Big Mike's 2 Cents

Like many of you, I love going to the movies. With the film industry’s annual hackneyed award season upon us, I’m motivated to celebrate some of the fantastic movies I caught this past year. Presented in no particular order, for whatever it might be worth, here’s a list of the films I most enjoyed and/ or delivered the most inspiration to me. These might not be the “best” films or the most diverse list of the year, but they were my favorites and the movies I most readily recommend.

 

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John Wick

Hands down, the best gun-fight sequences I’ve seen on the big screen. The story is simple. The dialogue is clever. The action is intense.

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Gone Girl

Fincher is a master storyteller translating a clever page-turner. Make sure to take note of the visual gags played through scene transitions.

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Under The Skin

It’s hard to pick favorites, but this might be my favorite film of the year—engaging, eerie and atmospheric visual storytelling.

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Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I’m a comic-book dork. This was not only a great sequel, surpassing its predecessor, it’s the best damn super-hero movie so far.  And as long as I’m putting my cards on the table, in 2013, I liked Man of Steel and despised Iron Man 3, so there you have it. Glad I got that off my chest. I hope we can still be friends.

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The Drop

Subtle performances. Engaging characters. A tense story. While the ending felt telegraphed far in advance, the payoff still delivered.

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Blue Ruin

I’m a sucker for well-executed procedural narrative. This bloody revenge tale uses little dialogue and it would probably work pretty well with none.

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Edge of Tomorrow

I was concerned about the title change and the trailers had me a little worried it might be another Groundhog Day rehash, but my misgivings were unwarranted, because this was a smart, fun, wholly entertaining ride.

Runners up:

Guardians of the Galaxy– I assume you saw this movie and had as much fun as I had with it.

Snowpiercer – This violent fable set in a hyper-stylized dystopian future tells a beautifully simple story.

Cheap Thrills – It’s a dark comedy with a predicable plot, but it was my type of story and delivered on the escalating tension.

Nightcrawler – After seeing the trailers, I had little interest in seeing this film, but I’m glad I did. It’s a well-crafted character study that offers some memorable performances.

The One I Love – This isn’t a romantic comedy, but it is a fantastic, quirky and surreal relationship movie.

 

My opinions on film probably don’t quite line up with yours, but if you enjoy False Positive, you would most likely get a kick out of some of these movies. How does my list compare with yours? Did I miss some good ones?

 

P.S. And if you’re interested in visual storytelling, you might enjoy my new favorite internet thing: Every Frame a Painting.  It’s a fabulous webseries by film editor, Tony Zhou, featuring insightful analysis about filmmaking.