Right now, as I’m writing this, I am listening to the Kermode and Mayo Review of the Year and it has inspired me to go through and choose my top ten films of the year. The main thing compiling this list made me realise is that I have not seen enough films this year, so the gaping holes have as much to do with my inability to see new releases as whether I liked them or not. So, incomplete view maybe, but mine nonetheless. In reverse order (to add tension)
10. Warm Bodies
I saw this for the first time after it came out in the Speechley outdoor cinema, which is great because I never would have thought to pay for it. Ultimately, it is a throw away zombie romance but I was surprisingly touched by it and thought it had enough of a sense of humour about itself to carry it through the more ridiculous moments. I reckon it might not stand up to another viewing but I liked it regardless.
9. Stoker
Again, I saw this a little after it came out but that’s no matter. A weird, creepy, well-performed film which had me entranced. When I first saw it (in two parts incidentally) I didn’t think much of it but many of the characters and images stuck with me and when I revisited it recently it stood up to a second viewing. Genuinely chilling.
8. The Bling Ring
This is a very strange film tone-wise; it is difficult for me to think of a comparable one, even in Sophia Coppola’s own back catalogue. I’m not sure it’s a film that you enjoy exactly and there was a little depth missing but, like another film later on in this list, I think that lack of depth was the point. Very accomplished performances, dry humour and I liked it even more on second viewing.
7. Star Trek: Into Darkness
Another film I saw later than everyone else (shout out to the Speechley’s!) and I really liked it. I know little to nothing about the original series so I went into this and the previous film completely blind, and have been thoroughly charmed by both. It’s a great science fiction blockbuster in that it does have ideas and relationships you care about and great characters but it also has explosions and good gags. Throughly enjoyable. We’ll just pretend that bit with Alice Eve ever happened.
6. The Great Gatsby
This was my shock of the year – I was expecting to hate this, as an adaptation of one of my favourite novels ever with some questionable casting. Actually, I really enjoyed it: I thought it was brash and mostly surface and loud but also visually stunning and performed (mostly) well and ultimately fun. (Longer and more detailed review from earlier in the year can be found here)
5. Saving Mr. Banks
I only saw this a few days ago but I absolutely loved it. To be fair, I love ‘Mary Poppins’ and so maybe I was predisposed to love this, but I thought it toed a fine line between sentimentality and actually being quite a dark story admirably. All the performances were great and the whole experience was feel good (whilst also being genuinely sad) and the next day? We all watched ‘Mary Poppins’.
4. Much Ado About Nothing
This might be my new favourite film version of Shakespeare (sorry Baz!). People forget how hard ‘Much Ado’ actually is to translate into the modern day but this film did a great job of juggling the gender politics and, crucially, remembered to make it laugh out loud funny. Every performance was pitch perfect (special shout-out to Clark Gregg who has the hardest scene and pulled it off brilliantly) and has the secondary honour of being the most mixed crowd (age wise, gender wise etc.) I’ve seen in the cinema for a long time.
3. The World’s End
I have seen this on the big screen twice, the second time as part of a showing of all three Cornetto movies and, if anything, that gave me a greater appreciation for this final instalment. In fact, I now think it is the best of the Cornetto movies (with ‘Shaun’ still as my favourite and ‘Hot Fuzz’ as the funniest). Performed beautifully, especially by Simon Pegg, full of jokes and tears and triumphant moments, a great soundtrack and the perfect end to one of my favourite ever trilogies.
2. Django Unchained
Because it was an awards contender last year, I nearly left this off my list but actually it was very nearly my favourite film of the year. I mean, it’s too long and Quentin Tarantino should not have done that terrible cameo, but I throughly enjoyed it. It had humour, it had violence, it had great performances including an against-type role for Leonardo DiCaprio. It is far from perfect but it is well worth seeing, regardless of how you generally feel about Tarantino movies.
1. Before Midnight
So earlier I mentioned that the Cornetto trilogy was one of my favourite ever movie trilogies – in fact, I think it comes third after ‘Toy Story’ and the ‘Before’ movies. What a loved about this last instalment was that it was honest and heartbreaking, that it gave both its main characters a proper perspective on their lives with neither being entirely right or wrong, and while it maintained everything that was great about the previous films it was not so enthralled by them that it couldn’t do something different. Just sublime. See it, see them all, do it now!
GIANTLAWNMOWER 