The Knight of Lists

8. Platoon (Watched on December 14th)

While falling just short, in my opinion, of true war genre classics like Saving Private Ryan, Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket, Platoon is nonetheless a legitimately excellent achievement on Oliver Stone’s part. The incorporation of standard war movie aspects in the first fifteen to twenty minutes honestly felt more arbitrary than anything else, but from the first gritty attack scene and on, this film adopts a pace and intensity that makes it very riveting. All of the various environments, types of character interactions and the fighting itself have this blunt rawness to them that lends the movie its feeling of authenticity, and that’s both not surprising and appropriate, seeing as how Stone drew from his own personal experiences in the Vietnam War while writing the script. I really enjoyed the representation of two kinds of experienced soldiers in the characters played by Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe, especially since a lott of the film’s most interesting dramatic aspects involve the two of them and their philosophies concerning war. Charlie Sheen turns in a rock-solid performance as well, and there’s enough humanity present in him to counterbalance all the brutality we bear witness to throughout. But something I find most interesting about Platoon, though, is that in spite of the presence of thoughts and ideas concerning the nature of war, there’s still a straightforward quality to everything meant to capture what it was really like in Vietnam, and from what I can tell, Oliver Stone sure as hell succeeded with that. I may not have personally found it as emotionally resonant as the earlier films I mentioned, but there’s no denying the effectiveness of this movie.

And with my viewing of Platoon, thus ended my quest to watch all of the AFI Top 100 Films — from both the 1998 and 2007 editions of the list. It feels good to finally be finished with that.

7. Inside Llewyn Davis (Watched on August 4th)

The Coen Brothers always make absurdly strange or fascinating movies either way, and Inside Llewyn Davis is one of their most absurdly and strangely fascinating ones. It’s also not a film for everyone. Case in point, I watched this with my Mom, who’s relatively unaccustomed to the Coens’ sense of humor, and the first words out of her mouth when it was over were, “I HATED this movie!” It’s true, Inside Llewyn Davis feels like a film that only fans or at least people very familiar with the Coen Brothers and their style can fully appreciate, and while my Mom may have hated it, I found myself more and more fascinated by this movie as it went on, and despite its overall “down tone”, I really enjoyed it.

That trademark Coen sense of humor is here in spades, with many weirdly funny and just downright strange moments that only they can deliver. Oscar Isaac is great, as are all the other actors. John Goodman in particular has a strong, small role. I’m not entirely sure if I was rooting for Llewyn or not, but I DO know I was always interested to see where his journey would take him next. Actually, I felt more sympathy for the cat(s), especially since my family has an orange cat that looks almost exactly like the one(s) in this movie. Also, the movie is shot wonderfully by the great Bruno Delbonnel. And as someone not into folk music at all, I have to say that the songs in this film were pretty damn good.

Inside Llewyn Davis is another great offering from the Coens, and also one that stayed with me and made me think about it after it was over, mainly due to its storytelling structure. For all those who’ve seen it, you know what I mean.

6. The Lives of Others (Watched on April 13th)

The Lives of Others is a German period drama/thriller dealing with the monitoring of East Berlin by Stasi agents that occurred during the 80’s. Specifically, the film is centered on a seasoned agent named Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Muhe), who’s assigned to spy on a playwright named Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koche), who’s carrying on a relationship with one of his actresses (Martina Gedeck). But Weisler soon not only comes to be fascinated by these people’s lives, but also discovers there may be another reason behind them being monitored.

Overall, this is a really engrossing, atmospheric and well-made film. Director/writer Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck does a fantastic job of putting you right in the middle of both the time period and the story. He effectively builds senses of paranoia and suspense not through the typical ways, but rather in how he lets his characters interact with each other and how they react to all these various situations. The Lives of Others, I thought, was actually pretty comparable to a Hitchcock film in quite a few ways, and if that’s what von Donnersmarck was going for, then he certainly pulled it off. The acting is all uniformly strong, too. The performances themselves really do complement the tone and atmosphere while still being quietly powerful. Plus, the story itself really is fascinating, both in the way the plot develops and in the dynamics that develop between the main characters. The more I let this film marinate after I watched it, the more I loved it.

2. The Sweet Hereafter (Watched on July 25th)

A small town community is still reeling in the wake of a devastating bus accident that claimed the lives of all but one of the local children. Meanwhile, a lawyer (Ian Holm) comes into the town, claiming that the community can sue for damages on the grounds that the bus was faulty, and he’s willing to represent them in court. Such a set-up is already a tricky, fragile thing for The Sweet Hereafter — not because of just the heavy subject matter, but for the possibility of it falling into the trap of being overly sentimental. Well, not only is this film a genuinely powerful and moving experience that feels completely honest and real, it’s just a great film, period. To me, the thing that stood out the most about The Sweet Hereafter, and the thing which gave it so much weight in the first place, is its decision of story structure. More conventional filmmakers most likely would’ve felt the need to put the bus accident somewhere in the first twenty-five minutes and then just go from there, but writer/director Atom Egoyan is able to make the story much more compelling and the drama much more impactful by jumping around in the timeframe, and showing the accident only after we’ve gotten a vivid sense of these characters and their relationships with one another; like I said, this approach makes the accident as much of a tragedy for us the viewers as it is for the characters. Building off that, the resulting emotions are powerful without feeling manipulative, making for a number of great scenes. As a result, the performances are all incredibly moving, Sarah Polley’s, Bruce Greenwood’s and Ian Holm’s in particular. Also, without giving much away, I thought the film ended on a very natural and honest note. The Sweet Hereafter is a powerhouse of a film, the rare kind that’s both moving and hypnotizing, and never strikes a false note.

1. The Exorcist (Watched on October 22nd)

Up until this past year, William Friedkin’s The Exorcist had been one of my biggest “movie blind spots.” On average, I’m not THAT into the horror genre, and this film has a reputation of being “the scariest film of all-time.” I guess you could say I’ve been intimidated by it for the longest time, especially with my younger self being very creeped out by the brief glimpses of it I’d seen here and there. But now, I’ve gotten more horror under my belt and have become more accustomed, more or less, to the tricks of the trade when it comes to the genre, so I finally decided to plunge into this heavily-hailed classic.

Would I call The Exorcist “scary,” per say? Not really, but it IS still incredibly creepy and atmospheric, to the point where throughout its 2-hour running time, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the screen. This is owed to the skillful direction by William Friedkin, along with the gripping screenplay by William Peter Blatty, adapted from his own novel. Together, these two build up a sense of dread that becomes more and more pronounced with every passing scene, but at the same time, they also use the build-up to properly establish the main characters and ensure that they feel like real people rather than pawns on a chessboard. By the time Regan’s possession fully takes over, along with her mother finally committing to the idea of an exorcism, there’s a real vested interest we have in these characters, and it makes the film all the more gripping. Friedkin’s style is also a factor there, because while I personally was never outright scared by the film, there were still many scenes and aspects that nonetheless managed to get under my skin and unsettle me. The scenes that center on Regan’s possession are especially that way, and there’s a certain frankness in the way Friedkin presents it all that adds to the effectiveness. Of course, the acting from Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller and Max von Sydow is excellent, and again, it’s their sense of realism that lends the film a lot of its power.

I’m extremely glad I finally saw The Exorcist, and I can indeed agree with its place as not only one of the best horror films ever, but also one of the best films ever made, period.

PG Cooper, Neverending, Dracula, any comments, or am I going to be posting this list without any feedback?

7. WHIPLASH

"Whiplash" is certainly an accurate term to describe the way this movie leaves you feeling, because this is a surprisingly and darkly delightful intense movie experience that definitely earns its right to rank among the best of the year. Whiplash is one of those small independent films that serves as a welcome reminder that not every film needs to reach for lofty heights in order to achieve greatness; an interesting juxtaposition of the central idea at the heart of the movie itself. Make no mistake, though: writer/director Damien Chazelle isn't content to simply show you people playing band instruments. Instead, every beat of the drum and tap of a cymbal has a powerful and visceral force behind it, to the point where we feel every ounce of sweat, drop of blood and vicious cut that results from Miles Teller's Andrew Nieman's battle for perfection. This is a film that grabbed me, shook me and squeezed me until I left the theater nearly having to catch my breath and with a newfound respect for band players. Chazelle treats this as much as a claustrophobic psychological thriller as he does the typical mentor/student drama turned on its head. It sparks a very interesting debate on the cost of achieving greatness and wisely blurs the line enough so that we find ourselves sort of seeing the logic of JK Simmons' drill instructor-like Terence Fletcher. There's been quite a bit of Oscar talk for Simmons in this role, and it's completely justified. He alternates between terrifying rage and cool collectiveness with the kind of ease a seasoned character actor such as him can pull off. Miles Teller impresses again as Andrew, and I like how the portrayal of his character walks the line between determination and overconfidence to the point where some of Fletcher's unflinching aggression might just feel justified. And to top it all off, the film builds to a frenzied and gripping climax that leaves you with a smile on your face.

6. AMERICAN SNIPER

Finally. American Sniper represents the return to form for director Clint Eastwood that I've been waiting for in the gap between this and his magnificent Letters From Iwo Jima. Much like Iwo Jima, American Sniper finds him back on the frontlines of war, but this time, it's more modern. This is the story of Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), a soldier stationed in Iraq who gained the reputation of being "the most lethal military sniper in U.S. history." The film follows his exploits in the war zone, interweaving tense and suspenseful action with snapshots of his domestic life back home with his loving wife Taya (Sienna Miller) and their two children, focusing primarily on the toll such a job takes on someone whenever they're not doing what they're trained to do. Among a few of the criticisms from the naysayers of this film is the fact that it recycles a bunch of war movie clichés that we've seen before while not adding anything new and that it has too much of a "GO AMERICA!" feel to it. Well, to address those issues: we are now in a day and age of filmmaking where it's more about HOW you do something rather than WHAT you do, and in that respect, American Sniper is executed with the kind of expert craft and skill that easily manages to place us right in the center of everything. Clint Eastwood stages perhaps the most intense shootouts in any movie this past year, creating an atmosphere where we as the audience are just as on-edge as the people on-screen whose lives are at risk, showing that he's still got his touch at the age of 84. Especially in scenes where we see Kyle have to make tough calls with his finger on the trigger, Eastwood makes sure we feel the gravity of those moments. In terms of the emotional aspect of the film, that's just as well-handled because Eastwood and his actors are so good at bringing that to the surface. The way Eastwood chooses to handle the ending hits pretty hard in its own right. Bradley Cooper delivers another great performance as Kyle, finding the right balance between the stone-faced resolve of a soldier and the vulnerability that slowly creeps over him as a consequence of his actions. Sienna Miller may be delegated to a more typical "worried wife" role, but she still gives it real heart. As for any overt patriotism on display, I personally never felt that way because I was so wrapped up in the story and characters. To me, it was just Eastwood showing the experiences of Chris Kyle, but more importantly, what snipers and combat-ready soldiers have to go through on a daily basis and in that respect, American Sniper is enormously effective and (I have to say it) hits its mark.

5. BEGIN AGAIN

The exact phrasing is escaping me at the moment, but there's a saying that has to do with a great movie having at least three great scenes. Well, in the case of Begin Again, I can think of at least five great scenes - and more - this film has to offer that solidify it as probably 2014's most pleasant surprise of a movie. Not to mention it sports one of my favorite endings to any movie in 2014. I could almost just post Youtube links to a few of those scenes in question and simply let them speak for themselves, but Begin Again deserves to be talked about as much as possible. Among its many accomplishments are two revelations: one, that Keira Knightley has a hell of a singing voice and two, Adam Levine has the potential to be a very strong actor. A good portion of the film centers around the relationship of their two characters, and all of those scenes carry a natural honesty that makes them riveting to watch. Knightley in particular gives one of the best, if not the best performance of her career as Greta, a singer struggling to find her place in the world. Knightley brings such innate charm and effortless likability to the part, and Greta turns out to be a wonderful character whom you genuinely come to root for. Concurrently, Mark Ruffalo is just as great as the down-and-out record producer who discovers Greta (in the scene that officially made me fall in love with the film), and the two have fantastic chemistry that makes it a joy to see them interact with each other, but most of all, I love how smart the movie is in how it handles the progression of their relationship. One of the film's best moments comes when the two characters walk around New York one night, enraptured by Greta's Ipod playlist.

 
Begin Again is written and directed by John Carney, and while I thought John Carney's Once was good, curiously, the rough and tough style of the film left me pretty cold towards it. Begin Again, by comparison, is more polished and smooth...and it left me feeling incredibly warm and fuzzy as I was leaving the theater. Things are particularly lively and smile-inducing whenever Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley share the screen, but the whole movie just has a nice tone that makes you feel at home. Also, whereas Once really only had one memorable song ("Falling Slowly"), I loved nearly every song in Begin Again so much, that I downloaded the soundtrack almost immediately after getting home from the theater. And in the weeks since I re-watched it again on Blu-Ray, I've listened to the soundtrack nearly every day. That is the mark of a truly special film. If you haven't discovered this gem yet, do yourself a favor and seek it out.