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| San Fransokyo, winner of the Best Fictional City Award for 2014. |
During my "2014 Film Year"* I saw 100 films from 2014**. Most were in the theater, but many were through Netflix, Amazon Streaming, and even a couple via iTunes. I never intended to watch this many films, it just kind of happened because of a few reasons.
- Close Proximity to Multiplexes with a wide variety of Offerings
One 20 screen multiplex is just down the street from where I live. Another is with a 15 minute drive, and another is easily accessed within 30 minutes or so. Each of these had several smaller movies that I saw, in addition to some of the biggest movies of the year. I also went to downtown Chicago to see a few movies that never made it out here, or only made it out to Schaumburg several weeks or months later. - Streaming services Came Into Their Own
It's an understandable myth that services like Netflix or Amazon Prime don't have any movies to watch, in large part because many "big" films don't show up on the streaming service, forcing you to either use their disc service, or rent (or purchase) a digital copy. However, for many of the independent and foreign films that came out this year, these services were great ways to see them. There were several films I wanted to see but never got a chance when they were barely in theaters that I saw without having to pay extra beyond my Prime membership, or Netflix streaming account. - A lot of Interesting Options
I'm not going to say that 2014 was the best year of films I've seen since I started keeping track in 2007, because every year has good films and bad films. However, there seemed to be a wide variety of films ranging from little seen indies all the way to the largest blockbusters that were beautiful to look at, had something to say, and were just plain fun.
All in all, I enjoyed most every one of the films I saw, from Monuments Men last February, all the way down to Force Majeure yesterday. Even the bottom ten, which will be showing up later today, had at least a few things I enjoyed. The simple fact is that even though I saw 100 movies from 2014, there were many times more that were released. Most of the genuine crap I avoided. I also had several films I would have loved to have seen, but never reached here in time, or I just wasn't able to get into Chicago to see them at the one theater they were playing at.
Here's the part where I explain how this is going to go from here. In the past, I limited the list of movies to a fraction of those that I actually saw. However, because I'm feeling prolific, I've decided to write about all 100. I'll start with the bottom ten, a list that while at the bottom, doesn't necessarily mean they were entirely without some merit. Some of the funniest moments came from the comedies at the bottom. If only they would have had more laughs like them, they could have been higher on the list. From there, the list will be broken into manageable parts.
Monday: 100-91
Tuesday: 90-71 and 70-51
Wednesday: 50-36 and 35-21
Thursday 20-11 and 10-1
Friday: Looking Forward to 2015
As always, this list isn't a judge of how great a film is from a technical standpoint. That isn't to say I don't consider the technical merit, or craftmanship (or lack thereof) in my ranking. It just means that I am ranking the films based upon my own personal biases and tastes. There are several films which are ranked lower than ones that I realize are not nearly as well crafted, well written, or well acted. Like all lists, this one is incomplete and both perfect and an abomination.
Finally, before we get started I'm going to give out a few meaningless awards for things that I find somewhat interesting.
Favorite Actor: David Oyelowo, Selma
Playing any historic character is a tricky proposition, and even trickier when it's someone like Martin Luther King. By humanizing King and showing him to be a person with doubts, personal flaws, and a clear well operating political mind, Oyelowo gives life to a figure that all too easily could have been played blandly hagiographic in the wrong hands.
Honorable Mention: Joaquin Phoenix, Inherent Vice, Bill Hader, The Skeleton Twins, Ralph Fiennes, Grand Budapest Hotel, Miles Teller, Whiplash, Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler, Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy, Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner, Bill Murray, St. Vincent, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, A Most Wanted Man, Michael Keaton, Birdman, Macon Blair, Blue Ruin, Josh Charles, Bird People
Favorite Actress: Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Like the Acting category, this was a tough one, as there were several great performances that I enjoyed this year. But Cotillard's performance as a factory worker appealing to her co-workers to vote for her to keep her job, instead of getting bonuses, just squeezed ahead of the rest. Her mix of emotion in dealing with her co-workers as they ranged from apologetically supportive to openly hostile, all while trying to keep her ever present depression at bay, was just too real to ignore.
Honorable Mention: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl, Reese Witherspoon, Wild, Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant, Jenny Slate, Obvious Child, Robin Wright, The Congress, Scarlett Johansson, Under the Skin, Julianne Moore, Still Alice, Elisabeth Moss, Listen Up, Phillip, Kristen Wiig, The Skeleton Twins, Anaïs Demoustier, Bird People
Favorite Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Unlike the lead acting categories, this one is no contest. The violent rage and psychological manipulation that Simmons displayed as jazz band director Terrence Fletcher was a sight to behold. Every second he was on the screen my blood pressure sky rocketed, yet I couldn't look away. I'm glad that Simmons has had a chance to shine this year, after years of being one of those "That-guy" character actors who always made his parts worth watching, no matter how small.
Honorable Mention: Bradley Cooper, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vin Diesel, Guardians of the Galaxy, Godzilla, Godzilla, Ed Norton, Birdman, Tommy Lee Jones, The Homesman, Steve Carrell, Foxcatcher, Adam Driver, This is Where I Leave You, Bill Nighy, Pride, Michael Fassbender, Frank, Tyler Perry, Gone Girl
Favorite Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Although the movie's main character is her son Mason, Arquette's Olivia has a story all her own. It was an achievement in and of itself that Arquette kept the character consistent over the twelve years of filming. That she also made the character worth rooting for makes for an even better watching experience.
Honorable Mention: Carrie Coon, Gone Girl, Emma Stone, Birdman, Naomi Watts, Birdman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Frank, Emily Blount, Edge of Tomorrow, Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer, Allison Pill, Snowpiercer, Saorise Ronan, Grand Budapest Hotel, Teyonah Parris, Dear White People, Laura Dern, Wild
Best Performance, Best Friend of Main Character in Multiple Films: Gaby Hoffman, Obvious Child and Wild
Best Voiceover Narration: Joanna Newsom, Inherent Vice
Ratatouille award for Most Mouthwatering Film, Entree Division: Chef
Ratatouille award for Most Mouthwatering Film, Pastry Division: Grand Budapest Hotel
Most Suggestive Title Award (tie): Nymph()maniac Parts I and II
The Fountainhead Award for Most Exaggerated Influence of a Critic Character: Birdman
Best Combination of Terrifying and Ridiculous: Stephen Root, Selma
Tilda Swinton Award for Being the Best Tilda Swinton Possible (tie): Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer and Tilda Swinton, Only Lovers Left Alive
Alec Baldwin in Glengarry, Glen Ross Award for best One Scene performance: Allison Pill, Snowpiercer
Better off Ted Memorial Worst Title Award: Edge of Tomorrow
The Wind Rises Award for Movies I Wanted to See but Didn't get a Chance (tie): The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, Song of the Sea, Goodbye to Language, Calvary, Love is Strange
Most Annoying Trailer: The Wedding Ringer
* From February 6, 2014 - February 8, 2015
** The general rule is that the film was released theatrically in 2014. However, there are some movies that technically debuted in 2013, but were considered 2014 movies because that's when they were considered released in the United States. I used this list as the basis for most of my list. Hence, why Ernest and Celestine, which came out in 2012 in France, is considered a 2014 movie for the purposes of my count.
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