(and by “Best” I mean my favourites)
2014 was an amazing year of movies for a number of reasons. There seemed to be more quality films than any other recent year – perhaps since 2007 or even 1999 – and more surprising still was that they weren’t all released in the fall and winter, but rather spread out across a whole year of cinematic richness (for proof check out the Best of Summer 2014 Arthouse and Blockbusters, many of which appear here). (more…)
The Gambler (2014)
Dir: Rupert Wyatt
It was an uphill climb but Mark Wahlberg’s new film may place him into the most improbable on-screen profession of his career. That’s right, The Gambler has overtaken high school science teacher (The Happening) and inventor (Transformers 4: We’ll Keep Making These As Long As You Keep Paying) in terms of incredulity as it asks you to believe that Mark Wahlberg’s character Jim Bennett is a tenured English professor. (more…)
The Interview (2014)
Dirs: Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen
Sometimes it’s difficult to separate a movie from the story surrounding its making. When filmmakers tackle controversial subjects like religion (The Last Temptation of Christ, The Passion of the Christ), murder (A Clockwork Orange, Natural Born Killers) or sex (Basic Instinct, Blue Is the Warmest Colour) someone’s ire is sure to be raised. (more…)
Sure, you’ve got your perennial Christmas classics like A Christmas Story, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and Bad Santa, but what about when you want to switch it up while staying on theme? That’s where the best Christmas-y movies come in – they all take place during Christmas but are not explicitly about the holiday.
Top Five (2014)
Dir: Chris Rock
Chris Rock might as well be talking directly to his critics when the line “sometimes a movie is just a movie” is said during Top Five. (more…)
Mr. Turner (2014)
Dir: Mike Leigh
“Wise men, when in doubt whether to speak or to keep quiet, give themselves the benefit of the doubt and remain silent.” J.M.W. Turner was a wise man who opted to say little and express himself in other ways, becoming one of England’s most famous painters. (more…)
The Theory of Everything (2014)
Dir: James Marsh
Renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking is given the full-on biopic treatment in James Marsh’s The Theory of Everything, delving into a life rich with conflict and thematical resonance: theology vs. physics, whether to follow the heart or the head, and exuberant love mixed with deeply felt loss. (more…)
The Imitation Game (2014)
Dir: Morten Tyldum
“Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.” That’s a refrain heard a few times in the historical thriller The Imitation Game and, much like that quote, the movie itself is well-meaning but a little unwieldy. (more…)
Citizenfour (2014)
Dir: Laura Poitras
Citizenfour plays like a modern paranoid thriller about the erosion of our civil liberties and rise of the global surveillance state, but gains considerable impact from the fact that it’s a documentary about what’s happening here and now, in our lifetimes. (more…)
The Babadook (2014)
Dir: Jennifer Kent
Let’s get this out of the way – The Babadook is terrifying. Both the movie and the title character are so well-realized, so full of dread, that The Babadook will linger with you long after the final credits roll. (more…)
Glen On Film 