Favorite Films of 2014

2014 was a year that had movies in it.
Here are my favorite films of 2014.
I pushed back making my top ten list until today the very last day of 2014 movie hype.
I wrote everything this morning.
Here is a list of films I saw in 2014
See ya next year

10. Mommy

I understand the complaints there have been about the 1:1 aspect ratio as well as its conventional narrative but the heartfelt handling of the characters and their struggle all leading up to a scene using this piece of music  which I believe was one of the best of the year contribute to a really well made film about family, class, and personal obligations.

9. Force Majeure 

A father runs away from his family in a panic during a controlled avalanche that comes frighteningly close. I am not fully on board with others about it being a masterpiece but the way the camera just observes the family in moments that escalate, as well as its themes on family, masculinity, and nature make it stronger than most films.  

8. Wild

I am the most shocked that I really loved this one. Everything leading up to it including the director's previous film DALLAS BUYERS CLUB and this trailer (which uses a visual representation of the fork in the road) had me wait 3 months to go and watch it. In fact it is a story of a woman trying to find her place between self destruction and her clearer perception that her mother was an incredible person. Every person (mostly male) that the character meets along the way reflect onto her different ways women are objectified or taken advantage of.

7. A Most Violent Year

Call me a sucker for representations of old New York City, homages to older films, strong visual symbolism such as blood and oil, and Oscar Issac.

6. The Overnighters

I did want to represent a documentary this year and all year LIFE ITSELF was the contender but THE OVERNIGHTERS is one of the best films of the year. It doesn't get lost in its subject matter, instead focusing on what makes a strong documentary, which is adding character to an event or problem that you want to cover. Too many documentaries rely on talking heads or just a wikipedia page of information but the character of The Pastor is so complex that it allows the filmmakers to discuss American morals, the system we live in, and the Dakota oil boom through him.

5. Dear White People

Yes, it is a depiction of race in the age of Obama, Yes, it is a sharp critique of the hypocrisy in society. But it is also a clear well written voice filled with distinct characters.

4. The Duke of Burgundy

One of the most gorgeously shot films of the year covering a complex relationship. 

3. Under The Skin

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY gives us the birth of man and man versus the machine, but here we get woman versus the societal machine. Scarlett Johansson gives the best performance of the year.

2. The Grand Budapest Hotel

The name Wes Anderson has become a sort of dirty word because of a lot of the empty hype that surrounds him. It just so happens that he has made two of his superior films in his last two efforts. His aesthetic is used to elevate his narrative rather than compliment it.

1. Whiplash

"There are no two words in the English language more harmful than good job." 

Greatness can be achieved but at what cost? Every scene in the film is the scene, J.K. Simmons is at the top of his game. WHIPLASH was the best film, thriller, and sports film of the year. 

Songs in Films 2014

I have said in the past that music videos are the superior form of film. Images that can be cut overlapped with other sensory elements such as music is the reason we are watching stories instead of reading them. I have combined the great uses of music in this years in film with some of my favorite scores of this year.

Film: Under The Skin

Artist: Mica Levi

Starting with my favorite score of the year, Levi's work is so much a part of a mostly quiet film, adding atmosphere to slow walks, dark hallways and open space. I picked this track because it is the most memorable but front to back every track is top tier work.

Played throughout WILD the same way Mrs. Robinson is played in THE GRADUATE, sometimes used as a reoccurring score but at the right moments taking over montages. The song is wonderful with or without the film.

A disappointing film for me, but the score, which is drum heavy, keeps the beat and pace for the always flowing film.

This scene captures the essence of the film, as things are tough she is trying to stay above the line of depression. Here, there is some forced happiness but also some pure joy as the film explores a complex set of emotions set off by a simple game.

Another disappointing film, and a score I don't think works that well with the film. Like many of Zimmer's scores it is overwhelming and distracting but outside of the film it is a Zimmer score that builds much like most of his post inception scores but there is so much more going on than just horns blasting.

A song so catchy that it made all of us become what it was parodying.

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There isn't anything too special about this one other than it is solid. Alexandre Desplat is constantly putting out good work such as this as well as his score for THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL but I chose this one because I will be writing about the latter again.

This one is a spoiler if you haven't seen the film or know how plots usually work out in films. But an excellent moment in a film all about emotional disconnection.

Similar to the score for THE IMITATION GAME, it is just a standard "Academy Award" score but it really is a beautiful piece of music.

This is one of two scenes in a film that is not very good. THE SKELETON TWINS is carried by the performances of Wig and Hader and their chemistry in a scene such as this show how incredible talented and charismatic they are. 

There are other scores and songs I 

Top Songs 2014

I don't believe I am articulate enough to describe music. I gave it a little try in relation to film in the post before this one but here I am just going to list my favorite songs of the last year. The videos are mostly in form of music videos, because you should always watch more music videos.

I also made a youtube and spotify playlist if the reader were to want to listen in an easier format.

25. 

Conor Oberst 

"Enola Gay"

24. 

Saintseneca 

"Happy Alone"

23. 

Hurray For The Riff Raff 

"The Body Electric"

22.

Tweedy

"Summer Noon"

21.

Mac Demarco

"Salad Days"

20.

Mapei

"Don't Wait"

19.

The Antler's

"Palace"

18.

Little Daylight

"Overdose"

17.

Alt-J

"Hunger of the Pines"

16.

St. Vincent

"Birth In Reverse"

15. 

Tune-Yards

"Real Thing"

14. 

BRONCHO

"Class Historian"

13.

Jenny Lewis

"She's Not Me"

12.

Nick Waterhouse

"Holly"

11.

Gemma Ray

"The Wheel"

10.

Kishi Bashi

"Philosophize In It! Chemicalize With It!"

9.

The Preatures

"Is This How You Feel?"

8.

Real Esate

"Talking Backwards"

7.

First Aid Kit

"My Silver Lining"

6.

Sylvan Esso

"Could I Be"

5.

Tom Brosseau

"Today Is A Bright New Day"

4.

Taylor Swift

"Blank Space"

3.

The New Pornographers

"Fantasy Fools"

2.

Hamilton Leithauser

"Alexandra"

1.

Shakey Graves

"The Perfect Parts"

Reading List 2014

Below is a list of books, short stories, plays, and comics that I have read in 2014.

Slotback Rhapsody: A Novel by Christopher Harris
On Writing by Stephen King
All Star Superman by Grant Morrison
Film Critic by Laremy Legel
The Persians by Aeschylus
John Adams  by David McCullough
The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow
Thomas Jefferson and The New Nation by Merrill Peterson
James Madison: A Biography by Ralph Ketcham
The Last Meeting of The Knights of the White Magnolia  Preston Jones
Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander by Preston Jones
The Oldest Living Graduate by Preston Jones
Wes Anderson Collection by Matthew Zoller Seitz
Stephen F Austin Empresario of Texas by Gregg Cantrell
Weird City by Joshua Ling
Austin by David C. Humphrey
Seat of Empire: The Embattled Birth Of Austin, Texas  by Jeffrey Stuart Kerr
Catching The Big Fish by David Lynch
Joe Dante  by Nil Baskar
Fantasy Life by Matthew Berry
The Passion of David Lynch: Wild at Heart in Hollywood by Martha Nochimson
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
The Shining by Stephen King
The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether by Edgar Allen Poe
The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe
Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

        With the Marvel films, I feel conflicted due to my love for “The Avengers” but indifference toward the rest of the canon. As we enter “Phase II” of the Marvel franchise it seems there is room to expand into new areas especially with the upcoming release of “Guardians of The Galaxy” and the construction of the most recent Iron Man film. Captain America acts as the backbone to the Avengers team representing more of a patriotic ideal grounding the highs of Tony Stark and The Hulk while being foreign to the present time yet less foreign than Thor. This backbone plays well in an ensemble of characters yet it seems to be tough to highlight the star qualities of Captain America.

This second installment of the Captain America franchise goes in the direction of a paranoid thriller when Steve Rogers/ Captain America begins to question Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) on how things exactly are run in S.H.I.E.L.D.. In an action set piece highlighting more of the Tony Stark technologies in the series rather than any type of cinematic action, we are introduced to an army of faux police officers who attack Fury while he is driving. Technologies such as a computerized bullet proof car, equipped with a machine gun can get him out past the police officers but a sudden new threat is introduced as a man resembling more of a disturbed teenager than a super villain known as The Winter Soldier who’s badassness comes from the accessory of a metal arm is introduced flipping Fury’s car with heavy explosives. Fury is able to escape the assassination attempt with enough time to tell Rogers to trust no one while handing him a drive with information on how S.H.I.E.L.D. has been compromised. The events leave Captain America alone, unsure about Fury, unable to trust anyone.

Due to previous installments, we as the audience are incline to trust Natasha Romanoff/ Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and it seems Captain America feels the same as she is able to become a partner to Rogers, giving the character of Black Widow much more development and screen time that is deserved yet empty from the other films. Johansson’s character of Black Widow is a lot of fun combining the out of place physical action in “Iron Man 2” with the wit and ability to always be one step ahead during her scenes in “The Avengers”. Captain America is also paired with a new character Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) a likable Iraq War Veteran and running companion of Steve Rogers who has secrets and talents of his own. Another addition is Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) known for turning down the Noble Peace Price because “Peace is not a prize”, who holds a position in the World Council and is a close friend of Fury’s. Redford comes at this character with a lot of energy but the character is not well written leaving scenes focusing on him to be heavy with plot circling around the S.H.I.E.L.D. crisis.

The film is at its best when it is trying to capture the 1980’s body action. The film opens showing a routine stealth mission for Captain America as he boards a ship captured by pirates and takes out almost all of the bad guys by himself with pure force. These scenes are shot like a “Bourne” film using the shakey camera to disorient but the action is pure muscle. This is shown more steadily when it comes to fight sequences between Captain America and The Winter Solder who has connections with The Black Widow’s Soviet past, his metal arm represents the mechanics and machinery associated with 80’s Soviet villains (Rocky IV) which tests the strength of the American body of Captain America, or one built on muscle. Unfortunately, by the end of the film, Marvel once again takes us on a gigantic robotic air ship that distracts from the spectacle and physical action of Captain America’s fighting scenes.

On the surface, the sequel adds inner conflict to the character of Captain America, it is interesting how the character reflects American history in the way Captain America (similar to 1940’s public opinion) is portrayed as being pro war and government in the need to take down an evil empire Nazi Germany/Hydra but as time goes on he tends to question his government as the enemy is not so defined and the question of how much surveillance is necessary comes into play.  Surveillance does become the main focus of the film that really pushes forth its post 9/11 imagery and NSA themes. Fury even says something along the lines of “After New York we needed to do everything possible to prevent another attack”. Marvel has not been known for getting into gritty realistic political themes in their films, yet “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” falls into the same category as blockbusters from “The Dark Knight” to “Star Trek Into Darkness” by trying to push a bigger message more current with our political reality. In the case of Captain America it treads onto elements “The Dark Knight” explored six years prior while never exploring what it means to live in a world with superheroes, surveillance, and over bearing government but instead just echoing what we see in headlines everyday choosing to project rather than reflect.

The Veronica Mars Movie

  Veronica Mars

      Unlike many “Veronica Mars’” fans I found myself only having to wait 24 hours between shows end until my experience with the film. This caused the film to be something of an natural extension of the show rather than something I wanted and waited for. Watching an episode a day for the past couple of months really started to wear down by the time the third season came along. Similar to the way the film establishes the three season history in the opening credits of the film, I shall start off by recapping my experience concluding that at its core “Veronica Mars” is a soapy teenage crime drama that has aspects of film noir but is overshadowed by pandering to pop culture fan fare. Rob Thomas is a mediocre director but a master of understanding his audience’s needs and feeding them while keeping a solid mystery at the heart of the narrative.  A lot of discussion about the film comes from the Kickstarter narrative built around it that I have no interest in. Instead, the film is more interesting as a continuation of a series trying to branch out into a bigger network but staying true to its original goals and fans.
The film honors the time that has passed as we find out that Veronica (Kristen Bell) is on the path to a strong successful career while maintaining a healthy relationship with  Piz (Chris Lowell) who we last saw with Veronica at the end of Season Three. The film acts as an extended episode but also a condensed season as it brings back the Veronica love triangle when we learn that Logan (Jason Dohring), once again, is suspected of murder. This time it is his girlfriend with similar traits and fame to Lady Gaga, who is found dead in a bathtub.  Internal conflict ensues when Veronica decides to clear Logan’s name by returning to Neptune, the town that plays such a pivotal role in Veronica’s early years.
The first quarter of the film acts as a “We are getting the band back together” montage played out in multiple scenes. This aspect of the film somehow feels both tacky and genuine as we once again meet Veronica’s father (Enrico Colantoni) as well as Mac and Wallace (Tina Majorino, Percy Daggs III). I would assume this would have no effect on a first time viewer but this film is made for the fans and it goes back to the way Thomas forcefully puts in these moments but he knows they will have a hearty effect.
An interesting thing Thomas does in the film is the way he characterizes Neptune. Our first introduction to the town comes when Veronica and her father are driving through a run down neighborhood where we see cops arresting innocent citizens as they hurry to find something in their car to charge them for. The aspect of race and income inequality has been a long time theme of the show but here in the film Thomas shows the extremes that it has come to, capturing Neptune as an almost post apocalyptic “hell mouth“.  This characterization of Neptune is brief and Thomas coming from a television background seems to run away from the impact a lingering camera on this set could have.

Spoilers Ahead!!

A way in which the film presents itself as necessary is the way that it still explores old themes while introducing new ones by using time. Specifically, the ideas of depression that comes with acceptance of life’s realities and the drug like high of running away from a structured life, putting forth a metaphor of Veronica being an addict to Neptune. Veronica’s narration talks about the connection between drug addicts and her “addiction” for the dangerous life Logan lives as opposed to the safe life in New York. A lot of the films conflict comes from her pushing off the lawyer job in order to pursue the investigation. But it seems that even Neptune has grown up as Logan who is known for his uncontrolled violence in the show joins the military as a form of controlled violence. Mac has taken a job in computers for the Duncan corporation but views it as her being defeated by a high paycheck. And Wallace is now a high school basketball coach at Neptune High and constantly reminding Veronica that there are consequences now that they are adults.
It is almost hypocritical how the film chooses the dangerous life but is so safe with its characters and plots. A problem I found with the show was always how things were never grey but all the blame of a crime could be put onto a purely bad guy always leaving the core intact by the end of the run. Here in the film it works the same way as Gia and Dick, characters we know and remember are blamed for the crime except by the end it turns out that they are victims and all the blame can be put onto a pure evil character straight out of a bad CSI episode. The same can be said for Veronica’s relationships as she never cheats but conveniently is always broken up with right before she can move onto the next guy never fully examining the complex emotions that are going through her. She is sheltered the way she breaks away from her “safe” life and goes with Logan as she narrates how she has lost to the addiction. There seems to be this appearance of danger coming from Veronica and director Rob Thomas without ever fully going there. With all that said, it seems that the film would have no purpose to anyone not familiar to the show, maybe it would cause an interest to visit the show but it is made for fans as a nice conclusion to the Veronica Mars narrative.


For every forced Buffy reference, overly dramatic moment, and easy pop culture comment there is a really great scene like the one below

The Monuments Men

The Monuments Men

It is devastating to watch a film be held hostage by its subject matter in a way that limits it from being anything more than what it is. The Monuments Men is exactly that, a film designed to celebrate art without having any type of artistic stroke to it. That being said, the film seems to be somewhat aware of its limits in the way that is glamorizes the idea of those limits by addressing the boundaries of language and art while constantly trying to create conflict in order to expand the stakes of the journey.

With a cast of some of the biggest American names, such as Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman and writer and director, George Clooney, the film highlights the patriotic American cause to save art (which is noted to be approved by President Roosevelt). Frank Stokes’ (Clooney) idea seems ludicrous to those with military minds he comes in contact with but from a position of looking back on history we understand the importance of the task. After Stokes gets the approval to move forward with the mission he gets to assemble an art dream team (which seems more of those left behind than those of the greatest minds). This aimless team with questionable talents is not limited to the previously mentioned American stars but like the war, includes those of the allied powers such as Academy Award winner Jean Dujardin (The Artist), and  English character actor Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey).

The barriers come into play with the casting of Australian actress Cate Blanchett playing the only female role of importance as well as the only character with any real opinions or back story. Blanchett‘s Claire Simone, a French woman, must work with James Granger (Damon) shortly after being forced to aid the Nazi’s  causing her to not trust the Americans after the occupation, due to a suspicion that they may also try to steal the art. The teams break off and showcase their comedic talents, such as Matt Damon trying to speak French even though those he tries to communicate request English rather than hear their language butchered. Breaking apart the cast most likely made the film easier to shoot but it creates this tonally off story where one character’s life is in danger inter cut with two other characters attempting broad comedy.

The conflict used to create tension is that Hitler has ordered all art should be destroyed if he or Germany is to fall, while the silent, fast moving, Russians want to take the art as compensation for their job in turning the war. This tension feels created as well as other parts of the film, forcefully pumping importance to the character’s narratives to give the mission more importance than actually is there. Clooney tries but fails to handle the tension and comedy that a film such as Inglorious Bastards (2009) succeeds with (barring the subject matter, some scenes feel awfully similar). This creates a film distracted by the influx of personalities overlapping melodrama and comedy without letting a particular genre effectively play out.

The Second World War was one of boundaries in both the way countries were invaded but also in the way it brought forth moral boundaries about America’s engagement in the war. The film suggests that art does not have these boundaries instead it is universal, able to be appreciated in all parts of the world by all types of people (The death of a Picasso is treated just as carefully as a death of a solider). These boundaries are also discussed with the casting and the way language is used. Cate Blanchett can play a French woman, differing languages can be overcome, and the English, French and Americans band together illustrating the way art can transcend boundaries. It is these ideas in The Monuments Men that could make it the prestige  picture the marketing desperately wants it to be but awkward balancing prevents the picture from being anywhere near what it is celebrating.