Here’s how this works: I go to the movies. While I’m watching, I think, “I like this quite a lot” or perhaps “I don’t like this very much at all.” Then, at the end of the year (or, if you want to be technical, the beginning of the next), I think back on all the new-release movies I saw in a theater, and attempt to rank my “top 10” films. It’s a radical concept, I know, but with luck you’ll catch on as we go along.
10) Particle Fever Forget Saturday Night Fever and Pac-Man Fever; this documentary followed science’s mad but meticulous search for the Higgs boson, the particle that basically holds the key to life as we know it. (You know, no biggie.) This was more eye-opening than any other film I saw this year, and I was fascinated to learn about the individuals who have dedicated their lives to this incredible work.
9) Monty Python Live (Mostly) If this was indeed goodbye for the legendary British comic troupe, what a wonderful gift they left us with: a live “best of” of classic sketches and songs. Of course they’re older and perhaps have lost half a step here and there, but it only added to the charm. And that the performance was broadcast live to movie theaters around the world made it that much more exciting.
8) The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies After 13 years of movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books and The Hobbit, Peter Jackson did not disappoint with the finale. Purists griped about the addition of storylines not in the book and the enhancement of minor characters, but who cares when the filmmaking is this strong. A satisfying and very fun conclusion.
7) Boyhood The film that ended my 25-year Ethan Hawke boycott didn’t quite live up to the hype: I found it overly long and lacking in dramatic arc. But still, you can’t deny the concept—revisiting the same cast over a span of 12 years, and watching a kid grow up before our eyes. Richard Linklater takes on almost every aspect of life (ok, not the Higgs boson) and presents it with an impressive sense of realism.
6) Top Five Falling just short of the top-five is Chris Rock’s latest shot at movie greatness. The film takes a little while to find its footing (a not-funny flashback scene goes on much too long), but I felt it greatly improved as it went along. Rock gives a refreshingly honest portrayal of the pros and cons of fame. We end up with a surprisingly subtle and mature film, aided quite a lot by Rosario Dawson’s tremendous performance.
5) The Grand Budapest Hotel Wes Anderson keeps getting better as a director, and is firing on all cylinders in this madcap comedy with an extremely strong sense of place. If the film doesn’t quite have the heart of some other Anderson efforts, Schwartzman and Goldblum and Murray and Wilson and the rest of the gang make sure you enjoy yourself nonetheless.
4) Only Lovers Left Alive In perhaps the year’s coolest movie, Jim Jarmusch takes a crack at the vampire genre with impressive results. It’s after-hours in burned-out Detroit, and Tom Hiddleston’s morose rocker vampire is a reclusive underground sensation. Tilda Swinton is excellent as his better-but-also-a-vampire half. I wanted to spend more time in the lonely, barren world they inhabit.
3) Under the Skin I will readily admit that I went solely to see Scarlett Johannson as an “alien seductress.” But there’s a lot more going on in this arty sci-fi flick, even if not a lot happens on the, um, surface level. As Johannson picks up lonely dudes and terrible things occur, we get a meditation on solitude and desire. The look (bleak, grey) and sounds (raw, unsettling) are perhaps more important than the plot. More than anything, the sad, creepy, contemplative mood is what stayed with me.
2) Foxcatcher Bennett Miller takes a classic sports-movie structure—down-on-his-luck athlete attempts comeback, facing challenges as we count down to the Big Event—but turns it on its ear. Director Miller slows the pace way down, and it’s quiet, so quiet. For his plot, he utilizes the too-creepy-to-be-fiction story of John du Pont and his obsession with Olympic-caliber wrestling. Steve Carell is a disturbing marvel as du Pont, matched by Channing Tatum’s physicality and vulnerability as Mark Schultz, and Mark Ruffalo as his brother, desperately trying to hold it all together. Foxcatcher rattled me, with its twisted take on everyone’s need for acceptance.
1) Big Eyes Tim Burton challenges himself and emerges with his best film in a long while. What starts as a light-hearted rom-com becomes a pointed commentary on art-vs.-commerce, before spinning into a Hitchcockian thriller where Burton really starts to enjoy himself. He really gets to sink his teeth into the bizarre true-life story of Walter and Margaret Keane, superbly portrayed by Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams. There are laughs, weirdness, period kitsch, building tension, and yes, a Danny Elfman soundtrack. But what raised Big Eyes to the top for me was the real tale of brave Margaret Keane, who despite the times and personal circumstances, kept fighting for her own independence, self-expression, and recognition.
Honorable mentions: The American Side and Guardians of the Galaxy
Worst movie: Transcendence
New releases I saw in a theater this year: 35
My best-of lists from: 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009
You can check out all my movie reviews by clicking: here and here
Jack Silbert, curator