Why Darren Aronofsky's NOAH is my Favorite Film of 2014

Didn't see this one coming, did ya?

That's right. NOAH, Darren Aronofsky's biblical epic about the titular ark, is my pick for the best film of 2014. A movie decried by religious groups for unfaithfulness to the source text, a movie that currently has a 6.0 rating on IMDB, with many users dubbing it one of the worst movies they have ever seen.

I'm here to tell you that they're wrong. They're so very, very wrong.

INTERSTELLAR was a film that was given major props for its scope and ambition, for willing to be such a massive movie filled with so many big ideas. And while it is indeed true that Christopher Nolan did fill his movie with big ideas, I generally found the execution of those ideas somewhat lacking, in that they were boiled down to simple sentiment (LOVE CONQUERS ALL AND TRANSCENDS TIME AND SPACE AND YADA YADA YADA) by the time that the credits rolled.

In many ways, NOAH is the movie that INTERSTELLAR could've been, that it should've been.

NOAH takes its biblical template, and uses the supernatural angle of the text of Genesis in order to build what is essentially a fantasy world, one that calls to mind less church readings and more the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. It's THE LORD OF THE RINGS, only with far greater moral complexity and bigger ideas at play. Aronofsky takes the large budget Paramount granted him and crafts a blockbuster that is stuffed with the sort of questions about morality and quandaries about the meaning of God that would be more at home in a $2,000,000 arthouse movie. The first half has all the sweep of a Peter Jackson movie, as Noah dutifully fulfills the mission he believes God has chosen him for, but in the second half, things take a turn for the smaller, and with it, the darker. Noah is left to face the reality of what he has done (as in, bring 6 people on the ark and a whole bunch of animals while the rest of humanity is left to drown), as he and his family hear the screams of men, women and children as they drown while desperately attempting to cling to the side of a mountain. Noah descends into madness, believing that he must stay on the Creator's path, even if that means innocent blood must be shed. Russell Crowe sells this finely sketched descent perfectly, as the second half of the film's closest cinematic cousin is none other than Stanley Kubrick's THE SHINING (another of my favorite films, and in my opinion the best horror movie ever made). It is truly Crowe's finest performance in over a decade, as he sells the grandiosity and extremity that Noah's character eventually goes to. Some of the other acting is questionable (Jennifer Connelly has one moment that feels overacted, and Douglas Booth is kind of wooden), but Logan Lerman and Emma Watson are also exceptional. Aronofsky has chosen to fill in the blanks left by the Bible in very interesting ways, and yet the movie's happy directly-out-of-Genesis ending feels completely earned as well. It's the joy at the end of a long, hard journey, not unlike the experience of watching some of Disney's darker animated classics. Clint Mansell's score is also one of the most underrated of the year, big and full of extremely chilling portents of doom, and Matthew Libatique's cinematography is as stellar here as it was in the rest of Aronofsky's oeuvre.

The greatest triumph of NOAH is that, despite its massive budget (ten times more than any other of Aronofsky's movies, excluding THE FOUNTAIN), and box office expectations, it feels like it fits right in with the rest of the director's filmography. Paramount let Aronofsky make the movie he wanted to make, and now we get to reap the rewards.

Don't listen to the negative hype. NOAH is destined to be a unsung masterpiece, and it's, in my opinion, the best movie of 2014.

Now, onwards and upwards to 2015! JUPITER ASCENDING, FURIOUS 7, AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, and STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS. I'm giddy with excitement.

^The most that I've fanboyed out recently

My Top 10 Movies of 2014

What a year, what a year.

Before we even knew it, 2014 is drawing to a close. And unlike previous years, where there were still a multitude of movies that I missed, I have seen enough of the movies I wanted to see this year that I feel comfortable making a list of my favorite movies of the year. First off, I want to rattle off some honorable mentions:

INTERSTELLAR was probably the film that came closest to making the list but didn't, as though it was a profound film experience on the big screen, the movie's flaws kept me from crossing that barrier into truly loving it. David Gordon Green's JOE also came damnably close to making it, featuring one of the best performances of Nicolas Cage's career (and certainly the best non-ludicrous role he's had in decades), but my #10 ultimately beat it out.  CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES and EDGE OF TOMORROW were all summer blockbusters that I loved dearly, and very easily could have made the list, but I felt that the movies I've included better reflect my own personal taste, and how I feel about this year in movies as a whole. My favorite comedy of the year was 22 JUMP STREET, for the record. 2014 was an absolutely insane year for genre films and movies in general. Now, onto the top 10!

10. SNOWPIERCER

Captain America this guy is not...

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER was one of the best Marvel movies, as well as one of the best pure action blockbusters in years, but it's Chris Evans' other performance this year that made the list. SNOWPIERCER, director Bong Joon-ho's English debut, is a breathtaking and action-packed slice of apocalyptic sci-fi, one that shows that the law in a post-world society can be as lawless as actual anarchy. Evans takes his Cap charm and translates it into something more wounded and angry as Curtis, the semi-reluctant leader of the revolution that attempts to overthrow the tyrannical front elites of the Snowpiercer, the train that happens to be the only inhabitable place left on Earth after an environmental experiment gone awry. The movie boasts a stellar supporting cast as well, including John Hurt, Jamie Bell, Ed Harris, Octavia Spencer, a very over-the-top Tilda Swinton, and Song Kang-ho. Taking cues from everything from Kubrick to Gilliam, Bong delivers completely, and shows that he may become a directorial force to be reckoned with in the west.

9. GONE GIRL

She is indeed a Cool Girl here...

David Fincher is back, and with GONE GIRL he delivers a depraved trash masterpiece for the ages, evoking the works of everyone from Adrian Lyne to Brian De Palma in his deliciously twisted adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel. Ben Affleck has never been more perfectly cast than in the role of Nick Dunne, a husband whose mission in life is to convince everyone he's not an asshole, despite looking and sounding like Ben Affleck, and whose mission gets complicated when his beloved wife goes missing. Like the novel, the movie reveals one tidbit of information at a time, slowly pulling back the camera so we can see the whole painting, and once we do, we realize what a disturbing world of shit we have stepped into. Fincher is perfectly suited to this kind of material, bringing all the lurid details and social commentary about media's invasion of privacy with his masterful cold precision. Boasting top-notch supporting performances from Rosamund Pike (who damn well better get an Oscar nod), Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens, and (shockingly) Tyler Perry (who possibly steals the whole damn movie), GONE GIRL is a must for both fans of Fincher and fans of top-dollar lurid weirdness.

8. INHERENT VICE

I was basically guaranteed to like this one on the style alone.

Confession time: I've never been the biggest Paul Thomas Anderson fan. Of course, I don't know how fair an assessment that is. I've yet to see BOOGIE NIGHTS (I know) or MAGNOLIA (I KNOW). PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE was until recently my favorite film of his, with its clever inversion of the typical Adam Sandler character on top of a rather sweet oddball romance. THERE WILL BE BLOOD is a movie I really need to watch again, boasting an (as usual) incredible performance from Daniel Day-Lewis but at the same time leaving me overwhelmed and flabbergasted. THE MASTER is a movie that left me cold, despite boasting an obviously stellar and unhinged turn from Joaquin Phoenix. Phoenix returns as the lead in INHERENT VICE, Anderson's Pynchon adaptation (the novel which I'm currently reading for clarification purposes), and despite being rather boggled by the plot once again in an Anderson film, I found it terrifically entertaining. Visually stunning and consistently hilarious, INHERENT VICE represents the end of an era, as the 1960s fell by the wayside to make way for the rather hippie-less future. Phoenix's Doc Sportello represents the end of that era, as a barely functional pothead PI who struggles to piece all the clues together while investigating the disappearance of his ex (a luminous and femme fatale-ish Katherine Waterston). Josh Brolin's hilarious Bigfoot Bjornsen represents the other side of that coin, as the hardass cop who's always on Doc's case. Also boasting amazing supporting turns from Owen Wilson, Benicio del Toro, Reese Witherspoon, and Martin Short, INHERENT VICE may lack coherence, but I predict that it will reward repeat viewings, and it's so rip-roaringly hilarious as to make the list.

7. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

You're welcome indeed

I know, I know, I'm ranking a goddamn Marvel movie above fucking Fincher and Paul Thomas Anderson, but hear me out. I'm greatly anticipating STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS when it arrives in theaters next Christmas, but in some ways, James Gunn's GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY already gave me what I want out of a modern space opera. The second-best Marvel movie yet (only eclipsed by THE AVENGERS), GUARDIANS represents Marvel's biggest risk paying off, as a movie with a tree-man and an anthropomorphic raccoon soared to previously unimaginable critical and financial success. It's also the funniest comic book movie of all time, breaking out millions of zingers that I'm still quoting to this day. It's got a killer soundtrack, full of pop classics that are all perfectly deployed in the movie. It's great for adults, great for kids, great for just about anybody. It's everything that anyone could want out of going to the movies. And it's fully earned its spot on my list.

6. JOHN WICK

Keanu is back. WHOA

JOHN WICK has only been out for two months, and I'm already convinced that it's well on its way to being an action classic. Full of extraordinary action sequences (directed by stuntmen David Leitch and Chad Stahelski), witty dialogue, strong world-building, and the triumphant return of one Keanu Reeves, JOHN WICK delivers a cinematic boogeyman that few can claim to match. I actually don't have much to say about this one, other than that it's basically the bee's knees. Dog's best friend, indeed.

5. THE GUEST

It's hard NOT to think of John Carpenter

When it comes to Adam Wingard, I enjoyed YOU'RE NEXT just fine. It was a clever, entertaining spin on the typical home invasion horror movie. Still, it left me totally unprepared for this. Holy shit. THE GUEST is yet another killer action movie in a murderer's row year of action movies, but unlike its more modern-styled colleagues, it's steeped heavily in the past. A miraculously perfect fusion of 1980s James Cameron and John Carpenter, THE GUEST is the most perfectly distillation of their styles that I have ever seen. This movie is pretty much HALLOWEEN meets THE TERMINATOR, and it's got everything you can think of, from the Carpenter-esque synth score, to Carpenter's damn title font, to Cameron's masterful direction of low-budget action, to its Sarah Connor-esque protagonist (Maika Monroe is absolutely sublime), to the near-perfect combination of Michael Myers, the Terminator, and Kyle Reese in the form of the titular Guest, David, played note-perfect by a soon-to-be-huge (hopefully) Dan Stevens. Insanely, this is only my second-favorite action flick of the year. The best is still yet to come.

4. LOCKE

No, he's not doing his Bane voice here...

On paper, LOCKE sounds like a dumb, cheap thriller premise. A guy in his car talking on the speaker phone for 90 minutes could play as an absolute disaster in the wrong hands. Luckily, writer-director Steven Knight's prove to be the right ones, as LOCKE is completely and utterly enthralling as we watch one poor man's life unravel as he attempts to follow his moral code and do the right thing, despite the knowledge that it will probably be the end of him. Knight's writing and direction are both note-perfect, but even so, this movie would not work without Tom Hardy. Hardy brilliantly plays Ivan Locke's internal conflict, as he attempts to juggle his job, his home life, and the life that he feels responsible for all at the same time, as he sticks to his moral code to the letter, despite it causing his life to come apart at the seams, all within the span of a 90 minute drive from Birmingham to London. It is truly a cinematic experience like none other, and one that demands to be seen.

3. NIGHTCRAWLER

The advent of Video Production News

Jake Gyllenhaal's movie choices continue to impress, and NIGHTCRAWLER is probably his best performance yet. Where THE GUEST paid homage to the action movies of the 1980s, NIGHTCRAWLER feels more in the vein of the 1970s, merging the styles of a Sidney Lumet directing NETWORK with a young Scorsese doing TAXI DRIVER, providing us with a social commentary on the unsavory nature of the media while simultaneously giving us a truly chilling portrait of a pure sociopath who will stop at nothing to climb his way to the top. Louis Bloom is one of the most unsettling characters in years, and Gyllenhaal nails it, giving him a shit-eating grin and a cold douchebaggery masking bottomless ambition and a cauldron of rage. First-time director Dan Gilroy shows a true talent in the beautifully shot Los Angeles cityscape, and a car chase that's worth the price of admission. It's also the first movie on this list that I would consider a true masterpiece.

2. THE RAID 2

It's like Coppola or Scorsese suddenly wanted to kick ass

One of the best movies of 2011 was THE RAID, a Indonesian martial arts action masterpiece that brought director Gareth Evans onto the international stage in a huge way. However, despite some of the best filmed action that the world has ever seen, THE RAID was a pretty simple action movie on a story level. Not so with this year's follow-up. THE RAID 2 is essentially like if Scorsese was in the middle of working on the script for THE DEPARTED, and he suddenly went "Hmm. You know what this movie needs? BALLS TO THE WALL MARTIAL ARTS ASSKICKERY." A sequel whose staggering ambition and impressive scope dwarfs the original in every way, THE RAID 2 is the best action movie of the year, a powerful revenge movie, and an epic crime saga, all in one easy-to-carry package. It's only weakness in comparison to its predecessor is that it lacks the complete cohesion and simple narrative drive of the original THE RAID. But what it gains in exchange is so much more. THE RAID 2 has some of the best action sequences you'll ever see. The kitchen fight. The baseball scene. THE HAMMER SCENE. Just. DAMN.

And my number one movie of 2014 is...

No.

You know what? The #1 movie of the year deserves its own article. I'll put that up tomorrow. And trust me, it will be a surprise.

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 Review

*Goofy whistling noise*

THE HUNGER GAMES is truly an oddball film franchise: it's a YA adaptation series that I feel a large number of the moviegoing public aren't taking seriously. People lump them into the same category as TWILIGHT; that is, a terribly written mess adapted to film only to appear to the fangirls who will obsess over either "Team Edward" and "Team Jacob" and all that nonsense, only with "Team Gale" and "Team Peeta". And while I think the Suzanne Collins-written book series is hit-or-miss at best, I feel that the film series has been, for the most part, quite good.

The first film, directed by Gary Ross, is the movie closest to the original source novel, and consequently, it is the one that most feels like a YA novel adaptation. It also doesn't help that it suffers from a flat visual look, shaky-cam in order to avoid graphically depicting onscreen child murder, a cast of interchangeable YA-type actors who come across more as high school bullies more than actual physical threats, and a fairly low budget that leads to some rather dodgy CGI. However, the sound structure of the first book also translates to the movie, and the strong themes and casting of Jennifer Lawrence together essentially keep the movie pretty good, despite those shaky surface elements.

For the sequel, CATCHING FIRE, Ross exited the director's chair, and his duties were taken over by Francis Lawrence, a director with more big-budget experience than Ross (albeit bad experience; suffice it to say that I am not a fan of I AM LEGEND), and he took the template that Ross laid out for him and bolstered it with a more colorful visual palette, a bigger budget (courtesy of the first film's gross) that allowed for better visuals and more coherent action sequences, and the same strong performances that drove the first (with delightfully villainous turns from Donald Sutherland and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman). It also felt far more adult, leaving the YA feel behind for a more sophisticated form of sci-fi action. You could make a case that CATCHING FIRE was one of the better blockbusters of the past decade (and this is coming from a guy who basically despised the book).

And so, in YA tradition, the series finale, MOCKINGJAY, was split into two parts, bringing the grand total of HUNGER GAMES films to four. I have not read the novel, as I decided that I prefer the films anyway, and would like to see the ending on the terms of the movies first. Lawrence earned my confidence with the second movie, but making what is essentially half a movie compelling is something other talented filmmakers have had trouble with before (looking at you, DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1). So, my verdict on THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 (henceforth called MOCKINGJAY 1) after the jump.

Even with the makeup, Jennifer Lawrence does NOT look 35.

Yes, MOCKINGJAY 1 is half a movie, but what a half a movie it is. Even on its own, it's a crackling political sci-fi actioner, one where the supposed selling points of a YA franchise (aka the action and the romance) are the least interesting parts of the film. That stuff takes a backseat to the political machinations of Hoffman's Plutarch Heavensbee and franchise newcomer Julianne Moore's President Coin, as they play the game of propaganda with Sutherland's President Snow, with Lawrence's Katniss hanging in the crossfire as the Mockingjay symbol of the rebellion. Sure, it's stuff that's all essentially been in a bunch of movies before, but it's all packaged in a way that still makes it feel exciting and relevant. It's certainly the most compelling movie ever where large sections of it revolve around a bunch of characters in a cafeteria watching television.

The biggest complaint I can level against it (other than that it lacks a proper structure due to its Part 1-itis) is that it strips away much of the color and personality of the Capitol from CATCHING FIRE, in favor of a more subdued, sterile landscape in District 13. This is actually by design, as Lawrence is showing how the gray uniforms and steel walls of the underground militarized complex contrasts with the over-the-top ostentatious fashion and digital window views of the Capitol, but the added color is still missed. Nevertheless, Lawrence's direction is even more assured this time out, with some strong tasteful CGI mixed with some very sci-fi practical sets. Danny Strong and Peter Craig were well-chosen screenwriters for this one as well, with Strong's political drama experience translating well to Plutarch and Coin's machinations. The performances are also top-notch (nearly) across the board. Lawrence is incredible once again as Katniss, showing her character's mental instability in a frighteningly real way. The supporting players are all tops as well, from the aforementioned Sutherland, Hoffman, and Moore, as well as Woody Harrelson and Stanley Tucci. The least interesting players in this YA adaptation are, oddly enough, the love triangle players. I've never really enjoyed Josh Hutcherson as Peeta... until now. Crazy Peeta is far more interesting than Normal Peeta, whether he's exhibiting douchebag mannerisms on Capitol TV or psychotically jumping about in a mental ward. Liam Hemsworth as Gale, though... yikes. He had some line deliveries that were near-Hayden Christensen level bad, and he's just so BORING. He has none of the charisma of his Asgardian older brother, and Gale is just such a mopey milquetoast that you never buy him as a love interest for Katniss. Easily the weakest part of the movie.

It'll all really work on how MOCKINGJAY 2 shakes out next year, but for now, MOCKINGJAY 1 is a strong continuation of one of the best big-budget sci-fi franchises coming out today.

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 gets an 8. We'll see whether PART 2 raises that score in retrospect.