hope she continues to take on more fascinating, challenging work, because the range she shows in Gone Girl is incredible.

and the Oscar goes to...

Julianne Moore - Still Alice

If this had been a best performances of the year list, regardless of gender, Julianne Moore in Still Alice would still be at the top of my list. As I said in my review of the film (which can be found here), this was beyond heartbreaking work by Moore. Her portrayal of Alice Howland is devastating, rendering me speechless and literally feeling the hurt as I thought about the tragedy that is Alzheimer's disease long after the movie ended. I am extremely confident the Academy and I will see eye to eye here, as anyone else accepting that trophy on February 22nd would be shocking and unfortunate.

Winter Sleep Review

A lyrical masterpiece from the cinematic mind of Nuri Bilge Ceylan, it will be easy and unfortunately understandable if a film like Winter Sleep doesn't achieve the recognition and level of appreciation it deserves. At first glance, I would expect most to avoid a work like this merely based on it's 196 minute length and the fact that it is a Turkish film with subtitles, but please don't. If I can convince even just one person to find the time and have the patience to digest this achievement, it will be a victory in my book. Winter Sleep is easily one of the finest efforts of 2014.

First, let me get this out of the way: The LEGO Movie is no longer the biggest, most confounding exclusion from the Academy Award nominations. If it were up to me, Winter Sleep would not only be nominated for the Best Foreign Feature, it would be the clear cut winner, yet despite winning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival a year ago somehow this was overlooked by the Academy. Last year anonymous voting members admitted that they didn't want to watch the masterful 12 Years a Slave because heaven forbid they have to tap into their white guilt, as if two hours of their time was as difficult of an experience as the lives of those depicted in that film. While 12 Years a Slave and Winter Sleep aren't even remotely comparable films, I bring this up to make a bigger point: it's a shameful thing that those who are asked to award recognition to the most worthy movies from a year don't like to be challenged. I can only assume that too many people looked at those 196 minutes and didn't even give this beauty a chance. 

Aydin (Haluk Bilginer) is a former actor who now runs a small, picturesque hotel with his beautiful young wife Nihal (Melisa Sozen) and his recently divorced sister Necla (Demet Akbag), and his relationship with both of them is complicated to say the least. Despite his less than ideal circumstances with the family that surrounds him each day, Aydin still leads an enviable and idyllic life compared to those around him in the region. He is well educated, he is wealthy, and he admires the breathtaking landscapes that surround his hotel as he writes columns for the local newspaper and also assembles the research needed to write a book. Aydin is also the landlord for various citizens in the area and despite the tough economic times that surround him, he shows very little empathy for the less fortunate. He discusses his many charitable donations and likes to believe he is a man of the people, but when literally faced with someone who is struggling to avoid losing his home, he is quick to dismiss him claiming there is nothing he can do.

Much like the hotel he owns and occupies, Aydin looks down on those below him.

Winter Sleep is a film that is driven by incredibly written dialogue, as not a word feels wasted or irrelevant to the greater goal of the narrative. Some sequences are long and deeply personal, heated interactions between Aydin and Nihal or Aydin and Necla inside the hotel, and some may grow weary of the extended nature of these conversations but I was amazed at the way these actors working with such heartfelt, heavy material never skipped a beat. The ensemble as a whole delivers some of the finest work on screen of 2014, as these faces that were unknown to me prior to this film absolutely blew me away with their nuance, the subtle power they were able to deliver at every moment. Melisa Sozen as Nihal, the wife of Aydin who lives a seemingly blessed life without financial worry yet she wants more from existence, might be the strongest of the bunch. It was flat out impossible not to pay attention when she was on screen, as every look and expression and word demanded that I take notice. Many would dream to be Nihal yet she craves a feeling of independence that is impossible under that roof. She may reside up above the many struggling people nearby but just like them, she is looked down upon from the man who owns it all. When tears fall from her eyes, it was as if I too was experiencing the pain.

Featuring gorgeous, lush cinematography and lighting that practically made me drool in delight, the snowy landscapes of the region were only a small portion of what makes Winter Sleep such a treat for the eyes. The frames that were really a joy to admire took place indoors, both inside the hotel and even the run down residence of the nearby struggling family in search of a way to avoid eviction. The flicker of a fireplace against their faces and the way it warms up a scene that is freezing cold in ways beyond what is influenced by weather is pure magic. 

Every aspect of this masterwork proved to be essential to the overall experience being pretty much perfect, and the final act features multiple moments that literally gave me chills. Winter Sleep is long but I never felt even the slightest drag, as I was sucked into this superb character study from beginning to end. I am just about ready to wrap up my 2014 cinematic calendar and put out my best of list, and what a brilliant way to close it up. Without a doubt, Winter Sleep will be found near the top.

5/5