I wanted to provide my personal take on Hollywood’s best for 2014. Okay, I don’t think this topic is going to win me any prizes for timeliness. However, not too long ago, the Academy Awards didn’t take place until well into the springtime, but the Motion Picture Academy felt that the Golden Globes were stealing the spotlight, so the proceedings were moved up to Winter. Also, I figure that many folks may just now be playing catch-up via DVD and other home video outlets.
Most of the time, folks present these kinds of lists in an order that builds toward the top pick, but I am going to be contrary and start with my favorites. Overall, I think it was a good movie year, but as is often the case, the quality grown-up films didn’t make it into wide release until the holiday season and beyond. So, at the risk of sounding like a movie snob, I must say that there were some really long droughts in the spring and summer dominated by big-budget blockbusters that have that “been there done that” feel.
My Pick for the Best of the 2014 Best Picture Nominees and also My Choice for the Actual Best Film of the Year as Well–The Imitation Game
The meme at the top of the page probably gave it away, but if I were handing out little golden guys myself, I would shower the love on The Imitation Game. This biopic recounting the life of Alan Turing–the code-breaker who helped turn the tide in the fight against Hitler and ultimately became known as the father of modern computing–tackles some timely issues about self-acceptance and the very sad history of society’s efforts to “cure” gay people. Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley shine in their roles. The film’s message moves beyond the notion of “tolerance” for those who are different toward the revelation that we as the human race are made richer by the creativity and intelligence of our misfits.
Not Nominated in the Best Picture Category but My Runner-Up Favorite Film–Gone Girl
I know that Gone Girl is probably a bit of a popcorn movie, but as usual director David Fincher kept me on the edge of my seat, and Oscar-nominated Rosamund Pike was mesmerizing as the mysterious wife at the center of the thriller adapted from Gillian Flynn’s bestseller. Okay, now that I got that aside out-of-the-way, back to the flicks that DID get nominated.
Very Near the Top–American Sniper
My politics are pretty liberal on most issues, and I am not sure that Chris Kyle’s take on foreign policy issues or cultural diversity would be the same as mine, though I remain grateful to him and his fellow soldiers who have put their lives on the line to defend our freedom. I am getting a little tired of the whole red state vs. blue state approach to movies, and I disagree with my friends on the left who dismiss American Sniper as pure right-wing propaganda.
Clint Eastwood is one of my favorite directors, and he masterfully ties together the whole package. Bradley Cooper continues to amaze me, and there were moments when his performance sent chills up my spine. I was challenged to contemplate the experience of war both on and off the battlefield, and I left the theater asking myself difficult questions.
Very Good–Boyhood and Whiplash
Boyhood was an evocative roller-coaster ride of coming-of-age experience. Yes, the novelty of shooting a movie over a twelve-year time period may have run the risk of overshadowing the actual plot, but the twists and turns of family life rang true. Patricia Arquette certainly deserved her Supporting Actress Oscar for playing a hard-working single mother.
J.K. Simmons has been working in the acting trenches for years, including his role as the fatherly Farmers Insurance spokesman. Yet, in his Academy Award-winning role as a sadistic college jazz-band director in Whiplash, Simmons found the perfect place to let his talent shine. This intense movie presents a level of bullying by an authority figure that can be extremely difficult to watch at times. I found the experience quite compelling, but it’s not for the faint of heart.
Good–Selma, The Theory of Everything, and The Grand Budapest Hotel
This was a strong field, so I still regarded these three nominees quite well. Selma offers a much-needed window into the struggle for voting rights in America. As an armchair Presidential historian, I objected to the portrayal of LBJ, but all in all, it was a worthy endeavor.
I am happy for Eddie Redmayne’s Academy Award success with The Theory of Everything. He captures the courage–but also the humanity and vulnerability–of astrophysicist Stephen Hawking in his prolonged battle with A.L.S. Given the whole British smart-guy dynamic, it was inevitable that this one got compared with the above mentioned Imitation Game. I have my biases on that head-to-head, but it’s nice to see science celebrated on the big screen so enthusiastically.
I am always curious about what director West Anderson has up his sleeve. Sometimes, his efforts click more for me than others. Yet, there is much to admire with The Grand Budapest Hotel. Ralph Fiennes really lays on the charm as the eccentric hotel operator, and the usual ensemble of talent from Anderson pictures (Edward Norton, Bill Murray, et al ) also provide entertaining eccentricity. I scratched my head sometimes, but at least I was never bored.
Hollywood’s Best Picture Winner Birdman: I Just Don’t Get It
I saw all eight of the Best Picture contenders, and as luck would have it, the only one of them that just didn’t do it for me was the one that took home the big prize, Birdman. (I know there is also a really long subtitle that goes with it, but I can skip that oddity.) I absolutely loved director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s earlier films 21 Grams and Babel, and I figured that such a wonderful cast (Michael Keaton, the previously mentioned Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, Emma Stone). I consider myself an artsy kind of guy, but I just didn’t get this one. It’s not that I hated Birdman, but I just didn’t grasp the significance of Michael Keaton suffering a nervous breakdown in the middle of Times Square clad only in his tighty-whities.
So, there you have it. At the moment, I am in the midst of another drought where there really isn’t much playing at the multiplexes that I want to see. Yet, I am sure this too shall pass, and the meaty choices will arrive later in 2015.
Coloring Outside the Lines 