My Favorite Films of 2014

The Oscars are coming tomorrow, and in honor of the event, I've decided to reveal the list everyone is waiting for (*pause for tension*), my favorite films of 2014 (*cricket chirps*). It's been an interesting year. I wouldn't say it was my favorite year for cinema, but it was extremely experimental. There was a lot of playing with narratives, genres, and styles. The two most talked about movies this year was Boyhood and Guardians of the Galaxy, which were two films that I respected more than I enjoyed, and there was a lot of that sentiment going on. Even with many of my favorite films, I have some squabbles with them, but they nevertheless turned me on way more then they turned me off. Because of this, I won't even rank them, but just present them order in which I saw them. 

I'll put my disclaimer, like I did last year, where I remind anyone reading this that I watch and analyze movies as a hobby. I am not a professional, so I don't get to see as many films as most film critics, who can easily see 250-300 new movies a year. There are many that I still haven't seen that I heard are great and would have liked to have seen before making this list, like Big Men, Leviathan, Mr. Turner, and Two Days, One Night.

That being said, I would like to mention a couple of films that almost made the list, but I decided didn't quite make the cut. Captain America: The Winter Soldier contained some of my favorite action set pieces I've seen since The Bourne Ultimatum, was the most thrilling super hero movie this year and my favorite movie from Marvel studios; The Lego Movie won me over with its wit, creativity, crazy cameos, Easter eggs, and damn catchy theme song; and We Are the Best! was a lively, lighthearted story about three punk, teenage girls living in a "punk is dead" world, and I need that spirit in my life from time to time.

The first great film that I saw this year is totally for the nerds out there. Particle Fever tells the story about trying to find the elusive Higg boson particle, a building block of the universe that little is known about because it is smaller than an electron in an atom. The documentary is made up of two narrative threads; one part showcase the experimental physicists who are trying to get the Large Hadron Collider, the largest machine in the world that involve smashing atoms together, up and running; the second part is about a group of theoretical  physicist who are trying to decipher the data that the LHC may find. Particle Fever is great because it makes the topic interesting for those who know little about the topic, but revealing and jargon heavy enough for those who have kept up on this story. Tension builds up as the LHC fails and gets fixed time and again, while the filmmakers sprinkle in these great moments of visual pop and inventiveness that separates it from other science documentaries. The film reveals more about our universe, but, as always, the more know, the more we can question.

I have liked my share of Wes Anderson movies in the past. Fantastic Mr. Fox, Rushmore, and Moonrise Kingdom are all great, but I have never been an Anderson champion. I always felt that with his movies that  I should be having more fun with all of his style and schtick than I actually do. So, if you were to tell me that his latest feature was like the rest of his filmography but bigger, I would have made a puke face. But for me, bigger is better when it come to Anderson films. The Grand Budapest Hotel is probably his most violent (heads and fingers get chopped off) and his jokiest (both visual and verbal). The story spans many decades, and is ultimately a retelling about hotel concierge M. Gustave H., who become a fugitive when one of his elderly "lady friends" is murdered, and he is the number one suspect. It's a fun caper made up of a large and fantastic cast, lead by Ralph Fiennes, who is quietly perfect in the film. The films can be painfully bittersweet at times, but it is, without a doubt, a crowd-pleaser.

Since Netflix started releasing their own original documentaries, they seem to be getting more thoughtful, engaging, and even controversial, as seen with Blackfish and The Square. My favorite from the video rental and streaming site has to be Virunga, a call-to-arms about the fragile existence of the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Presented in gorgeous photography that is straight from National Geographic, Virunga showcases a number of people fighting on behalf of the biodiversity that make up the park. The struggles of the park include political unrest caused by rebels, poachers, and oil companies who are craving the natural resources that the park is on top of. The interesting thing about the doc is that many stories coming from this region are often bleak and hopeless, and sure, there are some straight up, right out of Captain Planet-esque villains seen, but the focus is mainly on the heroes of the park. We meet a ex-child soldier turned biologist, a dedicated caretaker of the orphaned gorillas, and a French journalist who spies on foreign representative who plan to exploit the area. Despite what we often see on the worldly news, the area is capable taking care of itself as long as external influences stay out of the way, and that is a more attractive narrative that is less often painted.

Set in 1960's Poland, a young novice and orphan named Anna is told by here mother superior that she must meet with her aunt before Anna is allowed to take her final vows. Anna meets her Aunt Wanda, who is the opposite of the pure, shy, and naive Anna, and she tell the young girl that their family were Jews and murdered during the war while Anna was a baby. The two eventually go on a road trip to discover what really happened to their family, and the two opposing personalities causes stress and sometimes humor between the two. Ida features some of the most striking black and white cinematography I've seen recently. Anna is often depicted as a marble statue of some saintly figure, but her inky, black eyes reveal the darkness that is part of her and her family's history. Ida seems like a film that would be about religion, but it's more about identity, as Anna is coming to grips who is. The film is a skim 80 minutes, and my only complaint is that it could be a little longer, but that also mean that it will be easier for me to visit time and time again, something that I plan on doing.

Ex-superhero action star Riggin Thomson has been a Hollywood wash-up for a long time since his last Birdman movie in the mid-90's. Desperate to reclaim the fame and glory, he decide to direct, write, and act in a Broadway play despite not knowing anything about the theater world. In the face of juggling an ex-addict daughter, a prima donna actor, a crazed, pregnant actress/girlfriend, and press that are waiting to eat him alive, Riggin is trying to hold on to what little sanity he has left. With a magical realistic world and a wandering camera that doesn't want to take it's eye off the characters, Birdman offers a warped and painfully funny look at one man's vanity project. Through meta-casting (Emma Stone is just the tops; even haters of the film can't deny her greatness in the film), technical extravagance,  a jazzy score, and snappy, snarky dialogue, Birdman is an amusing and explosive showbiz black comedy.

The biopic genre can really be the worst. I mean it, just the worst. They sometimes cover too much ground, or present the lead figure with too much historical weight, but lately, there was been some impressive features out in the last couple of years, including Milk and Lincoln, and Selma will join that list as a favorite. What the filmmakers did right with Selma is that it focuses on a set time period of the lead figure's life, this time being Martin Luther King Jr.'s voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama. Included in his fight to get the voting rights marches started, King must deal with marital problems and a stonewalling White House. King is painted in a humanistic light, as he is often questioning and debating his next move just as much as he is leading. David Oyelowo is perfect as King, and it seems like no one else could have filled up such big shoes. While King is definitely the highlighted figure here, there are many supporting character that have great, small moments, so when you see a crowd on the screen, you get an idea as to the state of mind this congregation has. The film is beautifully shot, but not too beautiful, and is classically put together. It can be heart wrenching at times and contains an emotional punch caused by the poignancy of its release. In a year that was filled with so much racial tension, it's good for us to get a history lesson, because we have gained so much, but the battle still goes on. 

When loner Andrew Neiman gets picked for acclaimed Professor Terence Fletcher's jazz band, he thought he has made it big, but that was hardly the case. Little did he know that Fletcher is a teacher that could make a drill instructor cry. In Whiplash, jazz drumming is a contact sport, as Fletcher demand sweat, tears and blood from his students if they think they're going to cut it, and Neiman may be the student with just enough drive to give it his all. The film is intense, maybe the most intense out of all of the film's on this list, and it's a fascinating character study. On one hand, Andrew is being manipulated by Fletcher, but then again, Andrew doesn't necessarily seem like an innocent party. The films examines the artistic ego, and ask whether these characters' drive is for fame or excellence, and what does it all really the cost. Obviously, the film takes place in the same distorted, artistic world that is seen in Birdman or Black Swan; J.K. Simmons is laughably evil as Fletcher, but what makes him so devious is that you can see why the characters' would want his respect. The last 20 minutes is as hot as a pressure cooker, and by the end, you don't know whether to cheer or be horrified, and that conflict ages a film well.

In Force Majeure, a nuclear, Swedish family is skiing in the French alps, who is having a great holiday until a controlled avalanche gets a little out of hand. Instead of protecting his family, the father, Tomas, runs away, leaving the rest to fend for themselves. After all of the dust has settled, Tomas' wife, Ebba, is shaken and upset because of his actions, and even more so because he denies his conduct. The vacation turns into picture of anger and resentment on both sides. The story reminds me of last years The Loneliest Planet, but Force Majeure does a better job exploring the dynamics between the characters, particularly the gender roles installed in a modern couple. The film is a deservingly harsh and complicated look at upper-middle class males. I'm still trying to find my footing with the film, and it is because I think the film has a lot to say. It can be uncomfortable, like sitting next to a couple fighting at dinner, and but it's a fascinating debacle that can't be missed.

In the age of computer-generated animation features, it seems like every year contains one or two films that showcase the power of classically hand-drawn animation. A lot of the times, these films come from the Japanese Studio Ghibli, producers of classics, such as Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro. This year, they've pushed animation to new artistic heights with The Tale of Princess Kaguya, a retelling of one of Japan's oldest folktales. In it, a tiny girl is found in a bamboo stalk by a bamboo cutter, and he and his wife decide the raise the quickly growing girl as their own. Believing her to be a princess from Heaven, the couple leave the countryside with their adoptive daughter to raise her as a princess in the state's capital. Being trained in the discipline of a noble lady, Princess Kaguya falls into a deep depression, as she wishes for more besides the joyless traditions and the endless amount of insincere suitors. The film is presented in a painterly quality that looks like the concept art for a film, and calls upon charcoal and watercolor paintings from the ancient island. It's a magically tale, but the fantasy elements are sparse and smartly used, as they pull a more kinetic punch when they do happen. The film can be disheartening at times, as Kaguya fells helpless more and more as time goes on, but it does become a story about being human, and dealing with all of the joy, the sorrow, and "all of the shades in between."