THE BEST AND WORST OF 2014: IN WHICH WE ACKNOWLEDGE MONSTERS BOTH REAL AND IMAGINED AND OF OUR OWN DEVISING

If you’re wondering why you haven’t been periodically barraged by movie reviews over the past year, it’s because I decided to take a sabbatical of sorts.  Or I suppose you could call it a mental health break.  I figured you’d understand.  Still I didn’t want you to wander in the cinematic woods completely blind, so I’ve compiled my annual Best Of and Worst Of lists for your edification and enjoyment (or at least that’s the hope).

I’m not sure if it was me or the movies, but, as I look back at the year 2014, I feel more than a little ennui.  There were several very good movies but very few that knocked my socks off.  Hence this year I’ve split my Top Ten into a Top Three followed by the Best of the Rest of the Top Ten.  You may find that my very favorite films are not to your liking.  None are comforting.  None are reassuring.  All have monsters.

In THE BABADOOK the monster enters the home of single mother Amelia (Essie Davis) and her high-strung son Samuel (Noah Wiseman) through a creepy children’s book.  What writer/director Jennifer Kent refuses to make clear is whether the monster is real, a figment of the boy’s imagination, or a symptom of a psychotic break resulting from the mother’s stress and insomnia.  Whatever it is, it’s scary, and it isn’t going anywhere.

In NIGHTCRAWLER the most obvious monster is sociopath Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal).  But he in turn is fed by the news rating machine, which is fed by the viewing public’s insatiable blood lust.  In writer/director Dan Gilroy’s vision they are monsters all.

Finally, in SNOWPIERCER society -- and specifically the need of those in power to divide and conquer those who are not in power -- is the monster.  But you will likely be too enervated by Bong Joon Ho’s powerful visual storytelling to get bogged down in the dialectics.

If you lack the constitution for ambiguity and unease, move on down my list.  However, if you have the stomach for it, these three are cinematic feasts.

Thanks, gentle readers, for indulging me (or rather not indulging me) over the past twelve months.  And for those of you who helped me through this difficult year (and you know who you are), I can only offer my most profound gratitude and humility.

Finally, thanks to my family.  I’m lucky to have you.

Brian Pope

February 19, 2015
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THE BEST OF 2014

THE TOP THREE
(in alphabetical order)

THE BABADOOK  A terrifying, fiercely original feature debut from Australian writer/director Jennifer Kent that explores the horrors – real, imagined, and something in between – of single motherhood.  Essie Davis gives the year’s best and most ferocious performance as the beleaguered mother, and Noah Wiseman is fantastic as her high strung son.  Kent relies on suggestion and uncertainly to create nearly unbearable tension, and the titular creature is likely to creep its way into your most unsettling dreams.

NIGHTCRAWLER  Writer/director Dan Gilroy’s electrifying neo-noir immerses you in the world of driven news videographer Louis Bloom, an ambitious sociopath played with unnerving sincerity by Jake Gyllenhaal, who will cross any moral or ethical line for attention grabbing footage.  What begins as a dark satire of the news gathering business devolves into horror as Bloom not only exploits tragic events but creates them as well.  Robert Elswit’s moody cinematography and John Gilroy’s crisp editing make this stellar production crackle.

SNOWPIERCER  South Korean director Bong Joon Ho loses nothing in translation in this, his first English language film set in a vague future in which the Earth has become an uninhabitable Arctic wasteland and the survivors live on a train called Snowpiercer that moves perpetually through the stark landscape.  Visually and structurally ambitious, this thrilling adventure – an unapologetic parable of class warfare – is brutal, funny and exciting, yet it always, even in its bleakest moments, retains its belief in humanity’s resilience.

THE BEST OF THE REST OF THE TOP TEN
(in alphabetical order)

BIRDMAN  A has-been movie star trying to make an artistic comeback on the stage is not a new story, but director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki’s virtuoso telling of it adds an unexpected vitality, while Michael Keaton’s touching portrayal of the unhinged actor gives it poignance.

BLUE RUIN  In writer/director Jeremy Saulnier’s deadpan, blood-soaked thriller, destitute Dwight forgoes his self-imposed exile to avenge himself on his parents’ convicted killer, recently paroled.  Things are not as they seem, however, in this revenger’s tragedy gone awry, and violence begets violence, leading to ultimate futility.

BOYHOOD  Richard Linklater’s chronicle of a boy’s life from age 6 to 18 drops in on said boy and his fictional family once a year for 12 years.  Cast and character become interlinked in this flawed but fascinating film, an often moving meditation on how people change (or don’t) over time -- and how quickly it passes nonetheless.

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL  Wes Anderson’s latest film looks lovingly confected like a French pastry.  But beneath the airy, decorated surface is the taste of bittersweet longing for an era long past or one existing only in memory.  An incredible Ralph Fiennes leads a positively delicious all-star cast.  You will be up for seconds.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY  Just when you thought Hollywood had forgotten how to entertain without permanently destroying brain cells, along comes director James Gunn and co-writer Nicole Perlman’s sly, silly space adventure.  Exciting, funny and just a little whimsical, this is the most fun I’ve had at the movies all year.

SELMA  This riveting drama of the civil rights movement’s tumultuous birth focuses primarily on Martin Luther King, Jr. and his supporters, with LBJ and his administration merely supporting players.  Some will quibble with director (and uncredited co-screenwriter) Ann DuVernay’s narrowed focus, but it feels necessary and timely.

TOP FIVE  Would it surprise you to learn that Chris Rock wrote, directed and starred in the year’s funniest movie?  Possibly not.  How about that it’s also the year’s best romantic comedy?  I thought so.  Be forewarned that the film is often crassly hilarious.  But it’s also smart, insightful, and has surprising warmth and heart.

Runners-Up of 2014
(in alphabetical order)

EDGE OF TOMORROW

FOXCATCHER

IDA

A MOST VIOLENT YEAR

WHIPLASH

Honorable Mentions:CALVARY; CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER; THE DROP; GONE GIRL; THE GUEST; THE IMITATION GAME; INHERENT VICE; INTERSTELLAR; JOHN WICK; THE LEGO MOVIE; LOCKE; THE SKELETON TWINS; THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING; WILD

THE WORST of 2014
(in alphabetical order)

CAKE  Jennifer Aniston gives a fearless performance that’s undermined by trite, shallow writing and tin-eared direction.  The rest of the cast seems eager to get off screen.  Frankly, I can’t blame them.

THE JUDGE  An ill-suited Robert Downey, Jr. leads an all-star cast (including Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga and Vincent D’Onofrio) down the path of good intentions to a movie purgatory that’s pandering, predictable and pretty awful.

LUCY  Action director Luc Besson makes a Terrence Malick film, and the end result is pretty much what you’d expect – absolute incoherence.  If all you’re interested in is seeing Scarlett Johansson kick ass, leave after the first half hour.