2014--Best so far and what's coming

[Stewball]

For what it's worth:

I'm thinking the Oscar Best Pic nomination committee is on suicide watch right now. Nothing looks to be coming that fits the Hollywood template. That said, this is my what's the best so far and the most promising for the last 3 months.

Of my ranked films, Hateship Loveship, Bad Words, Noah & Lucy are the top 4.

I thought the best action summer blockbuster was Edge of Tomorrow, though Guardians of the Galaxy had good characters and humor; and the best animated movie so far, and probably won't change, is Mr. Peabody and Sherman.

This is my list of most promising movies for the rest of the year, with Indy dark horses popping up here and there along the way:

Kill the Messenger (10-10)
Fury (10-17)
*Birdman (strung out release from Oct.)
*Intersteller (11-7)
Exodus (12-12)
Into the Woods (12-25)
Big Eyes (2-25)

*My most likely best for the year.

[Bojangles]

Unbroken
The Imitation Game (Weinstein Company)
The Theory of Everything

These all fit the Oscar mold. The Academy will have no trouble finding a darling.

[Stewball]

Unbroken
The Imitation Game (Weinstein Company)
The Theory of Everything

These all fit the Oscar mold. The Academy will have no trouble finding a darling.

Oh you're absolutely right. I just skimmed over them thinking they wouldn't garner the necessary momentum, but I keep forgetting that gravitas is artificial in the first place. Jolie may have shot her chances in the foot with her recent political comments, but definitely The Theory of Everything has about a hundred liberal angst items going for it. The Theory of Everything will be the bane of everybody except the Learjet Liberal crowd. Excuse me now, I gotta go wretch.

[Stewball]

I took a closer look and added Big Eyes as a possible best of the year. Great lead cast, and for the awards crowd it has a gushing exploitable feminist theme, that's perfectly accentuated by those "big eyes". But it's also a righteous feminist theme a la the 50s, and with Tim Burton at the helm, who knows where it'll go.

[AFlickering]

i'm sure BOYHOOD, FOXCATCHER and GONE GIRL will all stand a decent chance of oscar nomination too? not that i put much stock in such things, but still.

my favourite of the year going by criticker dates is THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, but a number of those tagged 2013 are arguably 2014: A FIELD IN ENGLAND, BLIND DETECTIVE, THE WIND RISES and MISTER JOHN specifically. all amazing movies.

[TrixRabbi]

Ignoring my rankings, because opinions change, here's a Top 10 so far:

1. Under the Skin
2. Calvary
3. Life Itself
4. Gothic King Cobra
5. Only Lovers Left Alive
6. Nymphomaniac
7. The Dance of Reality
8. The Grand Budapest Hotel
9. Obvious Child
10. Boyhood

Honorable Mention: Enemy

[schnofel]

1. JOE
2. DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
3. FINDING VIVIAN MAIER
4. THE TRIP TO ITALY
5. EDGE OF TOMORROW
6. BLUE RUIN
7. ROB THE MOB
8. A POET IN NEW YORK
9. THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
10. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

upcoming, looking forward:

Land Ho!
Mr. Turner
Leviathan
Timbuktu
La chambre bleue
Phoenix
Nightcrawler
Interstellar
Inherent Vice
Exodus: Gods and Kings
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

[AFlickering]

JOE at number 1? care to elaborate on that choice? o.O

[schnofel]

I responded to the wildness of JOE - there are some genre elements, especially in the end, but generally there was a sense of it being a living and breathing thing, an independent film like they used to make in the 90s, and also one Gordon Green hasn't made since UNDERTOW, which I loved just as much. In my Criticker review I just briefly noted some similarities to Cormac McCarthy's work - SUTTREE perharps - with rancid, uncouth men making up their own law, culminating in this one murder that's pretty hard to take, but also inevitable with this material.

[lisa-]

seen seven films from this year, only two of them good.

1. nymphomaniac
2. grand budapest hotel