50 Best Films of 2014 - #50 - #41

Finally, FINALLY I am wrapping up my 2014 in regards to cinema, and I am prepared to unleash my top 50 films of the year. After seeing roughly 125 movies released during last year, I decided that merely revealing a top 10 or 15 or 20 simply wasn't enough. To really delve into the releases I want to make sure to recommend to others, I knew I had to go a lot farther than that.

First up, #50 through #41 from 2014:

50. Norte, the End of History

It almost isn't fair to rank this film so lowly, because in truth, I think it's better than the 50th best of the year. So why rank it here? Well, it's pretty simple: Norte, the End of History is a 4 hour long film and my viewing of it got broken apart into multiple sittings for reasons I had not anticipated the first time I pressed play. As a result, the flow of the narrative was damaged for me and I just couldn't connect on a deeper level. The film is magnificently made, beautifully performed and remarkably ambitious. I will certainly give this another shot to really wow me in the future.

49. The Unknown Known

Famed documentary filmmaker Errol Morris puts former Congressman and U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld under the microscope, but this isn't merely a series of video clips and interviews with people who knew and worked with the man. This is a one on one interview between Morris and Rumsfeld, and as a result we see the way he reflects on his time in office and the rather clouded legacy left behind by President George W. Bush and the men around him. It's a surprisingly fascinating watch.

48. Mission Blue

A documentary about the life of a legendary oceanographer, marine biologist and environmentalist Sylvia Earle, and the content about her personally was very well handled and interesting enough, but what really hooked me in was when Mission Blue really focused on her message rather than her life. Without a healthy ocean, we cannot survive and while I knew things weren't exactly ideal, I wasn't aware just how critical the situation has gotten. An eye opening and informative film that actually made me see the world a bit differently.

47. The Skeleton Twins

An important thing to remember: don't judge a book by its cover. The Skeleton Twins seemed to be destined to be a silly comedy with Saturday Night Live veterans Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig playing the lead roles, and while they were able to showcase their witty chops here and there, the film proved to be far more dramatic and meaningful than I ever expected. A look at depression that feels very honest and real.

46. Obvious Child

A funny and clever look at an immature adult having to make a tough, important decision when forced with an unplanned pregnancy. A well written screenplay combined with a breakthrough performance by Jenny Slate makes this film fly, but one of the reasons it doesn't crash land is its ability to avoid the eye rolling cliches I was expecting due to its romantic comedy label. I anticipated some of the familiar tropes that kill a lot of similar films, but they never came.

45. Only Lovers Left Alive

Just when I thought I was officially done with the Vampire sub-genre, Jim Jarmusch comes along with a fresh take on such characters and it was impossible to resist. Back when I saw this movie I quickly gave it a very strange compliment, and I really do mean it as such, but one word here is rarely used in a positive manner: Only Lovers Left Alive is wonderfully boring. What I mean is, instead of loading up a Vampire story with action and gore, what we get here is a different perspective entirely but one that deserves to be considered. Wouldn't it be really boring to be a Vampire? To live forever in a world with very little to do, only coming out at night? The setting of the movie is the icing on the cake, a broken down Detroit cityscape that only adds to the mundane nature of these characters lives. 

44. Wild

Carried by an exceptional performance by Reese Witherspoon, Wild is a story about having the strength to put your mistakes behind you and move on from the past, rather than letting your entire life be haunted by regret. The non-traditional narrative of letting her past unfold via flashback segments throughout increased the power of her journey, as we grow to understand more and more why she is getting away from it all and taking on such an enormous and dangerous challenge. 

43. Citizenfour

Already the third documentary in my top 50, Citizenfour is your likely Oscar winner in the category and while it wouldn't be my choice (spoiler alert, more such films to come), it is at least worthy of the recognition. What is essentially just conversations in hotel rooms is fascinating to watch because of the circus going on outside of those walls as the search for Edward Snowden raged on, with every television news network wondering where he was hiding. The film has a voyeuristic feel to it because it almost seems wrong, witnessing these moments knowing the United States government was ready to arrest him for some rather egregious crimes if apprehended. Such is the life of a whistle blower, especially one who unveils some of the governments biggest secrets.

42. Big Hero 6

Disney may stick by a pretty safe formula, but it works. Big Hero 6 follows in the footsteps of many films before it as these characters and the beats of the story feel very familiar, but it manages to transcend any real flaws because it is gorgeously animated, well written, very funny and so damn heartfelt. I laughed a lot and had a blast watching the story of Hiro and Baymax unfold, and I would be lying if I claimed to not shed a tear or two during the third act. 

41. Snowpiercer

The word "dystopian" alone makes me cringe a little because it feels like such a setting has been done to death, but Snowpiercer went and did something brand new with the concept by setting the entire film inside a speeding train. Directed by Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho, this really is a fascinating way of demonstrating a class system and the problems of economic inequality. I wouldn't have complained one bit if Tilda Swinton would have grabbed a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her brilliantly bizarre performance here. It may not have been a conventional role searching for emotional resonance like the typical award winner, but my goodness was she on point for the tone of this movie.

Okay, #50 through #41 is done. Up next will be #40 through #31, and the image above is from a film that will be on that list.

Mission Blue Review

When it comes to what I eat, I am not ignorant of the facts, nor do I choose ignorance to avoid thinking of what I consume. I know that conditions are often times not ideal for the animals that unfortunately had to die to find their way to my plate, and I am honestly not okay with that. So why do I choose to continue with the same eating habits rather than deviate from them to make a moral or ethical point?

Simple. They taste great.

I don't take it as an insult if anyone finds this willingness to enjoy something that I know may be wrong to be selfish. I am well aware that I can put my own satisfaction in front of the greater good at times and this fact doesn't result in me losing even a second of sleep at night. Honestly, if I made every single decision in accordance to some guided path of moral or ethical enlightenment, if I devoted my existence to ensuring the lives of others went swimmingly while disregarding my own, I would be far more troubled about my choices. 

The exception to this, however, is the state of our planet. Not that I do everything I should to fix the problem, but I do try to do the little things. This is because the idea of a dying world left for not only my child, but her children as well and so on, is enough to sometimes keep me up at night. The new Netflix original documentary Mission Blue focuses mainly on one woman, Sylvia Earle, as it details her life and work as an oceanographer, marine biologist and environmentalist, and it clearly showcases the devastating effects humanity is having on our oceans. Learning about Earle herself is interesting enough and worthy of a recommendation, but the power of this film is the evidence presented of the toll we are taking on our planet and the hope that a new generation of people will be willing to continue the fight to clean up our oceans, valuing preservation over corporate interests.

One aspect of this film I greatly appreciated was it avoided being judgmental or heavy handed in its narrative. As a huge fan of the wonderful flavors of seafood, I never felt as if I was being admonished for eating such things, when instead I was in agreement with the larger point that those catching these creatures are doing so when they are far too young, and thus they have been unable to breed before becoming a meal. It's unnatural to be removing a species from their habitat before they have had the opportunity to create new life, and thus a well known item on a restaurant menu like bluefin tuna is quickly disappearing completely. 

This brings me back to the way I started off, regarding my selfish love for food regardless of the consequences. Will I keep eating seafood? I'm sure I will, but at the very least I can say that Mission Blue has made me feel uneasy about it. A dying ocean means a dying Earth, and when the film chooses to focus on such things it is handled effectively and with meaning. Knowing now just how critical things have gotten, that the ocean isn't this unstoppable, unflinching force that its vastness portrays it to be, does make me hesitate before I place my next order. This tells me that at least in one very important way, the film did its job.

4/5