TOP FILMS OF 2014---plus Reviews of SELMA, WHIPLASH, ODE TO MY FATHER, STILL ALICE, A MOST VIOLENT YEAR, AMERICAN SNIPER, plus OSCAR Predictions

This powerful, quality film may not have received many Oscar nominations (possibly due to a glitch in the sending out of screeners for Academy members), but SELMA is a bold and clarified retelling of Martin Luther King's protest march to Montgomery AL from Selma and his relationship with  President L.B.J. over basic rights for all United States citizens, emphasizing the lack of rights for black citizens in the southern states who were denied the right to vote, ride buses and sit at  certain white only lunch counters,  among other atrocities.  This was a time of great change in the United States, as finally TV cameras were showing the nation the cruelty and senseless violence that black citizens were treated to at the hands of local, bigoted politicians.  The crowd scenes are handled with authority and skill, and the actors are well cast, especially Brit David Oyelowo who dynamically stars as Martin Luther King.  This in an engrossing and fascinating docu-drama.            GRADE------------A-

 Set in 1981 in New York City, this intense drama called A MOST VIOLENT YEAR
 features skillful performances by the leads Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain as second generation immigrants who must battle corruption, crime and competition to grow their struggling home furnace oil business, and live down her father's gangster image.  The mood and style of this film reminded me a lot of last year's AMERICAN HUSTLE.  Lending solid support are a nearly unrecognizable Albert Brooks, and the fascinating  David Oyelowo (direct from SELMA,  see above) as an aggressive district attorney.     GRADE-------------B+

A stylish, jazzy, musical film about a short-tempered music professor who cruelly attempts to build the best college jazz group in New York,  WHIPLASH is blessed with the perfectly cast J.K. Simmons, whose teaching methods may be criminal and are certainly dubious.  Miles Teller, who has had a great year with DIVERGENT, a science fiction actioner, and THE SPECTACULAR NOW (2013) as a troubled teen who falls for a straight laced honors student in high school, is equally impressive as the talented percussionist who falls under his teacher's spell.  The film is clever, energetic and beautifully filmed, although the story feels a bit one note-ish.  Simmons is a hard working actor who has appeared in dozens of films and TV shows in the last 10 years, as well as very popular commercials, and this year seems a lock for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for WHIPLASH.
      GRADE-------B+

ODE TO MY FATHER is a nicely constructed Korean film based on a true story set during the North and South Korean conflict, where a family is split up trying to escape the communist regime.  The young boy spends his lifetime searching for his father and his sister, all the while growing a family of his own.  The film is lavishly shot, and sentimental at times, but the tears is earns from the audience are well earned.  It may be the most emotional film I've seen all year.     GRADE----B+

It may not be the best film of the year, but STILL ALICE creates some of the most moving scenes I've seen in the movies all year, thanks to the skillful and poignant  portrayal by the incredible Julianne Moore who plays a woman suffering from early on-set Alzheimer's, who is losing her memory, her mind, her lifestyle and her family because of this disease.  The film skillfully shows what her life may be like, as well as how her family reacts.  Alec Baldwin and Kristen Stewart (from the TWILIGHT series) give very fine support.  This is another case where none of the other Best Actress Nominees come close to beating her for the well deserved and long delayed Oscar that she should be collecting this coming Sunday night.          GRADE--------B

Director Clint Eastwood knows how to make a solid film, and AMERICAN SNIPER is nothing if not skillful and solid.  The controversy over the film's politics seem somewhat manufactured, since his films normally remain stubbornly and disappointingly apolitical.   Frankly, I could have used some stronger point of view, because without it, there is a blandness to the experience.  I think back on some films that should have been more effective, like BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY (1995), MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004), LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA and FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS (both 2006), GRAN TORINO (2008), INVICTUS (2009) and J. EDGAR (2011).......These films have great subject matter and are skillfully made, but because there was not a strong POV by the director, they become  rather forgettable over time.          GRADE for AMERICAN SNIPER----------B

A recent Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Film, TIMBUKTU is an uncomfortable and at times confusing film to watch. A small town has been taken over by a conservative group (Isis?) and penalties for playing football (soccer), playing music, wearing long pants below the knee, "loitering, " women not wearing gloves while handling fish (!) and other minor infractions  are put in the same category as adultery, murder and stealing, and a man with a loudspeaker is constantly patrolling the nearly empty streets to tell them so.   So many townspeople are killed or displaced or have fled that the town feels ghostly.  Even though many people seem to have cell phones, the connections are limited, and because of several different languages, communication is perhaps worse than it's ever been.  It's a strong indictment of conservative religion, but it doesn't come together cinematically in a satisfying way for me.     GRADE------B

It's sort of a cheesy sword and sandals epic, but the real star of the picture is the photography and the special effects, especially half way through as the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius becomes the featured attraction in the action film from earlier this year, POMPEII.  It certainly whetted my appetite for the POMPEII exhibit which just opened this week in Seattle.    GRADE------------B-

BLACK SEA is a submarine suspense film starring a rough, tough Jude Law.  The film is well made and acted, and there are some entertaining sequences.  The main problem is----I've seen a LOT of submarine films----DAS BOOT, U-571, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea, Crimson Tide, The Abyss, Hunt for Red October, just to name a few, and BLACK SEA is the least of most of them.        GRADE-----------C+


Viewed on DVD-----------------

The screenplay is filled with witty lines, and Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Marilyn Monroe, Thelma Ritter, Celeste Holmes, et al, have never been better in the sophisticated story of an aging actress being usurped by a younger protege, in ALL ABOUT EVE (1950).             GRADE-------A

Director Steven Soderberg's HBO film BEHIND THE CANDELABRA (2013) portrays the life of a closeted Liberace, and his relationship with the much younger lover, played respectively by Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. The film is full of excessive costumes,  extravagant musical numbers, and witty/bitchy dialogue.  It was thoroughly entertaining and informative.  A quality production.
       GRADE------A

Alfred Hitchcock's entertaining, skillful remake of his own 1934 version, THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956) is colorful, exotic, funny, and filled with great tension sequences.  Jimmy Stewart plays a doctor traveling with his musical celebrity wife, Doris Day, in Morocco, but when a spy gets killed, he may have been passed the information for an assassination attempt.  To keep him quiet, the killers kidnap his young son, and Jimmy and Doris head back to London to find him.  The film featured the Oscar winning song "Que Sera, Sera" which features prominently in the plot, and there are a number of great character actors he must deal with.  This is a solid Hitchcock film filled with suspense, humor, mystery and drama.         GRADE-------B+

NORTHFACE (2008) is a German film set before WWII and based on a true story of a group of mountain climbers trying to scale the Eiger, and bring athletic glory to Germany.  The weather does not cooperate, and the contest turns into a survival effort.  The photography is outstanding, and adds many suspenseful moments to the action.   Best to see this one on a large screen.     GRADE-----B+

Based on a Neil Simon play, THE PRISONER OF 2ND AVE (1975) is a bitter sweet comedy about a middle aged man struggling with the issues of New York City and unemployment, and his patience wife, played by Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft respectively.  The film rings very true--I first saw this on the bottom half of a double bill, and found it to be a most superior film.     GRADE-----B+

Having just listened to a book tape of DAVID COPPERFIELD being read for 30 hours, this (1999) BBC theatrical version  was most satisfying, and features solid performances by a  splendid cast, including a young Daniel Radcliffe as Copperfield, Maggie Smith as his aunt Betsey Trotwood,  Ian McKellen as Creakle, and Bob Hoskin and Imelda Staunton as Mr and Mrs Micawber.       GRADE-------B

The French thriller  STRANGER BY THE LAKE (2013) is set mostly at a lake where gay men swim and sunbathe in the nude, although the weather seems cool and windy, and the shore is covered with difficult to walk on rocks.   One man is murdered, and the secret witness seems to want to fall in love with the murderer.  The film features some explicit sex scenes and nudity, which only adds to the odd tension.     GRADE------B

A sensation when it was first released, BLACKBOARD JUNGLE (1955) featured the smash song "Rock Around the Clock" which allegedly set audience members dancing in the aisles.  When new teacher (Glenn Ford) is assigned to what seems the toughest male school in New York City, he faces problems with the students, administration and fellow teachers, along with a pregnant wife who wants him to quit.  The film feels dated nowadays, with too many problems stacked against him.  One of the toughs in class is portrayed by a young Sidney Poitier, who years later played a new teacher in another slum school in London, set upon by rowdy students wanting to break his spirit.    BLACKBOARD JUNGLE features early performances by Vic Morrow, Paul Mazursky, Jamie Farr (MASH) as well as Poitier.    GRADE--------B-

Based on a play by Tennessee Williams, THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE (1961) finds the always quirky and intriguing Vivien Leigh, who is well cast, widowed in Rome, and pursued by a young gigolo, Warren Beatty in an early role.  He seems to struggle with the Italian accent.  The film is intriguing, but not always successful--some characters come and then disappear for long stretches, and the film is heavy with symbolism, which gets a bit tiresome.       GRADE-------C+


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TOP FILMS FROM 2014--top 12

GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL--Funny, wacky, brilliant satire, w/hilarious Ralph Finnes and others.

CALVARY--Small town priest is earmarked for murder by week's end, with town full of suspects.

BIRDMAN (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE)--Witty, well acted satire on theatre, celebrity, success, and imagination.

BOYHOOD---Over a decade in the life of a divorced couple and their kids,  growing up and changing and meeting life's challenges.

TANGERINE--Oscar nominee Foreign Film, not yet in Seattle.  Profoundly moving opposing protagonists must co-exist in war torn Bosnia.

PRIDE--Based on a true story--striking Welsh miners receive money from gay and lesbian London group, and many lives are transformed in story set in mid-1980's in this inspiring comedy/drama.

CASE AGAINST 8--Superb documentary about overturning anti-gay legislation in California is given a very personal human dimension.

HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS--Simon Pegg stars as psychiatrist who tries to please his clients, but not knowing what happiness means for himself in this quirky, comedic drama.

IMITATION GAME--Excellent cast in true story about breaking the German Nazi computer code--a thriller and a drama and a war story and a romance--all rolled into one.

WILD--Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern excel as daughter and mother in a young woman's search for herself as she walks hundreds of miles on the scenic Pacific Coast Trail.

BELLE--A star is born.  Gugu Mbatha-Raw is sensational as a mixed race child growing up in aristocracy in 18th century England.  She's also splendid in BEYOND THE LIGHTS--see below.

SELMA--David Oyelowo impresses as Martin Luther King in riveting docu-drama.


ALSO--------SPECIAL FILMS----------------10 runners up

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY--Fun science fiction.

GONE GIRL--Creepy thriller of missing wife, and murder.

THEORY OF EVERYTHING--Well acted drama of physicist Stephan Hawkings and his first wife.

WHIPLASH--Stylish intense drama of cruel professor and brilliant student.

SNOWPIERCER--The world as a long train, with the poor living in cramped quarters in the back, and the rich up front in luxury.  Long on symbolism, action, violence, and black humor.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON II---Might be better than the original!

VENUS IN FUR--Roman Polanski directed this witty satire on theatre, sex, feminism and power.

A MOST VIOLENT YEAR--Slow burn thriller of couple trying to fight corruption in NYC in 1981.

IDA--Young novice wants to become nun, but discovers her dead parents were Jewish (!) and her aunt may be a prostitute (!) in strong Polish drama with stylish black and white cinematography.

INTERSTELLAR--Ambitious sci-fi that delivers the imagination, if not always the logic.



GUILTY PLEASURES------

BEYOND THE LIGHTS---Mom (Minnie Driver) pushes her daughter (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) into superstar limelight but daughter falls for a "normal" cop.  Actors are excellent.  See BELLE above.

HORNS--Daniel Radcliffe may have murdered his girlfriend--now horns grow from his head and people he meets can't help but blurt out the truth as he tries to find real murderer.

LUCY--Scarlett Johanson swallows potion that makes her super super smart, and she's out to stop the bad guys who put her in this position.  Things get very violent.

EDGE OF TOMORROW--The GROUNDHOGS DAY of science fiction.  Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt keep getting killed over and over until they get it right in a violent world war scenario.

BAD WORDS--Angry, immature man crashes a child's spelling bee contest, causing havoc amongst the contestants and organizers.  Film is full of nasty, sarcastic humor, some of it very choice.



 I HATED THESE FILMS-------!!!!

TRIP TO ITALY--A remake of THE TRIP, but now Italian scenery.  Same jokes, same tired dialogue.

ELSA AND FRED---Tired old chestnut of senior love with tiresome Shirley MacClaine and Christopher Plummer.   Dull, boring, predictable.

BIG HERO 6---Children in theatre were running the aisles--bored by the troublesome and illogical antics of the super hero characters.  I was bored too.  First 20 minutes were effective, but watch out.

MAZE RUNNER---Tiresome teens run and run from dull monsters trying to find way out of maze....

THIRD PERSON-- Paul Haggis wrote and directed this POS (piece of shit).  Author Liam Neeson has writer's block, and strange taste in women, who also may be characters in his new book.  All the Women are crazy, seriously, and he's no prize either, and many, many scenes made me wince.  WORST FILM OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!



OSCAR NOTES---SUNDAY 22 February---4pm Pacific time.......

A couple categories seem like sure bets for the following----Supporting Actor---J.K. Simmons for WHIPLASH, Supporting Actress--Patricia Arquette for BOYHOOD, and Best Actress---Julianne Moore for STILL ALICE.  These three have won nearly every other award in their category, and it seems likely that will continue on Sunday pm.

However, the other major categories are real cat/dog fights-----Michael Keaton (BIRDMAN) VS Eddie Redmanye (THEORY OF EVERYTHING) are both nearly even odds for actor---they've split other awards shows.   Best director comes down to BIRDMAN VS BOYHOOD.  Best picture is BIRDMAN VS BOYHOOD.  However, this may provide an opening for my favorite, GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL to sneak in.  Happy viewing.




WATCH FOR THESE FINE FILMS THAT PLAYED SIFF, But have not opened yet......

STILL LIFE---British film about a government man who tracks down relatives of people who die alone.  It packs a powerful one two punch by the end.

TANGERINES--Estonia film about man who nurses two men from opposite sides of war zone in his home---thoughtful, intense, hopeful.  My choice for Oscar in Foreign film category.

LIFE FEELS GOOD--Similar to THEORY OF EVERYTHING--life of young man with severe cerebral palsy who must learn to communicate and find meaning in his life.

100 YEAR OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED--Funny Swedish film based on best seller book, old man has some outlandish adventures.

CLASS ENEMY---German teacher is blamed for the suicide death of a student, and the class rebels.

TOM AT THE FARM---Gay man attends the rural funeral of his boyfriend, but discovers that Mom didn't know her son was gay, and older brother has a homophobic agenda,  in this psychological thriller from French Canada.