Brad and I started this blog as a way to get our dork love out there into the etherspace of the digital world, maybe connect with some other dorks, and generally have some fun. It's been a blast, and we're not done. But, we've moved beyond what this space could do for us. We're more than just a blog now. We've got a podcast (here) and we've recently launched a website (here). Come check it out and thanks for reading.
On of the top actresses of our time, Rachel Weisz doesn't tend to make the big media splash, but she turns in solid performance after solid performance. She'd been working for some time when she hit it a little bigger and got some 'star' quality added to her name with the blockbuster remake of The Mummy. But for every Eragon or Bourne Legacy, she does two or three movies like Agora or The Brothers Bloom. She makes interesting choices, between bill-paying fluff.
Movies to See:
5. The Constant Gardener
4. The Mummy (yeah, it's not that good, but she's frickin' adorable in it)
3. The Brothers Bloom
2. Agora
1. The Fountain (one of my top ten films of all time)
Though not surprised (he had been experiencing serious health issues for some time), I was still saddened to hear of the passing of Leonard Nimoy today, at the age of 83. Watching Star Trek is among my earliest and fondest of memories. The morality of the show was key to my development as a human, and Nimoy will always be a part of that. He will be missed.
Known as "The Great Profile," John Barrymore was nearly as dashing as he was handsome, and was the star of a heck of a lot of great stuff. See him in Grand Hotel!
If you haven't checked out the special two part 2014 Dorkies episode of ITMODcast, please head on over to Podbean (here: part 1, part 2), or check us out on iTunes. We count down our favorite films of the year, and discuss some of 2014's failures, too.
After watching a bunch of wonderful 80s trash this past week, and owing to a particularly strong resurgence in my thinking about science fiction in general, I thought I’d tackle a subject near and dear to me; the wonderful worlds of trash sci-fi. This is the stuff one used to discover and cherish in the stacks of local video shops; something that younger folk will likely never experience again. To that end, here are some of my favorites. You’ll notice I don’t have Battle Beyond the Stars, or Enemy Mine, or The Last Star Fighter. First, I couldn’t include everything. And second, those all seemed a bit too mainstream…?
5. Gandahar (aka, Light Years) (1988): I think I first picked this up because of its connection to Isaac Asimov. But I loved it for two reasons. One, it’s chock full of animated boobs, and adolescent Matt was quite taken with that. And two, it’s a totally weird, alien world with lots of strange creatures and cultures. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s a wicked mindf%#k. I’ve never seen the French version, only the English language one, with lots of famous folks lending their voice talents. This is one I really, really want to add to my collection.
4. Beyond the Rising Moon (aka, Outerworld) (1987): I stumbled across this in my early days of using NetFlix’s Instant service. Right away, I was baffled by how I’d never heard of the film. Absolutely, it’s a low budget thing, but it’s pretty darned good. A pretty good story and some cool miniature effects. Seek it out.
3. The Ice Pirates (1984): Before there were The Guardians of the Galaxy, there were the Ice Pirates. A goofy, fun, exciting and wacky film that dropped in the wake of Star Wars and has that film’s marks all over it. But so what? It’s a blast.
2. Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983): A Han Solo type gets sent out so a backwater planet to rescue some damsels. OK. Whatever. While not an amazing film, to be sure, I enjoy the heck out of this Peter Strauss vehicle (yeah, there was a Peter Strauss vehicle). This feels like one of those space adventure novels you’d find in a used book store and knock out in an afternoon. It definitely felt like there should have been more films. I’d love to see the further adventures of Wolff. Alas.
1. Cyborg (1989): This movie is the phoenix that rose from the ashes of Cannon’s collapse. It was also their last theatrically released movie. Masters of the Universe II and an attempt at doing a live action Spider-Man movie had to die so that Cyborg might live. You can point to all the various technical issues the film has, to the bad acting and the weird pacing. You’re not wrong. But this is one of my all time favorites. I love it. And not with a single ounce of irony. This is the movie I’ll often point to when talking about the difference between movies that are ‘good’ and movies that I love. And there is a difference. Citizen Kane is a ‘good’ movie (well, it’s actually a great movie). Commando is a movie I love. Those two labels are neither mutually exclusive, nor mutually assured.
Growing up on classic films, few actors could stand next to Cary Grant when it came to embodying the Golden Age of Hollywood. Sure, my favorite actor since I was a boy has been Humphrey Bogart, but I think it's because I feel myself reflected in him, I can relate to him. Cary Grant, I don't relate to, not really. I look up to, I want to be, but I don't see myself reflected in him. I see an idealized version of me, maybe.
"Everyone wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant." -Cary Grant
Obviously, the man is among the most handsome men to ever be put on film, but handsome only goes so far. Grant has a humor and a charm that elevate him to what we think of when we think 'movie star.' And he's a fascinating guy, an engineered persona that he sort lived until it became real.
And he followed one of the oldest pieces of advice for any showman. He left us wanting more. Still a relatively young man, he retired and lived out the rest of his days doing what he pleased, I suppose. There are photos of him as an older man, going to events, on the street, with his child. But he never did another movie after Run, Don't Walk. Part of me laments the lack of great Old Man Grant performances. But then, in that day, how many great roles would there have been? No need to dwell on what might have been, because we have what was, and it is a heck of a body of work.
So, go check out some of the great Cary Grant films; North by Northwest, His Girl Friday, Holiday, Only Angels have Wings, Charade, or any number of others. I'm not gonna say every film he was in was gold, but the lion's share were darned entertaining. So, celebrate one of the titans of film, one of the greatest movie stars of all time, by just watching his movies. The man may be dead, but Cary Grant lives on.
2014 was a great year for first-time directors. If you’ve been listening to the ITMODCast, you’ve heard Brad and Darren rave about The Babadook, the feature film debut of actress-turned-director Jennifer Kent, and The One I Love, from Charlie McDowell, which Brad described as “marriage therapy as done by Ray Bradbury.” One of my favorites of last year was Dear White People, a searing debut from Justin Simien that hasn’t been talked about much on this blog or the podcast but that I found exceptionally wonderful, with its distinct point-of-view and sprawling cast of characters. And while it wouldn’t have made my top films list, Obvious Child from Gillian Robespierre holds the promise of films fronted by female characters that feel more real and robust than 99% of what is out there in the market currently.
With so many new directors coming out strong in the last year, I’ve been thinking about directorial debuts throughout film history that have so confidently and surely defined a director and introduced them onto the scene as a force that cannot be ignored. I’ve come up with a list of nine directorial debuts that I consider the best and must-see films for anyone who considers themselves a film nerd.
A few notes (because I like rules and structure): this list is unranked, as I’m looking specifically at the strength of the debut and how it relates to the directors’ filmography and not as interested in comparing or ranking the individual films. To be included, the film must be the director’s first feature length film with some sort of distribution or release- any shorts or television direction is irrelevant here as are unreleased student films. This is also purely a list based on my personal preferences and what I’ve seen, so there are definitely films missing. Please leave a comment or tweet me (@beccagrawl) or the blog (@ITMODCast) or write on the Facebook page to let me know what I’ve
missed!
Citizen Kane
There is no way this isn’t the first debut that comes to mind when you think about directors releasing a film that announces that they have arrived. Citizen Kane has been discussed often on this blog and the podcast (and in the world of film nerdom) ad nauseum but everything that’s said is true. To think that this film - so beautifully constructed, the characters so richly drawn, the performances so memorable, and the technological aspects of the film so innovative and evocative - came from a first time director is mind-boggling.
Hard Eight (Sydney)
I love Paul Thomas Anderson and his films. It is hard to find a director with a body of work that is so overwhelmingly great, without a single true misstep or flop, and PTA has that in spades. You can debate and discuss the failings and merits of any given film but his entire body of work is some of the best ever put on film ever. And it all starts with Hard Eight. It is not big and bold the way other films on the list are but it has compelling, complex characters that feel real and honest and not particularly likeable, which is truly the hallmark of any given PTA film.
She’s Gotta Have It
Spike Lee is the opposite of PTA for me, in a many ways. His career has missteps and flops and films where he feels like he’s trying too hard to be “Spike Lee” and films where he feels like he’s trying too hard NOT to be “Spike Lee.” But he has directed some of my favorite films and some of the greatest American films ever. His debut, She’s Gotta Have It, gives the audience a great sense of what a “Spike Lee” film will be and what, at his best, that means for us and for society. Not to mention that this film reminds us that some of the best female film characters can be written by men and directed by male directors, if they take the time and energy to craft real representations of women for their movies.
This Is Spinal Tap
Comedic sensibility is a strange thing. It’s so specific to an individual - something I find hilarious might leave you cold or something that tickles me yesterday might enrage me tomorrow. But I’d have to say you’re an idiot or a fool if you don’t find This Is Spinal Tap hilarious. A lot of folks forget that while it features Christopher Guest and much of the crew who will appear in his films, this one is directed by Rob Reiner. And while I easily could have chosen The Big Picture(Guest’s
debut), I chosen Spinal Tap because A) it still cracks me up after a few dozen viewings and B) it’s a wonderful harbinger of the memorable films Reiner gives us immediately following this one - Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, A Few Good Men, The American President. Reiner comes out strong as a director in this film and he showcases his ability to direct comedy, drama, satire, and just about everything else.
Bottle Rocket
Some might say that Bottle Rocket is the least Wes Anderson-y film that Wes Anderson ever directed and that may be true. For me, the Wes Anderson elements are clearly fermenting
in the film - his particular eye for casting against type or against audience expectations, his enjoyment in luxuriating in visual spaces, and his enjoyment of the comedy l’absurde. The filmmaking here shows confidence and a specific point-of-view, which defines Anderson’s work
and if it’s good enough to be named one of Martin Scorcese’s best films of the 1990s, it’s good enough for me. (Also, gotta show some support for my fellow Houstonian.)
sex, lies, and videotape
I didn’t watch sex, lies, and videotape until college, so I was definitely experiencing this film through the eyes of “redefines independent film for a new era.” That doesn’t lessen the fact that Steven Soderbergh does redefine independent film with his debut. While it’s not my favorite Soderbergh and it might not be to everyone’s tastes, I love how nuanced and mature the script is without being tawdry or cheesy and it’s clear that Soderbergh has a command over his actors and an ability to pull interesting and deep performances from his cast.
Reservoir Dogs
If you’re about my age and share my interest in film, you usually fall into two categories - those who saw Pulp Fiction first or those who saw Reservoir Dogs first. I happened to have seen Reservoir Dogs first (a couple years after it came out) before I saw Pulp Fiction, so for me, this is the best Quentin Tarantino film, period. This film so distinctly showcases who Tarantino is as a director, who his influences are as a filmmaker, and what sort of films he’s going to give us over the course of his career. It is the defining film for several of the actors who appear and it has a timeless quality that is difficult to achieve for a first time filmmaker. Talk to anyone involved with this blog or the podcast and Reservoir Dogs will come up in the first 15 minutes, guaranteed.
Badlands
So much about Terrence Malick and his films that don’t connect with viewers and are ripe for criticism. I have always loved Malick - so much that The Thin Red Line was part of my senior thesis and I hosted a film screening to try to lure people on the Malick train - but regardless of how you feel about the director, you can’t deny that Badlands is a stellar debut. Malick took a true crime story and spun a dark, gritty, sparse tale about two doomed lovers/killers, played brilliantly by Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. This film is unique on this list as I find Badlands to be the least-Malick-y film he ever made, thus making more accessible to viewers and audiences that might not be inclined to connect to his other films. Many people I know who don’t care for Malick haven’t seen Badlands, and I implore you to check this out if you haven’t.
Blood Simple
The Coen Brothers make great films. That’s just the truth of it. Not every film is a winner but they make great films. There is so much to love about this film - the debut of the Coens, the first feature for Barry Sonnenfeld, incredible performances from a fantastic cast, and a story that brings neo-Film Noir back in the 1980s. It might not be your favorite Coens Brothers movie and it isn’t the best Coens Brothers movie but it’s a fantastic introduction to what the Coens Brothers are best at, which is redefining and subverting genre expectations. It’s equally violent and funny and a film that I find myself constantly recommending to folks who love the Coens but seemed to have missed it.
After two pretty rough years, 2014 finally brought it home for me. Sure, it’s not 2011, but it’s a good year. While the Fall season produced few films of note, the earlier part of the year was quite nice. And that meant that I didn’t have such a glum demeanor throughout. There were, perhaps, few so called ‘great’ films. But there were plenty of good ones, and that’s OK by me. Plus, they were all over the place, from drama to action, foreign to domestic. Nice. Take a look back at Dorkies past with 2011, 2012, and 2013. And give a listen to our ITMODcast episodes about our top 10 movies; episode 1 and episode 2.
10. The Raid 2: The Raid and Dredd came out the same year, and they’ve got basically the same ‘plot.’ Between the two, I preferred Dredd, in part because of the science fiction elements; in part because they finally got the character right on screen. But The Raid still slipped on to my top 20 list, because of how awesome the action and fighting were. So, I was glad to see the sequel, but not especially expecting much. What I got was a thrill ride whirlwind of extreme violence and visceral horror. Half way through the movie, I was begging characters to start using guns to kill people, just to be more humane. The story, while nothing new or special, does take the characters into new territory and the acting and character beats make the movie stand out among its peers, if the tremendous fight choreography didn’t already.
9. Cold in July: Director Jim Mickle has been making low budget horror films that have been among the best in recent years (Mulberry St., Stake Land, & We Are What We Are). This time around he turns his eye on an 80s set crime story, and it’s awesome. You will not be ready for where the film takes you. When you think it’s one kind of story, it becomes another. And when it goes dark…It goes so danged dark. And Don Johnson!
8. All You Need is Kill (aka Edge of Tomorrow): Though there have been a lot of very disappointing science fiction movies lately, there really have been a lot of good ones. In this Groundhog Day style story of a man stuck repeating the moments before his death at the hands of alien invaders, Tom Cruise gets to do what he does best in solid action scene after solid action scene. The film doesn’t talk down to the audience, which is nice. There’s a good story, and a good protagonist character arc. But what I also really liked was that Emily Blunt, who is quickly becoming a Matt favorite, gets a meaty, badass role. Science fiction film remains far, far behind the literature. But I’m hoping that at least in the coming years, we can finally see women getting better parts in genre films. More like this, less like Anne Hathaway in Interstellar (The crying…Oh, the crying).
7. Mr. Turner: It’s not too surprising that a movie about a painter would be beautiful. But this late life story of J.M.W. Turner is more than a visual feast. As the camera moves around through his day to day life, we get a growing understanding of the man and his world, of the wonders and horrors of life in Victorian England. On the surface, the film is bright and beautiful, with less of the grim, sooty gloom you might expect from the world of Dickens and the like. But as Turner’s servant slowly rots and one by one people die of various sicknesses, or chronicle lives of shattering horror, the viewer is reminded of just how terrible the past was, even for those we think of as privileged (in this case, the British upper class). I like that the film doesn’t feel the need to tell you a lot. You watch, and you take it in, and you make your own judgments. Turner’s extremely sweet and loving relationship with his father, his horrible relationship with an estranged family, his budding romance with a twice widowed woman, the awkward dealings with a self-important/self-destructive and money obsessed fellow artist, his puppy-like devoted servant… We see it all, but without being told what we should think. (As a side note, I saw this right after seeing this year’s Belle, and they make fine companion pieces. Belle takes place about a hundred years earlier, and both have interesting things to say about class and society in England of that time).
6. Ida: Gorgeous black & white cinematography draws you in to this story of a cloistered young woman, about to take her vows and become a nun. Contacted by an estranged aunt Wanda, she takes a trip out into the world, where she learns about her past and what it is that she’s preparing to give up. Generations of guilt and horror lurk, as Ida explores her family history and her aunt reveals dark secrets. The Holocaust, the Communist purges, and the shadow of the Cold War. Dang. Like 2012’s Barbara, it looks at the other side of the Iron Curtain in a different way than I’m used to. Ida and Wanda are two fascinating characters, set apart from their world for different reasons. Quiet, but compelling.
5. Guardians of the Galaxy: Not a lot of movies, outside of the original Star Wars trilogy embrace the crazy, fun, weird, wild worlds of Space Opera. And fewer still do it successfully. Guardians of the Galaxy takes a handful of obscure Marvel Comics characters (though for once, characters I was familiar with) and thrusts them center stage. And it’s Marvelous. It’s like Farscape got a movie. Fun, funny, irreverent, and full of heart. The tone is light, but it still manages to tug on the heartstrings in ways the other Marvel Cinematic Universe films haven’t. As a whole, I think the MCU films are fantastic, but individually, this and Thor are the only ones I truly love. I feel like maybe I’m living in another Science Fiction golden age, akin to the 1980s. Sure, I may be disappointed by the odd Prometheus or Interstellar, but I’m getting Science Fiction that ranges from thought provoking to heart pounding. And I love it. And finally, genre films like this are being seen and enjoyed by all, not poo-pooed by snobs.
4. Jodorowsky’s Dune: I saw a lot of documentaries this year, many of them quite good, many of them exciting and inspiring (see my top 20 for more). But this portrait of professional mad bastard Alejandro Jodorowsky hits all my buttons. It was a different time. The 1970s. And someone thought, let’s adapt the sprawling epic novel Dune for the big screen. And of course, let’s put the man behind Holy Mountain and El Topo at the helm. WHAAAAAAAT? As this master of the weird assembled his Avengers of Transcendence, a movie that would shape decades of science fiction film would begin to grow. But it was too much. It couldn’t happen. Yet, out of the death of this overly ambitious project, so much was born. For a film buff, and specifically for a science fiction buff, this movie is a must. And the central figure, Jodorowsky, is a marvel. He lives up to everything you expect from the guy who wrote The Metabarons. Makes me wish I could travel to an alternate universe, where Tom Selleck was Indiana Jones, Christopher Walken was Han Solo, and Jodorowsky made Dune (and perhaps took humanity to a new state of being).
3. Under the Skin: Did you watch Drive and think, “Why’s everyone talking so much?” Did you see Only God Forgives and think, “Why’s there so much exposition?” Well, have I got a movie for you. I can’t really tell you what it’s about. Figuring that out is part of the magic of watching the movie. I can tell you this. There is no exposition. The film never tells you what’s happening. It’s beautifully shot. It’s occasionally horrific. The first time I watched it, the ending really, really bothered me. The second time I watched it, I came to the belief that the ending completely worked. The music is very weird. Hope that all helps.
2. Godzilla: I could gush and gush about this film. It lived up to all my Kaiju hopes. From the first teaser trailer with Oppenheimer’s “Destroyer of Worlds” speech to the moment Godzilla shot atomic destruction down the Muto’s throat, I was buzzing with excitement. This is the Godzilla film I’ve been waiting for, the first one to really, really get to the heart of the beast since the classic Showa era. Godzilla is the essence of the Earth, the manifestation of its will, nature personified. Be it aliens, creatures from the deepest parts of the planet, pollution, or human meddling, Godzilla will put things to right, no matter how much gets broken in the process. Bring on King Ghidorah!
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel: Probably the most meticulously Wes Anderson movie Wes Anderson has made yet, this film is at turns funny, crass, sad, and intensely strange. If you allow yourself to buy into Anderson’s ‘Doll House’ film making, this will be a delightful journey. Elements hearken back to Golden Age Hollywood, to European adventure movies, and to Cold War paranoia. The cast and cast of characters are top notch Anderson, with plenty of regulars and a few new faces. And Ralph Fiennes is in top form as the wonderfully debauched, debonair, and downright profane M. Gustave.
Best Actress: Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl plays so many different roles, from sweet to Satan. Pike’s changes through the movie elevate what could easily have been silly into a truly terrifying performance. And sometimes, in spite of all the horror she does, you still find yourself hoping things work out for the best. That’s a tough thing to sell. (Runner up: Marion Cotillard in The Immigrant)
Best Actor: Ralph Fiennes in The Grand Budapest Hotel is a profane charmer. It’s a return of dashing Fiennes, and I love it. He jumps into the hyper-stylized world of Wes Anderson and starts throwing dialog like he’s always lived there. His delivery is as impeccable as M. Gustave’s Hotel. A great comic performance if ever there were one. (Runner up: Timothy Spall in Mr. Turner)
Best Supporting Actress: Agata Kulesza in Ida almost steels the show as the weary and wary old revolutionary. She is the bitter, shattered husk of a disillusioned party shill, and Kulesza manages to make you feel for someone that by all rights you should hate. A monster in her latter days, possibly redeemed in some small way by gifts of worldly wisdom to her innocent niece. (Runner up: Rene Russo in Nightcrawler)
Best Supporting Actor: Dave Bautista in Guardians of the Galaxy took a character that could have been dull, even with the script, and spiced it up with his teddy bear charm. It’s really a break-out role for him, and I hope that he can turn it into something. (Runner up: Don Johnson in Cold in July)
Best Director: Pawel Pawlikowski for Ida. A beautiful, tight, well acted study of two women in the shadow of the Iron Curtain. It may not be as flashy as some, but it’s darned fine. (Runner up: Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel)
The Bottom Five Films of the Year:
(I don’t even want to talk about how bad these movies are. I’d simply advise not to bother).
5. Raze
4. Hector and the Search for Happiness
3. Transformers: Age of Extinction
2. Transcendence
1. 300: Rise of an Empire
"This! Is! ....Bullshit!!!"
Biggest Disappointments:
5. Interstellar: Beautiful, with a great score and a couple good performances. But kinda obvious and too rooted in 2001. I’d rather go back and watch Dave, Hal, and the bone wielding apes than see the infinite bookshelf room again.
4. Lucy: I wanted to see a return to early Luc Besson. Alas, no. Just more contemporary Luc Besson (read: crap).
3. Expendables 3: That’s it. I’m out. I loved the heck out of the first two stupid movies in this stupid franchise. But part three gutted the violence, focused on unlikable/unwatchable young actors and felt like it missed any and all points.
2. Snowpiercer: The look and concept are fantastic. The script…not so much. For this viewer, the film needed to be a 30 minute shorter action movie, or an 8 hour longer mini-series. Nowhere near enough world building or character development to make me care when things start happening. I feel like there was a good movie in here somewhere.
1. The Immigrant: The production design is beautiful and atmospheric. And the three leads are all excellent. Unfortunately, it seems like the three actors are in different films, acting past each other, not with each other. Marion Cotillard is especially good and feels the most right for the story. If only the film had focused on her, and not bothered with the weird, totally tone-deaf love triangle. Alas.
Video Finds:
10. Mr. Nobody: A strange and interesting science fiction movie that deals with what might have been and what might be. The differences in our futures based on the choices we make. Similar in theme to Run Lola Run, it handles the topic in a very different way.
9. The Ballad of Narayama: A beautifully crafted fairy tale about age and death. It has a beautiful artificiality that lends a lot to the feel of a tale told around a fire.
8. Vanishing Waves: This Lithuanian science fiction film is all kinds of weird. Kind of a new take on Altered States, but with plenty of its own twists.
7. Love: A solid, artsy but not to pretentious science fiction film, shot on a budget. It looks really good and has enough going for it that fans should seek it out.
6. Legendary Weapons of China: Plenty of badass weapon combat in this classic Martial Arts flick. Great action.
5. Age of Consent: James Mason goes off to an island to get a sense of himself. There, he meets a young woman who helps remind him of how to live life.
4. Manborg: What can one say about Manborg? If you were (are?) one of those people who haunted the library stacks of video rental shops, hunting for that rare film you’d never heard of (Slipstream, Xtro, Basket Case, Spacehunter, etc.); if you waited with bated breath for the newest Full Moon or Troma video release; if you love a really good bad movie; you’ve got to check out Manborg. It gets it so right, and so wonderfully wrong. Obviously crafted by folks with a deep love for those obscure works of the past, it’s a thrill for a fan like me.
3. The Wraith: Related to Manborg, this is one of those 80s movies that used to sit on those very video rental shop shelves. For some reason I’ll never understand, I hadn’t seen this film until this year. Now that I have, I can’t believe it isn’t talked about more. Such great 80s weirdness, great cast, and so much fun.
2. Die Farbe: I’m always on the lookout for good Lovecraftian horror films. More, I’m on the lookout for good actual adaptation of Lovecraft’s work. And here we have The Color Out of Space, in German. It’s an excellent take on the tale, with fairly limited alteration (connections to WWII, for example) that do nothing to detract from the source (like the romance in the otherwise excellent The Resurrected). Very much a film to seek out.
1. Altered States: One of those movies I’ve been aware of for what seems like forever, but have rarely heard good things about. Often referred to as ‘boring’ or something similar. For whatever reason, I decided it was time to break down and check it out, and I’m glad I did. I loved it. Steeped in all that post-Hippie, Utopian, drug-fueled, mad science stuff that I love so much in Fringe, Beyond the Black Rainbow, Rabid, and more, it’s got lots of cool images, some solid performances, and a pretty crazy ending. For Fringe fans, this is a must, as it absolutely feels like the stuff Walter, Belly, and Nina were getting up to in those early days.
2014’s Most Forgettable:
Jack Ryan: Not a bad movie, but didn’t this come out years ago? No?! Wow. I vaguely remember watching it, I guess.
Seriously, I have the ticket stub. I know I saw it.
Best Viewings at the Alamo Drafthouse:
5. The Good the Bad and the Ugly
4. Halloween III (this is up there with seeing Phantasm II & Razorback at the AFI Silver)
3. City Lights
2. Rocky IV
1. 3 Dev Adam (aka Turkish Captain America)
Glad to See You Again:
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. I was glad to see a fun and enjoyable Middle Earth again. After a lackluster first film and a crappy second, I was glad that the third Hobbit film was more enjoyable, and more in line with the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
Hey, It’s Better Than Avatar! (movies that might not be great, but they‘re better than Avatar):
5. Chef
4. Noah
3. Interstellar
2. How to Train Your Dragon 2
1. Big Hero 6
The Life of Pi Award for Most Simpering New Age Crap:
Hector and the Search for Happiness
Best Documentary:
Life Itself: While not shying away from the uglier sides of Roger Ebert, this ultimately uplifting film celebrates the man, warts intact. More emotionally resonant than many fictional works, it made me love the life’s work of a man I rarely agreed with.
Mulder’s Beard (the one good thing in an otherwise unwatchable film):
Antonio Banderas’s crazy bastard performance in The Expendables 3
Best Score:
Under the Skin
Best Soundtrack:
Guardians of the Galaxy
Best Moment:
Godzilla’s Atomic Breath
Best God Fight:
Yahweh VS. The Sinful Hoards in Noah
Best Cameo:
Howard the Duck in Guardians of the Galaxy
My Most Anticipated Film of 2015:
Jupiter Ascending: I’ve liked all the directors’ previous films and I’m super excited to see original, grand scale science fiction being realized on screen. Sadly, while everyone complains so heavily about a lack of originality in movies, bemoaning sequels and remakes, everyone also seems bound and determined to ignore anything original. Well, I’m gonna be there, dang it. And so should you. For the future. For America. For the children.
Top Twenty:
20. Nightcrawler
19. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
18. Tracks
17. The Signal
16. The Rover
15. Particle Fever
14. Life Itself
13. Tim’s Vermeer
12. Belle
11. Automata
10. The Raid 2
9. Cold in July
8. All You Need is Kill
7. Mr. Turner
6. Ida
5. Guardians of the Galaxy
4. Jodorowsky's Dune
3. Under the Skin
2. Godzilla
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
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