Best Actress 2014

05. Elisabeth Moss in The One I Love - For embracing the duality of her role with the utmost of ease. For playing a real woman full of mood swings and emotion who is smart and complicated and not always likeable. For that wicked / sweet smile at the end.

04. Emily Blunt in Edge of Tomorrow - For playing a bad ass heroine with depth and complexity.  For being the only woman (ever??) to steal a movie away from superstar Tom Cruise.  For the "Let's reboot" scene.

03. Scarlett Johansson in Under The Skin - For being sexy and stunning and utterly controlled. For exuding a total lack of emotion that somehow still makes her sympathetic. For the restaurant scene.

02. Reese Witherspoon in Wild - For giving a fearless, gritty, de-glammed performance flawlessly. For playing a haunted woman filled with regret and loss struggling to find her true self. For the scene where she meets the little boy on the trail.

01. Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl - For playing three roles in one; the perfect wife in flashbacks,  the enigmatic missing woman and the brilliant possibly sociopathic true self. For being a ballsy, fearless,  dark, twisted revelation. For the cool girl speech.

Mini Reviews

I have seen a lot of movies that I haven't written about. Either I didn't have the time or didn't have very much to say. Looking back at my list, most of them fell on the mediocre scale, but here are a few mini reviews for the bigger releases I missed as well as two movies that might make it on to my Best and Worst lists.

Horrible Bosses 2
Stars: Jason Bateman, Jason Sudekis, Charlie Day, Chris Pine, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx
Plot: The three lovable goofballs from the first movie decide to go into business for themselves, but when a rich businessman steals their idea, they orchestrate the kidnapping of his spoiled son as payback.
Thoughts: Chris Pine is very pretty. I will never complain about having to look at him for two hours. Other than that, this is pretty much exactly what you would expect if you saw the first one - a ridiculous, sometime funny, sometime eye roll inducing comedy.
Grade: C+

Obvious Child
Stars: Jenny Slate
Plot: After a one night stand leads to an unwanted pregnancy, a New York City comic, who is kind of a mess, tries to figure out what to do with her life.
Thoughts: I heard so many good things about this movie, but it was a huge disappointment for me.  Does it want to be a romantic comedy for the hipster set? Does it want to be a quirky coming of age movie? Does it have to have so many sophomoric jokes? I'm sorry, but fart jokes are for 13 year old boys, not seemingly well educated people who get to write screenplays for a living.
Grade: D

Wild
Stars: Reese Witherspoon,  Laura Dern
Plot: After a divorce, a heroin addiction and the death of her mother, lost soul Cheryl Strayed decided to find herself by hiking the 1100 mile Pacific Crest Trail.
Thoughts: I absolutely loved the memoir on which this was based. The movie? Not so much. Don't get me wrong. It's incredibly well made with superb performances. I loved the flashback segments, but as much as I love me some Reese Witherspoon, I can only take a much of watching her walk and eat and try to put up a tent. It just all became a bit redundant after a while.
Grade: B

The Gambler
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, Brie Larson, goddess of the world Jessica Lange
Plot: A college professor with a gambling addiction finds himself in way over his head when he owes extravagant amounts of money to three different scary loan shark types.
Thoughts: While I appreciate a good nihilistic lead character more than you can imagine, this movie never quite reached the sum of its parts. At times, it felt exciting and brilliant, and at others lazy and cliche. I read that this was originally going to be a Scorsese / DiCaprio project and I can't even imagine how good it could have been then. But I guess unlike our titular character,  those guys know when to walk away.
Grade: C+

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Stars: Martin Freeman, Orlando Bloom, Lee Pace, the exquisite cheekbones of Cate Blanchett
Plot: We are nearing the 9 hour mark and things are happening and there is a war and, honestly, I'm not that into it AND THEN BIRDS START DROPPING BEARS INTO THE FIGHT AND SHIT GETS REAL.
Thoughts: I have a love-hate relationship with The Hobbit movies that mostly leans toward the latter. I mean, I loved the second one as much as I hated the first one. The last in the trilogy (Fingers crossed) is mostly boring until the epic battle scene FINALLY starts. Somewhere in an alternate reality black hole bookshelf,  there is a really bad ass four hour / two movie version of The Hobbit that I'd like to see.
Grade: C-

Blue Ruin
Stars: Macon Blair
Plot: A drifter enacts revenge when the man who killed his family is released from prison.
Thoughts: The plot of this movie is as simple and straight forward as they come. There is probably about fifty sentences of dialogue in the while movie. The lead actor kind of has a Zach Galifianakis meets Nathan Lane thing going on. The director wears his love for the Coen Bros. firmly on his sleeve. And despite or because of all that, this is one of the best movies I have seen all year. It's a thrilling slow burn modern day masterpiece with a star who is so mesmerizing you can't even stand to blink. Why isn't Blair a huge star? Why isn't everyone every where talking about this movie all the time? I have no idea.
Grade: A

Friday Top Five - Most Anticipated

I know I have sort of been M.I.A. lately and that's mostly because there just aren't very many movies I am interested in playing right now. But all that is about to change. With September, comes the good movies, the awards hopefuls, the prestige pictures. So, here's a list of the top 5 films I'm looking forward to in the rest of 2014.
Note: I excluded This is Where I Leave You even though I am very excited to see it (loved the book, love the cast). However, it comes out in just a few short weeks so I thought I would clear the way for something that isn't coming for a while.

05. Unbroken
Stars: Jack O'Connell, Jai Courtney, Garrett Hedlund
Director: Angelina Jolie
Plot: The true story of the life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who was taken prisoner by Japanese forces during World War II.
Thoughts: I honestly had no interest in this based on the few articles I've read. Then I saw the trailer before Boyhood (imo, the best part of Boyhood were the trailers!). And now it's one of my most anticipated movies of the year. Not only does it look like this man led an extraordinary life, but also virtual newcomer O'Connell looks like he gives a tour de force, star-making performance.
Release Date: December 25

04. Foxcatcher
Stars: Steve Carrel, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo
Director: Bennett Miller
Plot: Based on the true story of Mark Schultz, an Olympic wrestler whose relationship with sponsor John du Pont and brother Dave Schultz would lead to unlikely circumstances.
Thoughts: The buzz is unreal with people talking non-stop about the go-for-broke, fearless performances from the cast, all playing against type. I mean, Miller is kind of a genius. He's the guy who got us to look at Jonah Hill in a completely new and exciting way. Also, Miller's resume is short, but kind of perfect - Capote, Moneyball. I'm all in.
Release Date: November 14

03. Inherent Vice
Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Reese Witherspoon, Jena Malone, Benicio Del Toro, Owen Wilson, Eric Roberts.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Plot: In 1970s Los Angeles, a druggie cop investigates the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.
Thoughts: Honestly, who even cares about plot when you look at that thoroughly impressive cast? Anderson doesn't just direct movies, he directs masterpieces. Among his flawed masterpieces are There Will Be Blood and The Master. Both of this films aren't perfect, but are so close, it hurts. One of these times he is going to truly make a masterpiece and until then I will see everyone of his films.
Release Date: December 12

02. Birdman
Stars: Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, Emma Stone.
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Plot: A washed-up actor who once played an iconic superhero must overcome his ego and family trouble as he mounts a Broadway play in a bid to reclaim his past glory.
Thoughts: The trailer for this movie looks absolutely bonkers, but if any movie is poised to make Michael Keaton a legit star once again, I'm more than excited for that. I love Michael Keaton and all the buzz on this movie says it is his best performance ever. Plus, I love weird, unique movies. This is one I am definitely too excited for.
Release Date: October 17

01. Gone Girl
Stars: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Kim Dickens, Patrick Fugit, Neil Patrick Harris.
Director: David Fincher
Plot: Come on guys, we've all read the book, right??
Thoughts: First of all, Gillian Flynn has quickly become one of my favorite writers. Second of all, this book was pretty perfect with a main character so twisted and flawed and complex and fascinating. Third of all, and really, the only thing that even remotely matters, this is a David Fincher film, and David Fincher is perfect. If ever a book was made for a director, it's this book and this man. His movies are already twisted and dark, and he is just going to nail this... I can feel it. My anticipation has been growing ever since he signed on for the project and in less than a month, we'll finally be able to see his latest masterpiece.
Release Date: October 3

This Means War

Let's start on a positive note - The only person hotter than Tom Hardy is Chris Pine. I'll admit, I didn't really think this movie looked all that good. In fact, with a different cast, I would have skipped it all together. But Chris Pine's deliciously blue eyes? Tom "I have the best lips in Hollywood" Hardy? Are you kidding me? I was so there. Yes, I will fully admit, although I am serious about films and I love movies, sometimes I just wanna go watch a couple of hot guys fight over a cute girl. And on that aspect, I wasn't disappointed in This Means War at all. Pine was dreamy as a charming womanizer and Hardy was sexy as a divorced dad, both trying to woo Reese Witherspoon's adorably neurotic Lauren. I'll admit, I would have liked the movie better had Pine and Hardy somehow made out at the end, but on sex appeal alone, This Means War succeeds. On that note, the only thing that could have made it better is if Michael Fassbender showed up at some point.

Now on to the rest... This Means War is this terribly hodge podge movie that caters to the idea, "Let's throw everything against the wall and see what sticks." The main problem with the movie is that it has no idea what the hell it wants to be. Is it a romantic comedy? Is it a bromance? Is it a thrilling spy caper? Is it a buddy movie? Who the hell knows! The script, the movie, the soundtrack - everything - is so random and thrown together that it is both ridiculous and kind of fun. Sometimes this crazy pace and inclusion of EVERYTHING actually works and makes the movie fun in a frantic kind of way. Other times, it is just puzzling and makes you want to ask what the hell the screenwriters and McG were thinking.

The story basically follows Lauren (Witherspoon) a sweet girl who is single in Los Angeles after following her old boyfriend to the city. A few months after they arrived, he cheated and she spends more time with Boggle these days then she does with men. On the advice of her horny but married friend (Chelsea Handler), she decides to sign up for on line dating. This is how she meets Tuck (Hardy), a CIA spy who claims he's a travel agent. They have a nice and sweet lunch date and then Lauren decides to go rent a movie (SERIOUSLY??? Was this script written in 1997?? Nobody rents movies anymore. Are there even places TO rent movies anymore? Besides Red Box, obviously.). Anyway, there she meets the confusingly named FDR (Pine) and he immediately comes off as too slick and too charming but somehow she starts to like him anyway. So, Lauren is faced with the problem of dating two gorgeous men at once. I mean, I guess it's a problem. A girl like me would never actually know whether it is a problem or not. Personally, it sounds like a pretty great problem to have. Anyway, further confusing the matter, FDR and Tuck are best friends and partners in the CIA. At first they decide to both date her and let her decide who to be with. Of course, they both fall for her and then all bets are off. Throw in some international spy organizations and you've got yourself This Means War.

Like I said, the movie is mediocre at best. Sometimes it's fun but sometimes it's such a convoluted mess. However, I will totally recommend it for Pine and Hardy, who are both way too hot for words.

Grade: C