I want to say that I am a big fan of author Cormac McCarthy. I loved his novel “The Road” and thought the film adaptation of the movie was spectacular. It was one of those movies that I went in not knowing what to expect but came out loving it. I read the book after seeing The Road in the theater, and I thought that the book was just as good as the movie. I liked the movie so much that I created a trailer for it. I enjoyed No Country For Old Men, but I certainly didn’t think it was the best movie of 2007. I have yet to read the novel, but I will at some point. I picked up two more of his novels this past year. The first was a book called “Outer Limits,” of which I enjoyed parts. The second was “Child of God,” parts of which I enjoyed. I thought both movies were random and very different from “The Road” and how I would expect “No Country For Old Men” to read. I had heard James Franco (As I Lie Dying, The Sound and the Fury) was directing an adaptation of a McCarthy novel, but I didn’t know it was Child of God until I had finished the book.
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Exodus: Gods and Kings
Exodus: Gods and Men was a movie that I thought would be great, then I thought it would be terrible, and then I thought it would be okay was one that ended up being pretty good. I am a massive fan of Christian Bale (The Dark Knight Rises, Out of the Furnace) and Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator). Bale has had numerous hits over the last decade. I’d say I’ve seen 13 out of his previous 15 movies that I’ve been a big fan of. Once as reliable as they come, Scott has had some misses in recent years, most notably The Counselor and Robin Hood. Both of these movies should have been great, and both underwhelmed. Even after my research, I still have almost no idea about what the plot of The Counselor was. And even though neither of these men was associated with the disaster that was Noah, that movie also had a respected actor (Russell Crowe) and director (Darren Aronofsky). It was quickly my least favorite movie of 2014. Fairly or unfairly, Noah tempered my expectations of Exodus: Gods and Men. It did not help that the Bale/Scott venture got panned by the critics (28% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and was equally shunned by audiences (just $65 million domestically despite a $140 million production cost). And I am not well-versed enough in the story of Moses to know how actual this movie was to the Biblical account. What I do remember is that I enjoyed this movie. It is currently my 12th favorite movie of 2014. I don’t expect it, at this point, to fall any lower than that.
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Still Alice (2014)
Still Alice is a slightly above-average movie with the best lead performance you will see by an actress all year. I think there are only a couple of shoo-ins at this year’s Academy Awards. I believe that most categories are predictable, but there will be a couple of surprises. The big ones that will not be surprising are Patricia Arquette (Best Supporting Actress – Boyhood) and Julian Moore for her performance as a 50-year-old woman suffering from Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease in this Still Alice. Each year there seems to be a movie that earns a significant award but is not recognized in any other category. This year, that movie is Still Alice. I’m not a huge fan of Moore. I think she’s good, but she’s slightly overrated. Nonetheless, she is due to be recognized, and this is the lead performance that is head and shoulders above the other contenders.
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A Most Violent Year (2014)
The best movie of 2014 that has flown under the radar is, without a doubt, J.C. Chandor’s (All Is Lost, Margin Call) A Most Violent Year. As I will mention in the paragraphs below, this movie is subtly fantastic. But before I get into the film, I want to talk about Chandor. This guy is quietly establishing himself as a master of two crafts. A Most Violent Year is just his third movie, but it is the third for which he has directed and written the screenplay. And all three films have earned at least 88% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes even though none made more than $8 million at the box office. All three movies are unique from one another, and Chandor has already had the opportunity to work with some of the biggest names in Hollywood (Robert Redford, Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci, Oscar Isaac, David Oyelowo, Jessica Chastain, and Albert Brooks). He has already signed on Mark Wahlberg to star in his next project. And while All Is Lost and Margin Call were both unique movie experiences, A Most Violent Year is Chandor’s crowning achievement to date.
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The Judge (2014)
The Judge was exactly what I thought it would be: an average fictional movie released in the heart of better films based on true stories. There was a lot of hype around this movie, but I felt it would do nothing for me. And that was what happened. Audiences seemed to like this movie while critics slammed it. I’m in favor of the critics. At best, this was an average movie. At worst, it was a movie that tried every trick to get you to think it was a great movie. The fact that Robert Duvall (Apocalypse Now, The Apostle) got a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination is a bit of a joke. His performance is a bit of an embarrassment when you compare it to the four other nominees. The highlight of this movie is not the story. Nor is it Duvall. If you are going to see this movie at all (which I would recommend you don’t), you would see it for Robert Downey Jr.’s (Iron Man, Chaplin) outstanding performance.
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