Every year, it gets harder and harder to make this list. Is it because the movies are getting better? I think so. When it comes time to compile the best movies of the year, I always discover there were more good ones than I might have remembered, and the great ones achieved that status in such different and unique ways that ranking them becomes maddening. 2014 was a bit of a banner year for movies. There are always at least a few a year that take chances, but last year, boldness was seen in alarmingly large numbers. Not all of these movies succeeded at what they tried to accomplish, and that's okay, since the attempt was so ambitious and groundbreaking and thrilling. If I was to make a list of just the movies I saw last year that tried to look at the medium in a new and exciting way, it would include at least half. And this applied to all ends of the spectrum, from low budget indies, to throwback genre movies, to big budget summer spectacles. Movies gained more respect for their audiences, trying to not only entertain and enlighten us, but to move and challenge. This list, as always, is subject to change...that's bound to happen as appreciation grows for some movies more than others. But for now, I can proudly say that these are the movies that delighted and shook up my senses the most in 2014. Enjoy, and look forward to discussing these more as time moves on...
LEE
Notably Missed (in alphabetical order): Dear White People, Goodbye to Language, Listen Up Philip, Mr. Turner, National Gallery, Starred Up, Stray Dogs, Two Days, One Night
Wish I Could Forget (in alphabetical order): 22 Jump Street, The Interview, Nymphomaniac Vol. 2, Sabotage, Tusk
Wish I'd Loved (in alphabetical order): The Babadook, Birdman, Gone Girl, The Immigrant, Joe, Mood Indigo, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order): Art and Craft, Boyhood, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Cheap Thrills, Godzilla, Grand Budapest Hotel, Interstellar, Journey to the West, Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, Life Itself, Noah, Nymphomaniac Vol. 1, Oculus, The One I Love, The Purge: Anarchy, The Rover, Skanks, Stranger by the Lake, We are the Best!
20-11:
20) Snowpiercer dir. Bong Joon-ho
19) The Raid 2 dir. Gareth Evans
18) Nightcrawler dir. Dan Gilroy
17) Blue Ruin dir. Jeremy Saulnier
16) Love is Strange dir. Ira Sachs
15) Foxcatcher dir. Bennett Miller
14) Edge of Tomorrow dir. Doug Liman
13) Gabriel dir. Lou Howe
12) Enemy dir. Denis Villeneuve
11) Calvary dir. John Michael McDonagh
TOP TEN
10) The Guest dir. Adam Wingard
10) John Wick dir. Chad Stahelski, David Leitch
I couldn't decide which of these was more deserving of making the list, so I cheated and put them together. Like I mentioned in my opening statement, it was a banner year for genre movies, the proof being in the enormously inventive and entertaining The Guest and the sleek, ultra cool John Wick. One is an action/horror/sci-fi hybrid led by the commanding presence of Dan Stevens and the other, a shoot-em-up that might make John Woo blush and confirms that even at 50, Keanu Reeves is still a badass. Interestingly, both movies largely live on the charisma of their stoic leading men.
9) Whiplash dir. Damien Chazelle
Blood, sweat, and tears each play equal parts in this riveting, tightly wound drama that's a masterclass of editing, direction, and performance (I kept waiting for J.K. Simmons's skin to burn off and reveal a literal demon within). You'll never look at goal reaching obsessions the same way again.
8) Selma dir. Ava DuVernay
David Oyelowo effortlessly disappears into the role of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a rare biopic that, instead of trying to squeeze an entire life into two hours, focuses on a key event that tested King's will and leadership. Aside from being a powerful look at the politics that hugely influenced the decisions made during the Civil Rights movement, Selma wins major points for showing that King, in addition to being a vigorous speaker, was at his core still a man, which we are able to see, flaws and all.
7) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes dir. Matt Reeves
A sequel to a reboot that actually manages to create real emotion involving a colony of CGI apes. Director Matt Reeves, who between this and Let Me In (also a remake), is quickly on his way to auteur status. He gives each of the characters, human and ape, more depth than one would have imagined possible. When the action occurs, it has real weight to it, and Andy Serkis, who was motion captured to bring Caesar, the head ape, to life, is worthy of praise simply for what he's able to convey through wordless expression. It's a stunning performance and is the backbone for a movie that is, for lack of a better word, Shakespearean.
6) Guardians of the Galaxy dir. James Gunn
Remember when summer movies were fun? When they didn't try to assault your senses with hyper camera work and editing? So does James Gunn, who takes the space opera to new levels of awesomeness. The new Star Wars picture has big shoes to fill.
5) Only Lovers Left Alive dir. Jim Jarmusch
Jim Jarmusch has always made movies that are subtle and cool, but rarely have they felt as naturally cool as this one. Just when you thought there was no other way to tackle the vampire genre, Jarmusch swoops in and casts Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton (both amazing) as a couple of bloodsuckers who actually try to avoid humans, mostly due to their ignorance when it comes to art and artistic expression. This is not a horror movie, but a sly and often insightful drama about mourning the past while weeping for the future.
4) Inherent Vice dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson's movies are comparable to visiting a foreign land in that they fascinate, exhilarate, and occasionally frustrate. I more often than not adore his work, although I am still scratching my head over the praise aimed at The Master (I still owe it a second look, as the movies of his I love have always enhanced with repeat viewings). Inherent Vice feels like a perfect match for Anderson from the start, with its period setting and characters who are just this side of normal. They're searching for something, as they always are, but the tricky part this time is that the country is changing around them, creating an environment of subtle chaos. Life is just happening, man, especially for the hero(?), Doc Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix), who is lost in a haze of smoke and depending on people who are just as clueless as he is. Anderson paints the characters, creations of novelist Thomas Pynchon, with an incredible level of sympathy, at the same time dropping them in a beautifully constructed Vietnam era California beach community. It's the perfect place to be drifting through life, especially while waiting to see what surprises (good or bad) await. Inherent Vice is all about the journey; where it leads is the ultimate mystery.
3) Ida dir. Paweł Pawlikowski
A story of self-discovery unlike any I have seen, mostly due to the jaw dropping black-and-white cinematography by Ryszard Lenczewski and Lukasz Zal. In Ida, the visuals add an extra level of thematic richness to the story of Anna (Agata Trzebuchowska, in a stunning debut), a nun awaiting her vows who leaves the convent to learn the truth about her family's history. Painful secrets are uncovered, of course, but the haunting beauty in which they are revealed, along with Anna's recognition of who she is, are profound and achingly moving. Ida is a rare movie that truly is an experience.
2) Under the Skin dir. Jonathan Glazer
One of the movies' biggest sex symbols, Scarlett Johansson, plays brilliantly against type in an astonishing near wordless performance as a "being" that cruises the streets in hopes of finding out what makes us human. The quest begins in a purely sexual nature, but a series of events, the most chilling involving a group of people's failed attempts to save each other from drowning, leads her to practice our everyday habits. Director Jonathan Glazer, in his third feature in 14 years, pulls off some of the most frightening and tragic images I've seen in many a moon. Johansson's seemingly emotionless creature learns all too well the complexity and weaknesses involved with being human, and the dire consequences that come from our tendency to destroy that which we don't understand. Under the Skin is the best kind of science fiction in that it asks difficult questions without providing easy or simple answers. It's extraordinary.
1) Force Majeure dir. Ruben Östlund
Appropriate that Force Majeure begins with an avalanche plummeting down a mountain, since I felt like I'd been hit by one throughout much of the movie's run time. And that's a compliment. Of all the movies I loved in 2014, this is the one I've been most eager to discuss. Through a series of awkward, embarrassing, and sporadically hilarious conversations (sometimes all at once), we witness what happens when a man's dignity and trustworthiness are questioned and even doubted. There are consequences to our choices, some that we can't accept or don't want to admit to. Part of the genius of Force Majeure is how the decision of one man trickles down and causes others to put themselves in his position, with potentially disastrous results. Funny how your whole life can change in an instant based on a gut reaction, and everything you've done before that moment and after are being questioned. The movie holds us hostage as a husband and wife are forced to deal with the fact they see (or choose to see) a catastrophic event in a drastically different way, often in long, uninterrupted takes that give us no choice but to face the music with them (and those around them, including their two children). A lot of intriguing questions are raised and appropriately, there are no easy answers. Just a lot of "what ifs." There are many great movies about the complexity of relationships. Put this one at top of that list.
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