Above: Ralph Fiennes is Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Year-End
Round-Up! Interesting movies I saw this
year! Let’s go!
“Boyhood”
It’d
be one thing if Richard Linklater’s experiment was just that: an experiment. If his twelve-year production wound up as a
failed attempt to make something new in modern cinema, that’d be fine enough. The fact that his movie is not only ambitious,
but also good, is nothing short of astounding.
Without special effects, without
high-octane action, and without big ideas or histrionics, “Boyhood” succeeds as
an engaging drama about the simplicity of life; the ups and downs, the ins and
outs, and everything in between. It’s a
grand, albeit quiet, journey through adolescence. The characters grow and change (not only
because of the time passing) and as a result, we get stellar performances out
of supporting players Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke.
“Boyhood” is a film confident enough
to be great while also being quiet, unassuming, and honest. With limited artifice and a small yet epic
scope, it’s one of the more unusual pictures I had the pleasure of seeing this
year.
“Gone
Girl”
“Gone
Girl” feels like a magic trick being performed before your eyes: a moody murder
mystery that changes into a pitch-black satire of modern media before changing
again into a taut, edge-of-your-seat thriller—all without missing a story beat
or losing your attention. Simply put,
it’s one of the smartest and most engaging movies I've seen in years.
You can thank the filmmakers. David Fincher’s direction is as masterful as
ever, Gillian Flynn’s screenplay is as tense and bizarrely funny as it needs to
be, and the actors all bring their A-game.
Still, particular attention has to be paid to Rosamund Pike’s leading
role. She’s astounding for the full 149
minutes of the film and leaves a powerful impression. Come awards season, she’s earned more than a
few nods, and I hope to see more from her from here on out.
“The
Lego Movie”
This
could have gone south so easily. A movie
adaptation of a toy that lacks a solid identity of its own beyond “you can
build stuff”? In the wrong hands, this
could have been another “Food Fight.”
Yet under the direction of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, “The Lego Movie”
amazes with its quality. Not only is it
uproariously funny and beautifully animated, but it’s also a statement on
playtime and children’s toys AND a deconstruction of Joseph Campbell’s “Hero
with a Thousand Faces.”
In other words, you can look beyond the
clever meta-narrative, the stop-motion aesthetic translated into CGI, the
spot-on parody of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight, and the ecstatic cries of
“SPACESHIP!!!” Because at its core, “The
Lego Movie” not only strips the hero’s journey monomyth down to its basics, but
points out why it’s important.
So yes, the film’s hero, Emmett, is declared “the Special.” But by the journey’s end, everyone is
the Special and the film shows that everyone has the capability to be
extraordinary; they only need the opportunity. And that’s why the hero’s journey matters:
because everyone, just like everything, is awesome.
“Captain
America: The Winter Soldier”
It
takes courage to adapt a character as archly written as Captain America. It takes more courage to make a Captain
America movie that abandons his familiar World War II trappings for a paranoid
spy-fi action flick. And it takes yet
more courage to use that film as an opportunity to tear down the foundation of
a cinematic universe.
Man, Marvel can just straight-up get
away with murder, can’t they?
Even without its larger continuity
connotations, “Winter Soldier” is just a fun movie. I especially love what it brings to Captain
America’s personal corner of the universe: a toolbox of advanced espionage
gadgets, an eye for brutal hand-to-hand fight scenes, and Steve Rogers’ brand
new posse of soldiers and spy-smashers. I
don’t know exactly what’s next for the star-spangled man with a plan, but I’m
looking forward to finding out.
“X-Men:
Days of Future Past”
Wow,
this movie was really, really…okay. That’s
it. Just okay. Not great, not terrible, just quite simply
okay. And that’s a little disappointing
to me.
Look, I love Bryan Singer’s original
“X-Men” movies, I really do. But
superhero movies have evolved since then. Matthew Vaughn’s “X-Men: First Class” (a more
comic book-y vision of the X-Men saga) was the shot in the arm the franchise
need to reinvigorate itself and keep up with Marvel Studios and DC’s latest
efforts. That’s why “Days of Future
Past” (which marks Mr. Singer’s return to the franchise as director) feels like
such a step backwards to me. Bright,
colorful uniforms have been exchanged for black leather jumpsuits; Wolverine (Hugh
Jackman) is once again the center of the franchise; the story elements are
borrowed wholesale from 2003’s “X2”; and nearly every character who didn’t grow
up to be someone important in Mr. Singer’s movies apparently died off-screen
between features.
And yet, there’s a lot about “Days
of Future Past” that still works. The
actors (including James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender) are still game for
anything and everything; the action is creative and lively; and while they
don’t exactly break the mold, the movie’s giant killer robots and time travel
elements feel like a step in the right direction towards the real weirdness
that’s part of the X-Universe.
Maybe we’ll get more of this brand of madness in future
installments. I’m not holding my breath
for murderous amusement parks, inter-dimensional television programs, or
islands that walk like men, but maybe some aliens? Apocalypse is in the next movie and he was
friends with some aliens, right?
“The
Amazing Spider-Man 2”
This
is what happens when people who don’t know how to start franchises try to start
franchises.
“Amazing Spider-Man 2” is bad. It’s really, really bad. Why?
Because the film’s barely-functional script (whose writers include the
notorious Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci) feels less like a cohesive three-act narrative
and more like six different, lesser stories that were stitched together in
order to create the illusion that there was a larger universe beyond what can
generously be called the central story. It’s
just a complete mess, one that’s not helped by the lax editing that makes a 2.5
hour movie feel much longer.
What hurts even more is that there’s
still good stuff there trying to get noticed beyond all the crap. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are solid
actors and as Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy, they have real chemistry. Plus, the effects are polished and cool and
the action is fast-paced—and sometimes even funny.
Still, in the end those triumphs wind up buried beneath that
misguided script and lackluster direction from Marc Webb. I may do a full review on why “ASM2” doesn’t
work. But for now, we’ll stick with
“this movie sucks” and move on.
“Guardians
of the Galaxy”
I am
Groot.
I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot, I am Groot, I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am
Groot? I am Groot! I am Groot.
I am Groot. I am Groot.
“The
Grand Budapest Hotel”
It’s
been said that Wes Anderson gets more Wes Anderson-y with every passing
feature. In truth, I thought he’d peaked
with “Moonrise Kingdom,” but it turns out that he had not yet reached mass-Andersoniosity.
And that’s where “The Grand Budapest
Hotel” comes in.
“Grand Budapest” is a movie made of
contradictions—a film that blends whimsical comedy, melancholic nostalgia, and
the occasional kick of brutal violence. And
yet it all works, held together by Mr. Anderson’s stylized cinematography and
the double-act of Ralph Fiennes and Tony Revolori. It’s funny, it’s tragic, it’s bizarre, it’s
heartfelt, and it may just be my favorite movie of 2014.
So that’s my list. Honestly,
I thought 2014 was a pretty strong year for movies. Here’s to a good year and looking forward to
what comes to us in 2015, when we see the Avengers reunite, get a tour of the
human mind, and return to a galaxy far, far away.
No comments:
Post a Comment