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Tuesday
Jan132015

LOOKING BACK ON 2014: MY TOP 10 MOVIES (AND BOTTOM 5)

BY MATEO MORENO

Only TEN movies?! How to pick, how to pick... When I started to compile this list, I knew for sure a lot of films would definitely be there. How could Richard Linklater's masterful Boyhood not be there? Check! And Jim Jarmusch's cool as a cucumber Only Lovers Left Alive? Double check! And what about the truly hilarious LEGO Movie, Big Hero 6, & Obvious Child? Wait, I haven't even started talking about The Imitation Game? Yes, there were A LOT of great movies to come out this year. So after much consideration, here is my TOP 10. One film that barely misses the mark is the quitely powerful Hide Your Smiling Faces. It's hurting and tender and...actually came out in some areas in 2013. So I'm not counting it. But these TEN I am (along with 5 real stinkers....)

 

TOP TEN BEST OF 2014

10) GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY – James Gunn’s gonzo Sci-Fi epic is the weirdest, strangest, and most out there Marvel movie yet. And it’s also one of the best. With the inspired casting of Chris Pratt, the rag tag gang of Peter Quill and company became a monster hit against all odds (seriously, what message board out there DIDN’T predict that this was where Marvel’s hit streak ended?!). Great voice acting by Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel add to the rest of the cast of Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Benicio Del Turo. Add on a fantastic soundtrack and jokes that are actually funny, and you’ve got a summer movie worth fighting for.

 

9) INHERENT VICE – Bizarre? Definitely. Hard to follow? At times. Brilliant? You betcha. Paul Thomas Anderson continues his hot streak of wildly different films with his first “caper,” set in the 1970’s and based on the Thomas Pynchon novel of the same name. No one is better suited to dive head first into this unorthodox film than Joaquin Phoenix and he gives a hilarious and inspired performance as Larry “Doc” Sportello, a Los Angeles detective investigating the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend and as he gets deeper and deeper (and higher and higher) he gets in way over his head, yet still comes out swinging each time. Great ensemble performances by Josh Brolin, Martin Short, Katherine Waterson, & slyly narrated by Joanna Newsom. It may take you two viewings to fully digest this dinner (actually I suggest two; there’s just so much to see) but if you’re willing, you’re going to have a blast.

 

8) THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING – An extraordinary man deserves an extraordinary film. And that’s exactly what Stephen Hawking gets here. James Marsh beautifully directs the story of how Hawking went from a genius student to a lovesick boy who soon was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease and unable to eventually move. Through his brilliance, we see how he found a way to keep on talking and sharing his thoughts with the world. Eddie Redmayne is simply astonishing as Hawking, mastering both his personality and his crippling disease with such a physical transformation it almost hurts to watch. Felicity Jones is equally as impressive playing Jane Hawking, his loving wife who stood by him while others were slowly walking away. Steely and sturdy, Jones shines in a wonderful role. All the way through the tear jerking end, Theory continues to astonish.

 

7) INTO THE WOODS – I had high hopes for this Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine musical adaptation. Then I had doubts. Excited when the first trailer came out, and then nervous as I started reading “chatter.” Finally I resigned myself to the notion that it will be what it will be and to just wait for judgment. Luckily, I had nothing to worry about. Rob Marshall’s adaptation is sublime, perfectly balancing Sondheim and Lapine’s mix of wonder and darkness. Of course Meryl Streep shines as The Witch, but those pipes?!!! Now that was a wonderfully pleasant surprise. Anna Kendrick is great as Cinderella (and oh how I really can’t wait to see her tackle Jason Robert Brown now in February’s The Last Five Years), Johnny Depp is deliciously creepy as The Wolf, and the duo of Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen are comic gold. But the true heart and soul are with James Corden and Emily Blunt’s Baker and his wife. They sing beautifully and hit all the right emotional notes. Plus, any movie that includes not only Lucy Punch but also Tracey Ullman deserves to be in my Top 10 anyday.

 

6) INTERSTELLAR– Christopher Nolan’s movie divided people intensely into two camps; the “How beautiful and epic” camp and the “What drivel. Seriously? A bookcase?!” camp. I was in the first and though I do understand those who pushed it away, I cannot. It proudly wears its heart on its sleeve and isn’t afraid to be old fashioned, sometimes cheesy, and simply be about “love” and all the magnificent forms it takes. Matthew McConaughey is great here, alternately daring and heartbreaking, and Anne Hathaway actually doesn’t annoy you. So that’s something. There’s too many surprises that should be left that way, so I won’t spoil any of them. But I will say that the video messages McConaughey watches aboard the space craft in the middle section of the movie is one of the most heart wrenching moments in cinema this year. Honest and true, epic in scale, I ate up every single moment (and there were a lot of them in the 3 hour running time).

 

5) A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT – Iranian-American filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour turns her award winner short film into a feature and has created one of the most original visions in quite some time. A self described “Iranian Vampire Spaghetti Western,” it follows a young 19 year old girl who stalks the streets of the Iranian ghost town called “Bad City.” No one is aware that a Vampire is in their mist, and she watches people, selecting her prey carefully. Her loneliness can be felt sinking through the quiet performance of Sheila Vand. Mood and atmosphere fill out the empty spaces more than plot twists and turns, and it unfolds into a wonderfully original film, shot in glorious black and white. It reminded me of another great Vampire film, also from this year, Only Lovers Left Alive. That film barely missed making my Top 10 but is also a searing and original portrait of vampires that haven’t been told yet. Find this film. You’ll be glad you did.

 

4) SELMA– It’s almost unbelievable that a movie about Martin Luther King Jr. has NEVER been made. Thankfully, Director Ava DuVernay focuses the film not on his entire life but the very important years of gaining the right to vote as an African American man. David Oyelowo is marvelous as Dr. King, truly “becoming” the man right before your eyes. His performance is intense, bold, and daring. Carmen Ejogo is wonderful as well, playing his loving & supportive (but not blind) wife Coretta Scott King. She fills up the character with so much warmth, love, and power that you would swear she actually was Coretta. Haunting and powerful (especially so close to all the horrifying news stories as of late), Selma is most important movie out now.

 

3) THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL– Wes Anderson has made good films. He has made great films. Hell, he’s even made great commercials. But now, with The Grand Budapest Hotel, he has made his masterpiece. Ralph Fiennes plays M. Gustave, a concierge whose life becomes increasingly difficult after the passing of his friend Madame D. It’s truly one of the highlights of his career. His performance is comic joy. His sidekick always by his side is Toni Revolori, hilarious as he is faithful. As with all of Anderson’s best films the supporting characters are out of this world, from Jason Schwartzman to Jeff Goldblum (always game to be a goofball) to a delirious Willem Dafoe. It zips and zings along with incredible cinematography by Robert Yeoman, inspired directing by Anderson, and the most fun cast of the year.

 

2) WHIPLASH – To create a movie, essentially about becoming the best you can be in a college band, and to turn it into a psychological thrill ride is the mark of true genius. Writer/Director Damien Chazelle is that genius. Lengthening his short film that put him on the map at Sundance, Chazelle places his trust in a determined Miles Teller and a deranged and brilliant J.K. Simmons and creates a true masterwork. Teller portrays the young gifted Andrew as someone who might very well be the next “big thing” with a grace and ease that many seasoned performers strive to have all their careers. It’s truly the mark of bigger and better things coming from him. J.K. Simmons gives the performance of a lifetime (and that’s saying something after witnessing his sadistic turn on HBO’s “OZ”) and his angry outbursts and truly terrifying, hilarious, and unsettling. Where the story goes next is anyone’s guess, which makes the entire thing feel like a slow and steady thriller. Bravo indeed.

 

1) BIRDMAN (OR THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE) – Rarely do you ever see a film like Birdman. Its wondrous direction by Alejandro González Iñárritu may at first seem like a stunt (it’s almost entirely shot in one location in one seemingly long uninterrupted shot), but that trick soon opens up a world of filmmaking magic. It livens the cast and pulls you into each and every shot, as if you’re part of this delirious fever dream of Riggan Thomas (Michael Keaton). Edward Norton gives one of the most assured, steely performances in years and Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, and Zach Galifianakis all give strong support. But Michael Keaton just dominates the screen and you can feel him screaming, “I’ve been waiting. THIS is my time.” The film is incredibly meta, strange, surreal, and unlike any other movie you’ll see for quite a while.

 

BOTTOM FIVE MOVIES OF 2014

5) WISH I WAS HERE – Funded by a Kickstarter campaign and Written/Directed by the indie steward Zach Braff, Wish I Was Here is a draining exercise of “too much mood” and “too little time on the actual screenplay.” I’m a fan of Braff’s, but almost instantly I hated him here. Smug and entitled, his characters entire crisis is that his kids may not be able to go to private school. Not a great dramatic arc. At least Mandy Patinkin and young Joey King turn in a few good scenes. However the movie sinks into the oblivion of bad indie very quickly. Save yourself.

 

4) JUST A SIGH – Have you ever seen Richard Linklater’s brilliant trilogy of Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, & Before Midnight? Well this is the Lifetime version. Director Jérôme Bonnell takes his two leads (Emmanuelle Devos & Gabriel Byrne) and sets them on a train. They accidentally meet, she starts to stalk romantically follow him to a funeral and love kinda blooms as they walk around and talk, occasionally stopping to have sex. Not that they have anything interesting to say. Devos’ performance is entirely grating and Byrne seems really interested in finding out if the film is going to get better. It doesn’t. Le Sigh.

 

3) THE BOXTROLLS – Truly one of the most bizarre animated films to come along in quite a while. Not quite for kids and definitely not for adults, the film seems to have no idea who it’s aiming to please. The plot is very strange for strange sake (the main villian's main goal is to hang out with the cool kids and eat cheese all day. And he's alergic. Yup). The entire first half of the film drags along as if we’re watching a snail race animated in front of our eyes. And the stop motion animation is dark and not entirely pleasant to watch. Skip this and rent Coraline instead.

 

2) VENUS IN FUR - David Ives’s play Venus in Fur first premiered Off Broadway in 2010 to a sold out run and quickly transferred to a celebrated, and Tony winning run on Broadway. Lead by the firecracker Nina Arianda, it was sexy, thrilling, mysterious, and ultimately a beautiful theatre experience. So leave it to exhiled filmmaker Roman Polanksi to screw it all up. His film version replaces the American locals for France, which is fine, and shoots it in French, which is also fine, but the play has a very sarcastic American humor to it, which is lost completely in the film. Gone too is the sexiness and the seduction, replaced by goofy flirting and broad comic strokes from Emmanuelle Seigner. Sorry mi lady, but you are no Arianda.

 

1) MALEFICENT – Quite possibly one of the biggest missed opportunities of the year, Maleficent had all the makings of a great big budget action adventure. It had Angelina Jolie, perfectly cast. It had an intriguing villain who EVERYONE loves to hate. And it was going to tell an opposite side of the Sleeping Beauty story but this time from the villain’s perspective? Count me in! Sadly, it’s entirely a bungled mess, starting with making her a good guy, not a villain, a weird babysitter to Aurora while she’s asleep, WAY too many goofy special effects, and a pointless weird backstory that goes nowhere. Oh, and you know how cool it was that she turns into a dragon in the film? Nope, that’s gone too, replaced by her turning her man servant into the monstrous beast. At least Jolie and Sharlto Copley as the Mad King look like they’re having fun. Because I sure wasn’t.

MATEO MORENO is an actor, playwright, and director in New York City. He owns and runs TheArtsWireWeekly.com and has had four of his plays produced, including BOHEMIAN VALENTINE, HAPPILY AFTER TONIGHT, WITHIN OUR WALLS, & LOVES ME LIKE A ROCK. He is currently working with Boomerang Theatre on a short play piece, workshopping a new musical, and spends his days working on Broadway hits like MATILDA and IT'S ONLY A PLAY.