Of course, I'd intended to put up this post the day the Oscar nominations came out to be current, but this and that, blah, blah whatever. Aside from the woeful lack of diversity, I feel really underwhelmed this year. It just doesn't feel like a banner year for film, but I guess that can't happen every year.
Still, there were a few that stood out for me, and a few that I missed and still really want to see--and this blog post is devoted to those. I'm calling 2014 "The Year of the Sleeper," because I feel like there were quite a few quiet, under-the-radar films that were amazing--or look amazing. Here they are.
I'll begin with my favorite films of the year--I'd really like to round it out and have a nice "Top Five" list, but I can only think of four. With one honorable mention. Which makes five. Whatever.
4. A Most Wanted Man.
I loved this little slow-burn spy movie for three reasons--it's one of my favorite kinds of film, it was a fitting final role for Philip Seymour Hoffman and it's a film that simmers until explodes in a climax that more about emotions, betrayal and the fine art of the double cross than it is about shooting people and car chases. At least, that's how I would describe it if I was a film critic, which I'm not.
3. Enemy.
Jake Gyllenhaal is a famous movies star, but you know what? He's a remarkable actor, too. And I love it when he gets really dark, like he does in Nightcrawler (full disclosure: haven't seen it, but it sure looks dark) and Enemy, which I blogged about earlier this year. If I was a film critic (full disclosure: I'm not), I would call Enemy a searing, unsettling journey into the male psyche.
2. Locke.
Speaking of searing, unsettling journeys into the male psyche, have you seen Locke? I watched this with my brother while I was going through chemo. At one point, I turned to him and said, "This movie should be called 'Driving & Talking About Construction.'"
But it did what a great film should do--it haunted me. I couldn't stop thinking about it afterwards, and it took a day or two for it to sink in how brilliantly constructed it was--you try creating a story around one dude in a car talking on the phone about business, family and his about-to-be-born son with a one-night stand. You can also file Tom Hardy under "Big Movie Star/Remarkable Actor."
And speaking of haunting, we come to...
1. Under the Skin.
I've already written about Under the Skin twice, and I've mentioned that's it's now joined the ranks of my all-time favorite films, following themes that you're probably catching on to: slow-burn sleeper, haunting, Big Movie Star/Remarkable Actor. On the surface, it's about an alien hunting her prey (i.e. men) in modern-day Glasgow, but it's really about a predator who slowly uncovers her humanity, only to...SPOLIER ALERT: become prey to the darkest side of humanity. At least, that's how I would describe it if I was a film critic, which I'm not.
OK, now for my honorable mention: Inherent Vice.
Oh, Paul Thomas Anderson--you brilliant, audacious and maddeningly self-involved auteur--what will you think of next? Filming a Pynchon novel, of course. Clocking in at almost three hours, I felt like most every scene was poking me with a "Hey! I did the impossible! I adapted Pynchon for the screen, nyah, nyah." Ok, ok, I get it. But the film achieved another impossible feat--it made me bury, once and for all, the intense discomfort I feel whenever I see Joaquin Phoenix on the screen.
It was also a mystery that's ultimately about The Mystery, an early 70s potboiler of sex, drugs, rock-n-roll, politics, conspiracies, cults and Los Angeles. Everything I love (except drugs--yuck), all rolled up into one rabbit hole of a film. Also? After the turgid epics that were There Will Be Blood and The Master, Inherent Vice brings back the humor and levity of Boogie Nights. Yea!
Also? Martin Short. The movies need more of him.
Whereas I plan to watch Under the Skin again and again, I don't think I could ever sit through Inherent Vice again. But even though The Crying of Lot 49 flew over my 19-year-old head, and I never cracked open any Pynchon since, I'm excited to read the novel this year.
And now here are the top four flew-under-the-radar films that I still want to see.
1. The Drop.
Dennis Lehane writes great mystery novels. But they always collapse at the end. But they make great films. So, I want to see this one. Plus it starts Big Movie Stars/Remarkable Actors Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini (in his last role--insert sad emoticon).
2. Kill the Messenger.
A movie about the journalist who uncovered the CIA/Contra scandal in the 80s? Yes, yes, yes.
3. The Two Faces of January.
Viggo Mortensen and Oscar Isaac in a film adaptation of a Patricia Highsmith novel? I had to sit down when I found out about this one. It was in and out of the theaters in one weekend, I think, but you can rent it on itunes.
4. The Babadook.
A horror move that's not about gore or torture, or overwhelmed with explosive sound effects or CGI? A horror film that's about what is truly horrific--the pervasive nature of fear? Another yes.
I hope you enjoyed this semi-end-of-the-year list. Now I have four movies I need to watch, and then I'll be back with more fun stuff to love.
No comments
Post a Comment