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| Scene from How to Train Your Dragon 2 |
We have officially reached the end of the year. It is time to uncover the best films of the year. The following is a rundown of the Top 50 films that I saw in 2014 (for films that I missed, check this list). From animated films to very surreal foreign films, it was a great year that is deserving of some recognition. These are the films that strove for something different whether artistic or thematic. Enjoy as I count down personal favorites and give some opinions on why they matter. Don't be afraid to share your thoughts on the films as well as your own list.
1. How to Train Your Dragon 2 (dir. Dean Dublois)
Dreamworks Animation has dropped the gauntlet for the standard for CG animation once again. In this sequel, they expand upon the original idea with more dragons, emotional beats and beautifully intricate visuals that put every other CG animated release to shame. The film is a nonstop ride of breathtaking visuals and features some of the most powerful emotional moments of the year. It is a film that may not seem like a traditional kids movie, but ends up challenging audiences with darkness and complicated subject matter. It embodies everything that a family film should be. It's also just perfectly written and tries harder than almost every other mainstream film in 2014.
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel (dir. Wes Anderson)
This is the point where Wes Anderson became a caricature of himself. This isn't in a bad way. This almost serves as his magnum opus that not only embodies some of the most gorgeous set designs and eloquent uses of profanity of the year, but almost uses it tauntingly. Along with some of the most creative uses of aspect ratios, this is a film rich with humor, capers, animation and excellent supporting characters. If nothing else, few directors have managed to make films so distinct and so excessive without losing their charm. Along with Alexandre Desplat's amazing score, this is a confident film that embraces art better than any other film this year.
3. Dear White People (dir. Justin Simien)
It has been a rough year for race relations. As much as we want to believe that we're living in a post-racial society, there's very few signs that we are. Taking a comedic and eloquent take on the subject is Dear White People. It mixes the ferocity of Spike Lee's racial commentary with intellectual comedy and a few dissections of popular black figures such as Tyler Perry and Big Momma's House movies. It is funny, ferocious and full of diversity in a film that does more than question race. It questions why it should matter more than having your own identity. I can only hope that as time goes on that this film will gain more of an audience and become one of the integral pieces of cinema this decade to deal with race relations.
4. Under the Skin (dir. Jonathan Glazer)
This film is weird and beautiful. It manages to become an ethereal, cinematic exploration of isolation and sexuality in ways that don't necessarily need words to say a lot. With transparent imagery and a haunting score by Mica Levi, there's plenty of alien personality here that works as a meditative experience that is occasionally unsettling. Still, there's few films that manage to capture images so perplexing and rich that it doesn't matter what the story's actually about. Scarlett Johansson uses her body for art and works as a vehicle for ideas that try to make sense of the world. It is more than an art house film. It is simply art.
5. Palo Alto (dir. Gia Coppola)
I am not entirely sure what the Coppolas spike their children's cereal with, but it does produce some fantastic art. Gia is the latest to join the directorial crop with an excellent debut that works as a more meditative and fluid form of Sofia's brooding nature. Following teenage characters as they try to pass time in Palo Alto, CA, the film captures a beauty of being young in ways that few films this decade have achieved. The film is a masterpiece of angst without ever becoming trapped in the tropes that would limit its appeal. Emma Roberts is a standout full of vulnerable romance and life. Its atmospheric charm and use of the phrase "I'm not Bob" adds to its aimless appeal that more films about being young and unsure should include.
6. Boyhood (dir. Richard Linklater)
It is the film that you've likely heard about nonstop for months now. Exploring the use of time on film, Richard Linklater chronicles Mason's life journey over 12 years. Over close to three hours, the film becomes a surreal journey through life that's full of personal triumphs, failures and those strange conversations that make up our life. The film as a whole's biggest accomplishment works more as a scrapbook of the 00's: a rather indistinct decade that hasn't really had a defining film until now. Full of humor and awe, this is a film that will likely appeal to the nostalgia enthusiasts inside us as the film explores familial dynamics and how society and school can change us along with our families. It is an epic unlike any other and likely to remain Linklater's most popular film, if just for its successfully ambitious structure.
7. Still Alice (dir. Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland)
This film will destroy you. Focusing on the life of Alice as she becomes diagnosed with Alzheimer's, it is a haunting tale that is antithetical to what makes great movies. Julianne Moore's performance is heartbreaking as it diminishes before our eyes. With solid supporting actors Kristen Stewart and Alec Baldwin, this is a film that takes a serious subject and makes it more vulnerable and haunting. By the end when the inevitable happens, there's the horror of having to let go of the one you loved without actually losing them. It is haunting and overwhelming with emotion in ways that are inescapable and Moore has rarely been better. This is an example of how a performance can elevate a mediocre direction into something more powerful and unique.
8. Two Days, One Night (dir. Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne)
Proving once again that she is one of the best actresses of her generation, Marion Cotillard delivers a knock-out performance in this morality tale. Following a woman who must convince her coworkers to deny their bonuses so she can keep her job may seem like a simple tale, but dives into some more complicated issues. Everyone has their own caveats for why they can't. Even Cotillard's depressive protagonist has to hold onto dear life just to get through the day. With an excellent performance and an ingenious subject, the film is a rich parable of how economics can tear apart our desire to work with others.
9. Enemy (dir. Denis Villeneuve)
It has been awhile since there has been a thriller so rich with subtext that it warrants multiple viewings. Yes, it is shot in a strange hue and has a lot of spider imagery, but it has more going on. It is about ego and power. Putting in two great performances, Jake Gyllenhaal had a great 2014 with this film that manages to feel like David Fincher-esque without being as aggressively similar. If nothing else, this is a great character study with some unsettling subtext and plenty of airtight logic that makes it one of the best of the year.
10. Listen Up Philip (dir. Alex Ross Perry)
I am disappointed by how much I related to the film. In a performance that almost plagiarizes on his Bored to Death character, Jason Schwartzman delivers the perfect narcissistic writer performance in a story that shows how obsession to dumb details can tear apart relationships. It is a film that only writers are likely to love, but its damning portrait that still manages to be visually creative and funny in ways that shouldn't be. By the end, it doesn't so much embrace writers as poses as a cautionary tale that is impossible to ignore. Writers are doomed, and this film perfectly explains why.
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