Oscar Week!!!! Part 1!!

Oscar week has arrived! I will take this opportunity to give you my top 10 movies of 2014.
Settle down. Settle down. I know you are excited.
Was I entertained? Did I learn something? Did the film deliver what the trailer promised? These questions I ask myself when I watch a film. Much different than "more common" reviewers. Sometimes I feel film critics are sad people and depressed and lonely and they lean toward depressing lonely and sad films. They roll their eyes at happy endings. You will not find that here. I am open to all types of films. My top ten are a bit different. A little humor, maybe not exactly grammatically correct, but my point will come across I hope.


So 10-9-8 for this blog!!!!!!!


10-The Grand Budapest Hotel
Starring-Ralph Fiennes
Written and Directed- Wes Anderson




You either get Wes Anderson or you do not. I am a fan. I get him. I am open minded enough to see he can sometimes miss, aka The Darjeeling Limited. Is this film as good as Moonrise Kingdom? No I don't think so. Still this film is far from a miss. It surprises you a bit at the end when you realize, even though there is the usual Wes Anderson wackiness, there is a love story here. Wes always has a part in his films where it becomes over the top wacky, like the end of Moonrise. Here it comes on a mountain top in the middle, but then he pulls it back a bit as we get to the end with a feeling of love and longing. He once again runs his regular troop in and out: Bill Murray/Harvey Keitel/Ed Norton/Jason Schwartzman/Owen Wilson and such. Here it is Fiennes who takes the lead and is surprisingly funny. Also note a wonderful debut by Tony Revolori as Zero the lobby boy playing a straight man to Fiennes.
So Number 10: The Grand Budapest Hotel....Take Your Hands Off My Lobby Boy!



9-The Immigrant
Starring- Marion Cotillard
                Joaquin Phoenix
               Jeremy Renner
Written and Directed by James Gray




An  immigrant woman played by Marion Cotillard loses track of her sister at Ellis Island and is tricked into a life of burlesque and vaudeville. Until a  magician tries to save her and help her get to her sister in the confines of Ellis Island.
I cant tell you more because it will spoil the film. It is entertaining and suspenseful with a great feel for time and place. In 2014 two stars have jumped up, in my opinion, as the top 1-2 actors working today. One is Thomas Hardy (see The Drop and Locke); the other is Cotillard. She is nominated for Two Days One Night, which I have seen, I think this performance is better and sadly overlooked.
Number 9 The Immigrant.


8-Maleficent
Starring- Angelina Jolie
             -Elle Fanning
Writers- Linda Woolverton
               Charles Perrault
Directed-Robert Stromberg



Well I said my ten would be different!!!
Maleficent is an excellent film based on the classic Sleeping Beauty. It reminds me of the musical Wicked (will this movie ever get made) where it takes a story we know and twists it around. Maleificent works! Jolie is all in. Fanning, who I am a big fan of ( see Super 8 and the heartbreaking Phoebe In Wonderland), is cast perfectly in the part of the naïve Aurora. Is the film entertaining? Yes, a little dark, dark enough that it may not be for little ones. Did it deliver what the trailer promised? Yes, a little wild at the end, but it sure did. Like Wicked, did we really know The Wicked Witch Of The West? Here, did we really know Maleificent.
Number 8 Maleficent.