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I know what you’re thinking. Another list?! Forgive me my trespass but as a member of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists I’m asked to compile a list of my favorite films each year and I wanted to share some of my viewing highlights with you. These are the films that have been occupying my thoughts in recent weeks and many of them haven’t gotten the critical attention that I think they deserve. What follows is an alphabetical list of my 15 Favorite Films from 2014 along with some comments. I had hoped to write more about them all and why I find them worth recommending but I managed to sprain my hand last week, which has limited my typing abilities so some films only get a sentence or two. That said, I hope you’ll find some of my viewing suggestions worth investigating further.
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THE BABADOOK (Dir. Jennifer Kent; 2014)
I found this Australian horror film more heartbreaking than frightening but it shares much in common with mournful psychological thrillers about deeply troubled women such as REPULSION (1965) and POSESSION (1981). Having lost my own father in a brutal car accident when I was just 8-years-old, I know all too well what it’s like to live with a detached mother suffering from severe trauma without any support system to speak of so the film hit me where I hurt. Watch THE BABADOOK for the way it thoughtfully dismantles the endless myths about selfless motherhood while admiring Essie Davis’ gut-wrenching, hair-pulling central performance as a woman in the midst of a parental meltdown.
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CALVARY (Dir. John Michael McDonagh; 2014)
What is God? And why maintain faith and forgiveness in a world where horrible things happen to innocent people on a daily basis? As a longtime agnostic with a strong atheist streak I don’t purpose to have the answer to the questions CALVARY dares to ask of its audience. But I admire Irish director and writer John Michael McDonagh for making a film that frames these complicated questions so beautifully. The film opens with good-natured Father James (Brendan Gleason) taking confession from an unseen member of his congregation who tells the priest that he’s going to murder him in one week’s time. The reason? Because the faceless voice wants revenge for the numerous sexual assaults he suffered as a child at the hands of another priest. In the week that follows we get to know more about Father James and the quirky residents of the small village where he resides. Some will undoubtedly find the film heavy-handed in its approach and I can’t argue with that. But I appreciated this unique take on Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” mainly due to Gleason’s astounding central performance as Father James, a troubled man wrestling with life’s big questions who came to the priesthood late in life following the sudden death of his much-loved wife. Gleason is incredibly moving as the hard drinking, foulmouthed priest in the midst of a spiritual crisis. He’s the glue that holds this film together and the reason that CALVARY is on this list.
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CITIZENFOUR (Dir. Laura Poitras; 2014)
Forget THE INTERVIEW (2014). If you want to rally around a film that illustrates the importance of upholding America’s First Amendment spend money to see Laura Poitras’ CITIZENFOUR. The documentary provides an up close and personal look at the immediate days before and after Poitras, along with journalists Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill, were asked to meet with Edward Snowden in a Hong Kong hotel room to hear his disturbing firsthand account of the American government’s use of KGB-like surveillance tactics to monitor its citizens. Snowden’s inside knowledge of the NSA (National Security Administration) and its illegal methods have become common knowledge but Poitras’ film provides us with a firsthand account of how Snowden presented his information and how the journalist’s responded. The film unfolds quietly like a John le Carré thriller but this is no fiction. This is front page news that threatens the very foundation of our constitutional freedoms. The American director, who decided to leave the country and move to Germany after being repeatedly harassed by her own government, knows all too well how our civil liberties have been trampled in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Make this a double bill with the excellent two part PBS Frontline documentary UNITED STATES OF SECRETS (2014) if you want to see two of the most important films made last year.
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ENEMY (Dir. Denis Villeneuve; 2013 – released in the U.S. in 2014)
This is my favorite film of 2014 and it was undoubtedly the most flat out frightening and disturbing film I saw all year. If you appreciate the early work of David Cronenberg you should find ENEMY particularly fulfilling. Denis Villeneuve’s gloomy, atmospheric and at times bone-chilling film was based on one of José Saramago’s more esoteric novels, The Double, which tells the strange tale of a man (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is haunted by his doppelganger. Is he losing his mind or his mind already lost? The film will leave a lot of viewers scratching their heads but I was mesmerized and completely caught up in the bleak world director Villeneuve created. Playing two characters in the same film is never easy for an actor but Jake Gyllenhaal has rarely been better.
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FORCE MAJEURE (Dir. Ruben Östlund; 2014)
A subtle yet powerful tale about the fragile nature of our identities that revolves around a “model Swedish family-handsome businessman Tomas, his willowy wife Ebba and their two blond, pre-teen children-on a skiing holiday in the French Alps.” Both parents are forced to confront their all-too human weaknesses during their seemingly idyllic vacation.
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THE GALAPAGOS AFFAIR: SATAN CAME TO EDEN (Dir. Daniel Geller & Dayna Goldfine; 2013 – released in the U.S. in 2014)
This unusual documentary details the mysterious disappearances of a number of European settlers who came to the Galapagos Islands in the 1930s. The film is made up of incredible archival footage including a silent film featuring the seductive Baroness Eloise von Wagner as a pirate queen. The Baroness eventually disappears along with her male companion and we’re left to ponder what became of her and the other missing island occupants
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THE HOMESMAN (Dir. Tommy Lee Jones; 2014)
This bleak and unsentimental western rejects the romanticized myth of pioneer life and shows us just how brutal existence could be for American settlers, particularly if they were women. The film is skillfully directed by Tommy Lee Jones who also stars as the world weary George Briggs, a man saved from the hangman’s rope by a gun-toting spinster named Mary Bee Cuddy (Hilary Swank). Mary asks George to help her take a group of mentally unstable women across the country where they can get the proper care they need but their long and trying journey is complicated by Mary’s own mounting distress and the unforgiving nature of the American west. THE HOMESMAN takes some surprising turns and is similar in tone to many of the best westerns made during the 1970s such as MCCABE & MRS. MILLER (1971) and JEREMIAH JOHNSON (1972). It also boasts some stunning cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto (BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN; 2005, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET; 2013, ETC.). The talented ensemble cast includes John Lithgow, James Spader and Meryl Streep but the real stand outs are the two leads. Both Tommy Lee Jones and Hilary Swank deliver memorable low-key performances that pack an emotional wallop.
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ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE (Dir. Jim Jarmsuch; 2014)
Jim Jarmusch made a vampire film. Do I really need another reason to explain why this film is on my list?
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PENNY DREADFUL (2014 – TV series created & written by John Logan)
I know what you’re thinking. A TV show?! If the revered French film journal Cahiers du Cinéma can include a television production on their best of 2014 list, so can I. With its Victorian London setting, gothic overtones, romantic themes and unbridled eroticism, PENNY DREADFUL hits many of my sweet spots and does it all with gusto. This is what the new Hammer films should look and feel like and I wish the studio that once dripped blood would take its cues from this beautifully photographed production that’s incredibly rich with ideas and emotions. The acting is top notch and all the actors embrace their roles without reservation. Peter Cushing would be proud!
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THE RAID 2 (Dir. Gareth Evans; 2014)
The best action film of 2014. Period.
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STARRY EYES (Dir. Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmyer; 2014)
Hollywood can be a nasty place if you’re a young attractive woman trying to make it as an actress without any inside connections or moral support. And much like the single mom in THE BABADOOK as well as the women in THE HOMESMAN, poor Sarah (Alex Essoe) is coming apart at the seams. This low-budget horror film is surprsingly effective due to Essoe’s sensitive lead performance and well worth a look if you can stomach the bloody gut-wrenching twists and turns it takes.
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THE STRANGE COLOUR OF YOUR BODY’S TEARS (Dir. Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani; 2013 – released in the U.S. in 2014)
I have an aversion to modern films that blatantly mimic or borrow from better made works and more original filmmakers but last year I decided to put aside personal prejudices when I watched this modern interpretation of Italian giallo films that were originally produced in the 1960s and 70s. I’m glad that I did because I was impressed by the adult nature of THE COLOUR OF YOUR BODY’S TEARS and the way it played with genre clichés while reinterpreting the visual language that we associate with giallo. There is no linear plot to speak of as we follow along with a man desperate to find his missing wife and if you’re unfamiliar with the work of directors such as Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, Dario Argento and Umberto Lenzi you might be unable to appreciate the dream logic that propels this dark and twisty labyrinth-like tale forward. But I think many will admire the film’s stunning set pieces that seem to be swiped from our collective cinematic nightmares. The score borrows too much from other films and it left me wishing that the filmmakers (French directing duo Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani) had hired an original composer instead of using music from some of my favorite Italian thrillers including THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1970) and SHORT NIGHT OF THE GLASS DOLLS (1972) but if you like the way Quentin Tarantino repurposes scores you’ll probably overlook that. Overall this is a visual treat for those of us who love giallo films and it’s obvious that the filmmakers deeply appreciate the genre that they’re emulating.
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STRANGER BY THE LAKE (Dir. Alain Guiraudie; 2013 – released in the U.S. in 2014)
This slow-burn erotic thriller explores the sexual habits and passions of Frank (Pierre Deladonchamps), a gay man who “spends his summer days hopelessly searching for companionship at a popular cruising spot on the shores of a lake in rural France.” After encountering Michel (Christophe Paou), Frank’s passion turns into obsession and he overlooks the dangerous fact that his beloved Michel has become the primary suspect in a murder. STRANGER BY THE LAKE smartly illustrates the old adage that “love is blind.”
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UNDER THE SKIN (DIR. Jonathan Glazer; 2014)
From the publicity material: “An alien in human form is on a journey through Scotland.” The film has been called wholly original but it recalls many other science fiction films from the past including THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (1976). LIFEFORCE (1985) and QUEEN OF BLOOD (1965). What it does have is some incredibly taut direction from Jonathan Glazer and a moody score by Mica Levi that sets my teeth on edge in the most welcoming way.
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WHY DON’T YOU PLAY IN HELL? (Dir. Sion Sono; 2014)
Sion Sono is one of the most interesting director’s making movies in Japan and this is his mad opus celebrating the Asian film industry. The film borrows some of its best ideas from John Waters’ equally uproarious CECIL B. DEMENTED (2000) but manages to give them an original spin while making humorous nodes to the work of great Japanese directors such as Seijun Suzuki and Yasuharu Hasebe. I can only suggest wading into this crazy cinematic feast if you’re familiar with some of the names I dropped in this write-up otherwise you’ll probably get lost in all the chaos but what a ride! Watching WHY DON’T YOU PLAY IN HELL? is probably the most fun I had at the movies all year.