The best------(10) They Came Together
I know many people were disappointed by this parody of the conventions of romantic comedies but what made a lot of people hate it is what I found so hysterical. The film is deliberate in the way it skewers the predictable nature of the romantic comedy and thus the broad humor works because it shows why these films starring Katherine Heigl and/or Gerald Butler among others have been hard to stomach over the years.
(9) 22 Jump Street
Yes...this film is fantastic and had me laughing hysterically the entire time. It just shows how fantastic 2014 has been when this manages to only sneak in at number 9. I loved everything about this film and the palpable chemistry between Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as well as the obviously massive amounts of fun that they're having are nothing short of fabulous.
(8) Chef
Perhaps the greatest film that the brilliant Wes Anderson has done, this film not only features a stellar performance from the always reliable Ralph Fiennes but is also in equal parts funny, thrilling and even touching. Newcomer Tony Revolori as an anxious and charming lobby boy as well as a cavalcade of hilarious cameos and an abundance of the most visually pleasing set pieces I have seen add to this comedy's wonderfulness and beauty.
(4) The Double
(6) I, Frankenstein
Dishonorable mentions---The Nut Job, Ride Along, Sex Tape, Divergent, Noah, Third Person, Sabotage
Jon Favreau proves yet again to be a genuinely great filmmaker with a heart of gold by making this delicious treat of a film. He plays a passionate chef who works for an unappreciative boss (Dustin Hoffman) and decides to open up a food truck business and work for himself after a humiliating fight with a snobby food critic (Oliver Platt) circles the internet. The film has a great message about doing what you love and an excellent young performance in Emjay Anthony as Carl (Favreau)'s son, Percy as well as a dynamite performance by John Leguizamo as Carl's buddy and old co-worker who decides to join him. Also, Favreau is fantastic in this and reassures audiences that there is a reason he is so highly regarded as an actor, writer and director.
(7) Snowpiercer
Chris Evans' fantastic performance playing a different kind of superhero is only one of the many reasons to see this inventive, thrilling, daring and downright fantastic motion picture. Co-written and directed by Joon-Ho Bong, this is a wild ride from start to finish that is also a tough and timely metaphor. Not always easy to watch, this is the type of film where it's impossible to take your eyes off the screen even for a second.
(6) Locke
This film finds the audience watching Tom Hardy drive a car while talking on the phone for 85 minutes and works due to Hardy's performance. He pulls off the excitement and thrill that the of the moment phone calls bring in a way that most actors could never pull off. Captivating from start to finish, this film relies on the idea that no one in the audience knows what's going to happen next and are dying to figure it out.
(5) The Grand Budapest Hotel
(4) The Double
Richard Ayoade (who many people may know as that funny British guy from the otherwise disappointing The Watch) writes and directs this creative and massively entertaining comedy about a lonely office worked named Simon James (Jesse Eisenberg) who sees his doppleganger in the newest employee at his office named James Simon (also Eisenberg.) James Simon proves to be significantly smoother and much more popular than Simon James is and that drives Simon James up a wall. With excellent supporting work from Mia Wasikowska as a crush of Simon James and the always great Wallace Shawn as the lookalikes' boss, this is a film for anyone who loves film
(3) Blue Ruin
Films don't get more intense and cinematic than writer-director Jeremy Saulnier's Blue Ruin, a revenge picture that ends up being much more than it seems. Following an outcast named Dwight (Macon Blair) whose presence is ghostly (which can be seen by the fact that he sneaks into other people's houses to take a shower and never gets caught,) this is a tense, edge of your seat ride with more depth than anyone could expect. Dwight plans to carry out an act of revenge but gets more than he bargained for. However, more than he bargained for does not refer to the cliche revenge picture tropes but something much cooler and way more intense. Blair is excellent as the quiet loner who just wants to get back at the people who ruined his life and Saulnier gives the film an extremely cool and creepy vibe without ever going over the top. Sadly, this film was not at all a success in theaters but hopefully will find its way into cult status on home video.
(2) Enemy
The other doppleganger film this year, Denis Villeneuve's down and dirty, creepy thriller features a show stopping performance by Jake Gyllenhall who plays a wimpy college professor slowly going down the rabbit hole after he spots a struggling actor (also Gyllenhaal) who looks scarily like him in a film. With a twist ending that will never legitimately be explained and will most definitely anger most people but that I completely dug, this is a film that has soon to be classic written all over it.
(1) Life Itself
Fine, I'm admittedly a bit bias about picking this as my number one because I owe my passion for film and I would go so far as to say my purpose in life to Roger Ebert. However, this is an unforgettable film that is extraordinarily made by Steve James, a director who also owes a lot to Ebert. James lets this be the film that Ebert wanted everyone to see and wisely does not sugarcoat anything. He shows all the hardships that Roger and wife Chaz had to go through and by the end of this beautiful and endearing motion picture, I had too many tears rolling down my face to count.
Honorable Mentions---Neighbors, Begin Again, The Raid 2, X-Men: Days Of Future Past, The Grand Seduction, The Lego Movie, Cold In July
The worst----(10) A Haunted House 2
I am ashamed to admit that I even paid to see this. While it is in no way as aggressively bad and unpleasant as the first one (I even laughed twice,) this is still a terrible piece of film making (if you can even call it that) and further proof that Marlon Wayans is most likely just an escaped mental patient who has no connection at all to THE Wayans family.
(9) Labor Day
Writer-director Jason Reitman takes a huge step back with this creepy, uncomfortable and just plain excruciatingly dull drama about a depressed woman (Kate Winslet) who takes in an escaped convict (Josh Brolin) and eventually falls in love with him. Winslet, Brolin and co-stars Clark Gregg, Tobey Maguire, JK Simmons and James Van Der Beek as well as Reitman are all extremely talented people. What any of them were doing appearing in this garbage is beyond me.
(8) That Awkward Moment
Let's face it---no one on earth liked this film. I was even perhaps the only person looking forward to it and I despised it. With three talented actors at the helm (Michael B Jordan, Zac Efron and Miles Teller,) this is a depressing and utterly desperate comedy that manages to be in turns creepy, lazy and just downright stupid. This was a good date film only if you want to break up with the person you're seeing it with.
(7) Pompeii
I couldn't even write a review on this film because I didn't remember anything about it the second I left the theater. The only thing I have recalled since is that Kiefer Sutherland was in it for some reason. Enough said.
If you want to know why this is on my list, see my description for the film above and just replace Kiefer Sutherland with Aaron Eckhart and Bill Nighy. Good god, what are these two incredible talents doing with themselves?
(5) The Amazing Spider Man 2
Sony pictures has decided to push the third film in this seemingly endless franchise back to 2016, perhaps to fix their mistakes. I vote that just not making another sequel and thus not wasting talent is a better idea.
(4) A Million Ways To Die In The West
I'm as loyal of a "Family Guy" fan as you can find and this film even made me hate Seth MacFarlane. The creator of the long running animated sitcom has crafted an extremely boring comedy that only he thinks is hilarious and seems intent on telling the same two jokes hundreds of times. He also foolishly put himself in the leading man role that he was born to never play. I think he just made this film to make out with Charlize Theron. At least I can't really blame him for that part.
(3) Transcendence
This film seemed destined for success and somehow failed miserably. The only way I kept myself engaged in this overlong, preachy, unforgivably boring science fiction tale was by counting the number of people who had fallen asleep in the theater due to boredom one by one. I barely made it all the way through without becoming one of them.
(2) Deliver Us From Evil
This horror film-cop drama mixture is even more dumb, hokey and boring than its title suggests. Eric Bana, usually a very reliable actor gives one of the most all time boring performances in film history as a street smart cop who discovers the paranormal. Nothing about this film is redeeming and the only thing I can say to the usually talented writer-director Scott Derrickson is that you got me to pay money to see your garbage so touche.
(1) The Other Woman
When a film about three women who plan to get back at a man who's cheating on all of them and many others at once makes me sympathize with the man, you know the film has a lot of problems. Sad thing is that's the least of its issues. With a totally misogynistic and immature screenplay shockingly written by a woman, Melissa Stack and a talented cast (Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Don Johnson) all giving it their nothing, watching this insulting garbage is the closest thing to being killed by pure boredom in a theater I have ever had.
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