First out of the gate with her Top 10 list is Ann Hornaday at The Washington Post. (The descriptions here have been abbreviated so please check out the full article.)
1. “Boyhood” – With this touching coming-of-age drama, writer-director Richard Linklater accomplished so many groundbreaking things at once: Filming nonprofessional actor Ellar Coltrane over 12 years, then folding his actual youth and adolescence into a fictional story starring Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke, Linklater created a new cinematic language, allowing past and present to mesh as seamlessly as they do in real life.
2. “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” – Alejandro González Iñárritu’s portrait of a former action star (Michael Keaton) making one last bid for authenticity was an exercise in technical brio (it seemed to be filmed all in one take) and in the art of acting.
3. “Citizenfour” – Laura Poitras’s taut, claustrophobically effective documentary, in which she puts viewers in the Hong Kong hotel room when former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden first shared his revelations about government surveillance.
4. “Force Majeure” – Visually stunning, narratively meticulous and often grimly funny, Swedish director Ruben Ostlund’s drama about a picture-perfect couple coming unraveled during a ski vacation in the French Alps got at gender politics, sexual dynamics and the delicate balance of self-perception.
5. “Foxcatcher” is a creepy movie, as unsettling and unresolved as the true crime at its center. Steve Carell submerges his comic persona to play John E. du Pont, who in 1996 murdered wrestler Dave Schultz (Mark Ruffalo). Channing Tatum rounds out the extraordinary three-man ensemble.
6. “Under the Skin” Scarlett Johansson was in two big hits this year — “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and the action flick “Lucy” — but her best work was in Jonathan Glazer’s creepy, cryptic “Under the Skin.”
7. “Selma” – Ava DuVernay’s dramatization of a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement is a stirring historical pageant, but at its best shows Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) as a cannily perceptive political operator, especially when dealing with Tom Wilkinson’s equally shrewd Lyndon Johnson. Finally, the most important chapter of 20th-century American history has taken pride of place within the culture’s dominant narrative medium — not as context, backdrop or plot device, but the subject itself.
8. “Edge of Tomorrow” – Why on Earth didn’t you see this movie? It had all the mind-bending time-travel of “Interstellar,” some wise-cracking, save-the-day derring-do a la “Guardians of the Galaxy,” plus Tom Cruise flirting with a wonderfully smart, strong heroine played by Emily Blunt. Stylishly directed by Doug Liman.
9. “Beyond the Lights” – Gina Prince-Bythewood’s deliriously entertaining backstage romance took all of the tropes from “Gypsy” to “The Bodyguard,” gave them a fresh, feminist spin and put them in the hands of a superlative cast… Delicious to watch and listen to, the film was elevated by Mbatha-Raw’s honest, physically startling performance.
10. “Locke” – If “Birdman” and “Foxcatcher” were ensemble pieces at their best, Steven Knight’s “Locke” was the quintessential one-man show: British actor Tom Hardy… is transfixing as a man desperate to keep the various spheres of his life from spinning out of control; the movie itself is a daring, utterly absorbing exercise in real-time storytelling.
(read the full story at the Washington Post)-
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Hornaday cites a few more films outside her top 10 for honorable mention:
Nightcrawler – “a slithery, atmospheric evocation of the news media at its most
Obvious Child – “a tart, audaciously unapologetic comedy”
Fort Bliss – “evokes the life of a working military mom with sensitive domestic drama”
Dear White People – “a funny, wise and nuanced satire on racial identity”
The Drop – “superbly written, beautifully acted downbeat gem.
A Most Violent Year – “channeled the muted palette and subdued mood of the great crime dramas of the 1970s.”
British people are smarter than we are. And they have better taste. And they’re better actors. On paper, the historical dramas “Mr. Turner” and “The Imitation Game” — along with the Stephen Hawking biopic “The Theory of Everything” — were run-of-the-mill great-man myths. But in the hands of directors Mike Leigh, Morten Tyldum and James Marsh (with assists from actors Timothy Spall, Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne), they transcended their genre to become graceful works of art — and sure-fire awards bait for those keeping score at home.
![2025 Oscars: Can a Late-Breaker Still Win Best Picture? [POLL]](https://www.awardsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/gladiator-350x250.jpg)
Thanks for consisting of the beautiful pictures– so open to a sense of contemplation.|
article source http://tora9tracy.soup.io/post/493839125/Have-Operating-a-blog-Sucess-By-Using
*dies from gigantic font overdose*
Thank you, Des, for confirming that I’m not going crazy re: Locke.
Good to see Locke getting the credit it deserves. Fantastically original drama with a career best performance from Tom Hardy. A Best Original Screenplay nomination, surely. If it starts appearing on a lot of end of year 10 Best lists, then the momentum will build.
Edge of Tomorrow was hugely under-rated. The best Sc-fi movie in years: gripping, unpredictable and never stops for breath.
My Top 10, v 1.0:
1. Dear White People
2. The Dance of Reality
3. Calvary
4. Interstellar
5. Gone Girl
6. Birdman
7. Force Majeure
8. Ida
9. Snowpiercer
10. Nymphomaniac – Theatrical version
11-20: Guardians of the Galaxy, Nightcrawler, Enemy, Locke, Whiplash, 20,000 Days on Earth, Pride, Frank, 22 Jump Street, Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Someone above saw a lot of trash this year!
I should also add that I still have a crapload of films to watch and that “Stranger by the Lake” came out here last year…
… And I really could not see what the fuss was about.
Now that’s some bugger fuzz.
Ryan, this is twice in recent weeks that you’ve typed ‘bugger’ instead of ‘bigger’… supposedly. Just what are you trying to say here, exactly?
Julian, I can’t wrap my head around why I shouldn’t be allowed to provide an opinion on how a critic chooses to be a critic. It’s just an opinion, you shouldn’t have to or even try to wrap your head around it. If I want to argue that critics should provide an actual, clear, cohesive, thoughtful CRITICAL ANALYSIS then let me. And if she doesn’t have the “space” to do it in her post then for god’s sake LINK to a more in-depth analysis. The suggestion of someone earlier to use their search engine to find it is ridiculous.
Top Ten lists should explain why things are included in the list–not only because the audience deserves an explanation, but because the author should have one and a desire to provide it. I don’t think she or her publication does that well enough. Period.
“did everyone just suddenly get quiet because my typo “bugger fuzz” was too alarming to mess around with?”
This. I didn’t realize it was a typo and thought it was way too ratchet even for your usual bad self — so I split. (j/k)
“‘Stranger by the Lake’ came out here last yea…And I really could not see what the fuss was about.”
Oh my Gosh, me neither, Andre. I’m dumb. This year I’m dreading “ADIEU AU LANGAGE”.
The movies I recall having seen this 2014… not many, due to an illness I’m having since July that prevents me from moving much, outside home.
Snowpiercer ***** (a masterpiece and a deep and sharp commentary not only on society, but on human nature itself)
The Lego Movie ***** (one of the best animated films ever, full stop)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier **** 1/2 (the best Marvel film to date, probably, along with Iron Man 3 and The Avengers. I’m doubting if increase the rating to the max.)
Guardians of the Galaxy **** 1/2 (the new Star Wars… and better than Lucas’ original, to my taste. Oddly enough, the GotG comic was published before Lucas made his film)
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes **** (interesting, but too convenient in some places… it makes me wish for more, anyways)
How to Train your Dragon 2 **** (a more than decent sequel… I wonder if I will upgrade the rating with repeated viewings, as I did with the first one)
Edge of Tomorrow *** 1/2 (thrilling but cheats are quite obvious, specially at the ending which downgraded the experience for me)
A Million Ways to Die in the West *** 1/2 (it’s not Ted, but heck, a misfire, not a bad comedy at all)
Dracula Untold *** (I don’t get all the bashing for this film, which should be almost locked for Costume Design nom)
RoboCop *** (more than OK reboot, it’d be interesting where do they go, from here)
Non-Stop *** (cheats galore, but the cast – specially good ol’ Liam, save the day)
Trascendence *** (interesting take on the risks of an AI, but lacked punch)
Goal of the Dead ** 1/2 (funny french horrormedy)
Divergent ** 1/2 (bland, bland, bland)
X-Men: Days of Future Past ** 1/2 (one of the worst screenplays of the year, though)
Grand Piano ** 1/2 (if you can forget its cheats and what a Hitchcock rip-off it is, and the silly McGuffin…)
Maleficent ** 1/2 (decent, lacked punch)
Godzilla ** (Emmerich’s filmography continuosly ripped off, through the film, but without his sense of humor)
Into the Storm ** (an “Asylum” movie with bigger budget and some style)
The Amazing Spiderman 2 *1/2 (hopefully it kills the franchise and Marvel gets the characters back)
Transformers: Age of Extinction * 1/2 (still, as usual with Bay, you could barely keep your eyes off the screen, in this train-wreck)
Left Behind 0 (I barely recall having given a movie a “0”, all together. Nicholas Cage finally hits rock-bottom)
My list is certainly not locked, so I won’t present a full top 20, but for now, here’s a 10:
1. Whiplash
2. Boyhood
3. We Are The Best!
4. Nightcrawler
5. Gone Girl
6. Snowpiercer
7. Interstellar
8. The Immigrant
9. The Grand Budapest Hotel
10. Blue Ruin
Seeing some big ones in the next 2 weeks that could shake things up.
I should also add that I still have a crapload of films to watch and that “Stranger by the Lake” came out here last year…
… And I really could not see what the fuss was about.
re: my “bugger fuss” comment — hope everyone knows I was joking… or did everyone just suddenly get quiet because my typo “bugger fuzz” was too alarming to mess around with?
*bigger
I still have a lot to see, but my 10 at this point (primarily based on 2014 release in country of origin);
1. Under the Skin
2. Boyhood
3. Whiplash
4. Mr. Turner
5. Calvary
6. Gone Girl
7. Nightcrawler
8. Jauja
9. Winter Sleep
10. Charlie’s Country
My top ten so far in alphabetical order:
Birdman
Boyhood
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Interstellar
Lilting
Nightcrawler
Snowpiercer
Under the Skin
Whiplash
She’s only a few days early. Many will want to get their lists out soon, before they vote on awards from the various groups to which they belong.
I had wondered if Boyhood would hold up in the year-end lists. So far, so good.
Her list is mostly good as far as it goes, but, it does seem early. Ryan and Sasha know more, but, could Ann have really seen every major movie that will be released in December already? Some of the movies towards the end of the month have had limited screenings, if any. Especially, if one considers foreign films and indies that have either never screened stateside, or only at one or two venues.
Mine, so far:
Birdman
Boyhood
How To Train Your Dragon 2
Life Itself
The Homesman
The Skeleton Twins
Noghtcrawler
The Drop
Gone Girl
Pride
Still, SO many to see, though 🙂
My top 10 at the moment:
1. Boyhood
2. Boyhood
3. Boyhood
4. Boyhood
5. Boyhood
6. Boyhood
7. Boyhood
8. Boyhood
9. Boyhood
10. Boyhood
Paddy (Somewhere in the UK, NYMPHOMANIAC), I (somewhere in the US, SHOWGIRLS), do not know Christophe (somewhere in France, BILLY ELLIOT) in private life.
Christophe, you got me! I’m dying to spill the beans, but I will be smart about this. I’ve already had informal exchanges with a couple publications. All I’m saying for now is Mr. Nolan is a relentless voyeur!
Ryan, bring it.
My top 5
1 Boyhood
2. Birdman
3 life itself
4 national gallery
5 foxcatcher
Christophe,
Her comment could defiantly be interpreted that way. It’s a well known fact AMPAS loves any and all things British. Why else would Shakespeare In Love win best picture over The Thin Red Line and Saving Private Ryan. Or The King’s Speech winning over the Social Network. Or the English Patient winning over……….well you get the idea.
Well, I’ll be… Locke, the most ignored film and perfomance of the year, made her top ten.
Looking forward to more of these “Pop goes the weasel” moments.
Here we go ’round the mulberry bush…
Nick Johnson,
Not sure she truly meant what she wrote there, quite the countrary. Sounds like she was just looking for a humorous way to mention those 3 films whilst keeping them safely away from her Top 10. I almost find her remark disparaging, as though she was mocking the industry for fawning over British memorabilia so easily, which will inevitably happen as usual. I love Brit. memorabilia too so it’s not an issue imo. but it is to some stateside critics.
“British people are smarter than we are. And they have better taste. And they’re better actors.”
I suppose the first statement is true but the last two are certainly debatable.
Bryce, Christophe, if either of you think you can make a bugger fuss about stuff than I can, you’re in for a rude awakening.
Lol rly just wait until something… anything happens. Like, anything at all. I will literally, physically explode with fury.
Bryce, is Christophe (France) anything like Kate Winslet (The Holiday, Flushed Away)?
Bryce, Christophe, if either of you think you can make a bugger fuss about stuff than I can, you’re in for a rude awakening.
Bryce, you’re the one making a fuss about it! As though you were disappointed we don’t dwell further on “The Subject”… You’re right, the Paris Review was indeed founded in Paris and moved to New York in 1973, but I’m not sure they have anything to do with film, they seem to be all about literature.
My own Top 10 this year isn’t even 10 yet lol. Prior to a few years ago I had watched over 100 films a year (about 30 new ones and the rest of the time catching up on classics) and nearly all of the Oscar contenders. Then I met my wife lol…she doesn’t share a love for films to quite the same extent and I only saw a handful for the last two years and I’ve only got around to seeing the following so far this year…
1. Gone Girl
2. Interstellar
3. Boyhood
4. Divergent
5. The Lego Movie
6. Grand Budapest Hotel
Quite frankly I’ve been mostly un-interested in what Hollywood has put out the last few years but this year I am looking forward to a number of late year releases; Selma, Unbroken, Into the Woods, The Imitation Game, Exodus: Gods and Kings and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. After seeing what Ann had to say about Edge of Tomorrow I might rent that one of these days as well…
“Finally, the most important chapter of 20th-century American history has taken pride of place within the culture’s dominant narrative medium — not as context, backdrop or plot device, but the subject itself.”
There’s your pull quote and your awards campaign all in one sentence from Ann and the Post. An important movie.
Ryan! Don’t make such a fuss about it. I don’t want to jeopardize my lucrative escapades with Mr. Nolan. I’ll email you the details later. Boy, that must have been before my time (circa VIRGINIA WOLF) when we were actually headquartered in the city of Paris, France (Christophe). We named GRAVITY the most richly literal film of ’13. I sure hope you didn’t cancel on us when you read that, it was unanimous.
Benutty: I can’t really get my head around why you have to feel so grumpy with regards to this particular top ten list. The concept is simple, we all know how it works, we should all take it for what it is. Why you need to feel pissed about this particular top ten is beyond me.
For what it’s worth, I think this is a decent list (although, who am I to know, since I haven’t been across the pond to see every one of these movies! Her inclusion of the great Swedish foreign language Oscar hopeful Force Majeure excites me, though.)
I knew I should have seen Fource Majeure when I had the chance to,
– be sure to look for it in The Paris Review issue that will hit stands during the first week of the year.
– To be honest, I don’t even know what The Paris Review is, but I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with Paris.
rewatched Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf a few days ago when I was mourning Mike Nichols. Pretty sure I noticed copies of The Paris Review strewn around the living room at George and Martha’s house.
[EDIT: yes, found it. right here.]
Maja
Thanks. Sometimes links don’t show up on the main page. So I should always remember to link again after the cut on page 2. New link after Locke.
My current Top 6:
Stranger by the Lake
Under the Skin
Ida
Boyhood
Force Majeure
Gone Girl
MOVIES I HAVE YET TO SEE:
Unbroken
Nightcrawler
Blue Rain
Exodus
Selma
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Midnight
Red Army
A Most Violent Year
Locke
Citizenfour
Mr Turner
Belle
Still Alice
Interstellar
Wild looks too boring for me
The Homesman looks to boring for me
American Sniper is way too American propaganda for me
The link to Washington Post’s full article doesn’t work
“The Paris Review issue that will hit stands during the first week of the year.”
Sick Burn Alert: I didn’t know they had such low standards!
Just kidding, just kidding… It will probably be an interesting (for lack of a better word) and expletive-filled contribution (if you also line up the turkeys). To be honest, I don’t even know what The Paris Review is, but I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with Paris.
“Surely anyone clicking on a link to a best of list wants to know more about the film than they can find on imdb.”
Well, those people can use The Washington Post’s website’s search engine to find what they are looking for. Or are those people to lazy to do that?
Having not seen a great many of the films this year, my top ten as of now would be:
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
2. The Lego Movie
3. Gone Girl
4. Ida
5. Snowpiercer
6. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
7. How to Train Your Dragon 2
8. Locke
9. Guardians of the Galaxy
10. Under the Skin
Also, Stranger by the Lake is not only the smartest, but infinitely BEST films of the year. Why would she snub it????????
Al, it was Hornaday. Thompson is way too boring for that kind of horseplay.
Ryan, I know you pared down the source article here, but the source article is what I’m addressing not yours. My opinion and my point is that it’s lazy for a critic and a publication to do what they’ve done–she’s reviewed the films in depth, why not link to them if you are only going to include summary blurbs of your “BEST OF 2014” list???? Surely anyone clicking on a link to a best of list wants to know more about the film than they can find on imdb.
That being said, I fell asleep 2 paragraphs into her Foxcatcher review just now (and no longer care to delve deeper into her archives) because she’s one of those big adjective, thesaurus-using critics iykwim.
All of this is underlined by, as everyone else has already pointed out, the ridiculousness of her putting out a best of list with a full month of the year to go.
Shit. I WAS wrong. My bad. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-ann-hornaday-video-seth-rogen-judd-apatow-20140528-story.html
Nevermind, I think I’m wrong. I think. My memory remembers it was Ann Thompson. Now I’m not sure.
Bryce, I think the “catfight” was between Ann Thompson and Seth Rogen, not Ann Hornaday and Seth Rogen.
Christophe, I was just trying to be cute. Remember Hornaday and Rogen’s catfight? I know it might be good, I even liked the first trailer. I’m not allowed to talk about it until early January (I signed one of those Mr. Nolan tyrannical leases. I am his property for the next five weeks, more like his sex toy), but I’ll let you and the other readers in a little secret, the Rogen-produced NEIGHBORS will be featured on my ’14 Top 50ish, be sure to look for it in The Paris Review issue that will hit stands during the first week of the year.
As someone who subscribes to The Washington Post, I admire Hornaday as a critic. This list seems pretty great to me, a nice balance of indies, mainstream studio movies, and foreign flicks. There are several there I haven’t seen but I’m sure I’ll enjoy them once I see them.
Bryce,
How dare you mention UNBROKEN and THE INTERVIEW in the same breath? THE INTERVIEW might actually turn out to be good! What will you say then?
benutty, I sliced all of Hornaday’s thumbnail descriptions in half, because we want to offer some context but still encourage readers to explore the source. In coming weeks, there will be so many critics lists, many of them will appear here as nothing but bare-bones lists. All these critics will have reviewed most all the films over the past few months, but the season of Top Ten lists not normally the time we look for in-depth analysis of everyone’s 10 favorites.
Since both Into the Woods and Unbroken have now already screened, I’m guessing she was in attendance for them. Unbroken is of course in an embargo until December. I just wonder though if she just didn’t like it enough to put it in her top 10, or whether an embargo means she’s not allowed in any means to even mention it, even a top 10 list.
My current top 5 I’ve seen this year:
1. Birdman
2. Interstellar
3. Gone Girl
4. Fury
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel
I have not yet seen: Get on Up, Whiplash, Kill the Messenger, The Theory of Everything, Rosewater, Foxcatcher, The Imitation Game, Wild, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Inherent Vice, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, American Sniper, Big Eyes, Into the Woods, Selma, Unbroken, and A Most Violent Year.
Smart and classy list. But the #1 of the year (Nymphomaniac) is missing. Americans are too tender for it.
Has she even seen UNBROKEN or ahem THE INTERVIEW?! lol She might like them even more so than BOYHOOD! Kind of undermines her list. Also, it invalidates it into utter meaninglessness? Just saying. Let’s not start flooding the internets with these just yet, will you, critics? Pretty please? December 1st is still eons away. We don’t need a shedload of BOYHOOD backlash by Monday morning. Behave children!
Great Top 10
@CHRISTOPE
That’s what I thought as well. Has she seen all the December release films? How can one make a Top 10 of the year list if only having seen 11 months worth…
@Benutty: you do understand she works in print, right, and has a finite amount of words and a broad swath to cover each week?
Are those really the best films, or those that will make her look cool? More power to her, but I find this dreadfully early, I thought there were still a couple films that hadn’t been seen yet.
I hoped your sentence “The descriptions here…” was going to comment on how they’re more summary and less review. While her picks are decent (not really revolutionary), I have a hard time trusting the opinion of a critic that can’t offer more insight into the actual mechanics of the film than she does here. She doesn’t even link to more in-depth reviews that she may have written for each of them!