1.
The Place Beyond the Pines
Director
Derek Cianfrance’s 2010 examination of a failed marriage (Blue Valentine) was
received with enthusiastic approval. His second effort is even stronger. An
ambitious epic about the lengths to which fathers will go to protect their sons
and the emotional impressions that are produced via the decisions they make, The
Place Beyond the Pines is a cinematic feat of form and beauty. Eschewing
narrative convention, the story is presented like a triptych painting, with each
panel being a bit more gloomy than the last. It’s melancholy tone is aided by
Mike Patton’s somber score and Sean Bobbit’s gorgeous photography. Cianfrance
tells a humorous story about his decision to not use Valentine cinematographer
Andrij Parekh on the film’s blu ray commentary track. The choice was a good one.
Bobbit’s muted colors and naturalistic views allow for a picture that is both
roughly beautiful and emotionally honest. Ryan Gosling gives a hypnotic
performance. He and Cianfrance make a good team. Another story on the commentary
track comes during a scene that sees the Gosling character witnessing the
christening of his son. Another man takes part in the ceremony. Gosling strays
from the script. His decision is not only more in tune with the character, it
also allows for a more impressing experience for the audience.
2.
Inside Llewyn Davis
A
fictionalized look at the 1960s folk scene through the eyes of a struggling
musician, Inside Llewyn Davis is the Coen brother’s most thoughtful picture
since Fargo. The Coens are completely uncompromising. There is nothing cliche in
their writing. Traditional film grammar and decorum take a back seat to
audacious style and daring technique. It is somewhat ironic that the inability
to admit to compromise is often what hinders the progress of Llewyn in this
film. One memorable moment in the picture sees a rock manager asking Llewyn if
he can sing backup. Llewyn responds, "No. Well, yes, but no." Another witnesses
him making the long trek back home to NY after a failed audition in Chicago. His
journey is interrupted by a wounded cat that stumbles across the road and into
the woods. The symbolism is abounding. Mirroring a traditional folk song in
composition, the film is darkly comic, contains terrific performances and a
great soundtrack.
3.
Dallas Buyers Club
Matthew
McConaughey appears in three films on this list. Here he plays Ron Woodroof, a
swindler living in Dallas in the mid 80s. He’s diagnosed with AIDS and given
less than a month to live. He employs his unscrupulous manner to work the system
and obtain medication that allows him to extend his life seven years.
McConaughey delivered a convoluted mess of an acceptance speech at the SAG
awards after winning a trophy for best actor. There was a truth at its center,
that actors hope to get that one career-defining role that transcends all their
previous work and catapults them to preeminent status. This is his. The movie
rests squarely on his shoulders and he delivers. Nearly as impressive is Jared
Leto as Rayon, a trans-gender AIDS patient and unlikely ally who joins Woodroof
in his quest.
4.
Mud
Mud
solidifies Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter) position as one of the
best filmmakers working today. Drawing inspiration from Stand By Me and Huck
Finn, Mud offers a poignant coming-of-age tale about those hard-to-capture
feelings of love and trust. Resembling a fairy tale in makeup, its unhurried
pace and arresting visual style render the unremarkable extraordinary. Marking
another achievement in the career turn-around of Matthew McConaughey, the
picture presents an affecting portrait of regional lifestyles and peoples that
are called things like Neckbone and Mud.
5.
Spring Breakers
Is
it an indictment of today’s narcissistic youth or a celebration of their
nihilistic views? Is it a feminist statement about the individuality of women or
does it objectify is sexualized young cast? Perhaps the debate among viewers
correlates to what’s truly at the film’s core: the barrage of conflicting
messages that assail today’s youth on a daily basis. Consider that Beyonce, the
epitome of woman power, performed at the Grammys in her underwear while Jay Z
sang, "Your breasteses is my breakfestes." One thing is certain, Spring Breakers
projects a frank and compellingly raw view of today’s teenagers. It’s enigmatic
filmmaking from a bold talent. Its neon-infused color scheme and overly
saturated imagery serve to both examine and speak to a generation raised on Mtv
and the internet. It is a kaleidoscopic attack on the senses, a whirlwind of sex
and booze set to the electronic stylings of Skrillex. And James Franco has
cornrows and a grill.
6.
The Wolf of Wall Street
The
Wolf of Wall Street is hilarious. I didn’t laugh out loud the way I did during
this irreverent look at corrupt New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort more all
year. The movie makes no excuses. The character is no different in the
179th minute than he was in the
first. Yet there is something irresistible about it. Maybe it’s Leonardo
Dicaprio’s energetic performance; or Martin Scorsese’s furious pace. His
long-time editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, deserves an award every time out. A scene
that sees Belfort and his accommodating sidekick Donnie (played by comedic crazy
person Jonah Hill) high on quaaludes is an instant classic. I still smile every
time I picture Belfort, provided new vigor by a shot of coke, barreling through
his wife to get to his dying friend. "Step aside."
7.
Nebraska
Bruce
Dern plays a stubborn old man intent on hiking to Nebraska to collect a $1
million sweepstakes prize. It doesn’t seem built for mass consumption, yet its
austere visuals and mordant humor are resonating with viewers. Shot in stark
black a white, a compliment to the sparse expanse of the American Midwest, the
film features a career-defining role for Dern. He wears all the weariness of a
broken-down old man unsatisfied with the legacy he will leave behind. When asked
what he would do with the money, he responds, he’d get a truck, an air
compressor and most importantly, leave something to his children. There’s a
moment when he discovers he’s achieved the latter wish and it’s truly
satisfying. Alexander Payne is a simplistic flimmaker. All the award nominations
are a bit baffling. But he creates a refreshingly funny, touching and
unfalteringly entertaining movie with Nebraska.
8.
Disconnect
I
am typically not a fan of pictures that interweave the stories of several
characters. I found Disconnect's cautionary tale, however, to be both powerful
and irresistible. A story involving two teen boys using a false female facebook
account to contact a reserved classmate is especially timely. Honestly, the
film does not contribute much to the discussion of social networking. It's a
dangerous world that seems somehow separated from our own and has ensnared each
of us at some point. But to see its pitfalls played out on screen is truely
harrowing. The film is wonderfully acted and competently directed. Henry Alex
Rubin moves seamlessly between the tales in route to an exciting finish.
Unfortunately, poor marketing resulted Disconnect going unnoticed by filmgoers
and removed from award discussion. Seek it out on DVD.
9.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
The
Secret Life of Walter Mitty was a welcome surprise, way more engaging than its
ads and PG rating let on, smarter than what we’ve come to expect from
director/star Ben Stiller. A lot of people are trashing the film for abandoning
the sardonic tone of the Thurber story it’s based on. I know nothing about that,
I have not read the story. What I do know is that Stiller’s version of a
day-dreaming negative assets manager (look it up) who goes on a real life
adventure more remarkable than anything he could have imagined to save his job
is a testament to the magic of movies and their ability to inspire. And that’s
what good movies do; affect us, take us to places we’ve never been. Mitty does
that perhaps better than any other picture this year.
Werner
Herzog and Errol Morris have become synonymous with documentary filmmaking. They
are both attached to The Act of Killing. Indonesia, 1965. Local gangsters Anwar
Congo and Adi Zulkadry go from scalping movie tickets to scalping alleged
communists. All said, they helped the Indonesian military kill more than a
million people in a year. The Act of Killing seeks to examine the impact the
killings had on the perpetrators by having them reenact the terror. This is a
tough watch and not one I will be revisiting any time soon. But it’s a tribute
to the power of documentary filmmaking and its ability to galvanize viewers.
Many horror films employ faceless, emotionless killers to create terror. They
are devoid of personality, there is no justification to their actions. We
imprint them with our own fears. The Act of Killing puts a face on murder. We
are forced to sit with these monsters as they boast about the terrible things
they have done.
10 more films I liked:
12 Years a Slave, Afternoon Delight, All is Lost, Blue Jasmine, The Counselor, The Hobbit, Only God Forgives, Pacific Rim, Short Term 12, Stories We Tell
Films I was most disappointed in:
American Hustle, Blue is the Warmest Color, Fruitvale Station, Gravity, To The Wonder
