Best Movies of 2015

All I really want to do with this blog is to encourage people to think about movies in ways they ordinarily would’t do. I want them to try to watch movies they otherwise wouldn’t think about approaching. Because movies can be much more than just a diversion. Because a great movie can make all the difference. Here’s the best of what I saw this year. 

20. Focus- A con-man (Will Smith) takes on an apprentice (Margot Robbie), and together they tackle the world of crime, quickly getting in over their heads with the wrong kind of people. It’s a simple, entertaining concept with two of the most charismatic stars around as the leads. So how does a movie like this come and go undetected? I'm part of the problem for not having seen it when it played in theaters, but I'm surprised no one that I know of cared to mention it, because it is really good. Will Smith and Margot Robbie -- the superstars of past and future respectively, one passing the torch to the other in their first onscreen meeting -- have such fantastic chemistry, it's palpable. This is an element that won't be praised by many, but it is one of the reasons to love the movies: watching two of the best looking, most talented performers around dressed in the finest clothes, joking around, screwing around, just killing it. This is one of the most stylish movies of the year. Both leads and their directors (Glenn Ficarra and John Requa) are perfectly in tune with the material. They know every beat of the con-man story, and they play it by heart, giving audiences all they could ever want from a movie like this and more. Maybe I'm a sucker, but I fell for the romantic aspect of the thing too. I became invested in the characters, and that brought the whole movie up a level. It’s good enough to remind me of Ocean's Eleven without making me angry that I wasn't watching that instead. I can't recommend it highly enough.

19. The Age of Adaline-  For those paying attention, Harrison Ford’s comeback didn’t come this December, but back in April with this little gem of a movie. Ford gave his most engaged performance in years as an old man hopelessly in love with a girl who wouldn’t age. Blake Lively as said girl, shows the emotional distance and great sadness that comes with such a terrible, cursed gift. Bonus points for the graceful elegance of its cinematography, which makes the film look like it came out of classic Hollywood. The style perfectly matches the protagonist’s beautiful timelessness.

18. Furious 7- “Cars can’t fly,” says Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) to his young son after the kid throws a toy car out the window. Well, the rest of the movie seems designed to prove Brian wrong with a major scene where cars are dropped out of an airplane (which the filmmakers actually did) and another where they soar from skyscraper to skyscraper (which didn’t actually happen, but a physicist claims could happen). The stunts in the latest Fast and Furious movie  are some of the most inventive and thrilling ever put onscreen, but the real reason the film made it to this list is how they handled Brian’s departure after the tragic death of Paul Walker during filming in late 2013. Furious 7 has, without a doubt, the most heart-wrenching ending of any movie this year, with a monologue from Vin Diesel that shows how much Walker meant not just to the series and the fans but to him personally after years of (onscreen and offscreen) friendship.

17. Cinderella- “Uncompromisingly beautiful,” Stephanie Zacharek called it, and there’s really no better description. Lily James is set to become one of the world’s biggest stars, so keep an eye out for her. The best thing about Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation is that he plays it straight. No irony, no dark and gritty deconstruction or reimagining of the beloved classic. Just Cinderella. Take it or leave it. It is worth watching just to see the magnificently bright blues, greens and yellows conjured up by cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos. 

16. It Follows- The less said about the best horror movie in years, the better. Some movies you just want to see because of the title and the poster, and this is one of them. Just be mindful that this is not for the faint of heart. It will scare you. 

15. Blackhat- Nominally, Blackhat is about the high-tech world of hackers, so it comes as a striking surprise how low-tech it actually is. Through computer trickery, Chris Hemsworth’s Hathaway may be able to find out the location of the bad guy's servers, but not much more. In the end, the only way to get to the information inside is to bust into the actual building and get the damned hard drive by hand. For the crucial moments in the film, Hathaway has to be not just virtually, but also mentally and physically present. The bad guy’s plan also comes down to something physical in the end: First he targets a nuclear power plant, then the soy market and finally tin. He uses computers for a tangible goal: cash. As a result, the film boils down to world-hopping chases and to close combat fight scenes. Hathaway is really good at using the stuff around him (chairs, bottles, books, scarves) to defend himself. Everywhere you look, there is an emphasis on the presence, the physicality of people and things. Fittingly, the visual style of the film places the viewer in the immediate "you-are-there" mode, which director Michael Mann excels at. Despite all the constant movement and camera shaking, his compositions still manage to be exacting, precise and beautiful. I've always loved his off-center closeups, and there are a few here of Chris Hemsworth that are outstanding. There's also lots of bluish/greenish, grainy nighttime photography that, again, puts you right in the middle of the action, breathing in with awe, like the newly released from jail Hathaway, all of the film's marvelous locations (I particularly liked Hong Kong). Plus, this being a Michael Mann movie, there are lots of sunglasses and a truly gorgeous romantic lead played by Tang Wei. Amidst all the gritty violent stuff, Mann always leaves plenty of room for romance, and this one's remarkable. It's sensuous and pared down, almost minimalistic in the way it develops. Story-wise it comes out of nowhere, yet it manages to be completely convincing. It's as if Mann has decided to just leave conventional storytelling behind, because fuck it. One more thing Mann is great at: final shots. Blackhat is no exception.

14. The Martian- Matt Damon gets stranded in Mars. He has to find a way to “science the shit out of” the problem or die. He chooses life. This leads to all sorts of amusing/terrifying situations such as how do you grow food and water in a planet as inhospitable as Mars? Damond and director Ridley Scott, however, make his endeavor easier to endure by bombarding you with humor while never diminishing the seriousness of the situation. Meanwhile, people of earth science the shit out of the problem from the other end to bring him home. Donald Glover is particularly good as the young scientist who figures out the ultimate solution to the problem. Hooray for science and humanity! The very definition of a feel-good movie. This also has the best use of a song in any film this year, David Bowie’s “Starman” set to a thrilling rescue montage.  I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Jessica Chastain, who plays the astronaut that made the decision to leave poor Matt Damond in Mars. The guilt she feels is powerful,  and how she channels that to make things right is remarkable. Chastain’s continued excellence cannot be taken for granted; she’s the best actress alive.

13. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation/Spectre/The Man From U.N.C.L.E- 2015 was a veritable cornucopia of spy films, so take your pick and enjoy. They are all close enough in quality to rank together here, but the most entertaining of these is U.N.C.L.E. Although of course, the most ridiculously sublime is Rogue Nation. And the most rewarding is the instant-classic Bond, Spectre. 

12. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl- The teenage cancer movie to end all teenage cancer movies. To hell with The Fault in Our Stars. Never weepy or overly-sentimental, this movie is not interested in lamenting the beautiful tragedy of its lost protagonist. Instead, it focuses on the dying girl’s dumb friend Greg (the “me” of the title) who likes to make silly ripoffs of timeless classics with his co-worker (read: best friend) Earl. Among their masterpieces are:  Eyes Wide Butt, Senior Citizen Kane, The 400 Bros, and Rosemary’s Baby Carrots.  Greg also does a terrific Werner Herzog impression that will have any serious film fan guffawing. Few movies love movies as much as this movie. 

11. Sicario- Wrote about it here. I said this last year, and will repeat it here: Emily Blunt is the fucking best and she deserves to be a superhero. Also, she should be showered with eternal praise, money, and glory.  

10. Creed- (aka Rocky VII.) It's Rocky, but with Apollo's kid. These things have been around forever, so you probably already know if you’ll love it, hate it, or be indifferent to it before watching a frame, and that’s OK. This movie follows the formula strictly, and I see nothing wrong with that. At the same time, however, it is the best-shot and acted movie of the series. Just take a look at this fight sequence, shot in one continuous take. The way director Ryan Coogler puts you inside the ring with  Michael B. Jordan's Adonis is intoxicating. (It's probably the best boxing movie since Raging Bull.) Jordan who has been doing phenomenal work in television for years (The Wire, Parenthood, Friday Night Lights) finally gets the chance to shine on the big screen. And Sylvester Stallone reminds us that he’s not just an ugly face. The man can act, goddamnit.

9. Steve Jobs- A play structured in three acts, each one depicting Jobs in the hours before the launch of three of his products: the Macintosh (1984), the NeXT (1988) and the iMac (1998). By design, each act is very similar to the other two, but as the film progresses, we see how Jobs evolves as a person through the years, particularly the way he matures in his relationship to his daughter. The film’s structure and emotional arc are clean, efficient, and elegant. There’s also a lot of great dialogue written by the inimitable Aaron Sorkin and some kinetic direction by Danny Boyle, the man who made a movie about a guy slowly cutting off his own arm watchable. And Michael Fassbender is Steve Jobs, so much it’s scary. Hollywood, give the man a little golden statue. Please.

8. Clouds of Sils Maria- A famous actress (Juliette Binoche) and her assistant (Kristen Stewart) retire to a house in the mountains to read lines and prepare for the actress’ next play. The simplest (borderline theatrical) of setups sometimes end up yielding the most unexpectedly complex and fascinating results. Binoche’s grappling with the way the industry uses and discards older actresses is heartbreaking. Kristen Stewart gives the performance of the year in a role that has her admirably, passionately, and articulately defending the Twilight series (sort of). If you like actors, or if you like anything that is good and holy in this world, this movie is for you. 

7. Room- A woman who was kidnapped when she was seventeen is forced to raise her and her kidnapper’s five year old son, Jake (the phenomenal Jacob Tremblay) in a room that’s 10x10. I’m not going to lie, this movie is tough; it had me openly weeping at the theater for a lot of its running time. The ferocity with which Brie Larson’s “Ma” protects and cares for her child is truly inspirational, and the inevitable escape sequence is the most tense I’ve been in a theater in years. Yet Room understands something crucial: getting free is only the beginning of the journey for Ma and Jake. Afterwards, there’s the whole world to confront, their whole lives to live.

6. Brooklyn- Along with The Immigrant and In America, this story of an Irish immigrant living in 1950s Brooklyn ranks as one of the best movies to ever depict the immigrant experience. Homesickness has never been so thoroughly or convincingly explored, but at the same time this is a warm and uplifting film, so beautiful to look at! Saoirse Ronan will break your heart. 

5. Mustang- Imagine a cross between the 1994 version of Little Women and Sofia Coppola’s Virgin Suicides and you might get close to what Mustang is. Five sisters living in a rural Turkish town by the Black Sea go out one day to play on the beach with their male friends. As soon as they get home, they get a beating from their grandmother. Suddenly, everything changes. Their ultra-conservative uncle, in charge of raising them, believes they have been behaving disgracefully, so he barricades them inside their house. Lale, Nur, Ece, Selma, and Sonay, however, are not to be contained. They are a force of nature to be reckoned with, and mere walls cannot stop them. Their resistance to a toxic and antiquated system is exhilarating. You get the sense that if more people were like them, all of the world’s problems might be able to be solved. Mustang does take a harsh, though realistic, assessment of the girls’ situation, but the hopeful ending is one of the most heartwarming moments I’ve seen in any film. With this film, Deniz Gamze Ergüven has established herself as a major talent. 

4. Crimson Peak- Words cannot do justice to yet another Del Toro masterwork, so I won’t even try, (except to repeat that Jessica Chastain is the greatest actress alive). I will watch whatever the man makes for the rest of his career; he’s earned that. He also became the absolute best thing on twitter this year, for those interested.

3. Inside Out-   A revolutionary film merely for asserting that sadness is a necessary, healing, and very important part of life. Whoever said that animated movies are “just for kids” has never been more wrong. And yet, that wisdom wouldn’t matter if the film was boring or poorly made. The good news? Inside Out, structured as a journey home for its protagonists, moves like a breeze. Kids (and some adults) will want to re-watch Joy and Sadness' magnificent journey on a loop, and their parents won’t mind.The way the film visualizes the internal workings of a child’s mind is staggering. I can’t count the times I simply wanted to pause the movie to bask in the glory of the visuals: Riley’s headquarters; the Hollywood-like, and very literally titled, “dream-factory”; the dreaded subconscious (where all the troublemakers are kept); the amorphous abstract thought room; the labyrinthine long term memory storage; the personality islands devoted to friendship and hockey(!). All of these different parts of Riley’s mind are so exquisitely rendered, I wouldn’t mind getting lost there. Kudos to Amy Poehler for giving real depth to Joy, who could have easily been a one dimensional character in the wrong hands. 

2. Star Wars: The Force Awakens- Virtually perfect. A Star Wars movie all the way through with Han, Luke, Leia, the Falcon, and the Wookie all making appearances. And yet, I keep coming back to one thing that makes this installment different from all the rest. The Star Wars series has always been for everyone, and the force is not limited to pillsbury white dudes. Rey (a lady) and Finn (a black man) are two characters instantly worthy of the pantheon. Of course that wouldn’t matter if the movie wasn’t any good, but it is. In fact, it’s better than it had any right to be. See my review for more details. One thing I would like to add is that the film just gets better and better each time I re-watch it, if that is even possible.

1. Mad Max: Fury Road- Terrence Malick was 67 when he directed The Tree of Life, the best film ever made. Martin Scorsese seemed to spring back to life with the savage Wolf of Wall Street at 71. This year’s septuagenarian masterpiece comes courtesy of George Miller, who proves once and for all that the old pros do it best. A masterclass in action filmmaking and visual storytelling, Fury Road also works extremely well as political allegory, humanist fable, and touching romance all while a crazy, masked electric-guitarist/ flamethrower-wielder rocks out in the background of the film*. The film is beautifully structured as one long chase sequence across the desert that simply does not relent. It’s the most gorgeous thing I’ve witnessed since The Tree of Life, appropriately enough.  The titular Max (sadly not Mel Gibson, though Tom Hardy does fine work) plays an important role, but he has been sidelined in favor of Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa, a woman trying to escape lifelong captivity from a powerful, possessive mad man, a woman who will not let that man harm his harem of wives any longer, so she risks her life to save them all. The man, Immortan Joe, is so blinded by hate and entitlement that he puts up a chase the likes of which have never been seen in film before. His hundreds of followers consists mostly of “war boys,” men indoctrinated as children, taught to revere the Immortan and in full belief that they will feast in Valhalla if they follow his commands. One of the war boys, Nux (played by Nicholas Hoult), is probably the most  empathetic portrayal of a suicide bomber I’ve ever seen onscreen. Fury Road teaches that everyone is important, that all life is sacred, even (or especially) that of the war boys. (In reference to a bullet, The Dag, one of the Immortan’s wives refers to it as anti-seed: “plant one and watch something die.” I’ve rarely seen an action movie treat violence with such disdain and sadness.)Throughout the course of the film, Max, who at first resembles a wild animal, comes back to life and learns that being a good person is worthy even in the anarchistic, post-apocalyptic wasteland he inhabits. Ultimately, he joins Furiosa in the fight against the Immortan. Together in their goodness, they just might be able to redeem the broken human race. 

*In case you didn’t believe me about the flame-throwing guitarist: 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

J.J Abrams did it. He brought Star Wars back to life. Salvaged it, some would say, from the increasingly muddled vision of George Lucas, and gave it to the people. It is really something to behold. All begins, as we know by now “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.” It has been thirty years since the events of Return of the Jedi, and “Luke Skywalker has vanished,” we are told in the opening scroll. I won’t go into much detail, but suffice to say that everything that happens in the movie leads back to him. He is the instigator of the plot, bringing together characters old and new with the single purpose of finding him.  

We first meet Rey as she searches for metal scraps to trade for food in the godforsaken wasteland of a desert planet called Jakku. She fends for herself, scavenging for survival, living day to day, waiting. As played by Daisy Ridley, Rey is strong and street-smart. We see in her sunburnt face the hardships she has had to endure, and how they have made her the person we first meet. I love that this doesn’t make her apathetic or cold-hearted; instead, she becomes kind and generous. From the start, Rey despises injustice and fights against cruelty. It is this fight that leads her to BB-8, a very special droid with ties to the resistance (still alive, still the underdogs after all these years), a spiritual successor to R2-D2. The mischievous little thing happens to find itself in Jakku and decides to stick to Rey and sweep her up in events on a scale she couldn’t even imagine.

Her story is familiar. We all know it: it is the hero’s journey, but this time it feels new. Maybe it has to do with the fact that she’s a girl, or maybe it’s the palpable love everyone involved put into reviving this rusty old myth. Anyway, from the magnificent moment where Rey  puts on a helmet and plays resistance fighter, we know that the Force will call her to something greater, to use her abilities and put them to good use. She and BB-8, however, need a companion, another hero who will accompany them in their journey.

As it happens, Finn is a recently unemployed stormtrooper looking for a new gig. He has been traumatized by what the First Order (the new, very evil version of the Galactic Empire) makes him and his kind do, so he breaks rank, looking for something else to do, for a new hope, perhaps. It was obvious from Attack the Block (the film which you should watch the very instant you leave the theater), that John Boyega, who plays Finn, would be a major star. This is the perfect role for him. The reluctant heroism and vulnerability that he showed in his previous lead role are refined and magnified here. Abrams loves the faces of his two main actors, displaying them in glorious closeups often. And who can blame him? Ridley is exceedingly beautiful, and Boyega has one of the most expressive faces I’ve seen in a long time. The open fear his character feels will send chills down your back. Finn knows what the First Order is capable of, and he wants nothing to do with it, but despite his best efforts, he of course gets mixed up with the resistance and with Rey. 

Representing the First Order in the film are a few major figures. The first and most notable is Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), a Darth Vader fanatic hoping to become the next Sith. The other, General Hux, is the military leader in command of the new Stormtrooper army. He is hellbent on destroying the last remnants of the rebellion. If there is an element in the film that does not work it is Domhnhall Gleeson’s shouty performance as Hux, but that is a very minor concern considering his time onscreen. Behind them both is a dark master(mind) orchestrating all.

(The Big Three are also present in one form or another, but that’s for you to find out. I will do my best not ruin the movie for you, and do yourself the favor of not ruining it for yourself. I’ll only say this: Harrison Ford is the uncontested MVP.)  

Because of an important secret held by BB-8, now in the company of both Rey and Finn, the First Order goes after our heroes. United by this terrible enemy chasing them, Rey and Finn travel the galaxy, a vast place where they encounter enormous tentacled creatures; several masked adversaries; legendary figures of old; green, lush, and life-full planets along with their subfreezing, barren counterparts; and many more wonders. They travel at the speed of light and touch the stars. It is all very romantic and exciting. Part of the reason I love The Force Awakens (and the other films in the series) is that there is something primal about the story it tells. All of this has happened before, and it will happen again. As I said, we all know the beats by heart, but J.J Abrams has fun with them. I briefly touched on this, but I will say it again: it feels important that this movie has a woman and a black man at its center. The stories that Star Wars tells are for absolutely everyone; for every single person, regardless of their gender or skin color. 

That accomplishment would be impressive enough, but Abrams doesn’t stop there. The Force Awakens is one breathtakingly gorgeous movie (shot on real, tactile, photochemical film!). The desert-vistas of Jakku, the sterile rooms of the Starkiller (i.e. The Fricking-Awesome-Giant-Mega-Deathstar), the corridor of blue and white that forms around the Falcon as it travels at light-speed. These are all pristinely rendered. There’s also the Kurosawa inspired wipes and silent-movie irises familiar to all Star Wars fans, plus some lens flares and fluid camerawork to let us know that this is indeed a J.J Abrams movie. Even the stars themselves, odd as this may sound, look alive and  fresh. (See how they shine in the opening shot; it’s hypnotic). The Force Awakens is thoroughly a Star Wars film, but it is its own original, magnificent creation. No one really needs the reminder, but I urge you: please see it.

Verdict- 4/4
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) 2h 16min. PG-13. 

Sicario

Early in Sicario, after a particularly nasty raid by the FBI on an Arizona stash-house, there is a wide shot of the tough-looking black-clad-and-armored team puking their guts out in the house's backyard. It's not just Emily Blunt's Kate Macy, the team leader and our main protagonist, who has been made sick by the violence of the Drug Wars, it's everybody on her team. Sicario recognizes the toll that this violence has on every single person who comes in contact with it. Unlike so many of today's action movies, it takes violence seriously. Later, when Kate is forced to fire her weapon for the first time, she reacts with the proper disgust, shock, and attendant profanities that go with it. Director Denis Villeneuve never lets it becomes easy for her, or for the audience, to stomach the violence. As you process that, the movie asks, how much are we willing to tolerate from this war? For how long can we look away? 

At the beginning of the movie, Kate is a rookie, a field agent who has just done 5 drug-related raids and never investigated a case herself. She knows next to nothing about the drug trade or the major players involved, but she is determined to get in there and take them down. In other words, she's the perfect audience surrogate to guide us through the drug war as she gets assigned to an inter-agency task force designed to take down the head of a major cartel. When she learns something new about this brutal business, we do too. It's a simple conceit.

Alejandro (Benicio del Toro), a mysterious man who is part of this special task force, tells Kate that "nothing will make sense to your American ears, and you will doubt everything we do, but in the end, you will understand." For both Kate and the audience, that promise is more than fulfilled by the end of the film. Sicario teaches you everything you wanted to know, as well as many things you didn't, about how this war on drugs is conducted. 

The horrors of the war only begin to make themselves clear after Kate's first trip to Mexico, where she essentially gets dragged along to kidnap a cartel leader without her knowledge. In retaliation, she and her squad are attacked on the bridge between the U.S and Mexico. The sequence starts with a seemingly innocuous traffic jam, just the usual border crossing snafu, but it suddenly strikes Kate that not everything is ok. Her face goes white; she starts to sweat, but nothing happens. Eventually, she learns that there are men with guns trailing her. Calmly, Alejandro, who had been riding with her, opens his door, gets out of his car and, along with an US Army team, shoots them down. The violence stops as suddenly as it began. In the brief chaos that ensues, Kate is forced to shoot a suspect herself. The single shot she fires is one she will not forget for the rest of her life. Emily Blunt absolutely nails the creeping fear that grips Kate as she realizes the mess she has just stepped into. (In an early, painfully ironic scene, Kate is practically forced by her bosses to volunteer for this mission since she cannot, by law, be assigned to another agency.)

Aside from Blunt, the MVPs of the sequence, and of the film as a whole, are the editor, Joe Walker, and cinematographer, Roger Deakins. The buildups to the acts of violence, to the raid at the beginning and the shootout on the bridge, tend to last longer than the acts themselves. The tension Walker builds is unbearable. While nothing happens for most of the film, there's always the sense that things are about to go horribly wrong. It's this constant anticipation, so carefully cultivated within the film, that will set audiences on edge. One has to credit the editor for that marvelous feat. As for the cinematography by one of my all-time favorite DPs of all time? At first I didn't even know it was him who shot it, but as I watched the movie I was so entranced that I stuck around for the credits just to see who this magician was who was able to compose such horrifying pictures of the war on drugs. Of course it had to be Deakins! Anyways, the man shot this in full horror mode, a mode that includes several eerily steady tracking shots like something out of The Shining that just build on Walker's editorial effects. Plus, there's a nighttime infrared/night-vision-goggles mission that tries to one-up the terrifying finale in Bin Laden's compound that was the crowning setpiece of Zero Dark Thirty. For fans of ZD30, Sicario should be great, as it is practically that but with a laser focus, zeroing in on a few intense days of our protagonists work instead of focusing on her decade-long hunt.

One of the most fascinating things about the movie is the soundtrack, and not just the music which is eery and quiet most of the time, like that of a horror movie. I'm talking about the sound effects. The gunshots in particular. Let me be clear: they are loud. Every time a shot is fired in this movie, it matters. The bullets leave their mark, not only physically and emotionally for those involved (including the audience), but also sonically. Again this indicates the seriousness with which Villeneuve treats violence, but he layers it with one more bit of sour commentary. He makes sure to show how the sharp sounds of gunfire  in the soundtrack, so disruptive to the audience safe in their comfortable theater seats, barely register with the residents of Mexico who must hear them every day. For them it's simply how things work. A man rhythmically bouncing a ball against a wall barely skips a beat when hearing a shootout, while a few kids in the middle of a soccer match are just learning about the harsh reality of their environment. They acknowledge the sound briefly, but then they keep on playing. Life goes on for them as it must go on for the audience once the film ends. But there's that nagging sound of gunfire ringing in our memories long after we leave the theater, a constant reminder of the human sacrifice of this ongoing war.

Verdict- 3.5/4

Sicario (2015) 2h 01min. R.

Random Thoughts

- Still think Emily Blunt should be a superhero.

- Josh Brolin is in this, playing Emily Blunt's CIA boss, a man who does not give a damn about the war or the violence inflicted by it. His fuck you flip-flops are a costuming detail that say everything you need to know about him.  

Jurassic World

Jurassic World was made by people who love Jurassic Park. To know this, one only has to look at Michael Giacchino's rendition of John Williams' classic theme as it is expertly deployed -- used only during the most appropriate moments of wonder and awe -- such as when Gray, a kid visiting the Jurassic for the first time, rushes out toward his hotel room balcony with a view of the park, the camera tracking him closely. Williams' instantly recognizable notes are only heard in full the moment when he opens the door and we, for the first time as well, witness the splendor that is the newly redesigned Jurassic World. 

In the world of the film, it’s been twenty years since the terrible accident at the original Jurassic Park. Since then, however, the place got a new name, Jurassic World, and it was rebuilt bigger and better than ever before. The layout of this new park is something special. There are aquariums, petting zoos, safari expeditions, and giant swimming pools with shark-eating aqua-dinos so massive they make Shamu seem like a goldfish by comparison. Jurassic World is a park so lovingly rendered, detailed and well-planned that it feels like something that could exist in our world (only if you discount those dinosaurs, of course).

It would have been fun for the film to simply roam around the premises to discover all the secrets the park has to reveal, but that wouldn't please many people, and they say as much in the film. Dinosaurs aren't enough for people anymore. We have come to expect more carnage and more stakes in our entertainment, both in the world of the movie, where the visitors of the theme park are getting tired of the same old thing, as well as outside of the screen, where our films have become increasingly dependent on ever escalating special effects instead of on well crafted, intimate stories. As a result, in order to kickstart the plot and hopefully boost attendance for the park, an executive named Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard, the absentee aunt of the little kid Gray and his accompanying older brother Zach) approves the creation of a genetically mutated super-dinosaur named the Indominous Rex. Because hubris and stuff, the thing inevitably escapes his jail-cell and Jurassic World instantly becomes its plaything, a place where Indominous hunts both humans and dinosaurs alike. 

To stop him, Claire contacts Owen, marvelously played by Chris Pratt, the only person in the world capable of stopping the Indominous Rex (it’s funny how there’s always exactly one person qualified to save the world in these movies). Watching Jurassic World, it's easy to see why Pratt has become such a major star in such a short time following Guardians of the Galaxy and perhaps preceding a stint as Indiana Jones somewhere in the future. The way he commits to such a ridiculous role is heroic. In a way,  he is your standard handsome and charming rogue, ex-military type with a thing for the heroine that you might have seen in about a thousand other movies. At the same time, he is the alpha of a pack of wild Raptors, something you have seen in exactly zero movies. And he sells both. Bryce Dallas Howard as Claire starts a little stiff. After all, her character is the corporate drone who cannot appreciate the wonder of the place where she works. She only cares about her business, about the numbers, and about attendance, not about the living, breathing dinosaurs under her care, and certainly not about her visiting nephews (“you don’t know how old your nephews are!!!” Owen screams at her). For a while, it's a thankless role, but Howard admirably gets through it, playing it with an appropriate coldness but never making Claire too unsympathetic. Later in the film, however, as she runs around the woods hunting dinosaurs and personally rescuing her nephews, all in spotless, indestructible high heels, is when she truly shines. Owen is not the only one who gets to kick ass. 

As Claire and Owen race around the park, nephews of ages unknown Gray and Zach, who had been out and unsupervised in one of the parks most memorable attractions, become stranded and have to fend for themselves with the Indominous Rex on their tail. Here, director Collin Trevorrow creates plenty of suspense, briefly turning this into a horror movie on the level of the first Jurassic Park. Trevorrow is fond shots that feature people hiding in the foreground as Indominous roams in the background, playing hide and seek. It's eerily effective. No matter how many times Trevorrow repeats the same basic shot pattern, it always manages to be scary. Add to that one or two nasty onscreen deaths and you get a movie not quite suitable for small kids, but thoroughly enjoyable for everyone else. I wonder if one of the reasons the movie gets as frightening as it does is because Trevorrow doesn't really show anything horrible. He shows just enough and implies the rest, making the horror bloom in the mind of the spectator. Like any good director, he understands that what happens outside of the frame, off the screen, is as important as what goes on within. 

For a long while, all attempts to corral the beast fail miserably. It is simply too smart for humans. At that point, a character familiar to anyone who has seen the Spielberg original returns home to save the day. One of the best things about the movie is how the different types dinosaurs are characters themselves. The Indominous Rex, for example, remembers how he was kept in captivity for all of his life, something that makes him direct his cruelty towards humans. He doesn't eat all of his victims. Instead, he hunts for sport. On the contrary, the Raptors who were raised with their brothers and sisters are extremely loyal. Trevorrow even sees fit to give the dinosaurs the traditional "hero shots," normally reserved for humans, like the one of Indominous Rex running towards the camera as a whole building goes up in flames behind him.

I won't spoil the specifics of the ending, but I will say that it holds up. The evil dinosaur does not win. This is not the Planet of the Apes we're talking about. Towards the end, there is a magnificent, wholly Spielbergian shot of the newly formed family unit (mom, dad and two kids) holding hands, standing in the ruins of the recently destroyed park. (It is a particularly touching image since one of the subplots of the film involves a family breaking apart, which is itself the major Spielberg theme.) It could have ended there, but it goes on a little further. A major human bad-guy escapes in order to make room for the inevitable sequels. Then, Trevorrow ends the film with what's sure to be a crowd pleasing image of everyone's favorite dino, king of the food chain once again. 

Verdict- 3/4

Jurassic World (2015) 2h 4min. PG-13. 

The Best Movies of 2014

20. Godzilla- It has been called the first “post-human blockbuster. "It’s because of that guy on top. Nothing else matters, particularly us tiny humans, on the face of such majesty. I like the argument that says that this is a film designed to restore reverence for the divine. Mission accomplished.  

19. Edge of Tomorrow- Emily Blunt. Go watch this for Emily Blunt. She should be showered with praise, money, glory, and awards. She should also be a superhero. Marvel needs to get to work on that.  Tom Cruise is also in this,  if that means anything.

18. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes- Andy Serkis as Caesar the ape is a better character than 95% of the “human” characters in Hollywood releases this year.  If a film has me cheering for a group of monkeys over the humans it depicts, then it's doing something either very very right, or very very wrong. Thankfully this time, it's by design, so thumbs up. 

17. Big Hero 6- This is what a lighthearted, colorful, fun superhero movie is supposed to look like, with bright character designs and a clear and imaginative world -- the superb Western/Eastern city of SanFranokyo -- to support and elevate the characters. The story, which follows young engineering wiz Hiro and his college-aged older brother Tadashi, is based on a strong central relationship between a well established, likable strong pair, with the rest of the main crew taken from a fairly traditional, though still immensely enjoyable, batch of misfits to fulfill the 6 heroes the title promises. It's basically everything Guardians of the Galaxy should have been as well as the best animated movie of the year. (Yes, even better than The Tale of Princess Kaguya, and slightly more substantial than Ernest and Celestine. Don't even talk to me about The Boxtrolls or The Book of Life.) Big Hero 6 was also released with a short film, "Feast," about a dog and his owner, which is just about perfect and should put anyone with a heart in a good mood to watch the feature. 

16. X-Men: Days of Future Past- The best superhero movie in years as well as the best blockbuster of the year.  The main draw here is the opportunity to witness the fantastic cast from the original X-Men interact with the newer, younger crew from X-Men: First Class. From my review: "The story, which goes back and forth from a future hopefully about to be erased, and a past that could alter time for the better, loses focus on occasion, and it doesn't make much sense. However, at least it knows where its strengths lie. I'll allow any narrative inconsistencies just to be able to have the wonderful confrontation between the two Charles Xaviers played by Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy, who have never been better, beating the casts of any movie this size (even The Avengers) with raw talent and a fascinating, unexpectedly complicated character at their disposal." 

15. Snowpiercer- A high-speed, constantly moving train holds what remains of humanity after a scientific experiment made the rest of the world a frozen, inhabitable tundra. The people at the back of the train lead poverty-stricken lives. Their objective: to get to the front of the train where the rich lead luxurious lives. They want in. Their obstacle: the army. Get through the army, kill the oppressor who set up this system. Simple as that. Action filmmaking at its finest. 

14. Goodbye to Language 3D- As it’s title suggests, Goodbye to Language defies linguistic interpretation. It is an episodic film ostensibly structured around two main parts labelled “Nature” and “Metaphor,” about two couples and their adorable dog, but it also contains several interludes, flowing in and out of the main stories as it pleases. It in no way resembles a conventional film. The best way to experience something like this is to find an element you like and hold on to it for dear life. For me, that was the use of 3D. A woman gently bathes her hands in a crystalline pool of water full of leaves. A visual wonder. Another woman takes a sip from a public water fountain. A revelation. A ship creates ripples and waves in its path to the nearest dock. Poetry. The look and the texture of the water in 3D, the way it seems to gently pour over the edges of the frame to breach the divide between the viewer and the screen, that alone would make Goodbye to Language one of the greats, but with such an abundance of talent, director Jean-Luc Godard would be crazy to stop there, so he keeps on giving. In Goodbye he has crafted my favorite shot of the year, that of a woman wearing a black hat and a brown raincoat, reaching out in vain towards the audience through a sharp dark fence while a fathomless ocean and a cloudy sky hover quietly behind her. It is an image that has to be seen in 3D to be able to convey the fullness of its melancholy power. It is Stunning. 

13. A Most Wanted Man- This first-rate spy thriller should be watched if only because it features the last great performance from the inimitable Philip Seymour Hoffman. From my review: "While [director Anton] Corbjin exploits the political atmosphere of the post 9/11 world, he restrains himself from ever declaring a political agenda. He is not concerned, for example, with the morality or effectivity of torture, nor does he make a case for or against intelligence institutions and their increasing prominence in recent years. Yes, torture is a part of our world. Yes, institutions like the CIA have massive powers that they didn’t have before. But Corbjin doesn’t use these universally accepted truths to make argue for or against a political position. Instead, he uses them to explore how they have affected the people involved with them. In that way, A Most Wanted Man is more philosophical than political in the question it raises. “Every good man has a little bit of bad, doesn’t he?” the cynical Martha tells Gunther. In this modern, post 9/11 world where people are inclined to see the worst in each other, A Most Wanted Man dares to see the best, and central to this viewpoint is Philip Seymour Hoffman's humanizing performance."

12. Birdman- Made to look like one shot, this is an impressive feat of cinematography by the great Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki. Michael Keaton is also great here as an actor who once played a superhero around twenty years before the events of the film, then dropped out of the map and finally seeks to regain his fame and credibility through an incredibly-difficult-to-pull-off art project. Sound familiar? 

11. Begin Again- A guy (Mark Ruffalo) walks into a bar. There, he meets a girl (Keira Knightly) with a beat-up guitar. He's a producer. She's a musician. They're perfect together, so they decide to record an album. I’ve seen the movie that follows three times. Every time, it has left a big, goofy grin on my face. This is pop entertainment at its best.

10.The Double- A guy meets his doppleganger. Bad things ensue. Jesse Eisenberg is wonderful as both the sheepish Simon and his extremely confident lookalike James. Mia Wasikowska also does marvelous work as the woman torn between the two Eisenbergs, showing simultaneously the assertiveness that would draw her to a guy like James and the sensitivity that makes her Simon's kindred spirit. As the only actress to appear twice on this list (she plays a manic vampire in Only Lovers Left Alive) I’d say that she’s the acting MVP of 2014. 

9. The Grand Budapest Hotel- “You see, there are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity.” Thus says M. Gustave H, concierge of the Grand Budapest Hotel, as humanity prepares for a World War that will change things forever. 
It left me a little cold at first, but a second viewing managed to put it on this list, and it would not surprise me if my estimation of this movie kept rising over time. Grand Budapest is much darker and more violent than I ever anticipated. Extremely sad, too. It is a tone which at times clashes violently with Wes Anderson’s cheery pastel visuals. The movie has a silent-film vibe with lots of great physical comedy that shouldn't belong with its more somber elements yet manage to work as a whole. The whole thing is utterly bizarre and just barely hanging together, but perhaps this is Anderson's intention: to show the cracks of a world, of an artwork, exquisitely brought to life from his imagination in order to remind viewers of its fragility. It's a small miracle that this film exists. I'm grateful for it.

8. Ida- Poland, 1961, a young novitiate named Anna is called to her mother superior’s office. There, she is told that her actual name is Ida, that she is a Jew, that her family has mostly been eradicated by the Holocaust, and that she has one relative left whom she must visit and get to know if she is to take her vows to become a nun.  In five minutes, Anna’s world (and the film along with it) is thrown into a state of chaos. This will not be a film about a Catholic nun with a clear vocation but that of a Holocaust survivor who has no idea who she is or what she hopes to accomplish with her life. With the revelation of her real identity, doubt creeps into Ida. Everything she has been told about herself is not true. She has to choose whether to embrace her Jewish roots, her Catholic upbringing, or something else entirely. To do so, she takes a trip with her aunt Wanda to the site of her parents death where she may find some answers to stabilize her recently upended life.  Every frame in Ida is minimalistic and perfectly composed. If there are any props or extras visible, then they are there to advance the plot, enhance the character, or simply to achieved a balanced, pleasing composition. On the surface, everything is harmonious, and nothing is extraneous to the picture or out of place. For many films, this would probably an exaggeration, but one could actually take any randomly selected frame from Ida and hang it as a painting. The sheer beauty and stability  onscreen serves to counter the dreary subject matter and should be reason enough for any cinephile or aesthetically inclined viewer to rejoice.  I’m glad that Ida looks so lovely because I’m not sure I would be able to adequately handle a tale of this magnitude if it didn’t have something as overwhelmingly positive as the visuals to counteract some of the disheartening story beats. At least it has a  happy ending, I think. It is a Rorschach test that reveals more about the viewer than the film. It’s perfect.

7.Under the Skin- Scarlett Johansson plays an alien who comes to Earth so that she can lure guys into her home and consume them. If that’s not enough to make it into a top ten, then what is? On top of that, the film has some of the most unique and surprising visuals of the year, as it was shot documentary-style in the wide expanses of a beautifully desolate Scotland. 

6. Gone Girl- A glimpse into the darkest corners of two twisted minds. The first is that of Amy, a woman played by Rosamund Pike, a wife intent on destroying her husband (Ben Affleck, in an amazingly inscrutable performance) because he forced her to move Missouri! The second, that of director David Fincher, one of the most twisted minds in film.  Fincher is able to mine this incredibly dark story for little bits of humor, making Gone Girl into the best comedy of the year. My favorite bit: Amy sits in front of a television, entranced, eating ice cream as she watches the story of her staged disappearance play out onscreen while her guilty-looking husband is the only one up there for the world to blame. 

5.The Immigrant- Ewa, a young Polish woman, immigrates to New York to escape a ravaged post World War I Europe. In Staten Island, she’s separated from her sick sister who is sent off to quarantine. Her family abandons her, and she is left all alone. A “savior" in the form of Joaquin Phoenix’s Bruno materializes out of nowhere. It’s too good to be true, as Ewa soon finds out. She’s abused and mistreated but  she keeps going, hoping to one day earn enough money to help her sister. She sees the good in everyone, even in her worst enemies.  “You are not nothing,” Ewa tells Bruno. One wonders how a person can be so good under such terrible circumstances? There’s a confession scene in which Ewa explains to a priest how she’s able to do so. It is one of the most honest and heart-wrenching depictions of faith ever put onscreen, and Marion Cotillard plays it to perfection (it’s a terrible shame that she will not win any awards for this, because she deserves all the praise she can get.) The Immigrant is also the most beautiful film of the year, by far, shot in a classically styled manner (befitting its subject) with every elegant, perfectly composed shot advancing the story a little bit until the film's perfect final image. 

4. Only Lovers Left Alive-Using the most ingenious of entry points, Jim Jarmusch has crafted a melancholic, poetic lament for the loss of culture, beauty and love. This is the only film that I have seen that makes use of the longevity of vampires to actually make a point. Adam and Eve (Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton), as their names suggest, have lived hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. They have experienced first hand the Middle Ages, plagues, wars, Shakespeare, Byron, and rock music. They have observed the rise and fall of nations and civilizations, quietly shaking their heads at the mistakes humans (or zombies as they call us) repeat time after time. Simply put, they have figured out the key to life: love, as silly as it may sound. Love of music, dancing, architecture and literature. Love for their environment and for one another. That's what keeps them going. Everything else that fills our zombie lives (endless wars for oil, obsession with fame) is meaningless. Even the blood which these vampires drink for survival is treated in a clinical way, almost as a necessary evil they must put up with just to be able to live long enough to compose another song, read another book. Jarmusch seems to understand this, so he places a particular emphasis on aesthetics. The soft, moonlit visuals; the droning, electric music; and the dry, literary-based humor all take center stage, leaving scarcely any room for plot. The film lasts a little under two hours, but it feels long in the best sense possible. I only wish it were longer.

3.  Interstellar-  “Love is the only thing that transcends time and space.” So says Anne Hathaway’s stranded, lonely astronaut in a climactic point of the film. It’s that simple. Interstellar unfolds over several years. It involves a plan to send a group of astronauts (led by Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway) to find humanity a new planet to live on. It features plagues, black holes, time travel, five dimensions, frozen planets, and giant waves, yet it all boils down to those words. In the end, this is a courageously simple story about the love between a father and the daughter he left behind. Read this, by Bilge Ebiri, the most eloquent defender of Christopher Nolan's films. 

2. Boyhood- The great Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky referred to film as “sculpting in time,” and there’s no better concept than this to describe what Richard Linklater does in Boyhood as he charts the life of a boy from age 6 to 18, played throughout the film by the same actor, Ellar Coltrane. Aside from him, the film shows the evolution of his parents, played by Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke as they age and mature alongside their son. Their performances are the two finest of the year, so good that many people felt unsatisfied that the movie didn’t tell more of their story. If “I wanted more” is the best criticism one can level against a 2h 45min movie, it's a safe bet to say that you’ve got a gem in your hands. Here’s my full review.  

1.The Strange Little Cat- William Wordsworth once wrote that the purpose of poetry was to take ordinary matters and to “throw over them a certain coloring of imagination, whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual way.” The poet takes something and presents it in a new light, through a new lens. In that way, everyday objects and happenings become full of wonder and excitement. The Strange Little Cat is poetry at its finest. It starts with an ordinary family of five and makes it strange and fascinating. It is a movie entranced by the slight movements and gestures of each member as they maneuver around one another to organize a family dinner with some cousins, uncles and a grandmother. The rhythms of everyday family life, mostly centered around the kitchen, have never been so faithfully recreated: People flowing in and out of the kitchen; a young woman serving drinks while her mother chops up food; two little cousins fooling around with a remote controlled helicopter; an uncle coming over to fix the broken washing machine. All of these comings and goings, these tiny details, feel utterly authentic. Depending on what you look for in a film, either nothing happens here or everything does. Wordsworth again: “the human mind is capable of being excited without the application of gross and violent stimulants; and he must have a very faint perception of its beauty and dignity who does not know this.” Think this is true? go watch The Strange Little Cat  Don’t think so? May I recommend Trans4mers. (The Strange Litte Cat is on DVD and on Fandor to stream.)