11 Months Later

Alright people, after exactly 11 months I have decided to be back. Blogging. Speaking my mind to no acclaim, avail, or financial reward. What has happened? Where have you been you old rascal? I hear you hark. Let me tell you friends, it has been a wild year. Oh wait, no it hasn't. 

So, moving on, here's my top 10 films of the last calendar year. Feel free to fuck off if you disagree. 

10)  Locke (dir. Steven Knight) - A film that takes place entirely inside a car, features only one character on screen and a phone on loud speaker. The plot, on paper at least, seems almost custom-designed to bore; a Welsh bloke has to drive to London while overseeing a very important concrete pour back home. However, a completely engrossing performance from Tom Hardy and some fantastic twists and turns make this an excellent hour and a half on the M4. 

9)  Muppets Most Wanted (dir. James Bobin) - This inclusion is entirely for personal reasons as A) I love the Muppets irrationally, B) Ricky Gervais is in it and C) Constantine is the new funniest Muppet of all time. I watched this on a plane and people thought I was mental from laughing so much. 

8)  Chef (dir. John Favreau) - It's really quite a testament to the state of the movie industry today when I watch a film like this and go all "gee, they don't make 'em like this anymore". In the 90's, you couldn't move for earnest, humanist, comedies of this ilk. Now they are like the bloody northern lights. I digress. This film is funny, touching, simple, and thoroughly enjoyable. Enough said. 

7) Boyhood (dir. Richard Linklater) - Is this film a towering, groundbreaking cinematic landmark? Yes. Can I honestly say I didn't get a little bit bored? No. However, such is the strength of previously mentioned achievement that it has to be included on absolutely every end of year list. You just can't leave it out. 

6) Interstellar (dir. Christopher Nolan) - Although somewhat maligned by critics, at least by old Chrissy "money machine" Nolan's standards, I seriously think this film will be considered a classic in years to come. Owing much to Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey", Nolan takes us to an entirely new dimension and back in what is the single most high-concept plot I have ever seen (and I've sat through some weird stuff, let me tell you). It is almost impossible to fathom in one sitting. The physics alone were enough to send my brain packing off to tenerife for the summer. However, I found this film an extremely ambitious, moving, mind-bending, awe-inspiring piece of brilliance. I can't wait to see it again. 

5) The Rover (dir. David Michod) - The second film by the director of my fave film of 2010 "Animal Kingdom", this is a brutal post-apocalpytic, Mad Max-esque look at the not too distant future. Guy Pearce plays a man hell-bent on retrieving his car from thieves (for reasons unknown until the very end) and the only way to do so is to rely on the mentally challenged man he picks up along the way - brilliantly portrayed by Robert Pattinson, who is proving to be quite an actor. Very violent, very harsh, and strangely moving, Michod is becoming a director to watch for in the future. 

4) Edge Of Tomorrow (dir. Doug Liman) - Basically groundhog day in the future. Tom Cruise being typically great. Doug Liman directing like the master that he is, and Emily Blunt - who would get it. Large. What more could you want? A proper popcorn film of old. Not Michael Bay shite. 

3) A Most Violent Year (dir. JC Chandor) - Set in 1981, New York City's most violent year on record (get it?), you'd be easily mislead into thinking this was a gangster flick if you watched the trailer. It's not. It's far more complex than that. Oscar Issac gives a star-making performance as the lead - a man trying to make an honest living under very dishonest circumstances - the cinematography is amazing and there is a classic New York chase scene, up there with The French Connection or Carlito's Way. Cracking film. 

2) Whiplash (dir. Damien Chazelle) - I'm not even gonna talk about this film. Just go and watch it. Right now. Don't read any more. Go. 

1) Foxcatcher (dir. Bennet Miller) - Could easily have lost to Whiplash, however it's my list and I thought this was the best film I'd seen all year. Dark, cold, atmospheric, unbearably tense, at times unwatchable, I couldn't stop thinking about this film for many weeks after watching. Steve Carell is nothing short of terrifying. A masterful study of human behavior at it's most odd. "Did you catch the fox, mother?" still sends a shiver down my spine. And not in a good way. Brilliant.   

JB.