by Christopher Barr │POSTED ON JANUARY 02, 2015
This year was an amazing year for films. We had great dramas such as Foxcatcher, The Theory of Everything, Locke and The Skeleton Twins. We had original science fiction like Snowpiercer and the good but not perfect Christopher Nolan film, Interstellar. We had some pretty funny comedies like 22 Jump Street, Neighbors and the charming Chris Rock film Top Five. We had endearing films like Chef, St. Vincent and Begin Again. We had some exciting action movies like The Equalizer, Godzilla, Fury and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, which featured the last performance by the late great Phillip Seymour Hoffman. We had films out that I wasn’t able to see due to their limited release availability like Inherent Vice, A Most Violent Year and Selma, which I would love to have seen before compiling this list.
This year was an amazing year for films. We had great dramas such as Foxcatcher, The Theory of Everything, Locke and The Skeleton Twins. We had original science fiction like Snowpiercer and the good but not perfect Christopher Nolan film, Interstellar. We had some pretty funny comedies like 22 Jump Street, Neighbors and the charming Chris Rock film Top Five. We had endearing films like Chef, St. Vincent and Begin Again. We had some exciting action movies like The Equalizer, Godzilla, Fury and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, which featured the last performance by the late great Phillip Seymour Hoffman. We had films out that I wasn’t able to see due to their limited release availability like Inherent Vice, A Most Violent Year and Selma, which I would love to have seen before compiling this list.
The year had a lot of stupid religious movies, which
is odd to have so many in one year, like God
in Not Dead, Son of God, Heaven is
for Real, Left Behind and Exodus: Gods and Kings, with the
exception of Noah, they felt like
they were banging down the door like Jehovah’s witnesses, cramming their make
believe God down our atheistic throats. Before I get into the good stuff
I’m going to go into the disappointing to the unbearable movies, like I, Frankenstein and Need for Speed, that some of us were subjected to throughout 2014.






Thankfully there were so many great films this
year. Below are my honorable mentions.










Here is my top ten films of the year. They are a collection of films that are my
favorite and not necessarily anyone else’s.
I can say as I stated above that this was a great year for films so this
list ended up being a little harder to compile then prior years.
10.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Marvel Studios have proven themselves to be innovative
film craftsmen as they expand on their cinematic universe, but I along with
most people, didn’t see this juggernaut coming.
This movie has no right to be this fun; it has all the makings of stupid
failure. Instead it’s a blast even upon
multiple viewings. The characters are
all unique and fresh, I mean the film has the most loveable tree in the history
of cinema. The worlds that were created
were so rich in texture and filled with color, making it so refreshing in a
time when there is a lot of lazy CGI work done on blockbusters, an example
being the forgettable, The Hobbit: The
Battle of the Five Armies.
9.
Citizenfour
This daring documentary is a testament of what can be
achieved and exposed in this time in cinema history. The film follows
whistleblower Edward Snowden as he leaks documents implicating the National
Security Agency for spying on non-targeted Americans, for the purposes of
control and providing private spending and habit information to their multinational
corporate partners. At its
heart and what was so inspiring about it is its bravery. Snowden along with the remarkable journalist
involved showed such courage, such honor in a time when these things are fake, empty
words decorated and then spewed by bureaucrats.
8. The Imitation Game
This inspiring yet tragic film, brilliantly acted, was
about the life and mind of Alan Turing, the father of modern computing. This film was also about inequality and
ignorance. Benedict Cumberbatch was enthralling as Turing figuring out how to
decode the so-called unbreakable German Enigma machine during WW2.
7.
Nightcrawler
Jake
Gyllenhaal
transforms himself into slithering predator in this sickeningly honest
film. The film is a dark satire on the journalism business along the
blood soaked night streets of Los Angeles. In this ‘if it bleeds it
leads’ candid film a young opportunist takes his camera into horrifying
situations to get footage for the local news. It’s a wonderfully cruel
film and at points it’s hard to watch but still worth every minute. It’s a cautionary tale about this point in
our history where some disturbed people have quit the human race in order to be
famous.
6.
Whiplash
This film hits you to the core and if you don’t like
Jazz (I don’t know how you couldn’t) then this film makes you a believer.
It teaches you that a ‘good job’ isn’t good enough if you want to achieve
greatness. It also asks about the cost both personally and socially, to
achieve excellence, who will you have to leave behind and should you even make
that sacrifice in the first place.
5.
Wild
This daring, and in some cases hypnotic, film is about
a young woman’s journey to discover herself.
She hikes for 1,100 miles along the Pacific Crest Trail starting in the
Mojave Desert. For me, this film is one
of the most emotionally driven and brutally honest films of the year. This film did not use filmmaking gimmicks or
any form of spectacle to draw its audience into this woman’s need for change. Reese
Witherspoon also gives a career best performance playing the woman who this
remarkable story is based on.
4.
Boyhood
This coming-of-age unique tale (12 years to be exact)
is an organic film that reveals life in a series of moments rather than a
continuous narrative. It’s a beautifully shot and acted ambitious film
that deserves all the attention it’s getting for indie filmmaking favorite, Richard Linklater.
3.
Only Lovers Left Alive
Eve and Adam are two vampires that pretty well live
under the radar in this beautifully directed film. In a time when vampires have become
superheroes or monsters, this film decides to tell a story about societal
emptiness and communal decadence. It’s
about two people, for the most, part staying out of the way as they witness
mankind destroy its own humanity alone with its environment. At its heart though, the film is about the possibility
of everlasting love, survival and the power of knowledge.
2.
Under The Skin
Taking hypnotic filming cues from 2001: A Space Odyssey, this film tells the story of an indifferent
alien in the form of Scarlett Johansson,
that begins to experience human emotion as she brings men back to her
absorption chamber for processing, essentially death. The film is shot
beautifully as the alien roams the streets searching for more victims.
This is not a film for everybody but it is worth a look, if anything for
Johansson’s riveting performance and director Jonathan Grazer stunning visuals and sound, which he wonderfully offers
in this odd film.
1.
Birdman
This magnificent masterful film is a symbolic roller
coaster ride through the subconscious mind of a washed-up actor. Riggan Thomson struggles to find meaning and relevancy
in a world where many around him are fighting for the same thing. Michael
Keaton gives a career best performance in a film filled with great
performances. Emma Stone and Edward Norton
are among the standout actors in this wonderful, refreshing piece of cinema
that will most defiantly become a cult classic and favorite for years to come.
Nice post!! Thanks for shraing this.
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