Halfway through 2014 I have seen exactly 5 films that I think would be worthy of a year-end top 10 list. I’m guessing at least a couple will actually survive the end-of-year onslaught of quality films to make it to the 2014 top 10. (Which ones? Hard to say right now.)
So here are my top 5 for the first half of the year:
The Lego Movie—Clever, funny and sweet. Just a pure delight!
The Grand Budapest Hotel—Wes Anderson delivered what the trailer promised. It’s like a 2014 Marx brothers film.
Chef—Jon Favreau wrote, starred and directed the ultimate foodie movie with a happy ending. Cool music, too.
Snowpiercer—Great story, well told. Fierce battles, amazing settings aboard a non-stop rail journey in the near future.
Boyhood—Opening in St. Louis on August 1. Director Richard Linklater shot scenes once a year for 12 years. Mason grows from a little kid to a man on screen as his family evolves, too. (The story is fiction. Better than a reality show.)
Snowpiercer is a clever, original, violent, highly entertaining sci-fi allegory. Snowpiercer is implausible fantasy, but it commands attention in every frame.
The story is adapted from a graphic novel published in 1982 by two French guys. Director Bong Joon-ho just happened to find the source material in a bookstore in Seoul in 2005. Bong, a Korean making his English language debut, also co-wrote the script.
Here’s the setup: Just a few decades from now, in response environmental wackos screaming about global warming, the world’s nations release something called CW-7 into the atmosphere. It works too well and the result is a frozen planet.
The only survivors crowd onto a train, which moves continuously on a track that goes around the earth. Those who populate the train are a microcosm of the world’s citizens. The elite types up front, those lowest on the socioeconomic scale at back. (The train’s name comes from its ability to burst through avalanches that have covered the rails with snow.)
Curtis (Chris Evans) and sideman Edgar (Jamie Bell) lead a group of downtrodden “back of the train” people toward the front of the train and a confrontation with Wilford (Ed Harris), who has been unseen by the Curtis and company for the 17 years they’ve been on board.
Key players accompanying Curtis on his quest are Tanya (Octavia Spencer), Minsoo (Kang-ho Song) and his daughter Yona (Ah-sung Ko). Tilda Swinton plays semi-comic character Mason, a Wilford operative. The journey to the front is filled with gritty battles and amazing surprises.
Chris Evans, whose improvement as an actor is visible in the latest Captain America movie, does a nice job as Curtis. He balances the physicality of the role with appropriate humanity. Ed Harris is solid as the smart-ass know-it-all Wilford.
Snowpiercer rises above other apocalyptic sci-fi because of its story and the skillful telling of that story by Bong. Lucky for us that he chose to pick up that graphic novel that day.
Melissa McCarthy is funny. She was hilarious in 2011’s Bridesmaids and in last year’s The Heat. And she brings some laughs in Tammy.
But this movie doesn’t fly. It falls short in the hilarity department. It lacks memorable scenes. And, sadly, McCarthy’s act becomes tiring.
Also, this is another comedy that reveals some of its best stuff in the trailer. (Nonetheless, the trailer is posted above.)
Essentially a road trip movie with Tammy and her grandma Pearl (Susan Sarandon), Tammy is blessed with a talented cast. Tammy’s mom Deb (Allison Janney), her dad Don (Dan Aykroyd), Pearl’s cousin Lenore (Kathy Bates), Lenore’s partner Susanne (Sandra Oh), Pearl’s hookup Earl (Gary Cole) comprise a strong crew. Toni Collette plays a mostly silent woman who shacks up with Tammy’s husband (Nat Faxon).
When Tammy catches her husband cheating (after her car hits a deer and she gets fired from her job), she escapes with Pearl on their adventure. After they end up in jail, Pearl uses her remaining cash to bail out Tammy. Tammy then robs a fast food joint to then bail out Pearl.
The robbery is slightly funny. It tries to be one of those “spontaneous” bits with some ad-libs—like the one McCarthy had in 2012’s This Is 40—but it doesn’t quite score a knockout.
McCarthy co-wrote the script with her husband Ben Falcone, who directed. Falcone (who played the air marshall in Bridesmaids) also plays the boss who fires her early in the movie.
Tammy is the kind of movie to watch on cable or Netflix sometime next year. You’ll be somewhat amused but not overwhelmed.
This light rom-com with (mostly) great music and (mostly) good-looking people has a couple of surprises. (These are not significant spoilers, so read on.) First, Keira Knightley is a decent singer. And, second, the relationship between her character and Mark Ruffalo’s does not go the way one might expect.
Greta James (Knightley) is the tag-along girlfriend of singer Dave Kohl (Adam Levine). She accompanies him to NYC to kick off a new record deal. Dan (Ruffalo) is a record company exec who has lost his mojo—he can longer launch a hit artist. He hears Greta sing and wants to record her music.
Dan is estranged from his wife Miriam (Catherine Keener). When Dan meets Greta, she has just left Dave after watching his reaction to a newly recorded song he plays for her. (She intuits that he has cheated on her while recording in LA.) So the scene is set for them to hook up, no? No. Both are focused on the music. (Although some of their time together is a bit flirtatious.)
Dan comes up with the idea to record Greta’s songs all around New York. Get a couple of good mikes and a laptop and go. Outside. On sidewalks. In alleys. In subway stations. Sidemen include Greta’s friend Steve (James Corden) and Mark and Miriam’s daughter Violet (Hailee Steinfeld).
Dan is old school. An early scene in the film shows him listening to CD’s by new artists while driving through Manhattan. Most are generic rhythmic pop. Dan is so disgusted by what he hears, he tosses most of them out the car window.
Adam Levine of Maroon 5 (and “The Voice” TV show) is a passable actor and is the movie’s best singer. Another Voice star Cee Lo Green has a small part in the film.
Begin Again is an R-rated movie that could easily have been rated PG-13, except for some bad language. There’s no sex, nudity or drug use. Why would writer/director John Carney (creator of the beloved 2006 film Once) feel the need to keep his movie off-limits to romance-minded teens?
Knightley and Ruffalo are fun to watch together. Begin Again is not a typical musical, but music is central to the film. There’s much to enjoy here.
Earth To Echo is the most derivative film I’ve seen in years. It has elements from The Goonies, E.T., Short Circuit, Stand By Me, Poltergeist, Blair Witch Project, The Matrix and District 9, among others. Those elements are crafted together in a film that can only be considered original if you’re a 10-year-old kid who hasn’t seen those aforementioned films.
This PG-rated family feature is perfect for the preteen and early teen crowd. Three boys are due to move from their homes in a Nevada subdivision to make way for a highway. On their last night together, they each tell their parents that they’ll be playing video games at another kid’s house and spending the night. Instead, the trio rides their bikes into the desert to see what’s up with these weird disturbances on their cell phones.
The three boys are Munch (Reese Hartwig), the cautious kid; Tuck (Brian “Astro” Bradley, resembling a full size Gary Coleman), who archives everything on video; and Alex (Teo Halm), the good-looking foster child. Halfway through their adventure, they are joined by Emma (Ella Wahlestedt) to get some girl power in the film.
Along the way they encounter the alien they name Echo who, like E.T., wants to go home. They take Echo under their wing and dash through an overnight adventure that eventually solves the mystery.
While E2E draws from other films, it has a contemporary look with much hand-held POV footage and the constant presence of smartphones. Directing a feature for the first time, Dave Green maintains a good tempo. The script by Henry Gayden manages to squeeze a good deal of plot—and character—into a 90-minute film.
Earth To Echo is a decent amusement for young kids. And for parents, it might be fun to see if you can come up with more movies—other than those listed up top—that the filmmakers have “borrowed” from to make E2E.
Obvious Child begins with 20-something comedian Donna Stern (Jenny Slate) talking on stage about stains on her underwear. Her standup routine includes highly personal observations, a la Louis CK, but Donna is not nearly as funny.
Offstage, she generates laughs. When her boyfriend dumps her, she goes to her apartment and humorously consumes a whole bottle of wine. Later, she stands across from the boyfriend’s place for some “light stalking” to see him walk out with his new love.
Along with the breakup, she learns that her day job at an independent bookstore will soon end. Life sucks. She drowns her sorrows by drinking to excess and hooking up for a one-night stand with a stranger, Max (Jake Lacy). When she wakes up she spots her undies with the aforementioned stains.
When Donna realizes she’s pregnant, Obvious Child gets into gear. She decides to get an abortion, scheduled for Valentine’s Day. But will she go through with the plan? What will her mother (Peggy Draper) say? Should she tell Max about the pregnancy and abortion plan and should he have a say in the matter?
It’s wise that Obvious Child does not get into the political and moral issues raised by abortion. It is a polarizing topic but abortion has been legal in the U.S. for several decades. Her decision forces Donna to grow up a bit and take responsibility, rather than continue to drift through her twenties.
Obvious Child might’ve worked better if Donna Stern were a funnier standup comedian. Some of her routines are personally cathartic. They advance the story, but lack consistently funny punch lines.
It may be a risky move to cast SNL alum Jenny Slate in the lead role, but she has real talent and shows potential for a good film future. Slate is funny, cute and likeable.
This small film (85 minutes) is not for everyone. Its dialogue and central story may be off-putting to many. But director and co-writer Gillian Robespierre is to be saluted for making a movie that’s not your cookie-cutter rom-com—not hardly!
Jersey Boys will delight most baby boomers. The music is terrific! John Lloyd Young does not look or sound exactly like Frankie Valli, but he can hit the high falsetto notes and deliver the goods.
Jersey Boys is not a definitive biopic. It’s the movie version of a stage musical. The script is by the same guys who wrote the book for the stage version.
Jersey Boys begins slowly with brief samples of Frankie’s singing and brushes with the law. It takes a a while before the Four Seasons sing their first hit “Sherry.” From that point on, Four Seasons hit songs come along at frequent intervals and all the performances are strong.
The other Four Seasons are Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza), Nick Massi (Michael Lomenda) and Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen). The addition of Gaudio, the songwriter, is a key episode of the group’s formative years.
Tommy considers himself the group leader. Unfortunately, he mismanages the group’s finances and gets them into trouble with the mob. Shady father figure “Gyp” DeCarlo (Christopher Walken) provides guidance to the group through the crisis.
Another crisis involves Frankie’s estranged daughter Francine (Freya Tingley) who dies of a drug overdose, which supposedly leads him to record “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” as a solo project. (In real life, the song was a hit in the summer of 1967 and Francine didn’t die until 1980. Extreme dramatic license, I’d say.) Young’s performance of the song, starting in a studio and switching to supper club is a highlight.
In Jersey Boys, each group member breaks the 4th wall and speaks directly to the audience at various points in the movie. This device may have worked better on stage. In director Clint Eastwood’s movie version, while it may move the narrative along, it diminishes the reality of what’s onscreen.
Speaking of Eastwood, the movie contains one of my favorite director cameos of all time. (That’s all I’ll say. A tease, yes, but no spoiler.)
The closing number of Jersey Boys, a street dance performance of “Oh, What A Night” is the perfect finish for a movie that is to be enjoyed for its music. And, as mentioned, the music is terrific!
You don’t have to be a gamer to enjoy the new Tom Cruise movie Edge of Tomorrow. And while the story features a man living the same day over and over, this film is very different from Groundhog Day.
Edge of Tomorrow, which opens on the 70th anniversary of D-Day, centers on a military invasion on a beach in France. The enemy this time (in the not too distant future) is a group of alien creatures who have invaded earth. They’re called “Mimics.” (They look like giant metallic spiders.)
William Cage (Tom Cruise) is an Army major who finds himself thrown into a combat unit stationed in London at Heathrow. The next day he hits the beach to attack the aliens. He’s fitted with cool automatic weapons strapped onto each arm. He is killed. And, so, we hit the reset button.
He goes back to the day before and his arrival at Heathrow. He keeps living the battle over and over again, gaining greater success with each replay, but ultimately dying each time.
With help from Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), a buff special forces soldier who has enjoyed some success against the Mimics, Cage gains insight and physical skill. She introduces him to Dr. Carter (Noah Taylor), a mad scientist type, who concludes that to stop the alien menace the “Omega” must be defeated.
Turns out that the Omega is at the Louvre in Paris. And underwater to boot! The journey to Paris is a long and arduous one for Cage and Rita, but, after numerous delays and side trips, they get there for the climactic battle.
Edge of Tomorrow is a fun, futuristic sci-fi action adventure. This is my favorite non-Mission Impossible Cruise movie since 2002’s Minority Report. Like many films of this genre, there are some WTF moments, but the Live, Die, Repeat structure works better on film than it sounds on paper. Gamers who’ve had characters die, only to instantly regenerate, will appreciate the way this film works.
Surprisingly, while there’s smoldering sexual tension between Cage and Rita, they never get beyond a single passionate kiss. One might’ve imagined their waking up together at film’s end, but the film’s end goes another way.
Tom Cruise is a genuine movie star and he carries Edge of Tomorrow with his talent and his teeth. Well done, Tom.
Like many of the fairy tales we heard as youngsters, Disney’s Maleficent contains some plot elements that are head-scratchers.
We meet the young Maleficent (Isobelle Molloy) when she’s an innocent girl fairy, living an idyllic life of flapping her wings and flying around an apparent paradise. She shares this happy universe with a number of creatures that look like refugees from Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter movies.
She forms a friendship with a human from the neighboring land of kings and queens, young Stefan (Michael Higgins). As they grow into teenagers, they continue as chums. But when they become adults, Maleficent (Angelina Jolie with cheeks sharp enough to slice bread) and Stefan (Sharlto Copley, who we met in District 9) see their relationship take a strange turn.
The dictionary definition of maleficent (“doing evil or harm; harmfully malicious”) gives a clue that things may not always continue to be goodness and light for her.
The king of Stefan’s home kingdom leads an ill-fated invasion of the fairyland and his guys are turned back thanks to Maleficent’s power. The king declares that whoever gets Maleficent’s wings will be king when he dies. Stefan, her old friend, sneaks in and manages to do the dirty deed and gains power while Maleficent loses some, but not all, of hers.
She places a curse on Stefan’s daughter Aurora (the remarkably cute Elle Fanning) that dooms her to go to sleep at age 16 and not be awakened until she gets a kiss that comes from true love. Aurora is raised in the woods by 3 fairies, characters that should be charming and memorable, but somehow lack those qualities.
Maleficent is always hovering nearby, monitoring the child’s growth. She has her sidekick Diavil (Sam Riley) alongside, turning him into whatever creature she fancies. He could pass for Orlando Bloom’s less good-looking younger brother.
Eventually, most of the characters live happily and others get by as they can. As mentioned, some of the things that happen are head-scratchers. For instance, just when we think we have Maleficent figured out, she changes her mind—like with that curse thing.
Maleficent is a good-not-great movie, with many wonderful and amazing images. Director Robert Stromberg’s lengthy movie resume is mainly as an effects guy. He does an excellent job of mixing live action by human actors with computer-generated effects.
But the big question remains: Is this movie too scary for little kids? I say yes. As an overprotective dad, I might’ve rated Maleficent PG-13. But it has been deemed PG. This ensures that a good number of little kids will have nightmares. Thank the MPAA, mom and dad.
A Million Ways To Die In The West is filled with moments of pure delight! Those moments are hilariously funny. Some moments are clever and inventive. Other moments are crude and cheap.
Unfortunately, AMWTDITW lacks cohesiveness as a movie. The plot is passable and provides a useful framework for Seth McFarlane to hang his moments on. But the script fails to get the rhythm necessary to keep the comedy moving at a good pace.
The problem is McFarlane. The man is mega-talented. He stars as sheep farmer Albert. He directs. And he is a co-writer of the film. But although he possesses arguably the best smirk in the business, he lacks the presence to prosper as a lead character on the big screen. (He may find ways to embellish that presence.)
As a director, he knows how to bring visual and verbal humor to a film while also telling a story. His 2012 film Ted works. A Million Ways delivers laughs and a story, but could have benefited from more judicious editing.
My favorite character in A Million Ways is Foy (Neil Patrick Harris), a dandy who runs a store that sells moustache-grooming supplies. He leads a wonderful musical number—written by Stephen Foster—about the importance of a man’s having a moustache. Foy later has a digestive system crisis that features low humor that leads to big laughs.
Anna (Charlize Theron) is the wife of gunslinger Clinch (Liam Neeson). Before Clinch shows up in the town of Old Stump, Anna has a platonic thing going with Albert who is heartbroken after being dumped by Louise (Amanda Seyfried). Louise has moved on the moustache man, Foy, amping up Albert’s dislike for the dandy.
The townsfolk also include Albert’s best friend Edward (Giovanni Ribisi) whose girlfriend Ruth (Sarah Silverman) refuses to engage in premarital sex, even though she is, by profession, a hooker.
The film has a few cool surprises, including cameo appearances. (There’s one bit that should NEVER have been included in a TV spot, but is. It’s huge spoiler.)
The soundtrack is classic. Joel McNeely brings an Aaron Copeland influence to many of his compositions. And Alan Jackson sings the closing theme song that has a classic feel.
A Million Ways To Die In The West, like Blazing Saddles, is a film that is likely to be enjoyed for decades. See it in the theater now and on TBS and TNT (with a cleaned-up dialogue version) in years to come.
David Craig Movies 