With the awards season just around the corner, now seems a good time to think about my personal favourite movies of the year and those I wished I hadn’t bothered with.
2014 seems to have been a vintage year for quirky, interesting and independent films.
Richard Linklater’s Boyhood has to be amongst the favourites when this years awards are given out. This truly was a labour of love for the director and his loyal cast. Filmed for over ten years, it charts the real time life of Mason played by Ellar Coltrane and his family. To keep both cast and story together over such a period deserves recognition, and I expect it to be on lots of people’s favourite films lists this year.
The next movie on my list is The Grand Budapest Hotel. Over the course of a year, gems like this one can be forgotten, so it’s important I give it true recognition here.
Director Wes Anderson is renowned for his off beat film choices. From his early works, such asRushmore (1998) and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) to Fantastic Mr Fox (2009). Anderson never fails to delight and surprise with his work and The Grand Budapest Hotel is no exception. A tale bordering on comic farce and his A- list cast have all bought into this slice of gothic madness. And in particular, Ralph Fiennes, who’s comic turn as the ‘Hotel Concierge’ is a treat.
One young British actor has been making a name for himself this year and he is now tipped for great things; his name is Jack O’Connell, He starred in two of my favourite films of the year. First, in the brutal prison drama Starred Up and then as the young recruit caught up in ‘troubles’ in Belfast, in the terrorist thriller ’71.
Another independent film which was a favourite of a lot of people this year, was Calvary, starring Brendan Gleeson. This too, was an off beat story set in rural Ireland. Gleeson played the village priest who receives a warning that he was about to be murdered. This was not so much a whodunit, as who’s going to do it.
American Hustle was one of the few ‘big’ budget movies of the year that lived up to my expectations. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence certainly deserved all the plaudits and awards for their performances.
Amongst 2014’s much hyped blockbusters were: Interstellar, Spiderman 2, and the final installments of ‘The Hunger Games’ and ‘The Hobbit’. None of which lived up to expectations despite the big bucks lavished on them.
Hollywood embraced the ‘Chic Noire’ trend this year with two big budget movies. Unfortunately neither delivered. Nicole Kidman starred inBefore I Go To Sleep and Ben Afleck in Gone Girl. Both were good in parts, but ultimately a disappointment. Thebest trailer of the year had to the one for Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It promised so much, but sadly the trailer revealed far too much of the plot and ultimately, after the first few scenes, lost its originality.
However, Fury, starring Brad Pitt, was a gritty realistic war drama, that delivered. And so did the British code breaking drama, The Imitation Game. Its stars, Benedict Cumberbach and Keira Knightley, played their parts as stiff upper lipped Brits to perfection. Furthermore, St. Vincent, starring Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy, was a warm comic drama that was a joy to watch.
Other well received British films this year include Mr. Turner, staring Timothy Spall, and Belle, the period drama, which has been receiving great acclaim for its original storyline.
But perhaps the surprise hit of the year was Pride, the true story of a gay and lesbian collective who helped a small Welsh village during the 1984 miner’s strike. This warm and uplifting tale is being tipped as an outsider for major honours, having already been recognised at some early awards ceremonies.
2014 may not have been the blockbuster year some studio executives may have hoped for, but for the small independent film makers it has been a triumph, and proof, if need be, that the small low-budget movie has a willing and appreciative audience.
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