"Mike's Top Fifteen Films of 2014"

"Mike's Top Fifteen Films of 2014"

Posted on Dec. 31, 2014  on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Post Archive

Photo courtesy of IFC Films

1). “Boyhood” (2014)

My film of the year and the one that changed my view on conventional filmmaking. Fifteen minutes into this movie I knew I was seeing something unique and special. Richard Linklater shot this film over a twelve-year period, with the principal actors aging naturally during the length of the film. It’s a simple story of a family dealing with the separation of the husband (Ethan Hawke) and wife (Patricia Arquette), seen mostly through the eyes of their two children (Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater). It’s an amazing film that was so effortless and enjoyable to watch that it doesn’t seem it’s almost three-hour length. Mike’s “Boyhood” Review

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

2). “Whiplash” (2014)

A drama that is part horror film is the best way to describe this movie about a young drummer (Miles Teller) who joins a top-flight band of a music conservatory. His world is turned upside down by the leader of the band, played by J.K. Simmons. Both leads give amazing, unbelievable performances that are both gut wrenching and sometimes terrifying. Mike’s “Whiplash” Review

Photo courtesy of A24

3). “ Locke” (2014)

This was my favorite film of the year, mostly because it took me by surprise. I saw this film at the 2014 Atlanta Film Festival and enjoyed it so much that I had to see it again when it came out in the theaters. Tom Hardy gives a performance of a lifetime. The whole film is Hardy driving in his car. It sounds boring, but it’s one of the most compelling and moving performances of the year with plenty of suspense. Credit Hardy and writer / director Steven Knight into creating a truly memorable cinema experience. Mike’s “Locke” Review

Photo courtesy of Raduis/TMC 

4). “Blue Ruin” (2014)

Macon Blair was magnificent in the role of a homeless man who goes back home to get revenge for the killing of his parents. The film, written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier, takes an unconventional hero and puts him into a situation that looks un-winnable. It’s a remarkable performance by Blair, who is on screen for almost the whole film. Mike’s “Blue Ruin” Review

Photo courtesy of Music Box Films

5). “Ida” (2014)

This Polish film is on the short list for the Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film and in my eyes, is the front-runner to win it. Set in 1960’s communist Poland, Anna (Agata Trzebuchowska) is a young novitiate nun, happily preparing to take her vows. She discovers that her past isn’t what she thought it was and goes on a trip to discover why that is so. Shot in black and white, this mesmerizing film does a masterful job of portraying what it was like to live in the starkness of Communism. Trzebuchowska is an actress who continually draws your eye to her. As Anna struggles to learn the truth about her past, she begins to understand that it’s a world that holds onto its secrets with a firm grip. Mike’s “Ida” Review

Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers

6). ”The Lego Movie” (2014)

This is the film that I enjoyed the most in 2014 and surprisingly, had one of the best scripts of the year. From the very start, this film just puts a smile on your face. I especially enjoyed Chris Pratt as the “every man” Emmett, who learns that he might be the key to saving the world. However, it was Will Arnett who steals the show as the voice of the slightly ego-maniacal Batman. This film proves Hollywood can make an animated film that both parents and kids will enjoy…that everything can be awesome! Mike’s “The Lego Movie” Review

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing

7). “Foxcatcher” (2014)

In a film filled with great performances, it was Channing Tatum, as the dumb, younger wrestler, who on his own makes one bad choice after another. Steve Carell gives it his all as the creepy wealthy DuPont heir who takes Tatum’s character under his care. Not to be outdone, Mark Ruffalo is equally compelling as the older and wiser of the two wrestling brothers. It’s a fascinating movie that slowly builds its tension to the final tragic outcome. Mike’s “Foxcatcher” Review

Photo courtesy of Open Road Films

8). “Nightcrawler” (2014)

Jake Gyllenhaal gives an outstanding performance as one of the most despicable characters on screen this year. He plays a young man who stumbles upon the rough and tumble world of free-lance news reporting, following the police around to crime scenes and wrecks, where the bloodier the scene the better. He screws over anyone he can to get the shot that will pay the big bucks. Rene Russo lights up the screen as a desperate news producer who is willing to do almost anything for ratings. Mike’s “Nightcrawler” Review

Photo courtesy of Radius/TWC 

9). “Keep On Keepin’ On” (2014)

This incredibly moving documentary is about the friendship of two musicians; a promising young blind jazz pianist named Justin Kauflin and jazz legend Clark Terry. Both men are going through some of their toughest times and their friendship, cemented of the love of jazz, gives each man strength to “Keep On Keepin’ On.” Mike’s “Keep On Keepin’ On” Review

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

10). “Gone Girl” (2014)

This is a film that is filled with people you won’t really like and takes so many twists and turns you almost feel like you need a scoreboard to keep up. This is a film that is funny and yet in many parts is dark and depressing. It’s a tale that about how fast the media can turn a hero into a villain and how quickly we make judgments about people. Mike’s “Gone Girl” Review

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

11). “Top Five” (2014)

Chris Rock wrote and directed this funny, at times raunchy film that is smart and full of heart. Rock plays a comedian who is getting ready to marry a reality star and is having his film (a drama) released on the same weekend. Rosario Dawson plays a reporter who shadows him for the day. They have great chemistry together, and that makes this film a delight to watch. Mike’s “Top Five” Review

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

12). “Life Itself” (2014)

Incredibly moving documentary about the inspiring life of film critic Roger Ebert. The film covers his life warts and all, as you see his highs (winning the Pulitzer Prize) and the sorrow of watching Roger slowly give up the fight with his many ailments. It’s a film that will stay with you for a long time. Mike’s “Life Itself” Review

Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight

13). “Birdman” (2014)

This fascinating film is part comedy, part satire. Michael Keaton plays an actor whose better days are behind him. He is attempting to mount a comeback on Broadway but may lose his mind in the process. While I enjoyed Keaton in the title role, I thought Emma Stone, playing his troubled daughter and Edward Norton, playing a Hollywood star to into method acting were the highlights of the film. My only objection to the film was that I did not like the ending to the film. Mike’s “Birdman” Review

Photo courtesy of Marvel

14). “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014)

Chris Pratt is so much fun in this film as Peter Quill, a thief who prefers the name Star Lord. Quill gets way in over his head attempting to steal an orb that apparently everyone in the galaxy wants. The film is just a blast to watch and keeps moving right from the start. It’s hard to understand that everyone in the world would fall in love with a tree-like creature named Groot. Mike’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” Review

Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight

15). “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (2014)

An absolute joyride of a film that takes this Wes Anderson film and combines it with a Marx Brothers film. Ralph Fiennes plays Gustave H, one of the best concierges in the world who gets involved in a very complex world of intrigue and espionage. There were times that I thought I was watching one of the old Roadrunner cartoons when the action scenes unfold. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is Anderson at his best and is one of the most enjoyable films of the year. Mike’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” Review

Honorable mention:  “Dear White People”, “The Way He Looks”, ”Kill the Messenger”, “Begin Again”, “Obvious Child”, “The Lunchbox”,   “We Are the Best”, “The Past”, “Force Majeure”, “Snowpiercer”, “Love is Strange”, “Finding Vivian Maier”, “The Babadook”, “Chef”, “Frozen”. “Selma”

Check out Mike’s Bottom Ten Films of 2014

"Life Itself" Movie Review

My review of the documentary "Life Itself"

"Life Itself"

Posted at July 4, 2014 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post 

“Life Itself” (2014)

I was a big fan of the late film critic Roger Ebert.  Not because I agreed with his reviews because truth be told, I agreed more with his “And the Movies” partner, Gene Siskel. No, I was a fan of Roger Ebert because he wrote so well. He had the ability to write about a film and make it such a joy to read. Roger had that uncanny ability to be incredibly knowledgeable but at the same time, write the review as if he was just one of audience members at your local theater. “Life Itself,” the documentary telling the life story of Roger Ebert is also able to skirt that fine line. It’s an extremely smart film but at the same time, makes you feel as you are a part of the Ebert family, enjoying the man and his thoughts on not just film criticism but “Life Itself.”

Filmmaker Steve James (“Hoop Dreams” (1994)) deals with the big elephant in the room right at the start of the film. Roger had gone through a number of procedures to get rid of the cancer in his body, which included taking his whole lower jaw and his tongue.  At first it is a little unnerving watching him with his lower lip and chin just dangling there, but Roger’s spirit and humor are so evident in this film, that it isn’t very long that you are comfortable with his appearance.  He had long come to accept his fate and was determined to live his life to the fullest. The film takes place during the last year of his life. He thought he had beaten the cancer, at a great cost of course, but still had beaten it.  But at the start of the film, Roger has fractured one of his legs and has to go back to physical therapy.  As the film goes on, we learn that the fracture was not caused by a fall, but his bones had been weakened by the onset of more cancerous tumors.

While the film deals with Roger’s fight to continue to live, it also deals with his remarkable career.  One of the aspects that I liked about the film is that it explored what made Roger that man he came to be.  When Roger was just a kid, he started a neighborhood newspaper, which he wrote and then delivered to each of his neighbors.  By age 15, Roger was on the local town paper and while at the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign; he became the school’s newspaper editor.  The film points out an interesting event in his career at the university paper.  President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated, and Roger wrote an editorial that in the first paragraph quoted both Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Shakespeare’s Macbeth.  Over and over the film shows just how Ebert wasn’t just smart but could express himself in such elegant ways, all the while never seeming pretentious.

The film covers his early days at the Chicago Sun Times, where after being employed at the paper for just six months, he was given the title of film critic of the paper.  There are a number of people interviewed from his days on the paper, and the film doesn’t shrink back from Ebert’s bad qualities. As one of his colleges says in the film; “He’s an asshole, but he is my asshole.” Roger dominated almost any conversation that went on during that time period. As one former bar mate says “Roger was not just the star of his movie that was his life, we was also its director.”

For many early years, Roger drank at bars near the paper late into the night. The film talks frankly about this period and also about Roger’s joining AA to quit drinking.  In fact, we learn that Roger met the love of his life, his wife Chaz, at an AA meeting. While Roger was open about his battle with alcohol, until this film, Chaz has never openly admitted being in AA. The film does an incredible job of showing the love between Roger and Chaz.  The relationship was quite a surprise for both of them. Roger was convinced that he would never find a soul mate and Chaz, was a proud, independent black woman who had never even considered dating a white man, much less falling in love and creating a well live life together.  They were perfect fit for each other, and it showed till the end of his life.

The film blends in some of Roger’s more famous film reviews, letting us understand and feel just how he looked at film and the excitement he felt when he discovered a movie he could champion. The film also does a great job showing us the dynamic between Roger and Gene Siskel, the rival Chicago Tribune film critic that would be forever tied to Ebert.  The film showcases that the two were rivals, barely acknowledging each other until they were on camera. The movie goes in depth on the creation of their famous show, a program that early on wasn’t a great success but soon made Siskel and Ebert, with their two “thumbs up,” the most popular film critics in the world.  As the producer of their “Siskel and Ebert and the Movies” TV show says “At first the studios helped us. Then they hated us, and finally, they feared us.”  The movie does an excellent job of showing the working relationship between the two, showing some hilarious outtakes of their review show.  One of the most fascinating aspects of the film is how Siskel and Ebert decided everything that they disagreed with while producing the show.  Whether it was which name would go first on the title or who would sit next to Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show,” it was all settled by a flip of a coin.

This is a fascinating film, sometimes sad, sometimes funny, but never dull or slow moving. Roger Ebert was an intelligent man who could express himself so well that he won the Pulitzer Prize; something at the time had never been won by a film critic. As one of his colleagues describes Roger as “The definitive mainstream film critic in American letters.” The film is worthy of its subject and ultimately we come away from the film knowing that Ebert as the great film director Martin Scorsese says about the man “He really loved films.”   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again