2014 Revisited: The 30 Best Movies of the Year - Part 2

In which I revisit a previously explored topic with fresh eyes and an open mind.

Earlier this week saw the first third of my favorite movies list from 2014 explored in depth. It included everything from B-grade schlock to multiple Best Picture nominees.  Today's third of the list ups the ante a bit.  Here the movies start getting considerably better and a Hell of a lot weirder, starting with: 

20) Enemy - When Anthony discovers an actor who impossibly looks exactly like him, his entire world begins to unravel into a web of obsession and single-minded fixation.  What began as simple curiosity turns into an increasingly dangerous game about identity and the lengths that people will go to to choose one for themselves.

This is hands down the weirdest movie that I saw from last year.  Filled with abstract symbolism and a twisting plot whose explanation is only ever hinted at, it honestly took an exceptionally well thought out video by Chris Stuckmann to help me piece together what it actually was that I saw: the arthouse love-child of Fight Club and Vertigo.  Enemy is a methodically crafted, intellectually rewarding art film designed from the ground up to challenge the way that people think about the medium of filmmaking and what it's capable of.

19) How to Train Your Dragon 2 - Those of you who followed my coverage through Oscar season should know by now that I consider 2014 to be the definitively best year for animation.  What it lacked in groundbreaking, historically and technically important films, it more than made up for with a string of unerring high-quality and instantly memorable films, both shorts and feature length.  That is why How to Train Your Dragon 2 - easily one of the emotionally riveting and breathtakingly animated films ever produced - ranks so comparatively low on a list generously portioned with animation.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 encapsulates the best qualities of a sequel.  After the first film sets the groundwork by establishing the characters and the world that they live in, this film uses its setting as the occasion to plumb the depths of what's possible within that system.  Where does Hiccup, the son of a village chief, have to go after uniting his viking tribe so closely with their ancestral enemies?  How has the rest of the human world coped with the existence of dragons?  What happens when the real enemy proves to be infinitely deadlier than the Red Death? 

18) Foxcatcher - I will say right away that Foxcatcher is not at all what it was advertised as.  I went in with a mismatched set of expectations and, while thoroughly pleased with the film I did receive, I could not help but feel more than a little disappointed about it (admittedly through no fault of the film's).  This is not some Steve Carell vehicle that happens to intersect with real-life events, but a subtle character study featuring three exceptionally talented and immensely versatile actors (the least of which is Carell) in a fatalistic, almost Grecian, tragedy.

Bennett Miller is fast proving himself to be a must-see director.  And while Foxcatcher doesn't quite elevate him to that stature, when paired with similar successes with The Social Network and Moneyball, it feels like he's just one good movie away from getting there.  Foxcatcher pervades with an ominous, almost smotheringly bleak atmosphere that drowns its every scene with the realization that something is profoundly wrong at Foxcatcher Farms, something truly terrible is about to happen and that nobody is going to step in to prevent it.  Even without the foreknowledge of the history that it explores, you know, in the pit of your stomach, that something's the matter with John du Pont and that it can only end in tragedy.

17) The Book of Life - Although it's been demoted from my initial top ten, The Book of Life remains one of the most stunningly animated films I have ever seen.  Although there are cutesier elements thrown in to keep the children entertained, this is a film that adults can enjoy in equal measure with their kids.  And what's more, it comes wrapped in perhaps the most important message for young boys growing up in a "post-masculine" society: you don't need to be violent to be a man, you only need to be yourself.

As I mentioned in my review of the film, this is Guillermo del Toro's A Nightmare Before Christmas: a movie that he did not direct, but which will be forever most strongly associated with him.  " Who's Henry Selick?  Exactly.  The same goes for Jorge Gutierrez."  Incorporating popular music into styles ranging from acoustic solos to drunken mariachi, The Book of Life weaves a timeless tale of self-acceptance, becoming an adult and true (if antagonistic) love.

16) Justice League: War - When Darkseid's forces invade Earth in order to slaughter its people and repurpose their genetic material into soldiers, Earth's mightiest heroes have to team up in order to save the world.  The problem is, however, that they couldn't be any less of a team.  The Batman seemingly exists only as an urban legend, Shazam is a show-offish brat only wanting attention and Cyborg wants nothing to do with any of them.  They must work through their differences, however, and unite to defeat the Earth's greatest enemy to date.

My experience for Justice League: War has been virtually identical to my experience with American Sniper: despite being an undeniably great film, the initial high from watching it failed to hold up on retrospection.  The difference is that American Sniper was only a middlingly good film to begin with - made with some artistry and considerable skill, but never quite rising to the occasion.  Justice League: War, even with its deteriorated quality,is never the less a fantastic film that I can still confidently call one of my favorites of the year.

15) The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 - Mockingjay seems to be an easy target for film critics today.  Epitomizing the "broken franchise" movement - in which the last book of a series is split into two (and sometimes three) films in order to engineer a bigger profit - it was almost instantly dismissed as an artless cash grab, without any consideration for its actual merit.

Mockingjay - Part 1 not only features the best-executed half of its source material, but far surpasses it in quality.  For all the bemoaning about unnecessarily stretching out the narrative, Mockingjay was a surprisingly meaty novel with a perfect mid-story climax to end a film on.  The film solved my every issue with its source material, including an unrecognizably feeble Katniss, an underdeveloped plot and the fact that it told an incredibly interesting story - a two-sided propaganda war waged over the loyalties of the Districts' citizens - from the least interesting perspective possible - Katniss, safely infirmed in District 13, completely removed from any of the action.  What's more, the film shows the direct effect of Katniss' symbolic involvement in the war, cutting from propos to the inspired masses taking action against the capitol, culminating in the most singularly memorable sequence from the entire series: the destruction of a hydroelectric dam to the tune of "The Hanging Tree."

14) Snowpiercer - Not enough people have seen this movie.  Due to a petty marketing move on distributor Harvey Weinstein's part, what should have been a major force in blockbuster landscape of 2014 became an obscure action film for those lucky enough to come across it in their local video store.  This makes it a prime candidate for my next Diamond in the Rough segment, so please keep an eye out for that in the near future.

Snowpiercer is a truly international film: based on a French graphic novel, helmed by a South Korean director and starring Captain America and The Doctor.

13) Under the Skin - Arthouse movies are a funny thing.  Often created with roughly equal parts pretentious directing and obtuse writing, they rarely appeal to anybody outside of a very narrowly defined demographic of self-described intellectuals.  From almost any given year, I couldn't name a single arthouse film released during it, let alone a good one.  Between Enemy and Under the Skin, however, 2014 gave us two.

Under the Skin is an arthouse sci-fi / horror film featuring a near-solo performance by the immaculate Scarlett Johansson.  Utilizing a controlled form of photo-realism - including partially improved scenes and physically deformed actors - it is easily the most haunting and visually arresting film of the entire year.  Like Enemy, however, this is unlike anything most mainstream audiences have ever seen: something that most wouldn't like, let alone tolerate.  If you can sit through a slow, near dialogless film that trusts its audience to figure out what's going on through visuals alone, you'll hardly find a more memorable or rewarding film from this or any other year.

12) Into the Woods - It seems strange to me to be going over a film that I already shared my thoughts on - twice - but it made it onto this list fair and square.  Into the Woods is one of the most toe-tappingly moving musicals to come out this century.  It prominently features with incredible vocal performances by Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp (and the rest of the cast too), phenomenal production design that simultaneously manages to emulate the play upon which its based and an actual forest and what is easily the funniest scene of the entire year (the performance of "Agony," which makes the film by itself).

Despite featuring two child performances in centrally important roles, the two young actors pull it off with an unparalleled degree of skill and only a few shrill notes.  With rare exception - such as the reprisal of "Agony" in the final act - director Rob Marshall knows exactly which parts of the original cumbersome script can afford to be cut loose.  Even if you don't particularly care for musicals, this is one that would be a shame to miss.

11) Whiplash - Whiplash was easily the most intense experience that I've had in a theater in years.  It depicts the increasingly dysfunctional creative relationship between a drum protegee and his abusive director: coming to an explosive head at a jazz competition where they create far more powerful music together than either could do by themselves.

Now, this movie isn't for everybody.  I saw one woman storm out of a performance with a massive scowl on her face repeating "He's too mean" over and over again only a half hour into the movie, while a second woman came out beaming at the end of the film to thank me for the recommendation.  It's an explosive, bloody, invigorating and instantly memorable film that's bound to draw equal love and ire for decades to come.

Like what you've seen so far?  Please check out Part 1 (30-21) and Part 3 (10-1) of this list.

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