I’ve been trying to finish up on my “must watch” list of 2014 so I can put together my top films of 2014 post. Every year, the studios dump tons of cool and interesting films right into December in very limited release and it’s near impossible to keep up with all of them or see most of them until well into the next year. They do this for Oscar qualifications but it makes it hard to put together a best of the year list when I haven’t seen several of the supposedly Oscar-worthy films yet.

A Most Violent Year was one that got a very limited release and only now did I have a chance to see and for the most part, it was worth the wait. What really works here is the acting, especially Oscar Isaac who carries the entire film. He’s a force in this, a powerful presence that kept my attention in every scene he’s in. The writing is great, with conflict appearing around every corner, things getting worse and worse for the main character, and a nice character arc at the end. Jessica Chastain is great here as well. The cinematography is especially gorgeous here.

Actually, this has a lot of the “feel” of The Godfather. The wardrobe looks like it is straight out of Goodfellas (that’s a good thing), and there’s a lot of Mean Streets in the vibe as well. Some reviewers on IMDB thought this was boring. Wrong. I was never bored once. I cared about the characters and was interested in the mystery they were solving and how they would get out of the tough situations they were placed in. Recommended for anyone that likes strong character dramas.

Man, is this better than I remember! Just looking at Waterworld from a story-structure standpoint, it’s actually a great script. The film has a satisfying ending, lots of suspense, and a good underlying sense of humor that keeps things moving.

Actually, I’m not sure if I ever saw Waterworld all the way through. The bad press it got when it first premiered soured it in my mind without even giving it a chance. That was my loss because there are some incredible set pieces and filmmaking on display here if you look at it objectively. I honestly don’t know how this bombed (although, reading the IMDB profile, I found out that the film actually made money and wasn’t the financial loss we all heard it was).

Costner is quite good hear as usual in one of his more gutsy roles (not just playing himself) and Dennis Hopper is so much fun, chewing the scenery as the antagonist. Watched it with my kids and they were riveted throughout. Recommended for anyone who doesn’t remember this film fondly.

This is an important film and may make my top ten list of 2014. I wish this one had been easier to find in theaters last year because I would have loved to have seen it on the big screen. It’s the true story of a reporter who uncovered a connection between the CIA and drugs to fund the Contras in Nicaragua back in the 1980’s.

What starts out as a big scoop turns into a nightmare as this reporter is threatened and nearly loses everything to get the truth out. This is a POWERFUL critique on modern journalism. It shows how the corporate control of the media, money, & power ensure that certain stories don’t make headlines while others do, all the time protecting the most powerful in our government and society.

Jeremy Renner does some of  the best work of his career here. Highly recommended.

This is a Norwegian film (although there is a lot of English spoken throughout). It’s a true story that occurred in 1981 where Americans and Norwegians teamed up to build an oil pipeline into Norway. There’s an accident, tensions flare, and a deep conspiracy is uncovered that goes to the highest levels of government involving money and control of the oil.

I had no idea anything like this had occurred. Some of the story even stretches credibility with all the crazy things that happened but, at least according to Wikipedia, most of the film’s big facts are accurate.

It’s a really well-made film. The diving scenes in particular are beautifully shot and the acting is top notch throughout. Recommended to anyone who likes a mix of “The Abyss” and “All the President’s Men”.

Although I’ve seen Blade Runner at least 30+ times, I watched it again last night with some friends who had never seen it before. And despite the number of times I’ve seen it, Blade Runner is just as compelling and mesmerizing as the first time I ever watched it back in High School. Every time I sit down and watch, it reinforces why Blade Runner is in my top 10 favorite movies of all time.

The influence Blade Runner has had on other films and entire genres cannot be overstated. Practically, the entire Anime genre has roots here. The Matrix is hugely influenced by it. The list goes on and on.

In its simplest terms, it’s a 1940’s film noir set in a science fiction future. It’s always raining. It’s always dark. Everyone smokes cigarettes and delivers clever & double-meaning lines. It’s brilliant start to finish, an absolute masterpiece. If you haven’t seen it, correct that immediately. If you have, maybe it’s time for another watch.

This is a team heist film. Actually, its the one that started it all. The Mission Impossible TV series was created based on this film and later the movies have many of the exact same themes, set-ups, and character archetypes. The Ocean’s Eleven movies are obviously influenced heavily by this film as well.

Topkapi is reportedly one of Christopher Nolan’s favorite films and I can see why. It has extremely tense scenes as this team of misfits tries to steal a jeweled knife from a high security museum. It’s a lot of fun and recommended for anyone who likes quirky characters, nail-biting tension, and a dash of comedy thrown in.

Wow! How did I not know about this movie? I think I’d seen it at the video stores as a kid and probably caught a couple of minutes on TV late night but besides the iconic movie poster that I’ve seen before, I didn’t know much about it.

I recently read that this movie was listed as one of Christopher Nolan’s top 10 favorite movies and I was intrigued. I’d never gotten around to seeing it… And man is it good. It works as both a fast-paced, suspense/thriller, horror movie, and allegory for the loss of innocence. This is a classic gem of the 80’s and yet another reason Rutger Hauer is a genius! C. Thomas Howell does some really fine acting here as well. Highly entertaining.

Recommended for anyone looking for a classic thriller with that 1980’s over-the-top action/violence/plot twist feel.

This is a Dutch film that came out in the states at the beginning of 2014 and I saw it on several best of the year lists. It’s great. Has a really creepy, dark comedy vibe to it. The story follows a homeless drifter and his “friends” as they worm their way into the home of a wealthy couple & their children and slowly wreak havoc on the unsuspecting family. At least that’s what you would think from the outside but the reality is that this homeless man and his friends are demons and the struggle that ensues is really a battle between good and evil.

There are so many clever moments in this film and I couldn’t tell what was going to happen next. It had a creepy vibe similar to the Babadook (2014) in some ways. Compelling, bizarre, and disturbing (in a good way). Highly recommended for anyone looking for something new, something you’ve never seen quite like this before.

After the disappointment that was Taken 2, I wasn’t exactly expecting near the fun of the first but I hoped for the best. It didn’t help that the same director of Taken 2 (Oliver Megaton) was back for this installment.

Unfortunately, it was bad. The action was so shaky, it was nearly impossible to distinguish what was going on. There were moments where the editing looked more like a high school film project gone wrong. Neeson felt like he was phoning in his performance most of the time. The script was riddled with cliches and extremely predictable. I don’t think I ever once cared enough about the characters to feel anything for them. Forest Whitaker does some kind of strange mumbling here. Most of his dialogue is unintelligible and he’s given nothing to do but make phone calls and drive around saying he’s “on his way.”

So sad as I’m sure there was a much better way to end this trilogy and I really do love Neeson. He deserves better than this. The only fun part for me was watching it with friends and mocking how ludicrous things were.