50 Best Films of 2014 - #30 - #21

On to the next ten, my #30 through #21 favorite films from 2014...

30. The Fault in Our Stars

I have made no secret of the fact that I am a big fan of this film, from the glowing review I wrote when I saw it in the theater last summer to the fact that I included Shailene Woodley in my personal choices for Best Actress of the year recently. I refuse to pretend the tears I shed from this story and the performances that carried it never fell from my eyes. A gut wrenching yet beautiful movie.

29. Selma

An expertly made biopic that nearly avoided all of the traditional tropes that make me roll my eyes at these types of films, Selma gets right what a movie like Unbroken got so, so wrong. Getting punched hurts, unless you get hit every two minutes for two straight hours, which was essentially the narrative of the latter. Eventually you are desensitized to the brutality and you just quit on the experience, where as in Selma, when it hits, it hits hard because it knows just when to land the blows. This is a pretty great and important film.

28. Finding Vivian Maier

A truly fascinating documentary about a eccentric and mysterious nanny who lived a secret, brilliant life as an absolutely amazing photographer. Despite her incredible artistic vision with the camera, she never showed a single picture to anyone, and her massive and breathtaking collection was finally discovered after she passed away. Not only does this film cover her life and her jaw dropping talent, but it asks a pretty important question as well: if someone goes to great lengths to hide something while they are alive, is it fair to show the world after they are dead? Or should privacy extend beyond the length of our lives?

27. Edge of Tomorrow

Easily one of the best surprises of 2014 for me, Doug Liman's Edge of Tomorrow seemed like a turd when I first saw the trailer, but after catching wind of a whole lot of positive word of mouth I gave it a shot. I'm glad I did. A smart, exciting and fun summer blockbuster, and say what you want about Tom Cruise but no one else could play a role like this so damn well. His personal life and religious beliefs aside, Cruise is still an outstanding talent and he demonstrated that again here, and the chemistry with Emily Blunt didn't hurt matters either.

26. John Wick

An action film starring Keanu Reeves titled John Wick? Well, this is obviously going to be terrible. The premise is what? His dog is killed so he gets revenge? You've gotta be kidding me, what a train wreck...

Much like Edge of Tomorrow, this is another example of why I shouldn't judge a work before I see it. John Wick is smart, intense, ultra-violent fun, and that silly premise about the dog makes total sense when framed inside the narrative. Not only does it make sense, it actually strongly resonated emotionally. Sure, if this was real life I would be disgusted with the type of killing spree he goes on as a result of a pet dying, but this isn't real life. This is a movie, an escape from reality, and inside this world I was rooting for John throughout.

25. The Guest

The Guest is a wonderful blend of neo-noir modern cinema and a completely ridiculous yet fun horror film from the 1980's. Carried by an incredibly charismatic lead performance from Dan Stevens and the perfectly executed vision of director Adam Wingard, this was one bad ass, tasty treat. Oh, and that last act Halloween school dance set piece with a brilliantly utilized fog machine? Absolutely amazing.

24. X-Men: Days of Future Past

I was pessimistic about how this film would turn out, what with the massive cast and ambitious to a fault sounding premise. I anticipated a jumbled, messy narrative. I was wrong. The latest X-Men installment was not only top notch superhero comic book fun, what impressed me the most about this movie was the patience it showed to make sure it told a story first, with the action and the special effects taking a back seat when they needed to. Thanks to this extremely impressive effort, I have no pessimism whatsoever about the follow up due out next year. Bring it on.

23. Calvary

Prior to seeing Calvary, I had heard it was a "dark comedy". This may be true, but I think a much more fair label would be a dark, meaningful drama with some comedy bits sprinkled in to ease the tension and lighten the mood. What Calvary does extremely well is explore the unfortunately twisted and uncomfortable relationship society has with the Catholic church thanks to the many documented cases of abuse, and also the tense nature of the role faith in general plays in our lives today. It's a shame that we have to be cautious of a man of the cloth, but given the track record, how could we not?

22. Enemy

What if you saw your exact double? Not just a person who resembles you, literally your exact twin that has no relation to you in any genetic sense. What would you do? 

I will tell you what you should do: watch Enemy immediately. Beware though, this doesn't play like a traditional film and the ending is both terrifying and utterly confounding.

21. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

2013 was a down year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sure, I had some fun with Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World, and neither were terrible films by any means, but after the high that was the first Avengers, they certainly felt like somewhat silly and underwhelming let downs. Well, the good news is 2014 turned out to be a banner year for the studio, with Captain America: The Winter Soldier coming first and being just so flat out awesome. After I saw it, I declared it was the best movie yet from the MCU and I stand by that...sort of. At that time it was, but (spoiler alert for the future of this list) a different 2014 release went above and beyond and soared straight to the top.

Next up, I will enter the top 20 of 2014. The image above is from an extraordinary little gem that I never saw coming.

My Unofficial 20 Favorite Films of 2014 - #20 - #11

It's that time of the year when the best of 2014 lists come flying in from every direction, but I actually typically don't post mine just yet. My tradition is to make the previous year official on the day of the Oscars, as that gives me the first two months of the new year to catch up on films I am yet to see. While I have managed to watch 90 movies released in 2014 already, there are still so many more that I need to make sure to catch before I can really feel good about what I claim to be my favorites. Films like American Sniper, Into the Woods, Inherent Vice, Foxcatcher, Selma, A Most Violent Year, Wild, Whiplash, The Imitation Game and more, so many works receiving tons of praise that I must witness before my 2014 wraps up.

That being said, why not release an unofficial best of list now?

These are my the first ten of my current twenty favorite films of 2014:


20. Godzilla

My Review of Godzilla


Is it a flawless film? Of course not, but the pacing, the musical score by Alexandre Desplat, the confident direction by Gareth Edwards, and the jaw dropping visual effects all combined to make this a blast at the theater way back in May.


19. The Fault in Our Stars

My Review of The Fault in Our Stars


As a thirty year old man, I was apparently not the target audience of this film. As I always say though, there are no bad genres, only bad films, and The Fault in Our Stars is not one of them. I refuse to write off something for being a "chick flick" before I even get a chance to see it, and this hit so many wonderful notes for me and made me weep openly in the theater that day.


18. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

My Review of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes


I was extremely pessimistic about a sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes as I thought the progression of the apes would prove to be silly. I am so glad I was proven wrong. Exciting action and excellent storytelling, not only was this a worthy second installment into the rebooted franchise, it turned out to be a rather large step up from the first in every way.


17. The Guest

My Review of The Guest


The 2014 film I most recently watched and I was surprised to find it entering my top 20 films of the year, but this fantastic genre film was a total blast and the final fifteen or so minutes were possibly the most entertaining of anything I have seen all year.


16. X-Men: Days of Future Past

My Review of X-Men: Days of Future Past


Another film that I admit I was pessimistic about in advance, as I thought it would be too crowded, a movie trying to do too much and thus it would succumb to its lofty ambitions. Again, glad to be proved wrong. I actually just revisited this on Blu-ray the other night and everything I loved about it in the theater held up just fine at home. A smart, stylish, entertaining film.


15. Enemy

My Review of Enemy


Last year the film Prisoners was my #2 of the year, a gritty, dark and disturbing thriller that had me truly riveted from start to finish. While not quite reaching those heights in 2014, director Denis Villeneuve is back again with his new film Enemy, a confounding and original work that made me literally yell out loud at the end, and then scratch my head as I wondered what I just saw. I am still not entirely sure, but I know it is great.


14. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

After a down year in 2013 for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I was hoping my boy Captain America would bring the intelligence and excitement back, with a little less focus on absurd humor and more on a solid script and some kick ass action. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was just what the doctor ordered, essentially a fantastically crafted spy thriller that so happens to have a superhero in it.


13. Under the Skin

My Review of Under the Skin


When I finished watched Under the Skin, the first thing I thought was "What the hell?!" but I had a pretty big smile on my face because I meant it in a very positive way. A truly bizarre experience, but the themes are pretty apparent and meaningful and I appreciated the way it was handled. Seriously though, some of the imagery seen here will keep you up at night. Some truly weird crap, without a doubt, and I loved it.


12. Blue Ruin

My Review of Blue Ruin


I thought I had Blue Ruin pegged from the get-go. I assumed it would go down a rather predictable path, but then something happened that surprised me: exactly what I thought would happen did...except all in the first act of the film. So much story to tell and I had no idea what to expect next. A smart revenge flick that keeps you on your toes until the very end.


11. Life Itself

My Review of Life Itself




Growing up, there was no Rottentomatoes or Metacritic to go to for every review you could imagine. I found my film criticism from two places: the Chicago Sun-Times, where I quickly flipped through in search of the written words of Roger Ebert, and also the television program Siskel and Ebert. I greatly admired Roger for his passionate love for film and the fact that he was able to create a connection with his readers and viewers by never seeming like he knew more than you. He wrote so that you would understand why he felt the way he did, and after you finished reading you truly were persuaded to either see or skip the film being reviewed.

Life Itself is hard to watch at times because it follows Roger to the very end and focuses on the good and the bad, but it is a remarkable tribute to the life of a great man.

My next list will be my current top ten of the year. Happy New Year everyone, here's to a hopefully great 2015.

Incendies Review

As of only a few months ago, the name Denis Villeneuve meant nothing to me. Not only had I never seen a film of his, the name itself wasn't even on my radar. That changed when I saw the brilliant, atmospheric 2013 thriller Prisoners, a work that was littered with names I was familiar with like Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Paul Dano, and the masterful cinematographer Roger Deakins, yet the first thing I had to do after the film concluded was to head to IMDB and figure out who this Villeneuve fella was. The disturbing and ominous tone of Prisoners left an indelible impression on me, and I knew I had to absorb more that the man had to offer.

My second Villeneuve journey came when I experienced the wonderful cinematic mind melt known as Enemy, a film likely locked into a top ten slot for 2014 despite it only being May. Much like with Prisoners, Villeneuve teams up with Gyllenhaal and the choice is an example of spot on casting, as if the auteur produces material that brings out the best of Jake and his nuanced talent. That is where the comparisons between the two films end however, and that is meant as a compliment rather than a complaint. It was quickly evident that Villeneuve was no one trick pony, as Enemy was a far more challenging and confounding slice of cinema, one that will leave viewers scrambling for answers to unlock its mysteries. I for one love to be left in the dark when it comes to films that are more abstract, as piecing together my own puzzle is far more fun than having a complete understanding of exactly what the filmmakers vision was.

After diving into two of his films, one thing became very clear about the work of Denis Villeneuve: the man creates haunting, memorable and important cinema. Months later, I cannot shake Prisoners from my mind, as I still think of various sequences from time to time and I will simultaneously smile and also feel my skin crawl from the mood and imagery of that film. On paper, Enemy was a fascinating concept, the idea of recognizing your exact double while watching a film and the search for answers as to how someone unrelated to you could be a true doppelganger in every possible sense, and the movie didn't disappoint as the idea was wonderfully realized and executed in a way I could never possibly forget. I knew I had to seek out one of his previous works and see if his style was always so exciting and hypnotic, which lead me to the film Incendies.

Nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2011, I was confident that I would be witnessing another very good effort with Incendies, and yet somehow I am still in total awe over how spectacular of an achievement it turned out to be. The opening scene of the film consisted of some attention grabbing imagery of various young boys getting their heads shaved as the always incredible music of Radiohead played over it. Two minutes into the film and I already knew I was in for a treat, a sequence worthy of the reputation Villeneuve has already earned with me for creating lasting, unforgettable moments despite the limited amount of time I had spent wrapping my mind around his work overall.

The remaining 137 minutes did not disappoint, as I was beyond riveted by the story of the twins, Jeanne and Simon, as they honor the final wishes of their recently deceased mother by going on a journey to the Middle East to discover and better understand the messy and troubling roots of their family. The unique narrative of the film shows us the original actions of their mother earlier in her life and also their search for the answers they seek, and Villeneuve's camera is masterful throughout, an expert in mature filmmaking that knows just how to frame his subjects and their circumstances to elicit the most powerful reaction from us, the viewers. Incendies is also beautifully performed by the cast across the board, so much so that this work of fiction felt consistently natural and authentic throughout. I was invested in this film from the first frame to the last, at times disturbed when an unfortunately realistic lack of humanity was showcased, but also emotionally invested by their journey and the direction it takes them.

One masterpiece could be a lucky accident. Two means a visionary talent might in fact be making his mark. Three films, however, is definitive proof that a truly special and extraordinary director has emerged, a new addition to a short list of filmmakers that deserve to have each new release circled on the calender without even so much as a plot synopsis yet released. Some need a recognizable star in the lead role, an exciting story to draw them into the theater, or a promise of stunning special effects to peak their interest enough to lay down the cash at the box office. I only need one reason to be excited for a film called Sicario, slated for a 2015 release: Denis Villeneuve.



5/5