The Thin White Dude's Reviews - Southpaw

Directed by: Antoine Fuqua

Produced by: Todd Black

Jason Blumenthal

Steve Tisch

Peter Riche

Alan Riche

Antoine Fuqua

Jerry Ye

Screenplay by: Kurt Sutter

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal

Forest Whitaker

Rachel McAdams

Music by: James Horner

Cinematography by: Mauro Fiore

Editing by: John Refoua

Studio(s): WanDa Pictures

Riche Productions

Escape Artists

Fuqua Films

Distributed by: The Weinstein Company

Release date(s): July 24, 2015 (United States and United Kingdom)

Running time: 123 minutes

Country(s): United States

China

Language: English

Production budget: $25 million

Box-office revenue (as of publication): $70, 727, 879

As you can see, things got reduced in the reviewing terms there last week, but thankfully I can announce that it was due to the business of getting a number of different pieces of good news. Without giving away any spoilers, I can tell you now that not only will I be working as an extra on a major production, but I have been offered a place for the Cinemagic Short Film Academy. Both of these things came round rather quickly, the gig as an extra being quite unexpected, and I thought if I got at least one of these I'd be doing alright, but to get both is great. I don't want to get too high on a taste of glory, but it's nice to see that the wheels are turning, getting in motion now towards my real goals and ambitions. I don't want to wax lyrical too much, because I think I can leave that to a separate article in it's own right (after all, this is meant to be a review!), so, for all the latest and greatest as regards the movies, keep your eyes posted!

Today's review is for Southpaw, the sports drama directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Jake Gyllenhaal. While Fuqua is by no means small fry as far as filmmakers go (I actually liked last year's film version of The Equaliser with Denzel Washington, and of course there's Training Day), much of the publicity drummed up around this film has been on the physical transformation of Gyllenhaal. For those of you who don't know (if you're a regular reader here, how don't you?), I'm a big fan of Gyllenhaal, and while he's always been good, the past five years has seen a succession of back-to-back great performances, most notably in Denis Villeneuve's 2013 film Prisoners as the determined Detective Loki and in his unforgettable role as the ruthless career-climbing sociopath Lou Bloom in last year's Nightcrawler. Both of those performances won Gyllenhaal acting awards from yours truly, for Best Supporting Actor (Male) and Best Lead Actor (Male), so we've got on actor on board who right now is on a career high. Another notable member of Southpaw's crew is the late James Horner, the film's composer, who died shortly before the film's release, and it is the first of three posthumous works. There's a nice story involving his last score, as Fuqua is working on a remake of The Magnificent Seven presently, and found out from Horner's crew about a month after his death that the great composer had secretly written the compositions for the score, working off of the script and planning to surprise Fuqua with the finished work. Okay, so story goes that Billy Hope (Gyllenhaal) is a successful,  undefeated boxer and reigning World Light Heavyweight champion, and is convinced by his wife Maureen (Rachel McAdams) to retire while he's still at the top following an eye injury in his most recent fight. However, at a charity event for the orphanage where he and his wife grew up, contender Miguel 'Magic' Escobar taunts him, leading to a brawl which results in Escobar's brother Hector accidentally shooting and killing Maureen. Billy's life spirals out of control as he begins to abuse alcohol and drugs, with his house and belongings repossessed and losing the custody of his daughter Leila (Oona Laurence). This series of incidents leads Billy to try to remain sober and get his life back, getting a job at the gym of seasoned boxer Titus 'Tick' Wills (Forest Whitaker), and eventually convinces him to train him so he can make a comeback. Got it? Good!

To start off with the good, there are a number of solid performances at the front. In her small role as Maureen, Rachel McAdams is believable, and I think that Oona Laurence, who plays Hope's daughter Leila, carries herself off rather well, showing real promise for future prospects, and Forest Whitaker brings to the part of the stereotypical boxing trainer gravitas and credibility, elevating it beyond a cliche. However, if we are to talk performances, we have to talk about Jake Gyllenhaal. The publicity drummed up surrounding his physical transformation wasn't wrong, because he is absolutely shredded for this film. Gyllenhaal has got into shape before for the not-inappropriately forgotten Prince Of Persia film, but this is a whole other level altogether. This level of physicality suits the purpose of the Billy Hope character, as opposed to being a purely designer thing to indulge one's vanity. Just taking a look at Gyllenhaal as Hope, without opening his mouth, even though we see him in moments of real tenderness, we know from his shape and expressions that this is a man capable of extreme violence. There is a tension and energy that Gyllenhaal brings to this character that is palpable, and seeing those tendencies clashing with his true will and intent to rebuild his life makes for some of the film's best moments. I'll get to this more in a bit, but some the material here isn't particularly interesting, but watching Gyllenhaal and the possibilities of where he could take the character intrigued me, keeping me interested in the drama. His role serves the same purpose as Woody Harrelson's in Rampart a few years back, an Atlas holding the entire project upon his shoulders. In ten-fifteen years time, we're going to look retrospectively and realise just how hot of a streak Gyllenhaal's has been on in the 2010's. There are other aspects of the film which I liked. Some of the pieces of music in the film, namely Horner's score and the tracks from Eminem, Phenomenal and Kings Never Die, add to the flavour of the film. Also, technically it's a sound bit of work. Mauro Fiore is more often than not a DP who's always on form, and here, working in conjunction with John Refoua once again as the film's editor, the two compliment one another. The two both worked together previously on Avatar and The Equaliser, and I think that this chemistry comes across well in the final product. Finally, I thought that the sound design on the film was impressive. From the standpoint of depicting realistically some of the more brutal moments in the boxing ring whilst maintaining the subjective standpoint of Billy Hope's mental state(s), the film succeeds at both.

Now, it has to be said that while there are these things to the film's credit, I cannot say it is a great film or even a very good movie, because it is deeply flawed at it's heart. Screenwriter Kurt Sutter, most famous for creating a little show on FX known as Sons Of Anarchy, and has worked in the past on The Shield as a producer, writer, director and actor. So that's quite a CV, and however much I love The Shield, it could never bring me to acknowledge that this script has nothing new to offer the sports drama genre, or film as a whole, which is a shame considering The Shield changed cop shows forever. For all of it being written around and based upon Eminem's personal struggles, it has none of the unique and distinctive flavour of the rap artist's work. The film has been, perhaps unfavourably, been compared to Raging Bull, but instead feels like a mish-mash between Scorsese's picture and Rocky. What made those films so distinctive was that they both had authorial drive, in the case of the former the collaboration of Scorsese and Robert De Niro, the latter the semi-autobiographical tale of Sylvester Stallone, and although both went in very different directions, one a dark exploration of violent rage and masculinity, the other a social-realist fairy tale, they were equally admirable. They had an identity that was wholly theirs. Southpaw unfortunately comes across as something in between, striving to do Raging Bull but not being able to go all out and compromising to also Rocky's feel-good story. Do one or the other, not both. Also, none of the characters that were written on paper were anything more than a trope. I mean, the main character is called Billy Hope. Hope. That says it all. The reason I was interested was because of Gyllenhaal. Rachel McAdams' Maureen is the supportive wife whose only purpose to back up her husband, Forest Whitaker is the film's equivalent to Mickey Goldmill, even Fiddy, who the moment you see onscreen as a manager/promoter/shyster to Billy Hope, you know he's a shark that means trouble. The characters are dull and the plot moves in predictable ways. Also, I won't lie that I do wonder whether or not this is the right project for Fuqua. He's a solid director, but who knows if someone else couldn't have tended this project a bit better.

I have to say that if ever there was a script doctor needed, I'm calling Dr. Love right now! Kurt Sutter may have Sons Of Anarchy under his belt and worked on The Shield, but this is a script with dull, uninspiring characters, the plot moves in predictable ways, and as a whole there's a bit of an identity crisis going on, in that the film doesn't seem to know quite what it is. That said, warts and all, I still there's enough going on to give this film the proverbial thumbs up. Messy, yes, but there are a number of solid performances in the cast, and Jake Gyllenhaal continues on his roll, proving just how much of an acting powerhouse he is that he can almost single-handedly elevate this film into something of quality. Also, James Horner's score and some of Eminem's tracks for the film are good, and technically, particularly in the photography, editing and sound departments, it's an astute bit of work. Troublesome, but still a good watch. 

The Thin White Dude's Prognosis - 6.7/10

The Thin White Dude's Self-Diagnosis - Rolling

Southpaw Trailer

The Thin White Dude's Reviews - Magic Mike XXL

Directed by: Gregory Jacobs

Produced by: Reid Carolin

Gregory Jacobs

Channing Tatum

Nick Wechsler

Screenplay by: Reid Carolin

Based on: Characters by Reid Carolin

Starring: Channing Tatum

Matt Bomer

Joe Manganiello

Kevin Nash

Adam Rodriguez

Gabriel Iglesias

Amber Heard

Donald Glover

Andie MacDowell

Jada Pinkett Smith

Cinematography by: Steven Soderbergh

Editing by: Steven Soderbergh

Studio: Iron Horse Entertainment

Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures

Release date(s): July 1, 2015 (United States)

July 3, 2015 (United States)

Running time: 115 minutes

Country: United States

Language: English

Production budget: $14.8 million

Box-office revenue (as of publication): $117, 813, 057

I'm on fire baby! It's like on more concoctions than Rainer Werner Fassbinder in his day, and yet the only drugs to enter my system are caffeine and tobacco. Booyeah! I guess I just wanna ride this horse while I'm still on it because, not to take away from the reviewing side of things, this is just practice for what's to come. I've hinted at it previously, but I'll get to telling you when I feel like it, because the time is not right. It's coming, but not right now. So, now, for all the latest and greatest as regards to the movies, keep your eyes posted!

Today's film up for review is Magic Mike XXL, the follow-up to Steven Soderberg's surprise hit 2012 film. The biggest surprise of that film, notwithstanding the highly profitable grossing of $167 million off of it's $7 million, was that it was, as me and Daniel Kelly both agreed, far more potent a drama than we expected. We went in thinking this was going to a fun and occasionally outrageous comedy in the world of male stripping, but I in particular was taken by how poignant and strong the film was from that standpoint. Indeed, I went so far as to compare Channing Tatum to Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire, his performance as Mike Lane winning him (quite deservedly) the Kevin Spacey Award for Best Male Actor in a Leading Role from yours truly. Three years after the events of Magic Mike, Mike Lane (Tatum) is running his own furniture business, when he receives a call from his old buddy Tarzan (Kevin Nash) informing him that Dallas is gone. Believing his former boss has died, Mike drives to a hotel to discover his friends having a pool party, and that Dallas in fact had bailed on them to start a new show, but that the remaining Kings Of Tampa plan to end their careers on a high note by going on the road to a stripping convention in Myrtle Beach. After initially declining, Mike hears one of his old stripping tunes while at work, to which he dances, and reinvigorated, decides to join the rest of the gang on their trip.

To start with the good, I do have to once again compliment Channing Tatum. Granted, it's not a performance that ranks up there with that in the previous film or the hilarity he found in Greg Jenko in the Jump Street films, but he is a consummate professional. Just to watch the way this guy moves, making a simple wordless scene involving woodworking into a highly expressive emotional breakout is something to behold. Despite his being an actor of his times, he still brings something of that brooding quality that you'd see in Brando or James Dean, and as such there's a real classiness to him. I would love it if he sank his teeth into the lead role of a big awards contender because he just has that proverbial 'it' factor. Also good in their lesser capacities in this film are Kevin Nash, who continues to impress in his part as Tarzan, Jada Pinkett Smith at the best I've seen her in a long time as Rome, the owner of a strip club and a charismatic emcee. Finally on this front, Joe Manganiello's impromptu striptease in a gas station to the Backstreet Boys' I Want It That Way is a genuinely hysterical bit of work that had me bowled over in stitches at the sheer outrageousness and ridiculousness of it. Moments like this are where the film is at it's best. Although Steven Soderbergh is no longer at the helm, it is still very much the same crew involved, with Gregory Jacobs taking both producing and directorial duties, while Soderbergh retains his status as director of photography and editor. As DP, Soderbergh has the right understanding of how to frame the various actors, hiding their negatives and accentuating the positives. To use an example, anyone who knows Kevin Nash from his wrestling days knows he was a slow, methodical plodding giant in his prime twenty years ago, but Soderbergh works around his and others' limitations. In the case of Tatum, there are a lot of long takes, and it's clear that they just let him go and do his thing. This is best exemplified in the final dance performance/medley, with each of the characters doing their own piece, and it is an at times incredibly sensory experience just to watch. Knowing those who you are working with, and what they are good at and what they are not can be very helpful to a DP. The last thing I'd like to say is that considering how chaotic the whole outcome of the production could have been and the fact that it is, however good, a relatively perfunctory sequel, Gregory Jacobs does a good job of keeping everything together. It has problems (more of which in a jiffy), but Jacobs manages to ensure that it still remains funny, relatively engaging and entertaining.

Now, to get to the bad. Admittedly, I did not see Magic Mike as a movie designed for a sequel, nor do I consider this film's existence necessary. As I said, it's much of the same crew back on board, including screenwriter-producer Reid Carolin. I'm not going single him out because frankly I feel that everyone involved should have had a bit more self-awareness, as opposed to trying to milk this story dry, but Reid Carolin's screenplay lacks the depth, edge and three-dimensional qualities which made the last film so loveable. I mean, we've got Amber Heard here, who I like very much, in one of those nothing roles that does nothing for her talents, which is a shame really because it's the first time I've seen her since The Rum Diary. Instead, Magic Mike XXL is pieced together not with story or characters who have a legitimate arc that they follow but rather more like a series of sketches. Another of the problems that come with this structure is that some of these 'sketches' as I call them go on way too long, adding to a running time that could be considerably chopped. In that regard, especially given his efficiency as an artist, Soderbergh as an editor should have submitted a respectable cut between ninety and one-hundred minutes, because there's whole scenes that could have been excised. The momentum and pace built up by the excitement of certain sequences is just brought to a grinding halt at times by these scenes, and as such the film has a very stop-start feeling about it.

Magic Mike XXL, or Magic Mike Lite, as it would be more appropriately titled, is a problematic film, with a choppy screenplay that consists of sketches rather than story, and should have been edited with a great deal more efficiency. However, call me overly generous, but my overall feeling's for the film are largely positive. Channing Tatum is forever a consummate pro and has that 'it' factor that so few possess, and a number of the rest of the cast, specifically Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash and Jada Pinkett Smith are also good. The movie is also well-shot, Soderbergh quite clearly working around the abilities of his performers and making a good looking picture to boot. As director, Gregory Jacobs does a good job of reigning things in and getting out of what could have been real messy at least a somewhat engaging, funny and entertaining movie. I think they have suitably squeezed everything they can out of Magic Mike now!

The Thin White Dude's Prognosis - 6.3/10

The Thin White Dude's Self-Diagnosis - Good

P.S. Hello to Elizabeth Banks

Magic Mike XXL Trailer

The Thin White Dude's Reviews - Furious 7

Directed by: James Wan

Produced by: Neal H. Moritz

Vin Diesel

Michael Fottrell

Screenplay by: Chris Morgan

Based on: Characters created by Gary Scott Thompson

Starring: Vin Diesel

Paul Walker

Dwayne Johnson

Michelle Rodriguez

Tyrese Gibson

Chris Bridges

Jordana Brewster

Djimon Hounsou

Kurt Russell

Jason Statham

Music by: Brian Tyler

Cinematography by: Stephen F. Windon

Marc Spicer

Editing by: Christian Wagner

Leigh Folsim Boyd

Dylan Highsmith

Kirk M. Morri

Studio(s): Original Film

One Race Films

Media Right Capital

China Film

Distributed by: Universal Pictures

Release date(s): April 1, 2015 (TCL Chinese Theatre, Hollywood Premiere)

April 3, 2015 (United States and United Kingdom)

Running time: 137 minutes

Country: United States

Language: English

Production budget: $190 million

Box-office revenue (as of publication): $1, 511, 726, 205

Yeah, okay, I'm on a bit of a mad spree right now. See this is what happens when I push a button. Mad things happen and I just have fire coming out of my fingertips. See? Anywho, for those of you who missed them, I posted articles on Top 10 Movies Hipsters Tried To Ruin (But As With Everything In Life, Failed Miserably In The Process) (a title to match that of the full one of Dr. Strangelove) and a review for Child 44. Check 'em out. See what you make of it. Anywho, with guaranteed reviews on the way for Magic Mike XXL, Southpaw, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Jurassic World, Terminator Genisys and The Lazarus Effect, be sure to keep your eyes posted!

So up under the knife here is Furious 7 (or Fast 7, or Fast & Furious 7, or whatever the hell they're calling these films). We all know the preface to this latest release in the franchise, but I feel it's necessary to recap and give my five dimes. During a Thanksgiving production break while shooting the film, longtime franchise player Paul Walker died in a single vehicle accident on November 30, 2013, causing Universal to put production on hold indefinitely. Walker was never the best of actors, but he was certainly beloved by fans of the franchise and it's cast and crew, who lost not only a colleague, but a close personal friend. Within weeks of Universal putting the film on hold, Vin Diesel announced that filming would resume in April and would be released in April of 2015. In Walker's place, stand-ins including his brothers Caleb and Cody were used, and in scenes requiring his face, CGI techniques similar to those used in the place of Oliver Reed in Gladiator in order to simulate his appearance. So, Furious 7 was finished, essentially as a tribute to Paul Walker, and fans flocked to cinemas in homage to their fallen hero. The Fast & Furious franchise has always done good box-office, and has steadily been earning more as each instalment goes by (Fast & Furious 6 earned $789 million worldwide), but Furious 7 grossed ridiculous numbers, earning over $1.5 billion worldwide, and currently stands as the fifth highest-grossing film of all time. I think that just shows the outpouring of love that this series has developed over the years, especially in recent years as they've decided to eschew the well-worn niche of street racing and make the action surrounding the films more based upon heists. So, plot goes that Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), Bryan O'Connor (Paul Walker) and the rest of their team have returned to the United States, having received amnesty for their past crimes in Fast & Furious 6, until Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), a rogue special forces assassin seeking to avenge his comatose younger brother, kills one of their crew and them all in danger once again. Got it good?

Starting off with the good, the thing that I have most enjoyed about the recent instalments in this franchise is that they have shifted the focus away from being specifically 'car' movies and are more heist-based caper movies. This is a formula that produces a near-infinite amount of possibilities, both in terms of storyline and a rotating ensemble cast, and Furious 7 is no different. Alongside Diesel, Walker, Dwayne Johnson and the usual bunch, here we've got Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, Djimon Hounsou, Tony Jaa and Ronda Rousey. The key thing as well is that each of these performers, even if, like Jaa and Rousey's minor roles, they are implemented well into the overall fold. The Stath makes for a legitimately menacing villain and Russell is a welcome addition as the leader of a covert ops team. As such, there is a stronger group dynamic in this one film than Sylvester Stallone ever achieved over the course of his three Expendables pictures. As I highlighted previously in my review for the previous film, I love how they've totally embraced the ridiculousness and absurdity, just going all out for the stunts and wanton destruction. If you are an action stunt fetishist then this is totally your thing; you've got chaotic car chases in a variety of locations such as Azerbaijan and Abu Dhabi, insanely destructive fight scenes (basically any time there's a clash involving Diesel, Johnson and/or The Stath, there's at least as much carnage as a fight from Dragonball Z), you name it, they've got it. Fast & Furious 6 won my Vic Armstrong Award for Best Stunt Work in 2013, and Furious 7 is certainly in the running for it. The film also contain much of the same crew 'behind the scenes,' as it were, so it has a trademark flourish to the cinematography and it is generally a well-paced and edited picture. The key new addition comes in the director's chair, with horror director James Wan taking over the mantle after longtime series helmsman Justin Lin, who directed the last four films, left due to Universal putting pressure on him for an accelerated schedule to make a sequel following the last film, which would have meant Lin would have to begin pre-production on Furious 7 during post-production of Fast & Furious 6. Despite this change in lineup and the long shadow of Paul Walker lingering over the proceedings, Wan delivers an assured, confident film which shows that the man has talents that extend outside the horror genre. There are so many tangibles involved, not just with big-budget filmmaking as a whole, but this production in particular, that could have seen things go awry, but he and the rest of them nailed it. While I didn't find it as outright entertaining as Fast & Furious 6, I do have to say that there is a fair amount of emotional oomph to the film, which feels surprisingly hefty and legitimate whenever they do decide to sit down and get serious. You feel that the warmth, love and camaraderie this group carries is something special, and is a fitting tribute to Paul Walker.

Now we get to the tricky bit. I know that the fans of this franchise (of which I can include myself) are absolutely devoted, and are going to be extra sensitive when it comes to people critiquing this particular film. I'm never one to compromise myself with regards to my opinions, so don't say I didn't give you advance notice. I like these films. Indeed, they've gotten better as the years have gone. However, it doesn't change the fact that we are still yet to get a truly great Fast And The Furious film. Just gonna put that out there, and when it comes to Furious 7, I'll tell you why. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Do I find it a loving tribute to Paul Walker? Yes. Can I remember an iota of the actual plot of the film itself? No. While the stunts and the emotional connection might be there, there needs to some fire, some electricity, to kickstart the heart of the central story. A lot of the time, when 'story' comes into play, we get a little soliloquy from Vin Diesel about "family," and also, I do have to ask, how many times are this group going to be brought out of retirement? Yeah, I get it, they're reluctant heroes, but two movies in a row I've seen them leaving behind beautiful tropical beaches and a variety of exotic locales to blow shit up. I manage to enjoy the films despite every sense coming through my pores telling me otherwise, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm a guy who wants a story to follow, and unfortunately, story is secondary here as it usually is in the rest of the franchise. Don't get me wrong, it's a largely positive response to the film, but I have to be measured here folks. Oh, and while I like the See You Again song and it's usage, I'm still tetchy about Brian Tyler's music.

In short, while I do feel that story as a whole is secondary here, as it is in the rest of the franchise, I still found myself having a good time with Furious 7. The ensemble cast carries a group dynamic that I'm sure Stallone wishes he could replicate for his Expendables films, the wide variety of stunts involving car chases and fist fights are of a consistently high standard, and the crew carried over from previous instalments carry over to give the picture it's stylistic flourishes and pacing. James Wan is a welcome addition to the franchise, overseeing with assurance and confidence the film's many tangibles, ensuring that the long shadow of Paul Walker does not become a dark one, and that, with this loving tribute to a lost comrade, the future is still very bright for this franchise.

The Thin White Dude's Prognosis - 7.6/10

The Thin White Dude's Self-Diagnosis - Alright (still got the bug!)

Furious 7 Trailer

The Thin White Dude's Reviews - Child 44

Directed by: Daniel Espinosa

Produced by: Ridley Scott

Michael Schaefer

Greg Shapiro

Screenplay by: Richard Price

Based on: Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

Starring: Tom Hardy

Gary Oldman

Noomi Rapace

Joel Kinnaman

Paddy Considine

Vincent Cassel

Jason Clarke

Music by: Jon Ekstrand

Cinematography by: Philippe Rousselot

Edited by: Dylan Tichenor

Studio(s): Summit Entertainment

Worldview Entertainment

Scott Free Productions

Distributed by: Lionsgate

Release date: April 17, 2015 (United Kingdom)

April 17, 2015 (United States, limited)

Running time: 137 minutes

Country(s): United States

United Kingdom

Czech Republic

Romania

Language: English

Production budget: $50 million

Box-office revenue (as of publication): $3, 324, 330

It's been seven months since I've written a review for a film, so on this one you'll have to excuse me if I seem relatively rusty. Work has been very busy, and as such I had to take a significantly longer period of time off than what I'm used to. I've always said though, I want to keep at this reviewing shebang for at least ten years before I decide to ride off into the sunset, so by my count you've still got at least two more years of my ass. Despite my inactivity on the blogosphere, I won't say much about what I've been doing in my absence, but I'll just let you know that I have been busy in a number of other departments. I'll deliver the good news when the time is ready. Anywho, for all the latest and greatest as regards the movies, keep your eyes posted!

Today's film up for review is Child 44. Now, admittedly, I haven't seen many movies this year, but now that I've finally jumped onto the whole subscription-based streaming service shebang (yes, I actually have Netflix now), it means I can do a lot of catching up and still go to the cinema on a semi-regular basis, despite my various work schedules, projects and distractions. Child 44 was one of these films. Based on Tom Rob Smith's 2008 novel of the same name, it boasts an ensemble cast of international stars including Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Noomi Rapace, Joel Kinnaman, Paddy Considine, Jason Clarke, Vincent Cassel, Charles Dance, and the weight of having Ridley Scott's clout behind it as a producer. So, all fingers were pointing at a potentially strong film, but the film was critically derided and tanked at the box-office upon release, earning only $3.3 million off of it's $50 million budget. However, I saw the film before I knew all these details, and I have followed next to nothing when it comes to film reviews this year, so I had an open mind going in. The story is set during Stalin's rule in the Soviet Union in the 1950s, with war hero turned Ministry of State Security (MGB) agent Leo Davidov (Hardy) uncovering a strange series of brutal child murders. However, because Soviet doctrine states that only capitalism creates serial, and the MGB leadership refuses to acknowledge the deaths as murders. Meanwhile, as his partner's son is murdered by the serial killer, his wife Raisa (Noomi Rapace) is accused of being disloyal to the state. Leo stands by his wife, refusing to support the accusation, possibly manufactured by Vasili Nikitin (Joel Kinnaman), a ruthlessly ambitious and amoral MGB agent, and he is disgraced and forced to take a lower militia position in the town of Volsk. After more child murders are discovered in Volsk, Leo and Raisa convince his new commander General Nesterov (Gary Oldman) to help them, and their investigations reveal that the killer has claimed at least forty-four victims. Got it? Good!

Now that we have that insane level of basil exposition out of the way (going over the plot again is always one of my least favourite parts of a review, especially given a lot of people aren't interested in such tedious points), let's get down to business. To start off with the good, that is a star-studded line up of a cast, and I'd be denying if I didn't say that there were some good performances. Tom Hardy, although being saddled with a rather nondescript protagonist, brings suitable presence and weight to the character of Leo. Although it's clearly not one of his best roles, it's easy to see why he's taking over the world in 2015, what with Mad Max: Fury Road, Legend and the upcoming The Revenant all under his belt. As always, Gary Oldman is watchable onscreen, but then again Oldman could make watching paint dry watchable. Vincent Cassel shares a number of the film's best onscreen dialogues with Tom Hardy, in particular the scene when Leo has to tell his friend that his son's death was an 'accident.' Finally, Paddy Considine shows once again his range of talents in a part that in a lesser man's hands could have turned out negatively. None of these performances frankly are what you could call 'great,' but they are relatively noteworthy. The best thing Child 44 has going for it in fact is it's production value. $50 million is not a small sum, but it is all up there onscreen. The film's onscreen world is a believable depiction of the Soviet Union in the 1950s. The team on production design did a terrific job in making locations in the Czech Republic and Croatia match that of the time depicted onscreen. Also, the costume and make-up/hair departments have quite clearly spent a lot of time researching and attempting to replicate the actual period look. This is all captured rather well by cinematographer Philippe Rousselot. Now, while it has been argued (understandably perhaps) that the film looks ugly, I disagree in that what Rousselot has done with the colour palette is go for authenticity, and as far as I'm concerned, if the world looks ugly because it's meant to, then that's okay with me.

So, I must say, I didn't feel as negatively about Child 44 as some people did. However, it is still only a decent movie at best, and I'll tell you why. For starters, as far as plot's concerned it's a sprawling, over-convoluted mess of a picture. Just for comparison's sake (perhaps an unfair one, sure), I watched The Godfather again last night. The Godfather is one of those labyrinthine epics which justifies it's length and sprawling nature because Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo spent so much time fleshing out that world from the ground up, developing with three-dimensional characters and making decisions about what direction they go which make perfect sense. In the case of Child 44, now while I haven't read the book, screenwriter Richard Price does not fully flesh out the central characters never mind the supporting ones, and as such I am just not going to fully engaged in the many subplots involved here if I can't even get involved in the central one. Either spend more time in building up the characters so we can believe in them or get rid of some of the subplots, because it has about two or three too many. Also in that regard, while I generally like and admire his work as an editor, I think that Dylan Tichenor should have been on this film's case like the plague, eliminating unnecessary details with a fine tooth-comb. Taking twenty or thirty minutes out of Child 44 might not have helped it make any more sense, but at least it would have been much more tolerable than it's gluttonous 137-minute running time. I can't really say much about Jon Ekstrand's score because I don't remember it, but that probably equates in my memory to 'generic, murder-by-numbers etc.,' usual Dude rhetoric on these matters. Finally, although it must have been a daunting job to try and keep all of these elements under control, I feel that Daniel Espinosa's direction lacks focus and true authorial intent.

Well, there you have it, in quick time as well, I've managed to bang out my first review for a movie from 2015 (at long last!). Child 44 is by no means as bad a movie as many are cracking it up to be. It has some good performances from Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Vincent Cassel and Paddy Considine, a well-crafted and believable period mise-en-scene and cinematography that helps accentuate the legitimacy of that setting. However, it is a sprawling mess with too many subplots, undeveloped characters, less choppy editing than I care for considering it's gluttonous running time and lacking the focus to take it in the right direction it needs to go.

The Thin White Dude's Prognosis - 5.1/10

The Thin White Dude's Self-Diagnosis - Buzzing (now that the festival season's over, I can get back to not just reviewing but writing as a whole. I love it!)

P.S. Child 44 receiving limited release in the United States shows how much Lionsgate gave up on what could have potentially been a tent-pole film if marked properly. Hard property to market, mind...

Child 44 Trailer

The Thin White Dude's Lisztomania Vol. 1 - Top 10 Movies Hipsters Tried To Ruin (But As With Everything In Life, Failed Miserably In The Process)

Just to make things clear from the get go, I despise the hipster mentality and elements of it's subculture, and because I'm bored, have a day off work and don't feel like writing anything of any real significance, let me assure you that this is going to be a completely biased article. These people who I feel to be cultural parasites are in the line of fire today as I shoot from the hip.

The hipster, with their skinny jeans, plaid/flannel shirts, rolling tobacco, stupid haircuts with resplendent and overly-groomed facial hair, are often used as a go-to label for people to insult others, but what is a hipster? As I mentioned already, I have a pretty certain idea of what a hipster is, so here you have it: to me, the hipster (and the subculture as a whole) is a reaction to all of the stuff that is being more or less force-fed to us in contemporary society. Before, people could just choose to listen to their CDs instead of the hits in the charts on the radio, could rent a video instead of watching television, or if all else failed just read a damn book. With the advent of social media, the continuing prominence of the Internet (today, largely ubiquitous) and the absolute bombardment of advertising, these things are nigh-on unavoidable. As such, people are rightfully and righteously pissed off, and this negative effects tend to have to two different kinds of spawn; on the one hand, you get genuine 'trend-setters,' if you will, people who don't actively fit or class themselves as part of any subculture, who live against the fold of contemporary society not out of active choice but because that's who they are; on the other hand, you've got the hipster, the aberration, the diametrical opposite of what a true trend-setter is, people who actively choose to go against the fold because it's considered 'alternative.'

When I was about fourteen or fifteen, I don't know how or when exactly, but at some point in my life something clicked and I had the same reaction to everything around me as those two types of individuals I outline above. The good little Catholic altar boy began to question, and when I didn't get the answers I was seeking, I was pissed off, angry, full of angst at the lack of love and romance in my life. I grew my hair out, got political, read books like a machine and since I've left school sported a beard for a lot of the past five years. Music wise, I got into metal and punk primarily, the patron saints of my youth being the likes of Nirvana, Metallica, The Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath and David Bowie. Now, while at the time it was dismissed by my elders as a "phase," the good people around me generally acknowledge that this hairy degenerate cinephile is who I am. Call me pompous, but the fact that into adulthood I continue to live in this, my own natural way, legitimises, in fact, the legitimacy of my character. I could have went the hipster way of gradual assimilation into society, sitting in my early-thirties having dinner parties and making light of the follies of my youth. For me, these were character-forming years that made me who I am today, a "real human being," to quote a phrase. Hipsters are a spit in the face of people who strive for authenticity in the often confusing, at times terrifying postmodern landscape of the information age. "Hipsterism fetishizes the authentic" and then "regurgitates it with a winking inauthenticity." To actively try to live against the vein is to fall like sheep into a different but in fact rather similar fold to the unreality of popular culture.

The message: just be yourselves, for god's sake!

Well, that went on for a bit! I detest falseness, so you'll have excuse me and indulge the occasional high-fallutin' rhetoric that has preceded and will continue throughout this list. I have a little bit of an informal criteria that these films have to tick in order to make it:

• Alternative - perhaps the key to the hipster's heart, the fact that there are other, more popular options to be had, but regardless of quality, they adopt the less popular films.
• Irony - a knowing, cheeky humour that plays in references, self-referentiality which differs from what something appears to be on the surface
• Quirk - involving characters or humour that borders on eccentricity, outside of the ordinary
• Cool - no standard definition, but a stand-out, unique artistic style and traits
• Darling - a director or actor who has been accepted as an "auteur" or "indie" in some way, shape or form ("Hollywood need not apply. Tom Cruise may be a great actor, but he's in way too many popular movies." - A Hipster)
• Genre - gits into traditional genre confines, but does something different within those confines
• Closet Romantics - appeals to the idea that despite the protagonist most of the time being outsiders of some sort, ultimately they are looking melancholy star-gazers looking for love
• Transgression - features themes or content that most people will never do in their own lifetime
• Awards (or lack thereof) - the fact that the Academy Awards et al fail to acknowledge their beloved, which will no doubt in retrospect be viewed as a mistake ("Pan's Labyrinth didn't even win Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars, it lost to a conventional German drama movie which I haven't even seen" - A Hipster. "That 'German drama movie' you haven't seen, The Lives Of Others, happens to be the better movie. If you haven't seen it, you're not in the discussion, so shut up you baboon!" - Me) 
• Score/Soundtrack - featuring either use of non-original songs from different periods or an unconventional score.  
• Nostalgia/Retro - the final and a major feature of the hipster movie complex: a harkening back towards a different time period, made all the more bizarre especially given that most hipsters will not have actually grown up during that period

Top 10 (in alphabetical order)

1. The Big Lebowski - 

A terrific way to start this list. When the Coen brothers burst onto the scene with films such as Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing and Barton Fink, they were rightly accepted with open arms for their irreverent sense of humour and defiance of genre conventions. However, when after the universal acceptance of Fargo their follow-up The Big Lebowski disappointed at the box-office and got mixed reviews, the hipsters had their movie. Fargo and their later No Country For Old Men were way too widely praised, and Lebowski ticks just about everything hipster box: there's irony, eccentric characters, the Coens unique style, the darling(s) in Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro et al, the bucking of the traditional whodunnit, following the exploits of a layabout stoner with a penchant for bowling and White Russians (Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice owes alot to this film, I think), plus the soundtrack, featuring Bob Dylan, Captain Beefheart, Elvis Costello, Nina Simon and The Gypsy Kings' cover of The Eagles' Hotel California. It even has it's own religion (Dudeism) and film festival (Lebowski Fest)! 

Now, while it may have all the hipster demon's ingredients, don't let that fool you, because this is an outrageously humorous and fun comedy that is a pleasure to watch every time. Jeff Bridges is terrific as The Dude, as is John Goodman as Walter, and there's a whole litany of brilliant characters who may only have one or two scenes, but provide a whole lot of laughs. Hipsters begone, The Big Lebowski is ours!

2. City Of God -

Even at a fairly young age (and as a budding cinephile), I remember when City Of God came out and the attention it received. It's a kinetic firecracker of contemporary cinema, and one of the finest films to come out since the turn of the century. However, the fact is is that it is, for all of it's 'world cinema' (a term I detest) qualities, a rather accessible film. Labelled upon release as "the Brazilian Goodfellas," it's an episodic crime saga spanning two decades and has a score/soundtrack which features both the driving drumbeats of Antonio Pinto and Ed Cortes and songs such as Carl Douglas' Kung Fu Fighting. It became massively popular at home (the highest-grossing film in 2003 in Brazil) and abroad, bagging four Academy Award nominations. Unfortunately, for all it's brilliance, City Of God has become one of those populist 'world cinema' pictures that hipsters regularly cite as a go-to film when espousing their worldly knowledge in international cultures. Try to engage in a dialogue about French filmmaker Marcel Camus' excellent 1959 picture Black Orpheus and their brains will implode!

City Of God transcends this with the immediacy with which it addresses it's subject matter. For all of the more stylish qualities in the editing and music, there's something that feels so truthful in the layered portrayal of life in the Cidade de Deus suburb of Rio de Janeiro. The dialogue is conversational and often outrageously funny, the characters and story full of depth and poignancy. At times, it's also staggering in the abrupt brutality of its violence. 

3. A Clockwork Orange -

From the opening titles, shot and initial narration in the first scene of the film, I fell in love with A Clockwork Orange. For a long time, it was my favourite film, and I'd still include it in my top ten, maybe top five of all-time. However, that beginning also sees the hallmarks of a hipster film. I mean, come on; you've got that twisted Warholian production design, Wendy Carlo's synthesised perversion of classical music and, of course, the sociopathic delinquent protagonist Alex (played to charming perfection by Malcolm McDowell), who revels in the heinous acts of rape and ultraviolence he denigrates his victims with. Also, with thematic content concerning free will and thought control, thy hipster can read into this as a metaphor for his existential struggle to live in a world concerned at oppressing his 'individuality.'

Beware though, because A Clockwork Orange's moral messages transcend such simple readings, positing that the viewer ask more than just the base surface questions. Amidst all of this, you have a director at the peak of his powers (yes, this is Stanley Kubrick's best film) who despite letting his characters go wild in this mad little ditty, exhibits the directorial intent of a true master. 

4. Drive -

Ah, yes. If ever there was a great movie which hipsters tried to ruin, this is it. The great contemporary hipster movie, when Drive came out in 2011 I was very positive about, and considered it among the best films of the year. Upon release though, hipsters flocked to this movie. Featuring Ryan Gosling (perhaps this generation's epitome of 'indie darling') in the central part of a stuntman moonlighting as a getaway driver, it boasts a retro soundtrack with tracks which have become cult classics in their own right (the amount of DJ/electronic gigs I've worked were Nightcall was on the PA immediately before a group or artist came on is countless) and fitting in with this whole eighties-electronica/synth revival thing going on (among which I have to say there are some artists I listen to). Also, the visual style of the film, which director Nic Winding Refn puts down to his colour-blindness, starts out with it's contrasting palette, and there's a lot of Gosling and Carey Mulligan's Irene looking long into the abyss while ethereal pulsating dream/synth-pop waifs sing about real human beings and being under a spell. Melancholy, melancholy, melancholy. 

However, despite these things being attached, Drive is an excellent film. I watched it again recently and it reminded me of just distinctive the picture is how even near a half-decade after it's release it still feels fresh and stands out from the pack. It's a genre-inflected, neon-lit fairy tale, and while the fickle hipsters may have adopted it as one of their own (you want fickle, just look at their negative reactions to Only God Forgives. Oh I'm sorry, were you expecting Drive 2?), but I still love it.

5. Edward Scissorhands -

Ah yes, Tim Burton, one of the resident hipster go-to filmmakers when it comes to them discoursing with their beginner's guide of cine-literacy how much they love the movies. As far as his whole oeuvre, I find his work to be at times rather patchy, lacking objective self-awareness as far as quality control, and while I admire his distinctive qualities, I don't think he's up there with the very best of filmmakers. This film has Burton's and the hipster film's trademarks: fronted by an indie darling in Johnny Depp, full of starkly juxtaposed sets, middle-American suburbia clashing with the gothic design's of the mansion on the hill and the thematic content involving an isolated loner who is rejected from society purely on the basis of his looks. 

Despite this things in the hipster's favour, Edward Scissorhands breaks out from because of the sincerity with which it is executed. It's a beautifully told fairy tale of people coming-of-age, romance, heartbreak and adventure. Johnny Depp, for all of his charisma, has never been better here, channelling a tremendous amount of sympathy in a role that is largely silent, and you get the sense that there is something legitimate here. After the tremendous box-office success of Batman, Tim Burton could have done anything, but he chose something small, yet close to home. He put his heart and soul into the picture and twenty-five years on it's his best film to date.

6. Let The Right One In -

Let's make on thing perfectly clear: however much they may deny it, hipsters love vampires. They're moody, broody and occasionally a wee bit melancholy. So why aren't they jumping on the Twilight bandwagon, eh? Maybe it's too commercial, it's too mainstream, maybe it just lacks the rich emotional complexity that it so valiantly strives for. Enter Let The Right One In. Released in it's home country of Sweden in Autumn 2008, the same season Twilight fever was abound, and over the course of the next year, 'the Swedish vampire film,' as it became known in film circles before most had even seen it, a reputation was cultivated around it. This was the movie that really delved into the thick of things, twisted and bending the genre on it's head, that wasn't a PG-13 picture and wasn't pulling any punches, and most importantly, was a viable alternative to the inescapable juggernaut of Twilight. So of course hipsters flocked...

... and hipsters were subsequently spurned. The film, adapted by Tomas Alfredson and John Ajvide Lindqvist (one of my favourite writers) from the latter's novel of the same name, is indeed a movie that turns the genre on it's head, but at the same what many don't understand is that it also embraces much of the tropes involved with the vampire mythos. Furthermore, it's an elegantly crafted piece of work and beautifully acted by Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson, whose relationship as Oscar and Eli is the crux of this picture. What really separates this from the pack is the sincerity with which the whole thing is done. This is not part of some grand design to do something different. Ajvide Lindqvist, as he does with much of his literature, firmly entrenches these fantastical elements in the real world, making them feel familiar and genuine.

7. Mulholland Drive -

Another resident hipster filmmaker, Mr. David Lynch. It's not exactly anything new to say that David Lynch has a very unique approach to many aspects of filmmaking, from sound design to lighting to set decorating to soundtracks, right down to dense and occasionally complicated stories. Mulholland Drive is perhaps both the go-to example when suggesting a beginner's guide to Lynch (although my choice'd be Blue Velvet). Given that the film is such a hotbed of discussion, one can quite easy imagine a litter of hipsters with overly-groomed facial hair sitting in a coffee shop (how very meta, discussing Lynch in a coffee shop, oh ho ho!) musing over the picture that none them really quite understand or have any conclusive answer for because most of them can't think for themselves. That's an image I want out of my head right about now.

What does it for me with this film is that for all of it's rich complexity and food for thought (and don't get me wrong, it is, and I also have my conclusions as to what it's all about), it's a film that is primarily, for me, a sensory experience. You see, you hear and more or less feel the tapestry of this picture as it drifts along, floating as though in the unconscious world of dreams. Everything about this film, the startling imagery and sound design, often working as separate parts in a cohesive units, the strangely powerful performances by Naomi Watts and Laura Harring, the many pieces in the great big puzzle of Lynchian wonder, all adds up to a big, rather paradoxical question-mark. It's about how you interpret that question mark which will see the blue box open and unveil the true answer.

8. Pulp Fiction -

Perhaps the ultimate hipster movie, Pulp Fiction ticks just about every box on the hipster list: it's alternative, ironic, quirky, stylish, directed by an indie darling filmmaker hot off of his first picture, full of stars, both cult and classic, does some very transgressive things inside standard genre trappings, has the closet romantics looking for the meaning of life, a retro feel, won the Palme d'Or at Cannes (the hipster's film festival, even though it's as commercial as Hollywood), has an eclectic soundtrack and is full of nods and references to pop culture and film lore, giving hipsters the opportunity to spew insider knowledge about films they've never even seen. Long, fucking, sentence!

What saves Pulp Fiction though is that, although I ride on Quentin Tarantino and his recent work a lot, it's easy to forget that at one time he was one of the most fascinating, bold and audacious filmmakers around. Reservoir Dogs was a real eye-opener that made you go, "this guy's got class," and then Pulp Fiction came along like a firecracker had been launched under the table of a mildly influential politician at an evening gala. Although every young writer-director now tries to write and direct like Tarantino, when he first did it nobody was making movies like this. Nothing compare to this film, not even Tarantino himself, who has been endlessly repeating the formula for twenty years since in his films, most of which could do with being an hour shorter and have none of the density or rich tapestry to be found in this film. However much I rag on him, I'll never deny him the masterpiece that is Pulp Fiction.

9. Shaun Of The Dead -

Why is Shaun Of The Dead a hipster movie? After all, isn't it quite a popular film, and Lord knows, hipsters hate popular films? Well, it's a genre film, but that mish-mash of horror-comedy so it isn't explicitly one or the other, it has a throwback learning towards nostalgia and (most importantly) there is a strong sense of ironic, tongue-in-cheek humour, schooling the wannabe genre enthusiasts in referential tidbits to horror films that they might not ever end up bothering their arses to see.

Shaun Of The Dead defies such a label though because it is one of the few horror-comedies (alongside the likes of The Bride Of Frankenstein, An American Werewolf In London and Re-Animator) which manages to be simultaneously hilarious and legitimately scary. Looking back on Shaun Of The Dead, it's actually quite startling that they don't hold back on the violence and dare to match the levels of brutality of found in the likes of George A. Romero's Dead films or Lucio Fulci's Zombie Flesh Eaters (and that's saying something). Finally, over and above it's status as a comedic homage to the zombie film genre, it's also in itself one of the finest entries into that genre period. 

10. Waking Life -

I love Richard Linklater, but man do hipsters flock to his pictures. There's a bevy of films in his oeuvre that I could have selected, from Slacker to Dazed And Confused to the Before trilogy, but in this case I've decided to go with Waking Life. I was first introduced to this film by a good friend a number of years ago and was mesmerised, but clearly also were the hipsters. Why, you say? Well, everything about the picture screams alternative, from the uniquely stylised rotoscoping to some of the legitimately transgressive topic matter, which also gives the hipster a crash course in philosophy for them to pontificate about later on, and the fact it's the brainchild of Linklater, a bonafide indie darling.

Waking Life, despite this, is an intelligent, thought-provoking film. The terrific thing about Linklater's episodic collection of philosophical ideas is that they are just that, ideas. We are not supposed to take them as gospel (for some of the ideas posed directly contradict others in the picture), but instead form our own conclusions for them. It's a starter point. Furthermore, between these ideas and the rotoscoping, it's a cerebral experience that defies traditional narrative logic, floating fluidly between dreams and reality, blurring both of their lines into one individual piece. In a rich body of work which includes the aforementioned films, A Scanner Darkly, Bernie and the widely-acclaimed Boyhood, Waking Life remains one of his most accomplished films.

Well, there you have it! You can't half tell I've been writing this article in bits and bobs over the past few months. I can assure though that I am back for the time being and I hope to banging out some material this week, so, for all the latest and greatest as regards the movies, keep your eyes posted!

The Thin White Dude's 8th Annual Awards for the Best and Worst Films of the Year (2014)

Amidst all of my mad schedule between working on this and the contracts right now (Red Bull's Crashed Ice is taking up a good bit of time), I think it's an achievement in itself that I got this done. The guts of this Best and Worst of 2014 was done over the course three days when I essentially just sat myself down for long sessions banging it out. Otherwise, I doubt that this would have got done, being up at Stormont under the shadow of the denizens that govern our country for most of the past four days. But anyway, here it is. 2014, as the following awards presentation will indicate, was a highly competitive and rich year of film as a whole. We got no less than six masterpieces and a number of great films otherwise, which at times made it rather hard when it came to deliberating who won what award. As you can see (spoiler alert!), the 3rd winner for The Thin White Dude's Championship for Independent/Unique Contribution to Cinema was Iain Forsyth/Jane Pollard's 20,000 Days On Earth, a bold, audacious and fictitious documentary on a day in the life of Nick Cave. Not to devalue it's own achievements, there was a wealth of entertaining and thought-provoking released over the course of the year. To conclude this introductory preamble, every year I'm constantly reminded by the fact that cinema is still a fairly young medium; literature has been around for many a millennia, it's really hard to date the 'beginning' of music, while painting has been more or less around since the dawn of humankind. Cinema is only entering it's second century, and every year I see more proof of the fact that we still have many great more years to come. 

So, let's get cracking!

Ground Rules

1. A movie must have received a release in theatres or on DVD in 2014

2. The numbers of eligible nominees for all categories are between five and ten, with the potential for increase if need be on Best Film and Worst Film.

3. Being a professional (though unpaid, mind), I am only going to discussing movies I saw in 2014 (so no Foxcatcher, Selma, etc.), and the movies in discussion have been watched in full, from start to finish. I won't be pulling any Rex Reed's here!

4. Most, but not all categories are arranged by alphabetical order in relation to the film nominated and not the individual(s) nominated.

5. Two new categories this year (The 1st Robert Altman Altman Award for Best Ensemble Cast in a Film from 2014, The 1st 'Blue Is The Warmest Colour' Award for Best Sex Scenes in a Film from 2014). The former is in recognition of the many ensemble casts gathered for a film in 2014, in honour of one of the late Robert Altman's directorial trademarks, while the latter, referring to last year's spellbinding romance of the same name, is about the depiction of sexuality in cinema, a subject close to my heart.

6. These are the opinions of a jury of one.

7. These opinions and ground rules are also not so inflexible that I can't make a change or mould them whenever I see fit (both the Best Male Actor in a Leading Role and Best Director categories have been amended to feature eleven nominees).

8. Feel free to comment, share this article, like it, tweet it, blah blah blah. I really do take your opinions into account, I'm just a lazy bastard when it comes to shameless self-promotion on social media.

9. Expect a rebuttal if you do respond.

10. Carpe diem (what? I know it's a poxy buzzline everyone loves to use, but I needed a tenth 'Commandment' of sorts, didn't I?)!

Signed

The Thin White Dude

The 8^th John Carpenter Award for Best Horror Film of 2014

And the winner is… Oculus (Blumhouse Productions/WWE Studios/Intrepid Pictures) – Mike Flanagan

Admittedly, 2014 as a whole wasn’t a great year for horror film, and I did miss the major horror film release of the year, The Babadook. However, I can safely say that Mike Flanagan’s Oculus is a great film more than deserving of this award. Taking a concept and working from the ground up, this is an intelligent and psychologically intense piece among the best horror films of recent years.

The 7^th Kenneth Loach Award for Best Drama Film of 2014

American Sniper (Village Roadshow Pictures/Mad Chance Productions/22^nd & Indiana Pictures/Malpaso Productions) – Clint Eastwood

Begin Again (Sycamore Pictures/Exclusive Media/Likely Story/Apatow Productions) – John Carney

Big Eyes (Silverwood Films/Electric City Entertainment/Tim Burton Productions) – Tim Burton

Boyhood (Detour Filmproduction) – Richard Linklater

Ida (Canal+ Polska/Danish Film Institute/Eurimages) – Pawel Pawlikowski

The Imitation Game (Black Bear Pictures/FilmNation Entertainment/Bristol Automotive) – Morten Tyldum

Whiplash (Sierra/Affinity/Bold Films/Blumhouse Productions/Right Of Way Films) – Damien Chazelle

And the winner is… Boyhood (Detour Filmproduction) – Richard Linklater

In the hardest fought genre-based category, with two masterpieces in there (thriller also has two masterpieces, but these two are a stronger duo), Richard Linklater’s Boyhood takes home the gong.  Boyhood is a perfect example of a film that you feel on a deep emotional level, with a truthful familiarity that makes you contemplate upon life itself. A remarkable work.

The 7^th Sylvester Stallone Award for Best Action/Adventure Film of 2014

The Equalizer (Village Roadshow Pictures/Escape Artists) – Antoine Fuqua

Fury (Le Grisbi Productions/QED International/LStar Capital/Crave Films) – David Ayer

Guardians Of The Galaxy (Marvel Studios) – James Gunn

The Wind Rises (Studio Ghibli) – Hayao Miyazaki

X-Men: Days Of Future Past (20^th Century Fox/Marvel Entertainment/Bad Hat Harry Productions/The Donners’ Company/TSG Entertainment) – Bryan Singer

And the winner is… The Wind Rises (Studio Ghibli) – Hayao Miyazaki

If The Wind Rises is to be veteran director Hayao Miyazaki’s last film, then he certainly went out with a bang. His swansong, although identified foremost as a biographical drama, has all the elements of an epic adventure film of the kind you might have seen come out of Hollywood. It’s a paean to his love of aviation, through which he entreats us to follow our dreams and live life to it’s fullest. 

The 8^th GWB Award for Most Unintentionally Offensive Film of 2014

American Sniper (Village Roadshow Pictures/Mad Chance Productions/22^nd & Indiana Pictures/Malpaso Productions) – Clint Eastwood: pissed off the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, civil rights activists, a number of film critics and Michael Moore

Exodus: Gods And Kings (Chernin Entertainment/Scott Free Productions/Babieka/Volcano Films) – Ridley Scott: pissed people off because of racial casting, Biblical scholars, historical scholars and certain elements of those of the Muslim faith

God’s Not Dead (Pure Flix Entertainment/Red Entertainment Group) – Harold Cronk: pissed off Michael Gerson, Catholic News Service, Answers In Genesis and a number of non-Christians

Hector And The Search For Happiness (Egoli Tossell Film/Film Afrika Worldwide/Erfttal Film/German Federal Film Board/Screen Siren Pictures) – Peter Chelsom: pissed off people who don’t like to drowned in overly-sanctimonious schmaltz

The Pyramid (Silvatar Media/Fox International Productions) – Gregory Levasseur: pissed off people who like a good horror film and who are sick and tired of the whole goddamn found-footage genre

Tammy (New Line Cinema/Gary Sanchez Productions) – Ben Falcone: pissed off people who saw that the man character was a boorish, obnoxious asshole and that the film was quite clearly a botched star-vehicle for Melissa McCarthy

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Nickelodeon Movies/Platinum Dunes/Gama Entertainment/Mednick Productions/Heavy Metal) – Jonathan Liebesman: pissed off people who remember what a hot property both TMNT and Megan Fox were before they were corrupted and Bayified

Transformers: Age Of Extinction (di Bonaventura Pictures/Hasbro/China Movie Channel/Jiaflix Enterprises) – Michael Bay: pissed off critics again, incurred the wrath of the Mak brothers, and caused Rentrak to doubt the authenticity of it’s box-office performance

Walk Of Shame (Lakeshore Entertainment/Sidney Kimmel Entertainment) – Steven Brill: pissed off people who don’t buy into the central premise of finding humour in a middle-class woman trying to get out of the nightmare that is a working-class neighbourhood.

And the winner is… Walk Of Shame (Lakeshore Entertainment/Sidney Kimmel Entertainment) – Steven Brill: pissed off people who don’t buy into the central premise of finding humour in a middle-class woman trying to get out of the nightmare that is a working-class neighbourhood.

While not the worst film among this crop, Walk Of Shame is the walking definition of unintentionally offensive. Writer-director Steven Brill casts the charming-by-default Elizabeth Banks into a film whose idea central concept is staggeringly outdated and pernicious. The population of the working-class areas Banks’ Southern self-described “good girl” finds herself seems entirely populated by perverted immigrant taxi-drivers, prostitutes, corrupt policemen, sexually-repressed Jews, drug dealers and which is also highly misogynistic. If there is one film that genuinely offended me from a moral standpoint in 2014, it’s Walk Of Shame.

The 8^th Philip K. Dick Award for Best Science-Fiction/Fantasy Film of 2014

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (Chernin Entertainment/TSG Entertainment) – Matt Reeves

Edge Of Tomorrow (Village Roadshow/RatPac-Dune Entertainment/3 Arts Entertainment/Viz Productions) – Doug Liman

Interstellar (Legendary Pictures/Syncopy/Lynda Obst Productions) – Christopher Nolan

Lucy (EuropaCorp/TF1 Films Production/Canal+/Cine+/TF1) – Luc Besson

Maleficent (Walt Disney Pictures/Roth Films) – Robert Stromberg

Under The Skin (Film4/BFI) – Jonathan Glazer

And the winner is… Under The Skin (Film4/BFI) – Jonathan Glazer

The rest of the nominees here have an average budget of $146 million between them. However good some of them may be, I’ve decided to go for the modestly-budgeted and artistically audacious science-fiction erotic art thriller Under The Skin as the winner of this award. Packed with imagery that gives Luis Bunuel a run for his money, an off-kilter original score by Mica Levi and a stunning central performance from Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Glazer’s guerrilla film is a potent, dark fairy-tale on what it means to be human.

The 8^th Stan and Ollie Award for Best Comedic Film of 2014

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Regency Enterprises/New Regency Pictures/M Productions/Le Grisbi Productions/TSG Entertainment/Worldview Entertainment) – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu

Calvary (Reprisal Films/Octagon Films/Protagonist Pictures) – John Michael McDonagh

Horrible Bosses 2 (New Line Cinema/Benderspink/RatPac Entertainment) – Sean Anders

The Lego Movie (Village Roadshow Pictures/Lego System A/S/Vertigo Entertainment/Lin Pictures/Animal Logic/Warner Animation Group) – Phil Lord/Christopher Miller

Maps To The Stars (Prospero Pictures/SBS Productions) – David Cronenberg

Pride (BBC Films/Calamity Films) – Matthew Warchus

The Zero Theorem (Voltage Pictures/Zanuck Independent) – Terry Gilliam

And the winner is… Calvary (Reprisal Films/Octagon Films/Protagonist Pictures) – John Michael McDonagh

In a solid, varied year for comedy, John Michael McDonagh’s pitch-black comedy Calvary seals the deal. Leaps and bounds above his debut feature The Guard, McDonagh’s crafts a finely balanced portrayal of a good priest attempting to find some semblance of faith among his tormenting parishioners, who inhabit a seemingly godless world. Fronted with graceful power by Brendan Gleeson, it’s pitched just right between comedy and drama, for while being at raucous and entertaining, it’s also harrowing, coming with a message that packs a punch.

The 8^th ‘I Am Legend’ Award for Biggest Disappointment of 2014

The Expendables 3 (Nu Image/Millenium Films) – Patrick Hughes: after Simon West made The Expendables 2 a rollicking romp, the third in this trilogy is as pompous and self-important as the original

Godzilla (Legendary Pictures) – Gareth Edwards: so much untapped potential with that universal metaphor

The Grand Budapest Hotel (American Empirical Pictures/Indian Paintbrush/Babelsberg Studio) – Wes Anderson: admired in some respects, but massively self-indulgent and positively dripping with quirk

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies (New Line Cinema/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/WingNut Films) – Peter Jackson: considering the standards set, this is a major step down

Inherent Vice (IAC Films/Ghoulardi Film Company) – Paul Thomas Anderson: an anomaly stripped of the character and personality associated with both Anderson and Thomas Pynchon

A Million Ways To Die In The West (Media Rights Capital/Fuzzy Door Productions/Bluegrass Films) – Seth MacFarlane: following the hilarious Ted with a sub-par Woody Allen-esque homage to the Western genre

The Theory Of Everything (Working Title Films) – James Marsh: a good movie, but resplendent with all the traits of pure Oscar-bait

And the winner is… The Grand Budapest Hotel (American Empirical Pictures/Indian Paintbrush/Babelsberg Studio) – Wes Anderson: admired in some respects, but massively self-indulgent and positively dripping with quirk

I would have went with Inherent Vice, considering how much I was looking forward to it, but there’s something dastardly Pynchonian about how much it sucks. In that light, I’ve went for the other Anderson, whose picture The Grand Budapest Hotel was massively acclaimed, successful at the box-office and will be a big player at the Academy Awards. I can understand them awarding the craftsmanship of those behind the film’s detailed mise-en-scene, but I can’t understand Best Original Screenplay going to this massively self-indulgent, portentous mess of a film that is decent at best and the most overrated of Best Picture nominees in years.

The 6^th Walt Disney Award for Best Animated Film of 2014

The Lego Movie (Village Roadshow Pictures/Lego System A/S/Vertigo Entertainment/Lin Pictures/Animal Logic/Warner Animation Group) – Phil Lord/Christopher Miller

The Wind Rises (Studio Ghibli) – Hayao Miyazaki

And the winner is… The Wind Rises (Studio Ghibli) – Hayao Miyazaki

And for those not keeping count, we have our first multiple award winner, with The Wind Rises picking up it’s second in this year’s crop. Tough competition came in the form of the legitimately barmy brilliance of The Lego Movie, but Hayao Miyazaki proves with The Wind Rises that his work is the gold standard of animation. If this wasn’t an animated picture, it would have been the kind of biographical drama that could be a top Oscar prospect, but Miyazaki keeps it grounded and far from Oscar-bait pitfalls, giving us a charming and imaginative film up there with his best. Arigato, Miyazaki-san!

The 4^th Sergei Eisenstein Award for Best ‘Unintentional’ Propaganda Film of 2014

American Sniper – Clint Eastwood: “America, fuck yeah!”

The Basement/Do You Like My Basement? – Roger Sewhcomar: Proof that I too could make a better low-budget horror film than The Basement

Exodus: Gods And Kings – Ridley Scott: Biblical source material by way of Gladiator, punctuated by Batman’s ever-changing facial hair

God’s Not Dead – Harold Cronk: it’s totally kewl to ram religious beliefs down everyone’s throats

Hector And The Search For Happiness – Peter Chelsom: life-changing journeys always make for great drama

Mrs. Brown’s Boys D’Movie – Ben Kellett: decrepit old women are inherently hilarious

The Purge: Anarchy – James DeMonaco: leftist revolutionary subtexts do not maketh a great movie: discuss…

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Jonathan Liebesman: cause we all really wanted Michael Bay to take another beloved franchise and turn it upside down

The Theory Of Everything – James Marsh: harrowing true stories are masterworks by default and tick all of the Academy’s boxes

And the winner is… God’s Not Dead – Harold Cronk: it’s totally kewl to ram religious beliefs down everyone’s throats

God’s Not Dead follows the story of an evangelical Christian student who stands up in defiance of his atheist philosophy professor’s insistence that God does not exist. It was a surprise hit, grossing over $60 million off a $2 million budget, which says a lot about prominence of evangelical Christianity in the States but also the recent resurgence of the Christian film industry. However, I feel God’s Not Dead is a hypocritical film guilty of the same crass ignorance with which it depicts all non-Christian characters in the picture. It espouses its views as forcefully and insultingly as Kevin Sorbo’s simple-minded atheistic professor. It has all the qualities of a propaganda piece. 

The 6^th Walter Murch Award for Best Sound Design/Mixing in a Film from 2014

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (Chernin Entertainment/TSG Entertainment) – Matt Reeves

Edge Of Tomorrow (Village Roadshow/RatPac-Dune Entertainment/3 Arts Entertainment/Viz Productions) – Doug Liman

Fury (Le Grisbi Productions/QED International/LStar Capital/Crave Films) – David Ayer

Interstellar (Legendary Pictures/Syncopy/Lynda Obst Productions) – Christopher Nolan

The Lego Movie (Village Roadshow Pictures/Lego System A/S/Vertigo Entertainment/Lin Pictures/Animal Logic/Warner Animation Group) – Phil Lord/Christopher Miller

Lone Survivor (Emmet/Furla Films/Film 44) – Peter Berg

Oculus (Blumhouse Productions/WWE Studios/Intrepid Pictures) – Mike Flanagan

20,000 Days On Earth (Corniche Pictures/BFI/Film 4/Pulse Films) – Iain Forsyth/Jane Pollard

Under The Skin (Film4/BFI) – Jonathan Glazer

Whiplash (Sierra/Affinity/Bold Films/Blumhouse Productions/Right Of Way Films) – Damien Chazelle

And the winner is… Whiplash (Sierra/Affinity/Bold Films/Blumhouse Productions/Right Of Way Films) – Damien Chazelle

I know, the movie’s about music, so it seems an obvious choice. In this case, the obvious choice is the best choice. Damien Chazelle, drawing on his experiences as a jazz drummer, has the sound department on this film design, mix and edit it within an inch of its life. Every little detail, be it the beat of a drum or the intonation on a syllable in a conversation, is mapped out meticulously. It’s this attention and instinctive knack for what sounds appropriate that makes Whiplash stand out aurally.

The 7^th Paul Schrader Award for Best Screenplay of 2014

Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu/Nicolas Giacobone/Alexander Dinelaris, Jr./Armando Bo (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)) – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu

Richard Linklater (Boyhood) – Richard Linklater

John Michael McDonagh (Calvary) – John Michael McDonagh

Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) – David Fincher

Rebecca Lenkiewicz/Pawel Pawlikowski (Ida) – Pawel Pawlikowski

Phil Lord/Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie) – Phil Lord/Christopher Miller

Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler) – Dan Gilroy

Damien Chazelle (Whiplash) – Damien Chazelle

And the winner is… Damien Chazelle (Whiplash) – Damien Chazelle

Second consecutive award for Whiplash! This film marked the arrival of a new cinematic voice in Damien Chazelle, whose display of young prodigious talent here is up there with that of Paul Thomas Anderson on Boogie Nights. As I mentioned earlier, Chazelle draws on his own experiences, but in this context he creates an intensely engaging onscreen tête-à-tête between Andrew Neiman and Terence Fletcher akin to a big fight atmosphere. Amidst this drama, he posits questions of what it means to be an artist, to achieve true genius in one’s given field, and what it takes to be the best version of you that you can be. 

The 5^th Edith Head Award for Best Costume Designs in a Film from 2014

Edge Of Tomorrow – Doug Liman

Fury – David Ayer

The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson

Guardians Of The Galaxy – James Gunn

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies – Peter Jackson

The Imitation Game – Morten Tyldum

Inherent Vice – Paul Thomas Anderson

Interstellar – Christopher Nolan

Maleficent – Robert Stromberg

X-Men: Days Of Future Past – Bryan Singer

And the winner is… Edge Of Tomorrow – Doug Liman

Edge Of Tomorrow may not be one of the bigger winners at this year’s awards, much the same as can be said for its marketing campaign(s) and box-office intake. However, don’t let that fool you into thinking that it isn’t one of the better films of the year, because it is. One of the reasons it stands out is the realization of its mise-en-scene, and the costume designs in the film are incredible. In particular, the skill and craftsmanship in the highly detailed battle-suits made for some of the best action scenes with large numbers I’ve seen in recent years. 

The 8^th ‘Real Steel’ Award for Most Surprisingly Entertaining Film of 2014

Big Eyes (Silverwood Films/Electric City Entertainment/Tim Burton Productions) – Tim Burton: went in slightly unenthused for another Tim Burton film, found myself pleasantly charmed for a lot of it

Calvary (Reprisal Films/Octagon Films/Protagonist Pictures) – John Michael McDonagh: went into it quite sniffy, considering The Guard preceded it, came out thinking it was among the best films of the year

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (Chernin Entertainment/TSG Entertainment) – Matt Reeves: expected a good movie, but not the best Apes movie since the original 1968 film

Edge Of Tomorrow (Village Roadshow/RatPac-Dune Entertainment/3 Arts Entertainment/Viz Productions) – Doug Liman: thought we’d get a straight Tom Cruise film, much as I like Cruise, but we got an intelligent, bombastic and highly satirical film all in one bargain

The Lego Movie (Village Roadshow Pictures/Lego System A/S/Vertigo Entertainment/Lin Pictures/Animal Logic/Warner Animation Group) – Phil Lord/Christopher Miller: expected a fun kid’s movie, saw a legitimately bonkers surreal comedy which manages to be simultaneously both pro and anti-capitalist

Lucy (EuropaCorp/TF1 Films Production/Canal+/Cine+/TF1) – Luc Besson: expected a romp, got a widely entertaining and at times rather ingenious one

Oculus (Blumhouse Productions/WWE Studios/Intrepid Pictures) – Mike Flanagan: had only one good word-of-worth, saw a genuine game-changer that plays by it’s own rules after hooking you in

Pride (BBC Films/Calamity Films) – Matthew Warchus: was worried it was going to be overly sanctimonious, instead a got a witty, honest portrayal of gay activists banding together to help Welsh miners

Whiplash (Sierra/Affinity/Bold Films/Blumhouse Productions/Right Of Way Films) – Damien Chazelle: expected a good movie, got a great movie

And the winner is… Calvary (Reprisal Films/Octagon Films/Protagonist Pictures) – John Michael McDonagh: went into it quite sniffy, considering The Guard preceded it, came out thinking it was among the best films of the year.

Second up for Calvary, three horses in the multiple award winners (The Wind Rises and Whiplash both with two). As I mentioned, I wasn’t bowled over by The Guard, and I think if you took Brendan Gleeson away from the part of Gerry Boyle it would actually be a bad movie. Calvary however, is a confidence and assured work from John Michael McDonagh, and in my admittedly not-so-humble opinion, the best screen work from either he or brother Martin McDonagh. It’s a remarkable work among the best to ever emerge from Ireland that deserves to be celebrated.

The 7^th Christopher Doyle Award for Best Cinematography in a Film from 2014

Emmanuel Lubezki (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)) – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu

Larry Smith (Calvary) – John Michael McDonagh

Michael Seresin (Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes) – Matt Reeves

Jeff Cronenweth (Gone Girl) – David Fincher

Ben Davis (Guardians Of The Galaxy) – James Gunn

Ryszard Lenczewski/Lukasz Zal (Ida) – Pawel Pawlikowski

Hoyte van Hoytema (Interstellar) – Christopher Nolan

Robert Elswit (Nightcrawler) – Dan Gilroy

Michael Fimognari (Oculus) – Mike Flanagan

Daniel Landin (Under The Skin) – Jonathan Glazer

And the winner is… Emmanuel Lubezki (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)) – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu

Although this is usually always a hard-fought category with great looking movies, the award clearly deserves to go to Emmanuel Lubezki for his seamless work on Birdman. Innaritu’s proposing of doing much of the film as an extended take must have been a logistical nightmare, but Lubezki executes it flawlessly, playing as much a part in telling this modernist madcap tale as anyone else involved in the production. Chivo, now a three-time award winner in his second consecutive year from this reviewer, has firmly etched himself among the all-time great DP’s. 

The 5^th Rick Baker Award for Best Make-Up/Hair in a Film from 2014

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes – Matt Reeves

Fury – David Ayer

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies – Peter Jackson

Inherent Vice – Paul Thomas Anderson

Gone Girl – David Fincher

The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson

Guardians Of The Galaxy – James Gunn

Maleficent – Robert Stromberg

X-Men: Days Of Future Past – Bryan Singer

And the winner is… Guardians Of The Galaxy – James Gunn

Guardians Of The Galaxy stood out from pack of summer blockbusters for it’s distinctive flavor and personality, and the terrific make-up/hair is a reflection of this. Harking back to the aesthetics of monster movies, science-fiction and the physical application of make-up/hair, David White’s designs for characters like Gamora, Drax, Ronan, Yondu, Nebula, Korath and The Collector ensure that visually they all look unique. Furthermore, there is almost a psychedelic quality to the multitudinous variety in the color palettes used throughout, so that visually it’s never tiresome in this wonderfully realized world.

The 7^th Lucio Fulci Award for Most Excessively Violent Film of 2014

Child Of God (Rabbit-Bandi Producions/Made In Film-Land) – James Franco

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies (New Line Cinema/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/WingNut Films) – Peter Jackson

Inherent Vice (IAC Films/Ghoulardi Film Company) – Paul Thomas Anderson

Tammy (New Line Cinema/Gary Sanchez Productions) – Ben Falcone

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Nickelodeon Movies/Platinum Dunes/Gama Entertainment/Mednick Productions/Heavy Metal) – Jonathan Liebesman

Transformers: Age Of Extinction (di Bonaventura Pictures/Hasbro/China Movie Channel/Jiaflix Enterprises) – Michael Bay

Walk Of Shame (Lakeshore Entertainment/Sidney Kimmel Entertainment) – Steven Brill

And the winner is… Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Nickelodeon Movies/Platinum Dunes/Gama Entertainment/Mednick Productions/Heavy Metal) – Jonathan Liebesman

It might have been passed as a 12A by the BBFC, PG-13 by the MPAA and is ostensibly marketed towards a young audience, but I personally hate the idea of children watching something like this new TNMT film. Everything about it screams excess, from the goggle-eyed way the camera’s apex of movement seems to Megan Fox’s ass to the constantly crass and overbearing wisecracks of this wholly unfunny incarnation of the central characters. There is one scene in particular, which sees the Turtles injected with ‘Adrenaline,’ monitors effectively screaming in caps “OVERDOSE IMMINENT.” If that isn’t a blantant reference to drugs, I don’t know what is!

The 7^th Ennio Morricone Award for Best Original Score/Soundtrack of 2014

Various (Boyhood) – Richard Linklater

Patrick Cassidy (Calvary) – John Michael McDonagh

Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross (Gone Girl) – David Fincher

Tyler Bates/”Awesome Mix Vol. 1” (Guardians Of The Galaxy) – James Gunn

Hans Zimmer (Interstellar) – Christopher Nolan

Mark Mothersbaugh/Various (The Lego Movie) – Phil Lord/Christopher Miller

Warren Ellis/Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds (20,000 Days On Earth) – Iain Forsyth/Jane Pollard

Mica Levi (Under The Skin) – Jonathan Glazer

Justin Hurwitz (Whiplash) – Damien Chazelle

Joe Hisaishi (The Wind Rises) – Hayao Miyazaki

And the winner is… Mica Levi (Under The Skin) – Jonathan Glazer

Amid the fierce eclecticism of this year’s bunch, I’ve decided to go for the off-kilter choice. Bagging Under The Skin it’s second award (tying with The Wind Rises, Whiplash and Calvary in the running) is Mica Levi for her unusual yet brilliant score. The experimental soundscape, not dissimilar to chamber music, sounds fearsome, with its mix of loops and repeated hooks. Interestingly, the instrumentation does an about-face of what is normally expected, the violins screeching oppressively while the synthesizer, normally in film an instrument associated with dehumanization becomes more prominent as the main character develops human emotions. Admittedly, I have a bias towards the unusual, but this is the most audacious film score of the past four or five years. 

The 3^rd Emotional Heartstrings Orchestra (EHO) Award for Worst Film Score/Soundtrack of 2014

Brian Tyler (The Expendables 3) – Patrick Hughes

Dan Mangan/Jesse Zubot (Hector and the Search for Happiness) – Peter Chelsom

Joel McNeely (A Million Ways To Die In The West) – Seth MacFarlane

Andy O’Callaghan (Mrs. Brown’s Boys D’Movie) – Ben Kellett

Nima Fakhara (The Pyramid) – Gregory Levasseur

Michael Andrews (Tammy) – Ben Falcone

Brian Tyler (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) – Jonathan Liebesman

Steve Jablonsky (Transformers: Age Of Extintion) – Michael Bay

John Debney (Walk Of Shame) – Steven Brill

And the winner is… Andy O’Callaghan (Mrs. Brown’s Boys D’Movie) – Ben Kellett

So, Brian Tyler bags two noms and twice-previous winner Rupert Gregson-Williams is conspicuous by his absence (and with four different films on two awards at present, right now it seems two is the magic number). However, this year’s dubious honor goes to Andy O’Callaghan’s score for Mrs. Brown’s Boys D’Movie. Now, don’t get me wrong, the film is rubbish, but O’Callaghan’s work here is the epitome of everything I hate to hear in film music: following the traditional patterns, it’s full of innocuous swells, jingles and soft instrumentation, everything neutral and by-the-book, all the while vainglorious and pandering to the cult of personality built around Mrs. Brown. If I want to worship a batty old woman that isn’t my grandmother, then it’ll be Hyacinth Bucket! Now, would you kindly piss off?

The 3^rd David Bowie Award for Best Theme/Song in a Film from 2014

Keira Knightley: “Like A Fool (Begin Again) – John Carney

Family Of The Year: “Hero” (Boyhood) – Richard Linklater

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross: “What Have We Done To Each Other?” (Gone Girl) – David Fincher

Blue Swede: “Hooked On A Feeling” (Guardians Of The Galaxy) – James Gunn

Teagan and Sara, featuring The Lonely Island: “Everything Is Awesome!!!” (The Lego Movie)

Eric Serra: “I Am Everywhere” (Lucy)

The Newton Brothers: “Oculus of Glass” (Oculus)

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: “Jubilee Street” (20,000 Days On Earth)

Mica Levi: “Love” (Under The Skin)

George Fenton: “The Zero Theorem (Main Title)” (The Zero Theorem)

And the winner(s) are… Blue Swede: “Hooked On A Feeling” (Guardians Of The Galaxy) – James Gunn and Teagan and Sara, featuring The Lonely Island: “Everything Is Awesome!!!” (The Lego Movie)

And with this one, Guardians Of The Galaxy becomes the fifth film to enter multiple award territory and The Lego Movie picks up it’s first. I decided to go with two winners here because both stood out prominently as anthems by which the film’s they are featured in are now associated in popular culture. In the case of Guardians, they took an existing song in the Blue Swede cover of Hooked On A Feeling and turned effectively into Peter Quill’s theme tune, while Everything Is Awesome!!!, an original written for The Lego Movie, captures the deliriously hypnotic brilliance of that film’s world. Both are outstanding examples of a single track defining an entire film.

The 1^st ‘Blue Is The Warmest Colour’ Award for Best Sex Scenes in a Film from 2014

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignore) (Regency Enterprises/New Regency Pictures/M Productions/Le Grisbi Productions/TSG Entertainment/Worldview Entertainment) – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu

Gone Girl (Regency Enterprises/Pacific Standard) – David Fincher

Ida (Canal+ Polska/Danish Film Institute/Eurimages) – Pawel Pawlikowski

Stranger By The Lake (Le Films du Worso/arte France Cinema/M141/Films de Force Majeure) – Alain Guiraudie

Under The Skin (Film4/BFI) – Jonathan Glazer

And the winner is… Gone Girl (Regency Enterprises/Pacific Standard) – David Fincher

I was contemplating whether or not to go with this one, because it almost constitutes a plot spoiler, right? However, I do feel strongly about the depiction of sex and sexuality onscreen, often overlooked in aesthetic and moral terms. In this vein, I give the inaugural award in this category to Gone Girl, picking up its second award among this year’s categories (six films are at two awards: which is going to break out from the pack?). In Gone Girl, though the sex is almost fetishistic in terms of it’s focus on sexual pleasure, the scenes all serve a purpose, adding the rich complexity of the story. As it stands, to use a phrase that could be horribly misconstrued as an innuendo, Gone Girl contains multiple sex scenes that could be placed among the greatest in all of cinema. 

The 6^th Dante Ferretti Award for Best Production Design in a Film from 2014

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes – Matt Reeves

Edge Of Tomorrow – Doug Liman

Exodus: Gods And Kings – Ridley Scott

The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson

Guardians Of The Galaxy – James Gunn

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Fives Armies – Peter Jackson

Interstellar – Christopher Nolan

X-Men: Days Of Future Past – Bryan Singer

The Zero Theorem – Terry Gilliam

And the winner is… Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes – Matt Reeves

This year saw a mixed bag of films in terms of quality deliver in their production design, and the film I’ve chosen for this award not only features the best production design but is the best all-round film of the bunch. Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes’ film world is marvelously realized, both in keeping with fictional post-pandemic setting and entrenching it in reality. By comparison to, say, the original 1968 film, whose world is completely unrecognizable to our own, this film’s world is frighteningly familiar. The sense of urban decay, nature invading our society, is palpable, hitting home all the more when we see that the apes have founded an almost utopian civilization. Marvellously done!

The 6^th Stan Winston Award for Best Special/Visual Effects in a Film from 2014

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes – Matt Reeves

Edge Of Tomorrow – Doug Liman

Godzilla – Gareth Edwards

Guardians Of The Galaxy – James Gunn

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies – Peter Jackson

Interstellar – Christopher Nolan

Maleficent – Robert Stromberg

Transformers: Age Of Extinction – Michael Bay

Under The Skin – Jonathan Glazer

X-Men: Days Of Future Past – Bryan Singer

And the winner is… Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes – Matt Reeves

And with its second consecutive win, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes becomes a late entry in the win for Best Film of 2014. The effects and production design categories featured Edge Of Tomorrow and Interstellar were terrific, either of whom would have been worthy winners, but once again Weta Digital have outdone themselves on this latest Apes installment. Both in terms of their work elevating that of the motion-capture performances by the actors and in terms of the realization of the film’s world, Weta’s contribution cannot be overlooked. For years, they have been the standard bearer of visual effects, and Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is another example of the storytelling abilities of strong visual effects.

The 6^th Vic Armstrong Award for Best Stunt Work on a Film from 2014

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes – Matt Reeves

Edge Of Tomorrow – Doug Liman

Exodus: Gods And Kings – Ridley Scott

Fury – David Ayer

Guardians Of The Galaxy – James Gunn

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies – Peter Jackson

Lone Survivor – Peter Berg

Lucy – Luc Besson

X-Men: Days Of Future Past – Bryan Singer

And the winner is… Lucy – Luc Besson

While Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes and Edge Of Tomorrow feature some terrific battles in an SF setting, Fury sees tank battles choreographed like car chases and Lone Survivor is ferociously high-impact, I’ve decided to acknowledge Luc Besson’s deliriously entertaining Lucy with this award. Besson has always been a master of choreographing action in his films, but what’s different here is that he goes completely over-the-top, indulging his every whim and yet, somehow, it remains not only a coherent movie, but also a great one. A lot of that is down to the wildly imaginative action sequences, which just see Besson, Scarlett Johansson and co go into flights of fancy, giving us a fun, ninety-minute b-movie romp. 

The 7^th Thelma Schoonmaker Award for Best Film Editorial Work of 2014

Sandra Adair (Boyhood) – Richard Linklater

William Hoy/Stan Salfas (Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes) – Matt Reeves

Kirk Baxter (Gone Girl) – David Fincher

Fred Raskin/Craig Wood/Hughes Winbone (Guardians Of The Galaxy) – James Gunn

Lee Smith (Interstellar) – Christopher Nolan

David Burrows/Chris McKay (The Lego Movie) – Phil Lord/Christopher Miller

Steve James/David E. Simpson (Life Itself) – Steve James

Jonathan Amos (20,000 Days On Earth) – Iain Forsyth/Jane Pollard

Tom Cross (Whiplash) – Damien Chazelle

And the winner is… Tom Cross (Whiplash) – Damien Chazelle

With seven tying it at two awards, Whiplash breaks out, leading at three, with Tom Cross winning the award for Best Editing. In my review, I described Cross’ work as an example of jackknife editing, a description that I will stand by rather proudly. Considering that is only his third feature film editing gig, spending much of his career as an assistant editor, it shows the same kind of talent on display from it’s writer-director Damien Chazelle. Citing The French Connection, Raging Bull and The Wild Bunch as influences on Whiplash, you can see that in the ferocity of some of his exemplar use of montage, making even the most seemingly trivial of scenes have a momentous big-fight atmosphere.

The 8^th James Cameron Award for Best Sequel of 2014

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (Chernin Entertainment/TSG Entertainment) – Matt Reeves: abiding and exceeding!

Horrible Bosses 2 New Line Cinema/Benderspink/RatPac Entertainment) – Sean Anders: for an unwarranted sequel, it milks a good bit of funny out of a seemingly dry cow

X-Men: Days Of Future Past (20^th Century Fox/Marvel Entertainment/Bad Hat Harry Productions/The Donners’ Company/TSG Entertainment) – Bryan Singer: a compendium for fans of the X-Men franchise, uniting the two previous separate strands of it’s universe

And the winner is… Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (Chernin Entertainment/TSG Entertainment) – Matt Reeves: abiding and exceeding!

So, Whiplash’s lead is compromised by those damn dirty apes! While 2014 may not have been the best year for sequels (three nominations compared with last year’s five), Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is a worthy winner. As the best in the Apes franchise since the 1968 original (as a big fan of Conquest, that’s saying something!) and one of the best of 2014, Dawn was a great example of both abiding to the spirit of the franchise and exceeding itself in terms of expectations. At risk of sounding and making the usual allusions, it will be in future years seen as The Empire Strikes Back and The Dark Knight of this contemporary collection of Apes films.

The 7^th Werner Herzog Award for Most Ingenious Film Concept of 2014

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Regency Enterprises/New Regency Pictures/M Productions/Le Grisbi Productions/TSG Entertainment/Worldview Entertainment) – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu: (nearly the entire length of a meta-modernist comedy consists of an experimental ‘long take’)

Boyhood (Detour Filmproduction) – Richard Linklater: (following a child over twelve years does not become a gimmick because of ingenuity)

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (Chernin Entertainment/TSG Entertainment) – Matt Reeves: (many of the primary characters in a big-budget summer blockbuster are non-human apes using sign language to communicate)

Edge Of Tomorrow (Village Roadshow/RatPac-Dune Entertainment/3 Arts Entertainment/Viz Productions) – Doug Liman: (Live. Die. Repeat.)

Interstellar (Legendary Pictures/Syncopy/Lynda Obst Productions) – Christopher Nolan: (Christopher and Jonathan Nolan dare to dream big, into the cosmos across the universe)

The Lego Movie (Village Roadshow Pictures/Lego System A/S/Vertigo Entertainment/Lin Pictures/Animal Logic/Warner Animation Group) – Phil Lord/Christopher Miller: (a capitalist movie that manages somehow to be anti-capitalist at the same time)

Nightcrawler (Bold Films) – Dan Gilroy: (the protagonist is a self-serving sociopath whose adventures serve as a commentary on our own behavior towards violence in the world around us)

20,000 Days On Earth (Corniche Pictures/BFI/Film 4/Pulse Films) – Iain Forsyth/Jane Pollard: (concerns itself with preserving the mythology of Nick Cave as opposed to the factual truth)

Whiplash (Sierra/Affinity/Bold Films/Blumhouse Productions/Right Of Way Films) – Damien Chazelle: (jazz drumming and a teacher-student tete-a-tete as a means for exploring the drive for personal ambition and satisfaction in life)

And the winner is… Boyhood (Detour Filmproduction) – Richard Linklater: (following a child over twelve years does not become a gimmick because of ingenuity)

Coming back into the fold is Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, picking up its second award. Although depicting the everyday life of a boy, as one of the film’s stars Ethan Hawkes describes, “It’s Tolstoy-esque in scope,” and you do get the sense that Linklater is using this concept as a means to explore the big questions of life as we come of age. Also, as I hinted at with my text up there, it does not become a gimmick: it could quite easily have become too obsessed with it’s own brilliance, but despite the epic nature of the concept, it’s kept thoroughly entrenched and grounded.

The 5^th ‘Cemetery Junction’ Award for Most Overlooked Film of 2014

Big Eyes (Silverwood Films/Electric City Entertainment/Tim Burton Productions) – Tim Burton: Tim Burton actually puts his hands to some good material that isn’t dripping with quirk and trees with branches that curl and it tanks at the box-office

Edge Of Tomorrow (Village Roadshow/RatPac-Dune Entertainment/3 Arts Entertainment/Viz Productions) – Doug Liman: intelligent, original, non-franchise science-fiction/action/satire film featuring a bona-fide star in Tom Cruise fails to make a serious dent at the box-office

The Equalizer (Village Roadshow Pictures/Escape Artists) – Antoine Fuqua: violent vigilante b-movie romp with Denzel Washington wrongfully dismissed by critics

Gone Girl (Regency Enterprises/Pacific Standard) – David Fincher: one of the best films of the year and sure-fire awards contender gets mostly snubbed when it comes to the major awards ceremonies

Horrible Bosses 2 (New Line Cinema/Benderspink/RatPac Entertainment) – Sean Anders: shamelessly stupid but relatively entertaining and funny unwanted sequel generally shat upon by the critical majority

A Most Wanted Man (Demarest Films/Potboiler Productions/The Ink Factory/Film4 Productions) – Anton Corbijn: the final film featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman in a lead role is a taut, classy espionage thriller that didn’t get the attention it deserved

Oculus (Blumhouse Productions/WWE Studios/Intrepid Pictures) – Mike Flanagan profitable at the box-office, reviewed well, yet in the wake of The Babadook seems to have been forgotten about

And the winner is… Edge Of Tomorrow (Village Roadshow/RatPac-Dune Entertainment/3 Arts Entertainment/Viz Productions) – Doug Liman: intelligent, original, non-franchise science-fiction/action/satire film featuring a bona-fide star in Tom Cruise fails to make a serious dent at the box-office

With Edge Of Tomorrow bagging it’s second award, it means that nine films have entered multiple awards territory and the most awards for a given movie so far is three, so it’s obviously a highly competitive year. It’s appropriate then that Edge Of Tomorrow wins this one. Heavily pushed upon release by Warner Bros., when the film performed below expectations at the box-office it was all but forgotten about. Part of the problem lies in the indecisiveness of the marketing of the film. Based on the Japanese light novel All You Need Is Kill, early on it was decided that ‘kill’ was a dirty word the studio didn’t want in a major release, so this bland title was tacked on and the film was promoted as a typical Tom Cruise science-fiction/action vehicle. Cruise’s Cage is not the badass we see in the trailer, but instead is a cowardly scoundrel. Hell, even now on DVD, with the tagline LIVE-DIE-REPEAT becoming more prominent than it’s official title, Warner Bros. still can’t decide what to call the film. It’s a shame for an intelligent, original property among the best films of the year to be treated like yesterday’s rubbish.

The 1^st Robert Altman Award for Best Ensemble Cast in a Film from 2014

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Michael Keaton/Edward Norton/Emma Stone/Naomi Watts/Zach Galifianakis/Andrea Riseborough/Amy Ryan/Lindsay Duncan) – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu

Boyhood (Ellar Coltrane/Patricia Arquette/Lorelei Linklater/Ethan Hawke/Libby Villari/Marco Perella/Brad Hawkins/Bill Wise) – Richard Linklater

Calvary (Brendan Gleeson/Chris O’Dowd/Kelly Reilly/Aidan Gillen/Dylan Moran/Issach de Bankole/M. Emmet Walsh/Marie-Josee Croze/Domnhall Gleeson/David Wilmot/Pat Shortt/Gary Lydon/Killian Scott/Orla O’Rourke/Owen Sharp/David McSavage) – John Michael McDonagh

Gone Girl (Ben Affleck/Rosamund Pike/Neil Patrick Harris/Tyler Perry/Carrie Coon/Kim Dickens/Patrick Fugit/Casey Wilson/Missi Pyle/Sela Ward/Emily Ratajkowski/Kathleen Rose Perkins/Lisa Banes/David Clennon/Scott McNairy/Boyd Holbrook/Lola Kirke) – David Fincher

Guardians Of The Galaxy (Chris Pratt/Zoe Saldana/Dave Bautista/Vin Diesel/Bradley Cooper/Lee Pace/Michael Rooker/Karen Gillan/Djimon Hounsou/John C. Reilly/Glenn Close/Benicio del Toro) – James Gunn

The Lego Movie (Chris Pratt/Will Ferrell/Elizabeth Banks/Will Arnett/Nick Offerman/Alison Brie/Charlie Day/Liam Neeson/Morgan Freeman/Channing Tatum/Jonah Hill/Cobie Smulders/Jadon Sand) – Phil Lord/Christopher Miller

Maps To The Stars (Julianne Moore/Mia Wasikowska/John Cusack/Robert Pattinson/Olivia Williams/Sarah Gadon/Evan Bird/Carrie Fisher/Jayne Heitmeyer/Jonathan Watton/Amanda Brugel) – David Cronenberg

X-Men: Days Of Future Past (Hugh Jackman/James McAvoy/Patrick Stewart/Michael Fassbender/Ian McKellen/Jennifer Lawrence/Halle Berry/Nicholas Hoult/Kelsey Grammar/Anna Paquin/Ellen Page/Peter Dinklage/Shawn Ashmore/Omar Sy/Evan Peters/Josh Helman/Daniel Cudmore/Fan Bingbing/Adan Canto/Booboo Stewart) – Bryan Singer

And the winner is… Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Michael Keaton/Edward Norton/Emma Stone/Naomi Watts/Zach Galifianakis/Andrea Riseborough/Amy Ryan/Lindsay Duncan) – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu

And with that, Birdman moves this race into double-figures, nabbing its second award! This award’s namesake is the late Robert Altman, a director who had a great respect for actors, and one of the great trademarks was his sprawling ensemble casts. Now, while each of these films had remarkable rosters of talented actors, Birdman is the one that takes home the gong. Michael Keaton’s Riggan Thomson may be the apex upon which the film is balanced, but the rest of the cast surrounding him are firing on all cylinders, helping to accentuate both his performance and the strength of the film as a whole. It’s a deserving inaugural winner of this award.

The 7^th Katharine Hepburn Award for Best Supporting Role by a Female Actor in 2014

Patricia Arquette: “Olivia Evans” (Boyhood) – Richard Linklater

Carrie Coon: “Margo ‘Go’ Dunne” (Gone Girl) – David Fincher

Kim Dickens: “Detective Rhonda Boney” (Gone Girl) – David Fincher

Sarah Gadon: “Clarice Taggart” (Maps To The Stars) – David Cronenberg

Keira Knightley: “Joan Clarke” (The Imitation Game) – Morten Tyldum

Kelly Reilly: “Fiona” (Calvary) – John Michael McDonagh

Rene Russo: “Nina Romina” (Nightcrawler) – Dan Gilroy

Emma Stone: “Sam Thomson” (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)) – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu

Robin Wright: “Martha Sullivan” (A Most Wanted Man) – Anton Corbijn

And the winner is… Patricia Arquette: “Olivia Evans” (Boyhood) – Richard Linklater

Boyhood gets it’s third win, putting it in joint pole-position with Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes and Whiplash! At the Oscars, unless we get a real surprise, it’s more or less a dead cert that Patricia Arquette is going to win in this category, something that she’d be fully deserving of. It’d be easy to be cynical and say that everyone fell in love with the performance because she’s the ‘Mother of America’ figure, but the fact is is that Arquette is fantastic in Boyhood. Ellar Coltrane’s Mason may be the main character, but Arquette’s Olivia is our anchor throughout the saga, and not only that, Arquette gives the character depth, honesty and sincerity. It’s hard not to feel for a mother who is so utterly devoted to her children through the years. A class act.

The 7^th R. Lee Ermey Award for Best Supporting Role by a Male Actor in 2014

Riz Ahmed: “Rick Carey” (Nightcrawler) – Dan Gilroy

Evan Bird: “Benji Weiss” (Maps To The Stars) David Cronenberg

Josh Brolin: “Detective Christian ‘Bigfoot’ Bjornsen (Inherent Vice) – Paul Thomas Anderson

Patrick d’Assumcao: “Henri” (Stranger By The Lake) – Alain Guiraudie

Ethan Hawke: “Mason Evans Sr.” (Boyhood) – Richard Linklater

Toby Kebbell: “Koba” (Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes) – Matt Reeves

Dylan Moran: “Michael Fitzgerald” (Calvary) – John Michael McDonagh

Edward Norton: “Mike Shiner” (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)) – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu

Michael Rooker: “Yondu Udonta” (Guardians Of The Galaxy) – James Gunn

J.K. Simmons: “Terence Fletcher” (Whiplash) – Damien Chazelle

And the winner is… J.K. Simmons: “Terence Fletcher” (Whiplash) – Damien Chazelle

Whiplash pulls into the lead with its fourth win! Once again, I’m going with the one that’s going to win the Oscar, for while there’s tough competition in Ethan Hawke and Edward Norton, I’d be shocked if J.K. Simmons didn’t win the Oscar, not least because he deserves it. His performance of the tyrannical and demanding music teacher Terence Fletcher is one of those parts that are infected with an entire person’s being. Simmons’ delivery of his acerbic and tongue-lashing dialogue is tremendous, and see his physical reactions throughout gives you the impression that the man is a walking explosion of violence waiting to happen. I can’t recall the last time I saw an onscreen character who was more psychologically intimidating than Terence Fletcher, and it’s great to see J.K. Simmons, always a reliable supporting player, get a meaty role of legitimate heft like this. Good job (DODGES CYMBAL THROWN AT HEAD)!

The 5^th ‘Extras’ Award for Best Bit Part in a Film from 2014

Domnhall Gleeson: “Freddie Joyce” (Calvary) – John Michael McDonagh

Christopher Lee: “Saruman The White” (The Hobbit: The Five Of The Armies) – Peter Jackson

Emily Ratajkowski: “Andie Fitzgerald” (Gone Girl) David Fincher

Kevin Spacey: “Dave Harken” (Horrible Bosses 2) – Sean Anders

Benicio del Toro: “The Collector” (Guardians Of The Galaxy) – James Gunn

Mathieu Vervisch: “Eric” (Stranger By The Lake) – Alain Guiraudie

And the winner is… Emily Ratajkowski: “Andie Fitzgerald” (Gone Girl) David Fincher

Being a model who was cast on the basis of her appearance in Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines music video screams potential car crash, but Emily Ratajkowski is among the many great surprises of Gone Girl (third award for that film, for you folks at home). At the point in the film when your opinions of Nick Dunne change drastically, Ratajkowski in her short screen-time gives the character of Andie real empathy, elevating her beyond the status of two-dimensional moll to that of a human being. It also shows a natural intuition beyond that of many more experienced young actors, which could prove to be useful in carving a more prominent acting career in the future.

The 6^th Michael Moore Award for Best Documentary Film of 2014

Life Itself (Kartemquin Films/Film Rites/CNN Films) – Steve James

20,000 Days Of Earth (Corniche Pictures/BFI/Film 4/Pulse Films) – Iain Forsyth/Jane Pollard

And the winner is… Life Itself (Kartemquin Films/Film Rites/CNN Films) – Steve James

While 20,000 Days On Earth was the more audacious documentary, more concerned with mythologizing Nick Cave than depicting fact, Steve James’ biographical documentary on the late film critic Roger Ebert, though more of a straight story, is the marginally better film. Interspersing various multimodal aspects, such as interviews with friends and family, clips exploring his relationship with Gene Siskel, with the absolutely harrowing scenes of the final months of his life. This touching tale of Ebert doesn’t shy away from his demons, such as his former alcoholism and occasional lapses into egotism, but even amidst his battle with cancer, it is a story of love (with ever-present devoted soul-mate Chaz), joy in the face of great struggles and, ultimately, triumph.

The 6^th Peter Sallis Award for Best Vocal Performance by an Actor in 2014

Hideaki Anno: “Jiro Horikoshi” (The Wind Rises) – Hayao Miyazaki

Bradley Cooper: “Rocket” (Guardians Of The Galaxy) – James Gunn

Vin Diesel: “Groot” (Guardians Of The Galaxy) – James Gunn

Will Ferrell: “Lord Business” (The Lego Movie) – Phil Lord/Christopher Miller

Michael Keaton: “Birdman” (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)) – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu

Keira Knightley: “Gretta” (Begin Again) – John Carney

Liam Neeson: “Good Cop/Bad Cop” (The Lego Movie) – Phil Lord/Christopher Miller

Rosamund Pike: “Amy Elliot-Dunne” (Gone Girl) – David Fincher

Chris Pratt: “Emmet Brickowski” (The Lego Movie) – Phil Lord/Christopher Miller

And the winner is… Chris Pratt: “Emmet Brickowski” (The Lego Movie) – Phil Lord/Christopher Miller

And with that, The Lego Movie gets its second award, becoming the eleventh movie to hit multiples. Whoa, the competition is fierce this year! 2014 was a star-making year for Chris Pratt, who headlined both the most popular superhero film of the year and, while it may have been snubbed at the Oscars, one of the most popular animated films of the year. Pratt plays the perfect everyman for this zany and bizarre comedy, balancing him just right between average Joe Chip (brownie points for the reference!) and wisecracking stumblebum. Emmet is our viewfinder into Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s wonderful interpretation of the joyous world of Lego, and to Chris Pratt we can be thankful for that. Now, I wonder how they all got on with those aliens from the planet Duplo?

The 8^th Cate Blanchett Award for Best Leading Role by a Female Actor in 2014

Amy Adams: “Margaret Keane” (Big Eyes) – Tim Burton

Emily Blunt: “Sergeant Rita Rose Vrataski” (Edge Of Tomorrow) – Doug Liman

Karen Gillan: “Kaylie Russell” (Oculus) – Mike Flanagan

Scarlett Johansson: “Lucy” (Lucy) – Luc Besson

Scarlett Johansson: “The ‘Woman’” (Under The Skin) – Jonathan Glazer

Felicity Jones: “Jane Wilde Hawking” (The Theory Of Everything) – James Marsh

Agata Kulesza: “Wanda Gruz” (Ida) – Pawel Pawlikowski

Julianne Moore: “Havana Segrand” (Maps To The Stars) – David Cronenberg

Rosamund Pike: “Amy Elliot-Dunne” (Gone Girl) – David Fincher

Agata Trzebuchowska: “Anna/Ida Lebenstein” (Ida) – Pawel Pawlikowski

And the winner(s) are Scarlett Johansson: “The ‘Woman’” (Under The Skin) – Jonathan Glazer and Rosamund Pike: “Amy Elliot-Dunne” (Gone Girl) – David Fincher

Gone Girl heads into joint-first with four awards thus far, and Under The Skin slithers up the ranks with its third gong. Normally, I make a point of trying to not split awards, but as this and my David Bowie Award this year prove, I don’t abide so stringently that it clouds my judgment. As such, I find both Scarlett Johansson and Rosamund Pike to be worthy of acknowledgement for their work. Johansson is the anchor of Jonathan Glazer’s challenging art film, and it’s through her ever-so-minimally subtle transformation over the course of the film that we are able to understand the crux of it’s thematic content, as in, what it means to be human. In the case of Pike, we get a transformation of a wholly different type, and in this highly multi-faceted performance, with many ‘faces,’ Pike excels and becomes the actor she was always meant to be. She takes the ball and runs with one of the most challenging mainstreams roles for a female actor to take over the past few years. Both are masterclasses in acting, both are proof that the best female roles are to be sought in Europe or in genre films, and both, for all of their making me look indecisive, are equally commendable.

The 8^th Kevin Spacey Award for Best Male Actor in a Leading Role from 2014

Ben Affleck: “Nick Dunne” (Gone Girl) – David Fincher

Bradley Cooper: “Chris Kyle” (American Sniper) – Clint Eastwood

Tom Cruise: “Major William Cage” (Edge Of Tomorrow) – Doug Liman

Benedict Cumberbatch: “Alan Turing” (The Imitation Game) – Morten Tyldum

Brendan Gleeson: “Father James” (Calvary) – John Michael McDonagh

Jake Gyllenhaal: “Lou Bloom” (Nightcrawler) – Dan Gilroy

Phillip Seymour Hoffman: “Gunther Bachmann” (A Most Wanted Man) – Anton Corbijn

Michael Keaton: “Riggan Thomson” (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)) – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu

Chris Pratt: “Peter Quill/Star-Lord” (Guardians Of The Galaxy) – James Gunn

Andy Serkis: “Caesar” (Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes) – Matt Reeves

Miles Teller: “Andrew Neiman” (Whiplash) – Damien Chazelle

And the winner is… Jake Gyllenhaal: “Lou Bloom” (Nightcrawler) – Dan Gilroy

At long last, Dan Gilroy’s superb Nightcrawler picks up an award, and it’s a big ‘un, especially given that Andy Serkis was a shoe-in for this one earlier in the year! Speaking of awards of two being a recurrent theme here, this is the second consecutive year Jake Gyllenhaal has picked up an acting award for yours truly. Following on from his terrific turn as Detective Loki in Prisoners, Gyllenhaal gives his best performance to date, shape shifting into the visage of Lou Bloom. Taking all of his attributes (looks, charisma, understanding etc.) and turning them about-face, we follow and are enthralled by this menacing parasite. In every aspect, to his jabbering (rather eloquently, mind) on so much you want to slap him silly to the way he slinks about, moving into position like a hunting predator, Gyllenhaal’s entire fabric of being inhabits the creature that is Lou Bloom. Cementing his status as one of the best actors of his generation, Gyllenhaal’s disturbing portrayal of a sociopath learning to adapt, finding his place in society, is an incredible piece to a still-young body of work.

The 7^th Akira Kurosawa Award for Best Foreign-Language Film of 2014

 Ida (Canal+ Polska/Danish Film Institute/Eurimages) Language(s): Polish, French, Latin. Country(s): Poland, Denmark, France, United Kingdom – Pawel Pawlikowski

Stranger By The Lake (Le Films du Worso/arte France Cinema/M141/Films de Force Majeure) Language: French. Country: France – Alain Guiraudie

The Wind Rises (Studio Ghibli) Language(s): Japanese, English, German, Italian. Country: Japan

And the winner is… Ida (Canal+ Polska/Danish Film Institute/Eurimages) Language(s): Polish, French, Latin. Country(s): Poland, Denmark, France, United Kingdom – Pawel Pawlikowski

Not dissimilar to the case with Nightcrawler, Ida is one of the best films of the year, and yet up ‘til now it has failed to pick up an award. Although all three up here were strong movies, I went with Ida because it’s a showcase of what I appreciate about foreign-language films. It’s hardly like they’re a genre, but when I watch a film from another country, I like to see something different, to see what a filmmaker can bring to the table that’s distinctive about their own culture. Pawel Pawlikowski’s tale, illuminating, dense and full of content (it’s simultaneously a buddy movie, a road movie, a Holocaust film, a coming-of-age story, a political allegory and an exploration of religion and faith), was a surprise crossover hit on release. With it’s touching on such universal themes, it’s easy to see why, and although it harkens back to the rich history of Polish cinema, it’s most similar to the work of the Swedish master Ingmar Bergman. Like Bergman, Pawlikowski crams so much into what is essentially a simple story, elevating it to the high standard of film we see in the finished product. 

The 6^th Orson Welles Award for Most Promising Debut Filmmaker of 2014

Iain Forsyth/Jane Pollard (20,000 Days On Earth): takes an audacious concept that if done wrong could implode upon itself, but instead Forsyth and Pollard hold it together, adding a significant piece in the mythos surrounding Nick Cave

Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler): an excellent screenplay translated marvelously to the big screen, losing none of its strengths and featuring many things to it’s name, not least a cerebral lead performance from Jake Gyllenhaal

And the winner is… Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler): an excellent screenplay translated marvelously to the big screen, losing none of its strengths and featuring many things to it’s name, not least a cerebral lead performance from Jake Gyllenhaal

Nightcrawler becomes the twelfth film to have at least two awards, and with the joint-leaders, Gone Girl and Whiplash, sharing four apiece, it’s still anyone’s ball-game! Nightcrawler’s writer-director Dan Gilroy has been in the film business for a long time: his earliest credit is as a writer on 1992’s Freejack, released the same year he married Rene Russo, and his brothers, elder brother Tony Gilroy, writer and director, and fraternal twin brother John, editor, have numerous links to the film industry. At age fifty-five, one might call Dan Gilroy a late bloomer, but the fact is is that Gilroy directs with both the confidence and assuredness of a veteran, and gives Nightcrawler a sense of powerful immediacy akin to the film’s Martin Scorsese was making in the 1970s. This particular debutant has all the potential to be a gifted cinematic voice.

The 7^th Steven Spielberg Award for Best Producer(s) on a Film from 2014

Alejandro G. Innaritu/John Lesher/Arnon Milchan/James W. Skotchdopole (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)) – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu

Richard Linklater/Jonathan Sehring/John Sloss/Cathleen Sutherland (Boyhood) – Richard Linklater

Peter Chernin/Dylan Clark/Rick Jaffa/Amanda Silver (Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes) – Matt Reeves

Gregory Jacobs/Jason Hoffs/Tom Lassally/Jeffrey Silver/Erwin Stoff (Edge Of Tomorrow) – Doug Liman

Cean Chaffin/Leslie Dixon/Bruna Papandrea/Reese Witherspoon (Gone Girl) – David Fincher

Kevin Feige (Guardians Of The Galaxy) – James Gunn

Christopher Nolan/Lynda Obst/Emma Thomas (Interstellar) – Christopher Nolan

Roy Lee/Dan Lin (The Lego Movie) – Phil Lord/Christopher Miller

Jennifer Fox/Tony Gilroy/Jake Gyllenhaal/David Lancaster/Michel Litvak (Nightcrawler) – Dan Gilroy

And the winner is… Christopher Nolan/Lynda Obst/Emma Thomas (Interstellar) – Christopher Nolan

For this one, I’ve decided to go outré. Among the nominees, Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar was the only one which hadn’t won an award, but this isn’t a matter of having to merely acknowledge the film. No, the reason I give it to Interstellar is because no matter what way you look at the film, good or bad, you cannot deny the tremendous spectacle. Those primarily involved in the film have dared to dream big and I feel, even if the movie is at times problematic, certainly given us a memorable one. I gave it an eight out of ten when it came out, so while I certainly didn’t think it was bad, it wasn’t a masterpiece or among the best films of 2014. However, I do think that history is going to look kindly upon Interstellar, and who knows, in years to come it could be retrospectively viewed as this generation’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. I think a lot of that long-term impact will be down to the level of scope in the film’s production.

The 8^th Stanley Kubrick Award for Best Director of 2014

Damien Chazelle (Whiplash)

David Fincher (Gone Girl)

Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler)

Jonathan Glazer (Under The Skin)

James Gunn (Guardians Of The Galaxy)

Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))

Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

John Michael McDonagh (Calvary)

Hayao Miyazaki (The Wind Rises)

Christopher Nolan (Interstellar)

Pawel Pawlikowski (Ida)

And the winner is… Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

And so, Boyhood pulls itself up to joint-first, tying at four awards with Gone Girl and Whiplash. For a long time, out of this international Motley Crue (five Americans, two Englishmen, an English-born Irishman, a Japanese sensei, a Mexicano and a Pole), David Fincher was gonna be my pick and would have nabbed his second Best Director gong (he was the inaugural winner for Zodiac back on 2007). When Richard Linklater’s Boyhood came along though, I knew that this was a director firing on all cylinders. This long-term project gestated over twelve years in production, and, presented such a logistical nightmare, had all the potential to go wrong. Keeping control throughout but not without losing any of its essence, Linklater’s does a truly extraordinary directorial feat. Even though his creative process pushed to the nth degree, conjuring up and capturing onscreen the magical moments in life itself, it remains a grounded piece of work, a distinctive ‘Richard Linklater film.’ He is at his creative peak, putting his whole heart and soul into the film, and the big question remains: “where do we go from here?”

The 3^rd Thin White Dude’s Championship for Independent/Unique Contribution To Cinema

20,000 Days On Earth (Cornice Pictures/BFI/Film 4/Pulse Films) – Iain Forsyth/Jane Pollard

While prominently featured in some categories, this is the first award that has went to Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s documentary on Nick Cave. The recurrent theme of this Championship of mine (part of what comes with it means the film’s poster goes as the cover for this feature) seems to be documentary-styled films. Although I’m not a fan of things being too meta or modernist, I admire when filmmakers are able to blur the boundaries between fiction and reality. In 20,000 Days On Earth, there is no boundary between fiction and reality, this fictitious documentary (paradox, right?) following twenty-four-hours in the life of Nick Cave sees these two separate entities marry into an organic whole, the fruit of which is myth. It’s appropriate, given that much of Nick Cave’s artistry is based upon using myth as a means to transcend borders, to depict what Werner Herzog describes as the “ecstatic truth.” It’s a cracking film that is as insightful and thought provoking as it also entertaining. 

The 6^th ‘Drag Me To Hell’ Awards for 2014’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Steven Brill (Screenwriter/Director/Bit-Part Actor in Walk Of Shame): for taking the every-charming Elizabeth Banks and putting her in a hideously unfunny and morally pernicious ‘comedy’

Ben Falcone/Melissa McCarthy (Architects of Tammy): the two are behind most blindly narcissistic self-promotional passion project of 2014.

Jonathan Liebesman (Director-For-Hire on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles): you sucked before, now you’ve sold your soul to the Devil himself (Bay, cough!) and tainted a great franchise in the process

Devon Talbott (Actor in The Basement/Do You Like My Basement?): I don’t think it’s right that a film should have me wishing a painful and bloody death upon someone, but Devon Talbott’s Chad did just that

The 7^th Alfred Hitchcock Award for Most Significant Player (Member of the Film Community) of 2014

Damien Chazelle (Screenwriter/Director of Whiplash)

Bradley Cooper (Lead Actor and Producer on American Sniper, Lead Actor in Serena, Voice Actor in Guardians Of The Galaxy)

Benedict Cumberbatch (Lead Actor in The Imitation Game/Voice and Supporting Actor on The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies/Voice Actor on Penguins Of Madagascar)

Scarlett Johansson (Lead Actor in Lucy and Under The Skin/Supporting Actor in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Chef)

Keira Knightley (Lead Actor in Begin Again, Laggies/Supporting Actor in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit/The Imitation Game)

Richard Linklater (Screenwriter/Producer/Director of Boyhood)

Christopher Nolan (Screenwriter/Producer/Director of Interstellar and Executive Producer of Transcendence)

Chris Pratt (Lead Actor in Guardians Of The Galaxy and Voice Actor in The Lego Movie)

Andy Serkis (Lead Actor in Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, Motion Capture Consultant for Godzilla and Second Unit Director on The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies)

Howard Shore (Composer on Maps To The Stars, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies and Rosewater)

And the winner is… Scarlett Johansson (Lead Actor in Lucy and Under The Skin/Supporting Actor in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Chef)

With this win, Lucy sits on two awards, while Under The Skin enters the upper territory, running alongside Boyhood, Gone Girl and Whiplash with four awards apiece. While I would also like to flag up Chris Pratt, who had a real breakout year, Scarlett Johansson cemented her position as one of the leading female actors in the world this year. Competing against herself in the Best Female Actor in a Lead Role category, both Under The Skin and Lucy were much better films for her presence. Furthermore, Johansson’s work in 2014 is a widely varied bunch, showcasing her ability to move between projects of a different nature. One was a French action movie, another a big-budget Hollywood superhero blockbuster, then a modestly-budget comedy-drama and a guerilla independent feature shot in Scotland of all places. Johansson more than delivers on the recent resurgence of her popular prominence, taking advantage of her place in the star system to play a significant part in some of the better films of 2014. This year, her body of work has near enough ensured that she can thrive with continued success for the next ten years.

The 8^th Ed Wood Award for Worst Film of 2014

The Basement/Do You Like My Basement? (Limey Films) – Roger Sewhcomar

God’s Not Dead (Pure Flix Entertainment/Red Entertainment Group) – Harold Cronk

Hector And The Search For Happiness (Egoli Tossell Film/Film Afrika Worldwide/Erfttal Film/German Federal Film Board/Screen Siren Pictures) – Peter Chelson

Inherent Vice (IAC Films/Ghoulardi Film Company) – Paul Thomas Anderson

Mrs. Brown’s Boys D’Movie (That’s Nice Films/Penalty Kick Films/BocFlix/BBC Films) – Ben Kellett

The Pyramid (Silvatar Media/Fox International Productions) – Gregory Levasseur

Tammy (New Line Cinema/Gary Sanchez Productions) – Ben Falcone

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Nickelodeon Movies/Platinum Dunes/Gama Entertainment/Mednick Productions/Heavy Metal) – Jonathan Liebesman

Transformers: Age Of Extinction (di Bonaventure Pictures/Hasbro/China Movie Channel/Jiaflix Enterprises) – Michael Bay

Walk Of Shame (Lakeshore Entertainment/Sidney Kimmel Entertainment) – Steven Brill

And the winner is… Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Nickelodeon Movies/Platinum Dunes/Gama Entertainment/Mednick Productions/Heavy Metal) – Jonathan Liebesman

Entering triple negatives, having won Most Excessively Violent Film, director Jonathan Liebesman being among 2014’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalyspe and now this, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an abominable film. It’s a shamefully crass piece of garbage with the same rotten core of serving to make money off the enthusiasm of kids in much the same way Michael Bay took away the Transformers from the children and gave it to the capitalist profiteers. The only difference is that this time he doesn’t have the stones to direct it himself, being too preoccupied with tendering a wholly different monstrosity and having a schmuck-for-hire in Jonathan Liebesman to do it instead. Not even Megan Fox, who after motherhood looks to be kicking her career into its second stage, comes off the better. Wasting her talents in such utter shite is no way to be revamp a career, for all the people around her do is point the camera so that the apex of everything shot is her rear end. The Turtles themselves are no fun, make decidedly stupid jokes, are ugly to look at, and just come across as all-round douchebags. I mean, seriously, people got paid good money to right this shit! I could write a better film with cardboard sets and a bunch of action figures for free (and screenwriting is my weak point in writing!)! Head colds and nasal problems are no fun, but they’re more enjoyable than Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (and help you write more inflammatory dialogue). If I were to scale this in terms of worst films, I would say it’s about equal to Barbarossa: Siege Lord and Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, but not as bad something like Prom Night, Vampires Suck or the nadir of my reviewing years, Grown Ups 2. It is still like being force-fed waste, and I don’t like the way it tastes!

The 8^th Clockwork Award for Best Film of 2014

Honorable Mentions

Edge Of Tomorrow (Village Roadshow/RatPac-Dune Entertainment/3 Arts Entertainment/Viz Productions) – Doug Liman

The Lego Movie (Village Roadshow Pictures/Lego System A/S/Vertigo Entertainment/Lin Pictures/Animal Logic/Warner Animation Group) – Phil Lord/Christopher Miller

Life Itself (Kartemquin Films/Film Rites/CNN Films) – Steve James

Oculus (Blumhouse Productions/WWE Studios/Intrepid Pictures) – Mike Flanagan

20,000 Days On Earth (Cornice Pictures/BFI/Film 4/Pulse Films) – Iain Forsyth/Jane Pollard

Top Ten Films of 2014

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Regency Enterprises/New Regency Pictures/M Productions/Le Grisbi Productions/TSG Entertainment/Worldview Entertainment) – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu

Boyhood (Detour Filmproduction) – Richard Linklater

Calvary (Reprisal Films/Octagon Films/Protagonist Pictures) – John Michael McDonagh

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (Chernin Entertainment/TSG Entertainment) – Matt Reeves

Gone Girl (Regency Enterprises/Pacific Standard) – David Fincher

Ida (Canal+ Polska/Danish Film Institute/Eurimages) – Pawel Pawlikowski

Nightcrawler (Bold Films) – Dan Gilroy

Under The Skin (Film 4/BFI) – Jonathan Glazer

Whiplash (Sierra/Affinity/Bold Films/Blumhouse Productions/Right of Way Films) – Damien Chazelle

The Wind Rises (Studio Ghibli) – Hayao Miyazaki

And the winner is… Boyhood (Detour Filmproduction) – Richard Linklater

And, taking the most awards of this year’s crop with five, I’ve decided for a change to go with what will probably be the Best Picture winner at the Oscars, Boyhood. I’m fairly late in joining the fold, the litany of those who have been singing the film’s praises. Indeed, this is one of the few films I can recall in my lifetime which upon release has garnered more or less universal acclaim (aside from the odd critic, who usually construct their opinions well, or hipster douchebag, who don’t like the film merely because everyone else does, and would groaning about it being the best film of the year if it didn’t seem that the Academy are actually going to recognize that for a change). To take stats, as it stands it’s currently Metacritic’s highest-reviewed film upon original release, and according to CriticsTop10.com it has set records for most appearances in annual top ten list and most first-place votes topping them. It has become a highly profitable film, being a low-budget indie and all, but one which people have flocked to since its release. As for me, I think it’s a majestic and wonderful work of cinema. I iterated earlier that there was so much that logistically could have went wrong, that it could have been a gimmick, but instead Richard Linklater keeps you engrossed so much that you just take it as it is, a beautifully told story, acted out with grace by his central cast, Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Lorelei Linklater and Ethan Hawke. It’s a story that is both at the core very simple, yet about so very much. It’s about growing up, it’s about family and it’s changing form in society, it’s about the ever-present philosophical questions posed towards the meaning of life. I could go on and on, waxing lyrical here, but as I’ve said, what Linklater is equally commendable as the scope of this is how much Linklater keeps it grounded. Fitting in rather comfortably with the rest of his oeuvre, Boyhood is both a continuation and an elevation of his art. Right from Slacker onwards, his directorial trademarks have been usually typified by highly conversational dialogue scenes (often probing his favorite existential preoccupations) and use of non-original music, both of which are featured in Boyhood. However, while he has made masterpieces in the past (Dazed And Confused, Waking Life, Before Sunset), Linklater kicks it up into a whole other gear here, outdoing himself. Honest, sincere and truthful, Boyhood is a remarkable movie and that I think I’m safe in saying this early on in it’s lifetime (it will continue and prosper, no doubt), among the greatest films of all time. 


Multiple Award Winners

Boyhood: 5 awards - The 8th Clockwork Award for Best Film of 2014, The 8th Stanley Kubrick Award for Best Director of a Film from 2014 (Richard Linklater), The 7th Katharine Hepburn Award for Best Supporting Role by a Female Actor in 2014 (Patricia Arquette: "Olivia Evans"), The 7th Werner Herzog Award for Most Ingenious Film Concept of 2014, The 7th Kenneth Loach Award for Best Drama Film of 2014

Under The Skin: 4 awards - The 7th Alfred Hitchcock Award for Most Significant Player (Member of the Film Community) of 2014 (Scarlett Johansson), The 8th Cate Blanchett Award for Best Leading Role by a Female Actor in 2014 (Scarlett Johansson: "The 'Woman'"), The 7th Ennio Morricone Award for Best Original Score/Soundtrack of 2014 (Mica Levi), The 8th Philip K. Dick Award for Best Science-Fiction/Fantasy Film of 2014

Gone Girl: 4 awards - The 8th Cate Blanchett Award for Best Leading Role by a Female Actor in 2014 (Rosamund Pike: "Amy Elliot-Dunne"), The 5th 'Extras' Award for Best Bit Part in a Film from 2014 (Emily Ratajkowski), The 1st 'Blue Is The Warmest Colour' Award for Best Sex Scenes in a Film from 2014, The 8th David Fincher Award for Best Thriller of 2014

Whiplash: 4 awards - The 7th R. Lee Ermey Award for Best Supporting Role by a Male Actor in 2014 (J.K. Simmons: "Terence Fletcher"), The 7th Thelma Schoonmaker Award for Best Film Editorial Work of 2014 (Tom Cross), The 7th Paul Schrader Award for Best Screenplay of 2014 (Damien Chazelle), The 6th Walter Murch Award for Best Sound Design/Mixing in a Film from 2014

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 3 awards - The 8th Ed Wood Award for Worst Film of 2014, The 6th 'Drag Me To Hell' Awards for 2014's Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse (Jonathan Liebesman), The 7th Lucio Fulci Award for Most Excessive Violent Film of 2014

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes: 3 awards - The 8th James Cameron Award for Best Sequel of 2014, The 6th Stan Winston Award for Best Special/Visual Effects in a Film from 2014, The 6th Dante Ferretti Award for Best Production Design in a Film from 2014

Lucy: 2 awards - The 7th Alfred Hitchcock Award for Most Significant Player (Member of the Film Community) of 2014 (Scarlett Johansson), The 6th Vic Armstrong Award for Best Stunt Work on a Film from 2014

Walk Of Shame: 2 awards - The 6th 'Drag Me To Hell' Award for 2014's Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse (Steven Brill), The 8th GWB Award for Most 'Unintentionally' Offensive Film of 2014

Nightcrawler: 2 awards - The 6th Orson Welles Award for Most Promising Debut Filmmaker of 2014 (Dan Gilroy), The 8th Kevin Spacey Award for Best Leading Role by a Male Actor (Jake Gyllenhaal: "Lou Bloom")

The Lego Movie: 2 awards - The 6th Peter Sallis Award for Best Vocal Performance by an Actor in 2014 (Chris Pratt: "Emmet Brickowski"), The 3rd David Bowie Award for Best Theme/Song in a Film from 2014 (Teagan and Sara, featuring The Lonely Island: "Everything Is Awesome!!!")

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance): 2 awards - The 1st Robert Altman Award for Best Ensemble Cast in a Film from 2014, The 7th Christopher Doyle Award for Best Cinematography in a Film from 2014 (Emmanuel Lubezki)

Edge Of Tomorrow: 2 awards - The 5th 'Cemetery Junction' Award for Most Overlooked Film of 2014, The 5th Edith Head Award for Best Costume Designs in a Film from 2014

Guardians Of The Galaxy: 2 awards - The 3rd David Bowie Award for Best Theme/Song in a Film from 2014 (Blue Swede: "Hooked On A Feeling"), The 5th Rick Baker Award for Best Make-Up/Hair in a Film from 2014

Calvary: 2 awards - The 8th 'Real Steel' Award for Most Surprisingly Entertaining Film of 2014, The 8th Stan and Ollie Award for Best Comedic Film of 2014

The Wind Rises: 2 awards - The 6th Walt Disney Award for Best Animated Film of 2014, The 7th Sylvester Stallone Award for Best Action/Adventure Film of 2014

RIP 2014-2015

A short list of deaths of noteworthy individuals whose work I admired in some shape or form from March 2014-February 2015.

Alain Resnais (Director): June 3, 1922-March 1, 2014 - Night and Fog, Hiroshima Mon Amour, Last Year In Marienbad, Muriel

Scott Kalvert (Director): August 15, 1964-March 5, 2014 - The Basketball Diaries

Bob Hoskins (Actor): October 26, 1942-April 29, 2014 - The Long Good Friday, Mona Lisa, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Brazil, Hook, Nixon, Mrs. Henderson Presents, Made In Dagenham

Gordon Willis (Cinematographer): May 28, 1931-May 18, 2014 - The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Annie Hall, Manhattan

Eli Wallach (Actor): December 7, 1915-June 24, 2014 - Baby Doll, The Magnificent Seven, The Misfits, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Godfather Part II

Dick Smith (Make-Up Artist): June 26, 1922-July 30, 2014 - Little Big Man, The Godfather, The Exorcist, Taxi Driver, Amadeus

Marilyn Burns (Actor): May 7, 1949-August 5, 2014 - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Robin Williams (Actor/Comedian): July 21, 1951-August 11, 2014 - Mork & Mindy, Good Morning Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, The Fisher King, Hook, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, Good Will Hunting, Bicentennial Man, One Hour Photo, Insomnia, World's Greatest Dad, The Butler

Lauren Bacall (Actor): September 16, 1924-August 12, 2014 - To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, Key Largo, How To Marry A Millionaire?, Designing Women, Murder on the Orient Express, The Shootist, Health, The Mirror Has Two Faces, Dogville, Birth

Richard Attenborough (Director/Actor): August 29, 1923-August 23, 2014 - Brighton Rock, The Great Escape, 10 Rillington Place, Jurassic Park, Miracle on 34th Street, Gandhi, Oh! What A Lovely War, Cry Freedom, Chaplin, Shadowlands

Mike Nichols (Director): November 6, 1931-November 19, 2014 - Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, The Graduate, Catch-22, Carnal Knowledge, The Birdcage, Closer, Charlie Wilson's War

Edgar Froese (Musician/Composer of Tangerine Dream): June 6, 1944-January 20, 2015 - Sorcerer, Thief, Risky Business, Firestarter, Legend

Finalment

Well, hip hip huzzah for me, I've managed to keep on schedule! Believe you me, while I always like to think I'm able to do that, working to your own deadlines (with a relative level of flexibility) means that you can get a little complacent. As I've said over and over, we get no less than five masterpieces a year in film, and this year, I was lucky enough to see six which I felt reached that upper echelon of cinema. It's been at times daunting, troublesome and irritating, but I always have a blast doing these Best and Worsts at the end of the cinematic calendar year. I hope that even if you don't agree with some of my opines (or my occasionally overbearing manner) you can take away some food for thought, something to discuss, to provoke you to formulate your own opinions regarding the cinematic releases in 2014. It's been one hell of a week, and while there's part of me that, like Patricia Arquette's Olivia, holds back releasing my babies into the big bad world, you've just got to let them go and be what they're meant to be.

"Peace."

The Thin White Dude

"I'm Finished."

Family Of The Year - Hero (featured in Richard Linklater's Boyhood)