John's Film Reviews: Best of

Showing posts with label Best of. Show all posts

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Top 15 Best Films of 2016

Here's are my favorites of the year. Again, please keep in mind I have not seen everything and whatever film you may like may not appear on this list.

Honorable mentions:
Deepwater Horizon
Doctor Strange
The Dressmaker
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Fences
The Fits
Kubo and the Two Strings
Lion
A Man Called Ove
Zootopia

15. Manchester by the Sea - dir. Kenneth Lonergan
This is a very brutal film, but the way this film displayed grief is something that has to be seen. Featuring powerhouse performances from Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams, this is a film that shows that not everyone responds to grief the same way and how one event can damage and stick with someone.

14. Denial - dir. Mick Jackson

I'm always up for a good courtroom drama. This movie, based on a true story, really shows how to take down a bigoted idiot. You take them down with facts. The movie also features a show-stealing performance from Rachel Weisz. Check it out.

13. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - dir. Gareth Edwards

This is the Star Wars film I've been waiting for. Something that's not about the Skywalkers and their friends. We get a war film. Yes, the other films feature battle scenes and the like but this one has it on center stage. I won't pretend that this is a perfect film, but I really had a blast watching it. Also, you can't deny the final battle was anything but amazing.

12. 10 Cloverfield Lane - dir. Dan Trachtenberg

10 Cloverfield Lane aka JOHN GOODMAN IS AMAZING! Seriously, I wish Goodman was nominated for an Oscar for this performance. But outside of the awesomeness that is Goodman, this is an awesome thriller. The paranoia and claustrophobic atmosphere make a tight and exciting film with a really smart lead.

11. The Tiger: An Old Hunter's Tale - dir. Park Hoon-jung

I discovered this film on Netflix and I was so happy I did. This film is one of the most beautifully put together tragedic stories I've seen. With a performance from Min-sik Choi, a wonderful story, beautiful production elements, this is a film everyone should see.

10. Captain America: Civil War - dir. Anthony Russo and Joe Russo

Not as great as Winter Soldier but still an action packed and a great entry into this cinematic universe. The Captain American films continue to do what they've been doing best, they build the world, continue the story, develops the characters, and features some of the best action scenes of the year.
This film to me also has the best villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He got stuff done, he had an impact on the universe, and had a good motivation that wasn't just "And I will rule the world!"

09. 13th - dir. Ava Duvernay

This is the most important documentary made this year. A movie that goes in depth into the history prison system of the U.S. and the racial politics behind it. This documentary gives a look a part of this country's history that really should be looked at and discussed more. It's still on Netflix, please give it a watch.

08. Moonlight - dir. Barry Jenkins

Understanding. That's the main thing to take away from this film. We follow an African-American male living in a rough Florida neighborhood as he struggles with his own identity and his surroundings. The film wants you to look at this man and wants you to think before you judge someone. It's an amazing film that should be witnessed and experienced.

07. Tower - dir. Keith Maitland

While 13th may be the most important documentary, this is the one that got to me the most. The film talks about the deadly mass shooting at the University of Texas in 1966 and presents it through reenactments via rotoscope with interviews with witnesses and survivors. It's powerful, moving, makes you think, and I'm super bummed that it was nominated for Best Documentary at the Oscars.

06. Arrival - dir. Denis Villeneuve

This is what science fiction should be. Smart, mature, and makes you think. The build and suspense to the first encounter is spectacular in and of itself. But I love the overall theme of communication and how vital it is to society. To go any further would mean spoiling it and I don't want to do that.

05. The Nice Guys - dir. Shane Black

Shane Black, you are the man. This was the most fun I had the theater this year. You've got two charismatic leads, funny dialogue, and an awesome 70's soundtrack. What's not to like? Go see this movie now!

04. Silence - dir. Martin Scorsese

This movie gave me one of the most spiritual and emotional experiences I ever had at a theater. This is what religious movies should do - it makes you ask questions and think. Also, it deals with a time that Christianity was discriminated against. But again, it makes you look at why it was. I honestly thought I would get bored while watching this film but that never happened.

03. Eye in the Sky - dir. Gavin Hood

One of the most intense movies of the years. As the plot moved along I found myself getting closer to the edge of my seat hoping and praying for the best. It's another film that makes you ask tough questions but this time it deals with war and whether or not the ends justify the means.
Also, I really wish this was Alan Rickman's last role.

With the number 1 & 2, I had a hard time picking which would go where.

02. Hell or High Water - dir. Taylor Sheridan

This movie is one of the few movies that's just plain perfect. Great performances, great script, great direction, great everything. If you haven't seen, do it now! My words don't do it justice, you just have to see it.

01. La La Land - dir. Damien Chazelle

The reason this takes the top spot is because this movie inspired me. This movie makes me want to continue in pursuing my passions and dreams. Yeah, cliched and corny to say that but damn it all it's true.
Other than that, this movie is another example just about everything being perfect. The music numbers are great (even the "sellout" song), the performances are fantastic, and every technical part shows that Chazelle knows the right people and uses them wisely.

There are my picks of the year. Hope you liked it. What were your favorites?
Here's to the coming year.

Friday, January 9, 2015

Top 11 Movies of 2014

Now on to what I thought were the best films of 2014.

Much like in the last list I haven't seen every single movie that has been named one of the year's best. I haven't seen Selma, The Theory of Everything, Foxcatcher, Gone Girl and so on.

Now unlike last time in my Worst of 2014 article I'm actually finding it hard to properly list off the films in any order and just keeping it to 10. So for this article I'm listing off my Top 11 favorite movies of 2014. I'm also doing this in alphabetical article because as I said I can't really find a satisfying ranking of these movies. It may become a new thing for coming years.

But first, here are some honorable mentions:

Big Eyes

The Fluffy Movie

Into the Woods

Joe

The Lego Movie

Muppets Most Wanted

Nightcrawler

Oculus

The Raid 2
Snowpiercer

X-Men: Days of Future Past

And since in my last article I probably made a ton of people mad by naming Interstellar the overrated movie of 2014 I'll humiliate myself by naming my guilty pleasure of the year. This year that 'honor' belongs to The Monuments Men.

Yeah, this film didn't get a lot of great criticism and it isn't exactly up to the standards of other World War II movies or movies in general. It does have some tone problems and it does rely on just the actor's name to develope a personality for the characters. But with all that I don't think it's as bad as many were saying it was. I did enjoy the characters who were performed by interesting people, except for Matt Damon's character who was fairly bland sadly. But also I think the reason I liked it was that it was telling a rather unknown story of World War II, something that probably does deserve to be talked about. But if the movie doesn't satisfy you there's always the book by Robert M. Edsel

Okay, let's get down to it. In alphabetical order, my 11 favorite movies of 2014.

Birdman - Dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

If this movie helps reignites a main stream popularity for Michael Keaton I will be more than happy. This film features a series of great performances from pretty much everyone in the film. With its almost surreal atmosphere it creates this whole new world for the main characters and we get a sense of how's he feeling and why it's happening. It is a really strong film with some strong performances for some great characters.

Boyhood - Dir. Richard Linklater

A last minute inclusion and the film that is making pretty much every critic's best of list, and with good reason. The film that tells a coming age story as the actors come of age. This is probably the most realistic movie ever displayed on film, it doesn't try to sugar coat anything about life. This family seems like a family that could actually exist and the stuff they go through are actual things. I think the fact that Richard Linklater made this over 10 years adds to it. I'm not sure what else I can add to it. This is a film that kind of has to be seen to be believed.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Dir. Anthony & Joe Russo
I'm going to say, this is the best Marvel movies. Yep, better than The Avengers. I'm not just talking about from an action standpoint, it is marvelous in that regard, but it is also great from a story aspect. It ups the danger and truly takes advantage of the fact that Captain America is in a different time period. I also love how it deals with the themes of survivor's guilt and PTSD and it handles this without having the characters message it to you in forced dialogue. Great characters, dialogue, action and story, this is the best Marvel movie as of right now.

The Drop - Dir. Michael R. Roskam
A film that seems to be forgotten by a lot of critics. The only other critic I've seen listing this in their best of list was Richard Roeper. To me this is one of the films that was battling for the top spot because this was honestly one of my favorite films of the year. Tom Hardy gives a fantastic performance that deserves praise and attention. James Gandolfini as gives an amazing performance in his final film. It is a great story that takes a new twist in mob related stories. Again, I feel that my words won't do it justice, you have to see it to get to the feeling.

Filth - Dir. Jon S. Baird
Technically this was released in 2013 but it got released in America in 2014 so I'm counting it. I loved this film. James McAvoy further cements himself as one of my favorite actors by playing this great anti-hero. He brings this despicable, drug fueled, narcissistic yet sympathetic Scottish inspector to life and goes all out for this role. While it may not be everyone's taste I can't help but love it. Also it introduced me to the Billy Ocean song Love Really Hurts Without You and for that I'll forever be grateful to this movie.

Fury - Dir. David Ayer
The GOOD 2014 David Ayer movie. It takes a very brutal look at an untold chapter of World War II, the tanks. It not only looks at what war can do to someone physically but also at what it can to do some psychologically. You see the leader of this tank squad (Brad Pitt) trying to regain some sense of humanity as he is clearly worried about adapting to civilian life. He wants to make sure that the new guy (Logan Lerman) doesn't lose it either. It also features spectacular action scenes and the actors display great chemistry between each other.

The Grand Budapest Hotel - Dir. Wes Anderson
This was another film that was battling for the number one spot. While I do love this film I was debating for the longest time as to why I loved it. I enjoyed a lot of the technical aspects. The sets were great and distinguished, it was shot wonderfully, and it had plenty of great performances mainly Ralph Fiennes. But then it came to me, this reminded me of the two 70's Agatha Christie movies: Murder on the Orient Express (1974, dir. Sidney Lumet) and Death on the Nile (1978, dir. John Guillermin). It has an all-star cast, similar atmosphere (sort of) and setting, a murder-mystery, with a good amount of suspense and comedy. Yes, I know this film was inspired by the works Stefan Zweig but I got the vibe of the films from this and because of that I love it even more.

Guardians of the Galaxy - Dir. James Gunn
Pure, unfiltered fun. While Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the best Marvel film in my opinion this one follows very close in second place. Mainly because it was just a fun movie with fun characters, amazing set pieces with great action and of course that awesome 70's soundtrack which will always be a plus in my book. What else can I say except it is a ton of fun, go see it if you haven't already. By the way, I freaking love the poster for the movie. Look at its glory!

How to Train Your Dragon 2 - Dir. Dean DeBlois
This was a pretty good year for animated films. For me though the strongest of the bunch was this one because it continues from the original (& awesome) film without retreading old ground or negating anything that was learned in the first film. It also makes the smart choice to have the hero, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) grow up a little and have it deal with themes of maturity and taking responsible. It's also a movie that takes chances in the story that I will admit I didn't see coming. This is a really good film and let's hope that it continues into a good franchise.

Whiplash - Dir. Damien Chazelle
Another film that battled for the top spot. This film not only gives us a great and terrifying performance from J.K. Simmons, it's also a movie that's the makes the audience ask questions: What are the limit to pursuing a dream? Should you cut social ties so you can concentrate on it? If you're trying to support someone how should you do it? Should you push them? If so can it go to far? Is complementing them just pandering and not helping? Do the ends justify the means? Yeah, I basically just repeated a good chunk of my review but still that's what makes the movie so strong.

Wild - Dir. Jean-Marc Vallee
This last entree on the list was one of the last films last year. The movie that takes us on one woman's (Reese Witherspoon) journey to rediscover herself and go through the mourning process. A clever film that uses the hike as the way to tell her story as we start with her hike and end with her hike, in the middle we see her stream of consciousness as way to dispense what motivated her to do this. It was also kind of motivational in a way.

There are my picks for the best of 2014. Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comment section.

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Sunday, December 28, 2014

31 Favorite Songs of 2014

Here's a little something out of the norm. My favorite songs of 2014. Seeing as I'm a movie guy I can't really rank these from what I find as the best in any particular order. But I figured I'd share with you all my favorites songs of the past year. The only qualification it needs is that I must have downloaded in 2014. So here you go, in alphabetical order, my favorite songs of 2014.

Aloe Blacc - Wake Me Up (acoustic)