It’s always interesting to look back, and especially compare the state of movies then to now. I noticed a few Best of 2014 pieces have been going up the last month. The latest one is Rotten Tomatoes’ 100 best films from that year. Were there even 100 worthy titles?
I’ll probably make this a monthly thing. Tackling 2004, 1994, 1984 and 1974, maybe earlier than that. It’s always a fun exercise to hit the time capsule and remind ourselves of a time when movies mattered more than they do now.
Hard to grasp, but it’s already been 10 years since “Boyhood” and “Whiplash.” Time flies. Looking back, 2014 wasn’t a particularly notable film year, however one thing I noticed was the great sci-fi that was released, from directors like Jonathan Glazer, Christopher Nolan, Bong Joon-ho and Doug Liman.
Cannes, Sundance and Toronto had fairly subdued editions. The marquee foreign titles seemed to come from Pawel Pawlikowski (“Ida”), Ruben Ostlund (“Force Majeure”) and The Dardennes (“Two Days, One Night”).
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s “Birdman” won the Oscar for Best Picture? And, know what? They could have done a lot worse by choosing this ballsy anti-superhero statement from the Mexican filmmaker. Inarritu also won Best Director.
What we’re some of your favorites from this year?
The 10 best films I saw in 2014: “Under the Skin,” “Boyhood,” Whiplash,” Birdman,” Most Violent Year,” “Foxcatcher,” Interstellar,” Gone Girl,” “Blue Ruin,” “Only Lovers Left Alive” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”
Second-tier of strong films: Unbroken, Selma, Fury, Snowpiercer, Lucy, Force Majeure, Inherent Vice, The Policeman, Edge of Tomorrow, Two Days One Night, CITIZENFOUR, Chef, Abuse of Weakness, War Dogs
I should warn you: based on everything I’ve heard, this teaser is a total misdirection. The movie is not at all what it’s being portrayed as here. In fact, most of the footage in the teaser comes from the first few minutes of the film.