Jack Attack Tuesday

The Year In Review

Despite what some have said about the current state of cinema, I truly believe 2014 was an outstanding year for movies.  While I didn’t find a lot of favorite films, there was a lot of high-quality output, especially in terms of the blockbusters.  While I didn’t get a chance to see everything yet (who ever does), I put together this list for you, loyal readers, and ranked everything I saw this year.  Everyone does a top 10 list at this time of year, so I figured I’d throw it all at you and see what sticks.  Here we go.

The Expendables 3 – Rating 2/10

I have not enjoyed The Expendables movies.  The first one seemed like a good idea, the second one showed promise but completely failed on every level.  Come time for me to sit down and view part 3, I was all done.  I won’t deny the fact that I did not go into this flick with the best intentions, but even expecting absolute shit I still was let down.  Stallone has no idea what to do with these characters and he hasn’t right from the beginning.  You wanna make a good team-up action flick?  Take a look at Fast Five, Ocean’s Eleven and The Avengers and go for that.  Here, it doesn’t work.  The formula is tired and no one cares anymore, least of all me.

Under the Skin – Rating 2/10

When I sat down to watch this, I knew what I was in for.  Based on the reviews and the limited knowledge I had of the film, I expected something in David Lynch’s wheelhouse.  While I wasn’t totally wrong on that front, I also wasn’t totally right.  This flick is a serious mindfuck, but I think it’s much less coherent than Lynch’s work.  Scarlett is a mostly mute alien that attracts men back to her apartment, kills them in mysterious fashion and then…I don’t know…absorbs them?  I have no clue what happened.  I honestly couldn’t tell you whether or not this flick makes logical or emotional sense.  Absolutely one of the worst flicks I’ve seen this year.

The Amazing Spider Man 2 – 3/10

I grew up with Spider-Man 1 and 2 and love them both.  While I can see the flaws with each, I still think they do a fabulous job of setting up Spidey’s world and capturing the kinetic energy of the web-slinger.  I hated the idea of remaking Spidey, and The Amazing Spider Man failed to impress me.  I think Garfield is a much better Peter Parker, but the flick is too much of a retread for me to give it fair credit.  Part 2 is even more awful, throwing so many subplots at you that by the end I was scratching my head wondering what it all might have meant.  Actually, this movie is unique in that you can take the opening sequence and the closing sequence, cut out everything in the middle and you’d have a better movie than what they gave us.  Especially in a year with Marvel churning out three high-quality comic-book flicks, there’s just no comparison.

Video Games The Movie – 3/10

I love me a good documentary, which makes it all the more painful to admit that this one is pretty awful.  I think someone should come along and re-make this, as the way this one is put together it basically acts as an extended advertisement for every video game you’ve ever heard of.  It’s baffling, however, that stories such as Sonic 2’s Day aren’t even mentioned.  There’s no intellectual depth to anything here and that makes this a really frustrating movie to sit through.  It’s not bad, per-se, it just doesn’t really have much going for it.

Blue Ruin – Rating 6/10

Blue Ruin had a lot going for it with a strange premise and an off-kilter tone.  I think Moreno said it best when he described his reaction to the film as wanting revenge, but not knowing why.  I love where this film goes, and the grimy, down-and-dirty method the storyteller uses to unfold things to us is pretty solid.  I think overall, I liked the point of what this story was doing but I didn’t think the execution was all that great.  While being a unique little movie with a bunch of relatively little-known actors, I feel like there needed to be some bigger performers peppered in here to get the audience to care a little more.  Overall, Blue Ruin does what it set out to do well enough, it just didn’t have much of a lasting impact on me.

Godzilla – Rating 6/10

Godzilla is a perfect example of a film that delivers some real high-quality throwback-style action and not much else.  The way Godzilla is portrayed in the film is, to me, pretty spot-on.  I’m no huge fan of the franchise, and admittedly I was so young when the ’98 flick came out that I used to watch it a ton, but I can understand and see where the filmmakers really strove to harken back to the days of the franchise’s youth.  The only thing I can’t figure out about this flick is why Bryan Cranston is so criminally underused.  He’s the best actor in the flick and we don’t get near enough of him.  Also, Aaron Taylor Johnson is a vanilla ass-clown and I’m not looking forward to seeing him in the new Avengers flick next year.  Also, how fucking convenient is it that because he’s wearing camo, no matter where he is there’s always some military outfit willing to accept him as one of their own?  Couldn’t fucking stand that about this flick, but I did appreciate the music from 2001: A Space Odyssey being used during the skydiving scene.

Cold in July – Rating 6/10

Similar to Blue Ruin, Cold in July is a psuedo-revenge tale centered around some low-moral-middle-class people.  The big difference between the flicks is that with Cold in July, we get Sam Sheppard and Don Johnson, two guys who when given good characters to work with really excel in their performances.  While I liked the acting more here, I still found this story to be very ho-hum, sort of run-of-the-mill once it gets going.  Something in the plot turns around the midway mark and, to me, really changes the trajectory of the story, which I didn’t care for.  Michael C. Hall is a great actor and I think that had the plot stuck to its original concept we’d have a better movie.  Still, though, good little flick that stands as a great counter-point to the big-budget stuff we see on an almost weekly basis every summer.

Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon – Rating 6/10

Some documentaries exist solely to illuminate a certain character, aspect of life or part of the globe.  Supermensch centers on Shep Gordon, PR and celebrity agent-extraordinaire who has worked with and rubbed the shoulders of pretty much everyone you’ve ever heard of.  Put together by Mike Myers, this documentary serves to highlight the career of a guy who is little known outside of the Hollywood insiders but had a major impact on the industry, especially in the way of creating the entire idea of the celebrity chef.  While there are a lot of talking heads that you’ll no doubt enjoy listening to, there’s no special insight into this guy outside of the fact that he is universally liked and a good person.  That’s well and good, but it doesn’t really make a great documentary, hence the 6/10.  Worth a watch but not much else.

The Zero Theorem – Rating 6/10

Being a die-hard Terry Gilliam fan, I’ve seen most of his films over the years.  The Zero Theorem is another battle film from the director full of the same sorts of oddball choices and unique thinking we’ve come to expect from the guy.  Because of the nature of the flick, and through his Facebook updates, I’ve seen that, according to him, the studio mishandled the release of the film and didn’t release it globally all at once, making this a difficult film to find, let alone watch.  Leave it to Gilliam to create an entire sci-fi world that he only shows for ten minutes of actual screen time.  Brazil might be his best overall film, combining his weird aesthetics with a fully-formed story.  Theorem kind of fails on the story front.  Christoph Waltz is great, as I always assume at this point, but the film, while being visually appealing and featuring an interesting cameo (especially in light of recent releases) there isn’t enough here to chew on for me.

The BabaDIIIICK – Rating 6/10

The BabaDIIIICK had a ton of hype before I sat down to watch it, and I feel like that really detracted from my ability to judge the movie based off of its content alone.  I had heard all the hyperbole for this one, stating it’s the “scariest horror film of the year” and that it deals with really complex psychological issues.  I found The BabaDIIIICK to be a less-than-average horror flick.  Look, the best horror IS psychological in nature, because without that primal fear being referenced, the boogeyman doesn’t have any legs to stand on.  While The BabaDIIIICK deals with loss, I just feel like child-horror has been done much better.  Mr BabaDIIIICK even didn’t have much going for his design.  Not impressed.

Enemy – Rating 7/10

(While IMDB says this came out in 2013 it was not available in my area until 2014, so you can split hairs but I’ll tell you to fuck yourself, fair warning).

Off of the BingeCasters recommendation I sat down and got cozy with Enemy.  Then I watched it again.  Then again.  Enemy is that kind of flick.  While I think anyone with a brain can figure out the main jist of what the filmmaker is trying to do within the first half hour, Gyllenhaal really sells his performances in this one.  The direction is solid and the cyclical nature of the plot are all things I really liked about the film.  However, I think that given the metaphor of the film being so on the nose, in my opinion, the rewatch value of a flick like this diminishes severely once you understand, or think you understand, what’s going on here.

Noah – Rating 7/10

I’ll say it here as an officially Confirmed Christian: I hate religion.  I know it’s not a unique opinion to me, but I really can’t stand religious stories and methodology of any kind, simply because its very nature is to subvert and brainwash the reader into a particular line of thinking or ideology.  Cue Noah, Aronofsky’s decades-long passion project.  I was beyond ecstatic to see this, having waited years for it.  I had visions of a supremely spiritual journey filled with complicated morality and Aronofsky’s usual fantastic filmmaking.  The end result had those things, just not in the way I expected at all.  I never thought I’d see a film that paints Noah as a vindictive disciple of what he believes to be God.  The idea of taking a character that is so well known and looking at his journey from a logical perspective was what impressed me.  The rock angels, though?  Maybe a little much.  Aronofsky sort of takes the best pieces of the fable and reshapes them around what he wants to use them for, and disregards others.  I’m fine with that, but I just don’t think the film is bold enough for me to rank it higher.

Neighbors – Rating 7/10

I’ve never been a big Animal House guy, always arguing The Blues Brothers is the superior film, so I’m not one for frat-comedies.  Neighbors, however, went well beyond what I thought it would and gave me a ton of laughs.  From the 3d-printed dildos to Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne trying to fit in with the cool kids next door, this movie works really well.  This will definitely be on the comedy rotation for me going forward.

The Interview – Rating 7/10

 

Maybe the most infamous movie of the new century, The Interview was, thankfully, made available to us despite the controversy and terrorist threats.  The verdict?  It’s pretty good.  I say it’s pretty good because it is.  It fits right in with most of the other Rogen/Franco/Apatow flicks, even if the political undertones get a little heavy-handed at times, forsaking some hilarity.  All in all, this flick is a bunch of easily quotable fun that I’m sure will get a bunch of added value on repeat viewings.

Edge of Tomorrow – Rating 7/10

Tom Cruise is a guy who rarely does a bad action film.  Thankfully, Edge of Tomorrow continues that trend.  The mere concept of Groundhog Day as an action movie sound fantastic on paper, but the execution is arguably even better.  Cruise, Brendan Gleeson and Emily Blunt are all great in the film, and the action is hard-hitting and of high-quality, but I really think the direction here is what’s most impressive.  Through visual cues, you never get confused as to where Cruise is on his journey, i.e. if he’s done what he’s doing before or not, and for that this movie gets exemplary marks.  That being said, the ending, no matter what you explain to me, doesn’t make sense.  If Ammon gets pissed off about the X-Men time travel bullshit, then the bullshit here must drive him up a fucking wall because it doesn’t make sense anywhere.  You can tell him I said that.

22 Jump Street – Rating 7/10

The first flick was a welcome surprise, but you can’t make lightning strike twice, right?  Turns out you can, and they did.  22 Jump Street plays with the idea that it is a sequel to a really hilarious degree while giving us some very solid jokes and sequences throughout.  A flick like this just goes to show you that with a little thought and some creativity, you can take a shitty premise and spin it into gold.

The Dog – Rating 7/10

I’ve always maintained Dog Day Afternoon as my favorite Al Pacino performance, and a contender for my all time top 10 films.  Seeing the real life John Wojtowicz and his recounting of his life is hilarious and further illuminates an already great flick.  Where a flick like Supermensch fails in delving deep into its subject, The Dog goes farther than you’d expect.  Hearing John recount stories about sleeping with almost everyone he comes in contact with at any given moment is strange and revealing, but I found myself laughing at this guy for most of the movie.  I think you could see him as a sad individual, but I see him more as an opportunistic, horny douchebag, which I think was the point.

Gone Girl – Rating 7/10

Gone Girl is one of the best books I’ve read in years, undoubtedly.  That being said, the book totally ruined my experience with the movie.  Much like The Usual Suspects, when you know what’s going to happen, this entire story loses its’ appeal.  The themes of a power struggle in a marriage and gender roles are fascinating, and will have me revisiting this flick at least one more time, but this story is so reliant upon the plot and where it goes that, again, knowing where that path leads diminishes the final result for me.  I think the performances are great, the direction is fantastic and the music is creepy as fuck, but I just don’t think it all comes together that well.

Nightcrawler – Rating 7/10

Take 1 part Taxi Driver, 1 part Network and 1 part Drive, put in a blender and mix for 30 seconds and you would get Nightcrawler.  Now you would think that taking three films that I would rank as 10 out of 10 would make an amazing movie, but that proves to not be the case here.  Gyllenhaal is great here again, as he was in Enemy, but I think the script isn’t near dark enough and the filmmaking reveals way too much in the beginning of the story.  Worth a watch, just don’t expect it to be the second coming of Christ.

Tusk – Rating 7/10

 

Love it or hate it, you can’t call Tusk unoriginal.  Sure, part of the plot is a psuedo-Human Centipede rehash, but beyond that the strange, almost comedic nature of the flick is something, like Red State before it, wildly different than what we’re used to.  I can see this being a movie most people would hate, but thankfully I’m not one of those people.  I’m happy this is the trajectory that Kevin Smith’s filmmaking is taking and I can’t wait for his next horror film, whenever that may be.  While a lot of people are giving a certain A-list actor some shit for doing this role, I thought it was the most original thing he’s done in the last eight years, something that I really want to see more of.  Now if I could just find me one of those walrus suits on Amazon…

The Lego Movie – Rating 8/10

Another splendid surprise, The Lego Movie went way beyond what anyone expected it to and has now launched an entire Lego movie-franchise.  While that annoys me, I can’t deny how much fun I had with The Lego Movie.  The same creative time that brought us 22 Jump Street made this as well, and to be honest the self-referential humor almost works better here.  Of course, the fact that Batman is a main character definitely helps, and the great Chris Pratt makes this whole thing work flawlessly.  A great family film but also hilarious for those of us who only own a cat (aka me).

Jodorowsky’s Dune – Rating 8/10

Without question my favorite documentary of the year, Jodorowsky’s Dune gives us insight into the Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky’s failed Dune project.  Seeing him recount their journey to make the film so passionately serves to reveal so much about the whole reason for making a movie worth fighting for and pure artistic expression.  We hear from people like Nicholas Winding Refn and H.R. Giger about the film and the massive storyboard book they created for it (which I hope gets released for sale someday).  The scale of the thing was gigantic, with Pink Floyd coming on to score music and guys like Orson Welles and Salvador Dali signing on in key roles.  This would have been an amazing film to watch, if maybe not a hugely successful or entertaining one.  The most interesting aspect, however, is the sequence near the end of the film where they show you sequences from the storyboard that were clearly borrowed and used on other films such as Contact, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars.  Great stuff across the board, highly recommended.

Captain America The Winter Soldier – Rating 8/10

I’m a mark for Marvel flicks, plain and simple.  I was never a big comic book fan but these movies give me what I want from them on a regular basis.  Some of the flicks are better than others, as we’ll even see later in this list, but I am not yet bored of the constant super hero saturation (although I’m sure that’s coming soon).  Cap 2 was a solid, low-level action flick for most of the runtime.  While there were large set-pieces, I like the down-and-dirty style of the Cap and his brand of fighting.  Hand-to-hand, bashing-with-a-shield style stuff isn’t given the credit it deserves.  I like how they’ve further informed Steve Rogers as a character and the inclusion of Robert Redford got me excited.  I love the guy and the fact that he signed up for this gives the flick some added credibility.  While this does end with a giant air battle, I still think that the espionage angle they took with this is a welcome change of pace from even the first flick.

Guardians of the Galaxy – Rating 8/10

Talk about a surprise hit, Guardians kicked all sorts of ass.  You have the previously mentioned Chris Pratt, a possibly-autistic superhero named Drax, a solid female lead played by Zoe Saldana and two fucking CGI characters that are a talking raccoon and a tree.  If anything, those last two characters are a gigantic middle-finger to guys like Michael Bay in the way that those characters are fully realized and written well.  Even Groot, with his three/four word vocabulary displays a wide range of emotions.  Couple that with the fact that this is pretty much a modern reworking of Star Wars and I’m sold.  Bring on part 2.

John Wick – Rating 8/10

Where movies like The Expendables franchise have no idea how to stage or create quality action scenes, John Wick is on the opposite end of the spectrum.  Wick knows EXACTLY how to put together amazing, low-budget action scenes with finesse, quality and hint of old-school cheese.  While this won’t be an all-time favorite film, it’s probably the best Dad-flick I’ve ever seen, delivering on what it promises in spades by the end.  Keanu could turn this into a franchise, but I hope he doesn’t.  I’d love to see him do more work like this, as I think he’s do for a nice little resurgence as a leading action hero, just not a sequel.  They do everything so well here that it doesn’t need to be revisited or re-evaluated.  The world the film creates is simple and, in a way elegant in its own simplicity.  You get enough information to know who is who, what is what, and why is why, and that’s it.  Few films can trim the fat and still deliver a great product as effectively as John Wick.

Interstellar – Rating 8/10

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 1000 times: Interstellar was better in 1967 when it was called 2001: A Space Odyssey.  I know I’ve been harping on this, but if you’ve seen Interstellar and love it please see 2001!  It is the far better film and delves into identical themes, plot points and structure.  I can’t really fault Nolan, though for emulating a film that he has admitted as being a primary source of inspiration for his entire career.  McCounaghaids knocks it out of the park in a simple but gloriously understated role, and the human factor here in his relationship with Murphy is really touching stuff.  I got to see this on 70mm Imax, and I have to admit this was an astounding piece of work.  The wormhole sequence was one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen in a movie theater and certainly helped immerse me in the experience.  But seriously though, 2001 was better.

Playing for the Mob – Rating 8/10

Any movie that makes Goodfellas even more fascinating gets high marks in my book, and Playing for the Mob does just that.  Much like The Dog, hearing the real-life Henry Hill speak and interact with old friends/enemies is hilarious and odd.  While Henry was in witness protection for a long time, by the time they shot this documentary he clearly gave no fucks about who knew where he was and what he was doing.  His hilarious idiocy drives the story, and by association some aspects of the documentary.  This is a solid 30 for 30 documentary about a guy who in reality was much different from the way he was portrayed on screen, and for that reason alone this documentary is a must see.

Foxcatcher – Rating 9/10

If there’s anyone who had doubts about the acting chops of Tanning Chatum, here comes the flick to give that sentiment a staunch middle finger.  Foxcatcher is, to me at least, the year’s best adult drama.  Focusing on the strange, dark story of Olympic wrestlers Dave and Mark Schultz and their benefactor John DuPont, Foxcatcher might be the year’s most tense film.  Without doing much, Steve Carell completely sells his role as the very clearly emotionally and mentally disturbed DuPont so well that even simple scenes where he is around become endlessly more scary and keep you on the absolute edge of your seat.  The juxtaposition of the quieter scenes acting as counter-point to the louder intensity of the wrestling practice sessions and matches really disorient you and make the film all the more unsettling.  Foxcatcher is the kind of movie that we all wish for come this time of year, something that combines great performances, excellent direction and an engrossing story into a great little film.

Boyhood – Rating 9/10

After all the mixed reviews from everyone else on this goddamn website, I squeezed in Boyhood as a last minute addition to my yearly flicks, and boy(hood) am I glad I did.  This movie hits on such a broad range of emotions and subtlety that I’m in awe of it.  When I was growing up, I had a similar childhood in some ways to this kid, so the smaller moments and little things that happened throughout such as little looks and the way conversations slowly turn a certain way were, to me, executed perfectly.  While at times the kid was a little empty, I think the gimmick works really well as unique vessel to tell a story about the type of family lots of people have.  I found myself relating to almost all of the lead characters at one point or another, and I liked how Linklater stuck to his guns throughout and gave us something truly unique.  I happily give this a 9/10.

The Grand Budapest Hotel – Rating 9/10

There’s only one word to describe this flick, and it is delightful.  I love Wes Anderson, and here he is at the very top of his game.  I think that sometimes filmmakers reach an apex of their career where absolutely every piece of their craft is at its pinnacle.  I believe this film to be Anderson’s apex.  The characters, storytelling, acting and direction all come together to form an absolutely delightful movie full of comedic gold and wonderful characters.  With time this may become a perfect 10, but for now I’m sticking with a 9.

Chef – Rating 9/10

Back in the day, some of the most popular films around were being directed by a guy named Frank Capra.  You know him as the director of It’s A Wonderful Life, but he also made a series of feel-good stories about normal people in tough situations who find a way to come out on top.  In fact, for you film students, Frank Capra is often listed as Steven Spielberg’s favorite film director.  Chef is a throwback to Frank Capra with a modern twist.  By the end of Chef, and this is a mild spoiler, but things work out almost too well.  But you know what, what’s wrong with that once in a while?  This is a story about a man passing on his craft to his son, and I can’t think of a more noble and genuine story to tell.  Plus, the food seen in this film looks straight up ILLEGAL.  I’ve never seen a grilled cheese look so amazing, and am forever inadequate for having seen it.

X-Men Days of Future Past – Rating 9/10

I won’t say much here, as we’ve already covered this in the podcast, but X-Men gave me what I wanted from it.  Nothing more, nothing less.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Rating 9/10

Despite everything else that came out this year, this was without question the best blockbuster.  While Guardians and X-Men were fantastic in the standard comic-book ways, Dawn was great in terms of it being a standalone film.  I absolutely loved the struggle of Caesar knowing what is right and wrong, but having to do what is necessary in spite of it.  Andy Serkis is simply incredible in the part, and I have to admit that this is one of the only times where I feel special effects are enhancing the storytelling.  The minutiae of ape communication and how it works is incredible and serves the story particularly well.  The casting across the board works flawlessly and the morality of the actions is fantastic.  Dawn is a film I will revisit for a long time.

Birdman – Rating 10/10

My only perfect 10 on the year, Birdman is everything you want and more.  I don’t want to spoil a thing here, but Keaton is amazing, the cinematography is incredible and the story rings especially true given all the comic-book films we see each year.  There’s no way to discuss this film without spoiling it, so I’ll leave this as the absolute best film I’ve seen this year, an instant classic for me and a nice return to form for Keaton.  See it now.

Hope I didn’t lose too many of you on the way here but I figured I’d give everyone a nice, concise recap.  Now, I haven’t had an opportunity to see a bunch of shit, from Big Hero 6 to The Imitation Game to Whiplash, hence this not being a “top-anything” list, just a recap.  I hope everyone has a good New Year and, as always, Binge On!