Ape-pocalypse, playing with toys and washed up actors.
3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Every once in a while, a highly publicized blockbuster
attains an impeccable balance of quality acting talent, visual direction with a
strong script, visual artists intent on using CGI creatively and the financial
support that the studio system offers to create breathtaking cinematic
experiences.
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” is such a film as
well as being that illusive white rabbit of storytelling, a great sequel to a
good film.
Caesar’s continuing quest to develop and protect the
culture of his apes while managing conflict with the remains of a devastated human
society is an ambitious and potentially powerful concept that could have been
in danger under the production of a major film studio like Twentieth Century
Fox. Fortunately, the first 10 minutes using time to establish questions, set
up relationships and character arcs among the apes and lead straight into the
conflict with little to no spoken dialogue, torpedoes those notions.
The human side of the conflict contains a few
shining moments of emotion that serve as parallels to what the apes undergo,
which is the true star of the show.
The development of Caesar as a questioning
revolutionary into a wise leader tempered by his new status as a father, while
forcing him to scrutinize the beliefs that he holds dear by rising tensions
with humanity, feels more organic than onscreen character growth featured in
fully scripted dramas. Andy Serkis’ work on motion capture is famous in the
industry today but I have a hard time believing that either he or the industry
will manage to outdo this film for some time to come. Every onscreen ape is
packed with life-like expression and personality garnering just as much
presence as the human masses and it all serves to the benefit of the movie’s
storytelling.
This time last year, I barely even considered “The
Lego Movie” worthy of a theatrical viewing. Here I am now a mere 365 days later
calling out the Academy of Arts and Sciences for snubbing it.
“The Lego Movie” is just about the exact opposite of
everything it seems to be upon a glance.
Instead of celebrating the overexposed commercialism
of Lego, it pokes fun at the now rigid structure of a toy set fundamentally
welcoming of creative mishmashing. Rather than pander to children and parents with
immature humor and adult references, it packages the film as a heartwarming and
identifiable look at childhood creativity that audiences young and old can
identify with. Instead of being soulless product placement for a product that
almost serves as product placement in and of itself, it studies the decay of
the franchise into a device for mass media license tie-ins and proudly embraces
all aspects of its history, acknowledging that there’s a place for everything.
Best of all, while it takes a while for the subtexts
of the film to kick in, the comedy is genuinely sharp thanks to the talents of
its adept cast that manage to bring their acting talents to voice over work
surprisingly well.
“The Lego Movie” gets points alone for actually
trying at a time when it could have very easily and phoned things in and
understandably ridden off of its own property’s popularity to the bank.
Instead, the genius directors behind the “Jump Street” movies continued to
prove their worth as diverse writers of metafictional comedy.
1. Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Michael Keaton may steal the show but before lavishing
duly deserved praise upon him, “Birdman” is one of the boldest films of the
last 10 years for a reason and deserves praises in almost category.
An off the wall satire of showbiz, the camera work’s
ability to capture the an organic environment by keeping its view squarely on
its subjects and allowing the outside world to react out of focus feels like a
real evolution of indie cinema that has been long overdue. It’s editing, fooling
the eye into capturing the entire film as a single long take flows so
beautifully that I can’t pick out a single second that I would want to trim
from the film as a whole.
The screenplay’s brilliant criticism of art
criticism, public perceptions of celebrity status and artistic elitism so terrifically
delivered that it practically put me into a self-hating stupor as a
critic before I settled on being willing to laugh at the absurd lengths that an
artist is willing to go through to get recognition for his craft.
Nobody in the showbiz industry is safe nor do they
take fire alone and along with Keaton’s acclaimed performance, the supporting
cast delivers strongly as excellent parodies of their own careers that never
devolve into a cartoonish simplicity.
Keaton himself somehow manages to turn the joke of
his post-Batman career into a performance so masterful that I can’t help but
wonder if the last 20 years or so of his life were extreme method acting.
“Birdman’s” cinematic eye and its willingness to
risk it all and shake up the formulas of film storytelling have earned it a
permanent place in my heart as a film that could very possibly be one of my
favorites of all time.
Although that’s something that I could ultimately
say about quite a few films of 2014, a year so good that I was almost tempted
to make this a Top 20 list.
And for any even remotely caring about shoring up
this blog’s continuity I’ll go a slight step beyond.
For a number of reasons both personal and
professional that I won’t bother going into, not the least of which being the
low bar of quality set for the year, I ultimately never completed writing up a
list for the best films of 2013. While there’s probably little point in connecting
my work of the last 5½ months with content on this blog that I’m frankly
considering deleting entirely, I’ll never turn down an opportunity to advertise
for quality cinema so, why not?
10. Ernest and Celestine
9. American Hustle
8. Catching Fire
7. Prisoners
6. Gravity
5. Rush
4. Blue Jasmine
3. Her
2. Dallas Buyer’s Club
1. 12 Years a Slave
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