The Best of 2014

As is expected of everyone with more than just a keen love of film - read: obsessive film nerds and the like - the last few days of December are marked by the obligatory lists of best films, worst films, etc. Why would this blog of mine be any exception to that rule? So here's my personal Top-5 of Best Pictures of the year.

5: Gone Girl

David Fincher's exploration of the darkness behind the facade that is the American Dream packs a mean punch. It's a very cynical film, filled with black humour, that shatters the hopes for wedlock of the uninitiated and might be painfully recognizable for those who have been married for a while. Nevertheless, it enlarges such fears and reservations of wedded couples to absurd extremes. No side is chosen in this battle of the sexes, which introduces a seemingly perfect married couple that is tearing itself apart as diabolical schemes to gain the upper hand between both protagonists, the pair of them positively horrible people, explode to national outrage as the relentlessly hungry media, also not spared the necessary critique, are drawn into this very personal little conflict. As usual, Fincher makes sure the ingenious narrative is always one step ahead of its audience, as he surprises us with more than just a few unexpected plot twists here and there and leaves the opening of the film intentionally ambiguous. You might decide against tying the knot after having seen this picture.

4: The Wolf of Wall Street

Though technically a 2013 movie in its country of origin, Martin Scorsese's latest masterpiece sure left its mark on Dutch theaters in the year that followed. Another magnum opus in an oeuvre that largely consists of those, Scorsese's j'accuse against the world of Big Money proves both a harrowing descent into utter debauchery and stupendous opulence, as well as an infectiously hilarious comedy, since it's all just too unreal to be believed. The veteran director once more gets the most out of his muse, Leonardo DiCaprio, in a rollercoaster ride of the life time that is Jordan Belfort's. Once simply an ambitious but caring man intent on looking out for his wife, he turns into a ravenous money monster once his position on Wall Street is secured due to his talents of outrageous scheming and charismatic persuasion. What follows is a near orgy of sexual escapades, trophy wives, excessively expensive vehicles and all the drugs large quantities of money can buy, including the Holy Grail of Quaaludes. You cannot help but both admire and abhor this man, but when you see him rolling out his Porsche half paralyzed from an overdose of opiates, drooling something fierce, while afterwards abusing his wife and kid, you know that all the money and power does not make this man someone to be envied. And you wonder how many thoroughly decadent people are still ruling the upper echelons of Wall Street thanks to Belfort's example...

3: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The Star Spangled Avenger's second solo feature (sort of, since he's fortunately not without his allies) exceeds the level of its predecessor on every level, while doing a great job shaking up the Marvel Cinematic Universe to its core. Both a successful homage to political spy thrillers of the Seventies and a fabulous spy thriller in its own right, this movie marks Marvel's most intriguing plot to date. Poor Fourties' icon Cap (Chris Evans) still needs to adjust to the brave new world that is the 21st Century, but finds himself at odds with a much changed Home of the Free that in many ways is not his own anymore. To make matters worse, his worldwide peacekeeping employer S.H.I.E.L.D. turns out to be infiltrated by a villainous secret organization hellbent on world domination and marks both him and his friends as traitors to the American cause. To top all his misery, a painful ghost from his past returns to thwart the super soldier's attempts to save his country from shadow tyranny. A fantastic combination of explosive action, intelligent story telling and carefully crafted intertwining with the rest of the Marvel Universe makes the second Captain America movie the most wonderfully balanced Marvel movie to date.

2: Guardians of the Galaxy

And now for something completely different, Marvel must have thought. So rather than doing another superhero movie, as is all the rage in Hollywood, they decided to turn to one of their lesser known assets and delivered this delightful space opera. Infectiously setting up the cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe, James Gunn's talents for quirky, off-beat humour are paired with an almost Whedonesque sense of writing dialogue for ensembles, as we are introduced to an unlikely bunch of interstellar outlaws who find themselves forced to rely upon one another to save a planet from destruction at the hands of a rampagingly zealous madman. Brilliant visual effects, enticing new characters and locations and an irresistable sense of the excitement to experience in the farthest reaches of space echo the enjoyment of the old Star Wars trilogy, but with a character distinctly its own. Though the plot may not be as strong as that of Cap 2, the genuine sense of fun Guardians of the Galaxy instills in its audience simply exceeds even that film. 2014 proved a great year for Marvel, so hopefully the company can keep up this momentum a while longer.

1: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson's latest turns out to be his finest as well. All his usual ingredients - quirky humour and characters, auteurist visuals, dysfunctional family issues and a top cast having an absolute ball - are thrown into the sweetest mix imaginable. The film looks like a wonderfully prepared cake and digests as such even more so. At the same time, Anderson turns total filmophile and utilizes every old trick in the book to acknowledge the equally rich history of the medium. Editing, sound, special effects and photography are all applied to their limits, making for a picture so thoughtfully stylized it might as well be a classical painting. If there is one director that is not to be missed by anyone who claims to love the cinema, it's Anderson. And if there's one movie on his resumé that is not to be missed by anyone, it's The Grand Budapest Hotel. The only downside seems to be it's gonna be next to impossible to top this film...

Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The

Rating: ***/*****, or 7/10

Lyrical and poetic attempt at an epic chronicle of a man aging backwards by David Fincher (Se7en (1995), Fight Club (1999)), who is obviously less at home in the fantasy genre than he is doing thrillers. Nevertheless, the film looks fabulous and stars an array of wonderful actors, chief among them Brad Pitt as the protagonist Benjamin Button who is suffering from this strangest of afflictions and the stunning Cate Blanchett as Daisy, the woman he keeps on loving all his life despite the obstacles time throws at their passion that keep them from forming a natural relationship. Born as a wrinkled and frail baby suffering from all the symptoms of old age, Benjamin is discarded by his disgusted father and left at a home for the elderly where he is raised by caretaker Queenie (Taraji P. Henson, who was Oscar nominated for her contribution). Growing up amongst the old folks, Benjamin isn't suspected to last long but surprises everybody by getting younger and younger, eventually leaving home to explore the world, which results in a voyage through the 20^th century similar to Forrest Gump (except not going for comedy, undoubtedly for the best), having the naive and ever positive Benjamin participate in WW II and witness the space race of the Sixties among other situations. Traveling the globe, he never loses contact with the love of his life and finally settles with Daisy when both reach middle age (the only moment of temporal equality for them both), after which they produce a child, only for Benjamin to realize his grotesque condition means he could never be a true father figure for his new born daughter. A sense of lust for life and adventure goes hand in hand with an unshakeable feeling of tragedy and melancholy when The Curious Case of Benjamin Button steers towards a dramatic ending that doesn't entirely successfully balance a bittersweet note with blatant sentimentality. The film is also an homage to the city of New Orleans which witnesses the beginning and end of Benjamin and his caring for Daisy: however, Fincher's decision to have the story be told by an aging Daisy on her death bed in a New Orleans hospital threatened by hurricane Katrina keeps on hindering the plot at various turns and adds an uneasy link with recent history the movie had better done without, also to keep the running time in check instead of letting it run rampant to 166 minutes, with many of the last act's moments losing pace and dragging on needlessly, thus making a potential masterpiece end up as just a curious case itself.

Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Julia Ormond

Directed by David Fincher

USA: The Kennedy/Marshall Company, 2008

Alien³

Rating ***/*****, or 6/10

Slow paced second sequel to Alien (1979) returns to the stylistic roots of the series by focusing on eerie atmosphere and mounting tension more than relying on all-out action. This time it pays off less successfully, though this is partially due to the chaotic production history of this project. First time director David Fincher handles himself decently enough and gets a decent number of chilling scenes of suspense and compelling performances out of it all, but as a whole, this film is certainly not on par with the previous two installments of this franchise. While in hypersleep, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver again, believably introvert now, since she lost the few people she cared about) crashes on a prison planet where she finds herself confronted with another Alien soon enough, as well as untrustworthy inmates and a dark secret brooding inside herself. A so-called Assembly Cut of this film is available, running over 30 minutes longer than the theatrical cut, incorporating many different scenes as well as a less powerful climax: an interesting compendium to the original film worth checking out if you enjoyed the regular cut.

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance

Directed by David Fincher

USA: 20^th Century Fox, 1992