Woooooooooooooooooooo!!!
Yes!! It is that magical time of year during which I get to review the glorious array of films I watched during the previous year, in triumphant vanquishment of my 52-movies-a-year resolution. I am just a tiny bit extra eager to celebrate this accomplishment because, as you may remember, is basically the only resolution I fully adhered to in the previous year.
Another reason to celebrate the writing of this particular post:
This is my fifth annual movie-round up! FIFTH!! There have been four other ones before this one!!
Guys I have written so many of these!!
Without further ado of any kind!
The PsychoCinematic Year in Movies
(2014 Edition)
1. Apollo 18 (2)
2. Room 237 (1)
3. The Wolf of Wall Street (5)
4. Cropsey (2)
5. American Hustle (3)
6. 30 for 30: The Price of Gold (3)
7. Ender's Game (4)
8. The Grand Budapest Hotel (4.5)
9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (4)
10. The Imposter (4)
11. Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony (3)
12. The Awakening (3.5)
13. The People vs. Larry Flynt (3)
14. The Queen of Versailles (3)
15. The Seven Year Itch (4)
16. Unhung Hero (3)
17. X-Men: Days of Future Past (3)
18. Zero Dark Thirty (4)
19. Behind the Candelabra (4.5)
20. 22 Jump Street (4)
21. The Conversation (4)
22. Badlands (4)
23. The Woodmans (4)
24. Snowpiercer (4)
25. Guardians of the Galaxy (4)
26. Spartacus (5)
27. Europa Report (4)
28. A Most Wanted Man (4)
29. Calvary (5)
30. Detropia (4)
31. 12 O'Clock Boys (5)
32. The Grey (3)
33. Boyhood (4.5)
34. One Nation Under God (4)
35. Blood Into Wine (2)
36. A Late Quartet (5)
38. Gosford Park (4)
39. Salinger (3)
40. Sons of Perdition (4)
41. The Drop (5)
42. Stuck (3)
43. (A)Sexual (2)
44. Best Worst Movie (3)
45. The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (1)
46. Muppets Most Wanted (3)
47. Bad Words (4)
48. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (3)
49. The Fugitive (4)
50. Divergent (2)
51. The Edge of Tomorrow (4)
52. The Lego Movie (5)
53. House on Haunted Hill (2)
54. Interstellar (4.5)
55. Shivers (1981) (3)
56. The Hunger Games: The Mockingjay, Part 1 (4)
57. Carrie (2013) (2)
58. The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden (2)
59. Foxcatcher (4)
60. The One I Love (4)
61. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2)
I would personally like to thank the month of September for being generally exceedingly incredible this year, both because some pretty great stuff happened during that month but also because, as a month during which I basically had nothing to do (other than finalize wedding plans and like get actually get married), I was able to watch SEVENTEEN movies. As you can see, without September, I would not have been able to exceed this year's 52 movies goal.
September: officially a good month.
Okay! Down to business. First thing's first: this year's most terrible movies!
For seriously? Alien rock-spiders?:
For being the first in this year's multi-entry series of meh documentaries, or
for serving as a reminder that being *about* a great movie doesn't make a movie great:
Room 237 (2012)
For acting as if you're making "The Thin Blue Line" (1988) when you're totally not:
Cropsey (2009)
For being proof that just because the guy from a band I like is in it, that doesn't mean
he knows how to make a competent documentary:
Blood Into Wine (2010)
For having a perfectly interesting topic with very bleh execution:
(A)Sexual (2011)
For having a pretty crappy and flat script and having literally zero to do with the Beatles:
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (2014)
For basically being "Hunger Games" without anywhere near as compelling a heroine:
Divergent (2014)
For abundant sexism and and annoying portrayal of a mental health practitioner:
For seriously fuck everyone responsible for every unnecessary movie remake:
Carrie (2013)
For passably interesting + way too long still = meh:
The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden (2013)
Finally, and based on last year predictably:
For being yet another piece of overwhelming evidence that Peter Jackson should not be allowed to make movies:
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
So now I get to choose my overall least favorite film from the past year. Like last year, this choice is a bit challenging due to the crowded field and many of the entries annoying me in slightly different but comparable ways.
Okay, I'm decided. I'm going to take a stand:
It was boring. Making this series into a trilogy was a blatant money grab at the immense expense of the plot, which was stretched way too thin and therefore had crap added to it unnecessarily. The characters were flat, their motives were stupid, and the stakes were not compelling. There were like TEN MINUTES OF DRAGON and that's it. IT WAS TOO GODDAMNED LONG.
Basically, I'm just so over Peter Jackson. I'm over his inability to hold a serious emotion for more than 90 seconds. I'm over his failure to recognize that a dramatic score and a bunch of bloated action sequences does not equal an intelligible or enjoyable story arc. I'm over what he's done to a series of books I loved deeply as a child.
UGH. MAKE HIM STOP.
And now on to the even more fun stuff!
The best movies I saw in 2014 were:
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Behind the Candelabra (2013)
Spartacus (1960)
Calvary (2014)
12 O'Clock Boys (2013)
Boyhood (2014)
A Late Quartet (2012)
The Drop (2014)
The Lego Movie (2014)
Interstellar (2014)
Oh God. This is a tough one.
Well, we all know I thought "Wolf of Wall Street" was fucking spectacular. It was brash and bold and funny but substantial and dark, excellently shot, and well-paced and making you want to see more even though it's over three hours long. That's pretty amazing.
"Behind the Candelabra" might seem like a bizarre choice, but the HBO movie featured incredible, touching, compelling performances by both Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. It beautifully honored and elevated its subject when it would have been very easy to make a trashy, cheap movie out of this story.
"Calvary" was directed by John Michael McDonagh, the older brother of possibly my favorite playwright, Martin McDonagh. Creating stories with inky black dark humor mixed with gut-churning, seething human anguish and imperfect, heartbreaking, and beautiful human decency clearly runs in this genius family. This film feels close and confining like a tense, tightly-written play but without the stiff staginess that cripples other stage-to-screen translations. I could watch Brendan Gleeson butter bread and be transfixed.
Finally, "The Lego Movie" is one of the most delightful, fresh, packed-with-smart-humor-and-genuine-sweetness films I've seen in years, easily rivaling the best of Pixar. Husband and I watched in twice within 24 hours and loved every minute of it. Also it features Charlie Day, my favorite!!
But finally, I have to go with a quieter movie that might have flown under most people's radars. It's a film that features a city I deeply, desperately love. Its footage is so gorgeously, unexpectedly moving it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. It's a powerful reminder that human beings have the capacity to create and thrive and self-empower in ways that we may not readily recognize or understand, but which are nevertheless vibrant examples of the gorgeous human spirit.
My favorite movie in 2014 is "12 O'Clock Boys."
It's on Netflix view instant--go see it!!**
{Heart}
** = ETA: I'm wrong about "12 O'Clock Boys" being available via Netflix view instant. You can rent the movie through the DVD service on Netflix, but it's unfortunately not streamable through that carrier. Instead, you can go to the movie's website to rent and stream the movie or buy it outright.
You can also watch the trailer!
** = ETA: I'm wrong about "12 O'Clock Boys" being available via Netflix view instant. You can rent the movie through the DVD service on Netflix, but it's unfortunately not streamable through that carrier. Instead, you can go to the movie's website to rent and stream the movie or buy it outright.
You can also watch the trailer!
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