If you are looking to see the second-best performance (nobody is going to be able to touch Julianne Moore in Still Alice) by an actress in 2014, check out Daniel Barnz’s (Won’t Back Down, Phoebe In Wonderland). While the movie might not wow you, the performance of Jennifer Aniston (The Good Girl, Rock Star) absolutely will. Nearly unrecognizable, the one-time Friend is a physical and emotional wreck throughout the movie. Playing Claire, a mother who lost her young son in an automobile accident while accruing numerous injuries to her legs, arm, back, and face that have forced her to become addicted to pain killers, Aniston performs her career. I have yet to see two of the five nominees for Best Actress (Moore and Marion Cottilard – Two Days, One Night). But I will say that Aniston’s performance does rival Reese Witherspoon (Wild), Rosemund Pike (Gone Girl), and Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything). I’ll give Cottilard the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe there were six great performances for five spots. However, if I were voting, Aniston would have got my vote over Jones (even though I thought Jones was great). I will explain why in the paragraphs below.
Category Archives: 2014
American Sniper (2014)
In a year that hasn’t had that many must-see movies, American Sniper has proved that there is at least one reason to head out to the theaters. 2014 has been the most disappointing year overall for movies since 2008. Yet despite its horrendous start and some incredibly overrated movies (Birdman, Unbroken, Mr. Turner, Snowpiercer, Godzilla, even Boyhood to an extent), some films did manage to live up to their expectations (Foxcatcher, The Theory of Everything, The Imitation Game). In addition, some movies exceeded my hopes for them (The Drop, Nightcrawler, Kill the Messenger, and the surprise, feel-good movie of the year, Chef). But the film that had the most pressure on its shoulders to perform was American Sniper, the final released movie of the year. And while the movie did not exceed my expectations, it certainly met them in every single way. So before I review the film, I want to refer to a couple of observations.
Selma (2014)
Selma has a movie that will leave many audience members clapping as the film concludes. It’s a feel-good movie and an important one for all generations to see. Older generations maybe we have forgotten some of the critical details over the years. Younger generations may be being exposed to this for the first time, or at least the first time outside of maybe a textbook or one of those dry 45-minute, made-for-education documentaries. I am happy this movie received a PG-13 rating rather than an R one. It is an essential movie for everyone to see. I am not one who will ever cheer or hoot and holler at the end of a movie. That isn’t my style. I was talking with my mom the other day, and she said people stood and clapped at the end of Unbroken. I found Unbroken to be one of the most overrated, bland movies. Selma certainly isn’t that, and I was happy there were some cheers at the end of this movie. I think I’m just seeing it at a time in my life where, outside of a select few movies (including none in 2014…still some hope for American Sniper, though) where I am just not going to be moved in the same things that a typical audience might be. My favorite movies these days are dark, psychological thrillers (Foxcatcher) or movies about either wrecked relationships/less than perfect relationships (Blue Valentine, Take This Waltz, Revolutionary Road, All the Real Girls) overcome diversity to find a way (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Painted Veil). So just where I was with my mental state, I had sort of had a mental block going in. I was confident I would like the movie, but I was by no means ready to see it was going to win all of these Academy Awards for which it will likely receive nominations. The nominations it will receive. The wins, I think, could become hard to find.
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Unbroken (2014)
In my opinion, the two best series of trailers for 2014 have been Unbroken and American Sniper. These were two of, if not the, most anticipated movies of the year for more. I apologize to Foxcatcher, which had a fantastic trailer and was a movie I was looking forward to. It not only met but exceeded expectations. These two Christmas Day movies have had me buzzing for months. Unfortunately, as the reviews began pouring in, I realized these movies would probably fall short of expectations. American Sniper is currently in the 70% range on Rotten Tomatoes, while Unbroken was way down at around 50%. I have not yet seen American Sniper, but based on the small reviews I have read, I believe I know where it was going to fall short. I think that if outsiders had screened this movie before its completion, there could have been some influence on the film’s sequencing that would better tell Chris Kyle’s story after his tours of duty. Again, this is my prediction before viewing the movie, but I have a feeling I’m going to say that it was a good movie that could have potentially been in my top ten of all time. Unfortunately, I did not feel the same way about Unbroken. The trailer didn’t live up to the movie, and I’m not sure any editing could have changed that. I found this movie to be very disappointing.
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The Imitation Game (2014)
The one movie of 2014 that I was not looking forward to seeing but knew I had to see was, without a doubt, The Imitation Game. I learned early in the year that this would end up being one of the movies to beat, but there was something about the trailer that told me that the movie would probably be well made and tell a great, true story but also be incredibly dull and long. I was wrong. The first thing to point out was that this movie was only 110 minutes. I love a film that can tell its story in under two hours. I understand the standard tends to be closer to 2 hours and 15 minutes (with many movies pushing or exceeding 3 hours), but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Secondly, this movie was never dull. In the wrong hands, this movie as being a complete snooze-fest. It was anything but. This is why I am ready to give without having seen some of the probably Oscar-nominated movies yet to be released (notably Unbroken, American Sniper, Selma, Mr. Turner, and Into the Woods), Morten Tyldum a Best Director nomination. The only other nomination I have cemented is Richard Linklater (Boyhood). The direction in this movie was outstanding, and I am confident there will not be three better-directed movies in 2014 that I have yet to see.
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