Some have said that 2014 wasn’t a great year for the movies.
Box office receipts on certain intended blockbusters disappointed the bean counters. And I have to admit, this year’s Oscar nominations do not generate quite the excitement that other years have. However, for movie buffs like us at Reel Takes, we loved 2014.
It was a banner year for smaller, wonderfully creative, moving and entertaining films. In fact, in composing our personal best lists (which can and do differ from our critical top ten lists), the most challenging point was limiting ourselves to just 10 films.
Our lists contain titles that we thoroughly enjoyed; films that stayed with us on some level, and some that were simply a guilty pleasure. With that we offer our favorite films of 2014 in alphabetical order.
Chip Kaufmann’s Favorites
A Walk Among The Tombstones – This powerful urban crime drama gives Liam Neeson his best role in years and features a challenging storyline along with a pair of memorable and very disturbing bad guys.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier – This Marvel blockbuster got lost in the shuffle after Guardians of the Galaxy came out but a solid story and a villainous Robert Redford made it a memorable film experience.
The Drop – An excellent example of a little movie that is character and story driven.Tom Hardy’s outstanding portrayal and James Gandolfini in his final role add depth to the proceedings.
The Grand Budapest Hotel – My favorite film of the year. This updated version of an Ernst Lubitsch comedy has everything I look for in a movie. Great sets, costumes, photography, writing, and an ensemble cast to die for.
The Homesman – Shades of Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven can be found in this mesmerizing but very downbeat western with great performances from Tommy Lee Jones (who also directed) and Hilary Swank.
Maleficent – I went to this expecting a live action version of Sleeping Beauty but instead found a beautiful and completely reworked version of the fairy tale loaded with Victorian storybook imagery. Angelina Jolie is perfect!
Mr. Turner – British filmmaker Mike Leigh’s leisurely paced biopic of 18th century painter J.M.W. Turner contains an extraordinary lead performance from Timothy Spall (channelling Charles Laughton), and truly incredible cinematography.
Only Lovers Left Alive – I expected to like this movie because of Jim Jarmusch, Tom Hiddleston, and Tilda Swinton but I was blown away by the depth of character and social observations. An unorthodox vampire picture primarily set in Detroit.
Tusk – Writer-director Kevin Smith’s take on the traditional mad scientist horror flick with a wonderfully deranged performance from Michael Parks. How can you not like a film where a loud, obnoxious radio host is turned into a walrus?
Veronica Mars – My favorite guilty pleasure of the year based on the old TV series. Kristen Bell returns as the title character now a young woman who helps clear an old beau of a murder charge. This is how you upgrade a TV show into a movie.
Michelle Keenan’s Favorites
Calvary – A shatteringly beautiful drama by John Michael McDonough (The Guard) starring Brendan Gleeson as a good priest who’s threatened by a parishioner to pay for the sins of the church. A powerful film. Not for the faint of heart.
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them – Boyhood was not the only cinematic experiment this year. First time feature film director Ned Benson wrote and directed three versions of his relationship drama – a ‘his,’ ‘her,’ and ‘them.’ It sounds pretentious, but earnest performances from Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy convinced me otherwise.
The Drop – A wonderful and entertaining broody little drama directed by Michael R. Roskam (Bullhead) starring Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini in what is sadly his last role.
Grand Budapest Hotel – This old school caper comedy from Wes Anderson was my favorite film of the year. But its massive success with critics and audiences has me worried – is Wes Anderson now mainstream?
The Imitation Game – A performance driven drama about Alan Turing, the mathematician who broke Nazi Germany’s Enigma code and helped change the tide of WWII.
Inherent Vice – Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s novel. Apparently if you cross Sam Spade and a doped up hippie in 1970 this is what you get.
Locke – I thought a film about a man driving from Birmingham to London while facing a personal crisis and talking on his mobile would be a.) a gimmick, and b.) boring, but it was anything but. Tom Hardy’s performance, from the seat of a BMW, is nothing short of riveting.
The Lunchbox – A gem of a film about an unhappily married housewife who begins a correspondence with the man who accidentally receives the lunches she makes for her ungrateful husband.
Only Lovers Left Alive – An elegant and alternative vampire film as only Jim Jarmusch could make starring Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, and John Hurt. I was utterly sucked in.
Pride – Based on a actual events in 1984, when gay activists and British unionized mineworkers joined forces, Pride is one of the most joyous, crowd-pleasing little films to come down the pike in a long time.