Since the Oscar nominations were announced a week ago, and I’m pretty caught up on all the major, and not so major, movies of 2014, it’s time to list my 10 favorite films of last year (plus some spillover). This time instead of providing a blurb for each entry, I’m going to only highlight a key line, or at least what I think is one of the most memorable, for each movie. Also, unlike in previous year’s lists, I’m listing them from 10 down to 1. Click on the film's titles to read my original reviews:
.jpg)
Father James Lavelle (Brendan Gleeson): “The commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ does not have an asterisk beside it, referring you to the bottom of the page where you find a list of instances where it's okay to kill people.”
Adam (Tom Hiddleston): “You drank Ian.”
(Dir. Wes Anderson)
M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes): “The most dreadful and unattractive person only needs to be loved and they will open up like a flower.”
Also: “I sleep with all my friends.”
(Dirs. Phil Lord & Christopher Miller)
Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman): “The only thing anyone needs to be special is to believe that you can be - I know that sounds like a cat poster, but it’s true.”
6. INHERENT VICE (Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
Dr. Rudy Blatnoyd, D.D.S. (Martin Short): “It’s not groovy to be insane.”
5. SELMA (Dir. Ava DuVernay)
Martin Luther King (David Oyellowo): “That means protest! That means march! That means disturb the peace! That means jail! That means risk! That is hard!”
4. WHIPLASH (Dir. Damien Chazelle)
Fletcher (J.K. Simmons): “My dear god, are you one of those single tear people?”
3. LIFE ITSELF (Dir. Steve James)
Roger Ebert: “Look at a movie that a lot of people love and you’ll find something profound no matter how silly the film may seem.”
2. BIRDMAN (Dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu)
Riggan Thomson as his inner Birdman (Michael Keaton): “People, they love blood. They love action. Not this artsy fartsy, philosophical bullshit”
1. BOYHOOD (Dir. Richard Linklater)
“Never leave your mother’s womb, unless you wanna see how hard a broken heart can swoon.” - Tweedy (from the end credits song “Summer Noon”)
And now, in no particular order, a bunch of 2014 spillover, with a few of their key lines too:
EDGE OF TOMORROW (Dir. Doug Liman) “Okay, first of all, terrific presentation. Just Terrific.”
WILD (Dir. Jean-Marc Vallée)
THE RAID 2 (Dir. Gareth Evans)
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (Dir. James Gunn): “It's got a real shining-blue suitcase, Ark of the Covenant, Maltese Falcon sort of vibe.”
FORCE MAJEURE (Dir. Ruben Östlund)
A MOST VIOLENT YEAR (Dir. J.C. Chandor)
UNDER THE SKIN (Dir. Jonathan Glazer)
All in all, not a bad year for film.
More later...
