Review: "Magic in the Moonlight"

Director: Woody Allen
Runtime: 100 minutes

A movie may show a character acting in an unpleasant manner without being unpleasant itself. It's a lesson you'd think Woody Allen would know by now, given that he's made nearly 50 features. Everyone has been twisting themselves into knots wondering if they can separate Mr. Allen's personal life from his art. This is an important conversation, but it's one that's been taking place for months now. It shouldn't be brushed aside; it's far too sensitive a matter to simply be ignored. Yet rather than continue wringing hands over the separation of art and artist, it's now time to look at how badly Mr. Allen has blurred the lines between character and tone in his latest offering, Magic in the Moonlight.

The character in question is Stanley (Colin Firth), an acclaimed stage magician (albeit one who performs in yellow face as Wei Ling Soo) who enjoys debunking mystics and mediums claiming to be the real deal. From the moment Stanley removes his disguise backstage, he is demanding and off-putting. He has just as little patience for psychics as he does for missed music cues, and he wastes no time in berating those who fall short of his standards. 

At the behest of his old friend Howard (Simon McBurney), however, Stanley decides to take some time off to debunk a new arrival on the psychic scene. Her name is Sophie (Emma Stone), and she's currently in the progress of trying to sneak her way into the vast fortunes of a rich family in the south of France. What follows is an expected series of developments, mostly built around Stanley's questioning of his faith in science and logic. 

Yet even at his lowest point, Stanley remains a thoroughly obnoxious figure, and the film around him starts to sour quite early as a result. Stanley seems to have been modeled - intentionally or not - on the personality of Richard Dawkins, which is so militant in its insistence on science that it manifests as condescending rudeness towards anyone not 100% on the same wavelength. Yes, he's right, but does he have to be such an ass about it?

Firth and the rest of the cast are, at the very least, not sleepwalking through their roles. No one's going to win awards for this one, but everyone seems like they're trying to put some actual magic into what is ultimately a blah story. Despite the almost 30 year age gap, Firth and Stone have a few nice moments together (which is helped by them being at odds almost the entire way through) and a few exchanges here and there are amusing. Eileen Atkins ultimately walks away with the movie as Stanley's aunt, even as she's mostly used as a wry sounding board for her nephew's ranting. 

Where Magic in the Moonlight finally sinks itself is when it refuses to give Stanley any legitimate comeuppance. There's a point in the third act where the movie seems ready to end with Stanley where he deserves to be, but then another 15 minutes roll along and the "charming" ending we're supposed to smile act comes (literally) knocking. Stanley's arrogant bluster is often too caustic to find humorous, and he changes so little that he (and the film) don't come close to earning what happens at the conclusion. 

Though I understand why some are now uncomfortable watching Allen's movies in light of the past few months, even the absence of such scandal would do little to help here. With Magic in the Moonlight, one can separate the art from the artist or bind them together warts and all. Neither position will change the curmudgeonly quality that pervades this lazily directed romp that lacks even an ounce of magic.

Grade: C-

Review: "A Most Wanted Man"

Director: Anton Corbijn
Runtime: 121 minutes

Tomas Alfredson's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) was, against the odds, an exemplary adaptation of the work of John Le Carre. That film took a dense novel that was better suited to a mini-series (as it was first adapted), and oriented the central drama away from the whodunnit question, and onto the inner lives of the characters. The film didn't provide much in the way of red herrings or chances to guess who the mole was. Ultimately, that answer was just the destination that capped off a slow-burning journey of secrecy and damaged masculinity. 

Somewhere on a different part of the spectrum (though thankfully not on the opposite end), is Anton Corbijn's (Control, The American) A Most Wanted Man, adapted from the Le Carre novel of the same name. All of the trademarks of Le Carre's espionage stories are present in Most Wanted, yet them come to life with less engrossing results this time around, largely due to some bloated pacing and an anemic screenplay. Alfredson's Tinker masterfully compressed something dense, whereas Corbijn and company wound up stretching something thin close to its breaking point. The sad irony is that Corbijn's barely decent film contains the last performance from Philip Seymour Hoffman. It's an unfitting send off for someone of his stature. 

Most Wanted certainly has its strong points, but the most interesting thing about it is comparing the visualization of a Le Carre story set in the past, and one set relatively in the present. In Tinker, the conversations mostly took place in claustrophobic rooms and corridors. Some of that film's most visually striking sequences were set in a windowless, sound-proofed room. Espionage was allowed to truly take place in secret. 

Jump forward to the 21st century, especially the post 9/11 western world, and you have a much different scenario. Important meetings happen in conference rooms with massive windows looking out over cubicles and desks, and some of the most sensitive topics come up out in the open, in places as mundane as cafes or tacky bars. This is the the age of espionage that can hack and track everyone, yet is also under pressure to be uncomfortably open about its most uncomfortable facets. 

Distinguishing between historical context is certainly more compelling that the drawn out plot. It all begins when a young Chechen Muslim named Issa (Grigoriy Dobrygin) illegally immigrates to Hamburg. Though he seems to have no plans to carry out any terrorist activity, it doesn't take long before Issa's struggle to seek asylum in Germany gets tangled in with an investigation regarding a prominent Muslim figure already in the country. For Gunther (Hoffman) and his small team of co-workers (their group doesn't exist on German intelligence records), Issa's struggle is a chance to, slowly but surely, set a trap for the Muslim figurehead, and possibly expose a money laundering scheme being used to fund Al Qaeda. 

While, Le Carre's novels don't tend to move quickly, but here Corbijn has indulged the author's sense of pacing to a fault. There are more than a few transitional scenes that are utterly pointless, and seem to have been left in under the delusion that these extra moments will add to the overall atmosphere. In The American, Corbijn was able to use gradual pacing to his advantage, despite having a considerably slimmer plot to work with. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to carry that talent over to this dense material. The layers of the plot don't exceed his grasp. Instead, there just seems to be too little thought given as to how those layers should intersect with each other. 

The performances are, at least, convincing, though no one has all that much to work with. The idea of damaged masculinity that was so beautifully inhabited by Gary Oldman in Tinker is also present in Hoffman's role, and the latter does a solid job. He simply doesn't have enough to work with, and so he's left to mostly mutter with a German accent. The conclusion, which sees Gunther pushed to his breaking point, should be a powerful finish to a tale of complicated ethics and ideas. Instead, the impact is minimized but the competently photographed (Corbijn remains a strong visual story teller) lump of story that led up to it. Thankfully, Robin Wright pops up for a few scenes as an icy American diplomat, and her scenes with Hoffman are among the film's best. Meanwhile, wonderful German talents like Nina Hoss and Daniel Bruhl are mostly wasted.

A Most Wanted Man opens on a shot of sloshing brown water, which is only appropriate given the moral and political murkiness on display. It's too bad that the film as a whole never becomes any clearer on any level. A Most Wanted man looks the part as far as modern day Le Carre stories go. What it's missing is the richness of its present day setting, one that exists entirely in shades of grey with increasingly blurred barriers.

Grade: C+/C

Review: "Lucy"

Director: Luc Besson
Runtime: 90 minutes

Luc Besson's Lucy is dumb, but it is - in its own Besson-esque way - admirably dumb. It is better crafted than, say, the typical Michael Bay flick. It also avoids being just another action movie with nothing but violence. Lucy is a look at what happens when a person does what mankind has been trying to do for millennia: reach the absolute height of our capabilities. Does this make Lucy deep or insightful? Not even close. It is ludicrous, as is Besson's way, but ludicrous in a way that takes the idea of "mindless entertainment" to places it has not yet ventured. 

The silliness begins right at the start, with Lucy (Scarlett Johannson, having quite a stellar year) being egged on by her new boyfriend to make a delivery to a prominent member of a global drug ring (Choi Min-sik, AKA the original "Oldboy"). That delivery turns out to be a special new drug that, when ingested, boosts brain activity. After lots of pleading and crying, Lucy winds up with a bag of the blue drug lodged in her intestines. And then, after an unfortunate beating, the blue stuff starts leaking out of its container, and into Lucy's bloodstream, thus enabling her to push past the normal limits (10%) of human intellectual.

As any number of articles have pointed out, the idea that we only use 10% of our brains is a myth. To those using this issue as an actual criticism of the film I offer this response: it's a Luc Besson movie, not a documentary. This is not to suggest that everyone is obligated to enjoy the film based on this single fact. Rather, the idea that its conceptual inaccuracy (which was also used in the Bradley Cooper vehicle Limitless) is hardly something that should be wielded against the film as an unpardonable sin.  Lucy is not meant to be taken seriously, though everyone involved commits themselves enough to make the whole thing enjoyable. 

Besson, to his credit, actually does a fair job of bouncing between Lucy's wildly opposed narrative threads. On one hand, it's a revenge thriller, while on the other side it's a story of scientific enlightenment and the quest for knowledge. The latter part is, surprisingly, more fun to watch. From quite early on, it's clear that Lucy's ever increasing powers remove the idea of an actual threat. There is little suspense or tension. Instead, there are relentless visual flourishes and propulsive narrative energy. Besson has taken some ideas about life and the universe from The Tree of Life and 2001: A Space Odyssey, and applied them to the emptiest sort of sci-fi adventure. I don't know if that makes the film good, but it sure as hell makes it entertaining.

It's also a fun showcase for Johansson as a action star, which is always a plus. Lucy is, in some ways, the halfway point between two other releases from this year featuring Johansson: Captain America 2 and Under the Skin. Johansson gets to show off her star power, yet does it in a role that mostly requires her to be as emotionally rigid as a statue. Thankfully, Besson gives the actress a little time at the start to do some actual emoting before her inner demi-god emerges. Lucy is a reminder that Johansson can be a star, but simply not in the ways that Hollywood initially wanted her to be. 

Of course, even the allure of watching Scarlett Johansson strut around and play with time and space won't be enough for some, and that's understandable. As I said before, Lucy is one hell of a dumb movie. When it comes to movies that require switching off the brain, there's a limit to how far some are willing to go. Lucy is one of those movies that will push many way past their tolerance for this sort of flashy trifle. With a film like Lucy, it's not about whether or not you get something substantial out of it. No sane person will. All that matters is whether or not you happen to like how it tastes. 

Grade: C+

Review: "Life Itself"

Director: Steve James
Runtime: 120 minutes

One of the annoying stereotypes about film critics is that we're out to get everyone. We hold a grudge of some sort, because none of us wanted to write and discuss films as an art form, as a commercial product, and/or as entertainment. Though I'm sure such types exist out there, this concept of critics as bitter, talent-less failures needs to be put to rest. As Steve James' wonderfully moving new documentary Life Itself shows, many critics are among the most passionate and informed movie-goers out there. 

However, it's very true that critics are hardly celebrities, even in an era where one can become a celebrity simply by activity on social media. If you were to ask someone to name a movie critic, it's a safe bet that they would default to one name, and one name only: Roger Ebert. Whatever your feelings on his opinions or his writing, it's hard to deny his status as the closest thing to a "star" film critic. Pauline Kael and Andrew Sarris helped make film criticism something of weight and value. Ebert, especially in his work opposite Gene Siskel, brought criticism out of its ivory tower and down to the masses. Life Itself about Roger Ebert, yet the man's ties to film criticism are so essential that the documentary is also about an important shift in one of the youngest fields of modern letters.

And though Mr. James, the director of the landmark documentary Hoop Dreams, has fashioned Life Itself as a tribute to Mr. Ebert, he steers quite clear of hagiography. As one of the many interview subjects points out, Ebert was "nice, but not that nice." Though hardly a character assassination piece, Life Itself isn't afraid to delve into Ebert's difficulties in life (alcoholism) or his occasionally over-competitive personality. It's the sort of fair, yet still genuinely emotional, treatment that Ebert himself did his best to bring to his reviews. 

Even when touching on Ebert's health troubles that began around 2002, James avoids laying on the schmaltz. Despite the warts and all approach to Ebert's past, James' film is the sincere work of a true friend. Whether the film is touching on his testy relationship with Siskel, or the cancer that claimed his jaw, it remains, above all else, a tribute to one man's endless love for movies, and the ways in which they opened people up to the lives of others.  This even includes some of the people whose work Ebert wrote about. Directors Werner Herzog and Martin Scorsese are among the big names who appear in the film (the latter helped produce), while Ramin Bahrani and Ava DuVernay testify to Ebert's willingness to stick up for promising young filmmakers. And of course, his relationship with his wife Chaz is eye-opening for the vulnerability it brings to a figure who started his career as a good ole' boy, hard drinking journalist in Chicago. The man's tremendous spirit and elegance (not to mention his willingness to participate in James' film) couldn't be more apparent. In Mr. Ebert, James has captured the life of an individual, but also a perfect microcosm of an art form and a profession, and their relationships with the public.

So, the next time someone tries to tell you that critics are all bitter, washed up losers who want to do nothing but criticize, direct them to Life Itself. It is a look not just at a man's passion for his work, but his passion for living well (for himself, and also to enrich the lives of those around him). People's lives have their share of detours, disappointments, and tragedies, yet there are those rare figures able to push on through and still turn it into something beautiful. Multiple times, we hear interviewees mention Ebert's idea of "the movie that is [his] life." Fittingly, for such a dedicated critic, the movie that is Ebert's life turned out to be a damn good one. For all of the emotional and physical struggles, the finished product is a thing of beauty. 

Grade: A-

Review: "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes"

Director: Matt Reeves
Runtime: 130 Minutes

The bar set by 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes wasn't terribly high. Despite a few standout sequences (and one jaw-dropping moment), Rise suffered from lackluster human characters that dragged down the more compelling ape-oriented scenes. So to say that Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a superior sequel isn't a guarantee of greatness. But Dawn isn't just any other sequel. Though the humans still pale in comparison to the apes this time around, Dawn bests its predecessor in every conceivable way. This is a smart, full-bodied sequel that delivers its blockbuster moments only once they've been earned by the plot. 

Set roughly a decade after Rise, Dawn finds the advanced apes, led by Caesar (Andy Serkis), making a life for themselves up in the Muir Woods. When we first see Caesar and company, it's been two years since they've had any contact with humans. At one point, Caesar and others ponder if there are even any humans left in the overrun remains of San Francisco. Yet, soon enough, a band of humans stumbles along into ape territory, threatening to reignite man/ape conflicts. 

These humans are led by Malcolm (Zero Dark Thirty's Jason Clarke), who is on a mission to restart a dormant dam in ape territory that could give some power back to the human colony hiding in San Francisco. After a rocky start, humans and apes form a temporary alliance of sorts to assist Malcolm and his team with their plan. Of course, not everyone is happy about this cross species effort. Among the apes, the fearsome Koba (Toby Kebbell) feels that Caesar is too trusting of humans. Meanwhile, human leader Dreyfus (Gary Oldman) is more than ready to simply gun the apes down if it means getting to the dam faster.

Both sides have peaceful and bloodthirsty factions. Yet rather than simplify motivations, Dawn gives its various points of view some airing time before eventually picking a side. Dreyfus is still haunted by the loss of his wife and children after the outbreak of the Simian Flu (a man-made virus that got to the public at the end of Rise). Koba, meanwhile, is wary of humans after years of painful experiments performed in secret laboratories. 

In giving the humans and the apes diverse angles, Dawn achieves a bit of nuance not often found in big budget summer fare. However, that's hardly surprising when one considers the franchise's history. The original Planet of the Apes was rife with socio-political allegory, and this latest installment is more than up to the task of continuing the tradition. 

Director Matt Reeves, who rose to fame with the found footage sci-fi/disaster flick Cloverfield, deserves quite a bit of credit for the success here. Moving effortlessly from gimmicky techniques to more classical blockbuster filmmaking, the director brings a much more assured hand to this bigger, richer sequel. Reeves understands how to shoot even the mundane visual effects shots so as to maximize impact. And when it comes to the action, he proves himself more than up to the task of capturing the carnage with clarity. Without even making a huge deal of it, Reeves throws in a superb tracking shot that follows Malcolm running through a series of hallways as machine gun-toting apes tear through the surrounding rooms. 

And even though the human characters remain secondary to the apes, Dawn represents an obvious step in the right direction. Clarke, Keri Russell, and Kodi Smit-McPhee have the most screen time, with each getting at least one significant moment that strengths some aspect of the human/ape dynamic. 

The star, however, is still Mr. Serkis. Though Caesar has no singular 'wow' moment like he did in Rise, Serkis' motion-capture work is as commanding as ever. The truly astounding visual effects work beautifully gives detail to the physically demanding ape performances. Toby Kebbell is quite terrifying as the human-hating Koba, and Karin Konoval provides a lovely simian supporting turn as a wise orangutan with a penchant for reading.

The film's success on an emotional and visual front is so impressive that it mostly overshadows the occasional flaws in the script. Some of the human dialogue can be a bit stiff, and a few plot developments happen a bit too suddenly, yet overall Reeves' command of the story holds the entire thing together quite brilliantly. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is an ideal summer sequel. It's story is bigger and its stakes are higher, yet it also registers more deeply on an emotional level due to the care taken with the plot and (most of) the characters. 

Grade: B+

Review: "Boyhood"

Director: Richard Linklater
Runtime: 166 minutes

The late Roger Ebert once remarked that "No good movie is too long, and no bad movie is short enough." Richard Linklater's long-gestating Boyhood is stunning evidence in favor of this idea. The story is limited (a boy and his family grow and change), yet Linklater's three hour opus is so vibrant that it could have gone on for much longer. Boyhood is epic in the time it covers, yet still incomplete in the best sense. Mr. Linklater isn't necessarily bringing anything new to the table in regards to what his latest film says. Instead, he has opted to capture it all with astounding thoroughness. Boyhood started as an experiment. Now, after over a decade, it has emerged as a triumph.

What's truly staggering is how much Linklater managed to accomplish. Though production ran on and off for 12 years, there were only 39 days of actual shooting. For all of the advances in filmmaking technology that took place, it's remarkable how cohesive the whole effort turned out. Rather than constantly call attention to the experimental nature of the production, Linklater masterfully refrains from showing off. As young Mason (Ellar Coltrane) ages from six to 18, the changes feel appropriately gradual. Jumps forward in time aren't handled as major events or shifts. They exist side by side with other moments, just as life outside of the silver screen does. 

And, despite the title's emphasis on a young boy, Boyhood gives stunning attention to all of its major characters. Mason's mother Olivia (Patricia Arquette), father Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke) and sister Samantha (Lorelai Linklater), are all as richly realized. Though the film concludes with its emphasis firmly on Mason Jr.'s path, the various ups and downs of those around him remain equally vivid. This is Mason's story, but it's also the story of an American family living a messy and modern American life. There are marriages and divorces, first loves and first heartbreaks, and they're all masterfully woven together as part of a wild, ever-expanding tapestry, and scenes as ordinary as brothers and sisters bickering absolutely crackle with life. 

Even when characters are at their lowest points, Linklater maintains a distant, almost academic sort of optimism about the progression of life. Boyhood is ultimately a study of time, which makes the unusual production schedule such an inspired gamble. Small moments stir up feelings of happiness or regret, yet they aren't meant to knock one over with their intensity. Boyhood doesn't build to grand moments. It lets the lives of its characters unfold with a beautiful command of time - cinematic and real - to capture childhood as a simultaneously mundane and epic series of experiences. 

When a movie spends over a decade in production, it's hard not to keep that in mind while watching. And even though Linklater doesn't ram the conceit in the viewer's face, he deserves praise for not trying to completely separate narrative and technique. Each has informed the other, and Linklater's gifts as a writer and director are what enable them to feel so seamless. And, in turn, it's what enables Boyhood to function as such an effortlessly compelling merger of art and life. The visual simplicity is wholly deceptive. This is an epic of both the biggest and smallest nature, one that is both a fully realized journey as well as but the first section of the complexity of life as a whole. Boyhood contains multitudes, and yet in Linklater's hands, feels like it's also just the first chapter in a masterful novel just waiting to be written.

Grade: A

The Best Movies of 2014...So Far

With June finally and its end, we're just about to reach the halfway point of the year. And while the studios love to save most of their major awards contenders for the September-December window, 2014 has already gotten off to a stellar start, despite a few horrendous blunders. Last year, I broke down my "best of the first 6 months" post by various Oscar categories. After trying to make those lists for 2014, I wound up with enough entries to fill up multiple long posts. Instead, I'll be doing quick rundowns of 15-20 standout films from the year thus far (by US release date, no matter how small), and then do quick bullet points for specific categories, such as noteworthy Direction, Scores, Cinematography, etc...

Without further adeiu, here's my increasingly crowded list of favorites from 2014 as of today, June 30th. If the rest of the year keeps going at the same pace, then creating a definitive "Best of 2014" list is going to be even more challenging than it was to do so for 2013, and that's saying quite a bit.

Jordan's Top 15 Films of 2014

1. The Grand Budapest Hotel: 

Though Wes Anderson's previous film, 2012's Moonrise Kingdom, has a bit more emotional weight, the director's latest is still superbly accomplished on its own terms. Deftly adapting his hyper-deadpan style to the world of zany farces, Anderson turns in a thoroughly delightful film that also boasts an uncommonly complex narrative structure. The fairy tale visuals are sublime, as are the performances from the vast ensemble. Ralph Fiennes is absolutely dynamite in his first Anderson film. His Gustave is fussy professionally, yet quite wild personally (let's just say he likes his women older). And even amid all the wackiness and clockwork-like plotting, Anderson manages to beautifully capture a tiny slice of the world doing its best to maintain old standards, even as the horrors of modern warfare and genocide loom just out of the frame. The old hotel Gustave loves so much is indeed grand, as is the film.

2. Under the Skin: 

Chilly, eerie, and distant, Jonathan Glazer's third feature film still possess a surprising amount of humanity, despite its alien protagonist. Channeling Kubrick even with a miniscule budget, this contemplative sci-fi psychological drama boasts a haunting atmosphere (Mica Levi's freaky score still lingers) and a beautifully nuanced performance from star Scarlett Johansson. As distant and blank as the character initially is, Johansson is able to gently push beyond the surface and tap into a fascinating cross section of power and sex. The budget may have been small, but that didn't stop Glazer and co. from fully realizing some big ideas.

3. Night Moves: 

If you thought that Jesse Eisenberg was a one-hit wonder and would never do anything worthwhile after The Social Network, Night Moves is here to say otherwise. The second half of a one-two punch for the young actor, Night Moves is a steadily paced, yet nerve-wracking thriller that avoids simplification. Instead, director Kelly Reichardt works with all sorts of shades of grey in this eco-terrorist thriller, which is beautifully acted by Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, and Peter Sarsgaard. The conclusion risks muddling the message, but it's ultimately a drop in an otherwise gripping ocean of a story.

4. The Rover: 

Though it's easy to see why David Michod's second film has been so divisive, I can't fight it any longer. I'm a fan, and my appreciation for the film has only grown in the weeks since I first saw it. Loaded with minimalist world-building, and rich with character development, The Rover is a powerful journey that has some clear influences, yet avoids easy categorization. Michod's handling of violence is tightly wound, with every gunshot loaded with dread as to what will follow. Guy Pearce owns the film in front of the camera, creating a rich character whose final revelation feels like legitimate development, rather than an easy cop-out to give meaning to a bunch of nothing. 

5. Snowpiercer: 

While The Rover's post-apocalyptic future is set in the blazing heat of the Outback, Bong Joon-ho's Snowpiercer goes in the opposite direction, throwing us into a future where Earth has been frozen over. Set entirely aboard a globe-spanning train, this sci-fi adventure feels much grander than the overly-pixelated destruction porn that Hollywood often mistakes as "epic."Filled with juicy performances, strong storytelling, and just the right dose of black humor, Snowpiercer is a reminder of what summer action spectacles can be when they put storytelling first.

6. Joe: 

David Gordon Green hit a bit of a rough patch when Hollywood came knocking at his door, but his return to his indie roots couldn't have been more of a knockout. The director's ability to capture rural American life has remained firmly intact, and his gradual pacing is a perfect fit for this makeshift father-son story. Nicolas Cage and Tye Sheridan turn in excellent performances. The former reasserts himself as a legitimately compelling presence, while the later proves why he's suddenly shooting up the ladder to indie stardom. 

7. The Double: 

The shades of Brazil and The Trial are certainly noticeable, yet Richard Ayoade's second film still feels very much like its own entity. The 80s-version-of-the-future sets are shrouded in shadows, which only enhances the bubbling undercurrent of darkly comedic energy. Ayoade's writing and directing are fast and charming in their straightforward oddness, which makes the heavily stylized world feel almost instantly easy to engage with. Jesse Eisenberg, pulling double duty, delivers a pair of striking performances as he wanders, mumbles, sulks, and struts his way through Ayoade's unnerving, yet oddly charming dystopia.

8. A Field in England: 

I saw Ben Wheatley's latest last summer, and it refuses to get out of my head. Though I've never been able to quite connect with his previous two films, A Field in England, with its smorgasbord of stylistic and thematic influences, left me dumbstruck in the best sense of the word. I'm still not sure if I've been able to extract a great profound message from its endless rabbit hole of freakiness, but Wheatley's execution ensures that the unanswered questions remain fascinating, even if it's hard to ever come close to an answer. Even if it was all just a hallucinogenic battle between murky forces neither entirely good nor evil, A Field in England feels as rich as its setting is empty.

9. Only Lovers Left Alive: 

I have a confession to make. Only Lovers Left Alive is, in fact, the first Jim Jarmusch film I've ever seen. So I can't really make comparisons about how it stacks up to his other films, or how similar or different it is from the rest of his work. What I can say is that, despite an occasionally sluggish first act, Lovers' hazy atmosphere really got to me, even though I've become increasingly convinced that it hasn't really got much of anything on its mind. Led by a beautiful performance from Tilda Swinton, and featuring some seductively atmospheric filmmaking, Only Lovers Left Alive shows that, even after all of ths time, there are still new ways to twist the vampire genre, even if it's mostly left to the style, and not the substance. As Swinton's Eve remarks after a rather vivid encounter, "Well, that certainly was visual."

10. Enemy: 

The other movie about doppelgängers from the 2013 Toronto Film Festival, Denis Villeneuve's Enemy sits in stark contrast with The Double. The Double, despite its quirks, is rather accessible. Enemy, meanwhile, makes no effort to be commercial or enjoyable. The atmosphere, right down to the sickly yellow color palette, is intentionally oppressive, and the first half of the film sometimes drags. Yet the deeper one goes into Enemy's web, the more intriguing its head-scratching mysteries become. Though he has fewer opportunities to play off of himself than Eisenberg, Jake Gyllenhaal still does a fine job of distinguishing between both of his characters, while Sarah Gadon turns in a surprisingly compelling performance as the arrogant Gyllenhaal's confused fiance. And, despite the slow pacing, there's no doubt you'll at least leave Enemy with your pulse racing (and possibly, a newly developed sense of arachnophobia).

11. Obvious Child: 

Put simply, we desperately need more comedies and romantic comedies like Gillian Robespierre's Obvious Child. It is fast, funny, moving, and topical, all without being heavy handed. It also features a breakthrough performance for comedian and actress Jenny Slate, who proves that she's capable of far more than the broad supporting roles she's played on TV. Like the film, Slate knows how to make you laugh hysterically but then genuinely move you with refreshing frankness. Robespierre is just starting to write her next film (which will also star slate). If Obvious Child is any indication, we've just stumbled upon a truly exciting comedic voice. 

12. Belle: 

One could easily dismiss Belle as having received attention simply for its radical (albeit based in fact) story. It's not every day (or any day) that you see a British period romance that centers on a black woman. Yet rather than set the film up as empty progressiveness, director Amma Asante has delivered. Though sporadically overwrought, Belle is a heartfelt and intelligent look as class and race that smartly pairs its radical traits with more traditional, Austen-esque narrative tropes. The cast (with the exception of a love interest) is exceptional, but the movie ultimately belongs to break-out star Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who carries the film on her shoulders with effortless grace.

13. X-Men: Days of Future Past: 

The X-Men franchise has been through plenty of rough times, but it has redeemed itself quite spectacularly with its latest entry. Though it seems overly complicated and overcrowded on paper, director Bryan Singer and writer Simon Kinberg (who somehow also wrote the awful X-Men: The Last Stand) elegantly move between past and future, wisely using the latter setting as more of a framing device so that the more compelling past section can dominate the story. James McAvoy, Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Nicholas Hoult all play off of each other with thrilling results, with McAvoy emerging as the film's troubled heart and soul. Of course, special mention should go to Evan Peters' brief, yet critical, turn as Quicksilver, who steals the movie during an exhilarating and hilarious prison-break sequence. Some franchises beg to be buried after only a few films. Somehow, in their seventh film, the X-Men feel fresher than ever, making 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse that much more tantalizing.

14. Ernest and Celestine: 

Simple without being simplistic, and cute without being saccharine, this slice of French animation remains one of the year's most delightful films. With its beautiful pencil and water color paint visuals, and a disarmingly sweet story about acceptance and prejudice, the film resonates deeply even though it's largely predictable fare. While it's easy to see why something like Frozen took the box office by storm, Ernest and Celestine shows that small-scale animation is still a worthy endeavor.

15. The Nymphomaniac: 

Though Lars von Trier is known as a provocateur, the most shocking thing about The Nyphomaniac is how mature it is regarding issues of sex, social mores, and gender-based double standards. Despite a rocky first half (or Part 1) that sidelines Charlotte Gainsbourg for far too long, the film builds quite nicely as it goes on and the protagonist's sexual journey becomes a traumatic downward spiral. Gainsbourg takes total command of the second half, and paints a riveting portrait of woman allows sex to dominate her life out of her own pursuits, rather than out of a desire to be "wanted" or objectified. And von Trier, while still occasionally winking naughtily at the audience, puts his rough-around-the-edges visual aesthetic to smart use. I'm not sure The Nymphomaniac is quite the opus the director was striving for, but what progress he made towards his goal is admirable all the same.

Honorable Mention - Tom at the Farm: 

Though I would happily place Xavier Dolan's fourth film close to the top of the list, it has, sadly, yet to set an actual US release date for 2014. Hopefully the young director's captivating psycho-sexual finds its way out of distribution limbo sooner, rather than later.

And as for the rest....

Directing:

• Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Bong Joon Ho - Snowpiercer
• Jonathan Glazer - Under the Skin
• Kelly Reichardt - Night Moves
• David Michod - The Rover
• Xavier Dolan - Tom at the Farm
• Jim Jarmusch - Only Lovers Left Alive
• David Gordon Green - Joe

Acting:

• Ralph Fiennes - The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Scarlett Johansson - Under the Skin
• Tilda Swinton - Only Lovers Left Alive and Snowpiercer
• Guy Pearce - The Rover
• Paulina Garcia - Gloria
• Nicolas Cage - Joe
• Tye Sheridan - Joe
• Jenny Slate - Obvious Child
• Marine Vacth - Young and Beautiful
• Pierre Yves Cardinal - Tom at the Farm
• Lise Roy - Tom at the Farm
• James McAvoy - Filth
• Jesse Eisenberg - The Double and Night Moves
• Dakota Fanning - Night Moves
• Gugu Mbatha-Raw - Belle
• Jake Gyllenhaal - Enemy
• Chris Evans - Snowpiercer
• Sarah Gadon - Belle and Enemy
• Uma Thurman - The Nymphomaniac (Part 1)

Writing:

• The Double
• Obvious Child
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Le Week-End
• Tom at the Farm
• Night Moves
• Joe

Cinematography:

• A Field in England
• Snowpiercer
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Rover
• Under the Skin
• Enemy
• Tom at the Farm
• The Double
• Night Moves
• Only Lovers Left Alive
• Grand Piano

Art Direction and Costume Design:

• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Snowpiercer
• The Double
• Only Lovers Left Alive
• Belle
• X-Men: Days of Future Past

Original Score:

• Under the Skin
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Only Lovers Left Alive
• The Rover
• The Double
• Tom at the Farm
• Enemy

Visual Effects:

• X-Men: Days of Future Past
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Godzilla

Hair and Make Up:

• Snowpiercer
• The Rover
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• X-Men: Days of Future Past